Isaiah 14:3-23--Israel's Remnant Taunts Babylon

Isaiah 14:3-23
English Standard Version

Israel's Remnant Taunts Babylon
3 When the LORD has given you rest from your pain and turmoil and the hard service with which you were made to serve, 4 you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon:

“How the oppressor has ceased,
    the insolent fury ceased!
5 The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked,
    the scepter of rulers,
6 that struck the peoples in wrath
    with unceasing blows,
that ruled the nations in anger
    with unrelenting persecution.
7 The whole earth is at rest and quiet;
    they break forth into singing.
8 The cypresses rejoice at you,
    the cedars of Lebanon, saying,
‘Since you were laid low,
    no woodcutter comes up against us.’
9 Sheol beneath is stirred up
    to meet you when you come;
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.
10 All of them will answer
    and say to you:
‘You too have become as weak as we!
    You have become like us!’
11 Your pomp is brought down to Sheol,
    the sound of your harps;
maggots are laid as a bed beneath you,
    and worms are your covers.

12 “How you are fallen from heaven,
    O Day Star, son of Dawn!
How you are cut down to the ground,
    you who laid the nations low!
13 You said in your heart,
    ‘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;
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
    I will make myself like the Most High.’
15 But you are brought down to Sheol,
    to the far reaches of the pit.
16 Those who see you will stare at you
    and ponder over you:
‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble,
    who shook kingdoms,
17 who made the world like a desert
    and overthrew its cities,
    who did not let his prisoners go home?’
18 All the kings of the nations lie in glory,
    each in his own tomb;
19 but you are cast out, away from your grave,
    like a loathed branch,
clothed with the slain, those pierced by the sword,
    who go down to the stones of the pit,
    like a dead body trampled underfoot.
20 You will not be joined with them in burial,
    because you have destroyed your land,
    you have slain your people.

“May the offspring of evildoers
    nevermore be named!
21 Prepare slaughter for his sons
    because of the guilt of their fathers,
lest they rise and possess the earth,
    and fill the face of the world with cities.”

​22 “I will rise up against them,” declares the LORD of hosts, “and will cut off from Babylon name and remnant, descendants and posterity,” declares the LORD. 23 “And I will make it a possession of the hedgehog, and pools of water, and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” declares the LORD of hosts.

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While the battle and victory belong to the LORD and we have nothing to boast in except for Him, the LORD will allow us to gloat and boast over the enemies that He defeats.  Israel would do so here over Babylon when the LORD caused them to be utterly defeated.  The LORD put an end to their oppression and insolence.  No longer would they persecute the nations, especially the nation of Israel.  Their pride and arrogance had led to their total destruction, not only in this world, but also in eternity.  Most (though not all) of Babylon died in rebellion to the LROD and at the time of their conquering when they were put to death, most ended up in Sheol (though it means "the Grave," it is a euphemism for what we call Hell, as the saved people at that time would go to Paradise or Abraham's Bossom)

Then the taunts turn towards Lucifer himself who was the power and influencer behind this wicked kingdom but is also speaking to the king of Babylon who was motivated by Lucifer.  The destruction of his prized possession is evidence that he cannot fight against the LORD or His people.  His destruction to and the destruction of all those who ally with him is certain.  One day the spiritual kingdom of Babylon (the kingdom of Antichrist) will be destroyed as described in the book of Revelation.

The king of Babylon came in and stripped all the lands he conquered of all their natural resources, turning the beautiful places, he conquered into nothing more than deserts.  Where there was lush paster, there was not wasteland.  So, it is with all who give their lives over to Satan and the forces of darkness.  Satan uses and abuses that person until all of their life has been wasted and spent on things that don't matter.  The righteous kings will cast their vote with the LORD both over the destruction of the physical king of Babylon and the defeat and destruction of Satan who was behind the wicked kingdom.

There is coming a day when the wicked will have no more offspring and descendants.  Their time is coming to an eternal end.  They will have no more kingdoms to possess or rule over because the kingdom of God will fill the entire earth and all of creation will be subject to Him and His authority both in heaven and on earth.  The zeal of the LORD will accomplish this and turn the once great city of Babylon into the same kind of wasteland that they turned all their conquered lands into, but it is also a picture of the total destruction of the kingdom of this world and the kingdom of Antichrist that is to come.  Do not ally yourself with those who have rebelled against the LORD--you will lose.