Something Greater

Isaiah 14, Part Four: Pride and Arrogance Israel had been besieged by Babylonia. Jerusalem was sacked and its population killed or exiled to Babylon (Daniel 1). Babylonia itself was then besieged and conquered by the Medes. (Daniel 5:3). The final king of Babylonia, Belshazzar, proclaimed five instances of "I will...": I will ascend to heaven; Above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High. (Isaiah 14:13-14 ESV) STARS: kokab "ko-KAWB" (a star, as round or shining); probably from kabbon (hilly, as heaped up) or from kawa (to prick or penetrate; to blister, as smarting or eating into) MOUNT OF ASSEMBLY: har mo'ed "har mo-ADE" (a mountain or range of hills of an appointment; a fixed time or season; a festival; a year; an assembly; the congregation; the place of meeting; a signal); ...

Isaiah 14, Part Three: Fall From Power and Privilege Israel's triumph over Babylon brings an opportunity to express superiority in the form of a taunt. Isaiah 14:3-4 (ESV) When the LORD has given you rest from your pain and turmoil and the hard service with which you were made to serve, you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon: How the oppressor has ceased, the insolent fury ceased! TAUNT: mashal "maw-SHAWL" (a pithy maxim; a simile, in the sense of superiority); from mashal (to rule) The great emperor of Babylonia would fall in defeat, to be ruled by those he oppressed. The scornful song imagines a scene in Sheol, the place of the dead, where the leaders of nations that had fallen to Babylon take up the taunt: Isaiah 14:9-11 (ESV) It rouses the shades to greet you, all who were leaders of the earth; it raises from their thrones all who were kings of the nations. All of them will answer and say to you: You too have become as weak as we! You ...

Isaiah 14, Part One: Punishment or Providence? Previously... God revealed to Isaiah the soon-to-come gathering of nations to war, resulting in the fall of the Babylonian empire to the might of the Medes. The arrogant and pompous Chaldean kingdom of Babylon had attempted to utterly conquer the weakened state of Israel. Now, in chapter 14... This chapter contains three separate oracles, or proclamations, concerning three different nations: Babylon (verses 1-23) Assyria (verses 24-27) Philistia (verses 28-32) Babylon The triumph of the Medes over Babylon would be a critical part of God's plan for Israel. Isaiah 14:1-2 (ESV) For the LORD will have compassion on Jacob and will again choose Israel, and will set them in their own land, and sojourners will join them and will attach themselves to the house of Jacob. And the peoples will take them and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess them in the LORD's land as male and female slaves. ...

Isaiah 13, Part 2: The Oppressor is Oppressed What has gone before... God has suddenly brought to Isaiah a prophecy regarding the faraway nation of Babylon, the ancient site at which a tall tower had been built. The tower had been an attempt at "making a name for themselves", and God had intervened and confused their language, dispersing them throughout the world. Moving on... Isaiah 13:4-5 (ESV) The LORD of hosts is mustering a host for battle. They come from a distant land, from the end of the heavens, the LORD and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land. Isaiah implies that Babylon will be attacked by a nation "from a distant land", with the LORD using another nation as the "weapons of his indignation". The LORD's anger will bring desolation and destruction: Isaiah 13:9 (ESV) Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the land a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it. ...

Isaiah 10 (Part 1 of 2): Condemnation of Oppression Previously... In chapter 9, Isaiah spoke of those without hope in the LORD who would suffer the gloom of anguish, but for those once considered to be contemptible there would be no such gloom. A Child would come from Zebulun Naphtali, a Son Who would be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace. Yet the present circumstances are dire. God's anger brings Assyrians, Syrians and Philistines against Israel. The horrors of war and genocide become terrifying symbols of Israel's moral and spiritual wickedness against the LORD. Now... In chapter 10, Isaiah warns of woe to those who oppress and rob the defenseless, the poor and the needy. The invading army of Assyria is God's tool of anger against the people of Israel. Assyria spoils, seizes and tread upon the godless nation of Israel, all according to God's plan. But the tool itself is in danger of judgement. The king of Assyr...