Isa 46:6
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.
Isa 46:7
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.
Isa 46:8
Remember this, and shew yourselves men: bring
it again to mind, O ye transgressors.
Isa 46:9
Remember the former things of old: for I
am God, and
there is none else;
I am God, and
there is none like me,
Isa 46:10
Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times
the things that are not
yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:
Isa 46:11
Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken
it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed
it, I will also do it.
Here Isaiah is rebuking men who make an idol out of gold or silver and fall down and worship it, when it cannot move itself from where men place it, but needs to be carried here and there by men; and they cry to it when it cannot answer them nor rescue them from trouble.
Then Isaiah reminds the Israelites how, unlike the immobile and powerless idols, God has been able to speak from the beginning, when he said - "Let there be light..." And declaring the end (the consequence) from the beginning (before the action is taken that brings the predicted consequence - e.g.
And He was able to speak saying,
Gen 2:17
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die (literally, to die you will be dying, you will start to degenerate until your degeneration leads to your physical death.)
And He spoke telling the serpent,
Gen 3:14
And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou
art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
Gen 3:15
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. (An example of God declaring from ancient times
the things that are not
yet done, i.e. declaring the consequences (the end) for satan from the beginning in Adam's day, but consequences which were not yet done in Isaiah's day.
Unlike idols which cannot warn of consequences before they happen, but men foolishly rely on to rescue them from consequences of their actions after the consequences happen, God speaks to warn what will happen if men do X, Y or Z, and then has the power to cause those consequences if men do X, Y or Z.
God does not mention anything about knowing what the consequences (the end) will be because He knows the future exhaustively. He credits His predicted consequences happening to the fact that He makes them happen them, not that He knows how everything will unfold.
