In today's passage the Lord compares idols---useless blocks of wood or cast metal---to Himself---the living God.
He specifically names two idols of Babylon. "Bel bows down, Nebo stoops low; their idols are borne by beasts of burden. The images that are carried about are burdensome, a burden for the weary. They stoop and bow down together; unable to rescue the burden, they themselves go into captivity." (Isaiah 46:1-2) Idols have to be moved from place to place: on the backs of pack animals, by cart, by human hands. They are nothing but a heavy weight. They are useless to the ones who are bearing them. They cannot rescue themselves or the people who worship them.
"Listen to Me, you descendants of Jacob, all the remnant of the people of Israel, you whom I have upheld since your birth, and have carried since you were born. Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will carry you." (Isaiah 46:3-4) In contrast to idols, which were made by man, God made man. In contrast to idols, which must be carried, the Lord carries human beings. In contrast to idols, who cannot sustain anyone, the Lord sustains those He has created.
"With whom will you compare Me or count Me equal? To whom will you liken Me that we may be compared? Some pour out gold from their bags and weigh out silver on the scales; they hire a goldsmith to make it into a god, and they worship it and carry it." (Isaiah 46:5-6) How can a manmade idol be compared to the living God who made man? How foolish for man to worship the works of his own hands! The Lord created all the materials with which these idols are being crafted, and yet those who worship idols don't take this to heart.
"They lift it to their shoulders and carry it; they set it up in its place, and there it stands. From that spot it cannot move." (Isaiah 46:7a) If the god existed, would it not have the power to move itself? Could it not endow its image with some sort of powers? And yet it can only be moved by man. It is unable to go anywhere on its own. But the Lord is everywhere all the time. He is able to see every person on the face of the earth, able to read their thoughts, able to hear their cries for help.
The idol can do nothing to help, no matter how many sacrifices and offerings are brought to it. No matter how much people cry out to it for help, it cannot answer. "Even though someone cries out to it, it cannot answer; it cannot save them from their troubles." (Isaiah 46:7b) But what does the Bible say about the living God? "I call on the Lord in my distress, and He answers me." (Psalm 120:1) "In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From His temple He heard my voice; my cry came before Him, into His ears." (Psalm 18:6)
The One who created us loves us and cares about our problems. He hears the cries of His children and He takes action. Just as a loving human father would never ignore the cries of his child, the Lord never ignores the cries of His children.
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