ISAIAH

Isaiah 14:12-32

quote:

"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! 13 "But you said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north. 14 'I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.' 15 "Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, To the recesses of the pit. 16 "Those who see you will gaze at you, They will ponder over you, saying, 'Is this the man who made the earth tremble, Who shook kingdoms, 17 Who made the world like a wilderness And overthrew its cities, Who did not allow his prisoners to go home?' 18 "All the kings of the nations lie in glory, each in his own tomb. 19 "But you have been cast out of your tomb like a rejected branch, clothed with the slain who are pierced with a sword, who go down to the stones of the pit like a trampled corpse. 20 "You will not be united with them in burial, because you have ruined your country, you have slain your people. May the offspring of evildoers not be mentioned forever. 21 "Prepare for his sons a place of slaughter because of the iniquity of their fathers. They must not arise and take possession of the earth and fill the face of the world with cities." 22 "I will rise up against them," declares the LORD of hosts, "and will cut off from Babylon name and survivors, offspring and posterity," declares the LORD. 23 "I will also make it a possession for the hedgehog and swamps of water, and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction," declares the LORD of hosts. 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, 25 to break Assyria in my land, and I will trample him on My mountains. Then his yoke will be removed from them and his burden removed from their shoulder. 26 "This is the plan devised against the whole earth; and this is the hand that is stretched out against all the nations. 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?" 28 In the year that King Ahaz died this oracle came: 29 "Do not rejoice, O Philistia, all of you, because the rod that struck you is broken; For from the serpent's root a viper will come out, and its fruit will be a flying serpent. 30 "Those who are most helpless will eat, and the needy will lie down in security; I will destroy your root with famine, and it will kill off your survivors. 31 "Wail, O gate; cry, O city; Melt away, O Philistia, all of you; For smoke comes from the north, and there is no straggler in his ranks. 32 "How then will one answer the messengers of the nation? That the LORD has founded Zion, And the afflicted of His people will seek refuge in it."

Tertullian and Gregory the Great, among others, have applied verse 12 to the mention of satan in Luke 10:18. While there might be a subtle hint of a spiritual force behind him, the context is that of the Babylonian king. The pagan kings claimed to be divine or at least sons of gods. The description of the king as a fallen star reflects upon his foolish deification of himself in verses 13 and 14. The Babylonian king had desired to be exalted above God, and now he is pictured as having fallen from heaven in disgrace. The second part of verse 12 describes him as a tall stately tree that has been cut down. This is a picture of the end of an oppressive, cruel regime.

In the ancient East a burial with a state funeral was one of the last honors to be paid to a king. To not even have a burial place was considered a disgrace. In stark contrast, the body of the Babylonian king was like one that had been trampled. There was no dignity in his death nor in his being sent to Sheol with the unrighteous.

With arrogance he chose to defy God. The words of verse 14 are indicative of this Babylonian spirit. Babylon had to be destroyed because it stood in total opposition to the Kingdom of God. As a nation Babylon would be destroyed by Persia in 538 BC, never to rise again.

The question – "Who can frustrate His plan?" is like asking, "Who is like the LORD our God?" (Psalm 135:5) with the obvious answer being God is sovereign. The Lord would take vengeance against Assyria and any other hostile nation that opposed His Kingdom. When Philistia sees the downfall of Assyria they might think of rejoicing and turn their attention again toward Judah. However, God had plans to bring an even greater enemy against Philistia that would bring them to total destruction.

God's purpose was to usher in the Messiah and He was not going to allow any nation or spiritual power to thwart His plan. Even today He does not tolerate a Babylonian spirit of pride. At the end of the age when Messiah comes in glory (Revelation 19), there will be a future destruction of "Babylon", which is symbolic of the present evil world system. Let us be spiritually watchful that we are not deceived by this system or that we do not become ensnared in deceptive "new age" doctrine, which is actually rooted in paganism, both of which are the antithesis of God's kingdom.

The Lord established Zion and "Zion", the dwelling place of God, will always remain. There is a spiritual truth in Zion that those who belong to the Lord will find refuge there. In faith all who truly believe in the Messiah, the Lord Jesus, will have "rest" – freedom from fear, bondage and oppression. And above all, we have hope of eternal life because of the accomplishment of God's purpose of Jesus coming to earth, making the ultimate sacrifice for our sins.