April 9, 2024: Isaiah 46:6-7 - False Gods Cannot Save Anyone

“They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, and hire a goldsmith; and he maketh it a god: they fall down, yea, they worship. They bear him upon the shoulder, they carry him, and set him in his place, and he standeth; from his place shall he not remove: yea, one shall cry unto him, yet can he not answer, nor save him out of his trouble.” - Isaiah 46:6-7

In these two Scripture verses, the prophet Isaiah shows the ridiculousness of trusting in false gods and idols that are made by man’s hands to save them out of their troubles. People spend their gold and silver, their money, to make for themselves false gods and idols and then fall down and worship the things which either they made with their own hands or had someone make for them. They prop up their “gods” and put them in their places. They cry out to their “gods” to save them but their “gods” cannot move from their place and save the ones who created and worshipped them. The pagans would place their “gods” in high places and would go and worship them, and so too did God’s people, the people of Israel.

Long ago, God led His people out of the land of Egypt through His servant Moses, even dividing the Red Sea when they were in hot pursuit by Pharaoh and his army, as God made the way for His people to cross through the sea on dry land, with Pharaoh and his men drowning when God closed up the sea. Three months after they had left Egypt, Moses was leading the people of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai and they camped near Mount Sinai:

“And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare [sustained] you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar [special] treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.” (Exodus 19:3-6)

Moses did as God instructed him to do, and the people said they would obey all that the Lord had spoken. Not long afterward, God called Moses up to Mount Sinai to give Moses His laws, which Moses would then give to Israel:

“And the LORD said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify [consecrate] them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes, and be ready against the third day: for the third day the LORD will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai.” (Exodus 19:10-11)

God told Moses to set a boundary around the mountain and not let the people pass it or go up to the mountain or touch the border of it or else they would be put to death. Moses went down from the mountain and sanctified the people and had them wash their clothes, as God had commanded him. Then:

“And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled. And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount. And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.” (Exodus 19:16-18)

Moses was with the people at the bottom of Mount Sinai when they saw all of this happen. God then called Moses up to top of the mountain to warn him again about the people and that they must not break the boundaries He had set. God told Moses to go back down the mountain and to come back up with Aaron, his brother. Next we are told that God spoke the ten commandments, beginning with the first commandment:

“And God spake all these words, saying, I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.” (Exodus 20:1-6)

We are then told:

“And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed [trembled], and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove [test] you and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was. And the LORD said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold. An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.” (Exodus 20:18-24)

God then gave Moses the judgments and laws for the people (Exodus 21-23). Moses went and told the people the words of God and the judgments that God had given him:

“…and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the LORD hath said we will do. And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the LORD. And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basons; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient. And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words.” (Exodus 24:3-8)

God then told Moses:

“Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them.” (Exodus 24:12)

“And Moses went up into the mount, and a cloud covered the mount. And the glory of the LORD abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud. And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel. And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.” (Exodus 24:15-18)

While Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving the tables of stone, the law, and the commandments from God, the people began to doubt whether he was coming back and they wanted to make for themselves a golden calf and to worship it. They told Moses’ brother Aaron:

“Up, make us gods [a god], which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot [know] not what is become of him.” (Exodus 32:1)

Aaron then told the people to gather all of the gold they had, and then:

“And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD. And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.” (Exodus 32:4-6)

Here were God’s people who only days prior had seen the power of God on Mount Sinai, with the thunders and lightnings and the noise of the trumpet, and had heard the commandments of God. They had heard Moses tell them that God was testing them so that they would not sin. They had heard God’s first commandment to them that they shall not make and worship any gods but Him, and yet, they had so quickly forgotten all of this. They had forgotten that it was God’s mighty hand that had parted the Red Sea for them so that they could escape from their bondage in Egypt, and now they said it was the golden calf which they had made with their own hands that had saved them and brought them out of Egypt. Here were the same people who only days prior had said that they would obey all of God’s commandments to them. They had quickly returned to their sinful ways and worshipped false gods, as their slaveholders had done in Egypt. God knew this was happening and told Moses to go back down the mountain to the people:

“And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get thee down, for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves: they have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 32:7-8)

What transpired next was a conversation between God and Moses, where God told Moses He was going to destroy the Israelites because of their sin and instead would make a great nation out of Moses. However, Moses intervened for his people the Israelites and pled with God to remember His eternal covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Israel:

“And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked [stubborn] people: now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them: and I will make of thee a great nation. And Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand? Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief [harm] did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil [relent from this harm] against thy people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever. And the LORD repented of the evil [relented of the harm] which he thought to do unto his people.” (Exodus 32:9-14)

Moses then took the two tables of testimony that God had given him which were “tables of stone, written with the finger of God,” (Exodus 31:18, 32:15-16) and went down the mountain. Moses was furious when he saw the people singing and dancing naked around the golden calf, and he took the stone tablets and threw them down, breaking them. He then went and took the calf the people had made and burned it in the fire. He took the ashes and ground them into powder, mixed them with water, and made the people drink it. Moses asked Aaron what did the people do to him that would cause him to bring such a great sin upon them. Aaron told Moses not to be so angry with him because he knew that the people were set on mischief or evil. Aaron said the people had told him to make them gods because they didn’t know what had happened to Moses. Aaron said he had told the people to bring him all of their gold and when they did, “…I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.” (Exodus 32:24) Here we have Moses’ brother Aaron outright lying about his role in partaking of the sin of the people, for we know the Bible tells us that he was the one who had made the golden calf with his graving tool. This reminds me of the book of Genesis when Adam and Eve had sinned and had eaten of the fruit of the only tree from which God had commanded them not to eat. Adam blamed his sin on Eve, reminding God that He had given her to him to be with him, and Eve blamed her sin on the serpent. How often do we, when we are caught in our sin, try to blame someone else instead of taking responsibility for it ourselves? How many of us have blamed God for our sin? How many of us have lied about the sins we have committed and not taking responsibility for them?

Moses then asked the people:

“…Who is on the LORD’s side? let him come onto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. And he said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour. And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.” (Exodus 32:26-28)

Moses commanded the sons of Levi, who were from the tribe of Levi which God had chosen to serve as priests, to kill all those who were not on God’s side, and they did. Those who died must have decided they didn’t want to trust in God but wanted to put their trust in the golden calf which they had made with their own hands. Did the golden calf save anyone? Did it save any of the three thousand men who died? Could it save itself from being burned in the fire by Moses? No, it did not, and it burned in the fire. This is a clear example of what happens when we put our faith and trust in idols and false gods to save us. If we persist in our worship of any false god or idol other than the one true God, instead of being saved, we will die and be burned in the eternal lake of fire in a place called hell. This is why God’s first commandment to us is that we shall have no other gods before Him, we shall not make any graven image, and we shall not bow down to false gods and idols nor worship them. This commandment still holds true for us today, and sadly, most people completely ignore it.

An idol or a false god can be anything we place above God and which we worship. It doesn’t have to be a golden calf. If there is anything we put above God, it is an idol. This can even be a family member. It can be a president or someone running for president who promises to “make America great again” or “build back better.” It can be a doctor or a medicine that we think we absolutely cannot live without. It can be a job or our home. It can be a sports team or an entertainer. Again, it is anything we place above God. It can even be ourselves; how many people do we know who are their own gods? In our age of social media, many people have become their own gods, taking photo after photo of themselves and putting them on their social media accounts so that people can look at them and “like and share” them. Sadly, the worship of false gods and idols is running rampant in our world today. We are no different than the Israelites who quickly turned from believing in the one true God to believing in a golden calf which they made with their own hands to save them. If anyone persists in their worship of false gods and idols, their eternity will be spent in a place called hell, where there is no joy, no peace, no happiness, and no salvation from sins.

Returning to today’s Scripture verses in Isaiah 46: 6-7, God was warning the Jews from Judah who would be held captive in Babylon but freed seventy years later to remember that false gods cannot save them. Again, we must remember this was prophecy and was written in advance, even before they had been taken captive to Babylon. God was warning them that when they would return from Babylon not to fall back into worshipping false gods and idols. He wanted them to know that it is only Him who could save them. He wanted them to trust in Him to deliver them. His words to them also apply to us today, whether we are Jew or Gentile.

I don’t think it is any coincidence that on the day Moses came down from speaking to God and receiving His commandments and laws that three thousand people were killed, which is the same number of people that were saved many years later on the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit filled the apostles and disciples of Jesus and Peter preached the message of salvation to the Jews in Jerusalem.

In the book of Exodus, the three thousand were killed because they chose to worship the golden calf, a false god, and instead of asking God to forgive them, they chose to remain in their worship of their false god instead of worshipping the one true God. Remember, this is in the early days after the exodus from Egypt. Now, fast forward to the New Testament. Before Jesus was crucified, He promised His disciples that after He died and went to His Father’s house, He would send His Holy Ghost, also called the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, and the Helper, to dwell within them:

“And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter [Helper] that he may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” (Jesus Christ; John 14:16-17)

“But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” (Jesus Christ; John 14:26)

“Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself [on his own authority]; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.” (Jesus Christ; John 16:13-15)

After Jesus had been crucified, died, laid in a tomb, rose again three days later, and was with His disciples for forty days, and before He ascended to heaven, Jesus told them to stay in Jerusalem until they would receive the Holy Ghost:

“And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, and said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things. And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye [stay] in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.” (Luke 24:44-49)

Just as Jesus promised, after He ascended to heaven, He did send the Holy Ghost upon His apostles and disciples:

“And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord [purpose or mind] in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven [divided] tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (Acts 2:1-4)

After receiving the Holy Ghost, Jesus’ apostles and disciples were in Jerusalem and were telling all the devout Jews and people there who were from many nations about Jesus. The apostles and disciples were speaking in the languages of the people who were from the foreign nations. God had given Jesus’ apostles and disciples the ability to speak and to understand languages that they did not comprehend prior to being filled with the Holy Ghost. Instead of being amazed at this miracle, some people mocked them and accused them of being drunk with new wine:

“Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine. But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: for these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; and it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: and on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy…” (Acts 2:13-18)

“And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Acts 2:21)

“This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye crucified, both Lord and Christ.” (Acts 2:32-36)

Peter told them that it wasn’t David who could save them but Jesus Christ, and it wasn’t David who was sitting at the right hand of God the Father but Jesus Christ, the same Jesus whom they had crucified. Next, the Bible tells us what their response was to Peter’s words:

“Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart [cut to the heart], and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission [forgiveness] of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from the untoward [crooked] generation. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.” (Acts 2:37-41)

Again, I think it is no coincidence that in the book of Exodus, there were three thousand of God’s people, the Israelites, who were killed by the sons of Levi because they chose to stand against God and bow down and worship the false god they had made, the golden calf, instead of worshipping God Almighty but here in the book of Acts, we have three thousand of God’s people who had just heard the words of Peter spoken to them through the power of the Holy Spirit that had just came upon him and the other disciples of Jesus, whose hearts were repentant for what they had done to Jesus, and they turned to Him in belief and were saved. It is a clear contrast of what happens when we worship idols and false gods and when we worship the one true God. That golden calf could not - and did not - save anyone, nor can any other false god or idol; only the one true God, Jesus Christ, God incarnate, can save us.

The ultimate act of false god worship is soon to come in our world, before the second coming of Jesus Christ. The man of sin, the son of perdition, the final antichrist will soon come to power with a tyrannical reign of terror that has never been seen before, nor will ever be seen again. The books of Daniel and Revelation speak of this final seven years on earth when the antichrist, called the “beast,” will receive power from Satan and will be aligned with the false prophet, who will force everyone alive at that time to receive the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name, which is 666, on their right hand or their forehead, AND worship the image of the beast. No one will be able to buy or sell without doing this. All who refuse will be killed. All who reject Jesus’ free gift of salvation from sins by believing in Him and being born again and who take the mark/name or number of the beast will set their location for their eternity in the lake of fire and brimstone and will never be able to escape it. When Jesus Christ returns as KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS to judge the earth at His second coming, their “god” and their wicked and unholy trinity of Satan, also called the dragon, Devil, serpent, and Lucifer, the beast/antichrist, and the false prophet will ultimately be cast into the eternal lake of fire, along with everyone who worshipped them:

“And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture [robe] dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fire linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite [strike] the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; that ye may eat the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond [slave], both small and great. And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken [captured], and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant [rest] were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.” (Revelation 19:11-21)

“And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years. And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed [released] a little season [while].” (Revelation 20:1-3)

'“And when the thousand years are expired [completed], Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed [surrounded] the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” (Revelation 20:7-10)

Revelation 20 goes on to tell us that after the thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ on earth, everyone who had died in their sins and was not saved by their faith and trust in Jesus Christ will be resurrected, found guilty of their sins because their names will not be written in the Lamb’s (Jesus’) book of life and will be judged by what they did in their lives. Because there is absolutely nothing we can do to save ourselves, no matter how “good” we think we are, and it is only the blood of Jesus Christ that can save us and we are washed in it and made white as snow when we believe in Him for our salvation, everyone at that time and in that courtroom scene of the great white throne judgment will be found guilty:

“And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:11-15)

“But the fearful [cowardly], and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers [sexually immoral], and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” (Revelation 21:8)

In closing, I ask you: In whom or what are you relying to save you - a golden calf or Jesus Christ?