Isaiah 14 LUCIFER – KING OF BABYLON In spite of all that will happen to Israel, there will be a time coming when the Lord will establish Israel in the promised land. People of other nations will be blessed because of the Lord’s faithfulness to His own people in bringing them back in restoration to Himself. Israel’s restoration will come out of the defeat and destruction of the future Babylon of which we read in the book of Revelation. There was a foreshadowing of the future restoration of Israel when Cyrus, king of Persia, permitted the Jews who wanted to return to their homeland, to do so. Fifty thousand or so went with Zerubbabel and Jeshua, and later some more went with Ezra and then Nehemiah. The prophecy of Isaiah tells of the final restoration that will happen when Gentile powers no longer dominate world affairs.
The Lord Himself will gather His people, and the captivity of Israel will then be really over. The first verses of this chapter look ahead to the time when Israel will rejoice with a song of deliverance. That will be a song of triumph over Babylon. The previous chapter refers to ancient Babylon that is no more. This chapter has to do with the “Babylon” of the antichrist that is yet in the future. The song Isaiah wrote can be related to both. The kings and authorities that were failed subjects of the antichrist, will be maliciously satisfied when the “man of sin” is cast into “Sheol” where they will be already.
The same attitude that Satan has, the antichrist will have because he is “the son of perdition.” The rebellion of Satan and angels who followed him, will be repeated by the antichrist and those who follow him. The result will be the same. The five “I wills” of Satan’s arrogance and pride will be those of the antichrist. His ambition will fail and he will go into “Sheol” without even being buried. This is a larger term than “hell” or “Hades.” “Sheol” includes the deepest hell and the “lake of fire” forever. All that is associated with the term “everlasting punishment” is connected to the word “Sheol.”
Lucifer, the king of Babylon of the future, is representative of Satan who is the power behind the authority the antichrist will claim for himself. The pride and evil ambition described are that of Satan himself. The defeat of the antichrist and the fact that his corpse will not even be buried, reflects on the failure of Satan to thwart the purposes of God. All the glory the future king of Babylon will claim for himself, will end in final failure and everlasting destruction. Pride and arrogance against God by anyone, will always bring consequences relating to everlasting destruction that cannot be avoided. That will not be annihilation, but is the result of choices people make that they will live with forever. “That is what you wanted! That is what you will get – forever!”
The nations who in the future join together to annihilate the Jews and the nation of Israel forever, will find the Lord is the One who will take the final action against them. Israel will be delivered. The Lord Jesus will reign in righteousness. His kingdom will be established, and all nations will be blessed because of the King of kings, and Lord of lords.
Reference to future events in the last part of this chapter, refer to things that began to happen in the last year of Ahaz’s life. The Lord would turn back the armies that opposed Judah before the conquest was complete. This account is again the ancient one and Isaiah’s prophecy foretold the disaster that fell on the Assyrians when they were in Palestine and Sennacherib was recalled before he could conquer Jerusalem. “In vain doth earth and hell oppose, for God is stronger than His foes.”
The relatively peaceful time when Hezekiah was king was short-lived. Judah did not repent nor did they carry out self- judgment for their rebellion and idolatry. It was during the short reign of Zedekiah that Nebuchadnezzar came and the city of Jerusalem was destroyed. Thousands of Jews died and thousands more were taken captive to Babylon. The prophecies of those long-ago days, seem to be unreal to people who live in our day; especially when they refer to things that haven’t happened yet, and seem to be impossible to those who are not people of faith. Believers know that God is going to do what He said; we just don’t know His timetable.