Observation: In the midst of the Babylonian exile, where the Jews are surrounded by idols of Babylonian gods and myths, the prophet makes a startling claim. Not only is the Lord of Israel the strongest, most powerful, and sovereign above all gods (that was a standard claim...every nation claimed its god was "the best"). The Lord of Israel is, in fact, all there is. "Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me. I, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior." The people of Israel were always monotheists in terms of only worshiping one god. That's different from saying there are no other gods. Contrary to what the Babylonians would have you believe, these other gods simply do not exist. Interestingly, centuries later the Jews and Christians were falsely labeled "atheists" by the Roman authorities because they denied the existence of any Roman gods.
Application: So God is it. God is all there is. So what? I don't feel much societal pressure these days to acknowledge Marduk, or Jupiter, or Zeus and Athena.
But we do feel a lot of pressure to give our time and talents, our "worship," to things like our economy, our national identity, our chosen political platform, our cultural standards of beauty, and whatever advertisers want us to spend money on. We even feel pressure from well-meaning religious folks to worship their version of the God of Israel, who fits neatly into the cultural categories they set up, who celebrates what they celebrate and hates the same people they hate. Even our ideas of God can become idols.
We do sometimes get scammed into worshiping gods that do not exist. Maybe they don't want to be called "gods". But if we worship them--if we give them our time, our money, our loyalty above all else--that's what they are. The rest is just semantics. Yet God gives us the reality check. These aren't just minor deities, squabbling over souls. These things do not exist. They have no consciousness. They do not care for you because they can not care for anyone. They cannot save you because they have no will, no mind, no inner life. They are ideas in your mind. You might just as well appeal for help to Han Solo or Captain Jean-Luc Picard. You get the idea. God is it. God is all there is. And God loves you and wants to save you. Thanks be to God.
Prayer: God, you are it. You are all there is, not just in my life, but in the universe. Help me become an "atheist" regarding all these other fictional saviors we chase after, and put my full faith in you. In Jesus' name, Amen.
