Isaiah 39:5-7
5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord Almighty: 6 The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your predecessors have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the Lord. 7 And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood who will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”
In the subsequent chapters, Isaiah reveals God's promise to restore the people from Babylonian captivity.
Isaiah 46 now deals with the judgment of Babylon and addresses their idolatry.
In biblical history, Nebuchadnezzar is most famous for the conquering of Judah and the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem in 586 BC. Judah had become a tribute state to Babylon in 605 BC but rebelled in 597 BC during the reign of Jehoiachin and then again in 588 BC during the reign of Zedekiah. Tired of the rebellions, and seeing that Judah had not learned its lesson when he invaded, conquered, and deported Judah in 597, Nebuchadnezzar and his general, Nebuzaradan, proceeded to completely destroy the temple and most of Jerusalem, deporting most of the remaining residents to Babylon. In this, Nebuchadnezzar served as God’s instrument of judgment on Judah for its idolatry, unfaithfulness, and disobedience (Jeremiah 25:9). Secular history records Nebuchadnezzar as a brutal, powerful, and ambitious king, and the Bible, for the most part, agrees. However, the book of Daniel gives additional insight into his character. Daniel chapter 2 records God giving Nebuchadnezzar a dream about what kingdoms would arise after his own. In the dream, Nebuchadnezzar was a “head of gold” on a statue, with the descending parts of the body, comprised of silver, bronze, iron, and iron mixed with clay, representing the less powerful kingdoms that would come after him. Nebuchadnezzar demanded the astrologers and wise men to interpret his dream without him telling it to them and, when they were unable to, Nebuchadnezzar ordered all of the astrologers and wise men to be killed. Daniel spoke up and, through a miracle from God, interpreted Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. The king then promoted Daniel to be one of his most influential advisers. Interestingly, when Daniel interpreted his dream, Nebuchadnezzar declared, “Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery” (Daniel 2:47). In Daniel chapter 4, Nebuchadnezzar is given another dream by God. Daniel interpreted the dream for Nebuchadnezzar and informed him that the dream was a warning to the king to humble himself and recognize that his power, wealth, and influence were from God, not of his own making. Nebuchadnezzar did not heed the warning of the dream, so God judged him as the dream had declared. Nebuchadnezzar was driven insane for seven years. When the king’s sanity was restored, he finally humbled himself before God. In Daniel 4:3, Nebuchadnezzar declares, “How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion endures from generation to generation.” Nebuchadnezzar continued in Daniel 4:34–37, “For his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, ‘What have you done?’ … “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.” History also records Nebuchadnezzar being a follower of the Babylonian gods Nabu and Marduk. Is it possible that Nebuchadnezzar renounced these false gods and instead only worshipped the one true God? Yes, it is possible. If nothing else, Nebuchadnezzar became a henotheist, believing in many gods but worshipping only one God as supreme. Based on his words recorded in Daniel, it definitely seems like Nebuchadnezzar submitted himself to the one true God. Further evidence is the fact that God refers to Nebuchadnezzar as “my servant” three times in the book of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 25:9; 27:6; 43:10). |
Bel bows down, Nebo stoops low;
their idols are borne by beasts of burden.[a]
The images that are carried about are burdensome,
a burden for the weary.
Bel and Nebo were names of two false gods the idol-worshipping nations served. It is as if now God gets personal, “naming names” when it comes to idols; and now these false gods are brought low. These were the two most notable gods in Babylon. Bel is another spelling of Baal, the famous Phoenician god of Babylon. Nebo was another rendering of Nebuchadnezzar, the false Babylonian god of learning. The names of the pagan gods Bel and Nebo are familiar to us in the names Belshazzar and Nebuchadnezzar.
So although the Babylonian King (Nebuchadnezzar) recognized the God of Israel as "the God of gods and Lord of kings (Daniel 2:47), it was not in God's faithfulness that the Babylonian people chose to place their trust. They turned instead to that which cannot save — idols. The nation of Babylon continued to worship idols. And as Isaiah 46 points out, the idols themselves were carried off into captivity when Babylon was conquered by the Medes and Persians. These idols were so weighty they had to be transported by huge animals. They were most likely forged from a precious metal such as gold or silver.
This portion of Scripture displays the sharp contrast between two types of creatures: Those that are created by Almighty God, who is in ultimate control, sovereign and supreme, and those that are fashioned idols, made by human hands. Throughout the Old Testament, we see warnings for those who futilely place their trust in false idols that cannot save. (Isaiah 42:17; 45:20; Habakkuk 2:18) But it isn't just the ancient Israelites in the Old Testament who were warned about the dangers of such false worship; the New Testament also warns against idolatry. (1 Corinthians 10:14; Colossians 3:5; 1 John 5:21)
God sends a reminder in Isaiah 46:8-9
8 “Remember this, keep it in mind,
take it to heart, you rebels.
9 Remember the former things, those of long ago;
I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me.
How foolish we can be as mortals, supposing that anything can compare to Jehovah, the personal name of God used by the Hebrews in the Old Testament. God Himself poses the question in Isaiah 46:5, "To whom will you liken me and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be alike?" The answer is that there is no conjured-up deity that can ever compare to the one true God, no matter from what material they may be fashioned — even gold or silver. (Isaiah 46:6) Yet, we still often foolishly place our trust in human-made objects, current projects or important positions.
When we are tempted to place our trust in something — or someone — other than God, let's recall the ways He is unlike any other:
- He is omnipotent — all-powerful. (Genesis 18:14; Jeremiah 32:17; Luke 1:37)
- He is omniscient — all-knowing. (Isaiah 46:9-10)
- He is omnipresent — He is everywhere. (Psalm 139:7-10)
- He is immutable — He never changes. (Malachi 3:6)