Isaiah 14 - Bible Study in 5 Minutes
Isaiah 14 Short Summary:
Isaiah 14 begins with a continuation of God’s oracle against the Babylonian empire, specifically the Babylonian king. The chapter concludes with 2 shorter oracles, one against the Assyrians and the other against the nation of Philistia.
Isaiah 14 Bible Study
TIMELINE:
The prophetic ministry of Isaiah spanned the reigns of King Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah.
The prophecy in Isaiah 13-14 appears to have been spoken during the reign of King Ahaz, and part of it the year he died (14:28). The generally accepted dates for Ahaz’s reign are 735-715 BC.
KEY CHARACTERS:
Isaiah – The son of Amoz (1:1). God commissioned Isaiah as His prophet to Judah.
The Nation of Babylon – The object of God’s wrath and judgement. God promised to humble them for their pride.
The Nation of Assyria – In the early ministry of Isaiah, the Assyrians were the most powerful empire in the world. God used them to punish Israel, but they were also going to be punished for their sins.
The Nation of Philistia – The Philistines were the long-time enemies of Israel and Judah. Isaiah prophesied that they would receive God’s judgement and punishment for their sins.
DEFINITIONS:
Sheol (14:9) - “The idea which was conveyed by the word Sheol, or Hades, was not properly a grave or sepulcher, but that dark, unknown state, including the grave, which constituted the dominions of the dead” (Barnes).
Oracle (14:28) – A divine announcement; a message from God.
OUTLINE:
JUDAH ELEVATED ABOVE BABYLON (14:1-23):
Though God would permit the Babylonians to punish Judah for their rebellion (Babylonian captivity 606-536 BC), His blessings would eventually return to His people.
He promised to return them to the Promised Land, where roles would be reversed, the Babylonians would serve them, some as servants and some as slaves.
The people of Judah would taunt the ruined Babylonian kingdom, its king, and its proud citizens.
Judah would gloat in the fact that the captors had become the captive.
The whole earth would rejoice when Babylon fell. Isaiah even described the trees as rejoicing. He wrote, “The cypresses rejoice at you, the cedars of Lebanon, saying, ‘Since you were laid low, no woodcutter comes up against us.’”
Isaiah described the king of Babylon’s descent into the grave, into Sheol, where he was met by all the other proud kings who God had humbled throughout history.
The king’s downfall is also compared to a star falling from its prominent place in the heavens down to the earth.
The proud king of Babylon once imagined himself becoming greater than God, but God cut him down and made his home with the worms and maggots of the earth.
The humbled king will be nothing like the man who once reigned over the nations in power.
Babylon’s king would not be remembered, and his descendants would be denied significance in the history books.
AN ORACLE AGAINST ASSYRIA (14:24-27):
God swore to put an end to the Assyrian oppression of His people.
He prophesied that he would break the Assyrians and trample them down.
AN ORACLE AGAINST THE PHILISTINES (14:28-32):
This oracle was given to Isaiah the year King Ahaz died (715 BC).
God warned Philistia not to gloat in the temporary weakness of Israel and Judah, because the time was coming when God would punish them.
APPLICATION:
Have you ever heard anyone refer to Satan as “Lucifer.” That name is found in the King James Version of the Bible in Isaiah 14:12, which reads, “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!”
In the ESV, the Hebrew term is translated “Day Star” instead of “Lucifer.”
This is the only place in the Bible the term “Lucifer” appears.
It directly refers to the king of Babylon, not specifically to Satan.
Some people believe Isaiah was paralleling the downfall of the king of Babylon to the downfall of Satan (see Luke 10:18), but this is debated, especially since no direct reference to Satan appears anywhere in the surrounding context.
