The Oracle Concerning Babylon – part 4
Isaiah 13:1-14:26 (14:3-21)
July 2, 2023
On September 23, 1908 the Chicago Cubs and the New York Giants were in a heated race for the pennant and sitting even in the race. Tied 1-1 in the bottom of the ninth with 2 outs and a man on first, the Giants rookie replacement first baseman Fred Merkle stepped to the plate (only playing because the starting first baseman had a sore back). Merkle singled, driving the winning run to 3rd base. Next at bat was short-stop Al Bridwell who also singled and drove home what should have been the winning run.
But in the excitement of the event, upon watching the runner from 3rd touch home, and watching the fans rush the field, Fred Merkle, thinking they had won the game, retreated to the dugout without ever touching second. The crowd had mauled the field, the players for both the Cubs and Giants were headed to the dugout all except for Cubs second baseman Johnny Evers who began frantically calling for the ball from the outfield. The ball came in but sailed over the head of Johnny Evers. By this time both teams began to figure out what was going on. One Giants player got possession of the ball and began running into the stands with it amidst the crowd, but it was eventually wrestled away from him. The Giants were also frantically trying to get Fred Merkle through the crowd and back to 2nd base. By the time he got there, Evers had the ball and was standing on second. The home plate umpire had never left the field and called Merkle out negating the go ahead run. National League President Harry Pulliam upheld the ruling and ruled the game a tie. The Giants lost the ensuing playoff game and the Cubs would go on to win the 1908 World Series.
The infamous play by the rookie became known as “The Merkle Boner”
On October 25, 1964, after recovering a fumble against the 49ers in San Francisco, Minnesota Vikings star defensive end Jim Marshall ran 66 yards the wrong way into his own end zone. The four-year veteran believed he had scored a touchdown, and threw the ball out of bounds in celebration, resulting in a safety for San Francisco and putting an exclamation point on one of the worst gaffes in NFL history.
Thus the nickname “Wrong Way Marshall” would stick with him the rest of his career. Players even joked that Marshall should fly the plane home so the team would end up in Hawaii instead of Minnesota.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/worst-nfl-mistakes-gaffes-jim-marshall-minnesota-vikings
For 6 years the Boston Red Sox had owned the premiere player in all of baseball. George Herman Ruth was the league’s best hitter and pitcher and in a 6 year span led the Red Sox to 3 World Series victories. But on January 5, 1920, in order to fund his Broadway Musical “My Fair Lady” new Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sold Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees for the price of $125,000. Throughout the rest of the 20th century, the legacy of Frazee’s lopsided trade continued to hover over major league baseball, as the Yankees won 39 AL pennants and 26 World Series titles and the Red Sox went 86 years without a World Series win.
It became known as “The Curse of the Bambino” and Frazee’s mistake haunted the Red Sox for nearly a century.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/new-york-yankees-announce-purchase-of-babe-ruth
I’m sure you could name others.
• Leon Lett making a blunder in the Super Bowl.
• Steve Bartmen, the Cubs fan who interfered with the foul ball.
• Bill Buckner, the Red Sox 1B who missed the routine grounder in the world series.
• Scott Norwood missing the game winning field goal in the super bowl wide right starting a string of 4 straight Buffalo Bill Super Bowl losses.
People who were good athletes, or good fans,
But history does not remember them for their successes,
Rather it remembers them for their glaring failure.
These people get labeled with a stigma that sticks with them forever
And in many ways their lives continue on in humiliation
For their glaring mistakes.
But none of them compare
To the eternal humiliation that awaits one.
There is one who will receive more humiliation and more ridicule
Than any other being that God ever created and that being is Satan.
• Though today he sits as “god of this world”
• Though today he holds the title of “prince of the power of the air”
There is coming a day when he will be the ultimate buffoon,
The chief of all fools, and the most humiliated.
And that reality is the one we look at this evening.
We are examining the first of Isaiah’s Oracles.
It is “The oracle concerning Babylon”
• We’ve already seen the first 6 points which I won’t rehash any more.
• All about God’s judgment on this wicked world
• And His redemption of His people.
But tonight the FOCUS of the oracle MOVES from Babylon in general
To the one who sits in control.
#7 THE RIDICULE
Isaiah 14:3-21
(3-4) “And it will be in the day when the LORD gives you rest from your pain and turmoil and harsh service in which you have been enslaved, that you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon…”
Now, this is a verse that I can really get in to.
(Me and Lance Harris)
The only expectation for the people of God in this passage
Is the ability to taunt, ridicule, and make fun of…
I’ve been preparing my whole life for this one.
It is a coming “taunt against the king of Babylon”
But I would remind you again.
Babylon here is not the historical nation that conquered Jerusalem in 586BC it is the evil world system of Babylon.
And on that same note “the king of Babylon” is not here Nebuchadnezzar it is Satan, who is “the god of this world”.
I also don’t mind telling you that the statement I just made is a somewhat controversial one.
There are some who agree with me on that, and there are many who do not.
But I can show you exactly why I make this claim.
TURN TO: REVELATION 17:6-14
It was last Sunday morning when we looked at Revelation 17 as we identified who this Babylon really is.
We saw the harlot who rides the beast and how she influenced kings and was drunk on the blood of the saints.
We saw her.
But we didn’t get into the confusion that John seemed to have over her appearance.
(READ 6-7)
John said, “I wondered greatly”
And then an angel told John, “I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has seven heads and ten horns.”
So John continues on to explain not just the woman, but more than that, the beast that carries her.
(READ 8)
What you see here is a “knock off Jesus”
Satan seeks to counterfeit Jesus and have his own would be savior.
And he counterfeits Him by staging a fake death and resurrection.
He was – alive
He is not – he died (or faked death)
And is about to come up – fake resurrection
And then he will go to destruction.
He is merely Satan’s deceptive puppet.
Revelation 13:3-4 “I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast; they worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?”
But the mystery goes one.
(READ 9-11)
The reference here is to the power behind all the world powers in history.
Paul reminded us:
Ephesians 6:12 “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
That is true.
And here there is a reference to the kingdoms in Scripture which have afflicted Israel.
“five have fallen” – Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Media/Persia, Greece
“one is” – Rome
“the other has not yet come” – kingdom of anti-christ
The point here is this.
When you saw Pharaoh seeking to destroy all the Hebrew boys by drowning them in the Nile, that was Satan behind that.
When you saw Sennacharib seeking to wipe out Israel and Judah, that was Satan behind that.
When you saw Nebuchadnezzar seeking to destroy Jerusalem, that was Satan behind that.
When Mordecai tried to annihilate all the Jews in Persia, that was Satan behind that.
When Antiochus Epiphanes of Greece tried to kill the Jews, that was Satan behind that.
When Titus of Rome destroyed Jerusalem that was Satan behind that.
You see different figureheads, but they all come from the same beast.
It has all been Satan.
He is the promoter of the evil world system.
He has been behind it all.
And there are coming more in the end.
(READ 12-14)
But the point is that here in Isaiah we are looking at “this taunt against the king of Babylon”
But we’re not talking about the figurehead here.
We’re talking about the real king of Babylon.
We’re talking about the real “god of this world”
And this is that taunt.
Let’s break this down a little bit further here tonight just to help you see the scope of this taunt.
First let’s ask who is doing the taunting?
There are three groups and they are identified in verses 4-11
1) SAINTS ARE TAUNTING HIM (4-7)
(4-7) “that YOU will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon, and say, “How the oppressor has ceased, And how fury has ceased! “The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked, The scepter of rulers Which used to strike the peoples in fury with unceasing strokes, Which subdued the nations in anger with unrestrained persecution. “The whole earth is at rest and is quiet; They break forth into shouts of joy.”
The first group you see taunting is those who were redeemed in verses 1 and 2.
They are the saved.
They are those under God’s compassion.
They are the chosen.
This is our taunt.
This is our mock.
We sing, “How the oppressor has ceased, And how fury has ceased!”
We sing of his cruel reign now being over.
I’m reminded of the man who went to the White House back in 2016 and asked to see President Hillary Clinton. The man at the gate said, “Hillary Clinton didn’t win the presidency.” The man said, “Oh, ok, thank you” and left.
The next day he returned and again asked to see “President Hillary Clinton” to which he was again remined that Hillary Clinton lost the election.
The man continued going back for 6 straight days and asking the same question, each time receiving the same response.
On the 7th day the security guard was a little fed up and snapped back, “You’ve been coming here now for a week asking me every day to see President Hillary Clinton. I’ve told you repeatedly Hillary Clint lost the election!” To which the man responded, “I know, I just like to hear you say it.”
That is the taunt here.
It’s over, he’s gone, no more threat!
(5-6) “The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked, The scepter of rulers Which used to strike the peoples in fury with unceasing strokes, Which subdued the nations in anger with unrestrained persecution.”
Even in Job we learned how Satan “roamed about on the earth and walked around on it.”
But not anymore.
He has been captured, chained, and thrown into the abyss for 1,000 years.
The days of his torment are over.
(7) “The whole earth is at rest and is quiet; they break forth into shouts of joy.”
That is our taunt!
We’ll have international “Satan is in prison” day and we’ll celebrate it every day!
We’ll sing an shout and taunt and rejoice that the serpent in the garden finally got what he deserved.
The old terrorist is caught…
The serial killer is captured…
The tyrant has been jailed…
And the saints will sing and rejoice!
But we aren’t the only ones singing and taunting.
2) SHRUBS ARE TAUNTING HIM (8)
(8) “Even the cypress trees rejoice over you, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, ‘Since you were laid low, no tree cutter comes up against us.’”
Isaiah 55:12 “For you will go out with joy And be led forth with peace; The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you, And all the trees of the field will clap their hands.”
Romans 8:19-22 “For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.”
Creation remembers life before the fall.
Creation remember what it was like before that usurper entered the garden and wrecked everything.
And so when he is gone and the curse is reversed even the “cypress trees rejoice over you, and the cedars of Lebanon”
All of creation will rejoice.
And still that is not all.
3) SHEOL IS TAUNTING HIM (9-11)
(9-11) “Sheol from beneath is excited over you to meet you when you come; It arouses for you the spirits of the dead, all the leaders of the earth; It raises all the kings of the nations from their thrones. “They will all respond and say to you, ‘Even you have been made weak as we, You have become like us. ‘Your pomp and the music of your harps Have been brought down to Sheol; Maggots are spread out as your bed beneath you And worms are your covering.’”
What a moment this will be.
On that day when Satan is bound in the Sheol and placed in that prison.
All “the spirits” that were put there ahead of him.
Those who were bound in the days of Noah.
Those who begged Jesus not to put them there.
Those Jesus made proclamation to after His death.
“All the leaders of the earth”
Those who followed his lead
Those who did his bidding for him
Those who carried out his evil schemes
All the kings all the demons all the rulers who did what he commanded and ended up in prison because of it.
(10-11) “They will all respond and say to you, ‘Even you have been made weak as we, you have become like us. Your pomp and the music of your harps have been brought down to Sheol; Maggots are spread out as your bed beneath you and worms are your covering.”
They all mock him.
They point out how he’s just a nobody like them now.
They offer him a maggot bed to sleep on.
They offer him a quilt of worms to cover up with.
And they mock him for being just like them.
He is the ultimate buffoon, mocked and maligned and taunted by all.
We read of Jesus:
Philippians 2:10-11 “so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
And just the opposite is true for Satan.
“every individual will rise, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will mock that you have become as weak as we are.”
He is “The Satan Boner”
He is “Wrong Way Satan”
He is mocked forever by everyone.
Those are the mockers.
But it’s not just momentary, let’s next take a look at the song they sing about him.
The objective is to rub salt in the wound.
It is to take his biggest blunders, put them on the jumbo-tron and relive it over and over.
One of the best pro sporting events to attend was during the stretch of 2012-2016 was any time the Chicago White Sox came to Texas to play the Texas Rangers.
During those 5 seasons the manager of the White Sox was Robin Ventura and the Texas Rangers welcomed him every night by playing on the jumbo-tron the video of the night when Robin Ventura charged the mound against Nolan Ryan, and Ryan punched him 7 times in the face.
It was the most humiliating moment in Ventura’s pro career and Ranger fans loved to watch it over and over.
And it was even better watching it knowing that Ventura was in the dugout.
The same will happen to Satan.
He will be mocked for eternity.
Psalms 2:1-4 “Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!” He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them.”
Psalms 37:12-13 “The wicked plots against the righteous And gnashes at him with his teeth. The Lord laughs at him, For He sees his day is coming.”
Psalms 59:6-8 “They return at evening, they howl like a dog, And go around the city. Behold, they belch forth with their mouth; Swords are in their lips, For, they say, “Who hears?” But You, O LORD, laugh at them; You scoff at all the nations.”
Let’s take a look at the actual song or taunt that will be played on continuous loop for him.
It covers his 5 biggest blunders.
1) HIS FALL FROM HEAVEN (12)
“How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations!”
Remember that time you were in heaven but then you got kicked out because you thought you could overthrow God?
Do you remember that?
Remember where you used to live? In heaven
But now you live in Sheol…that’s crazy huh?
So you used to be a pretty big deal. You were the “star of the morning”, you were the “son of the dawn”.
Wow, what happened? Did you make God mad or something?
“You have been cut down to the earth”
It’s the type of blunder you’re not likely to forget.
Pete Rose kicked out baseball for gambling.
The same for Shoeless Joe Jackson and 7 other members of the White Sox.
Richard Nixon having to resign the presidency.
And for all eternity Satan will be mocked about the fact that he was kicked out of heaven.
TURN TO: EZEKIEL 28:11-19
What a fall he has endured, and we will sing of it for eternity.
2) HIS FOOLISH BOAST (13-14)
“But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north. ‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’”
No sooner is his fall pointed out than does the song move to his boast.
What are you doing here in Sheol?
I thought you were going to “ascend to heaven”?
I thought you were going to “raise your throne above the stars of God”?
I thought you were going to “make yourself like the Most High”?
You’ve probably seen the movie “Secretariat” about the great race horse.
It is a fun scene as the owners of Secretariat and the owners of his rival Sham sit at the press conference before the Bellmont.
The owner of Sham, having lost to Secretariat at the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness saying, “Let me tell you something about all this talk about superhorse. Sham broke the derby record too. He ran the second fastest derby, he ran the second fastest Preakness…ever. By the time this is over you’ll be calling Sham the superhorse.”
You know the conversation was fun after Sham lost to Secretariat by 32 lengths.
Oh look, it’s superhorse!
Can’t you hear all those rulers now sharing a cell in Sheol asking Satan, “I thought you were gonna be god by now?”
On the cross Jesus took all sorts of mocking and scoffing.
“If you are the Son of God, save yourself…”
“Come down from the cross” and we will believe in You…
Satan will receive the same, only unlike Christ, he won’t be able to do anything about it.
Let Satan where the crown of thorns and that purple robe.
Let Satan prophesy who punched him in the face.
His pompous boasting about ascending to the throne of God…he missed it terribly!
And for all eternity he’ll be reminded of his foolish boast.
3) HIS FAILED MISSION (15-17)
“Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, To the recesses of the pit. “Those who see you will gaze at you, They will ponder over you, saying, ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, Who shook kingdoms, Who made the world like a wilderness And overthrew its cities, Who did not allow his prisoners to go home?’”
I really like this one.
All his grand schemes, all his grand plans.
We hear him pompously offering Jesus the world if Jesus would just bow down and worship him.
All the mighty things he thought he was accomplishing while at work on the earth.
How he “made the earth tremble”
How he “shook kingdoms”
How he “made the world like a wilderness”
How he “overthrew cities”
How he “did not allow his prisoners to go home”
And the only question now is, “Is this the man…?”
It’s like the throw him in the cell and his cell mate says, “Huh, I thought you’d be taller.”
All of a sudden it is sinking in that every victory Satan every won was only because God allowed him to win it.
He only shook the kingdoms that God wanted shook.
He only overthrew the cities that God wanted overthrown.
He only kept prisoners that God had not freed.
God used every single diabolical thing he ever did for His own good.
Even Satan’s crowning achievement of crucifying the Son of God turned out to be the blunder of eternity on his part.
He just didn’t end up being as impressive as we all thought.
And now, without God allowing him to run free and wreak havoc on the nations, he sure doesn’t command much respect.
His mission has failed.
And he is in prison.
4) HIS FLEETING GLORY (18-20a)
“All the kings of the nations lie in glory, Each in his own tomb. “But you have been cast out of your tomb Like a rejected branch, Clothed with the slain who are pierced with a sword, Who go down to the stones of the pit Like a trampled corpse. “You will not be united with them in burial, Because you have ruined your country, You have slain your people.”
My what respect he garnered.
My what fear he once had.
We were warned about him.
We were told to resist him.
We were told not to listen to him.
He was dangerous and a threat.
But upon his fall there was no statue erected to speak of this honored adversary.
Jesus didn’t use His tomb but Satan doesn’t even get one.
“you have been cast out of your tomb like a rejected branch”
Nothing for him but a mass grave, “clothed with the slain who are pierced with a sword”
“like a trampled corpse”
He sure fell short of the glory he thought he would obtain.
No value at all in him.
No honor for him at all in death.
“You have slain your people”
What an epitaph…
What a eulogy…
We think of the man in Hades who is begging Abraham to send Lazarus to dip his finger in water.
When that is not possible he begs that Lazarus be sent to warn his brothers.
And I think of fathers in hell.
I think of men who rejected Christ and who refused to submit.
I think of men who neglected to teach their kids the gospel.
I think of men who instead modeled every worldly behavior for their sons.
And I think what it will feel like the moment they look to their left in hell to see their son joining them in torment only to realize that they bear the responsibility for it.
“You killed your son”
“You condemned him to hell”
And Satan has done that for every single person who ever followed him.
The pinnacle child in this example must be Judas.
If there was ever a man who might have earned a “Well done good and faithful servant” from Satan it should’ve been Judas.
And yet Judas ended up hanging himself and going to his own place.
I wonder what Judas would like to say to Satan on this day?
I can promise you he want give him any glory.
I can promise you that Judas is done following Satan’s agenda.
Do you honor a general who loses every battle and causes the death of every man under his command?
Do you build a statue for such a one as that?
Do you put his face on money?
Do you put him in a tomb?
No, you strip him of glory forever.
How many statues do you see of General Custer today?
And he will have far more glory than Satan.
5) HIS FALLEN SONS (20b-21)
“May the offspring of evildoers not be mentioned forever. “Prepare for his sons a place of slaughter Because of the iniquity of their fathers. They must not arise and take possession of the earth And fill the face of the world with cities.”
And not only will they mock Satan for all his failures, but they will make sure and point out that no one arose in his place to finish his fight for him.
They did not succeed.
They did not take possession of the earth.
I recently watched the movie “Glory” about the first black regiment in the Civil War to see battle.
The 54th division volunteered to be the first to charge Ft. Wagner in the Civil War. After seeing most of their men and their leader die in the sand the movie ends with this footnote: “The fort was never taken”.
Now you can obviously make all sorts of moral victories out of what those men did and what it ended up accomplishing, which is what the movie is doing.
But from a tactical standpoint, it was pointless.
And this is where Satan will dwell for all eternity.
He lost
He died in the charge
And no one carried on for him
The fort was never taken
Revelation 20:10 “And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”
There will be no glory…at all.
Only ridicule forever.
And this is the reality of “the day of the LORD”
It will be a total annihilation by God on all sinners including the one who seduced them.
He will die with his men in utter humiliation and disgrace.
God will totally and thoroughly win the day.
And again the point.
The world is passing away.
Don’t be discouraged.
Don’t be deceived.
Stand firm, trust God, we win in the end!
