What is the meaning of Isaiah 46:7? They lift it to their shoulder and carry it along “Idols are borne by beasts of burden” (Isaiah 46:1), and here people themselves become the beasts. • The image is handcrafted (Isaiah 44:12-13) and must be hoisted up like luggage. • In sharp contrast, the LORD says, “I have upheld you since birth … I will carry you” (Isaiah 46:3-4). • Psalm 115:4-7 notes that idols “have hands but cannot feel,” underscoring their dependence on human strength. • Jeremiah 10:5 calls them “mere scarecrows in a cucumber field,” needing to be carried because they cannot walk. While people sweat under the weight of their own gods, the true God lifts His people (Deuteronomy 1:31). They set it in its place After the journey the idol is propped up, its usefulness ending where the pedestal begins. • Isaiah 40:19-20 pictures a craftsman over-laying an idol with gold, then securing it “so that it will not totter.” • Acts 17:24 answers the folly: “The God who made the world … does not live in temples built by human hands.” • 1 Kings 18:26-29 shows prophets of Baal arranging their altar—yet real fire never falls. The scene exposes a sad reversal: the Creator’s throne is heaven (Isaiah 66:1), but the creature’s substitute sits motionless in a man-made niche. There it stands, not budging from that spot Immobility testifies to impotence. • Isaiah 41:7 reports craftsmen bracing an idol “so that it will not fall over.” • Psalm 135:15-18 reminds worshipers that those who trust such statues “will become like them.” • Unlike idols, the LORD “rides on the clouds” (Psalm 68:4) and “goes forth like a warrior” (Isaiah 42:13). The God of Scripture moves history; the idol cannot move a dust mote. They cry out to it, but it does not answer The human voice rises; the carved mouth stays shut. • Elijah taunts Baal’s prophets: “Shout louder! Surely he is a god” (1 Kings 18:27). Silence follows. • Psalm 34:17 contrasts the living God: “The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears.” • Isaiah 59:1 affirms, “His ear is not too dull to hear.” An unhearing idol reveals the tragedy of misplaced trust. It saves no one from his troubles When crisis strikes, the idolised object is useless. • Isaiah 45:20 calls the nations to see that their “wooden idols cannot save.” • Jonah 2:9 declares, “Salvation comes from the LORD.” • Isaiah 43:11: “I, yes I, am the LORD, and there is no Savior but Me.” Only the covenant God rescues—ultimately fulfilled in Jesus, whose very name means “Yahweh saves” (Matthew 1:21). summary Isaiah 46:7 pictures people exhausting themselves to create, transport, and enthrone a powerless god that cannot move, hear, or save. The verse exposes the futility of idolatry and magnifies the living LORD who alone carries His people, dwells everywhere, hears prayer, and delivers from trouble. Trust belongs not in the works of our hands but in the hands that formed us. |
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