God Will Carry You Through

Background

Faithlife Study Bible Chapter 46

who have been carried from the womb Yahweh has carried Israel from the beginning, even if they did not recognize His presence (see Deut 1:31).

46:4 Even to your old age I am he Yahweh carries His children from birth to death—the entire life cycle (compare Psa 71:18).

I myself will carry you, and I myself will support you, and I will save Contrasts with the idols who are themselves borne and carried by others and definitely cannot save (see Isa 46:1–2). This passage plays off the Hebrew words for “carry” and “save” to demonstrate the superiority of Yahweh over the idols.

Holman Concise Bible Commentary Deliverance of the Exiles (40:1–48:22)

Babylon’s idols would be carried away into captivity, unable to rescue themselves, let alone their worshipers. These useless idols were stationary and a burden to the animals that carried them. In contrast, God had always been active in Israel’s history and had, as it were, carried His people. He urged those exiles who remained rebellious in spirit to recall His past deeds and to recognize His sovereign hand at work in the career of Cyrus. For those who were willing to trust His promises, a new era was approaching.

Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary on the Bible Chapter 46

The heathen insulted the Jews, as if their idols Bel and Nebo were too hard for Jehovah. But their worshippers cannot help them; both the idols and the idolaters are gone into captivity. Let not God’s people be afraid of either. Those things from which ungodly men expect safety and happiness, will be found unable to save them from death and hell. The true God will never fail his worshippers. The history of the life of every believer is a kind of abstract of the history of Israel. Our spiritual life is upheld by his grace, as constantly as our natural life by his providence. And God will never leave them. The Author will be the Finisher of their well-being, when, by decays, they need help as much as in infancy. This promise to Israel, enfeebled and grown old as a nation, is applicable to every aged follower of Christ. When compassed about with infirmities, and perhaps those around begin to grow weary of you, yet I am He that I have promised to be, He that you would have me to be. I will bear you up; carry you on in your way, and carry you home at last. If we learn to trust in and love him, we need not be anxious about our remaining days or years; he will still provide for us and watch over us, both as the creatures of his power, and as new-created by his Spirit.

The Bible Panorama: Enjoying the Whole Bible with a Chapter-by-Chapter Guide Chapter Forty-Six

V 1–2: IMPOTENT IDOLS The idols of Babylon, Bel and Nebo, are a burden to carry. They will be captured when Babylon falls. V 3–4: CONTINUAL CARE Compare this with the God who upholds His people from birth to the grave. He carries and delivers them.

Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the Old Testament Chapters 40–66

These chapters describe the utter ruin of Babylon. When Isaiah spoke and wrote these words, Babylon was not yet a great world power. Some of the Jews must have wondered at his message. But Babylon did arise in power and did conquer Judah. Nevertheless, God would one day conquer Babylon, and her false gods would themselves be carried into captivity. Instead of the heathen gods carrying their people, the people would carry their gods (46:5–7). But God would carry His people (46:3–4) and bring salvation to Zion. The “ravenous bird” in 46:11 is Cyrus, of course. Read chapters 47–48 to see how God’s power would destroy the great nation of Babylon.

“Fear not” is God’s great promise to us as NT Christians. He is greater than Satan and this world, so we need not fear. He has a purpose for our lives, and He will fulfill it if we trust Him. He will pardon our sins and keep His promises.

A Commentary, Critical, Experimental, and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments, Vol. III: Job–Isaiah Chapter 46

3. In contrast to what precedes: Babylon’s idols, so far from bearing its people safely, are themselves borne off, a burden to the laden beast; but Jehovah bears His people in safety even from the womb to old age (ch. 63:9; Deut. 32:11; Ps. 71:6, 18). God compares Himself to a nurse, tenderly carrying a child; contrast Moses’ language, Num. 11:12. 4. (even) to (your) old age—as your … you … you, are not in the Hebrew, the sentiment is more general than the English version, though of course it includes the Jews from the infancy to the more advanced age of their history (ch. 47:6). I am he—i. e., the Same (Ps. 102:27; John 8:24; Heb. 13:8). I have made, and I will bear … carry … deliver. Not only do I not need to be borne and carried myself, as the idols (v. 1), but I will bear, carry, and deliver my people.

Isaiah 46:3–8 Jacob-Israel Carried by the Lord

The object lesson in 46:1–2 offers an opportunity for the Lord to address Jacob-Israel with a teaching about credible deity. The first part of the teaching focuses on the Lord’s disposition as a burden-bearer (46:3, 4). From cradle to grave, the Lord bears his people’s burdens. What does this mean? This burden-bearing centers on the Lord’s character as Creator and Redeemer. Creator and Redeemer are comprehensive terms that signify unmediated power. This imageless deity wields power that cannot be manipulated. The Lord is a free agent. Therefore humankind is not caught in the cross fire resulting from the intrigues and power struggles of gods in a pantheon.

An Exposition of the Old Testament, Vols. I–VI Chapter 46

Ver. 3. Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, &c.] The Jews, the descendants of Jacob: and all the remnant of the house of Israel; those that remained of the ten tribes that had been carried captive long ago. These may, in a spiritual sense, design those who are Israelites indeed; the household of the God of Jacob; the chosen of God, and called; the remnant according to the election of grace: which are borne by me from the belly, which are carried from the womb; here the Lord distinguishes himself from the idols of the Babylonians; they were laid as burdens upon beasts, and bore and carried by them; but the Lord is born and carried by none, but bears and carries his people. The allusion is to tender parents that have compassion on their children as soon as born, and take care of them, and bear them in their bosoms, and carry them in their arms; and may have respect, in the literal sense, to the infant state of the Jews, both as a church and commonwealth, when the Lord took pity on them, and care of them, and bore them as a father bears his son; and bore with their manners too, and carried them all the days of old through the wilderness to Canaan’s land; see Numb. 11:12; Deut. 1:31; Acts 13:18; Isa. 63:9. It may be applied to the care of God in the preservation of men by his providence, especially his own people, whose God he is from their mother’s belly; who takes them under his protection as soon as born, and carries them through every state of infancy, youth, manhood, and old age, and never leaves nor forsakes them; see Psal. 22:10 and 71:5, 6, 17, 18 and 48:14 and with great propriety may be applied to regenerate persons, who, as soon as born again, are regarded by the Lord in a very visible, tender, and compassionate manner; he bears them in his bosom, and on his heart; he bears them in his arms; he puts his everlasting arms underneath them; he bears with them, with all their weakness and infirmities, their peevishness and frowardness; he bears them up under all their afflictions, and sustains all their burdens; he bears them through and out of all their troubles and difficulties: he carries them, in like manner, in his bosom, and in his arms; he carries them into his house, the church, which is the nursery for them, where they are nursed and fed, and have the breasts of consolation drawn out to them; he carries on the good work of grace in them; he carries them through all their trials and exercises safe to heaven and eternal happiness; for they are poor, weak, helpless creatures, like new-born babes, can’t go alone, but must be bore up and carried.

Ver. 4. And even to your old age I am he, &c.] The same he ever was, the eternal and unchangeable Jehovah; the same in his love and affections; in his sympathy and care; in his power and protection; in his promises, truth, and faithfulness to his people, in their last days, as at the first moment of their conversion; and therefore they are safe; see Psal. 102:27; Mal. 3:6: and even to hoar hairs will I carry you; which is doing more than the most tender parent does, or can, or need to do! God won’t leave his people in the decline of life, when pressing infirmities are upon them, and they stand in as much need as ever of being bore up, supported, and carried: wherefore it follows, I have made; these persons, not merely as creatures, but as new creatures; they are formed for myself; they are my sons and daughters, the works of my hands: I have an interest in them, therefore I will bear, even I will carry; from the first of their regeneration, to their entrance into glory; see the note on ver. 3. And will deliver you; out of all affliction; out of all temptations; out of the hand of every enemy; from a final and total falling away; from a body of sin and death; from death eternal, and wrath to come; and even at last from the grave and all corruption.

Through the Bible Day by Day: A Devotional Commentary, Volumes I–VII $50. God’s Salvation Shall Not Tarry (Isaiah 46)

Isaiah 46. Here is a startling contrast! Babylon is broken up. An invading army of stern monotheists have slain the idolatrous priests at their altars and are engaged in carrying out the idols for the bonfire. And as the Jewish remnant is witnessing the extraordinary spectacle, they are reminded that their God does not require to be borne. Nay, on the contrary he has borne his people from the earliest days and will continue to bear them till the heavens have passed away.

The contrast is a perpetual one. Some people carry their religion; others are carried by it. Some are burdened by minute prescriptions and an external ritual; others yield themselves to God, to be borne by him in old age as they were in the helplessness of childhood. They are persuaded that he will bear them “as a man doth bear his son,” in all the way that they go, until they come to the prepared place. See Deut. 1:31; Isa. 63:9. God immediately responds to a trust like that, and his salvation does not tarry.

CSB Study Bible: Notes Chapter 46

46:3–4 The remnant were those Israelites who would survive the coming judgment. God had carried (sustained) his people from their birth.

Isaiah 46:3-4. Hearken, &c., all the remnant of the house of Israel — All that remain of the twelve tribes. He terms them a remnant, either because the ten tribes were already carried into captivity by Shalmaneser, or because he addresses that remnant of the two tribes, which he foresaw would return from Babylon; which are borne by me, &c. — Whom I have nourished and cared for from time to time, ever since you were a people, and came out of Egypt, and that as affectionately and tenderly as parents bring up their own children. Even to hoar hairs will I carry you — That kindness which I have shown you, and that care which I have taken of you, I will continue to you to the end, never forsaking you, unless you wilfully and obstinately cast me off; which the Jews did when their Messiah came. I have made you, and will carry, and deliver you — You are my workmanship, both as you are men, and as you are my peculiar people; and therefore I will preserve and deliver you. The reader will observe, that the prophet here “very ingeniously, and with great force, contrasts the power of God, and his tender goodness effectually exerted toward his people with the inability of the false gods of the heathen: he, like an indulgent father, had carried his people, in his arms, ‘as a man carrieth his son,’

Hearken unto me - From this view of the captive gods, the address is now turned to the Jews. The utter vanity of the idols had been set before them; and in view of that, God now addresses his own people, and entreats them to put their trust in him. The address he commences with words of great tenderness and endearment, designed to lead them to confide in him as their Father and friend.

And all the remnant - All who were left from slaughter, and all who were borne into captivity to Babylon. The language here is all full of tenderness, and is suited to inspire them with confidence in God. The idols of the pagan, so far from being able to protect their worshippers, were themselves carried away into ignoble bondage, but Yahweh was himself able to carry his people, and to sustain them.

Which are borne by me - Like an indulgent father, or a tender nurse, he had carried them from the very infancy of their nation. The same image occurs in Deuteronomy 1:31 : 'And in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how that the Lord thy God bare thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came into thins place.' A similar figure occurs in Exodus 19:4 : 'Ye have seen, how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself' (so Deuteronomy 32:11-12; compare Numbers 11:12; Isaiah 63:9). All this here stands opposed to the idols of the Babylonians. They were unable to protect their people. They were themselves made captive. But God had shown the part of a father and a protector to his people in all times. He had sustained and guided them; he had never forsaken them; he had never, like the idol-gods, been compelled to leave them in the power of their enemies. From the fact that he had always, even from the infancy of their nation, thus protected them, they are called on to put their trust in him.

Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob,.... The Jews, the descendants of Jacob:

and all the remnant of the house of Israel; those that remained of the ten tribes that had been carried captive long ago. These may, in a spiritual sense, design those who are Israelites indeed; the household of the God of Jacob; the chosen of God, and called; the remnant according to the election of grace:

which are borne by me from the belly, which are carried from the womb: here the Lord distinguishes himself from the idols of the Babylonians; they were laid as burdens upon beasts, and bore and carried by them; but the Lord is born and carried by none, but bears and carries his people. The allusion is to tender parents that have compassion on their children as soon as born, and take care of them, and bear them in their bosoms, and carry them in their arms; and may have respect, in the literal sense, to the infant state of the Jews, both as a church and commonwealth, when the Lord took pity on them, and care of them, and bore them as a father bears his son; and bore with their manners too, and carried them all the days of old through the wilderness to Canaan's land; see Numbers 11:12. It may be applied to the care of God in the preservation of men by his providence, especially his own people, whose God he is from their mother's belly; who takes them under his protection as soon as born, and carries them through every state of infancy, youth, manhood, and old age, and never leaves nor forsakes them; see Psalm 22:10, and with great propriety may be applied to regenerate persons, who, as soon as born again, are regarded by the Lord in a very visible, tender, and compassionate manner; he "bears" them in his bosom, and on his heart; he bears them in his arms; he puts his everlasting arms underneath them; he bears with them, with all their weakness and infirmities, their peevishness and frowardness; he bears them up under all their afflictions, and sustains all their burdens; he bears them through and out of all their troubles and difficulties: he "carries" them, in like manner, in his bosom, and in his arms; he "carries" them into his house, the church, which is the nursery for them, where they are nursed and fed, and have the breasts of consolation drawn out to them; he carries on the good work of grace in them; he carries them through all their trials and exercises safe to heaven and eternal happiness; for they are poor, weak, helpless creatures, like newly born babes, cannot go alone, but must be bore up and carried.

Verses 3-8. - AN ADMONITION TO ISRAEL. Israel should learn from the fate of the Babylonian idols to trust in Jehovah, who can and will deliver them, rather than in gods of gold and silver, which can give no aid, either to themselves or others. Verse 3. - All the remnant of the house of Israel. The address is not to those who had remained faithful of the ten tribes (as Delitzsch supposes), but to the captives of Babylon, designated in these later chapters indifferently as "Jacob" or "Israel" (Isaiah 40:27; Isaiah 41:8, 14; Isaiah 42:24; Isaiah 43:1, 28; Isaiah 44:1, 21, 23; Isaiah 45:4, etc.), never as "Judah," and constantly mentioned as a "remnant" - all that was left of the oppressed and down-trodden nation (see Isaiah 1:9; Isaiah 10:20-22; Isaiah 11:16. etc.). Borne by me. Carried in the everlasting arms, as a child in the arms of its nurse or mother (comp. Isaiah 63:9). From the belly... from the womb. From the very beginning of the national existence. Isaiah 46:3

From this approaching reduction of the gods of Babylon to their original nothingness, several admonitions are now derived. The first admonition is addressed to all Israel. "Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel: ye, lifted up from the womb; ye, carried from the mother's lap! And till old age it is I, and to grey hair I shall bear you on my shoulder: I have done it, and I shall carry; and I put upon my shoulder, and deliver. To whom can ye compare me, and liken, and place side by side, that we should be equal?" The house of Jacob is Judah here, as in Obadiah 1:18 (see Caspari on the passage), Nahum 2:3, and the house of Israel the same as the house of Joseph in Obadiah; whereas in Amos 3:13; Amos 6:8; Amos 7:2, Jacob stands for Israel, in distinction from Judah. The Assyrian exile was earlier than the Babylonian, and had already naturalized the greater part of the exiles in a heathen land, and robbed them of their natural character, so that there was only a remnant left by whom there was any hope that the prophet's message would be received. What the exiles of both houses were to hear was the question in Isaiah 46:5, which called upon them to consider the incomparable nature of their God, as deduced from what Jehovah could say of Himself in relation to all Israel, and what He does say from העמסים onwards. Babylon carried its idols, but all in vain: they were carried forth, without being able to save themselves; but Jehovah carried His people, and saved them. The expressions, "from the womb, and from the mother's lap," point back to the time when the nation which had been in process of formation from the time of Abraham onwards came out of Egypt, and was born, as it were, into the light of the world. From this time forward it had lain upon Jehovah like a willingly adopted burden, and He had carried it as a nurse carries a suckling (Numbers 11:12), and an eagle its young (Deuteronomy 32:11). In Isaiah 46:4 the attributes of the people are carried on in direct (not relative) self-assertions on the part of Jehovah. The senectus and canities are obviously those of the people - not, however, as though it was already in a state of dotage (as Hitzig maintains, appealing erroneously to Isaiah 47:6), but as denoting the future and latest periods of its history. Even till then Jehovah is He, i.e., the Absolute, and always the same (see Isaiah 41:4). As He has acted in the past, so will He act at all times - supporting and saving His people. Hence He could properly ask, Whom could you place by the side of me, so that we should be equal? (Vav consec. as in Isaiah 40:25).