It shall come to pass in the day the LORD gives
you rest from your sorrow, and from your fear and the hard bondage in
which you were made to serve, that you will take up this proverb
against the king of Babylon, and say: "How the oppressor has ceased, The
golden city ceased! The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked, The
scepter of the rulers;
//In part I of this discussion, I pointed out the origin of the name
Lucifer, and how its meaning evolved through various translations.
In
part II, I pointed out how we have combined the scriptural writings of
authors living hundreds of years apart to apparently solve a puzzle,
building the story of Lucifer as another name for Satan, who was cast
out of heaven. This understanding prevailed throughout much of the
church history, up to the time of the Reformation when we began to
examine scripture more critically.
In
part III, we'll examine the context of that one verse in Isaiah, the
only place in the Bible where the name Lucifer is found, to see what it
originally meant. Chapter 13 of Isaiah begins a long section known as
the "oracles against foreign nations." Verse 13:1 reads,
The burden against Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.
This
theme spills over into chapter 14, as Isaiah continues to critique
Babylon and her king. We arrive shortly at today's verse, telling of the
fall of the tyrant king of Babylon. The tirade continues until we reach
verse 14:12,
How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!
According
to Isaiah, Lucifer will not enjoy the decent burial of his fellow
kings, because he has "destroyed his land and slain his people." So God
will rise up against Babylon.
Lucifer is almost certainly king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.
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