Isaiah 46:4 And even to you old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.
Have you ever seen a beast of burden? We don’t see this very often anymore, at least in my area. Not long ago, we were up in Amish country in Indiana. There were scores of long-legged carriage horses pulling carriages and wagons. They are hard-working horses. In the winter when it is cold and in the summer when it is hot, they are constantly bearing some burden. I noticed some Belgians in one of the pastures that would be used to pull farm implements. Now, on occasion we see those in Amish country, but there was a time when animals did much of the heavy lifting.
When Babylon was captured, beasts of burden carried away the silver, the gold, and the spoil of the conquered land. Pack mules also carried away the gods of Babylon. Isaiah 46 describes it, “Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth.” These idols were literally prostrate. The idols that represented the Babylonians were “upon the beasts, and upon the cattle.” Their “carriages were heaven loaden; they are a burden to the weary beast.” Here are gods who could not even deliver their people, but themselves had to be delivered. They had to be carried.
Again, as the constant refrain in Isaiah is, they were gods who had eyes that couldn’t see, ears that couldn’t hear, and feet that couldn’t walk. These gods had to be taken away just like so much rubble. That is in stark contrast to the people of Israel who were borne by God. God says, “Which are borne by me from the belly, which are carried from the womb; and even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.” God says, “I bore you, and when you are white-haired, old, and scarcely able to walk, I will carry you.”
This is a wonderful reminder that the God Who made you is perfectly capable of carrying you. Do you think God would make you only to abandon you? Do you think God would have the power to create you and just leave you on your own? No, a God Who cares enough to bring you into existence is a God Who cares how you carry out that existence. When we look to other things like money, reputation, or other people, and put upon them the burden that should only be borne by God, then we have made an idol out of something that cannot deliver.
An idol is something that you have to bear. It is something that is supposed to carry you, but you end up carrying it. It is just another burden. On the other hand, God will carry you. Today, if God is able enough to bring you into existence, then God is able enough to guide you, to have an opinion about your life, to give you His guidance through His Word and His Holy Spirit, and to be relied upon.
The gods we make are a burden, but God Jehovah is a God Who is worthy of our dependence today. As Isaiah often does, he tells God’s people to remember the past, and then he tells them to remember that there is none like God.
Frequently the prophet reminds God’s people that God is the only One Who can foretell the future. So, from the furthest past to the farthest future, God knows the beginning from the end, and God is able. He is the God Who created you before you were even an infant, and He is the God Who will carry you when you have white hair and can scarcely walk on your own.