Isaiah 14: 1 - 32
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We studied last week about the Destruction pronounced against Babylon. It was provocative because Babylon was not even in power at that time. Assyria was the world ruler when these prophesies were given.
Well this week we come to a rather famous section of Isaiah in chapter 14 where God gives us a view into eternity past and we see the invisible powers behind the various kingdoms.
Just as Daniel was told in beginning at verse 12
12 Then he said to me, “Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. 13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia. 14 Now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision refers to many days yet to come.”
20 Then he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? And now I must return to fight with the prince of Persia; and when I have gone forth, indeed the prince of Greece will come.
Our passage begins with a message of reassurance to Israel.
1 - For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will still choose Israel, and settle them in their own land. The strangers will be joined with them, and they will cling to the house of Jacob. Then people will take them and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess them for servants and maids in the land of the LORD; they will take them captive whose captives they were, and rule over their oppressors.
The LORD will have mercy - Hebrew is racham and has an expanded meaning of showing compassion and tender affection.
and will still choose Israel, - Sometimes we feel that God chose us, but if He had to choose again, He would change His choice! We almost feel that God is "stuck" with us now, and would choose differently if He could. Here, the LORD reminds His children that He does still choose us, and would choose us all over again!
Now from hear Isaiah moves his focus to Babylon again. In this case to the king of Babylon and his fall. Now as we read notice that Isaiah seems to not just be speaking about the King but to someone else.
3 - It shall come to pass in the day the LORD gives you rest from your sorrow, and from your fear and the hard bondage in which you were made to serve, that you will take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say: "How the oppressor has ceased, the golden city ceased! The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers; he who struck the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he who ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted and no one hinders. The whole earth is at rest and quiet; they break forth into singing. Indeed the cypress trees rejoice over you, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, 'Since you were cut down, no woodsman has come up against us.'"
So here clearly this “proverb” is taken up against the King of Babylon. It’s a great day when a bully gets knocked out, the oppressor has ceased! He says the staff and scepter, both symbols of power are broken. What an awful ruler this sounds like striking the people in wrath, with a continual stroke (an unending beating), he ruled in anger but now his day has come and no one hinders, that is no one is going to help.
What a terrible indictment when the whole earth breaks into singing when you die. Think of how you would have felt when Hitler was taken down or Stalin or Mao.
But in a greater sense the King of Babylon is just the near fulfillment, the far fulfillment is where this gets very interesting.
The power behind the Babylonian King and empire is none other than Satan himself. As we move on this will become more apparent.
Even the trees rejoice over the fall of the king of Babylon. This is true of the king of literal Babylon, because the attacking kings cut down thousands of trees for both fuel and lumber, leaving Israel and Lebanon deforested. "Since the twelfth century B.C. the kings of Mesopotamia had imported lumber from Lebanon. Nebuchadnezzar used large supplies of such choice timers in his extensive building efforts in Babylon after 605 B.C." (Wolf)
Verses 9 - 11 is a very morbid prophesy of what awaits the King and Satan.
"Hell from beneath is excited about you, to meet you at your coming; it stirs up the dead for you, all the chief ones of the earth; it has raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. They all shall speak and say to you: 'Have you also become as weak as we? Have you become like us? Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, and the sound of your stringed instruments; the maggot is spread under you, and worms cover you.'"
It kind of like the big tough guy is going to prison; only in this case it’s hell.
They all shall speak and say to you: 'Have you also become as weak as we? When he went to hell, the king of literal Babylon was exposed as a mere man, though he thought of himself as greater than that. As well, when the king of spiritual Babylon goes to hell, all will be amazed to see that he was only a creature.
We often - to his great delight - inflate Satan's status and importance. We think of him as the opposite of God; as if God were light and Satan were darkness, as if God were hot and Satan were cold. Satan wishes he was the opposite of God, but God wants us to know now what everyone will know someday - that Satan is a mere creature, and is in no way the opposite of God. If Satan has an opposite, it is not God the Father or God the Son, it would be a high-ranking angelic being such as Michael.
He mentions the sound of your stringed instruments this is an allusion to something we learn in a parallel passage in .
So keep your place here in and turn over to . The build up to this section of Ezekiel is similar to Isaiah but here he is prophesying against the king of Tyre.
1 The word of the LORD came to me again, saying, 2 “Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD:
“Because your heart is lifted up,
And you say, ‘I am a god,
I sit in the seat of gods,
In the midst of the seas,’
Yet you are a man, and not a god,
Though you set your heart as the heart of a god
3 (Behold, you are wiser than Daniel!
There is no secret that can be hidden from you!
4 With your wisdom and your understanding
You have gained riches for yourself,
And gathered gold and silver into your treasuries;
5 By your great wisdom in trade you have increased your riches,
And your heart is lifted up because of your riches),”
6 ‘Therefore thus says the Lord GOD:
“Because you have set your heart as the heart of a god,
7 Behold, therefore, I will bring strangers against you,
The most terrible of the nations;
And they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom,
And defile your splendor.
8 They shall throw you down into the Pit,
And you shall die the death of the slain
In the midst of the seas.
9 “Will you still say before him who slays you,
‘I am a god’?
But you shall be a man, and not a god,
In the hand of him who slays you.
10 You shall die the death of the uncircumcised
By the hand of aliens;
For I have spoken,” says the Lord GOD.’ ”
Lamentation for the King of Tyre
11 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 12 “Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD:
“You were the seal of perfection,
Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
13 You were in Eden, the garden of God;
Every precious stone was your covering:
The sardius, topaz, and diamond,
Beryl, onyx, and jasper,
Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold.
The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes
Was prepared for you on the day you were created.
Here we see God had given Lucifer this gift of music, the worship leader of heaven at one time.
14 “You were the anointed cherub who covers;
I established you;
You were on the holy mountain of God;
You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.
15 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created,
Till iniquity was found in you.
Lucifer was created as one of the highest orders of the angelic host. A Cherub (not a fat baby cartoon) but an awesome powerful angel.
It was all good until pride entered in.
16 “By the abundance of your trading
You became filled with violence within,
And you sinned;
Therefore I cast you as a profane thing
Out of the mountain of God;
And I destroyed you, O covering cherub,
From the midst of the fiery stones.
17 “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty;
You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor;
I cast you to the ground,
I laid you before kings,
That they might gaze at you.
18 “You defiled your sanctuaries
By the multitude of your iniquities,
By the iniquity of your trading;
Therefore I brought fire from your midst;
It devoured you,
And I turned you to ashes upon the earth
In the sight of all who saw you.
19 All who knew you among the peoples are astonished at you;
You have become a horror,
And shall be no more forever.” ’ ”
Now lets look at - 17
"How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: 'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.' Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit." "Those who see you will gaze at you, and consider you, saying: 'Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, who made the world as a wilderness and destroyed its cities, who did not open the house of his prisoners?'"
The name Lucifer in Hebrew is heylel . It means “light bearer” or “shining one”. So far from the characterizations of a red-skinned man with horns and a pointy tail he was created as a thing of beauty.
In this section Isaiah mentions what are called the 5 I wills of Satan.
i. I will ascend into heaven: "Heaven will be my home and my place of honor."
ii. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: "I will be enthroned, and will be exalted above all other angelic beings."
iii. I will also sit on the mount of the congregation: "I will sit in the place of glory and honor and attention."
iv. I will ascend above the heights: "I will continue to rise, even in heaven, until all see me in my bright shining glory."
v. I will be like the Most High: "I will be glorious, and be set equal to God, far above all other created beings."
The main take away from this brief study is that pride and self deification are the direct opposite of following Christ. In Gods kingdom the way up is down!
Verse 18 -23 are more judgement against Babylon.
"All the kings of the nations, all of them, sleep in glory, everyone in his own house; but you are cast out of your grave like an abominable branch, like the garment of those who are slain, thrust through with a sword, who go down to the stones of the pit, like a corpse trodden underfoot. You will not be joined with them in burial, because you have destroyed your land and slain your people. The brood of evildoers shall never be named. Prepare slaughter for his children because of the iniquity of their fathers, lest they rise up and possess the land, and fill the face of the world with cities." "For I will rise up against them," says the LORD of hosts, "And cut off from Babylon the name and remnant, and offspring and posterity," says the LORD. "I will also make it a possession for the porcupine, and marshes of muddy water; I will sweep it with the broom of destruction," says the LORD of hosts.
Keep in mind that in God’s eyes and historically speaking all false religion had it’s beginnings in Babylon. There will be no tears when it goes away.
The destruction of Babylon - both literal and spiritual - will be complete. The LORD will cut off from Babylon the name and remnant. There will not even be a remnant of Babylon left, when the LORD will sweep it with the broom of destruction.
Now Isaiah moves toward judgement against Assyria;
V 24 - 27 The LORD of hosts has sworn, saying, "Surely, as I have thought, so it shall come to pass, and as I have purposed, so it shall stand: That I will break the Assyrian in My land, and on My mountains tread him underfoot. Then his yoke shall be removed from them, and his burden removed from their shoulders. This is the purpose that is purposed against the whole earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations. For the LORD of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?"
I will break the Assyrian in My land: God did this powerfully when the Assyrians invaded Judah. describes how God simply sent the angel of the LORD, and killed 185,000 Assyrians in one night. When the people woke up, there were 185,000 dead Assyrian soldiers.
For the LORD of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? God always accomplishes His purpose! His plan is never frustrated! Even when we have no trust at all in our own plan, we can fully trust God's purpose!
God has a purpose for all of us.
Now in verse 28 - 32 he focuses on the judgement against the Philistines;
This is the burden which came in the year that King Ahaz died. "Do not rejoice, all you of Philistia, because the rod that struck you is broken; for out of the serpent's roots will come forth a viper, and its offspring will be a fiery flying serpent. The firstborn of the poor will feed, and the needy will lie down in safety; I will kill your roots with famine, and it will slay your remnant. Wail, O gate! Cry, O city! All you of Philistia are dissolved; for smoke will come from the north, and no one will be alone in his appointed times." What will they answer the messengers of the nation? That the LORD has founded Zion, and the poor of His people shall take refuge in it.
Some see in this a future judgment for "modern Philistines," that is, Palestinians. The name "Palestine" is a Latin name from the name Philista, and this may be a prophetic warning to the Palestinians: do not rejoice in the suffering or downfall of Israel, because worse judgment will befall you.
I love the last verse That the LORD has founded Zion, and the poor of His people shall take refuge in it. No matter what Iran or anyone else has to say!