April 2, 2024: Isaiah 46:5 - To Whom will You Compare God?

“To whom will ye liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like?” - Isaiah 46:5

In this Scripture verse, God asks His people - the house of Jacob and all the remnant of the house of Jacob - a question: to whom will you compare Me and make Me equal? God had sent His prophet Isaiah to warn His people who were in the southern kingdom of Judah of the divided land of Israel. As their fellow Jews in the northern kingdom of Israel had done, the Jews in the southern kingdom had sinned deeply against God. While the southern kingdom had both good and bad kings, unlike Israel which had all bad kings, Judah had still sinned against God. Consequently, God chose Isaiah and gave him a single vision and had him tell it to the people of Judah and Jerusalem:

“The vision of Isaiah the son of Amor, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib [manger or feed trough]: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified [soothed] with ointment. Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, anti is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.” (Isaiah 1:1-7)

While the people of Judah and Jerusalem sacrificed to God with various offerings, they did not sacrifice to God with their heart; it was only religion to them and not a true love and respect for Almighty God. Isaiah told them that God did not want their religious sacrifices anymore to Him because they meant nothing to Him. Isaiah told them what God wanted from them:

“Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well; seek judgment [justice], relieve the oppressed, judge [vindicate or defend] the fatherless, plead for the widow.” (Isaiah 1:16-17)

Read what God had Isaiah told them next:

“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” (Isaiah 1:18)

God wanted His people to turn away from their sins and to return to Him. He did not want them to have to suffer the consequences of their sins. He told them He was willing to forgive them of all their sins, to make them white as snow, if they would just stop rebelling against Him and listen to Him. How many of us have been as them? Instead of listening to the voice of God that tells us not to do something, we move forward steadfastly in our fleshly desires, even as we know that it’s not good for us and may even bring destruction upon us? God then told them they have one of two paths to take:

“If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: but if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.” (Isaiah 1:19-20)

He told them they would have to choose whether they would submit their will to God and obey Him, or they would continue in their rebellion against Him and be devoured with the sword. God would allow His people to be purged of their sins by allowing them to suffer the consequences of their sins. While many would die in the process, He would save a remnant of them:

“Therefore saith the LORD, the LORD of hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of [be relieved of] mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies: and I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross [thoroughly cleanse or refine with lye], and take away all thy tin [alloy]: and I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counselors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city. Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts [returners] with righteousness.” (Isaiah 1:24-27)

God was telling His people, the people of Judah and Jerusalem, that they had become His adversaries and His enemies, and if they continued in their rebellion and disobedience, He would remove His blessings from them and would turn His hand upon them.

Many years before it happened, God would prophecy through Isaiah that because of Judah and Jerusalem’s severe sins against, Him, they would be conquered by the Babylonian Empire, with the majority of them being taken captive to Babylon for a period of seventy years as prophesied by Jeremiah. At the end of that period of seventy years, God would raise up a Persian king by the name of Cyrus who had not even been born when Isaiah gave the prophecy. God would use King Cyrus to lead the Medo-Persian Empire and conquer Babylon and allow the captives of Judah to return to Jerusalem and rebuild their destroyed city and Temple.

God foretold all of this in advance to warn them of what would come if they continued on their destructive path of sinning against Him and also to show them that there is no God but Him; He alone is Almighty God and they should put their faith and trust in Him and not in false gods, idols, and in man.

When God spoke, through the prophet Isaiah, to Cyrus, who would not be born until approximately 150 years later, God said:

“Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden [held], to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; I will go before thee, and make crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass [bronze], and cut in sunder the bars of iron: and I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me. I am the LORD, and there his none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: that they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west [to its setting], the there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.” (Isaiah 45:1-6)

Isaiah prophesied to the people of Judah for at least forty years and during the reign of four different kings of Judah - Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. They heard the vision that God had given Isaiah. They heard the repeated warnings of God to turn away from their false gods and idols and to return to Him, and yet they did not obey God but continued in their rebellion against Him. Through Isaiah, God continued to warn them that judgment was coming and they would be attacked by nations from afar who would take them away:

“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink: which justify the wicked for reward [a bribe], and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him! Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. Therefore is the anger of the LORD kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten [stricken] them: and the hills did tremble, and their carcases were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss [whistle] unto them from the end of the earth: and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly: none shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of [belt on] their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes [strap of their sandals] be broken: whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent, their horses’ hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind: their roaring shall be like a lion, they shall roar like young lions: yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry it away safe, and none shall deliver it. And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea: and if one look unto the land, behold darkness and sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof.” (Isaiah 5:20-30)

The latter part of the prophesy from Isaiah 1:24-27 has only been partially fulfilled. We know some of the captives of Judah and a small remnant of Israel (2 Chronicles 34:9, 21) did return to their land and rebuilt Jerusalem and the Temple. However, they were still not righteous nor faithful to God and eventually would reject God’s own Son Jesus Christ. It is only when a remnant of the Jews will finally turn to Him in belief in the end of days that “…thou shall be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city. Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness,” as prophesied in Isaiah 1:26-27.

As Scripture tells us, the kings and the people of Judah and Jerusalem did not heed God’s warnings to them. They did not believe God when He said to them, “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!” (Isaiah 5:20-21) They did not want to come and reason together with God so that their scarlet sins could be washed as white as snow, as He asked them to do in Isaiah 1:18. No, they wanted to continue going their own way, sinning their sins, worshipping their false gods and idols, and yet still expecting to receive all the blessings of God. They did not want hardship or suffering; they wanted only the good stuff. Does that sound any different from our societies today in our world, in countries who profess to believe in Jesus Christ, God the Son whom God the Father sent? We refuse to hear the negative things that warn us of God’s impending judgment against us; rather, we only listen to cherry-picked Bible verses that build us up and make us feel good about ourselves. We are no different than the people to whom Isaiah prophesied all those years ago. As Isaiah and many other prophets warned us, God’s judgment is coming, in fact, I believe it is already upon us. God Himself judged His own chosen people because of their sins against Him and their disobedience to Him. Are we to expect that He will not judge us as well?

God gave us His word so that we will read it for ourselves and know that there is no other God besides Him:

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1)

“Wherefore thou art great, O LORD God: for there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.” (2 Samuel 7:22)

“Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.” (Psalm 90:1)

“Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, I am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.” (Isaiah 43:10-11)

“For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.” (Isaiah 45:18)

“Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save. Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear [take an oath]. Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. In the LORD shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.” (Isaiah 45:20-25)

“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” (Revelation 4:11)

“I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.” (Jesus Christ; Revelation 22:13)

He has written in His word of things that would come long before they would happen so that when they do happen, we would know that He IS God and there is none like Him. There is no other book ever written that foretells the future with such precise accuracy as the Holy word of God; nothing compares to it and nothing compares to Him. We either believe it or we don’t. I can’t make you believe it, just like no one could make me believe in Him; I had to make the choice for myself. As my nation, the United States of America, and many other nations spiral downward in our love of putrid sin, I provide yet another warning of Isaiah, as he warned his own people of what was to come:

“For Jerusalem is ruined [has stumbled], and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the LORD, to provoke the eyes of [rebel against] his glory. The shew of their countenance [look on their faces] doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves. Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him; for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him.” (Isaiah 3:8-11)

In closing, notice that in the above Scripture that this warning also speaks to those who are righteous and “that it shall be well with him.” Our righteousness does not come from ourselves but only from God Himself by putting our faith and trust in Jesus Christ to wash us clean from all sins. This comes only by being born again by believing in Jesus Christ as our Savior:

“He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power [the right] to become the sons [children] of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made [became] flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” (John 1:11-14)

“There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: the same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:1-6)

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

“I and my Father are one.” (Jesus Christ; John 10:30)

“And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.” (1 John 4:14-15)

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature [creation]: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

“Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us; we pray [implore] you in Christ’s stead [behalf], be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” (2 Corinthians 5:20-21)

God is speaking to us through His word, the Bible, and through His Holy Spirit. Are you listening? Have you read the Scriptures that tell us of what is to come upon the whole world? When God’s judgment falls upon us, and it will, just as it was foretold long ago, to whom will you run for safety? Will you run to a false god, an idol, to save you? Is there any comparison between them and God? God has given us that answer. To whom will you compare God? ✝️