“Off the Chart” Egos
Isaiah 14:3-20
1. Today’s joke is short, but one of my funnier jokes. I think I shared it last in 2005. Here goes.
There is an old story about a pastor leaving a church. At his farewell dinner, he tried to encourage one of the pillar members, “Don’t be so sad. The next pastor might be better than me.” She replied, “That’s what they said last time, but it keeps getting worse.”
2. Our adversary, the devil, never gets better, only worse. The devil is not a human being, but he is a person, a fallen angel. Angels are created persons who are spirit beings; they may appear as human or in a host of other ways, but they do not have physical bodies.
3. For some reason, the Bible repeatedly merges information about Satan with something more tangible. For example, in Eden, he is merged with the serpent; in our passage today, he is merged with the King of Babylon. In Ezekiel, he is merged with the King of Tyre. In Revelation, the antichrist and a dragon.
4. Today’s text about Babylon is somewhat confusing. Both Assyrian and Babylon are centered in different parts of what is now modern-day Iraq. Assyria’s capital, Nineveh, is now called Mosul. Babylon in now called Hillah. At the time of Isaiah’s prophecy, Babylon was an autonomous region under the influence of the Assyrian Empire. It had a king, but Assyria was the major world empire, not Babylon. But Babylon would arise after the time of Isaiah to conquer Assyria, and eventually Judah.
5. The reason Assyria did not amalgamate Babylon into its kingdom was mainly out of respect. Babylon was the cradle of civilization (Tower of Babel) and was revered for its culture. The city people of Babylon referred to themselves as the people of Sumer or Akkadians. The rural areas around Babylon were controlled by another people group, the Chaldeans, who would rise to power.
6. Isaiah sees the future rise of Babylon and its seemingly impossible defeat, almost overnight. But Babylon is more than a mere city; Babylon is conceptually merged with the world, a culture that is the antithesis of the Kingdom of God. Thus in Revelation we read of Mystery Babylon.
7. There is a strong thematic connection between Satan, the god of this world, and Babylon, representative of the values and perspective of the world, or, as we say, the “culture” society.
Main Idea: Isaiah prophetically recalls the fall of Lucifer while addressing God’s judgment upon Babylon. Lucifer, whose name would be changed to Satan (“the adversary”) is conceptually linked to the arrogance of the King of Babylon.
I. The King of Babylon’s Fall is AKIN to Lucifer’s Fall (3-20).
A. Babylon was the OPPRESSOR of Israel and other nations (3-8)
B. Once in the grave, the King of Babylon is NO BETTER than other dead king (9-11)
C. Isaiah EXAGGERATES the fall of Babylon’s king by weaving into and out of Lucifer’s fall (12-20).
David Guzik comments, “In the prophetic habit of speaking to both a near and a distant fulfillment, the prophet will sometimes speak more to the near or more to the distant. Here is a good example of Isaiah speaking more to the distant, ultimate fulfillment. It is true that the king of literal Babylon shined brightly among the men of his day and fell as hard and as completely as if a man were to fall from heaven. But there was a far more brightly shining being who inhabited heaven and fell even more dramatically – the king of spiritual Babylon, Satan.”
D. Ezekiel does the SAME sort of thing, referring to the King of Tyre (Ezekiel 28:11-15).
...You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering... You were an anointed guardian cherub. I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire you walked. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, till unrighteousness was found in you.
II. New Testament References CONFIRM Isaiah is Talking About Satan’s Fall.
A. Jesus’ words to His 72 DISCIPLES (Luke 10:17-20)
The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
B. Paul’s requirement that a candidate for elder not be a NEW convert (I Timothy 3:6).
He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil.
C. One of the SIGNS in heaven in Revelation (Revelation 12:3-4a).
And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth.
III. Through These Texts, We Can Draw INFERENCES About Satan.
A. Lucifer was created as a CHERUB, guarding the throne of God.
1. He was very beautiful and probably the most powerful angel of all.
2. Beauty can be a blessing; the Jews have a special blessing they can pronounce when they see a beautiful or handsome person. Blessed are You, LORD, our God, King of the Universe, who has such things in his world.
“…referring to the type of beauty that’s very special that your heart skips a beat or your soul feels totally enthralled…We only make the blessing the first time we see the person, and then we don't make it anymore again on the same person ever…Men shouldn't make this blessing on a woman because they shouldn't be looking at women… We shouldn't make this blessing more than once in 30 days, unless something comes along even more beautiful than the object of our last blessing.
3. But beauty can be a curse. Sometimes, for example, beautiful women have difficulty finding a husband who loves her for who she is, not just for what she looks like. And some men will chase after beautiful women, perhaps making them wonder if they could do better and thus nurturing discontent. Same issue with handsome men.
B. He was holy for a time, but then wanted himself to be GOD (pride/ego).
1. When Satan tempted Adam and Eve, it was an appeal to THEIR pride.
2. The nature of sin is rooted in pride and determination to CONTROL
3. Everything God created was GOOD; evil is the RUINING of the good.
C. He rebelled against God, and a THIRD of the angels followed him.
D. Lucifer became Satan and dedicated himself to be God’s ADVERSARY.
E. He is also known as the DEVIL (slanderer) who accuses us before God (Zech. 3:1-5, Rev. 12:10).
F. The angels who joined Satan became known as DEMONS, fallen angels, evil spirits.
The angels who did not fall into sin are called “the elect angels.” I Timothy 5:21 reads, “I charge you, in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, to keep these instructions without partiality, and to do nothing out of favoritism.”
G. His destiny is the Lake of FIRE (Revelation 20:10).
H. Believers BATTLE the devil, (Eph. 6:11) but are indwelt by the greater Holy Spirit (I John 4:4).
We need to be alert to how the devil’s agents try to sabotage the work of God in our churches, families, or personal lives. Even what is happening in our nation or world is partly due to Satan’s schemes. We put on the armor, and we recognize the Word and prayer as powerful weapon against the foe.
