Isa 46:1  Bel bows down; Nebo stoops; their idols are on beasts and livestock; these things you carry are borne as burdens on weary beasts. 

Isa 46:2  They stoop; they bow down together; they cannot save the burden, but themselves go into captivity. 

Isa 46:3  “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; 

Isa 46:4  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. 

• Idols: something that you have to carry. The bigger the god, the heavier! But you cannot carry it, so eventually it unravels.
• Eventually, the oxen stumble and fall, and the idol falls with them.
• Picture of Babylon; eventually collapses and taken over by Persia.
• Nations/ false religions seeking to bear up a false god with eventually implode. Same with people.
• Eg economy: the bubble bursts, the economy crashes, and the nation is brought to its knees.
• The true God is the opposite. Instead of us carrying Him, he carries us!
• Confidence:
  • False gods bubbles will be burst.
  • Eg Dagon & the ark – then Goliath & David
  • When faced by seemingly impenetrable darkness; we know – the heavier it seems, the more likely to fall off the wagon it is!
  • Individuals/ people groups/ cities
  • And the picture is God waiting to pick up the pieces, waiting to carry and bear and save.