Isaiah Chapter 14 - Kings and Fallen Angels Isaiah chapter 14 deals with four topics: - The King of Babylon
- Lucifer (aka, Satan)
- Assyria
- Philistia
Today we're going to focus on the first two...
The King of Babylon - Nabuchadnezzar
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. (vs 1-2)
This opening statement is a promise that God's correction of Israel will not be permanent. God will have mercy on His people, and they will return to their land.
It might not seem too important to us today, but imagine if a warlord came to our city, slaughtered most of the men, destroyed much of the city, and then took our families away to a distant land to be slaves. We would long for our home, and for the peaceful existence of our past lives. Returning to our home would be a precious dream! That was the hope of the Jewish people when they were held captive in Babylon.
I think it's so awesome that God knows this will be a hope of His people, and so before He begins the correction, He promises that they'll one day return to their land! Not only that, they'll even bring some Babylonians back with them!
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.'" (vs 3-8)
While the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar was an instrument of correction in God's hand, he also became proud and lifted up because of his success. So, God is going to humble his arrogance (Daniel chapter 4 may have been part of God's correction). When Babylon did fall, it was a joyous event for all of the nations and people that were conquered and enslaved… even the trees celebrated its fall! During his military campaigns, Nebuchadnezzar deforested much of Israel and Lebanon for fuel and building supplies.
The Fall of Lucifer (aka, Satan)
At verse 12, this chapter makes a prophetic turn. Its important to remember that Isaiah has two aspects of prophetic fulfillment in mind; First, there is the immediate and partial fulfillment regarding the empire of Babylon and its king. Second, there is the distant and ultimate fulfillment regarding the spiritual empire of Babylon - the world system - and its king, Satan.
"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." (vs 12-15)
This passage describes the fall of one of the greatest of the angelic beings created by God: Lucifer, the "son of the morning." Lucifer was a high ranking angel, seemingly associated with music, as Ezekiel says of Lucifer before his fall...
...the workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created. (Ezekiel 28:13)
Yet, despite his esteemed position, and all of his beauty and glory, Lucifer departed from the heart of God by wanting to exalt himself above his peers.
The cause of Satan's fall: - I will ascend into heaven: Satan wanted heaven to be a place where he was exalted and recognized.
- I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: Satan thought he should be exalted above all of the other angels.
- I will also sit on the mount of the congregation: Satan thought he should sit in the seat of power and authority.
- I will ascend above the heights: Satan thought he should be glorified and seen as superior.
- I will be like the Most High: Satan thought he should be equal with God in gory and honor.
In other words, Satan wanted to be worshiped like God. Perhaps this explains Satan's hatred of mankind. The bible tells us that we were made in God's image (Genesis 1:26), that we are beneath the angels in dignity (Hebrews 2:6-7a; 2 Peter 2:11), yet we'll be served by angels in the present (Hebrews 1:14; 2:7-8; Psalm 91:11-12) and will one day be lifted in honor and status above the angels (1 Corinthians 6:3; 1 John 3:2). That's enough to make a supremely proud angelic being to hate us!
Yet Satan is not like God, and his pride caused him to be cast down...
The fall of Satan: - Satan fell from glorified to profane (Ezekiel 28:14-16). This is what Jesus spoke of in Luke 10:18 when He says He saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. This fall of Satan that has already occurred.
- Satan will fall from having access to heaven (Job 1:12, 1 Kings 22:21, Zechariah 3:1) to restriction on the earth (Revelation 12:9).
- Satan will fall from his place on the earth to bondage in the bottomless pit for 1,000 years (Revelation 20:1-3).
- Finally, as mentioned here in Isaiah 14:12, Satan will fall from the bottomless pit to the lake of fire, which we commonly know as hell (Revelation 20:10).
"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?'" (vs 16-17)
When Nebuchadnezzar was in his seat of power, everyone feared him, and considered him to be almost god-like. Yet when he fell, his weakness was exposed, and everyone we astounded that this man, who was only human, was able to cause such fear in other kingdoms and cities. I can't help but think of Hitler, who caused all of Europe to tremble and fear, only to die at his own hand in a bunker underneath Berlin as the city burned. Or Saddam Hussein, feared by all for his savagery, to end up being drug by US soldiers from a spider hole and hanged.
And the same will happen when Satan, the king of spiritual Babylon falls. Today many people fear Satan, and think he has much power, but when he falls, people will see him for what he really is and be amazed at how much damage he was able to do.
Saints, Satan is a paper tiger. He is NOT the opposite of God, not even close! He may seem powerful, but next to God he is an ant! Matter of fact, at the end of the Tribulation Satan is captured, not by God, or even the archangel Michael, but a nameless angel swoops down, seizes him, chains him, and tosses him into a pit!
Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the bottomless pit and a heavy chain in his hand. He seized the dragon--that old serpent, who is the devil, Satan--and bound him in chains for a thousand years. (Rev 20:1-2) Takeaway: Regardless of whether it's a powerful human ruler (for example, the anti-christ), or Satan himself, the people of God need not fear! God is our protector, our refuge, and our redemption. We are His people, and God takes care of His people!
...if we endure, we will also reign with Him. (2 Tim 2:12)
...they will take them captive whose captives they were, and rule over their oppressors. (Isaiah 14:4)
Pastor Clay |
No comments:
Post a Comment