Isa 46:5

Isa 46:5  To whom will ye liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like?                                                                               In Isaiah 46, God called on Israel to make a comparison between Him and the gods of Babylon: “To whom will ye liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like?” (v.5). The gods of Babylon mentioned were Bel and Nebo (v.1). Bel and Nebo are familiar to us in the names Belshazzar (Daniel 5:1) and Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 2:1). Belshazzar means “Bel protects the king”. Nebuchadnezzar means “Nebo protects the crown”. King Nebuchadnezzar changed Daniel’s name to “Belteshazzar”, a name attached to Bel (Daniel 1:7). Belteshazzar means “Bel protects his life.” But Bel and Nebo could not protect the kings. Isaiah paints a gloomy picture of the Babylonians taken into captivity (v.1-2). And Bel and Nebo went together with them. And these two gods could not even walk by themselves; they had to be carried. They were a burden to their worshippers and to the weary beasts. In comparison, the true God will carry His people: "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; 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” (v.3, 4, ESV). False gods like Bel and Nebo will certainly fail their worshippers when they have most need of them. But, the true God will never fail His worshippers. When the children of Israel were in bondage in Egypt, God delivered them: “Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself” (Exodus 19:4). God carried them on eagles’ wings. In today’s terminology, they took a plane out of Egypt; God was the airplane. The challenge is for us too: “To whom will ye liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like?” (v.5). When we begin to understand more about the God we serve and worship, we will come to the conclusion that He cannot be likened to another, or made equal with another: “Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me” (v.9). There is none other like Jehovah God. God wants us to “remember the former things of old.” What are the former things of old we must remember? 1. History of the Israelite Nation. No religion knows more about the one they worship than the Christian faith. The Bible reveals the character and working of God. The wonderful things that He had done that were recorded in the Bible serve to help us in our faith: “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope” (Romans 15:4). The history of God’s chosen people and how God dealt with them serves to comfort and encourage us and strengthen our hope. 2. Our Own History. We are constantly reminded to count our blessings. Oftentimes, we forget how we arrive at this point in our lives. If it were not because God loves us, probably some of us would be dead by now. I don’t know about you, but when I look back to those years, I’m amazed that God would love such a person like me. Hence, when we bother to look back to those years, we will confess that Jehovah is the true God: “It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22, 23). Great is His faithfulness! He is beyond comparison; there is none like Him. Great is our God.