Isaiah 14: Babylon with the Shades, Jerusalem with the Seraphim -- 2019/10/02

Rev. Shawn Kumm, pastor of Christ the King Lutheran Church in Cody, Wyoming, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Isaiah 14. Babylon has died, and the whole world has broken out into song! Isaiah 14 shows the purpose and result of the preceding chapter’s oracle against Babylon. Like a cancer, Babylon threatened to mercilessly consume the whole world. God removes every remnant of it in order to give peace to Israel and to all the world’s nations who “will join them and will attach themselves to the house of Jacob.” Even the trees celebrate, pointing to Babylon’s personification of Satan, who is also known as Lucifer, the “Day Star, son of Dawn.” Ultimately, Christ went down among the shades, becoming weak like us, in order to rescue us from sin, death, and the devil. Because He rose from the dead, He has made Sheol only a temporary way station for us, rather than a permanent destination. God has rescued from the yoke of Assyria, from the gate of Philistia, and from the scepter of Babylon. Because He sent forth Hezekiah like a fiery serpent and His own Son like a bronze serpent, the redeemed will worship among the seraphim of heaven.