Isaiah 23: 11-14

¹¹ He has stretched His hand out over the sea,
He has made the kingdoms tremble;
The Lord has given a command concerning Canaan to demolish its strongholds.

¹² He has said, “You shall exult no more, O crushed virgin daughter of Sidon.
Arise, pass over to Cyprus; even there you will find no rest.”

¹³ Behold, the land of the Chaldeans—this is the people which was not; 
Assyria appointed it for desert creatures—they erected their siege towers, 
they stripped its palaces, they made it a ruin.

¹⁴ Wail, O ships of Tarshish,
For your stronghold is destroyed.

As far as prophecies go, this one that we've been reading about in Isaiah 23 is fairly complete. The beginning set the scene for whom the word was about (Tyre), as well as the response to that word (by the surrounding trade nations). We learned last time why the city was poised for demise (pride) as well as who originated that call (God, of course). Today, we learn more about who would handle the actual devastation. Next week, the chapter concludes.

Verse 11 picks up from last week's passage in which God is established as the one "who has planned this against Tyre." (vs. 8) "He has stretched His hand out...made the kingdoms tremble." One of the cross-reference passages for this verse is Exodus 14, in which Moses stretches out his hand over the Red Sea, and God creates the path that would lead the Israelites to safety. Where God's hand makes a way, it also disciplines others (meaning, Pharaoh and the Egyptians, or, in Isaiah's prophecy, Tyre). The Hebrew for 'stretch' beyond the literal definition means "to bend away (including moral deflection)." [Strong's] I see this as God bending this city away from Himself, because He cannot be in the midst of the pride He has witnessed.

"For Tyre built herself a fortress
And piled up silver like dust,
And gold like the mire of the streets.
Behold, the Lord will dispossess her
And cast her wealth into the sea;
And she will be consumed with fire."

--Zechariah 9: 3 and 4

At the end of verse 11, we read that God has issued a command against Canaan. No confusion here. Tyre and its motherly city of Sidon were both a part of the territory of Canaan. You see the command in verse 12. There will be no more jubilance in Tyre. To whomever remains in the city, the order is given to evacuate. "...Pass over to Cyprus...." Even though Tyre will become, largely, unpopulated, it does not mean that the burden brought upon the city will leave the hearts of those who leave it, and this is an interesting take-away point. "...Even there you will find no rest."

"Note, We deceive ourselves if we promise ourselves rest any where in this world. Those that are uneasy in one place will be so in another; and, when God’s judgments pursue sinners, they will overtake them."

--Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible

Try to outrun or outfox or just plain ditch your troubles? Doesn't work, does it? You will find yourself as did one of my favorite movie characters--Maria from The Sound of Music. She tries to flee a big life decision by seeking refuge back in the abbey from whence she came. She learns with some Reverend Mother-ly guidance that you can't "escape your troubles. You have to face them." Tyre was absorbed in its own pride--a state of the heart that was not left behind, even as its inhabitants fled to supposedly safe havens.

"And man, being a part of Thy creation, desires to praise Thee, man, who bears about with him his mortality, the witness of his sin, even the witness that Thou 'resistest the proud,'--yet man, this part of Thy creation, desires to praise Thee. Thou movest us to delight in praising Thee; for Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee...."

--from The Confessions of St. Augustine

We have an alternative to being on the lam, having our hearts constantly condemn us. Why does God discipline? To turn His creation back to Him! He is full of mercy and patience, but, there is a time of divine intervention at His will, which can take the form of discipline. Discipline--out of love, out of grace.

"Have you been walking on a surface that's uncertain?
Have you helped yourself to everything that's empty?
You can't live this way too long.
There's more than this, more than this....You can rest, you will find rest. Let this old life crumble, let it fade.
Let this new life offered be your saving grace...."

--Lyrics from "Let it Fade" by Jeremy Camp

With verse 13, we are given a picture of the depth of the earthly force Tyre will be facing. God says, "Behold, the land of the Chaldeans—this is the people which was not...." The Chaldeans are also known as the Babylonians. At this time, Assyria was the nation of highest dread. Per my study Bible, Assyria "ravaged" Babylon in 689 B.C. We already know from Isaiah's earlier prophecies of Assyria's conquest of Israel and its take-down of most of Judah (God sparing Jerusalem, under Hezekiah).

"Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger
And the staff in whose hands is My indignation....
Yet it does not so intend,
Nor does it plan so in its heart,
But rather it is its purpose to destroy
And to cut off many nations."

--Isaiah 10:5 and 7

As with the Assyrian conquest of Babylon, the plan for Tyre was to turn the bustling harborfront into a place "for desert creatures." (vs. 13)

"...And their houses will be full of owls;
Ostriches also will live there, and shaggy goats will frolic there."

--Isaiah 13:21

As if to end with a poetic finish, Isaiah returns to his opening call upon the merchant cities of the world, to grieve and mourn over the loss of Tyre. "Wail, O ships of Tarshish...."

"The ships of Tarshish were the carriers for your merchandise. 

And you were filled and were very glorious
In the heart of the seas."

--Ezekiel 27:25

But, Isaiah is not quite finished. We will look at a sort of epilog next week. Had the Tyrians only been able to accept the picture--like that featured above--that the prophet was offering. Had they only been able to see beyond their pride to the sole means of, not escape but, true freedom....

"Look up on the ruins of Tyre, and see all this glory stained, and sullied, and buried in the dust. The honourable ones of heaven will be for ever such; but see the grandees of Tyre, some fled into banishment, others forced into captivity, and all impoverished, and you will conclude that the honourable of the earth, even the most honourable, know not how soon they may be brought into contempt."

--Matthew Henry

The end of Tyre? For certain, the end of Chapter 23. ....'Til next time!

Photo: chestofbooks.com

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Next time:  Isaiah 23: 15-18
 
Note: I read from the New American Standard Bible translation,
specifically, The MacArthur Study Bible (NASB).
I will quote other sources if used in a post.
I also use Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible
(with notes from the King James Version).

Isaiah 21: 6-10

⁶ For thus the Lord says to me,

“Go, station the lookout, let him report what he sees.
⁷ “When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs,
A train of donkeys, a train of camels,
Let him pay close attention, very close attention.”

⁸ Then the lookout called,

“O Lord, I stand continually by day on the watchtower,
And I am stationed every night at my guard post.
⁹ “Now behold, here comes a troop of riders, horsemen in pairs.”
And one said, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon;
And all the images of her gods are shattered on the ground.”
¹⁰ O my threshed people, and my afflicted of the threshing floor!
What I have heard from the Lord of hosts,
The God of Israel, I make known to you.

We draw conclusion to another prophecy concerning Babylon with our passage today, though Chapter 21 of Isaiah has more in store for us. It's not the last time we'll hear about Babylon over the course of Isaiah, and this prophecy in particular may resonate with you if you have studied Revelation.

Last week, we had a preview into the fulfillment of a prophecy that came about in Daniel's time with the death of Belshazzar. The cry came to "oil the shields," (vs. 5) and now God tells Isaiah to "station the lookout." (vs. 6) The one placed in a watchtower, near the king's palace, had much the same job as Paul Revere's men in the light towers in Revolutionary War times: observing the situation with the enemy and reporting back. But instead of "one if by land, two if by sea," God said the watchman should look for twos and groupings of certain animals.

"He then saw another chariot drawn by asses or mules, which were much in use among the Persians, and a chariot drawn by camels, which were likewise much in use among the Medes; so that...these two chariots signify the two nations combined against Babylon, or rather these chariots come to bring tidings to the palace."

--Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible

We don't know how long the watchman was in the tower literally, but that it was day and night (vs. 8). We can gain from this that the man was vigilant in his responsibilities of observation, expecting that there would be the sign the Lord indicated. Then, in verse 9, "Behold...," just as the Lord had said. There is a bigger picture in this description--for the prophecy in its time and for us. In its time, through Isaiah's speaking, the prophecy to Judah should have provided them with reassurance. Yes, Babylon pressures and threatens you, but My plan is to ultimately overcome them.

"...And, before it [Babylon] arrived at that pitch of eminency which it was at in Nebuchadnezzar’s time, God by this prophet plainly foretold its fall, again and again, that his people might not be terrified at its rise, nor despair of relief in due time when they were its prisoners...."

--Matthew Henry

If we believe the Word and promises of Scripture, do we let the Holy Spirit act as our man in the watchtower, calling our attention to act or to wait longer or to rest in the knowledge that things as they exist now are how they should be? Do we trust in the Spirit to be on-call, day and night, and to report to us?

Finishing verse 9, which may be familiar to some of you: "Fallen, fallen is Babylon...." The vision from the tower is now quite defined. "Babylon, the beauty of kingdoms, and glory of the Chaldeans' pride, will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah." (Isa. 13:19) Indeed, Babylon fell to the Persians and Medes in 539 B.C.--the second defeat at the hands of a significant empire. (Babylon was defeated by the Assyrians in 689 B.C.) 

Today, Babylon is located in Iraq. It is a pile of archeological rubble and not a true city. Saddam Hussein actually tried to reconstruct Babylon to its former glory days, but he didn't get very far. But it doesn't mean that Babylon of old doesn't exist. The ideologies of this nation may seem of history, yet you will still find them in our daily headline news. No, this will not be the last time "Babylon" is defeated, as the cry of the watchman is heard through John's Revelation:

"And another angel, a second one, followed, saying, 'Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who has made all the nations drink of the wine of the passion of her immorality....' And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, 'Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird.'"

--Revelation 14:8 and 18:2

Not only does the city fall, but her idols are gone. More literally, the end of verse 9 translates, "He has shattered them to the earth." This is part of the fulfillment of this prophecy that is yet to come. There are still nations imbibing the wine of the passion of Babylon's immorality, which includes the worship of idols, the following of false teachings, living with "every unclean spirit," you-name-it, whatever....

Look to the Holy Spirit--the watchman over your lives!

Verse 10 in the King James Version reads as follows: "O my threshing, and the corn of my floor!" Isaiah is speaking to Judah here and the reference is a difficult one. Threshing is the process of separating out the grain from the rest of the plant or seed pod. If you remember the story of Ruth and Boaz, you learn a great deal about the process of grain harvesting. Isaiah says this to Judah as God speaking love to His people: You will be threshed--at the hands of Babylon, Persia, Rome, etc.--but you are the corn of My floor! What remains on the floor is that which has been culled and refined under the care of God the Father. What remains on the floor is His to keep.

"What I have heard from the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, I make known to you."

 

The prophecy concerning Edom.  ...'Til next Wednesday!

Photo: www.bibleplaces.com

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Next week:  Isaiah 21: 11 and 12
 
Note: I read from the New American Standard Bible translation,
specifically, The MacArthur Study Bible (NASB).
I will quote other sources if used in a post.
I also use Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible
(with notes from the King James Version).

Isaiah 21: 1-5

God Commands That Babylon Be Taken

¹ The oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea.

As windstorms in the Negev sweep on,
It comes from the wilderness, from a terrifying land.
² A harsh vision has been shown to me;
The treacherous one still deals treacherously, and the destroyer still destroys.
Go up, Elam, lay siege, Media;
I have made an end of all the groaning she has caused.
³ For this reason my loins are full of anguish;
Pains have seized me like the pains of a woman in labor.
I am so bewildered I cannot hear, so terrified I cannot see.
⁴ My mind reels, horror overwhelms me;
The twilight I longed for has been turned for me into trembling.
⁵ They set the table, they spread out the cloth, they eat, they drink;
“Rise up, captains, oil the shields,”

It was not long ago that we read prophecies concerning Babylon in Isaiah. We can read back through Chapters 13 and 14 for more details. We will take another look at this powerful nation, as God has revealed more words to the prophet concerning its fate in Chapter 21.

Isaiah opens this word, calling on Babylon as "the wilderness of the sea." (vs. 1) More literally, the words are translated "sandy waters" or "sea country." He is referring to an area of southern Babylon near the Persian Gulf--where the Tigris and Euphrates empty themselves. The Reformation Study Bible is a bit more direct in its definition: "This is probably a sarcastic parody. Babylon’s southern region on the Persian Gulf, known as 'Land of the Sea,' will become a wilderness or as good as a wilderness to anyone looking for salvation from there." From our reading in Chapters 13 and 14, we can recall that Babylon will be devastated by the release of water, previously dammed up, through the city, leaving it a wasteland.

An easterly wind sweeping across the Negev is a picture of trouble. The Negev is located in what we now call the Sinai Peninsula. Per the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, it means "to be dry," or "desert." East winds in the Bible are notorious for being signs of plagues (Exodus 10), drought (Genesis 41), ill will (Job 15), and damage (Psalm 48). Hot desert winds blowing east represent the danger and speed of the enemy that will sweep an unsuspecting Babylon off its feet.

The vision is "harsh," according to Isaiah, in verse 2, describing the rise of the Elamites and the Medes as part of the Persian army, which will take over Babylon. God will raise up these nations, who have been enemies of Babylon at other times, to continue the use of treachery and cunning Babylon had regularly used, to bring an end to the once-shining nation.

"The Persians shall pay the Babylonians in their own coin; those that by fraud and violence, cheating and plundering, unrighteous wars and deceitful treaties, have made a prey of their neighbours, shall meet with their match, and by the same methods shall themselves be made a prey of."

--Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible 

That Isaiah makes a point of labeling the vision as 'harsh' is the beginning of his sharing the burden of his heart through the burden placed on him by God. Note some of the phrases in verse 3: "my loins are full of anguish," "pains of a woman in labor," "bewildered," "terrified," and into verse 4: "horror" and "trembling." What the prophet has been made privy to obviously has him in an awful state, both physically and emotionally, and he shares it all. Isaiah has already given us this view back in Chapter 13 from the perspective of what Babylon will face:

"They will be terrified,
Pains and anguish will take hold of them;
They will writhe like a woman in labor,
They will look at one another in astonishment,
Their faces aflame."

--Isaiah 13:8

But here in Chapter 21, the view is so much more personal. As only a man with Isaiah's sense of compassion and obedience could do, he practically lives out the prophecy as he is telling it. If we weren't aware of his compassion ("Therefore my heart intones like a harp for Moab...."--Isaiah 16:11a) and hadn't witnessed his humble faithfulness in answering the call to be a prophet, we might write off these verses as dramatic prose from an ancient Greek tragedy. Isaiah has too much integrity to present himself a phony for the sake of others. (The prophet who went "naked and barefoot," remember....) It is a message he desperately wants to reach his people.

Verse 4 comes with cross-references and commentary that brought me to Daniel 5. I'm still thinking, wow, how did we get here? Daniel comes quite a bit after Isaiah in terms of timing. (Judah is in captivity then.) But, why is it impossible for God to have given Isaiah a vision that would be carried out in the presence of another prophet, who would have an active hand in its fulfillment? Look at verse 4 in the Amplified Bible:

"My mind reels and wanders, horror terrifies me. [In my mind’s eye I am at the feast of Belshazzar. I see the defilement of the golden vessels taken from God’s temple, I watch the handwriting appear on the wall—I know that Babylon’s great king is to be slain.] The twilight I looked forward to with pleasure has been turned into fear and trembling for me."

For Isaiah, seeing the then-Babylonian king making use of the Temple vessels for his luxurious feast might have been enough to send him over the edge. "Anguish" and "bewilderment" that the Temple was taken? Of course! If he actually did see words on the wall, knowing that there would be more bloodshed [and how much more might his vision show?] would have horrified him. As bad a view as this was for Babylon, what about for Judah? How much did Isaiah understand about where the people of Judah were in this time? If they were alive, how much more dangerous a predicament were they in? 

The Lord had spoken before of what happens to those who do not follow Him in obedience. This is the weightiness of the message that Isaiah bears to Judah:

"Among those nations you shall find no rest, and there will be no resting place for the sole of your foot; but there the Lord will give you a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and despair of soul. So your life shall hang in doubt before you; and you will be in dread night and day, and shall have no assurance of your life. In the morning you shall say, ‘Would that it were evening!’ And at evening you shall say, ‘Would that it were morning!’ because of the dread of your heart which you dread, and for the sight of your eyes which you will see."

--Deuteronomy 28: 65-67

Verse 5 could tack on to Belshazzar's feast--setting the table and such. I am partial to the King James Version translation on this one:

"Prepare the table, watch in the watchtower, eat, drink: arise, ye princes, and anoint the shield." 

--Verse 5, King James Version

Truly, it would be more of a command--especially given what was written on the wall that night in Babylon: "...Your kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and Persians." (Daniel 5:28) "Arise, ye princes," indeed! Easton's Bible Dictionary says that "shields were usually 'anointed' in order to preserve them, and at the same time make the missiles of the enemy glide off them more easily."

But, for Belshazzar and company, shields would be rendered useless, as God had anointed others to carry out His will against them.


 

More from the watchtower next week.  ...'Til next Wednesday!

Photo: wilhelmblokzijl.blogspot.com

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Next week:  Isaiah 21: 6-10
 
Note: I read from the New American Standard Bible translation,
specifically, The MacArthur Study Bible (NASB).
I will quote other sources if used in a post.
I also use Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible
(with notes from the King James Version).

Isaiah 14: 20-23

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.

[Next Wednesday is our official study break. But, as you can tell, I am having difficulty with the summer schedule. There is definitely a different rhythm at the homestead when the kids are around. It's been really tough to write with focus this week. A little late, but we're gettin' it done!....]

All songs have to end at some point, and this is the finish of the taunt-song of Babylon. But even as the people's verses close, God Himself picks up the themes, continuing to spell out the nation's doom.

As we pick up with verse 20, we recall that former kings of the nations, now in Sheol, are at first shocked and then mockingly critical of the king of Babylon, who has come to take up residence alongside them. But, as we read, "You will not be united with them...." Remember what we read last week, that as the "kings of the nations lie in glory, each in his own tomb (vs. 18)...you have been cast out of your tomb like a rejected branch." (vs. 19) This king is at a level that none have fathomed.

"...And what did he get by that, when the wealth of the land and the multitude of the people are the strength and honour of the prince, who never rules so safely, so gloriously, as in the hearts and affections of the people? But tyrants sacrifice their interests to their lusts and passions; and God will reckon with them for their barbarous usage of those who are under their power, whom they think they may use as they please."

 --Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible

This is a king who had such little regard for the people defending and supporting him that he killed them and "ruined his (your) country." (vs. 20) Even the kings of Sheol received an appropriate burial--each to his own tomb. But not so this king, who will be laid to rest "like a trampled corpse." (vs. 19)

"To be denied decent burial is a disgrace, which, if it be inflicted for righteousness’ sake (as Ps. 79:2), may, as other similar reproaches, be rejoiced in (Matt. 5:12); it is the lot of the two witnesses, Rev. 11:9. But if, as here, it be the just punishment of iniquity, it is an intimation that evil pursues impenitent sinners beyond death, greater evil than that, and that they shall rise to everlasting shame and contempt."

--Matthew Henry

The shame of the king of Babylon will not be trampled out with his body; it will remain within his family. The NASB has the end of verse 20 and the beginning of verse 21 written in the plural--multiple kings and multiple sons, implying, to me that this is a general principle of the Word. As such, it is also applied to one as corrupt as the king of Babylon. We need only revisit the words of the Ten Commandments to remember God's direction on this:

"You shall not worship them [idols, graven images] or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me...."

--Exodus 20:5 (emphasis mine)

Bottom line is that sin is costly, especially without a Savior in the picture. The places we fall short are oftentimes those very same places that can be seen in our children. Not that we are responsible for the consequences of our children's sin, but if we aren't training them up in the way they should go (Proverbs 22:6), we are in a position of contributing to the furtherance of our own sinful nature down through the generations. All of this designates the king of Babylon in the position of not being remembered and facing eternal life in "a place of slaughter." (vs. 21)

Another reason the family line is to come to an end is that evil sons in power breed evil cities with more evil people (vs. 21). Certainly we can see this modeled in Babylon through Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar. Had God not intervened and shut down Babylon at the Belshazzar dinner party, who knows how far awry things would have been, not only for Israel but for the rest of the world? Matthew Henry notes that it was Nimrod, great-grandson of Noah, who grew in stature through the acquisition of cities for his kingdom (beginning with Babel!). "Pharaoh oppressed Israel in Egypt by setting them to build cities, Exod. 1:11," he said. The sons of the king of Babylon will face a demise in which there is no ability to build an evil empire.

And with that, the taunt-song ends! No long-held high note or cymbal crash at the end of verse 21. Instead, God steps in, speaking with the beginning of verse 22, reiterating that He will not stand for a king of Babylon regime and will "cut off" any remembrance of that line, through offspring or note of posterity. Again, this is not an action unique to one of the king of Babylon, thus showing consistency in God's actions. The reigns of the Jeroboams in Israel met a similar fate:

"...Therefore behold, I am bringing calamity on the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam every male person, both bond and free in Israel, and I will make a clean sweep of the house of Jeroboam, as one sweeps away dung until it is all gone."

--I Kings 14:10

God pulled the "broom of destruction" (vs. 23) from His closet in a wave of renewal. There will be not a Babylon dust bunny remaining! Unlike Israel, for which, as we know, a remnant will be preserved, even in the midst of God's cleansing.

Exploration of this passage comes at the same time my daughter and I have been in discussions over the nature of God. She is often frustrated that God's grace and merciful spirit are highlighted in teaching and materials more so than His wrath and fury, as if those didn't exist any more. I appreciate that she has this view, because God is an all-consuming fire! But my daughter doesn't fully understand the how's and why's of His use of wrath [as if anybody truly does? Uh uh....]. She doesn't see it as particularly fair that some people receive this punishment while others get off, seemingly, scot-free. I found Matthew Henry's commentary noteworthy:

"The providence of God consults the welfare of nations more than we are aware of by cutting off some who, if they had lived, would have done mischief. Justly may the enemies cut off the children: For I will rise up against them, saith the Lord of hosts (Isa. 14:22), and if God reveal it as his mind that he will have it done, as none can hinder it, so none need scruple to further it."

--Matthew Henry

Not necessarily a satisfactory answer for a young teenager, but something to ponder all the same. [Because Mama doesn't have an answer for everything!]

Final note concerning verse 23:

"I will also make it a possession for the hedgehog and swamps of water...."

There seems to be a translation issue with 'hedgehog.' I was wondering what the significance of the hedgehog might have been in this passage. You never know what you'll find when you start exploring word choices. So, I find that the passage probably doesn't refer to a hedge-scouring mammal but to a water bird. The King James Version uses 'bittern' for 'hedgehog'. A bittern is "a solitary bird, frequenting marshy ground," according to Easton's Bible Dictionary. "The Hebrew word (kippod) thus rendered in the Authorized Version [bittern] is rendered 'porcupine' in the Revised Version."

So why is bittern better, perhaps? There's a note in my study Bible about what happened the night Belshazzar was killed:

"One ancient account alleged that Persia's General Ugbaru had troops dig a trench to divert and thus lower the waters of the Euphrates River. Since the river flowed through the city of Babylon, the lowered water enabled besiegers to unexpectedly invade via the waterway under the thick walls and reach the palace before the city was aware."

Notes in the Amplified Bible support this account, saying that the area around Babylon became flooded, allowing for the development of marshy areas and, thus, creatures that would support a marshy environment, like bitterns. Verse 23 might well relate to that picture of Babylon post-Belshazzar, though we know that, ultimately, the "broom of destruction" will be a permanent clean sweep.

An official study break next week (and a renewed focus on the schedule, let's hope!).... 'Til next Wednesday a week from now!

Photo: www.123rf.com

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Next week: Isaiah 14: 24-27
 
Note: I read from the New American Standard Bible translation,
specifically, The MacArthur Study Bible (NASB).
I will quote other sources if used in a post.
I also use Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible
(with notes from the King James Version).

Isaiah 14: 10-15

¹⁰ “They will all respond and say to you,
‘Even you have been made weak as we,
You have become like us.
¹¹ ‘Your pomp and the music of your harps
Have been brought down to Sheol;
Maggots are spread out as your bed beneath you
And worms are your covering.’
¹² “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."

Honestly, I feel like I'm reliving some of my earliest days in reading the verses of this taunt-song in Isaiah 14. The tone and thoughts are not unlike things I may have said to my sisters at one time. I was never that poetic about it, nor do I recall using 'maggots.' You just never know what you will uncover in the Bible. (And, no, young readers, this is not an invitation to offer this song up on a sibling!) Moving on....

Recall from the last post that the leaders of the nations who have brought destruction and oppression upon God's people are now welcoming the "King of Babylon" into their home in Sheol, the place of death. We left with the thought that these leaders were shell-shocked by the appearance of this mightiest of the mighty ones in their midst. Verse 10 delivers what could be the ultimate of non-compliments: "You have become like us." [shudder!]
 
Everything that surrounded this "king," from the exquisite music of his harps to his palatial arrogance finds itself in the depths. Remember, this "king" could represent anyone from the Nebuchadnezzar/Belshazzar days to the Antichrist, and everyone in between. Though the current kingly residents of Sheol have thrones (vs. 9), the new king has a specially prepared bed, with a maggot mattress and worm covers. Do not remove tag under penalty of...oh, nevermind!

Verse 12 is the challenging verse in its interpretation. Perhaps it was made more challenging this week as I waded through commentary.

"How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn!"

--vs. 12

The slightly troublesome phrase is "O star of the morning." In Hebrew, it is translated "shining one" or "light-bringer." My first thought in seeing all of that is Jesus, who called Himself "the bright morning star" in Revelation 22:16. Jesus came from Heaven, but the Bible doesn't refer to His coming as having "fallen from Heaven." That expression is usually reserved for Satan and other "fallen" angels. This is how Jesus turned the phrase in encouraging the disciples whom He sent out on mission in Luke 10:

"The seventy returned with joy, saying, 'Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.' And He said to them, 'I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning.'"

--Luke 10: 17 and 18

What makes this all the more fun is looking at the Latin. "The Hebrew for this expression—“light-bringer” or “shining one”—is translated "Lucifer" in The Latin Vulgate, and is thus translated in the King James Version." (from the footnotes in the Amplified Bible) Whoa! But isn't Lucifer another word for....!!!? Exactly! And the same word in Greek, which is phosphoros, is what Jesus uses in Revelation 22 about Himself. Messy, huh? Check out this entry from Smith's Bible Names Dictionary:

"Lucifer--(light-bearer), found in (Isaiah 14:12) coupled with the epithet 'son of the morning,' clearly signifies a 'bright star,' and probably what we call the morning star. In this passage it is a symbolical representation of the king of Babylon in his splendor and in his fall. Its application, from St. Jerome downward, to Satan in his fall from heaven arises probably from the fact that the Babylonian empire is in Scripture represented as the type of tyrannical and self idolizing power, and especially connected with the empire of the Evil One in the Apocalypse.

--Smith's Bible Names Dictionary

That was helpful for me. There is another line of thinking that the phrase speaks of the planet Venus, which delves into the mythology of the Babylonians a bit. Interesting, but it pulls me away from getting a grasp on the message of the entire passage. As you might guess, I rather like Matthew Henry's thought, as he pulls it all together, simply:

"Here is the language of his [King of Babylon's] vainglory, borrowed perhaps from that of the angels who fell, who not content with their first estate, the post assigned them, would vie with God, and become not only independent of him, but equal with him."

--Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible

My study Bible invites readers to catch the five "I will's" over verses 13 and 14. Confidence is one thing, but what this "king" is suggesting of himself was not only beyond the possible but was outright foolishness. A throne "above the stars of God...."! Who, but the vainest, speaks like that? The "mount of assembly in the recesses of the north" may refer, again, to stories of mythology:

"According to Canaanite myths, the god El presided over an assembly of gods on a mountain in Syria. Babylon was ready to claim this honor for itself.... Psalm 48:1, 2 mentions “the far north” as belonging to the Lord alone."

--Reformation Study Bible

Truly, all of these realms and claims offered up here belong only to God. Yet this was the beat that drove the heart (vs 13) of the "king."

"It is a gracious ambition to covet to be like the Most Holy, for he has said, Be you holy, for I am holy; but it is a sinful ambition to aim to be like the Most High, for he has said, He that exalteth himself shall be abased, and the devil drew our first parents in to eat forbidden fruit by promising them that they should be as gods."

--Matthew Henry

But the last word belongs to the Most High--whose "You will" trumps infinite "I will's"--who condemns the "king" to the "recesses of the pit" (vs. 15)


 
Still aghast over the state of the "King of Babylon".... 'Til next Wednesday!

Photo: waistcoatandwatch.com

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Next week: Isaiah 14: 16-19
 
Note: I read from the New American Standard Bible translation,
specifically, The MacArthur Study Bible (NASB).
I will quote other sources if used in a post.
I also use Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible
(with notes from the King James Version).