Isaiah 46 - Why So Much About Idols?

Bel bows down; Nebo stoops; their idols are on beasts and livestock; these things you carry are borne as burdens on weary beasts. 2 They stoop; they bow down together; they cannot save the burden, but themselves go into captivity. 3 “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; 4 even 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. 5 “To whom will you liken me and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be alike? 6 Those who lavish gold from the purse, and weigh out silver in the scales, hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god; then they fall down and worship! 7 They lift it to their shoulders, they carry it, they set it in its place, and it stands there; it cannot move from its place. If one cries to it, it does not answer or save him from his trouble. 8 “Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, 9 remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, 10 declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’ 11 calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it. 12 “Listen to me, you stubborn of heart, you who are far from righteousness: 13 I bring near my righteousness; it is not far off, and my salvation will not delay; I will put salvation in Zion, for Israel my glory.” - Isaiah 46:1–13

Sermon Text:

This morning I would like for us to take a look at the 46th chapter of Isaiah.

Although we read the text in our Old Testament reading, I would like to read it again as we begin our meditation on it:

[Read ISAIAH 46]

Some of you may be thinking “Why is this preacher dealing with another passage on the futility of idols?”

“Why didn’t he just combine them all into one message that we could summarize ‘Idols are bad’?”

Like the story that’s told of the old president, ‘Silent’ Calvin Coolidge, who came home from church one day. His wife asked him, “What did the preacher preach on?”

“Sin,” he told her.

“Well, what did he have to say about it?” she asked.

“He’s against it.”

To me, the bigger question we will consider this morning is why God talks so much about idols.

I don’t think there is any good way to count how many times in the Bible idolatry is mentioned:

Whether it is by name, like the false gods Isaiah calls out here, or the Canaanite gods, or the Egyptian gods, or the general reference to idolatry.

I think we are really safe to say it is a much bigger deal than we modern people give it credit for.

To be honest, I really had a little trouble understanding which of the Ten Commandments, the core of God’s moral law, the idolatry Isaiah is discussing here breaks.

The first commandment: You shall have no other gods in my presence.

Or the second: You shall not make for yourselves an image or carving to worship or bow down to it.

I had forgotten, but there is even a difference in the way other Christian traditions number the Ten Commandments:

Beginning with Augustine, the Roman Catholic church and then the Lutherans combine these first two commandments into a single commandment.

If you’re interested, to make them still equal Ten, they end up splitting the tenth commandment into two.

All that to say, it is one of those theological difficulties where to separate the two commandments,

Especially since after the Second Commandment, in Exodus 20:4, we get this verse:

You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who [scorn] me, - Exodus 20:5

This verse, I think, sums up God’s response to BOTH the first two commandments, tying them together under the same holy response.

“I am a JEALOUS God…”

There is no image that it is acceptable to God that we worship.

There is NOTHING, even things that dwell only in our hearts or imaginations, that God will allow us to love beside Him.

To us modern people, when we think of idolatry, we tend to think about some carved image, a thing, that people may worship;

But the real offense of all idolatry is the elevation of something besides God to our love and devotion.

In his Baptist Catechism, Hercules Collins has this question and answer :

Question 105: What is idolatry?

Answer: Idolatry is having or inventing something in which one trusts in place of or alongside of the only true God, who has revealed himself in his Word.

1 Chron. 16:26 – For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the Lord made the heavens.

But getting back to the original question, haven’t we moved past idolatry in our day?

After all, atheism seems like a much bigger problem today than idolatry.

Sure, there are a lot of people who worship false gods: Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Mormons, and many others.

But doesn’t it seem more likely we would run into someone who would just tell us flat out that they don’t believe in ANY god?

And right here in the middle of the Bible Belt, do we really need to hear about idolatry as much as the Holy Spirit mentions it in His word?

We’re not guilty of idolatry, are we?

We don’t bow down to images, or hold anything in our hearts that competes with the true God, do we?

We never trust anything besides God for our protection, do we?

We would never devote our lives to anyone else’s glory but God’s, would we?

Beloved, idolatry is alive and well today, thriving just as strong as it ever was.

What is an atheist but someone who worships a pathetic god, himself?

And who is there here who is not constantly tempted to trust in something or someone other than the one, true God for something, great or small?

Idolatry is attractive to us because it scratches that itch in Adam’s children: YOU will be like God.

“You can decide for yourself what is right and wrong.”

Even when people worship obviously false gods, calling them gods, they are drawn to them because THEY choose THEIR OWN god.

They listen to the Tempter’s voice when he tells them “You can choose your own god, any one you want.”

People are uncomfortable with a Real God who REALLY CHOOSES people.

Who looks at the mass, and mess, of His creation and calls His people out by name.

Calling them out from the present evil age.

How many will proclaim God’s sovereign election UNFAIR, but then excuse their choice of another god, a figment of their own imagination, and not see they might be offending the REAL God?

Or decide how the God of the Bible SHOULD act, if He is to be truly good or just or holy.

Listen to God’s challenge in verse 5 of our passage today:

To whom will you liken me and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be alike?

What, in your greatest imagination, in your wildest dreams, in your most holy moments,

What could you conceive of that would be for a single second worthy to be compared to the true God?

Our very language, our best descriptions of Him, are, at best, woefully and sinfully inadequate.

What adjective can you use of God that has not been cheapened by use to describe other, lesser things?

Awesome? That word is pathetic. It used to mean something that inspires awe by its very power;

Now, a movie or a song is awesome!

Good? We don’t even consider “good” something good any more.

It may be good, but it’s not the “best”.

We should praise Him with all our heart – I am not saying we shouldn’t.

But even when we sing or speak His praises, even those words and moments require God’s mercy on us.

Even our praise reeks of our own selfishness, and so is brought to God through Jesus Christ, our great High Priest.

You and I, though given all eternity, will never be acceptable to God apart from Jesus Christ.

You get the idea, I hope: God is so good, so holy, so loving, so just, that we can’t even adequately describe Him.

We can’t build a mental model of Him, and to try to build one becomes – again – idolatry.

It becomes us looking to a god we can understand, who we can conceive.

Idolatry, then, is simply us looking to those things we like and admire and perhaps understand.

It is building for ourselves a god that ticks all the boxes of what WE think a god should be.

It is, at its heart, self-worship.

And that is why atheists are idolaters also.

And I would suggest to you that every sin we commit, from the smallest to the most heinous, connect in some way to idolatry.

Worshipping an image says “I will choose who I will worship.”

Idolatry says to the third commandment: “I will use God’s name any way I like.”

Idolatry says to the fourth: “My time is mine alone, and I share it the way I choose.”

It says to the fifth (honor your father and mother): “I will choose the ones I will submit to.”

To the sixth (you shall not murder): “I will hold life and death in my own hands.”

To the seventh (you shall not commit adultery): “I will use anyone I choose.”

To the eighth (you shall not steal): “I will take anything I like.”

To the ninth (you shall not bear false witness): “I will decide what the ‘truth’ is.”

And to the tenth (you shall not covet): “I know what I need better than God does.”

So for the believer, we must be constantly on guard against idols in our own life.

Paul, writing to the beloved Philippians, begs them:

Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. 18 For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. 4:1 Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved. - Philippians 3:17–4:1

Their god is their belly – their physical lusts –

And their minds are set on earthly things.

Beloved, never let that be true of you.

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. - Matthew 6:24

But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. 4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. 5 For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. - Ephesians 5:3–5

So why does God give us so many warnings against idolatry?

Because it is the most subtle and basic sin we are subject to.

In his first epistle, the apostle John ends with a statement that seems to come out of nowhere.

Little children, keep yourselves from idols. - 1 John 5:21

The final statement of the letter, coming, it seems, from out of the blue.

But without going point by point through the entire letter this morning, I invite you to spend some time reading it this week.

As you do, take note of the sins and warnings and exhortations he makes throughout the letter,

And notice how each sin carries us away from God and toward the elevation of the things of this world.

The lusts of this world.

The spirit of this world.

And I think you will see it is not an abrupt ending, but the most fitting summary of everything he has said in the five chapters.

Keep yourselves from idols.

Guard your heart like a watchman, never resting in looking after where your affections truly lie.

A little leaven will work its way through the whole lump.

So elevating ANYTHING, even those things that are very good, to compete with our love and devotion for God is to raise an idol in our hearts.

One of the most difficult commands of Jesus is found in Matthew 10:37ff:

Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. - Matthew 10:37–39

We try way after way to blunt the point of that divine scalpel.

We add words; we redefine the meaning of some.

Luke, in his gospel, inspired by the same Holy Spirit, ramps up the words even more:

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. - Luke 14:26–27

The meaning of both are the same: God hasn’t changed. He STILL will not have the loyalties of His people who He has called to Himself divided.

He still will not allow us to make an idol even of our beloved family members, whether parent or spouse or child.

We love them – we see that in many places in Scripture – but our devotion to anyone must never step alongside our devotion to God.

How can we do that? How can we love our families in the way that God commands, but without making idols of them for ourselves?

By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17 But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. - 1 John 3:16–18

Love your family deeply, sacrificially – but never forget whose commands you follow.

It is He who has taught us what it means to love each other in the first place.

Without Him, what passes for love in this world doesn’t help anyone.

The living God has called you, saved you, and He is the one whose commands you must follow.

It is He we will all stand before in judgment; it is He who is our Master.

And it is He who loved us so much that, in the words of J. I. Packer:

He moved heaven and earth to save sinners who could not lift a finger to save themselves.

It is God who, if you are in Christ, has made you alive through His Spirit.

That is the key to it all, isn’t it?

Any idol you make – idea, person, or image – cannot ultimately do what you need.

All a person can do ultimately is disappoint you if you elevate them to such a lofty position in your heart.

But this is what God tells His people in our passage today:

[you] have been borne by me from before your birth, carried from the womb; 4 even 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. – vv. 3b-4

An idol is simply a burden YOU carry; God says “I will carry YOU.”

He has carried you from before you were born, and He will not forsake you to the day you lay down this body.

And He assures us: I will carry and will SAVE.

How can you be saved by the REAL God, the true God of the Bible?

Call out to Him in repentance, leaving behind your old, self-directed life, and trusting Him to save you.

Discover what it means to lay your burdens down, to find the hope and assurance only the true God can give.

And know He gives it freely, lovingly, to all who come to Him in faith.

Target Date: Sunday, 30 March 2025

Word Study/ Translation Notes:

Greek – idolatry - ĕidōlŏlatrĕia, i-do-lol-at-ri´-ah; from 1497 and 2999; image-worship (lit. or fig.):— idolatry.

1 Corinthians 10:14 - exhortation

Galatians 5:20 – list of sins

Colossians 3:5 – covetousness is idolatry

1 Peter 4:3 – list of sins

Greek – idols - ĕidōlŏn, i´-do-lon; from 1491; an image (i.e. for worship); by impl. a heathen god, or (plur.) the worship of such:— idol.

Acts 7:41 – past idolatry

Acts 15:20 – instruction to keep from things polluted by idols

Romans 2:22 – you abhor idols…

1 Corinthians 8:4, 7 – idol has no real existence

1 Corinthians 10:19 – idol is not a real god

1 Corinthians 12:2 – in the past

2 Corinthians 6:16 - exhortation

1 Thessalonians 1:9 – in the past

1 John 5:21 - exhortation

Revelation 9:20 – sounds like Isaiah

Greek – idolatrous offering - ĕidōlŏthutŏn, i-do-loth´-oo-ton; neut. of a compound of 1497 and a presumed der. of 2380; an image-sacrifice, i.e. part of an idolatrous offering:— (meat, thing that is) offered (in sacrifice, sacrificed) to (unto) idols.

Acts 15:29 – instruction

Acts 21:25 – instruction

1 Corinthians 8:1, 4, 7, 10 – food sacrificed to idols

1 Corinthians 10:19 – food sacrificed to idols

Revelation 2:14 – Pergamum’s sin – eat food sacrificed to idols

Revelation 2:20 – Thyatira’s sin – tolerating Jezebel who convinces people to eat idolatrous offerings.

2 – themselves - nephesh, neh’-fesh; from 5314; prop. a breathing creature, i.e. animal of (abstr.) vitality; used very widely in a lit., accommodated or fig. sense (bodily or ment.):— any, appetite, beast, body, breath, creature, × dead (-ly), desire, × [dis-] contented, × fish, ghost, + greedy, he, heart (-y), (hath, × jeopardy of) life (× in jeopardy), lust, man, me, mind, mortally, one, own, person, pleasure, (her-, him-, my-, thy-) self, them (your)-selves, + slay, soul, + tablet, they, thing, (× she) will, × would have it.

In the context, this looks like it speaks of the worshippers of the idols, the ones the idols were not able to save.

but themselves, &c., Heb. their souls; for although the soul is here put for the person, as it commonly is, yet that title is never given to any idol or lifeless thing, but only to such creatures as have or had souls within their bodies. So the meaning of this and the foregoing verse is this, that neither the Babylonians nor their idols could either save themselves or one another, but both are bowed down and gone into captivity together.

Thoughts on the Passage:

1 - These were not only the most prominent of the Babylonian gods but also especially appropriate for the prophet’s diatribe because their images were carried in the annual New Year’s Festival procession in Babylon. This picture of the worshipers carrying their gods would fit in well with the point the prophet is trying to make in this section (see also v. 7).

“And on that day, declares the Lord of hosts, I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, so that they shall be remembered no more. And also I will remove from the land the prophets and the spirit of uncleanness. - Zechariah 13:2

“But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked; you grew fat, stout, and sleek; then he forsook God who made him and scoffed at the Rock of his salvation. 16 They stirred him to jealousy with strange gods; with abominations they provoked him to anger. 17 They sacrificed to demons that were no gods, to gods they had never known, to new gods that had come recently, whom your fathers had never dreaded. 18 You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you, and you forgot the God who gave you birth. - Deuteronomy 32:15–18

Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” 3 Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases. 4 Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. 5 They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. 6 They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell. 7 They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in their throat. 8 Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them. 9 O Israel, trust in the Lord! He is their help and their shield. - Psalm 115:2–9

The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands. 16 They have mouths, but do not speak; they have eyes, but do not see; 17 they have ears, but do not hear, nor is there any breath in their mouths. 18 Those who make them become like them, so do all who trust in them. 19 O house of Israel, bless the Lord! O house of Aaron, bless the Lord! - Psalm 135:15–19

Collins’ Catechism: Question 105: What is idolatry?

Answer: Idolatry is having or inventing something in which one trusts in place of or alongside of the only true God, who has revealed himself in his Word. (a)(a) 1 Chron. 16:26; Gal. 4:8-9; Eph. 5:5; Phil. 3:19

Keach: Q. 52. What is required in the first commandment?

A. The first commandment requires us to know and acknowledge God to be the only true God, and our God, and to worship and glorify Him accordingly. (Joshua 24:15; 1 Chron. 28:9; Deut. 26:17; Ps. 29:2; Matt. 4:10)

Q. 53. What is forbidden in the first commandment?

A. The first commandment forbids the denying, or not worshipping and glorifying the true God, as God and our God; and the giving that worship and glory to any other, which is due unto Him alone. (Joshua 24:27; Rom. 1:20-21; Ps. 14:1; Rom. 1:25)

Q. 54. What are we especially taught by these words, “before me,” in the first commandment?

A. These words, “before me,” in the first commandment, teach us, that God, who sees all things, takes notice of, and is much displeased with the sin of having any other God. (Deut.30:17-18; Ps. 44:20-21; Ps. 90:8)

2 – themselves go into captivity – It is ambiguous whether this speaks of the idols or the people who bow down to them.

If the idols, it is odd to speak of them in “captivity” rather than exile. Can a piece of stone or wood be held captive?

If the people, the captivity makes sense, but the subject seems to change.

The most plausible explanation is the identification of the worshippers with the god – thus the pronoun points to those who bow before these useless lumps. The ones who pow become, in effect, the one they bow to.

3-4 - Far from a deity who is continuous with creation requiring to be carried in ritual procession, the Lord is the one who, precisely because he is not part of creation (40:21–23), has been able to carry Israel throughout her historical experience.

4 – There will never come a time where we will not need God to carry us – we will always need Him.

There also will never be a time when we outgrow God, where He needs us in any way. Our lives on earth have this cycle – parents move to old age and must be cared for. But God will always care for us.

I AM HE…

5 – When we compare God to anything, we insult Him. When we consider something as lovely as Him, we insult Him.

What can compare to His perfect holiness, His goodness?

Who can approach His perfect justice?

Who can love as He loves?

5 – Covetousness (Colossians 3:5-7) is idolatry because it is an offense and rejection against God’s provision, an elevation of our own ideas of what we should have. They manifest our own selfishness and pride.

Why would a person want to serve an imaginary god that approves all his ideals, rather than the true God who is always holy and right, good and just?

This figment of his own imagination may not approve of all he does, calling him to greater ideals and the better part of himself.

It may not, even in his delusion, be entirely satisfied with the person.

The person might even this themselves better for having these ideals.

That is the heart of philosophy and the modern psychology: to make the person into the best person they can be, regardless of their devotion to God.

They are measured only against themselves, never against God’s holy standard – for who can meet that one?

We have deified self-esteem at the expense of God-worship – for who can approach a true, holy God and not realize how unholy they are?

Recognizing a god (Real or imaginary):

Where do you turn in trouble?

Who dictates the standard you live by?

From whom do you seek assurance for the future?

What is worth sacrificing your life for?

What changes the way you live?

What is the Good News of this passage – Where is Jesus Christ? (if you can’t answer this question, are you finished?)

God has revealed Himself in the incomparable Son, Jesus Christ.

Teachings:

How heavy indeed to carry a burden we were never designed or created to bear – the place of God Himself. We are unequal to the task of control, wisdom, and goodness. Our power is weakness; our need far exceeds our supply.

What do we learn about God/ Jesus/ Holy Spirit?

Applications:

For the Christian:

For the Backslidden:

For the Unconverted:

Primary Preaching Point:

Building Points:

[on even numbered page]

MORNING PRAYER:

Adoration:

Almighty God and everlasting King.

Confession:

Forgive us our pride, and the loathsome lengths to which we will go to support our fleshly vanity.

Thanksgiving:

In You we find our only hope, both in this life and in eternity joined with Christ Jesus.

Petition:

We beg that You subdue the power of our sins by Your Holy Spirit.

Intercession: (also beyond our local)

We pray that Your peace would reign anew on the earth: