Isaiah 14 · The Lantern

Restoration for Israel

For the LORD will have compassion on Jacob and will again choose Israel, and will set them down on their own ground; and the sojourner will join himself to them, and they will attach themselves to the house of Jacob.

And peoples will take them and bring them to their place; and the house of Israel will take possession of them on the ground of the LORD, as male and female slaves. And they will be captors of their captors, and will rule over their oppressors.

The Fall of the King of Babylon

And it will be, in the day the LORD gives you rest from your pain and from your turmoil and from the hard service you were made to serve,

that you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon and say: How the oppressor has ceased, the raging has ceased!

We will show in what follows that these things are not said of someone else but of that tyrant, the one without shame, the enemy of God, as Isaiah says.

(Verse 4) How the oppressor has ceased: the tribute has ceased! This is the lamentation with which the people of Israel bewail themselves: 'How the Lord has become weak and powerless, the conqueror of the nations who once plundered everything!'

You shall take up this parable, that is, a sermon of similitudes, which says one thing and signifies another: for the things spoken of in the parable signify the condition of Nabuchodonosor, as to his power, his fault and his punishment, because of which these things could have happened, even if they did not happen: against the king of Babylon; in that day a parable shall be ta…

The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked, the rod of rulers,

which struck peoples in fury with unceasing blows, which trod down nations in anger with persecution unrestrained.

All the earth is at rest, is quiet; they have broken into a ringing cry.

Even the cypresses are glad over you, the cedars of Lebanon: “Since you lay down, no cutter comes up against us.”

Sheol beneath is stirred for you, to meet you at your coming; it rouses the shades for you, all the he-goats of the earth; it raises from their thrones all the kings of the nations.

All of them answer and say to you: “You too have been made weak like us; to us you have been made like!”

Your pride is brought down to Sheol, the sound of your harps; beneath you maggots are spread out, and worms are your covering.

How you have fallen from the heavens, Shining One, son of Dawn! You are cut down to the earth, you who laid the nations low.

How can we possibly suppose that what is said in many places by Scripture, especially in Isaiah, about Nebuchadnezzar is said about a human being? For no human being is said to have "fallen from heaven" or to have been "Lucifer" or the one who "arose every morning."

[Daniel 4:4] "I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at ease in my house and prospering in my palace." The narrative is clear indeed and requires but little interpretation.

Second, they reproach him with the glory he has lost. Both as to the dignity of the king: O Lucifer, beautiful among all other kings, in the morning, monarch before all others; and as to the power of war: how are you fallen to the earth: you, therefore, are the head of gold. And after you shall rise up another kingdom, inferior to you (Dan 2:38-39).

And you — you said in your heart: “The heavens I will ascend; above the stars of God I will lift my throne; and I will sit on the mountain of assembly, in the far parts of the north.

Now Nebuchadnezzar said, "I will ascend to heaven and exalt my throne above the stars of God and sit in the lofty mountains that are in the borders of the north." Isaiah said concerning him: "Because your heart has thus exalted you, therefore you shall be brought down to Sheol, and all that look upon you shall be astonished at you."

(Verse 13) Who spoke through pride: I have achieved such great power, that heaven remains for me and the stars should be subjected beneath my feet.

Third, they reproach him with the pride of heart which he had, as to three things: as to his proud thought; second, as to his perverse intention: I will be like the most high (Isa 14:14); third, as to the frustration of his proposal: but yet you shall be brought down to hell (Isa 14:15).

I will ascend above the high places of a cloud; I will make myself like the Most High.”

Yet to Sheol you are brought down, to the far parts of the pit.

(Verse 15.) However, you are dragged down to the depths of hell. He who had said through pride, 'I will ascend to heaven, I will be like the Most High,' is dragged not only to the depths of hell, but to the deepest depths of hell. In the Gospel, we read about these outer darknesses, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth (Luke 13:28).

For as long as vain, transitory, passing good is loved, man is "passing over." And such passing over Wisdom reproves. This passing over is the cause of every evil. In this way Lucifer passed over, to whom it was said: "Down to the nether world you go, to the recesses of the pit!" He was thrown first by sin, then by the judgment.

But yet: here, the frustration of his intention; into the depth of the pit, that is, into the harshest punishments: they spend their days in wealth, and in a moment they go down to hell (Job 21:31).

Those who see you gaze at you, they stare at you: “Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms,

who made the world like the wilderness and tore down its cities, who did not open the way home for his prisoners?”

All the kings of the nations, all of them, lie in glory, each one in his own house.

But you — you are flung out away from your grave, like a loathed branch, clothed with the slain, those run through by the sword, who go down to the stones of the pit, like a carcass trampled underfoot.

You will not be joined with them in burial, for you have ruined your land, you have killed your people. The seed of evildoers will not be named forever.

Prepare a slaughter for his sons, for the iniquity of their fathers, lest they rise and possess the earth and fill the face of the world with cities.

(Verse 21.) The seed of evildoers will not be called forever. Prepare his children for slaughter because of the iniquity of their fathers: they will not rise, nor will they inherit the land, nor will they fill the faces of the cities.

God's warning is twofold, one directed toward the submissive and the other toward obstinate minds. As was said about the submissive: "I will punish their crimes with a rod and their sins with a whip, but I will not remove my mercy from them or deceive them in my truth." But the wrath of God's rebuke upon obstinate sinners is unbearable, as Isaiah testifies: "The descendants of…

Second, the killing of his sons by the Medes and Persians: prepare his children for slaughter in the iniquity, that is, for the iniquity, of their fathers.

And I will rise up against them — the utterance of the LORD of hosts — and I will cut off from Babylon name and remnant, offspring and posterity — the utterance of the LORD.

And I will make her a possession of the hedgehog, and pools of water; and I will sweep her with the broom of destruction — the utterance of the LORD of hosts.

God’s Purpose against Assyria

The LORD of hosts has sworn, saying: Surely as I have intended, so it has come to be; and as I have counseled, that is what will stand —

to break Assyria in my land, and on my mountains to trample him; and his yoke will turn aside from upon them, and his burden turn aside from upon their shoulder.

This is the counsel counseled concerning all the earth, and this is the hand stretched out over all the nations.

For the LORD of hosts has counseled, and who will annul it? And his hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?

Philistia Will Be Destroyed

In the year of the death of King Ahaz this oracle came.

Do not rejoice, Philistia, all of you, that the rod of the one striking you is broken; for from the root of a snake will come out a viper, and its fruit a flying fiery serpent.

Therefore, it is commanded to the Philistines, whom they now call Palestinians, and always by the LXX called ἀλλόφυλοι, that is, foreigners; and it is said to them not to rejoice or be glad, because they have broken the rod or yoke of their oppressor (Heb. XII, 6). For whom the Lord loves, he chastises, and he punishes every son he receives.

But because this Leviathan is called in another place not merely a serpent, but also a basilisk, because he rules over unclean spirits, or reprobate men, as Isaiah says, Out of the serpent's root shall come forth a basilisk, we must attentively observe how a basilisk destroys, that by the doings of the basilisk, his malice may be more plainly made known to us.

Concerning the first, he does three things. For first, he excludes foolish joy: rejoice not you, over this, namely, that the rod, that is, the power, of him that struck you, that is, Achaz, is broken in pieces, by death: laughter I counted error (Eccl 2:2).

And the firstborn of the poor will graze, and the needy will lie down in safety; but I will put your root to death with famine, and it will kill your remnant.

Wail, gate! Cry out, city! Melt away, Philistia, all of you! For from the north smoke is coming, and there is no straggler in his ranks.