14. Isaiah Chapter Fourteen

Isaiah Chapter 14 As we have pointed out, the explanatory word "For," which continues the subject of the preceding chapter, introduces a reason for the overthrow of the Gentile oppressor. This illustrates the following principles of the divine dealings with God’s chosen people Israel: (a) the self-will and rebellion of His people causes Him to use Gentile powers to chastise them: (b) the arrogance and outrageous cruelty of these Gentile nations in the permitted exercise of their power, brings His judgments upon them, when the chastisement of Israel has accomplished its purpose: (c) His covenant mercy in the fulfillment of His promises to the "fathers" means the eventual restoration of Israel: (d) this in turn makes them instrumental in blessing to Gentile nations.

Isaiah 14:1 tells of Jehovah’s purposes for Israel in a fourfold way: mercy, choice, establishment, influence. Isaiah 14:2 shows that those who remain of their former oppressors, after the divine judgment upon them, will become servants and handmaids to Israel. At the same time the nation, in its rest from sorrow, bondage and affliction, will rejoice over the destruction of Babylon and its king, with a note of taunting triumph (for the fact of this immediately preceding overthrow of the revived city, see notes at the end of chapter 13), Isaiah 14:3-6. In Isaiah 14:8 the statement as to the fir (or rather, the cypress) trees and cedars, is to be taken literally. The Chaldeans had cut down large parts of the forests to make use of the timber for a great variety of purposes.

Another circumstance is now predicted concerning the final overthrow of Babylon. The spirits of the slain potentates and people of the city are seen entering Sheol, the region of departed spirits, here the lost. Those who are there already address them at their arrival. Sheol is the Hebrew word in verse 9 (wrongly translated "Hell" and "the grave"); it is not Gehenna, but what the corresponding Greek word in the New Testament calls Hades. "Sheol from beneath is moved [or violently disquieted] for [i.e., on account of] thee: it stirreth up the dead [the rephaim, the spirits of those who had been mighty among men, the giants] for thee, even all the chief ones [the leaders, lit., he-goats, i.e., leading goats among herds] of the earth; it hath raised up [raiseth up] from their thrones [a word which retrospectively contemplates their position when on earth] all the kings of the nations." This passage demonstrates the fact of the conscious state of the souls of the dead in Hades, their power to exchange thoughts, and their vivid recollection of their past circumstances on earth. There is no Scripture to support the supposition of the unconsciousness of the soul.

"All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us?" This is all the spirits in Sheol have to say to the newcomers. Isaiah 14:11 resumes the triumphant taunt of redeemed Israel as from Isaiah 14:4. Babylon’s pomp is cast down to the grave (not Sheol here). The "viols" refer to the instruments of music, as in Daniel 3:5. The statements "the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee," are sarcastically figurative allusions to the luxurious cushions and pillows on which the inhabitants of Babylon lay and to the gorgeous rugs and coverlets under which they rested. All were now maggot-eaten. In Isaiah 14:12 Lucifer, lit., "light-bringer," is primarily symbolic of the fallen monarch of Babylon. The language which describes him is used of Satan (Luke 10:18; Revelation 12:8-9), who spiritually energized the founder of Babylon, Satan’s great seat, from which the world has been corrupted. Pride was Satan’s sin and caused his downfall, so with Babylon (Isaiah 14:13), the boasting purpose of the king who was to defy God in heaven and rule over the utmost limits of the earth "(the north"), and to rival His power (Isaiah 14:14). Yet Babylon’s doom is Sheol, and the sides (or corner) of the pit (in contrast to the sides of the north), Isaiah 14:15. In Isaiah 14:16 "they that see thee" are not the spirits in Sheol, but people on earth, astonished at the downfall of the tyrant. Isaiah 14:18 is the prediction of Isaiah, introducing the retribution foretold by Jehovah Himself (Isaiah 14:22-25). First there is a contrast. Other kings "lie in glory," i.e., have an honorable burial. But Babylon’s monarch, Belshazzar, lies cast away from (not "out of") his prepared sepulcher. Other corpses of those slain in the battle, their bloodstained raiment gathered in heaps, are thrown into holes filled up with stones and earth. But his carcass lies unburied, trodden under foot, for he had destroyed his land, and slain his people. His dynasty would perish, without renown, an example of the doom of all evildoers (Isaiah 14:20-22).

Afterwards, the bittern (or the hedgehog) in place of inhabitants, and marshland in place of palaces! And the city swept away with the besom of destruction! In Isaiah 14:24 the scene passes back to the doom of Assyria (presenting a contrast to that of Babylon), to be followed by that of other foes of Israel (for the order see Jeremiah 1:18-19). All this is introduced by a general declaration of the unthwartable purpose of Jehovah of hosts. "Man proposes, but God disposes" (see Isaiah 46:10; Psalms 33:11; Proverbs 21:30; Acts 2:23; Acts 4:28; Ephesians 1:11; Hebrews 6:17). The breaking of the yoke of Assyria is mentioned as a sample of the similar purposes of God concerning all the nations of the earth (Isaiah 14:26-27). Not an event can take place out of the line of God’s predetermined counsels.

Isaiah 14:28, recording the death of Ahaz, is to be taken with what follows, not with what has preceded. This burden (or oracle) refers to the doom of Philistia (r.v., for a.v., Palestina). Upon the death of Ahaz, Hezekiah ascended the throne. He it was who utterly defeated the Philistines (2 Kings 18:8). In Isaiah 14:29 the rod is the scepter of David. That had been broken by all that had taken place in and against Judah, and over this the Philistines gloated. The cockatrice (or basilisk) is Hezekiah. The closing phrase is, lit., "a fiery flying one." This points on to the benign government of the Messiah, when the poor and the needy will be satisfied (Isaiah 14:30). Isaiah 14:31 likewise points to the time of the end (see Daniel 11:40-42). In Isaiah 14:32 the word rendered "nation" is plural, and the question is, "What answer do the messengers of the nations bring?" Are not these Jews, who will declare the mighty acts of Jehovah? The answer is that "The Lord hath founded Zion." All the foes in the long history of their efforts to destroy it will have been foiled in their attempts, and Zion will be the peaceful refuge of His people.