Isaiah 46:4: “Till you grow old, I will be the same, when you grow gray, it is I who will carry; I was the maker and I will be the bearer. And I will carry and rescue you.”
When the Babylonians conquered Judah, they took the royal family as well as the best and strongest into captivity. Daniel and his friends were among them. Left behind were the elderly, the young children, the weak, diseased and those who were unable to do any valuable work. In other words families were torn apart, wives separated from husbands, children from parents and the young stronger ones who could carry the families in labors were gone. Do you sometimes feel like you are one of those abandoned and left to fend for yourself? Do you feel like you are in exile? Or as we shall learn, do you feel helpless as you watch two presidential candidates fight for the Presidency and you don’t like either one of them. Well then this is the message for you.
The preposition ‘ad can also be translated as since or while. The translator chose to use the word as or till as this keeps with the flow of the poetic expression: “As you grow old, I will remain the same.” But it also carries the duel meaning, for those who are already old. I will remain the same is also tough to translate since it is literally translated as I am He. I know what you Hebrew students may be thinking. The “I am He” is YHWH, but it is not. It is simply I am He – ani hu’. So once the translators translated the Hebrew into I am He, they then had to explain what I am He means. The word He is hu’ which is a simple pronoun and can mean He, or it.” It could also mean this or that. Davidson’s lexicon adds same not as a definition but as a use. No doubt the writer intended for the reader to understand the pronoun to mean same but using the word Hu’ rather than sharah which is the proper word for same leaves us to conclude there is either a word play or something much deeper hidden in this verse. Maybe both.
I believe the writer wanted to use the hu’ because the numerical value equals “12” which represents earthly governments. God is saying that you despair because your government is about to change but He is telling us to keep in mind that He has and always will be the ultimate earthly government. I find so many Christians in despair because they think Hillary is a crook Trump is bum. They are terrified of Trump, but Hillary’s cute but does not speak their values. Every prayer meeting is filled with despair, “Oh pray for our country, pray for our government, what shall we ever do?” Don’t get me wrong I pray daily for our nation, our government and Trump and Hillary but I am not worry about it. I believe God is telling us in His Word that he really doesn’t care who runs our earthly government or who is president, because He is our government.
Whoever becomes President is under His domination. Did God really care who the Pharaoh was, He made short work of him when he defied God. The real danger is Christians who lose their faith in God’s ability to control the nations. Remember what Isaiah said just a six chapters back? Isaiah 40:15 “Behold, the nations [are] as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.” What did Paul say in II Timothy 1:7? “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
Pray for the election, do what you can to vet the candidates, support your candidate and on November 11 vote for your candidate and sit back, sip your Iced Tea and enjoy the proceedings because no matter who wins, God will still be in control
God sort of repeats Himself in this verse when He says “When you grow gray, I will carry you.” Again we have ‘ad “As you are gray…” Not too much to say about the word gray (sivah) except that it is in a feminine form. Gray is a symbol of innocence. However, tracing this word to its Semitic roots I found it was a picture of a home or nation being disrupted, turn upside down so to speak. When your home is shattered through divorce, separation, financial disaster, or like Judah during this time when husbands were separated from their wives and children and taken into slavery; the Lord said He will carry you when you have no spouse or parent to carry you. Note the word carry or bear is ‘esebol. It is in a simple qal future form. In other words He does not carry, but will carry. It is your choice. He will not automatically carry you, you must be willing to let Him carry you. The word sevol means to carry a burden, to be a porter. For the woman whose husbands were taken into exile, God promised to be their husbands, to provide for them, protect them, to carry the burden that their husbands would normally carry. As today for women who have been abandoned, divorced, separated, widowed, God promises to take their husband’s place as the protector, the provider. For men who have lost their source of affection, the stability that a good wife brings and the comfort she can give her mate God promises to be their source of affection, stability and comfort when he loses his job or his health declines. Indeed the word sevol in its Semitic origin is Samek – shelter for the next letter the Beth – home if you will ask for it through the Lamed or prayer and receiving from heaven. God will be the shelter and provider for your home if you just ask and receive.
He goes on to say that he is our maker ’asithi. He does not say creator bara. The creator creates the clay, the maker forms the vessel, fine tunes it to his desire and as a result he will not only ‘esbol carry you but will emalet you or rescue you. ‘Emalet is also used for cement or mortar. He will make you stable and secure. It is also in a piel form which means He will most surely be this for us. It is also in the imperfect form so again we must ask. “You have not because you ask not.” James 4:3
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