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About Jesus Steve Sweetman Isaiah 14 ch. 1:14:1 - 23 ch. 14:24 - 27 ch.14:28-32
More About Babylon (ch. 14:1 - 26)
In chapter 14, verse 1,
we see one of many prophecies that clearly state that Israel will once
again be favored by God and return to their land.
There's no way around this fact.
Replacement theology believes this.
It's very difficult to suggest that the church will once again be
favored by God and return to their land. Note in verse 1 that
aliens will accompany these Jews who are now favored by God.
I believe these aliens are Christians who are pro-Israel. Verse 2 goes as far to
say that the nations of the earth will help the Jews and these certain
aliens to return to their land. It's
my thinking that this must take place after Jesus returns because prior
to His return most, if not all nations, are enemies to Israel. The last part of verse 2
tells us the importance of Verse 2 also states that
the Jews will make captive of their oppressors.
During the thousand year rule of Christ, Israel
will no longer be subject to their oppressors, but their oppressors will
be subject to them. This
gives us yet another clue to what these thousand years will look like.
Everything is not perfect. Their
will be peace, but still, Jesus must rule with a rod of iron, and the
enemies of the Jews will be in subjection. Verse 3 speaks of the
return of Jesus to earth when He will give relief to In verse 4 the
"oppressor who comes to an end" is Babylon. This is seen in Revelation 17 and 18. Note that in verse 5 it
is the Lord who strikes down the wicked.
I believe this happens at His return.
It's not the church, and it's not even the Jews who strike down
the wicked. With the word of
His mouth, Jesus brings all things under His control. Note the word
"nations" in verse 6. The
oppressor, which is Babylon, possibly the king of Verses 7 and8 speak of a
time of peace. I suggest
this is the peace created by Jesus at His return.
The thousand year rule of Christ will bring peace to the earth. Verses 9 and 10 speak of
the departed dead. They wait
with eager anticipation when they see the king of It gets so bad for the
king of Babylon, the anti-Christ, that maggots and warms will creep around the grave of
the one who once ruled the world, as seen in verse 11. Starting at verse 12 we
have a bit of a change. We've
been talking about the fall of Verse 12 opens with
"how you have fallen from heaven".
Unless you think the king of Satan is called "the
morning star, the son of light' in verse 12.
Paul, in 2 Corinthians 11:14 says that satan can transform
himself into an angel of light. Paul
probably understood this from this very verse.
Satan could do such a thing because he was the morning star, the
son of light. Just what this
means might be debatable, but I suggest that he was once very important.
Some say he was the most important angel. It's interesting to note
the Jesus, in Luke 10:18 says that He saw satan, like lightning, fall
from heaven. Jesus spoke of
this past event, the same event Isaiah speaks of here.
Satan's fall would look light lightning because he was the son of
light. In Revelation 12 we see a
war take place in heaven between satan and his angels and the angels of
God. In Revelation 12:9 and
10 we see that satan and his
angels "were cast out" onto the earth.
The question is thus asked, "if satan was cast out of heaven
in a time past, what was he doing in heaven in this scene in
Revelation"? I don't
know for sure, but satan is called the accuser of the brethren because
he accuses us before God at all times.
Revelation 12:10 states that the accuser of the brothers and
sisters in Christ, accuses us day and night to God.
He has been cast down. So,
it would seem to me that at some past time satan was cast out of heaven
but has been hanging around ever sense, making accusations about us to
God.
Verse 12 states,
"you (satan) have been cast down to the earth".
Note that this is the past tense.
So in some time past, satan was cast down to the earth.
I suggest he was basically kicked out of heaven by God.
This might be why he was in the Garden of Eden.
Some suggest that this gives proof to the gap theory.
This theory states that between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2 there
was a judgment of God on a pre-Genesis 1:2 creation that satan had
something to do with. They
thus say that the creation account of Genesis 1 is actually a
recreation. Verse 12 says, "You
(satan) who once laid low the nations".
Obvious satan affects the affairs of nations and actually brings
them down. What nations this
verse speaks of we don't know. I
think it is safe to say it was the nations who had existed up until that
point in history. Some might
speculate and say the nations spoken of here are pre-adamic nations,
thus giving support to the gap theory. What comes next is called
"the 5 I wills" of satan.
Verse 13 begins with,
"you said in your heart".
The things we will now see what satan said were well thought out
and heart felt convictions. They
weren't just a whim of the moment. The first "I
will" is, "I will ascend to heaven".
All these "I wills" are a matter of pride.
Satan wanted to ascend to heaven and be as God.
We see that in the next "I will". "I will raise my
throne above the stars of God".
Stars in the Bible are symbolic of angels.
Remember, satan himself was called the "morning star".
He wanted to be the supreme angel of angels. Some suggest that
satan was once the supreme angel of angels and these words tell us that
he wants to return to his former days of glory. "I will sit
enthroned on the mount of the assembly".
The mount of the assembly is God's people Israel.
Satan's goal was to be the
Messiah of Israel. Verse 14 says. "I
will ascend to the tops of the clouds", meaning, satan wanted
control over the earth. Then
the last one is the ultimate one. "I
will make myself like the Most High'.
Satan wanted to be like God Himself and that by his own doing.
In all these "I
wills" we see the pride of satan.
I believe that pride is the most basic sin of all sins. The question might be
raised, "when did satan say these things"?
Were these words spoken before he got kicked out of heaven or
after? I believe the general
consensus is that he said them before he got thrown out of heaven, and,
these words might well be the reason why he was kicked out of heaven.
Or, actions based on these words might well have been why he was
kicked out of heaven. It also might be that
these words might have been uttered after he was thrown out of heaven
because he speaks of ascending into heaven, or, back in the heaven that
he was kicked out of. Verse 15 speaks of satan
being brought down to the depth of the pit.
This might be the bottomless pit, the abyss, spoken of in the
book of Revelation. Paul calls it the abode of the dead in Romans 10:7.
Satan will be bound in this pit for a thousand years as seen in
Revelation 20:1 – 3. Verse 16 speaks of people
being in shock and pondering the fall of the one spoken of in the last
few verses. Some suggest
that we are now back speaking to the king of Verse 18 speaks of all
the kings of the nations who lie in tombs.
Again, this could speak to the destruction that this Babylonian
king placed on the nations he overthrew.
On the other hand, it could speak of satan working through the
anti-Christ at the end of this age.
If it's not the anti-Christ specifically, we know the anti-Christ
will subdue national leaders in the promotion of his own personal
kingdom. Verse 19 says that
"you are cast out of your tomb".
It may be hard to figure out exactly what the next few verses
mean. If they still refer to
satan, this might well mean that satan will be cast out of his tomb,
meaning, the abyss, Hades, or, whatever you want to call it, and into
the It appears that in the
rest of verse 19 satan, or whoever you feel the prophet is speaking of
at this point, will join in death with those who he has slain with the
sword. Verse 20 says that the
one being spoken of here will not join with those he killed in the
burial. This seems to
suggest that he will die in the pit of hell with them but have no burial
service. Again, I suggest
that some of this could be true with the king of Babylon, but I believe that we're still seeing satan here, and, possibly satan
as seen in the anti-Christ. Verse 21 seems to be a
general comment on the wicked. In
the end, they will receive no inheritance, unlike the meek, those who
submit to the Lord Jesus, as Jesus said, "they shall inherit the
earth". (Matthew 5:5) Verse 22 clearly shows us
the fall of Verse 23 ends this
section with total destruction on We should understand that
most scholars believe that civilization started in and around Babylon. It's called the " A
Prophecy Against We now move back to
Isaiah's day. This section
concerns Assyria, which most of the chapter prior to chapter 13 and 14 was about.
In verse 24 we see a real
truth of Scripture. What God
has planned and what He has purposed to do will come about.
You can count on that. Here
the context is prophecy, both for the present day when Isaiah lived and
for the end of this age. As
Christians, we should feel and know for sure that what we read here will
come to pass. In verse 25 we see one
thing that God has planned that will come about and that is, He will
crush Verse 26 shows me that
this prophecy is an end time prophecy.
God says that "this is my plan for the whole world".
I believe "whole world" means "whole world', even
though some will suggest "whole world" means the "whole
known world" at the time of Isaiah.
I don't think so. The
Lord knew long in advance that you and I would be reading these words a
few thousand years after they were penned.
"Whole world" means "whole world". The rest of verse 26 and
verse 27 clearly states that absolutely no one, no nation can thwart
God's plan for the whole world. The
anti-Christ may try, and it may appear that he will win, at least for a
while, but he won't. A
Prophecy Against The Philistines (ch. 14:28-32) Before we look at this
passage, we should understand that they land that was once occupied in
Isaiah's day belonging to the Philistines now is modern day Note the word
"oracle" in verse 26. The
King James Version uses the word "burden".
I believe the word "burden" better reflects the meaning
to the Hebrew word being translated here.
This is the case wherever the word "oracle" is used in
the NIV. A prophecy against
a nation is truly a burden, both to the nation and to the one having to
speak the prophecy. A burden
suggests a seriousness as well as hard times. The Verse 28 tells us that
this prophetic burden came during the year King Ahaz died.
He was the very mean king of Verse 29 seems to suggest
the coming of these nastier kings that would once again attack the
Philistines. We see, from
the earliest days, those living in Verses 30 to 32 seem to
suggest to me the final destruction of the Philistines.
They did fall in Old Testament times, but I believe this is
specific to end time prophecy as well.
These verses suggest to me that
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