In chapter 13 of the book of Isaiah, the Lord was prophesying about the complete destruction of Babylon during the Great Tribulation. At the end of the Great Tribulation, Jesus will return to earth and begin the Millennial Kingdom. This is the subject as we pick up in chapter 14...
When the Lord returns to rule and reign, He will gather the Jews and place them in the Promised Land. They will no longer be an oppressed people. In fact, they will be the most favored people of all.
When the Jews have been put in a position of power instead of persecution, they will rejoice. They will bless their freedom from oppression by the neighboring nations. They will speak against the king of Babylon, who, in their past, had taken them captive and treated them terribly.
At first read, this sounds somewhat reminiscent of the prophecy against the king of Egypt spoken in Ezekiel 32. In that chapter, Pharaoh is described as being in the pit after his death, and seeing others who have ended up in the same place. Here in Isaiah, the king of Babylon is described as going to Sheol and encountering those there.
But this is a bit different. You see, as we continue reading Isaiah 14, we discover that the description of the King of Babylon is quite bit different that we might expect.
These verses have traditionally been applied to the devil. But I was surprised to discover this week how many commentaries cry foul to this interpretation. There are numerous objections, most of which boil down to the argument, "This passage specifically says that it is 'against the king of Babylon'" (Isa. 14:4).
But remember that Satan roams about on the earth (Job 1:7), is the prince of the power of the air (Eph. 2:2), and has his throne on earth (Rev. 2:13). Also, there are demonic forces assigned to various world powers (Dan. 10:20).
As we read through Scripture, we find that God often addresses the spiritual power which is behind the earthly realm. For example, in Ezekiel 28, the Lord speaks against the leader of Tyre. But it becomes apparent that He is addressing the king of Tyre, who is Satan himself.
God always sees the devil behind evil on this earth. When Simon Peter tried to convince Jesus that going to the cross was not a good idea, Jesus responded by saying,
Matt. 16:23 ...“Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”
In the same way, God is here addressing the spiritual power behind the earthly king of Babylon.
Verse 12 says,
Is. 14:12 “How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, you who have weakened the nations!"
The King James Version of the Bible says,
Is. 14:12 "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning..."
As a result, the "King James only" party has accused modern translators of taking the devil out of the Bible. But in fact, the word Lucifer is not in the Hebrew. The word describing Satan, which is translated "star of the morning" in verse 12 is the Hebrew word "hay-LALE," which means "light-bearer." In Latin, the word is "lucifer." And so the KJV usage of "Lucifer" came from the Latin Vulgate.
But whichever translation you are reading, you will see that 2Corinthians 11:14 says,
2Cor. 11:14 ...even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
The devil is called "light-bearer," disguising himself as an "angel of light." This is because when he was created,
Ezek. 28:13 “...Every precious stone was your covering: The ruby, the topaz and the diamond; The beryl, the onyx and the jasper; The lapis lazuli, the turquoise and the emerald; And the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets, was in you..."
Ezek. 28:14 “You were the anointed cherub who covers, and I placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked in the midst of the stones of fire."
He was beautiful at his creation, radiating light of all colors. But this angel of light became the prince of darkness.
Lucifer, the light-bearer, was beautiful, wise (Eze. 28:12) and blameless until he became unrighteous (Eze. 28:15).
What caused this unrighteousness? He had an abundant trade, which made him sin (Eze. 28:16,18). Back in verse 11, Isaiah said that the music of his harps brought him down.
Since we know that the cherubim direct the worship of God (Rev. 4:8-11), we believe that while Lucifer was leading the worship of God, playing music on his harps, he began to think that he was something. He became proud:
Ezek. 28:17 “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor..."
When he saw the worship being directed to God, he began to desire it for himself. He wanted what God had. He wanted to be like God.
The pride in Lucifer's heart became determination. He thought,
1) "I will ascend to heaven."
2) "I will raise my throne above the stars of God."
3) "I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north."
4) "I will ascend above the heights of the clouds."
5) "I will make myself like the Most High."
The conceit that the devil had regarding his wisdom, beauty, and perfection manifested and convinced him that he could be like God.
As crazy as that sounds, each of us face the possibility of falling into the same trap. When the devil deceived Eve, he told her regarding the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,
Gen. 3:5 “...in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God....”
This is why Paul warned Timothy not to make a new believer an elder in the church, saying:
1Tim. 3:6 ...not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil.
What was that condemnation incurred by the devil? Lucifer was cast as profane from the mountain of God (Eze. 28:16). He lost his position as the anointed cherub. And still he will suffer even more.
Satan's soon destination will be Sheol. John the apostle wrote his vision of the future:
Rev. 20:1-3 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time.
During Satan's thousand years in the bottomless pit, he will be mocked by all the dead that he deceived. They will say, "You have been as made weak as us!" Isaiah told us,
Is. 14:9-10 "Sheol from beneath is excited over you to meet you when you come; It arouses for you the spirits of the dead, all the leaders of the earth; It raises all the kings of the nations from their thrones. They will all respond and say to you, ‘Even you have been made weak as we, you have become like us."
God will say,
Ezek. 28:17 "...I cast you to the ground; I put you before kings, that they may see you."
Ezek. 28:19 “All who know you among the peoples are appalled at you; You have become terrified and you will cease to be forever."
Forever? Didn't we just read that he is going to be released at the end of the thousand years?
Satan will be released at the end of the Millennium:
Rev. 20:7-10 When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore. And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
The devil's ultimate destiny is eternal, fiery torment. Jesus described it as,
Matt. 25:41 "...the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels"
Now God focuses Isaiah's hearers back on the main point: the prophetic destruction of Babylon...
We discussed the destruction of Babylon at length last time. But I want to draw your attention to verses 24 and 27:
Is. 14:24 The LORD of hosts has sworn saying, “Surely, just as I have intended so it has happened, and just as I have planned so it will stand"
Is. 14:27 “For the LORD of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it? And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back?”
They key to understanding the universe - in fact, the key to understanding every single thing that happens to us in this life and in the world - are found in these statements. God is sovereign. He has a sovereign plan. Everything that happened today and will happen tomorrow are foreknown by Him. They're part of the plan, and no one can thwart His plan. The next accident, tragedy, unexpected curve, the next blessing, coincidence, or miracle, He's got it all worked out already.
Psa. 27:1 The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the defense of my life; Whom shall I dread?
Rom. 8:35-39 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Rom. 8:28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.