Isaiah 46: 4

[Lou Newton]

Isaiah 46: ⁴I will be your God through all your lifetime, yes, even when your hair is white with age. I made you and I will care for you. I will carry you along and be your Savior.
Isaiah 46Living Bible (TLB)

Isaiah 46


46 ^1-2 The idols of Babylon, Bel and Nebo, are being hauled away on ox carts! But look! The beasts are stumbling! The cart is turning over! The gods are falling out onto the ground! Is that the best that they can do? If they cannot even save themselves from such a fall, how can they save their worshipers from Cyrus?

³ “Listen to me, all Israel who are left; I have created you and cared for you since you were born. ⁴ I will be your God through all your lifetime, yes, even when your hair is white with age. I made you and I will care for you. I will carry you along and be your Savior.

⁵ “With what in all of heaven and earth do I compare? Whom can you find who equals me? ⁶ Will you compare me with an idol made lavishly with silver and with gold? They hire a goldsmith to take your wealth and make a god from it! Then they fall down and worship it! ⁷ They carry it around on their shoulders, and when they set it down, it stays there, for it cannot move! And when someone prays to it, there is no answer, for it cannot get him out of his trouble.

⁸ “Don’t forget this, O guilty ones. ⁹ And don’t forget the many times I clearly told you what was going to happen in the future. For I am God—I only—and there is no other like me ¹⁰ who can tell you what is going to happen. All I say will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish. ¹¹ I will call that swift bird of prey from the east—that man Cyrus from far away. And he will come and do my bidding. I have said I would do it and I will. ¹² Listen to me, you stubborn, evil men! ¹³ For I am offering you my deliverance; not in the distant future, but right now! I am ready to save you, and I will restore Jerusalem and Israel, who is my glory.

So just who is speaking in this passage ? It is The One and Only God Almighty, our Creator ( because He created everything we call Him Father)

But look again at this verse with care: Isaiah 46: ⁴I will be your God through all your lifetime, yes, even when your hair is white with age. I made you and I will care for you. I will carry you along and be your Savior.

So who is our Savior ? It is none other that God Almighty, our Creator and our Father.

Again in Isaiah 43

¹⁰But I have witnesses, O Israel, says the Lord! You are my witnesses and my servants, chosen to know and to believe me and to understand that I alone am God. There is no other God; there never was and never will be.

What about The child, Jesus, who is the Only begotten Son of God ? Again is Isaiah :

Isaiah 9

⁶ For unto us a child is born, and unto us a Son is given: and the government is upon his shoulder, and he shall call his name, Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The prince of peace.

We see here that God is calling that child The Everlasting Father. That means that the child Jesus, was always, and always will be, the Father, and God Almighty.

As to His Manhood, Jesus is a man and born of a woman and His Father was God.

As to His Godhood, Jesus is The One and Only God Almighty, our Creator and our Everlasting Father.

Lou Newton

[redsoxmaloney]

Isaiah 46: ⁴I will be your God through all your lifetime, yes, even when your hair is white with age. I made you and I will care for you. I will carry you along and be your Savior.
Isaiah 46Living Bible (TLB)

Isaiah 46


46 ^1-2 The idols of Babylon, Bel and Nebo, are being hauled away on ox carts! But look! The beasts are stumbling! The cart is turning over! The gods are falling out onto the ground! Is that the best that they can do? If they cannot even save themselves from such a fall, how can they save their worshipers from Cyrus?

³ “Listen to me, all Israel who are left; I have created you and cared for you since you were born. ⁴ I will be your God through all your lifetime, yes, even when your hair is white with age. I made you and I will care for you. I will carry you along and be your Savior.

⁵ “With what in all of heaven and earth do I compare? Whom can you find who equals me? ⁶ Will you compare me with an idol made lavishly with silver and with gold? They hire a goldsmith to take your wealth and make a god from it! Then they fall down and worship it! ⁷ They carry it around on their shoulders, and when they set it down, it stays there, for it cannot move! And when someone prays to it, there is no answer, for it cannot get him out of his trouble.

⁸ “Don’t forget this, O guilty ones. ⁹ And don’t forget the many times I clearly told you what was going to happen in the future. For I am God—I only—and there is no other like me ¹⁰ who can tell you what is going to happen. All I say will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish. ¹¹ I will call that swift bird of prey from the east—that man Cyrus from far away. And he will come and do my bidding. I have said I would do it and I will. ¹² Listen to me, you stubborn, evil men! ¹³ For I am offering you my deliverance; not in the distant future, but right now! I am ready to save you, and I will restore Jerusalem and Israel, who is my glory.

So just who is speaking in this passage ? It is The One and Only God Almighty, our Creator ( because He created everything we call Him Father)

But look again at this verse with care: Isaiah 46: ⁴I will be your God through all your lifetime, yes, even when your hair is white with age. I made you and I will care for you. I will carry you along and be your Savior.

So who is our Savior ? It is none other that God Almighty, our Creator and our Father.

Again in Isaiah 43

¹⁰But I have witnesses, O Israel, says the Lord! You are my witnesses and my servants, chosen to know and to believe me and to understand that I alone am God. There is no other God; there never was and never will be.

What about The child, Jesus, who is the Only begotten Son of God ? Again is Isaiah :

Isaiah 9

⁶ For unto us a child is born, and unto us a Son is given: and the government is upon his shoulder, and he shall call his name, Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The prince of peace.

We see here that God is calling that child The Everlasting Father. That means that the child Jesus, was always, and always will be, the Father, and God Almighty.

As to His Manhood, Jesus is a man and born of a woman and His Father was God.

As to His Godhood, Jesus is The One and Only God Almighty, our Creator and our Everlasting Father.

Lou Newton

Great post! Jesus is God almighty. Reminds me of a few questions. Was the guy from Cyrus the Babylonians? What could that mean for the "remnants of Israel" today?

[Lou Newton]

Great post! Jesus is God almighty. Reminds me of a few questions. Was the guy from Cyrus the Babylonians? What could that mean for the "remnants of Israel" today?

46 ^1-2 The idols of Babylon, Bel and Nebo, are being hauled away on ox carts! But look! The beasts are stumbling! The cart is turning over! The gods are falling out onto the ground! Is that the best that they can do? If they cannot even save themselves from such a fall, how can they save their worshipers from Cyrus?

Thanks for your reply and question Tom.

Babylon worshiped idols and God is reminding them that those idols can not even keep themselves from falling when the cart they are in overturns. If that is true how can these idols help them when they can not help themselves.

Cyrus is the King of Persia who defeated Babylon.

There are two Israels. God told Abraham that he would have children like the SANDS of the seashore and children like the STARS of the sky.

The children like the SANDS are his NATURAL children.

The children like the STARS are his SPIRITUAL children.

His natural children are all who descended from him by birth.

His SPIRITUAL children are ALL who trust in God to save them; like Abraham did, and so Abraham is the father of their faith. These are spiritual Israel or true Israel. All who trust in Christ alone to save them are part of this Israel. This will also include some of Abraham's natural children who trust in God to save them, like David.

His natural children are all who descended from Abraham by birth and are the nation of Israel.

Isaac was a natural and spiritual child. Esau was a natural child but not a spiritual child.

Natural Israel was scattered over the world. Now they are being gathered into the natural land of Israel.

The spiritual children were also scattered when the organized churches rejected the true children of Israel. Just as the nation of Israel rejected Christ. This false church rejects those who have the Holy Spirit of Christ.

Christ is going to gather all these remnants of true Israel when He returns.

God saves natural Israel in the natural only ( or in this world), but they will not be saved in the Spirit or in heaven.

God saves the spiritual children and they will be with Him in heaven.

Lou Newton

[redsoxmaloney]

Thanks for your reply and question Tom.

Babylon worshiped idols and God is reminding them that those idols can not even keep themselves from falling when the cart they are in overturns. If that is true how can these idols help them when they can not help themselves.

Cyrus is the King of Persia who defeated Babylon.

There are two Israels. God told Abraham that he would have children like the SANDS of the seashore and children like the STARS of the sky.

The children like the SANDS are his NATURAL children.

The children like the STARS are his SPIRITUAL children.

His natural children are all who descended from him by birth.

His SPIRITUAL children are ALL who trust in God to save them; like Abraham did, and so Abraham is the father of their faith. These are spiritual Israel or true Israel. All who trust in Christ alone to save them are part of this Israel. This will also include some of Abraham's natural children who trust in God to save them, like David.

His natural children are all who descended from Abraham by birth and are the nation of Israel.

Isaac was a natural and spiritual child. Esau was a natural child but not a spiritual child.

Natural Israel was scattered over the world. Now they are being gathered into the natural land of Israel.

The spiritual children were also scattered when the organized churches rejected the true children of Israel. Just as the nation of Israel rejected Christ. This false church rejects those who have the Holy Spirit of Christ.

Christ is going to gather all these remnants of true Israel when He returns.

God saves natural Israel in the natural only ( or in this world), but they will not be saved in the Spirit or in heaven.

God saves the spiritual children and they will be with Him in heaven.

Lou Newton

In that way, wasn't Persia a type of Christ for a short time? As far as today is concerned? Will the professing church fall to Islam and something else will destroy Islam? I realize that's not the important issue here. Like you said, spiritual children are the true children, and not the natural only.

[Lou Newton]

In that way, wasn't Persia a type of Christ for a short time? As far as today is concerned? Will the professing church fall to Islam and something else will destroy Islam? I realize that's not the important issue here. Like you said, spiritual children are the true children, and not the natural only.

The gold statue in Daniel shows us this example; read this and post your thoughts about it and we can discuss it:
Daniel 2 New International Version (NIV)

Daniel Interprets the Dream

³¹ “Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. ³² The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, ³³ its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. ³⁴ While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. ³⁵ Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.

³⁶ “This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. ³⁷ Your Majesty, you are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; ³⁸ in your hands he has placed all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.

³⁹ “After you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. ⁴⁰ Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks and smashes everything—and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others. ⁴¹ Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. ⁴² As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. ⁴³ And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.

⁴⁴ “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. ⁴⁵ This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands—a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces.

“The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future.The dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.”

⁴⁶ Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrate before Daniel and paid him honor and ordered that an offering and incense be presented to him.⁴⁷ The king said to Daniel, “Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery.”

⁴⁸ Then the king placed Daniel in a high position and lavished many gifts on him. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and placed him in charge of all its wise men. ⁴⁹ Moreover, at Daniel’s request the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego administrators over the province of Babylon, while Daniel himself remained at the royal court.

[redsoxmaloney]

The gold statue in Daniel shows us this example; read this and post your thoughts about it and we can discuss it:
Daniel 2 New International Version (NIV)

Daniel Interprets the Dream


³¹ “Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. ³² The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, ³³ its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. ³⁴ While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. ³⁵ Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.

³⁶ “This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. ³⁷ Your Majesty, you are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; ³⁸ in your hands he has placed all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.

³⁹ “After you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. ⁴⁰ Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks and smashes everything—and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others. ⁴¹ Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. ⁴² As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. ⁴³ And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.

⁴⁴ “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. ⁴⁵ This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands—a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces.

“The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future.The dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.”

⁴⁶ Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrate before Daniel and paid him honor and ordered that an offering and incense be presented to him.⁴⁷ The king said to Daniel, “Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery.”

⁴⁸ Then the king placed Daniel in a high position and lavished many gifts on him. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and placed him in charge of all its wise men. ⁴⁹ Moreover, at Daniel’s request the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego administrators over the province of Babylon, while Daniel himself remained at the royal court.

So i would guess then that we are very close to the time of part iron and part clay. And that God will take over soon. And Rome, which never really left (became britan, then the USA), is the final kingdom. But spiritually, wouldn't the Roman church and all its subsidiaries be the spiritual version?

[Lou Newton]

The gold statue in Daniel shows us this example; read this and post your thoughts about it and we can discuss it:
Daniel 2 New International Version (NIV)

Daniel Interprets the Dream


³¹ “Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. ³² The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, ³³ its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. ³⁴ While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. ³⁵ Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.

³⁶ “This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. ³⁷ Your Majesty, you are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; ³⁸ in your hands he has placed all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.

³⁹ “After you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. ⁴⁰ Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks and smashes everything—and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others. ⁴¹ Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. ⁴² As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. ⁴³ And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.

⁴⁴ “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. ⁴⁵ This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands—a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces.

“The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future.The dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.”

⁴⁶ Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrate before Daniel and paid him honor and ordered that an offering and incense be presented to him.⁴⁷ The king said to Daniel, “Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery.”

⁴⁸ Then the king placed Daniel in a high position and lavished many gifts on him. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and placed him in charge of all its wise men. ⁴⁹ Moreover, at Daniel’s request the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego administrators over the province of Babylon, while Daniel himself remained at the royal court.

Tom wrote:

So i would guess then that we are very close to the time of part iron and part clay. And that God will take over soon. And Rome, which never really left (became britan, then the USA), is the final kingdom. But spiritually, wouldn't the Roman church and all its subsidiaries be the spiritual version?

Well first of all, let us try to answer your questions on your post # 4 before we tackle more questions.


Tom wrote:

In that way, wasn't Persia a type of Christ for a short time? As far as today is concerned? Will the professing church fall to Islam and something else will destroy Islam? I realize that's not the important issue here. Like you said, spiritual children are the true children, and not the natural only.

Now this dream of the gold statue that God gave Nebuchadnezzar had many meanings, but we will focus on the one that Daneil gave Nebu first:

We see that the gold head is Babylon, and the next Kingdom is this:

After you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours.

This was Persia. The four Kingdoms were the four political Kingdoms that would rule the earth before Christ returned.

I do not see Persia as a type of Christ. But Christ is in this dream:

⁴⁴ “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. ⁴⁵ This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands—a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces.

Jesus is that Rock that was cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands.

All kingdom ruled by men will come to an end and Jesus will be The King of all Kings.