Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Isaiah+046
Chapter 46 (ESV)
1 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,
REFLECTION:
- Silence – Read/Listen – Meditate – Pray – Contemplate
- What is the word or phrase that touches you today as you read and meditate on this passage?
- Bel & Nebo were the names of two principal gods in Babylon. Do you notice the contrast between the idol’s burdens (verses 1-2) and the Lord (verses 3-4)?
- What is your emotion as you read this passage, comparing the burdens of the idols and God as your father carrying you when you were weak? Or as a strong man sustaining you when you were tired? Or as a warrior rescuing you when you were trapped?
- How is that related to your current situation? What does God tell you to do?
PRAYER:
Stay with God for a little longer. Continue to converse with God and listen to what He wants to tell you. Then write down any thought and/or prayer in your spiritual journal.
HYMN:
You Are My All In All – youtu.be/zC617kE1maU
