Death to The King of Babylon
May 11, 2019
Commentary
Isaiah warned that Judah would one day be taken into captivity by Babylon and this happened in 586 B.C. Jeremiah prophesied that this captivity would last for 70 years. After this, Babylon would be judged and the Jews were permitted to go home (Jer. 25:1-14). The picture in today’s portion of scripture is that of a mighty king whose pride brought him to destruction. Isaiah was able to see through the corridor of time to the captivity of Israel, the fall of Babylon, and the return of Israel. The fall of Babylon would assure God’s people that He would work on their behalf (v. 1).It is interesting to note that God is the Landowner, since the land of Israel is called “the land of the Lord” (v. 2).
The one whose fury would end is the oppressor who had struck down peoples and aggressively subdued nations (vv. 3-8). His death would bring rest, peace and joy to the entire region. This rest is pictured symbolically by the great cedar trees of Lebanon saying that they were then safe. No longer would they be in danger of being cut down to provide tribute to Sennacherib. Isaiah describes the king’s arrival in hell, (the world of the dead) where the king’s wealth, glory and power vanished. In fact, the king already there, stood in tribute to him (v. 9). They were amazed that he had become weak and dead like them (v. 10). Though he had lived in his riches he would now lie in corruption like them. The worms would decompose his body in the grave (v. 11). It seems that Isaiah is using the fall of Satan to illustrate the fall of this Babylonian king. Five times, the personal pronoun “I” is used to emphasize the selfish determinations of both Satan and Satan-empowered men to replace God, Himself, as the rightful ruler of this world.
Application
I need to keep in mind that everything I have belongs to the Lord and I’m his caretaker.
Isaiah 14:1– 11 (NET)
1 The Lord will certainly have compassion on Jacob; he will again choose Israel as his special people and restore them to their land. Resident foreigners will join them and unite with the family of Jacob. 2 Nations will take them and bring them back to their own place. Then the family of Israel will make foreigners their servants as they settle in the Lord’s land. They will make their captors captives and rule over the ones who oppressed them. 3 When the Lord gives you relief from your suffering and anxiety and from the hard labor that you were made to perform, 4 you will taunt the king of Babylon with these words: “Look how the oppressor has met his end! Hostility has ceased!
5 The Lord has broken the club of the wicked, the scepter of rulers.
6 It furiously struck down nations with unceasing blows. It angrily ruled over nations, oppressing them without restraint.
7 The whole earth rests and is quiet; they break into song.
8 The evergreens also rejoice over your demise, as do the cedars of Lebanon, singing, ‘Since you fell asleep, no woodsman comes up to chop us down!’
9 Sheol below is stirred up about you, ready to meet you when you arrive. It rouses the spirits of the dead for you, all the former leaders of the earth; it makes all the former kings of the nations rise from their thrones.
10 All of them respond to you, saying: ‘You too have become weak like us! You have become just like us!
11 Your splendor has been brought down to Sheol, as well as the sound of your stringed instruments. You lie on a bed of maggots, with a blanket of worms over you.
Illustration: We Must be Emptied Before We Can Be Filled
“I believe firmly that the moment our hearts are emptied of pride and selfishness and ambition and everything that is contrary to God’s law, the Holy Spirit will fill every corner of our hearts. But if we are full of pride and conceit and ambition and the world, there is no room for the Spirit of God. We must be emptied before we can be filled.” (D.L. Moody).