In Isaiah's day the nation of Babylon was not yet capable of overthrowing the Assyrian Empire, which was the empire the people of Judah and Israel most feared. Indeed, the Assyrian Empire did cause the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel. But Babylon will soon be on the rise and become the greatest world power on earth. Babylon will overthrow Assyria in a little over a century, then later causing the fall of Judah about 130 years after Isaiah prophesied the fall of Judah.
The verses we will be studying over the next several days are speaking of the king (or all the kings combined together) of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Later on we will get into how these verses apply to the "man of sin" of the end times as well. But meanwhile I want to note that scholars are in disagreement over which king of the literal nation of Babylon is intended by these verses or whether these verses describe the attitude of all the kings of the Neo-Babylonian Empire---that Isaiah foresaw them all as "one king" because they all had the same type of pride, the same enormous ego, and the same grand world-conquering ambitions. Some scholars believe Isaiah is speaking of King Nebuchadnezzar, who was the king of Babylon when Babylon caused the fall of Jerusalem and Judah and took the majority of the people captive.
Others believe the final king of Babylon, Belshazzar, is the one Isaiah foresaw, for Nebuchadnezzar appears (in the book of Daniel) to have repented of his overweening pride and to have acknowledged the God of Israel. Whether or not Nebuchadnezzar placed all of his faith in the Lord and renounced all his pagan gods is up for debate; the Bible does not make it clear whether or not this was the case. But the book of Daniel does seem to indicate that Nebuchadnezzar underwent a major attitude adjustment. The book of Daniel also indicates that Belshazzar was wicked to the end. On the very night the walls of the capital city of Babylon were about to be breached by the enemy army, Belshazzar was throwing a wild and drunken party during which he deliberately scorned the God of Israel by calling for the vessels taken from the temple at Jerusalem to be brought to the party where he and his top officials drank from them and toasted their own heathen gods.
Isaiah foresees the defeat of a king, and although we don't know which king he had in mind, we know that his prediction came true. Babylon did fall and it exists no more in our day, just as Isaiah has already predicted in our Bible study. Belshazzar was killed on the night the city walls were breached and I think it's quite likely that Belshazzar is the man Isaiah foresaw. But whoever it was, the verses of Chapter 14 clearly show us that no matter how much a person achieves in this life, those things will be of no use to a person once he is dead. Only a relationship with the Lord matters once a person has passed out of this life. Isaiah begins sharing his vision of the death of the king.
"The realm of the dead below is all astir to meet you at your coming; it rouses the spirits of the departed to greet you---all those who were leaders in the world; it makes them rise from their thrones---all those who were kings over the nations. They will all respond, they will say to you, 'You also have become weak, as we are; you have become like us.' All your pomp has been brought down to the grave, along with the noise of the harps; maggots are spread out beneath you, and worms cover you." (Isaiah 14:9-11)
This is a graphic description of the king becoming "worm food", to use a modern expression. But it's accurate because no matter how wealthy and powerful a person is, he cannot keep himself alive forever. Death and decay come to the rich and the poor alike, to the powerful and to the weak alike.
The kings who preceded him in death and who are taunting him may be the pagan kings whose nations were conquered by Babylon. Or they may represent all the kings of all the ages who thought their power and glory would protect them from death, or would protect them from being forgotten in death, or would secure for them a godlike status at death. But now the mighty king who has boasted in himself has become just like they are. His fate is the same as theirs. Because this description of their afterlife is so gloomy, we know that none of these kings were men of God. They aren't resting in peace, awaiting the day when they will be resurrected in glorious eternal bodies to live in the presence of the Lord forever. No, these kings are experiencing an eternity of defeat. They are experiencing an eternity without any hope of their circumstances turning around.
Although we are ending today's study on a depressing note, we must keep in mind that the fate of these unbelieving kings is not our fate. If we have placed our trust in the Lord for salvation, an extremely different---and gloriously superior---eternity awaits us. As the author of Psalm 49 said when contrasting the fate of the wicked with the fate of believers: "This is the fate of those who trust in themselves, and of their followers, who approve their sayings. They are like sheep and are destined to die; death will be their shepherd (but the upright will prevail over them in the morning). Their forms will decay in the grave, far from their princely mansions. But the Lord will redeem me from the realm of the dead; He will surely take me to Himself." (Psalm 49:13-15)
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