The Prophecy of Isaiah - Part 60 Discussion

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Isa 14:16-23 Is This The Man That Made The Earth To Tremble

Isa 14:16  They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;
Isa 14:17  That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?
Isa 14:18  All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house.
Isa 14:19  But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet.
Isa 14:20  Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people: the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned.
Isa 14:21  Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers; that they do not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities.
Isa 14:22  For I will rise up against them, saith the LORD of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and nephew, saith the LORD.
Isa 14:23  I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the LORD of hosts.

We are continuing in our studies in Isaiah 14. This is the chapter which is almost universally used to teach that Satan, of his own free will, chose to rebel against his Creator, forcing God to cast him out of heaven.

But the truth is made clear to all who tremble at His Word, that this chapter has nothing to do with a spirit being rebelling against God. All doubt concerning who is the subject of this parable is removed with these words:

Isa 14:16  They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;
Isa 14:17  That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?

Now let's tie these words in with the verses of our last study and ask ourselves whether it is wise to simply ignore and deny the very words we are reading right here in this chapter concerning who is the subject of this "parable against the king of Babylon" (Isa 14:4).

Here are the verses we last discussed concerning who the subject of this 14th chapter of Isaiah is:

Isa 14:12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
Isa 14:13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
Isa 14:14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
Isa 14:15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

"How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! [is followed by] Is this the man...?" Obviously we are not speaking of a spirit being. 'Son of the morning' is simply what our old man thinks of himself. Notice carefully that all of this is what "you have said in your heart". He worships himself, and he is typified in history by this "king of Babylon" of whom we are told:

Dan 4:29  At the end of twelve months [the king of Babylon] walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon.
Dan 4:30  The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?

It is this beast within us who "says within his heart" that he is the "son of the morning", and he actually believes that he has built the house of his kingdom by the might of his own power and for the honor of his own majesty. Our new man understandably exclaims, "How are you fallen from heaven O boastful morning star!"

"Morning star" is a title reserved for Christ Himself, the head of the body of Christ, the first of the firstfruits. The "morning star" is the same as "the Sun of Righteousness" who brings light to this world day in and day out. There is no daylight without the rising of the "Morning Star" as we are told in:

Mal 4:1  For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
Mal 4:2  But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

When we are brought to see our own works as the "wood, hay, and stubble", it is at that point "the Sun of Righteousness...burns them up."  It is only at that point that we actually begin to "fear His name". It is at that point that we are given to "overcome" the sins within our "sinful flesh".

Rev 2:26  And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
Rev 2:27  And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.
Rev 2:28  And I will give him the morning star.

Just as we can erase any doubt as to whom this "Morning Star" is, Christ Himself tells us:

Rev 22:16  I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star

This "morning star" here in the book of Revelation is Christ. Knowing that Christ is the morning star gives much deeper meaning to verses like these from the Old Testament:

Amo 5:8  Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name:

Zep 3:5  The just LORD is in the midst thereof; he will not do iniquity: every morning doth he bring his judgment to light, he faileth not; but the unjust knoweth no shame.

Hos 6:3  Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.

Isa 58:8  Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward.

The Hebrew for the word 'morning' here in Isa 14:12 is:

H7837
שַׁחַר
shachar
shakh'-ar
From H7836; dawn (literally, figuratively or adverbially): - day (-spring), early, light, morning, whence riseth.

This word is in the Old Testament 23 times:

H7837
שׁחר
shachar
Total KJV Occurrences: 23
morning, 12
Gen_19:15, Neh_4:21, Job_41:18, Son_6:9-10 (2), Isa_14:12, Isa_58:8, Hos_6:3, Hos_10:15, Joe_2:2, Amo_4:13, Jon_4:7
day, 6
Gen_32:24, Gen_32:26, Jos_6:15, Jdg_19:25, 1Sa_9:26, Job_3:9
early, 2
Psa_57:8, Psa_108:2
dayspring, 1
Job_38:12
light, 1
Isa_8:20
riseth, 1
Isa_47:11

Shachar, H7837 is from:

H7836
שָׁחַר
shâchar
shaw-khar'
A primitive root; properly to dawn, that is, (figuratively) be (up) early at any task (with the implication of earnestness); by extension to search for (with painstaking): - [do something] betimes, enquire early, rise (seek) betimes, seek (diligently) early, in the morning).

Shachar^H7836 is a primitive root meaning 'dawn'. Dawn is the light which begins the day. As we have pointed out, this dying dead man, the king of Babylon, is addressed as "Lucifer, son of the morning" simply because we as God's elect address him according to the idols of his own heart with a title he appropriated to himself, which is really a title reserved only to our Head, the Head of His own church, Christ. We do that simply because that is how he sees himself before he is "crushed to powder" (Mat 21:44), comes to his wits' end and finds himself symbolically cast out of the grave.

Here in Ezekiel 14 are the verses which explain why God's elect in "this proverb against the king of Babylon" refers to him as "...Lucifer [referring to the fact that this is the one who praises himself and who demands to be praised by others], son of the morning". This is how Christ deals with such self-centered, rebellious men:

Eze 14:1  Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me.
Eze 14:2  And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Eze 14:3  Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?
Eze 14:4  Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols;

These words are addressed to us. It is God's elect who speak of the dying king o Babylon within them "according to the idols [of] his heart". The king of Babylon within us thinks of himself as being "like unto God". He actually thinks of Himself as "the son of the morning... the bright and morning star", a title given only to our Head, Christ. God's elect know that this dead king of Babylon is our own old man who considered himself to be the 'son of the morning', or "the morning star". When we are finally given to face that dying, rebellious old beast, we can all sincerely say along with the apostle Paul:

1Ti 1:15 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

We will naturally first tell ourselves, ​"​I have never considered myself to be the head of His body.​" The truth is that every time we have disobeyed Christ and have succumbed to the pulls of our flesh to lie to God or our brother, to hate another brother, or to justify ourselves at the expense of our brother, etc.​, we are in every case placing ourselves above Christ and exalting our own throne to heaven.

Of course,​ verse 16 tells it like it really is:

Isa 14:16  They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;

Here we are told in words that cannot be any clearer. This entire parable is addressed to "the man that made the earth to tremble". He is a mere man! Where is any mention of a supposed fallen archangel anywhere in this entire chapter?

This man does indeed get his power and his throne from the dragon:

Rev 13:1  And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
Rev 13:2  And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.

But the dragon, Satan, while he is indeed cast out of heaven to the earth, does not descend into the pit of the grave, which is where all the kings of our inward earth now find themselves:

Isa 14:18  All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house.
Isa 14:19  But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet.

This dead king of Babylon is "as the raiment of those that are slain... [who] go down to the stone of the pit, as a carcase trodden under foot". These are very graphic words which are just our Lord's words which He is placing in our mouths to describe how little He thinks of our old man and the kingdom of our brute beast. Here is this same message in:

2Pe 2:12  But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;

It is our own wicked man of sin, the king of Babylon within us, who is used by God to bring us to our wits' end, causing our old man to "perish in his own corruption".

This is a parable which God's elect "take up against the king of Babylon",​ and it ends as it began by telling us that the Lord Himself is in the process of destroying this king within us with his entire kingdom:

Isa 14:20  Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people: the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned.
Isa 14:21  Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers; that they do not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities.
Isa 14:22  For I will rise up against them, saith the LORD of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and nephew, saith the LORD.
Isa 14:23  I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the LORD of hosts.

When the Lord says He Himself will "cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and nephew..." He is speaking of the total destruction of the kingdom of our old man. The total annihilation of His kingdom is symbolized by the death of the king of Babylon and "the slaughter for his children..." There will be nothing, and there will be no one left, to carry on his kingdom.

When understood outwardly it sounds cruel and unloving, but when we are aware of the good that comes from the death of our own sinful flesh, then the death of our old man's children is nothing less than the death of death, which is "the last enemy to be destroyed":

1Co 15:25  For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
1Co 15:26  The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

Here is how King David spoke of this blessed event:

Psa 137:8  O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.
Psa 137:9  Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.

His kingdom will be made "a possession for the bittern, and pools of water", speaks of the waters that attract "the bittern", and they certainly are not "rivers of living waters". We know this is the case because this is what we are told will inhabit Babylon in the New Testament:

Rev 18:2  And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.

It is Christ Himself who tells us that evil spirits and false doctrines to "the fowls" in the parable of the sower in Matthew 13. First He tells us that as the sower sows, the seed which He sows is "devoured... up [by] the fowls":

Mat 13:3  And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;
Mat 13:4  And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

Christ Himself interprets this parable for us and in doing so, He tells us exactly who and what these "fowls" symbolize:

Mat 13:18  Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.
Mat 13:19  When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.

"The fowls", which devour the seed sown by the sower, are the false messengers of "the evil one". They are the "foul spirits and... unclean and hateful birds" which inhabit Babylon within each of us.

Commentators speculate that a 'bittern' is everything from a hedge hog to an ospray. What we must understand is that the sum of God's word indicates that Babylon is "the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird". Those "unclean and hateful birds" are false doctrines which "catch away that [truth] which was sown in [our] hearts", and when this truth is finally revealed to us,​ we are commanded to "come out of her":

Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Rev 18:5  For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
Rev 18:6  Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.
Rev 18:7  How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

Here is how Strong's defines 'bittern':

H7090
קִפֹּד    קִפּוֹד
qippôd    qippôd
kip-pode', kip-pode'
From H7088; a species of bird, perhaps the bittern (from its contracted form): - bittern.
Total KJV occurrences: 3

Here are those three entries in the Old Testament:

H7090
קפּד  /  קפּוד
qippôd
Total KJV Occurrences: 3
bittern, 3
Isa_14:23, Isa_34:11, Zep_2:14

This 23rd verse of Isaiah 14 is the first time we see this word 'bittern'. The next is:

Isa 34:11  But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness.

This verse concerns the judgment of Idumea:

Isa 34:6  The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the LORD hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea.
Isa 34:7  And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness.
Isa 34:8  For it is the day of the LORD'S vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion.

The indignation of the LORD is upon all nations

The fact is that, according to this same chapter, the judgment of Babylon within us includes the entire earth within us.

Isa 34:1  Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it.
Isa 34:2  For the indignation of the LORD is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter.

In Isa 34:11 the bittern is mentioned with the cormorant and the owl, just two more unclean and hateful birds, symbolizing the false doctrines which "catch away the [Truth] which is sown in[to our] hearts" before we even have a chance to "understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God" (Mat 13:11).

Mat 13:18  Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.
Mat 13:19  When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.

The third and last time 'the bittern' is mentioned is in:

Zep 2:13  And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like a wilderness.
Zep 2:14  And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations: both the cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it; their voice shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be in the thresholds: for he shall uncover the cedar work.
Zep 2:15  This is the rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly, that said in her heart, I am, and there is none beside me: how is she become a desolation, a place for beasts to lie down in! every one that passeth by her shall hiss, and wag his hand.

The fact the cormorant and the bittern both lodge in the upper lintels of Nineveh and Assyria, makes clear that a bittern is an unclean bird, the very Biblical symbol some kind of 'foul spirit, and... unclean and hateful bird". These are the symbols of the lies and false doctrines which "catch away the word of the kingdom" which was sown in our hearts by the Sower.

Notice that the very same language in employed in the book of Revelation concerning 'Mystery Babylon' being destroyed and "becoming the hold of every foul spirit and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird":

Rev 18:1  And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.
Rev 18:2  And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
Rev 18:3  For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Rev 18:5  For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.

Here is Strong's definition of the Hebrew word translated as 'besom':

H4292
מַטְאֲטֵא
maṭ'ăṭê'
mat-at-ay'
Apparently a denominative from H2916; a broom (as removing dirt (compare English ‘to dust’, that is, remove dust)): - besom.
Total KJV occurrences: 1

"I will sweep [the king of Babylon and his kingdom] with the besom of destruction, saith the Lord of hosts", means 'I will sweep Babylon with the broom of destruction'. Sweeping "the king of Babylon and his kingdom with the besom of destruction", means that the Lord has every intention of making a clean sweep of the king of Babylon and everything for which Babylon stands.

As always I want to remind us that all the judgments of God against Babylon within us are "the everlasting gospel". His own judgments are what the Lord has ordained as the means by which the patience and faith of the saints is to be produced within us, and it is also by His judgments that He is teaching us righteousness.

Here are some of "the mysteries of the kingdom of God...within [us]":

Isa 26:8  Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.
Isa 26:9  With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

This is the meaning of Isaiah 26:8-9:

Rev 14:6  And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
Rev 14:7  Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
Rev 14:8  And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
Rev 14:9  And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
Rev 14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
Rev 14:11  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
Rev 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. [and "the words of this prophecy" - Rev 1:3]

That,​ my dear brother and sister, is "the everlasting gospel" and the patience of the saints [who] keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus"!

Next week, Lord willing, we will see more about the destruction of the kingdom of our old man presented to us as "the Assyrian" in these verses:

Isa 14:24  The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand:
Isa 14:25  That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders.
Isa 14:26  This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations.
Isa 14:27  For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?