False vs. True Religion

Introduction

Around the same time that Isaiah prophesied, a certain character within Greek mythology came about: Sisyphus. There are various versions of the story of Sisyphus.

Sisyphus was a king of the city of Corinth, allegedly the first king. He was a treacherous and arrogant king, known to deceive the gods, believing himself to be more clever than Zeus himself.

So as a punishment for his arrogance and craftiness, Hades gave him the cruel task of rolling a giant boulder on a steep hill in Tartarus, the underworld—except that just before he reached the top of the hill, the enchanted boulder would slip out of his hands and roll back downhill, and Sisyphus would have to start carrying and pushing the rock uphill all over again for all eternity.

The tale of Sisyphus has often been employed as a metaphor for the futility of the human condition. Life often feels like we are pushing an enormous boulder uphill. But after much effort, when we feel so near the top we can taste victory, the boulder rolls down, life seems to spin out of control, beyond our power, and we find ourselves at the bottom, having to start all over again. Do you relate?

Sometimes work, relationships, even our walk with God can feel Sisyphean. An exercise in futility. More like a punishment than a reward.

As we continue in Isaiah: Yahweh Alone is God, we come to a couple of gods, not from Greek mythology but from the Ancient Near Eastern belief system.

Much like the boulder was to Sisyphus, Isaiah says to us that these gods are a burden to their worshipers. These gods have to be manufactured and carried, but they cannot deliver.

At root, what we find in this chapter is a contrast between false religion and true religion.

And I want us to pay careful attention because there’s a reason that work and relationships and even our walk with God feel more burdensome to us than freeing and life-giving. Let’s begin by looking at the contrast between works and grace.

Works vs grace

Isaiah 46:1–2
Bel bows down, Nebo stoops low;
their idols are borne by beasts of burden.
The images that are carried about are burdensome,
a burden for the weary.
They stoop and bow down together;
unable to rescue the burden,
they themselves go off into captivity.
You are familiar with the Triumphal Entry. The week before Jesus’ death he comes into Jerusalem riding on a donkey

The people spread their cloaks on the road. Others cut tree branches and lay them on the road. And as he went by, the crowds shouted, Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!

All of this was in fulfillment of Zechariah’s prophecy, Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey (Matt 21:5–9).

In a way his entry was not so “triumphal,” in that he staged it himself. Jesus was the one who told his disciples, Go get me this donkey. And he rode into David’s city—to the praise of a big crowd. And yet a crowd easily drowned in the sea that was Jerusalem at Passover time.

Do you know who was not present welcoming Jerusalem’s king? Jerusalem’s leaders.

It was customary, when kings and other important figures visited a city, for a delegation from said city to come out to the outskirts of the city, welcome the visiting figure, and escort them into the city, usually all the way into the city’s temple. Politics, religion, and civic involvement formed very much one fabric.

The leaders of a city would do this. The whole parade was a big festival. But the leaders of David’s city did not come out to welcome the Son of David.

There were other parades where kings and images of the gods would be carried into a city. Bel and Nebo were two such deities.

Bel and Nebo were father and son. Bel means “Lord,” and it was an alternative name for Marduk, the chief Babylonian god. Nebo his son was the patron of wisdom and writing. His function was to write on the tables of destiny the fates decreed by the gods for the coming year.

Every year during the New Year festival, Nebo was brought in procession, along with his father Bel-Marduk, from his temple in Borsippa (some ten miles south of Babylon), into the streets of Babylon, all the way to the impressive Esagila shrine. Think a big 4^th of July Parade with shouts, drums, and people going wild.

Many of the exiles from Israel would have witnessed this New Year Festival firsthand. People like Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, to name a few.

So it’s shocking when we read in Isaiah 46:1, 2 Bel bows down, Nebo stoops low; their idols are borne by beasts of burden. . . unable to rescue the burden, they themselves go off into captivity.

I think it’s difficult for us to grasp the magnitude of what the prophet prophesies.

If the economy took a turn for the worse, and we all started getting scared (think 1929, 2008), and then we read an article from Bloomberg that said, Amazon and Apple have filed for bankruptcy protection, our hearts would sink. The reversal from where things are right now would be so monumental, we might think the sky is falling.

That’s what Isaiah is saying. Bel and Nebo going into captivity? No way. No way Amazon and Apple would ever fall. And yet, where are Bel and Nebo today? Did you know about them prior to reading Isaiah 46:1?

They’re gone.

They’ve been gone for a long time. Isaiah is a true prophet.

So here’s what Isaiah says, These gods and their images have to be carried. They’re burdensome. They’re a burden for the weary. They stoop and bow down together; unable to rescue the burden, they themselves go off into captivity.

The emphasis falls on the images’ inability to save themselves, much less the worshiper. They have to be carried whereas Israel’s God carries his people.

Isaiah 46:3–4
“Listen to me, you descendants of Jacob,
all the remnant of the people of Israel,
you whom I have upheld since your birth,
and have carried since you were born.
Even to your old age and gray hairs
I am he, I am he who will sustain you.
I have made you and I will carry you;
I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

The idols have to be carried. God carries his people. The idols have to be made. God made his people.

These verses are all about what God has done for his people. God says, Since your birth I’ve upheld you. Since you were born I’ve carried you. AND to your old age, I, even I am he who will sustain you. I’ve made you and will carry you and sustain you and rescue you.

You read these verses and you get the sense that God delights in doing for his people. This is one of the big differences between false religion and true religion.

Isaiah 46:5-7
“With whom will you compare me or count me equal?
To whom will you liken me that we may be compared?
Some pour out gold from their bags
and weigh out silver on the scales;
they hire a goldsmith to make it into a god,
and they bow down and worship it.
They lift it to their shoulders and carry it;
they set it up in its place, and there it stands.
From that spot it cannot move.
Even though someone cries out to it, it cannot answer;
it cannot save them from their troubles.

God throws down a challenge. He says, With whom are you going to compare me?

And then he starts describing an idol worshiper and all the work that goes into the idol-making enterprise. They pour out gold from their bags. They weigh silver on the scales. They hire a goldsmith to make them an idol. They bow down and worship it. They lift it to their shoulders and carry it. They set it up in its place, in its shrine.

All this activity and for what? says the Lord. He says, They set it up in its place, and there it stands. From that spot it cannot move. Even though someone cries out to it, it cannot answer; it cannot save them from their troubles.

It cannot move. It cannot answer. It cannot save them.

Basically, all the work is done by the worshiper. The idol doesn’t do jack!

Now, we may say, So glad we’re so advanced and don’t believe in that kind of malarkey! Not so fast.

At the most basic level, idolatry is the thing that gives us ultimate security and significance other than the one true God. That’s what Bel and Nebo and other gods did for them: secure their borders and increase their wealth and honor. So security and significance. Let’s do some examples.

What about the gold-plated awards our society values? If 3000 years from now they do archeological excavations in our country and they find a concentration of the Oscar statuettes in California, what will the archeologists think? Dating back to the so-called “digital” era, these images were highly coveted in what’s now the Hollywood desert.

What about all the big trophies in sports? The Vince Lombardi trophy. The Larry O’Brien trophy. The FIFA World Cup trophy. What do these represent? What’s behind them? Is it just a game? Is it just big business? Behind sports, there are millions upon millions of dreams, hopes, hours of effort, sacrifices, utmost devotion. I’ve never seen more intense worship than at a sports stadium. You’ve seen this, right? Worship at The Big House puts worship in this room to shame! For many families sports is a far bigger priority for their kids than is the body of Christ.

What about the paper version of awards: our diplomas? I have a few of those. I’ve always had them tucked away in some drawer in the garage, collecting dust. I’ve resisted framing them in Mahogany because looking at that image, day in and day out, would do something to my heart. What the diploma represents still does something to my heart, and I have to fight it. Do you?

How does the cycle of the god that is education go? We push our children and put them in the best schools; we hire tutors, we dole out cash, we say, You must get into this school. (Some parents even cheat on the school applications.) Our children work endless hours, neglect many other aspects of their humanity, and then emerge victorious with the coveted paper. They set it up in its place, and there it stands. From that spot it cannot move. Even though [they] cry out to it, it cannot answer; it cannot save them from their troubles.

We could keep going. (And by the way, it’s OK to frame your diplomas.) We could keep going with our workplace, our businesses, the cliques and associations we form, the brands we value and what they do to our sense of worth. All of these things are a form of religion, a way for us to find ultimate security and significance.

And then what we actually call “religion” is also another man-made system. We come to worship services. We say prayers. We give our resources. We do and do and do, and it feels burdensome like we’re carrying Sisyphus’ big boulder up a hill. And all for what? Is our life better? Are we more successful?

All the stuff I just described is the system of false religion.

In its essence in false religion, we do for our gods—the god of knowledge and education; the god of sports and fame; the god of work and lifestyle; the god of fitness and vanity.

This is what the concept of the gods has always been—for the peoples of the ancient near east, Greece, Rome, or the modern-day east and west: a personification of creation, a part of creation we endow with a sacred quality in our lives. And we do and do and do for that god.

In true religion, the gospel, God does for us. It’s why God says through the prophet, You have to carry your gods. They’re burdensome to you. But, listen to me, I carry you. I’ve upheld you from birth. I’ve carried you since you were born. Even to your old age and gray hairs I am the one who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you.

The true God, Yahweh, says, I do for you. You don’t do for me. If you were to offer to me all the cattle in the meat industry in the world, I would barely smell it, it’s so small!

That’s why the essence of true religion is grace: God doing us good even though we are rebels.

I think many of us are confused about the essence of true religion. We still think that true religion is us doing for God.

The essence of true religion is believing that God is who he says he is. Not a god we made, but the God who made us. Not a god we carry, but the God who carries us. Not a god we do good things for, but the God who does good things for us. What does he do for us? We’ll get to that.

What’s another difference between false religion and true religion?

Unbelief vs belief

Isaiah 46:8–11
“Remember this, keep it in mind,
take it to heart, you rebels.
Remember the former things, those of long ago;
I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me.
I make known the end from the beginning,
from ancient times, what is still to come.
I say, ‘My purpose will stand,
and I will do all that I please.’
From the east I summon a bird of prey;
from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose.
What I have said, that I will bring about;
what I have planned, that I will do.

The words of Isaiah in these chapters were first intended for the generation that was exiled in Babylon. Under the weight of Babylonian dominance, utterly destitute as a people, they do not believe that things will get better. Have you ever studied how difficult it is to convince people who come from abject poverty and adverse circumstances that they can get out and thrive? A similar mindset in the exiles is what Isaiah is addressing.

God’s people find him unwilling, unable, and objectionable.

Unwilling because of their deeds. By the time of exile, the people had had plenty of prophets castigating them for their sin. In their mind, God was done with them. Sometimes, God sounded like he was done with them. Read the prophet Hosea.

Unable because look at where they were. Their temple was gone. Their land desecrated. Their king not on a throne. As a nation, first Assyria and then Babylon had eaten them for lunch. Surely, those nations and their gods were stronger than Israel’s God.

Objectionable because God’s plan to use a pagan king for their deliverance was frankly too much to swallow. So God has to defend his choice of Cyrus.

This is very much what unbelief sounds like today.

Many in our culture find God and his character objectionable. They don’t like that he’s a God that calls humanity to account, so they object to his judgment. They don’t like the doctrine of sin. They know something is wrong with the human race, but it’s trauma, neglect, ignorance—but not sin. They don’t like the doctrine of salvation through a substitute. They want self-salvation. I save myself. They don’t like a God that meddles with the world. They say, Yes, the world is a mess, but it’s our mess. We’ll deal with it. Thank you very much. We could keep going.

Others find God unable. They look around and see a world with evil, with problems everywhere, and conclude, God is not great. God is not able to fix the world.

Still others find him unwilling. God doesn’t care. If he did, why is my life so unfulfilled and the world so miserable. If God exists, he doesn’t care.

Here’s how God counters unbelief in this passage.

He starts by saying (v 8), Remember, keep it in mind, take it to heart, you rebels. In verse 12 he says, Listen to me, you stubborn-hearted. The big problem for the exiles is not Babylon. The bigger problem is their rebellious and stubborn hearts. They won’t listen to God.

So God says, Remember the former things, those of long ago. He’s inviting them down memory lane, to his choice of Abraham, making him into a nation, rescuing Israel out of Egypt. He’s saying, How unlikely was that? I moved heaven and earth for you. I announced it (through Moses) and then brought it to pass. And I’m doing it again.

I don’t know about you, but my past history with God has always encouraged me for the future. When I was writing this sermon, Anna reminded me that when I wanted to do the PhD, I had put three unlikely things before the Lord. She had a hard time believing he’d do it. So did I. 1) We were going to have to move the family out of state. 2) I wanted to do it full-time, which meant I would not have income. AND 3) I did not want us to go into debt. We put it before the Lord. He did all three of those things and did them big and did them in unexpected ways. I know you’ve seen him do similar things.

Then he says, I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. Not Bel, not Nebo, not any other. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’

God is saying, Nothing stands in the way of my will or my purpose. You’re in exile because I brought it to pass. You will come out of exile because I planned it.

He says in verse 11, From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose. He’s talking about Cyrus. He’s called a bird of prey because he’s a menace in the world stage. He’s going to sweep across nations, turn them into dust with his sword (41:2). And in all of that, he’ll be fulfilling the purpose of God.

God says, What I have said, that I will bring about; what I have planned, that I will do.

The statements about the sovereign purpose of God, the efficacy of his word, his knowledge of the end from the beginning, his will being completely free—this is what it means that Yahweh alone is God.

When Scripture speaks of God, that three-letter word, G-O-D, is describing that being. This is not true of any man-made God. They can’t move. They can’t answer. They can’t save. They don’t know the future. They don’t speak. They don’t will or bring anything to pass.

Belief in the true God is not intellectually difficult. But it takes surrender. And that, for a stubborn-hearted human, is nearly impossible.

Transition: Let’s look at the final difference between false religion and true religion.

Unrighteousness vs salvation

Isaiah 46:12–13
Listen to me, you stubborn-hearted,
you who are now far from my righteousness.
I am bringing my righteousness near,
it is not far away;
and my salvation will not be delayed.
I will grant salvation to Zion,
my splendor to Israel.

The word “righteousness” is one of the most important theological words in Isaiah, if not in all of Scripture.

The word is relational, not merely ethical. It refers to doing right in relation to God and neighbor. Someone could think that because they keep their nose clean (are gainfully employed and stay away from the visible vices), that they’re righteous in the biblical sense. Not so. Righteousness, as God defines it, means that we, like God, fight for the fatherless, the poor, the widow, the foreigner.

Early in Isaiah we learn that one of the reasons Israel is in so much trouble with God is that he looked for justice but found bloodshed instead. He looked for righteousness but heard cries of distress!

So here in verse 12 God says, Because you’re stubborn toward me, you are far from my righteousness, meaning, you do not treat each other with lovingkindness and faithfulness.

Here’s the puzzle. Since they’re far from God’s righteousness in verse 12, we would expect in verse 13 to read that God is done with them. You’re far from righteousness, therefore, salvation is far from you.

But that’s not what we read. What do we read?

Verse 13, I am bringing my righteousness near, it is not far away; and my salvation will not be delayed. I will grant salvation to Zion, my splendor to Israel.

Did you hear that? This is the gospel. There is no salvation without righteousness, and because the people are not righteous, we should expect no salvation. But God says, I’m supplying both: my righteousness and my salvation. How? How does God overcome humanity’s utter lack of righteousness? I mean, he called them “rebels,” “stubborn-hearted.” He said to them again and again, remember, remember, listen to me, listen to me, which implies that they’re not listening and they’re not remembering. So how does God bring his righteousness and his salvation?

In Isaiah, we have to keep reading, but in history, we know the answer is Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the righteousness of God.

He is the only person who loved God and neighbor perfectly, selflessly. And because he is righteous, he could give his life as a ransom for many. He brought salvation because he is righteous.

Romans 3:22 This righteousness is given through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ to all who believe.

1 Peter 3:18, For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.

True religion is of grace. It’s God doing for us what we cannot do for ourselves. It’s God doing us eternal good in the giving of his son for our righteousness and salvation. It’s God carrying us all the way safely home. We carry idols; God carries us. No amount of works we do for God will ever save us.

True religion is belief, belief that God is who he says he is. Belief that God’s ways are higher than our ways. Belief that God willingly gave his son to remake the world, out of his committed love for the world. Belief that God can and will triumph over the powers of death and the power of sin.

True religion is the gospel of salvation.

Do you receive the son of God as your righteousness and your salvation? Then turn away from a religion of works and a heart of unbelief, and cling to the son of God.