14:1A prominent theme in Isaiah is that non-Israelites would join the returning Israelites (56:6, 7; 60:10; 61:5). God's intention was that through his faithful people all the world woutd be blessed (Genesis 12:3). Through the family of David, the whole world could be saved by Christ. God’s Word must be available to all people groups in their own languages. We must not fimit God’s love to our own people. God loves the whole world. We must support and help those missions that are reaching out to people who haven’t heard the Good News of salvation.
Life Application Study BibleIsaiahChapter 14
Isaiah 14
New Living Translation · Life Application Study Bible · Original pages: 1113, 1114, 1115
A few verse numbers on this page were hard to read in the scan and are marked with a dotted underline — compare with the original page image if in doubt.
14Isaiah 14
A Taunt for Babylon’s King
1But the LORD will have mercy on the descendants of Jacob. He will choose Israel as his special people once again. He will bring them back to settle once again in their own land. And people from many different nations wil! come and join them there and unite with the people of Israel.* 2The nations of the world will help the LORD’s people to return, and those who come to live in their land will serve them. Those who captured Israel will themselves be captured, and Israel will rule over its enemies.
3In that wonderful day when the LORD gives his people rest from sorrow and fear, fromslavery and chains, ¢you will taunt the king of Babylon. You will say,“The mighty man has been destroyed.Yes, your insolence* is ended.
5For the LORD has crushed your wicked powerand broken your evil rule.
6You struck the people with endless blows of rageand held the nations in your angry gripwith unrelenting tyranny.
7But finally the earth is at rest and quiet.Now it can sing again!
8Even the trees of the forest—the cypress trees and the cedars of Lebanon—sing out this joyous song:‘Since you have been cut down,no one will come now to cut us down!’
9“In the place of the dead* there is excitementover your arrival.The spirits of world leaders and mighty kings long deadstand up to see you.
10With one voice they all cry out,‘Now you are as weak as we are!1 Your might and power were buried with you.*The sound of the harp in your palace has ceased.Now maggots are your sheet,and worms your blanket.’
12“How you are fallen from heaven,O shining star, son of the morning!You have been thrown down to the earth,you who destroyed the nations of the world.
13For you said to yourself,‘T will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God’s stars.I will preside on the mountain of the godsfar away in the north.*
14I will climb to the highest heavensand be like the Most High.’
15Instead, you will be brought down to the place of the dead,down to its lowest depths.
16Everyone there will stare at you and ask,‘Can this be the one who shook the earthand made the kingdoms of the world tremble?
17Ts this the one who destroyed the worldand made it into a wasteland?Is this the king who demolished the world’s greatest citiesand had no mercy on his prisoners?”
18“The kings of the nations lie in stately glory,each in his own tomb,19 but you will be thrown out of your gravelike a worthless branch.Like a corpse trampled underfoot,you will be dumped into a mass gravewith those killed in battle.You will descend to the pit.
20You will not be given a proper burial,for you have destroyed your nationand slaughtered your people.The descendants of such an evil personwill never again receive honor.
21Kill this man’s children!Let them die because of their father’s sins!They must not rise and conquer the earth,filling the world with their cities.”
22This is what the LORD of Heaven's Armies says:“I, myself, have risen against Babylon!I will destroy its children and its children’s children,”says the LORD.
23“T will make Babylon a desolate place of owls,filled with swamps and marshes.I will sweep the land with the broom of destruction.I, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!”
A Message about Assyria
2424The LORD of Heaven’s Armies has sworn this oath:“Tt will all happen as I have planned.It will be as Ihave decided.
25I will break the Assyrians when they are in Israel;I will trample them on my mountains.My people will no longer be their slavesnor bow down under their heavy toads.
26T have a plan for the whole earth,a hand of judgment upon all the nations.
27The LORD of Heaven’s Armies has spoken—who can change his plans?When his hand is raised,who can stop him?”
A Message about Philistia
2828This message came to me the year King Ahaz died:*
29Do not rejoice, you Philistines,that the rod that struck you is broken—that the king who attacked you is dead.For from that snake a more poisonous snake will be born,a fiery serpent to destroy you!
30I will feed the poor in my pasture;the needy will lie down in peace.But as for you, I will wipe you out with famineand destroy the few who remain.
31Wail at the gates! Weep in the cities!Melt with fear, you Philistines!A powerful army comes like smoke from the north.Each soldier rushes forward eager to fight.“The LORD has built Jerusalem*;its walls will give refuge to his oppressed people.”
Textual footnotes
- 14:1 Hebrew the house of Jacob, The names “Jacob” and “Israel” are often interchanged throughout the Oid Testament, referring sometimes to the individual patriarch and sometimes to the nation.
- 14:4 As in Dead Sea Scrolls; the meaning of the Masoretic Text is uncertain.
- 14:9 Hebrew Sheol; also in 14:15.
- 14:13 Or on the heights of Zaphon.
- 14:28 King Ahaz died in715.8.c.
- 14:32 Hebrew Zion.
Life Application Notes 7 notes
14:4-11These verses could have both present and future significance in reference to Babylon. The historical city and empire would be permanently destroyed. Babylon has also been used as a picture of all those who oppose God. Thus, in the end times, all who oppose God will be destroyed, and all evil will be removed from the earth forever.
14:5,6Power fades quickly. God permitted Babylon to have temporary power for a purpose—to punish his wayward people. When the purpose ended, so did the power. Beware of placing confidence in human power because one day it will fade, no matter how strong it appears now.
14:12“Shining star, son of the morning” could be names used to worship the kings of Assyria and Babylon. More likely, it means that they will fade like the morning star when the sun rises.
14:12-14There are several interpretations for the fallen one in these verses. (1) He is Satan, because the person here is too powerful to be any human king. Although Satan may fit verses 12-14, he does not fit well with the rest of the chapter. (2) This could be Sennacherib or Nebuchadnezzar, kings with supreme power. Their people looked upon them as gods. These kings wanted to rule the world. (3) This could refer to both Satan and a great human king, possibly Nebuchadnezzar, because Babylon is pictured as the seat of evil in Revelation 17-18. Pride was Satan's sin as well as Babylon’s. Common to all three viewpoints is the truth that pride willfully opposes God and will result in judgment. Israel made the mistake of being too proud to depend on God, and we are vulnerable to that same mistake.
14:24-27This prophecy came true as Isaiah predicted (see 2 Kings 19 and {saiah 37:21-38).
14:28-31Isaiah received this message from the LORD in 715 B.C., the year that King Ahaz of Judah died. “The king who attacked you” (14:29) was not Ahaz but Shalmaneser V or Sargon of Assyria. The “powerful army” from the north (14:31) refers to the soldiers of Sargon of Assyria.
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Study feature · page 1115
32 What should we tell the Philistine messengers? Tell them,
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Israel's enemy. They oppressed Israel and invaded their tand (Judges 3:12-14), fought against Saul (1 Samuet 14:47) and against David (2 Samuel 8:2, 11, 12). Moab would be punished for treating Israel harshly.