46 Bel has bowed down, Nebo stoops over;
Their images are consigned to the beasts and the cattle.
The things [a]that you carry are burdensome,
A load for the weary beast.
2 They stooped over, they have bowed down together;
They could not rescue the burden,
But [b]have themselves gone into captivity.3 “Listen to Me, O house of Jacob,
And all the remnant of the house of Israel,
You who have been borne by Me from [c]birth
And have been carried from the womb;
4 Even to your old age I [d]will be the same,
And even to your [e]graying years I will bear you!
I have [f]done it, and I will carry you;
And I will bear you and I will deliver you.5 “To whom would you liken Me
And make Me equal and compare Me,
That we would be alike?
6 “Those who lavish gold from the purse
And weigh silver on the scale
Hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god;
They bow down, indeed they worship it.
7 “They lift it upon the shoulder and carry it;
They set it in its place and it stands there.
It does not move from its place.
Though one may cry to it, it cannot answer;
It cannot deliver him from his distress.8 “Remember this, and be [g]assured;
Recall it to [h]mind, you transgressors.
9 “Remember the former things long past,
For I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is no one like Me,
10 Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things which have not been done,
Saying, ‘My purpose will be established,
And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’;
11 Calling a bird of prey from the east,
The man of [i]My purpose from a far country.
Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass.
I have planned it, surely I will do it.12 “Listen to Me, you stubborn-minded,
Who are far from righteousness.
13 “I bring near My righteousness, it is not far off;
And My salvation will not delay.
And I will grant salvation in Zion,
And My glory for Israel.
As with many other passages, we have a great contrast in this chapter. In the first couple verses, we have a picture of the idols of Bel and Nebo. Then in the following verses they are compared to God himself. Afterward, it goes back and forth a bit, but let’s take a look at Bel and Nebo first.
Their idols are too heavy to be carried by men, so the people load them up on cattle. Even then, we see in v. 2 that the beasts stumble and are bowed low. In the end, the people and the cattle go away into captivity, and their gods are of no help whatsoever.
How then is God different? After all, He plans to actually send the Israelites into captivity for their rebellion, so they all end up the same right? God was with His people from the very beginning, and even still was carrying them and watching out for them. When God foretold of sending them to captivity, He already had a plan to rescue them and deliver them.
And even in that day, all they had to do was turn back to God. In verse 13 God tells them plainly, “I’m right here, not off in some distant land.” Likewise are we, God does not expect us to make retribution for our sins, to clean up our act prior to returning to Him–because we cannot possibly do any of that on our own.
It is only an act of God that can cleanse us, so that it is not of our own doing. Unlike the false gods of their day, and all the false gods of our own, we do not bear the burden (of any sort). God instead invites us to “cast our cares upon Him… for He cares for you.” Woah, that’s a contrast indeed! None of this world, and certainly not God, rests on our shoulders.
Even the burdens we do bear, we need not, for He will carry us and them together. Don’t fall into the trap of trying to carry a heavy load that is not yours to carry. For some of us, our stubborn minds resist outside help, but that’s not the way it ought to be. Trust God with all of it, and put your life into His hands–because He does indeed care for you, more than we can comprehend.