Carried by Grace

“Bel crouches; Nebo cowers.  Idols depicting them are consigned to beasts and cattle. The images you carry are loaded, as a burden for the weary animal. The gods cower; they crouch together; they are not able to rescue the burden, but they themselves go into captivity.  “Listen to me, house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been sustained from the womb, carried along since birth. I will be the same until your old age,  and I will bear you up when you turn gray. I have made you, and I will carry you; I will bear and rescue you. “To whom will you compare me or make me equal? Who will you measure me with, so that we should be like each other?  Those who pour out their bags of gold and weigh out silver on scales — they hire a goldsmith and he makes it into a god. Then they kneel and bow down to it.  They lift it to their shoulder and bear it along;  they set it in its place, and there it stands; it does not budge from its place.  They cry out to it but it doesn’t answer; it saves no one from his trouble. “Remember this and be brave;  take it to heart, you transgressors! Remember what happened long ago,  for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and no one is like me. I declare the end from the beginning, and from long ago what is not yet done, saying: my plan will take place, and I will do all my will.  I call a bird of prey  from the east,  a man for my purpose from a far country. Yes, I have spoken; so I will also bring it about.  I have planned it; I will also do it. Listen to me, you hardhearted, far removed from justice: I am bringing my justice near;  it is not far away, and my salvation will not delay. I will put salvation in Zion, my splendor in Israel.” (Isaiah‬ ‭46‬:‭1‬-‭13‬ ‭CSB‬‬)

Happy New Year! I hope and pray that the blessings of this past year have shown you how faithful our God is in bringing us into His will as instruments of His purpose. While we can all be thankful for God’s blessings, are you thankful for the challenges that cause you to trust in God’s goodness and grace? This week’s focal passage is all about our need to trust God to carry us by His grace through life. 

There’s a well known poem called “Footprints in the Sand” which tells of a dream in which a man sees the events of his life unfold as two sets of footprints in sand, His and God’s. But during the difficult times, he notices only one set of footprints and challenges God that when things got difficult, God appears to have abandoned him to walk alone. But in the dream, God responds and tells the man that during those difficult times He had not abandoned the man, it was during those difficult times that God had carried him. That really is the theme of this week’s focal passage in Isaiah 46.

The location is Babylon and the scene is the New Year’s celebration.  Instead of a giant glass ball slowly dropping from the ziggurat’s precipice as the people count down the seconds (sound familiar?), it is sunrise of New Year’s Day as the crowds gather for a parade. Not of colorful floats made from flowers and plants, but one in which the local gods, Bel and Nebo, are loaded onto ox carts and paraded down the streets in worship. Bel is the primary god of the Babylonians and is also called Marduk. Nebo is his son and is the patron god of the arts and of writing. He is a part of this New Year’s parade because the Babylonians believe that he is the one who will “write” the events of the coming year into the book of time. In other words, Nebo is the one who will determine the outcome of the new year.

But notice how Isaiah describes the scene, “Bel crouches; Nebo cowers… the gods cower; they crouch together; they are not able to rescue the burden, but they themselves go into captivity.” Instead of rescuing the people, the gods of the Babylonians are themselves being subjected to the same burden of captivity. They crouch in an attempt to hide and the cower in fear. Why would you expect a god who must be carried and paraded through the streets of your city on the backs of weary pack animals to be capable of rescuing you from the burdens you carry? You carry them around, so how can they possibly be expected to come and rescue you and carry you out of your troubles?

Now, the LORD of Israel responds and draws a poignant contrast: “Listen to me, house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been sustained from the womb, carried along since birth. I will be the same until your old age, and I will bear you up when you turn gray. I have made you, and I will carry you; I will bear and rescue you.” Instead of being drawn into the worship of Bel and Nebo, God wants His people to see the stark contrast between the gods of their captors and Himself, the Holy One of Israel! They carry their crouching, cowering gods around on the backs of pack animals, but the God of Israel carries His children from the womb all the way through their old age, when their has turned gray.

In other words, why would you worship a god who needs you to carry him through the streets of the city and is incapable of removing your burden but is a burden to you? Why worship a god who must be carried around instead of the One who has always carried His people. Why worship a god who claims to “write” your destiny in the annal of time but can’t stop his own demise and captivity from being written down in that same book? Don’t worship a god like that, worship the one who knows you, determines your destiny before your birth, who carries you from the womb into old age and rescues your eternal destiny.

The irony of the scene Isaiah describes must not be lost on us. We often place our hope and trust in the things this world offers up to us as “gods” worthy of our worship. From the latest fashion trend to the current athletic, media or political influencer we are constantly fed new idols to worship and swear allegiance to. Our idol is whatever or whomever we trust to give meaning and purpose to our lives. The Babylonians worshiped Marduk/Bel as their primary god but they also paid homage to Nebo because they believed he controlled their destiny. Who or what are you trusting to bring your life meaning, direction, purpose and value this year?

God asks, “To whom will you compare me or make me equal? Who will you measure me with, so that we should be like each other?” When the God who spoke the universe into existence asks a question, you really ought to pay attention to what He says. Our culture tells us that all gods are equal and all religions and religious expressions are the same. They’re all just “different paths up the mountain” to the same end, the same god. But the God of Israel asks, “Why you would you EVER make such a comparison or say we are the same or like each other?”

That’s really the question that hits our culture square in the mouth. Why would we ever think that ANYTHING could take the place of God? Yet, we make that substitution ALL the time. Some replace Him with their favorite sports team. Some replace Him with their job, spouse, family or even their own identity. Some replace Him with an ideology, political figure or utopian dream. Some replace Him with a valued treasure or dream. Whatever or whomever you look to for the fulfillment of your hopes and dreams for the New Year is your god. For many of us, we are the very one who occupies the seat of that throne. Our hope lies in ourselves. Our ability to rise to the occasion, to overcome any obstacle, to be the sole driving force that propels us towards our life goals falls on our own shoulders. 

Their cry is: “My future is what I make it.”

God’s response is: “It saves no one from his trouble.”

The Babylonians paraded their gods around the city on New Year’s Day with their hopes for the new year and the Israelites were continuously bombarded by the cultural belief that Bel and Nebo control everyone’s destiny. But that’s not reality. It’s not even practical. They cry out to those gods, but they cannot answer. But God calls them to, “REMEMBER this and be brave; take it to heart, you transgressors! Remember what happened long ago, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and no one is like Me.” Wait, He calls them transgressors (or sinners) but wants them to remember what “happened long ago”.

What does God do for sinners who need rescuing? He REDEEMS them by His grace. Listen, “I declare the end from the beginning, and from long ago what is not yet done, saying: my plan will take place, and I will do all my will! [emphasis added]” To declare the end from the beginning is to emphasize that how the thing turns out is not based on how it started. In other words, your current circumstances do NOT dictate how things will end when you put your trust in the LORD. He has a way of taking what we’ve broken, applying His grace and creating something beautiful and useful from that mess. 

Pay close attention to this, “my plan will take place, and I will do all my will.” While Isaiah is seeing and speaking about the work of Cyrus and the destruction of Babylon, God was seeing far beyond the walls of historical Babylon and the redemption of Israel from their political captor. God saw a faithful young mother, her frightened but obedient husband and a small babe wrapped in swaddling cloths in a humble stable with a bunch of wide-eyed shepherds staring on in amazement as God worked the destruction of Babylon, that wicked city of idolatry that exists in times and cultures, and bought the redemption of man, all who will accept His restorative work by grace through faith. 

God IS sovereign and His plan for man’s redemption will be DONE! Jesus final words on the cross were, “It is DONE!” God’s perfect will for the redemption of mankind was completed. Jesus had finished it according to God’s will. It didn’t look anything like what most folks expected, but it was complete and perfect according to the will of God. God’s perfect will has a way of doing that, not looking at all like what we wanted or expected. Israel’s deliverance from Babylon and the restoration of Jerusalem at the hands of Cyrus didn’t look anything like what folks expected, but it was God’s perfect will. God’s perfect will for your life will probably not look anything like you’re expecting, either. But it will follow His plan and be in accordance with His perfect will and that’s what matters.

God is also able to declare the end of your life from its beginning. In other words, the way your life ends doesn’t have to line up with the way it began. He is the God of restoration and redemption. He is able to use anyone He chooses in ways that will honor and glorify Him. Cyrus is the perfect example of this fact. I do NOT believe that Cyrus ever surrendered himself to saving faith in the LORD God. Nevertheless, God used him to achieve His will and to bring glory to Himself. God’s will could not be thwarted by this pagan king and he would become an instrument of God’s purpose in this divine plan.

In conclusion, God tells His people: “Listen to me, you hardhearted, far removed from justice: I am bringing my justice near; it is not far away, and my salvation will not delay. I WILL put salvation in Zion, My splendor in Israel.” God is giving them a choice, be a part of what He’s doing or become a part of those He judges for refusing His justice. You can either be a part of His plan or be crushed by it. He can be either the chief cornerstone of your life or the rock of offense that causes you to trip and fall. God will not be thwarted by your disobedience, but He would rather love and redeem you than judge and destroy you.

We started this study by seeing the people of Babylon carrying their gods through the streets of the city in hopes of ensuring a prosperous New Year. We end it by being told that God is willing to carry us into the salvation that He alone can offer. Let’s see, carry a worthless god who can’t give us anything but aching backs or be carried by the God of all creation who offers to redeem and save us, if we will but love and trust Him. That seems like a “no brainer” to me. 

Will you carry your god around in hopes of some blessing and prosperous future, or will you be carried by the LORD God and receive His grace? It seems like a no brainer, to me…