Introduction: There are two authors of every book of the Bible – and sometimes more than two. Moses wrote the first five books of the Old Testament, but who penned Deuteronomy 34: 8-10? I suggest that here is a third author. I suggest that Moses was the second author, writing stimulated and supervised by God! While Isaiah penned these words, God is calling for people to make the comparison between what and who people worship – people of Isaiah’s day and people living in 2026!
The Babylonians had had a pantheon of ‘gods’. Two are mentioned here. ‘Bel’ was the ‘Director’ of the pantheon, Nebo was the god of wisdom and understanding.
1 Bel bows down; Nebo stoops;
their idols are on beasts and livestock;
these things you carry are borne
as burdens on weary beasts.
2 They stoop; they bow down together;
they cannot save the burden,
but themselves go into captivity. – Do you hear a sneer and a laugh behind these words? I do!
3 “Listen to me, O house of Jacob,
all the remnant of the house of Israel,
who have been borne by me from before your birth,
carried from the womb;
4 even to your old age I am he,
and to gray hairs I will carry you.
I have made, and I will bear;
I will carry and will save. – Please, God says,’ Have a good look at your history! Remember Egypt, the Red Sea, entering your promised land, and many rescues when you repented and called on Me! I have in the past promised and do, if you choose to follow Me, I promise you a great future!
5 “To whom will you liken me and make me equal,
and compare me, that we may be alike? – Think deeply and choose….
6 Those who lavish gold from the purse,
and weigh out silver in the scales,
hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god;
then they fall down and worship!
7 They lift it to their shoulders, they carry it,
they set it in its place, and it stands there;
it cannot move from its place.
If one cries to it, it does not answer
or save him from his trouble. – to be continued tomorrow!
Joshua 24: 15 – And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
Prayer: Strengthen my choice through all the pressures of life, please Jehovah God.