"Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been borne by me from before your birth, carried from the womb; ⁴even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save." —Isaiah 46:3-4
God who is self-existent needs nothing. He has everything at His disposal to make, bear, carry, and save those He chooses. He stands alone. He is utterly unlike the idols of the nations. God is faithful—always, and in every season of life. From conception to our last breath, He is the True God–the One who sees, hears, and saves His people.
Isaiah contrasts the living God with the idols of the nations. They are man-made hunks of wood and metal—inept, inert, and impotent. So they have always been and so they remain. Whether a statue of playdough or a billion dollar technological wonder, false gods are less than powerless. Jeremiah’s description of the false gods embraced by Israel’s enemies is vivid:
A tree from the forest is cut down
and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.
They decorate it with silver and gold;
they fasten it with hammer and nails
so that it cannot move.
Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field,
and they cannot speak;
they have to be carried,
for they cannot walk.
Do not be afraid of them,
for they cannot do evil,
neither is it in them to do good.” (Jeremiah 10:3-5)
People make something from their own imagination and then expect it to help them, even save them. It’s laughable—laughable but deadly. Idols can do nothing, neither good nor evil, says Jeremiah. Yet it is a great evil to worship them. And great evil occurs in the lives of those who bow down to them. “Those who made them become like them; so do all who trust in them,” says the Psalmist (Psalm 115:8). If they don’t turn from worshiping them, they will perish.
It’s easy to see their folly. But it’s what we are all prone to, apart from the saving grace of God. God who made us has made a way for us to be reconciled to Him. He is the one who reveals our folly to us so that we can turn, in faith, to trust in Him alone. All of this was accomplished at the cross. Jesus, God-in-the-flesh, opened the way to eternal life. He is the One who said, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). And of Him Paul wrote, “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17).
In Isaian 46, God is the one who takes action: I will carry, I have made, I will bear; I will carry and will save. This is our only hope, that Christ died for us while we were still rebels, bearing in His flesh the penalty for our sin, and the full weight of God’s wrath.
Don’t worship what must be carried by the men and women who make them. Worship God. He alone is mighty to save and mighty to carry all that He has made. Every god but God is a vain idol. They are burdens to carry. But our God carries those He saves. He is the One on whom we are to cast our burdens (1 Peter 5:6-7). God made us and He is faithful to us from beginning to end.
For Reflection
What burdens are you carrying on your own? Ask God to help you cast your care on Him.
Meditate on Jesus' promise to give His people rest. Praise Him for already bearing our heaviest burden at the cross.
Ask God to reveal any idols that remain in your heart and help you to trust in Him alone.
Candice Watters is the Fighter Verses editor. She is married to Steve Watters, Truth78's director of marketing and resource development. She is mom to Harrison, Zoe, Churchill, and Teddy and co-author with Steve of Start Your Family: Inspiration for Having Babies.