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Commentary on Isaiah 46 verses 1–4
We are here told,
I. That the false gods will certainly fail their worshippers when they have most need of them, Isa 46:1, Isa 46:2. Bel and Nebo were two celebrated idols of Babylon. Some make Bel to be a contraction of Baal; others rather think not, but that it was Belus, one of their first kings, who after his death was deified. As Bel was a deified prince, so (some think) Nebo was a deified prophet, for so Nebo signifies; so that Bel and Nebo were their Jupiter and their Mercury or Apollo. Barnabas and Paul passed at Lystra for Jupiter and Mercury. The names of these idols were taken into the names of their princes, Bel into Belshazzar's, Nebo into Nebuchadnezzar's and Nebuzaradan's, etc. These gods they had long worshipped, and in their revels praised them for their successes (as appears, Dan 5:4); and they insulted over Israel as if Bel and Nebo were too hard for Jehovah and could detain them in captivity in defiance of their God. Now, that this might be no discouragement to the poor captives, God here tells them what shall become of these idols, which they threaten them with. When Cyrus takes Babylon, down go the idols. It was usual then with conquerors to destroy the gods of the places and people they conquered, and to put the gods of their own nation in the room of them, Isa 37:19. Cyrus will do so; and then Bel and Nebo, that were set up on high, and looked great, bold, and erect, shall stoop and bow down at the feet of the soldiers that plunder their temples. And because there is a great deal of gold and silver upon them, which was intended to adorn them, but serves to expose them, they carry them away with the rest of the spoil. The carriers' horses, or mules, are laden with them and their other idols, to be sent among other lumber (for so it seems they accounted them rather than treasure) into Persia. So far are they from being able to support their worshippers that they are themselves a heavy load in the wagons, and a burden to the weary beast. The idols cannot help one another (Isa 46:2): They stoop, they bow down together. They are all alike, tottering things, and their day has come to fall. Their worshippers cannot help them: They could not deliver the burden out of the enemy's hand, but themselves (both the idols and the idolaters) have gone into captivity. Let not therefore God's people be afraid of either. When God's ark was taken prisoner by the Philistines it proved a burden, not to the beasts, but to the conquerors, who were forced to return it; but, when Bel and Nebo have gone into captivity, their worshippers may even give their good word with them: they will never recover themselves.
II. That the true God will never fail his worshippers: "You hear what has become of Bel and Nebo, now hearken to me, O house of Jacob! Isa 46:3, Isa 46:4. Am I such a god as these? No; though you are brought low, and the house of Israel is but a remnant, your God has been, is, and ever will be, your powerful and faithful protector."
1.Let God's Israel do him the justice to own that he has hitherto been kind to them, careful of them, tender over them, and has all along done well for them. Let them own, (1.) That he bore them at first: I have made. Out of what womb came they, but that of his mercy, and grace, and promise? He formed them into a people and gave them their constitution. Every good man is what God makes him. (2.) That he bore them up all along: You have been borne by me from the belly, and carried from the womb. God began betimes to do them good, as soon as ever they were formed into a nation, nay, when as yet they were very few, and strangers. God took them under a special protection, and suffered no man to do them wrong, Psa 105:12-14. In the infancy of their state, when they were not only foolish and helpless, as children, but forward and peevish, God carried them in the arms of his power and love, bore them as upon eagles' wings, Exo 19:4; Deu 32:11. Moses had not patience to carry them as the nursing father does the sucking child (Num 11:12), but God bore them, and bore their manners, Act 13:18. And as God began early to do them good (when Israel was a child, then I loved him), so he had constantly continued to do them good: he had carried them from the womb to this day. And we may all witness for God that he has been thus gracious to us. We have been borne by him from the belly, from the womb, else we should have died from the womb and given up the ghost when we came out of the belly. We have been the constant care of his kind providence, carried in the arms of his power and in the bosom of his love and pity. The new man is so; all that in us which is born of God is borne up by him, else it would soon fail. Our spiritual life is sustained by his grace as necessarily and constantly as our natural life by his providence. The saints have acknowledged that God has carried them from the womb, and have encouraged themselves with the consideration of it in their greatest straits, Psa 22:9, Psa 22:10; Psa 71:5, Psa 71:6, Psa 71:17.
2.He will then do them the kindness to promise that he will never leave them. He that was their first will be their last; he that was the author will be the finisher of their well-being (Isa 46:4): "You have been borne by me from the belly, nursed when you were children; and even to your old age I am he, when, by reason of your decays and infirmities, you will need help as much as in your infancy." Israel were now growing old, so was their covenant by which they were incorporated, Heb 8:13. Gray hairs were here and there upon them, Hos 7:9. And they had hastened their old age, and the calamities of it, by their irregularities. But God will not cast them off now, will not fail them when their strength fails; he is still their God, will still carry them in the same everlasting arms that were laid under them in Moses's time, Deu 33:27. He has made them and owns his interest in them, and therefore he will bear them, will bear with their infirmities, and bear them up under their afflictions: "Even I will carry and will deliver them; I will now bear them upon eagles' wings out of Babylon, as in their infancy I bore them out of Egypt." This promise to aged Israel is applicable to every aged Israelite. God has graciously engaged to support and comfort his faithful servants, even in their old age: "Even to your old age, when you grow unfit for business, when you are compassed with infirmities, and perhaps your relations begin to grow weary of you, yet I am he - he that I am, he that I have been - the very same by whom you have been borne from the belly and carried from the womb. You change, but I am the same. I am he that I have promised to be, he that you have found me, and he that you would have me to be. I will carry you, I will bear, will bear you up and bear you out, and will carry you on in your way and carry you home at last."
(Verse 1, 3 and following) Hear me, house of Jacob, and all the rest of the house of Israel, who are carried from my womb, who are born from my womb. Even to your old age, I am the one, and even to your gray hairs, I will carry you. I have done it, and I will bear it; I will carry, and I will save. To whom have you likened me, and equalized, and compared me, and made me similar? You who pour out gold from the bag, and weigh silver on the scales, hiring a goldsmith to make a god, and they fall down and worship. They carry him on their shoulders, carrying and placing him in his place, and he will stand, and he will not be moved from his place. But when they cry out to him, he will not hear: he will not save them from distress. Listen to me, house of Jacob, and all the remnant of Israel who are carried from the womb, and be instructed from infancy to old age. I am, and until you grow old, I am: I will sustain you: I have made you, and I will carry you: I will support you, and I will make you safe. To whom do you liken me? See, consider those who go astray and compare gold from a bag, and silver in a scale, and hire a goldsmith. They make it into an idol, and they bow down and worship it. They lift it to their shoulders and carry it. If they place it in its rightful place, it stays and will not move. It cannot hear those who cry out to it, and it will not save them from their troubles. It is not called Jacob or Israel, as we have explained above, because it is inferior, the house of Jacob, and the remnant of Israel, due to their close relationship of flesh and blood, and they are like the waste and remnants of Israel. And it teaches that they were carried from Egypt as infants and sucklings, just as from God, as if from a mother's womb and the pregnant womb, they were carried. Not because the ineffable and incomprehensible majesty of God has a womb or a womb, feet, hands, and other members of the body; but that we may learn the affection of God through our words. Otherwise, the same is sung in the hundred and ninth psalm from the person of God. For in that place where the Seventy translated, 'From the womb before the morning star I begot you,' in the Hebrew script it has 'Merehem,' which is interpreted as 'from the womb.' But at present, not only is it written about the womb and the vulva, that is, Mebeten and Merehem but also Menni, which signifies 'from my womb' or 'from my vulva'. And the meaning is: I who have begotten you from infancy and carried you in my womb and vulva, I myself will protect you even until old age, not my own, but yours, so that divine mercy may teach them to be saved. For the Creator spares his creature, and the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep (John 10). But the hired hand, whose sheep are not his own, sees the wolf coming and flees. Therefore, because I have made and begotten children, I will bear and carry them myself. According to the Septuagint, which says: 'You who are carried from the womb, and are taught from infancy until old age,' this signifies that it is in vain for them to meditate on the law of God day and night, not having knowledge of God, but venerating the idols of humans and animals. To the extent that they require prophetic correction, by which God speaks to them: 'To whom have you made me similar and equal?' And the rest: what gold and silver they have brought, and what idols they have made by hiring a sculptor, and what works of their hands they have worshiped, which are carried on their shoulders, and which, when nailed and fixed, are unable to move, nor are they able to benefit those who worship them. We pass over the obvious things to uncover the closed mercy of Christ.
O Lord our God, under the shadow of your wings let us hope; defend us and support us. You will bear us up when we are little, and even down to our gray hairs you will carry us. For our stability, when it is in you, is stability indeed; but when it is in ourselves, then it is all unstable. Our good lives forever with you, and when we turn from you with aversion, we fall into our own perversion. Let us now, O Lord, return that we be not overturned, because with you our good lives without blemish—for our good is you yourself.
Woe to the audacious soul that hoped that by forsaking you it would find some better thing! It tossed and turned, on back and side and belly, but the bed is hard, and you alone give rest. Yet you are near. You deliver us from our wretched wanderings and establish us in your way. You comfort us and say, “Run, I will carry you. I will lead you home, and I will set you free.”
But since their heart was not responsive to his promptings, he predicted the evils to come so that they would be gradually troubled by these terrors and would cease their irregular and foul way of life.
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SUMMARY
Isaiah 46:4 is a profound declaration of God's unwavering faithfulness and comprehensive care for His people throughout their entire lifespan, from their creation to their advanced age. In stark contrast to the burdensome idols of Babylon, God presents Himself as the active, loving Sustainer who not only brought His people into existence but also promises to carry, bear, and ultimately deliver them through every season of life, affirming His unique sovereignty and unchanging nature.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Isaiah 46:4 employs several powerful literary devices to convey its message with profound impact. Parallelism is a dominant feature, particularly synonymous parallelism, where "to your old age" is precisely paralleled by "to hoar hairs," and the repeated promise "I will carry" is reinforced by "I will bear." This repetition emphasizes the enduring and comprehensive nature of God's commitment across the entire lifespan. The phrase "I am he" functions as a powerful declaration of Divine Self-Identification and Assertion of Sovereignty, linking back to earlier declarations in Isaiah and establishing God's unique, unchanging identity as the only true God. The vivid imagery of God "carrying" His people is a form of Anthropomorphism, attributing human actions to God to make His care relatable and tangible, highlighting His intimate involvement. Finally, the entire verse stands in stark Contrast to the preceding verses that describe idols being carried as burdensome, lifeless objects, thereby highlighting the fundamental difference between the living God who sustains His people and the impotent gods who are themselves burdens to their worshippers.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Isaiah 46:4 beautifully encapsulates the profound theological truth of God's unchanging nature and His unwavering covenant faithfulness. It reveals a God who is not merely a distant creator but an intimately involved Sustainer, whose commitment to His people extends from their inception to their very end. This divine constancy provides immense comfort, assuring believers that their security rests not on their strength or fleeting circumstances, but on the eternal character and power of the One who "has made" them and promises to "carry" and "deliver" them. This passage stands as a timeless testament to God's comprehensive providence, inviting His people to trust Him fully in every season of life, knowing that His past acts of creation guarantee His future acts of preservation and salvation.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Isaiah 46:4 offers profound solace and a firm foundation for trust in a world prone to change and uncertainty. It reminds us that God's commitment to us is not conditional on our youth, strength, or productivity, but flows from His unchanging nature as our Creator and Sustainer. For those in their "old age" or facing the vulnerabilities of declining health, this verse is a beacon of hope, assuring them that God's care intensifies precisely when human strength wanes. It challenges the cultural narrative that values productivity above all else, affirming the inherent worth of every individual at every stage of life, simply because they are God's creation. For all believers, it is an invitation to release our burdens and anxieties into His capable hands, knowing that the One who made us is fully capable of carrying us through every trial, every season, and ultimately delivering us. It calls us to a life of dependence, not self-sufficiency, finding our security and peace in His unwavering presence and power, and to extend similar compassion and care to those who are vulnerable around us.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Does this promise of God's carrying apply only to the elderly?
Answer: While the verse explicitly mentions "old age" and "hoar hairs," the broader context of Isaiah 46:3-4 indicates God's continuous care from birth ("carried from the womb") through all stages of life. The emphasis on old age highlights the comprehensive nature of His commitment, assuring His people that His faithfulness extends even to the most vulnerable and dependent stages. Therefore, the principle of God's sustaining and burden-bearing presence applies to believers of all ages, as He promises to be with us always, even to the end of the age Matthew 28:20.
What does it mean that God will "deliver" us? Is it only physical deliverance?
Answer: The term "deliver" (Hebrew: mâlaṭ) encompasses a broad range of rescue. While it can certainly include physical protection and salvation from immediate dangers, in the theological context of Isaiah, it also points to spiritual deliverance from sin, death, and exile. Ultimately, it refers to God's complete and final salvation of His people, securing their eternal well-being and bringing them into His presence, as seen in the ultimate deliverance offered through Christ Colossians 1:13. This deliverance is comprehensive, addressing both temporal struggles and eternal destiny.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Isaiah 46:4 finds its ultimate and most profound fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus Christ. The declaration "I am he" resonates deeply with Jesus' own "I AM" statements in the Gospel of John, where He identifies Himself as the very God of Israel who sustains and delivers John 8:58. Jesus, the incarnate God, literally "carried" humanity's burdens, not just in a figurative sense, but by taking on our flesh, our weaknesses, and ultimately, our sins. He is the Good Shepherd who "lays down His life for the sheep" John 10:11, bearing the weight of our transgressions on the cross Isaiah 53:4. Through His atoning sacrifice, He delivers us from the ultimate enemies: sin, death, and the power of the grave Hebrews 2:14-15. Just as God promised to carry His people to "hoar hairs," Christ promises to sustain His followers throughout their entire lives, guaranteeing that "no one will snatch them out of My hand" John 10:28. He is the one who bears our infirmities and carries our sorrows, offering rest to the weary and burdened Matthew 11:28. Thus, the ancient promise of Isaiah 46:4 is not merely a historical comfort but a living reality found in the continuous, loving, and powerful work of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who is "the same yesterday and today and forever" Hebrews 13:8.