Hello everybody, and welcome in to episode 125 of the Bible 2021 podcast. We are reading Isaiah 14 today and our focus is on the ultimate good fate of Israel and the terrifying fate and fall of Satan. We are a daily 10 minute podcast, where we will dig in to the truth of the Word of God by reading one Bible chapter a day and discussing it. Welcome to new listeners in Northern Savonia, Finland, Philippines, Maharashtra, India, Parts unknown, Turkey, Norfolk, Virginia, Wichita, Kansas and Youngstown, Ohio, . Thanks for listening! Our goal is to encourage DAILY Bible reading, so you can jump in at any time and join with us. We want to invite as many people as possible to join us in daily Bible reading, so help spread the word and share the podcast Don’t forget about our web-page, Bible2021.com – contact page, show notes, transcript and more– Click here for our Bible 2021 reading plan\
Strange topic today, but an important chapter in Isaiah to cover. As you know, we read 5 New Testament chapters a week, and 2 Old Testament, so that means we will skip around quite a bit in the Old Testament. Today in our reading, we will see God’s ultimate plan for Israel. At this time in Israel’s history, when Isaiah 14 was written, the nation has split into two basic pieces – Judah and Benjamin with Jerusalem as its capitol and Israel – the other ten tribes, with Samaria as its capital. As you might recall, the kingdom was split after the reign of Solomon – he turned to a syncretistic kind of idolatry in his later years, so the full Kingdom of Israel was torn out of the hands of Solomon’s son Rehoboam, and ten tribes went with Jeroboam – the first king of the ten tribes of Israel. Jeroboam was an able administrator in many ways, but he was an idolater to his core, and led Israel down a terrible path leadership wise. Before Israel was taken into captivity, shortly after the time of Isaiah, they had 19 kings, and every won of them was reckoned as evil by the Bible, with Jehu being the closest to being a good king. 19 kings in a row – all bad, led to significant punishment from God and captivity, but Isaiah 14, written before the Assyrian conquest, promises that God will restore his people. We see this in verse one of our passage today:
The Lord will have compassion on Jacob;
once again he will choose Israel
and will settle them in their own land. Israel 1:1
This prophecy runs throughout the Bible – we also see it in Jeremiah 3:
7 At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne of the Lord, and all nations will gather in Jerusalem to honor the name of the Lord. No longer will they follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts. 18 In those days the people of Judah will join the people of Israel, and together they will come from a northern land to the land I gave your ancestors as an inheritance.
as well as Micah 4:
4 In the last days
the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established
as the highest of the mountains;
it will be exalted above the hills,
and peoples will stream to it.2 Many nations will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the temple of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law will go out from Zion,
the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
3 He will judge between many peoples
and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore.
And many other places. Though God has temporarily disciplined Israel in places, the clear teaching of God’s Word is that He will restore Her fully – and even bring her to a better place than she used to be. Let’s read our passage and find out more.
One other note to cover. Some see vss 12-15 as speaking to the origin of Satan:
12 How you have fallen from heaven,
morning star, son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
you who once laid low the nations!
13 You said in your heart,
“I will ascend to the heavens;
I will raise my throne
above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,
on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.
14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.”
15 But you are brought down to the realm of the dead,
to the depths of the pit.
This passage is certainly speaking, at least partially, of the King of Babylon, but it seems to go well beyond that, and – like Ezekiel 28 – seems to be indicating the origin and ultimate fate of Satan. This passage is where we get the name “Lucifer” from, which means light-bearer or morning star. In this coming downfall of the once mighty, God shows a law of the Kingdom of God – all the high and lofty ones will be brought low. He says:
How art thou fallen from heaven, Lucifer, son of the morning! Thus God breaketh in pieces with his right hand everything arrogant and supercilious, that dares to assert greatness apart from his endowment, or to presume on authority other than he delegates. I might prolong the strain. I might tell you of Rome, and all the boastings of that Imperial mistress, point to her faded charms, and tell of her decay and her decadence. I might lead you back to Sennacherib and all his hosts overthrown, or recite the story of Nebuchadnezzar, driven out from the abodes of men, and feeding the beasts. I might show you lesser kings, kings of Israel, brought exceeding low, until they who had sat on the throne as princes pined in the dungeon among slaves. To multiply instances would be only to confirm the general current of history, and illustrate the fact that the Lord, even the Lord of hosts, always cuts down the high tree, humiliates the creature that exalts itself, and suffers no flesh to glory in his presence. That is the law of his government
C. H. Spurgeon, “Divine Destruction and Protection,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 62 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1916), 16.
Bible Memory verses for the month of May: Matthew 28:18-20 18 Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.19 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
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