Who Is Satan? | Isaiah 14 | Gary Hamrick

well here we are Isaiah chapter 14 let me give you a little bit of the background before we we read and we're actually gonna start at the end of chapter 13 and then read into chapter 14 but if you've been with us so far in our study through Isaiah up to this point 150 years before Isaiah the nation of Israel went through civil war and as a result the nations split north and south and the northern kingdom was known by the larger name Israel and the southern kingdom was known by one of the tribal names Judah they're all still the Jewish people but after Civil War there's strife and conflict in the kingdom and so now it's divided the kingdom of the north has its own King Kingdom the South has its own king Israel and Judah respectively even though Isaiah is called as a prophet exclusively to the southern kingdom of Judah between chapters 13 and 23 in the Book of Isaiah Isaiah is given a word from the Lord concerning neighboring cities and countries and he prophesized against them and he basically announces and pronounces God's judgment and warning even among these neighbouring cities and nations I'll just do a quick survey you can kind of skim through your Bibles and you'll notice maybe some various subtitles like for example here in chapters 13 and 14 it's addressed to the city of Babylon which it would be in you know on a map in modern Iraq today in chapters 15 and 16 he has a prophecy against the country of Moab the mole of is today Jordan its east of the Dead Sea in chapter 17 he has a word for the city of Damascus that's the same city of Damascus today Damascus Syria in chapter 18 he has a word for the country of cush which is Ethiopia into chapter 21 he talks again about Babylon he talks to Edom which is southern part of Jordan he talks about Arabia which is Saudi Arabia and then into chapter 22 he talks the city of Jerusalem which is the capital city of Judah so that's his own territory where Isaiah is prophesying and then finally chapter 23 is a prophecy against the city of Tyre now tyre is located on the Mediterranean Sea in what is today Lebanon so so Isaiah even though he's called specifically to minister to the people of God in the southern kingdom of Judah for providential reasons God wants Isaiah in the hearing of the people to pronounce these various prophecies and judgments and warnings against neighboring cities and countries the one we're going to look at today is from chapters 13 and 14 so if you'll if you'll go back there to chapters 13 and 14 this is the prophesy against Babylon and we're gonna look at this prophecy today because it contains within it something very important for us to understand even in our daily lives today so here in in chapters 13 and 14 let me draw your attention to just the tail end of chapter 13 starting at verse 19 so chapter 13 verse 19 he says Babylon the jewel of kingdoms notice that the glory of the Babylonians pride will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah she will never be inhabited or lived in through all generations no Arab will pitch his tent there no shepherds were rest his flocks there okay true or false Babylon is about 75 miles due south to Baghdad and Iraq today it's Babylon occupied or not know Babylon is just ruins nobody lives there no Arab pitches his tent there no shepherds will rest his flocks there verse 21 but desert creatures will lie there Jackals will fill her houses there the Owls will dwell and there the wild goats will leap about hyenas will howl and her strongholds jackals and her luxurious palaces her time is at hand and her days will not be prolonged she jumped down to chapter 14 look at verse 3 on the day the Lord gives you relief from suffering and turmoil and cruel bondage he's saying this to the people of Judah you will take up this taunt against the king of Bab how the oppressor has come to an end how his fury has ended the Lord has broken the rod of the wicked the sceptre of the rulers which an anger struck down peoples without with unceasing blows and in fury subdued nations with relentless aggression now jump over it further to verse 12 still here in chapter 14 look at verse 12 how you have fallen from heaven o Morningstar son of the dawn you have been cast down to the earth you who once laid low the nations you said in your heart I will ascend to heaven I will raise my throne above the stars of God I will sit and throned on the Mount of assembly on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain I will ascend above the tops of the clouds I will make myself like the Most High but you were brought down to the grave to the depths of the pit those who see you stare at you they ponder your fate is this the man who shook the earth and made kingdoms tremble a man who made the world a desert who overthrew its cities and would not let his captives go home all the kings of the nations lie in state each in his own tomb but you you were cast out of your tomb like a rejected branch you are covered with the slain with those pierced by the sword those who descend to the stones of the pit like a corpse trampled underfoot you will not join them in burial for you have destroyed your land and killed your people let's pause there and we'll pray and dissect all this let's pray together Lord it's good to be in your house today and it's good to just draw near to you and as we open up the Book of Isaiah we pray that you would speak to our hearts through this passage that we might be more equipped in our faith that we might have a better understanding of some things Lord revealed in this chapter and and Lord that you would just minister your love your grace your encouragement your peace to our hearts today we are mindful of the events recently in Texas we pray for the community of Santa Fe High School Lord and we just we just ask you to minister your grace to those families that lost loved ones and those who are recovering we for their healing we pray Lord for our own community we pray for protection over our schools we pray protection over our children that it is something Lord that no parent should have to deal with to get a call that their kid was killed in school so we pray God for your protection over the schools of our nation and especially over our own communities Lord we just lift them up to you pray for our students pray for our children pray for your grace and your comfort and your peace for those who are so hurting today and we just turned to you and look to you Lord in our time of need strengthen our hearts we ask now as we study your word together it's in Jesus name we pray and everyone said amen so Isaiah is prophesying again somewhere between 740 and 700 BC and the interesting thing is when he writes here about Babylon in chapters 13 and 14 he's writing about a hundred years before they even come to be a world power they will become as he mentions there in chapter 13 the jewel of the kingdoms Babylon will become the headquarters for one of the most powerful kingdoms on earth we know it now historically but Isaiah's prophesy at a time when Babylon in these days was just a small no-nothing town nothing much was happening there but Isaiah inspired by the Holy Spirit is gonna write about the rise of Babylon and he's also going to talk about the fall of Babylon again Babylon on a map is situated about 75 miles due south of Baghdad in Iraq and we know of it now historically but in Isaiah's day it was it was not a city of renown we have the advantage of history knowing about the greatness that Babylon once achieved Herodotus would be a historian who would write as an eyewitness about Babylon from what he observed at least in its waning years but we know from history that Babylon reached the pinnacle of its success during the days of King Nebuchadnezzar we're talking mid 500s see a rota test would write in his observation of this great city that it was a city that was basically a square was 15 miles east to west 15 miles north to south in other words it was 60 miles in circumference just the city of Babylon that the walls were 320 feet high as 30 stories they were 87 feet thick protecting Babylon it is said that they could ride six chariots abreast on the top of the walls of Babylon and have chariot races they did a marvelous thing - to add extra defense to the ancient city of Babylon because it's situated along the Euphrates River they diverted part of the Euphrates to make a moat around the ancient city of Babylon and then under the walls and through the city as a meandering stream and because Nebuchadnezzar replicated the great flower gardens of other tropical places on this kind of ziggurat this this kind of ascending tower it became known as the Hanging Gardens of Babylon which became one of the seven wonders of the ancient world but Isaiah is writing it at what time about a hundred years before any of that and he sees it all God's revealed it to him and he prophesized about its rise and he prophesized about its fall now Babylon has a significant place in the Bible the city of Babylon has mentioned 260 times from cover to cover in the Bible that is more times Babylon is mentioned more times than any other city in the Bible next to Jerusalem so you have a great prominence here with the dimension of Babylon so many times Jerusalem mentioned most in the Bible next to that Babylon but the interesting thing is throughout the Bible Jerusalem and Babylon are often always drawn in in contradiction in contrast whereas Jerusalem is always it's the city of peace yerushalayim it's the City of God it is the city of good it is the city of salvation but all throughout the Bible Babylon is just the opposite it is the city of award is the city of evil it is the city of unrest it is the city of world system and and humanism and you see that all through the Bible Jerusalem vs. Babylon the first time that we see Babylon mentioned in the Bible is Genesis chapter 10 it was built by a guy by the name of Nimrod he was not a good guy he built Babylon and in Genesis chapter 11 it talks about the people of Babylon who built a tower in their city called the Tower of babble babble for Babylon the Tower of Babel was built because the people in opposition to God wanted to draw closer to the Stars so they could worship the starry hosts the first occult worship happens in Babylon it becomes the the seed bed for all occult practices and worship the worship of the Sun the worship of the moon the worship of stars all of that began in Babylon the first time we see it there Genesis 10 and 11 the last time we see Babylon mentioned in the Bible is revelation 17 and 18 and in Revelation it tells us that what is now a pile of ruins and just an archeological dig that Babylon will again be rebuilt and it will become the Center for one world government one world religion and one world economy is what the Bible predicts the Bible says that Babylon will rise from the ashes and will again be this place where it will be the seat of one world government one world religion and one world economy and that in revelation 17 babylon is called the great prostitute because all the other nations of the world will be seduced by her humanistic false religion one world government one economy proposition so all these other nations will be seduced by Babylon and so in Revelation 18 Babylon will be overthrown once and for all and Jesus returns in Revelation 19 so so we're not done Babylon but the interesting thing is that in the Bible it's always spoken of as it relates to this evil world system this this the place where we're humanism and demonic things and the cult worship and and all of this Rises and so what happens here is Isaiah now writing in Isaiah chapter 14 gives us a glimpse as to what is behind all that and in particular who is behind all that and it is none other than Satan and what we find nestled here in Isaiah chapter 14 is this veiled reference but it's clear a reference to Satan throughout the 14th chapter and what Isaiah does here this is by inspiration of the Spirit what God causes Isaiah to do is to use the king of Babylon as a type or a picture of Satan so the king of Babylon was a real guy but he was a ruthless guy was a pagan guy and he was an enemy of God and so there's an immediate context of this story where he will be overthrown and God deals with him ok but there's this veiled reference how the king of Babylon serves to be a picture for us of Satan and all in the fourteenth chapter starting in verse 12 down through what I read there around verse 20 there's this passage here that that really is about Satan because he is the power behind not just the king of Babylon he is the power behind all evil world systems so you know to delight your day you've come out of the rain you've come into church now today we're gonna talk about Satan how fun is that but let me explain to you why this is important in the margin of your Bible you can right next to isaiah 14 right Ezekiel 28 because between Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 now we're not going to read out of Ezekiel 28 but I will refer to it a few times between Isaiah 14 in Ezekiel 28 what we have are two chapters that give us the most detail about Satan how he originated what went wrong and what his ultimate demise will be so we're gonna see this here out of chapter 14 and I'm gonna refer to a zekiel 28 also but listen folks this this this should appeal to us on a real human level but I'm gonna I'm gonna mention to you why it is that we are not just needful of knowing these things but why we seem to be fascinated with this kind of a story because whenever we start to talk about Satan you know we think about the whole story of good versus evil and everybody likes a good story of good versus evil and how and how the hero wins and the villain is subdued why do you think there's so much interest in movies like Spider Man and Superman and black panther because you know we like a good hero and and we like the villain to be defeated and so you know we're kind of drawn to that now more than just Hollywood though we need to understand Satan is a real being he's a real being he's not just the counter on one shoulder to the good angel on your other shoulder okay he's not he's not the guy in a red suit and a pitch for it gotta get all that stuff out of your head and by the way he is he is not the opposite of God because God has no equal and so therefore he has no opposite but that said Satan is opposed to everything concerning God and he's opposed to everything that God loves including you because God loves you so much and God the Father put in motion a plan to redeem you from the sinful wicked world and to rescue you and me from the kingdom of darkness and to take us into the kingdom of the son he loves okay God has our best interest always at heart that's the whole message of the Cross and God's love for us rescuing us for giving us redeeming us but Satan Satan doesn't have your best interest at heart because you look like your father and you're loved by your father Satan hates you and he wants to destroy your life and it wasn't destroy your marriage and he wants to kill your kids and he wants to wreck your your your business and he wants to do everything he can to discourage and to deceive and to detent attempt to do everything he can because listen he's not oblivious descript he knows Scripture when when Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness Satan's quoting scripture every time now Jesus hit him back with Scripture because Satan misused in misquoted Scripture but he knows it he knows Scripture and Satan knows his ultimate demise so he's on a course of trying to take as many people with him as possible he wants you he wants you to be with him not to be with God he wants you to spend eternity with him and a lake of fire not to go to heaven and spend eternity with your heavenly Father and so Satan is at work I'd say he's a real formidable foe no we don't we don't need to you know wig out and get worried because of course as part of the Bible study today I hope to kind of leave you with a sense of just you know your assurance in Christ and who you are on the Lord and not to be worried but to be aware to have your eyes wide open that there is a real enemy of your souls and Jesus said the enemies come but to steal kill and destroy there's nothing good about him and everything about him his whole MO is the are those three things about you to steal to kill and to destroy and so to the degree that we can at least expose him and realize okay he's at work let me be aware of him and let me understand how he operates we'll be better off to just kind of find our confidence in the Lord and know who we are in Christ and and rest in the Lord and not be fearful but to be aware is everybody everybody on board with me everybody know what we're talking about now okay so let's take a look here at the passage here throughout the Bible Satan has several names or titles here are a few Satan that's actually the Hebrew word Satan meaning adversary he's also known as the devil which means false accuser or slanderer he's known in the Bible as the tempter the wicked one the accuser of the brothers the prince of this world the ruler of the kingdom of the air the dragon in Revelation 12 he's the serpent in Genesis chapter 3 and in this story in Isaiah 14:12 he's known as Lucifer now if you if you have a King James Bible or a nuke James you'll see that name right there in verse 12 look here again chapter 14 verse 12 says how you have fallen from heaven o Morningstar son of the dawn now if you have a King James or New King James instead of Morningstar it says Lucifer Capital al it's it says it's a given name for him other translations like what I'm reading from says Morningstar other translations say Daystar so where do we get this name Lucifer the hebrew word here is halo and halo means Morningstar Daystar or Light Bearer light bearer in the Latin translation of your Bibles the Latin for Morningstar or for this phrase here is Luke and frere and Luke and frere translates light-bearer and that's where we get the name Lucifer from Luke and frere the Light Bearer he is Lucifer look don't don't think that he's the way Hollywood portrays this very dark and sinister he's a very shiny being in fact in 2nd Corinthians 11:14 it says that Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light first time we're introduced to him in Genesis 3 and verse 1 is referred to as a serpent the Hebrew word for serpent in the Hebrew is is Nakash and Nakash means something glittery it's a word that that in Hebrew can mean bronze copper or brass and so I want you to picture him as originally and I don't think there's any reason to believe he he's changed even though his heart has become wicked his appearance is shiny he masquerades as an angel of light Ezekiel 28 13 says that he was adorned with every precious stone mounted in settings of gold so when Satan or Lucifer was originally created his very being had inlaid with in his being precious gems in settings of gold so I want you to picture a very magnificent really a very shiny beautiful creature that God originally created as a light bearer now by the way for those you know your Bibles you also know that Jesus is called Morningstar in revelation 22:16 but note the difference Jesus is the bright morning star he is the true light Bearer Satan was originally designed to reflect the glory of God to reflect the true light even though his heart is now wicked so in revelation 22:16 Jesus is referred to as the morning star a similar name we have for Satan but but Lucifer is a reflection of the glory he is not really the possessor of the glory of God now verse 12 here in your Bibles also says that he fell from heaven and was cast down to earth this by the way is how we know this does not exclusively refer to the king of Babylon king of babylon didn't fall down from heaven king of babylon was not cast down to earth but satan was in Ezekiel 28 it tells us that Satan was originally created as a guardian cherub meaning a chief among angels and that he on account of his pride rebelled against God and when he rebelled he led a rebellion and the Bible says as many as a third of the angels in heaven rebelled with him so now Satan is over this evil kingdom of fallen angels also known as demons and Ezekiel 28 17 says that his heart became proud on account of his beauty and he corrupted his wisdom because of his splendor so it says in Ezekiel 28 17 God says so I threw you to the earth so he gets kicked out of heaven revelation 12:9 says the great dragon was hurled down that ancient serpent called the devil or Satan who leads the whole world astray he was hurled to the earth and his angels with him Jesus described it like this at Luke 10:18 he said I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven so originally designed beautiful guardian angel kicked out of heaven now his playground is the earth and he wants to do everything he can again to kill steal and destroy related to you and your life and your future and your hope and so here in Isaiah 14 Dayton makes five I will statements five I will statements between verses 13 and 14 and here they are he says I will ascend to heaven I will raise my throne above the stars I will sit in throne on the mount I will ascend above the tops of the clouds and I will be like God he makes five I will statements pride fills his heart and he wants to be not just above everything he wants to be like God now this first statement he says I will ascend to heaven what he really means here is I will rule over heaven Satan had a desire to be in charge to usurp the authority of God you know you contrast that with the spirit of Jesus where Jesus being fully God in Philippians two six and seven did not consider equality with God something to be grasped you know he even though he's fully God he laid it down they took on the very nature of a servant he humbled himself he condescended to our level to be like us and to die for us fully God but fully man Jesus was and and he did that out of his heart for us but he but he lays down the glory of heaven and condescends to our level that's the spirit of Jesus whereas Lucifer's spirit is I'm not going down I'm going up and I'm gonna send time over and above and ruling everything listen listen to me and Luciferian spirit never once to be subject to Authority you notice the spirit of Jesus he was always submissive to the will of the Father he didn't do or say anything except that the father told him what to say and how to say it he was constantly on a mission to please the father obey the father submit to the Father but Satan on the other hand is one who wanted to usurp the authority of God and it is a reminder to us that whatever whatever structure God has you placed in honor that authority structure because the Luciferian spirit is the one that says I'm anti Authority I'm anti God I'm anti structure I want to be in charge that's what was part of Satan's pride here and then he also talks about how I will raise my throne above the stars of God the word stars they're probably a reference to literal stars but probably a reference to angels because in Revelation 12 when Satan rebelled in heaven it says that he swept with his tail a third of the stars with him meaning angels so he's basically saying I want to rule over all the Angels number three I will sit and throned on the Mount of assembly on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain well the sacred mountain is Jerusalem it's Mount Moriah it's the Temple Mount and one day during the millennial reign Jesus will rule and reign there again on earth for a thousand years and then new heaven and new earth so Satan is looking ahead to that time and he says no I want to sit in Jerusalem and I want to sit on God's throne and I want to rule over the earth number four I will ascend from the tops I will ascend above the tops of the clouds now clouds probably again doesn't really mean clouds may in fact reference people like how in Hebrews 12:1 after list the Great Hall of faith in Hebrews 11 Hebrews 12:1 says now therefore since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses and Jude 12 false teachers are called clouds without rain it's just one more level I want to ascend over all people I want to ascend over all the angels I want to send over heaven and and then number 5 he says then I will be like God that's my ultimate desire Satan says I want to be God Billy Graham once said quote we are never more like the devil than when we touch the glory end quote but God gets in the last word dear folks I want you to notice between verses 15 and 19 what happens here in verse 15 it says but you were brought down to the grave some of your translations say Sheol or hell that is the Hebrew there Sheol that eventually God will bind Satan for a thousand years cast him into hell he will be released for a time and that ultimately thrown into the lake of fire but he will be brought down to the grave in verse 16 Isaiah says there those who see you stare at you you ponder your they ponder your fate in other words God will expose Satan before the of the world they will see everybody will understand that he's been defeated and verse 19 it says but you are cast out of your tomb like a rejected branch you are covered with the slain in other words there will be no dignified burial for the prince of this world Satan will be thrown into the lake of fire revelation 20 tells us along with the wicked and he will experience the same fate now in rapid all this up what are we to do in the meantime okay pastor G I get this Satan's a real being fallen angel get it he's trying to steal kill and destroy okay and he's gonna one day be thrown into the lake of fire somewhere between when he fell from heaven and when he's going to be thrown into the lake of fire what should I do right because Satan is real as an adversary against us so here are four simple things okay these are all our words to try to help Ramat remember these things here's the first one resist him resist him Peter would say in first Peter 5:8 and 9 be self-controlled and alert your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour this is serious stuff folks Satan wants to devour you he wants to ruin your marriage he wants to ruin your kids he wants to wreck everything about your life he's prowling around like a roaring lion listen to what the rest of Peter says resist him standing firm in the faith because you know that your brother's throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings nobody escapes the attack of the enemy we have to resist him and stand firm in our faith we have to know who we are in Christ and not give in to his temptations number two we have to remember that God's power in you is greater than Satan's power around you this is first John 4:4 greater is He that is in you that's the Lord when you know Christ as your Savior you have God's Spirit then he that is in the world the enemy Satan's power is great and should not be underestimated but God is greater still and has subdued Satan by the cross so that God's power is effective in us against the enemy of our souls he's not completely powerless not yet but he has been rendered ineffective for the believer who knows and has the power of God operating from within number three rely on Scripture as a weapon against his temptations more than coming to church on Sundays and I'm glad you're here and more than coming to church on Wednesday nights and I'm glad when you come Wednesday's too you must I must be getting into God's Word and letting the truth of Scripture permeate our hearts and souls because it is the weapon of our warfare against Satan all through Ephesians chapter 6 when Paul talks about how we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers in the heavenly realms talking about demonic things and satanic things he makes a list and he and he uses a Roman officer this first century Ephesians chapter 6 he uses a Roman officer in military armament and he says now you got to you got to dress yourself like this talks about you know the shield of faith the breastplate of righteousness the helmet of salvation the one offensive weapon on the list is Ephesians 6:17 and he says and take up the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God take up the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God what was it that Jesus relied on every single time Satan continued to tempt him in the wilderness Matthew chapter 4 Jesus kept replying with Scripture it is written it is written it is written until finally Matthew 4 verse 11 the devil left him you want the devil to leave you alone no scripture quote scripture stand on Scripture live out scripture and let the word of God be the sword of the Spirit that defends you against the enemy of your souls amen [Applause] [Music] the last one is this rebuked him in the Lord rebuke him in the Lord I put the reference up there for you Jude verse nine there was apparently a battle between Satan and the Archangel Michael concerning the body of Moses you know the Bible doesn't say where Moses was buried it just says that God buried him so God took Moses to heaven but apparently there was this battle I don't know you know Satan maybe wanted to just in some way mutilate the body of Moses I don't know but in Jude verse 9 it says but even the Archangel Michael when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him but said the Lord rebuke you the Lord rebuke you Satan I get all this business about you know knowing your identity in Christ I'm all about that but I also have seen some some people take that to the extreme where they go around rebuking Satan here rebuking Satan there you know I bind you I rebuke let me tell you something you and I have no power it's only the power in the Lord that we have against the enemy and we need to say as Michael the Archangel did whenever the enemy tries to attack the Lord rebuke you Satan the Lord rebuke you Satan you have no power over my kids you have no power over my marriage you have no power over my life the Lord rebuke you Satan and you stand in who you are in Christ but you make sure you're following after Jesus and you let the Lord take care of the enemy of your souls be rooted and grounded in Jesus and be strengthened in him because the enemy is real but the enemy is no match for your father and you know in the playground when you would always boast as a little kid like my dad could beat up your dad our dad can beat up Satan without a problem so let's stand in his strength and in his mighty power amen amen let's pray together father in heaven we just thank you we look to you as the author and finisher of our faith we recognize that we fight spiritual battles Lord in the unseen realm the enemy of our souls just once to steal kill and destroy Satan wants to discourage us deceive us he wants to take us with him ultimately to the lake of fire but thank you Lord that you've intervened you loved us so much you sent Christ to dine across to rescue us from the Dominion of darkness and to take us into the kingdom of light and so we're dependent upon you Lord and we thank you the greater are you in us then he that is in the world we can walk without fear knowing that you have our backs we can trust you as our Father that you will fight our battles for us and I pray right now Lord for every marriage that is being attacked by Satan the Lord rebuke you Satan Lord fight the battles in ways we can't over every marriage over every prodigal child over every strained relationship over every broken heart over every way that Satan wants to deceive people deceive us into thinking we don't know the truth deceive us into thinking God doesn't love us deceive us into thinking that there's other ways to get to heaven so many different tools that he has in his toolbox but Lord we trust you we lean on you and we say to Satan the Lord rebuke you take your hands off our families take your hands off our kids help us Lord help us Lord strengthen our hearts we want to stand firm in our faith we want to resist the devil and he will flee so we acknowledge that he's real but we also acknowledge that he's no match for you Lord so protect us help us guide us and we trust you in Jesus name and all God's people said amen

Channel: Cornerstone Chapel - Leesburg, VA

Views: 22,224

Rating: 4.8642297 out of 5

Keywords: Lucifer, Satan, demons, Calvary Chapel, Cornerstone Chapel, Gary Hamrick

Id: 8oThJVrxQx4

Length: 37min 50sec (2270 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 16 2019