The Gospel of Isaiah: Highlights of Chapter Fourteen

The Gospel of Isaiah: Highlights of Chapter Fourteen. 

WANTED: An imaginative scribe who can write exquisite poetry. A faithful, articulate believer in Yahweh who can switch from one extreme to another at the Lord’s command… from a sublime vision of God’s glory, to a ridiculous demonstration of shameful nakedness; from confronting the people over their sinfulness, to comforting people with hopefulness; from being an outspoken messenger one minute, to a living object lesson the next; from having one foot in the immediate surroundings one minute, to one foot in the future messianic realm the next. Must be adaptable, thick-skinned, and extraordinarily brave. Person who answers, “Here I am. Send me!” will be especially considered. (from The Jerusalem Post, 740 BC).

• “How you are fallen from your heavenly place, O Lucifer, O Daystar, O Shining One and Son of the Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground! 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 lofty mount of the angelic assemblies, on the highest place of the sacred mountain! I will rise above the tops of the clouds! I will be like the Most High God and be His rival!’ And yet, O Shining One, you shall be brought down to the underworld of Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit!” (14:12-15).

As Isaiah provides for us God’s thinking regarding the evil King of Babylon, he is reaching beyond that and also poetically picturing for us what Lucifer himself was thinking as he fell from heaven. Both Isaiah and Ezekiel below  spoke of wayward kings that attempted to claim divine rights in their pridefulness, and tried to assume the honorable authority and grandeur that was God’s alone.

Ezekiel’s Version of the Fall of Lucifer. Another great prophet expanded on this theme of Satan’s fall from grace, only this time his earthly reference point was the King of Tyre. “You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and exquisite beauty. You were the luxury of the paradise of God, adorned with every precious stone. I ordained and anointed you a mighty angelic guardian.  I established you. You were on the holy mountain of God. You walked back and forth in the midst of precious stones… You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, till unrighteousness was found in you…You became filled with violence within, and you sinned. Therefore I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and I banished you in disgrace. O guardian of the angels from the mist of the fiery stones! Your heart was lifted up, filled with pride, because of your beauty. Your wisdom was corrupted by your love of splendor. And I cast you to the ground… You defiled your sanctuary by the multitude of your sins.”  (Ezekiel 28: 11-15).

The Fallen Angel, Lucifer. At some point in time before the creation of the universe by the Father, the Son and holy Spirit, angels were created by God to serve Him and be His messengers and heavenly companions. These angels were given free will by God, though, and a prince of angels, whose Latin name was Lucifer, chose to rebel against his Creator and assume God’s throne as King of the universe. Out of sheer pride and selfish ambition, this powerful angel had the audacity to stage a coup against the Almighty God. Somehow, Lucifer convinced a third of the other angels to join his side in the rebellion. Lucifer and his army of unrighteous angels were soundly defeated, of course, and they were all cast out of the heavenly sphere. The war in heaven was over. This prehistoric defeat of the Evil One was probably what Jesus was referring to in Luke 10:18, when He told them that He was an eyewitness to Satan falling like lightning from heaven.

Satan, the Ultimate Bully. Have you ever had to endure a neighborhood bully, someone who is without a conscience and tries to lie, cheat, steal, intimidate everyone within his reach?  This bully seems always on the verge of doing something violent, but like many bullies, resistance and self-defense will often send the bully scurrying away. And how would you feel when you see the sheriff come into your neighborhood, put the bully in handcuffs, load him into his patrol car, and take him away for a well-earned imprisonment? The whole neighborhood would breathe a collective sigh of relief, right? Now, multiply that relief a few million times in scope, and we can sense what the world will experience when the devil, the world’s neighborhood bully, is finally vanquished and put into prison forever.

Biblical Titles of the Devil. One look at these titles and names given to the devil, and there can be  no question about why he is slated for eternal damnation: the Father of Lies (John 8:44); the Adversary, Satan (1 Peter 5:8 and over 50 times in NT); the Ruler of Darkness (Eph 6:12); the Accuser of the Brethren (Rev. 12:10); the Enemy (Matt. 13:39, Luke 10:18-19); the Slanderer, the Devil (given 38 times in NT); Ruler of the power of the air (Eph. 2:2); the King of Death (Heb. 2:14); Prince of this world (John 12:31); the Lord of the Flies, Beelzebub (Matt. 12:24); the Great Dragon (Rev. 12:9); the Ancient Serpent (Rev. 12:9, 2 Cor. 11:3); the Angel of the Bottomless Pit (Rev. 9:11); the Tempter (Matt.4:3); the false Angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14); the Roaring Lion (1 Peter 5:8); the Ruler of Demons (Matt. 12:24); the Evil One (Matt. 6:13); the Murderer (John 8:44); the Daystar and Son of the Morning, Lucifer (Isaiah 14:2); the Shining One and the Light-Bearer, Lucifer (Isaiah 14:2); the Worthless One, Belial (Deut. 13:14, 1 Sam. 2:12, Ps. 18:4, Ps. 41:8); the Deceiver of the whole world (Rev. 12:9); the Destroyer, Apollyon (Rev. 9:11, Ps. 17:4, 1 Cor. 10:10)).

Passion – Run Devil Run (Live) ft. Crowder

Character Description of the Devil. Would you want to befriend or even become a casual acquaintance of this sort of person? Is this the sort of person you would ever invite into your life even to a minimum degree? He wants to assume the throne of the Most High God; he hates the truth; he wants to take life out of people and replace it with death; he accuses the innocent and slanders the godly; he tells nothing but lies; he loves to thwart the purposes of God and hinder the gospel; he loves to antagonize the followers of Jesus; he is poised to tempt those in their weak moments; he is always prowling for those who are vulnerable; he is a master of disguise; he counterfeits that which is good and perverts what is pure; he spawns evil through those who are fooled into following him; he would deceive the whole world if he could; he loves to mar and deface that which is beautiful; he loves to be smooth and alluring and convincing in his temptations; he overflows with ambition and pride; he wants to embrace all the glory due to God and desires for all to worship him alone; he will be accountable to no one but himself; he is the original trickster, sneaky, and plays dirty; he knows now that Jesus came into the world to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8), and works extra hard to bring as many as he can down with him to his eternal doom.

A Word of Caution. Do not dabble in the occult, in the ways of the Evil One! It is a trap that brings you nothing but spiritual harm and eventual disaster. The Lord Yahweh warned us of all this long ago: “When you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations and detestable acts of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who engages in child sacrifice, or one who practices witchcraft, or is a fortune-teller, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts spells, or a medium, psychic or a spiritist, or one who calls up the spirits of the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord.” (Deuteronomy 18:9-12). It’s no wonder that any Israelite who practiced any of those detestable practices were immediately executed.

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For this struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm, then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” (Ephesians 6:10-20).

Charles Jenkins & Fellowship Chicago – War (Live)

Warfare is Inevitable. When a country declares war, the citizens don’t have much choice… the citizens are called to go into battle if one wants to remain a citizen. When someone starts following Jesus, that believer becomes a citizen of God’s kingdom. In our fallen world, the kingdom of Satan has declared war on the kingdom of God, so warfare comes with the territory. Only, Satan’s fighters in this spiritual battle don’t have bodies, they are invisible. These fighters of Satan are headquartered in the heavenlies where Satan has his hideout, and they conduct constant warfare on Christian believers here on earth. So our war is not against flesh and blood, it is fought with spiritual weapons in the unseen world. God has given us all the supernatural weaponry we need, which includes the armor of God. Most of the armor is protective equipment, but two are aggressively offensive in nature: the Word of God and the ability to pray. These two spiritual weapons are empowered by the Holy Spirit and are divinely effective in the unseen battle.

You’ve Already Won | The Worship Initiative (feat. Davy Flowers)

Final Thought… A Word to the Wise. “There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them.” (C. S. Lewis, from Screwtape Letters).