"How are you fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How are you cut down to the earth, you that did subdue the nations! Yet you did say in your heart: I will ascend the heavens; Above the stars of God, I will exalt my throne; And I will sit upon the mount of the Divine Presence on the sides of the North; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High. But you shall be brought down to the grave, to the sides of the pit. Those that see you shall look attentively at you; they shall well consider you: Is this the man that made the earth to tremble; that shook the kingdoms? That made the world like a desert; that destroyed the cities? That never dismissed his captives to their own home? All the kings of the nations, all of them, Lie down in glory, each in his own sepulchre: But you are cast out of the grave, as the tree abominated; Clothed with the slain, with the pierced by the sword, With them that go down to the stones of the pit; as a trodden carcass. You shall not be joined unto them in burial; Because you have destroyed your country, you have slain your people: The seed of evil doers shall never be renowned. Prepare slaughter for his children, for the iniquity of their fathers; Lest they rise, and possess the earth; and fill the face of the world with cities. For I will arise against them, says Jehovah God of Hosts: And I will cut off from Babylon the name, and the remnant; And the son, and the son's son, says Jehovah. And I will make it an inheritance for the porcupine, and pools of water; And I will plunge it in the miry gulf of destruction, says Jehovah God of Hosts. Jehovah God of Hosts has sworn, saying, Surely as I have devised, so shall it be; And as I have purposed, that thing shall stand: To crush the Assyrian in my land, and to trample him on my mountains. Then shall his yoke depart form off them; And his burden shall be removed from off their shoulder. This is the decree, which is determined on the whole earth; And this is the hand, which is stretched out over all the nations: For Jehovah God of Hosts has decreed; and who shall disannul it? And it is His hand that is stretched out; and who shall turn it back?" (Isaiah 14:12-27,Lowth)
Those who are making a special study of the book of Isaiah should pay special attention to the text for there is where they will get their knowledge. Light comes from the Word. Read the portion of Scripture that composes the lesson many times carefully, giving thought to each statement, comparing everything with what precedes and what follows. The notes that are given in the paper, in connection with the lesson text, are simply designed to fasten your attention more closely upon it.
In studying this lesson, begin with the 13th chapter, and read through the 14th. It would be well also to read the 2nd chapter again. Recall what has been said concerning the time of the promise, and the purpose of the book of Isaiah, (See chapter 2, "The Prophetic Setting") and remember also the meaning of Babylon. (See chapter 17, "The Judgment Upon Babylon") Even without these things before us, but more especially with them, we cannot fail to see that the judgment upon Babylon means the destruction of "all the proud, and all that do wickedly," (Malachi 4:1) at the last day. This lesson is therefore specially important now.
Lucifer and Self-Exaltation
Lucifer means "light-bearer." The margin gives "day star," and other renderings are the same. He is also called the "son of the morning." (Isaiah 14:12)
A glorious being he certainly was, but now fallen from heaven through overweening ambition. There can be no question but that he is the mightiest of "the angels that sinned," (2 Peter 2:4) and so "kept not their first estate, [who are now] reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the Judgment of the great day." (Jude:6)
It is Satan, no longer the bearer of light, but the prince of darkness, the chief of "the rulers of the darkness of this world." (Ephesians 6:12)
But though fallen from his state of light and glory, he still remembers enough of it to be able to transform himself into an angel of life. "And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works." (2 Corinthians 11:14-15)
Therefore we need to be on our guard lest we be deceived. Even when we are walking most in the light, he will try to steal in as a part of that light, and thus lead us astray while we think we are still in the right way. But we have one safeguard, namely, "the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God," (Ephesians 6:17) "the word of truth." (Ephesians 1:17) "Sanctify them through your truth: your word is truth." (John 17:17)
He who "abode not in the truth, [and who is] a liar, and the father of it," (John 8:44) cannot endure the word of truth. Keep fast hold of that, and the devil will flee. "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." (James 4:7) "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist steadfast in the faith." (1 Peter 5:8-9) "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." (Proverbs 16:18) "For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon everyone that is proud and lofty, and upon everyone that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low." (Isaiah 2:12)
This is because righteousness must prevail, and only God can rule in righteousness, and He is of a lowly spirit. "Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith." (Habakkuk 2:4)
When righteousness, which is meekness, (Zephaniah 2:3) prevails, then pride and ambition must be destroyed. God says, "Be holy, for I am holy." (1 Peter 1:16; Leviticus 11:44) "Be you therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." (Matthew 5:48)
Lucifer said, "I will be like the Most High." (Isaiah 14:14)
Wherein then was Lucifer wrong? Simply in this, that he took the wrong way to be like God. He thought that by exalting himself he could be like God, whereas self-exaltation makes one most unlike Him. Whoever lifts himself up will not find God, for God calls on all to humble themselves to walk with Him. "He has showed you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8,margin) "He has put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree." (Luke 1:52) "He that humbles himself shall be exalted." (Luke 14:11) "[God] raises up the poor out of the dust, and lifts up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory." (1 Samuel 2:8)
The Humility of Christ
In contrast with Lucifer who tried to exalt himself to occupy God's place, we have the case of Christ, "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also has highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:6-11)
Self-righteousness is therefore un-righteousness. He who thinks to make himself righteous,--he who thinks that he has goodness in himself,--is guilty of the same sin that Lucifer was, and is moved by the same spirit. It is the spirit of "that man of sin, Who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God," (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4) or, setting himself forth as God. Whoever justifies himself, and refuses to receive the reproofs of instruction, which are the way of life, (Proverbs 6:23) is a part of the man of sin. The one who is always anxious to make himself out to be right, who becomes irritated when corrected, and who is always ready with a plausible excuse for everything that he does, shows himself to be one with Lucifer, and in danger of sharing his destruction.
Let us learn this lesson indeed. Let us learn of Christ, who is meek and lowly in heart, "Who did not sin, neither was guile found in His mouth: [Yet] ... when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not; but committed himself to Him that judges righteously." (1 Peter 2:22-23)
The Uttermost North
"I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north." (Isaiah 14:13)
Literally, "in the uttermost north." Everybody knows that the farther north he goes, the higher the north star appears. From this each can learn that if he stood at the north pole, north would be directly overhead. North, therefore, is up. God is "the Most High," and therefore He dwells "in the uttermost north." His dwelling place is "the high and holy place." (Isaiah 57:15) "Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of His holiness. Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north [literally, "the uttermost north"], the city of the great King. God is known in her palaces for a refuge." (Psalm 48:1-3) "Promotion comes neither form the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the Judge; He puts down one, and sets up another." (Psalm 75:6-7)
Promotion comes not from the east, the west, nor the south; therefore it must come from the north; and since God alone is Judge, to lift up and to put down, it follows that He dwells in the north. There alone is where promotion comes from. Therefore when Lucifer thought to occupy the north, he meditated an impossibility, for he could not get there without being drawn up by the Lord of hosts.
There is a mystery about the north. This is true even of this earth. The Hebrew word rendered "north" signifies secret, hidden. What is this attraction--this drawing power? It is God. Every manifestation of force is but the working of God. Christ said of His crucifixion, "I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me." (John 12:32)
By the cross of shame and humiliation He was lifted up to the right hand of God,--up to "the uttermost north." The power therefore by which God draws all things, by which the worlds are kept in their places, is the power of the cross. All creation, the whole universe, preaches the cross. Every manifestation of attractive energy tells us of the power of the cross to save us from sin.
The way to the Highest is the way of the cross. If we humble ourselves to the death of the cross, we may even now dwell in the "secret place of the Most High, [and] abide under the shadow of the Almighty." (Psalm 91:1)
For, "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him." (Psalm 25:14)
Strength and Weakness
"How are you cut down to the ground, which did weaken the nations!" (Isaiah 14:12)
Righteousness is strength; sin is weakness. Satan, the adversary,--once Lucifer, the light-bearer,--brought sin into the world, and all sinned. By sin man lost his dominion. It was not arbitrarily taken from him, but he could not hold it any longer. He lost his power to rule. He could not rule himself, and so could rule nothing. Then, "When we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly." (Romans 5:6)
Satan weakens us, but it is our glorious privilege to "Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might." (Ephesians 6:10)
Christ, the meek and lowly One, is given to us, and He is "the power of God." (1 Corinthians 1:24)
He has conquered, and in Him we have "power and authority over all devils." (Luke 9:1)
One of the most blessed of all the words of comfort is the assurance that by faith we may be "made strong ... out of weakness." (Hebrews 11:34)
The Branch
"You are cast out of your grave like an abominable branch." (Isaiah 14:19)
Christ is the true Vine. He says of the Father, "Every branch in me that bears not fruit, He takes away. ... If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned." (John 15:2,6)
Christ is the tree of life, because He is "the wisdom of God," (1 Corinthians 1:24) and wisdom is "a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her." (Proverbs 3:18)
He is the life. "Jesus said unto him, I am ... the life." (John 14:6)
There is no life except in Him. He is also the Way--the way to God. "Thomas said unto Him, Lord, we know not whither You go; and how can we know the way? Jesus said unto him, I am the way." (John 14:5-6) "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which He has consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh." (Hebrews 10:19-20)
Only by Him can anyone approach God. "Jesus said unto him, ... no man comes unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6) "But now in Christ Jesus you who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. ... For through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father." (Ephesians 2:13,18)
Lucifer would not accept this way; he "abode not in the Truth," (John 8:44) and so he was "cut down to the ground, ... cast out ... like an abominable branch." (Isaiah 14:12,19)
This is a warning to us, to abide in the Vine. It is so easy to do this, for we have but to let ourselves rest. Only in trying to lift ourselves up, do we wear ourselves out.
The End of Pride
Remember the origin of Babylon (Genesis 11) and the character of its rulers. It was the spirit of Lucifer,--envy of any who occupied a superior position, and a determination to be above them. But, "Where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work." (James 3:16)
That is why Satan is full of all evil, and why the whole world, inspired with the same spirit, is corrupt. But this is why the destruction of Babylon involves the whole earth. "For I will rise up against them, says the Lord of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and nephew, says the Lord. I will also make it a possession for the bittern and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, says the Lord of hosts. The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand: 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. This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations." (Isaiah 14:22-26)
How shall we escape in this time of destruction? "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea." (Psalm 46:1-2)
God, who dwells in "the high and holy place, [dwells also] with him that is of a contrite and humble spirit." (Isaiah 57:15)
The high and holy place is therefore the place of humility. So then, "He that dwells in the secret place of the Most High [the place of lowliness and meekness] shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. ... He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings shall you trust: His truth shall be your shield and buckler. You shall not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flies by day; Nor for the pestilence that walks in darkness; nor for the destruction that wastes at noonday. A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come nigh you. Only with your eyes shall you behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because you have made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High, your habitation; There shall no evil befall you, neither shall any plague come nigh your dwelling." (Psalm 91:1,4-10)--Present Truth, March 30, 1899--Isaiah 14:12-27.