Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Isaiah 14:9

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Isaiah 14:9. Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee] That is, Nebuchadnezzar. "It (hell) hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the earth; - the ghosts (rephaim) of all the mighty ones, or goats, (עתודי attudey,) of the earth - all the oppressors of mankind." What a most terrible idea is here! Tyrannical kings who have oppressed and spoiled mankind, are here represented as enthroned in hell; and as taking a Satanic pleasure in seeing others of the same description enter those abodes of misery!

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

13:1-23:18 MESSAGES FOR VARIOUS NATIONS

All the nations are under the rule of God, who controls their rise to power and their final destruction according to his purposes. This is the truth that the prophet teaches in the collection of prophecies against various nations in Chapters 13 to 23. The first message is for Babylon, which in Isaiah’s day had not yet risen to a position of international power. The fall of Babylon that is pictured in these chapters would not take place for more than one hundred and fifty years.

The pride and fall of Babylon (13:1-14:23)

Although a combined army of Medes and Persians overthrew Babylon, God was the one who moved them to do it. The prophet pictures the scene as the Medo-Persian army gets ready for battle, with soldiers shouting, signalling, organizing themselves and preparing their weapons (13:1-5). The people of Babylon shake with fear as they see that defeat is upon them (6-8). It is, for them, the day of the Lord, the day of God’s great intervention in judgment (9-10). The chief cause of Babylon’s punishment is its pride, for it boasted of its achievements, mocked God and dealt with people ruthlessly. When God decides that he will no longer tolerate the arrogance of the haughty, he pours out his wrath (11-13).
Enemy armies who invade the proud city show no mercy on its inhabitants, whether they be native Babylonians or foreigners (14-16). The Babylonians try to bribe the Medes into turning back, but the Medes will not listen. They carry on with the slaughter and destruction, till the people are wiped out (17-18). The city that was once beautiful is left a ruin, inhabited only by wild animals (19-22).
A further reason for the overthrow of Babylon is now revealed. God wants to break the power of Babylon, so that the captive Jews can be released and return to their homeland. Peoples who once oppressed the Jews will now help them rebuild their ruined nation (14:1-2). (The permission for the Jews’ return was given by the conquering Persian king, Cyrus.)
Then comes a song that the Jews sang to the disgrace of their former master, the king of Babylon. The king is seen as the embodiment of all Babylon’s pride and evil (3-6). Now that he is dead and the captive Jews are free from his rule, the whole world rejoices. Nations feel a sense of relief after years of Babylonian oppression (7-8).
Those in the world of the dead welcome the fallen king, reminding him that though he was all-powerful in life, he is no better than they in death (9-11). Arrogant and ambitious, seeking after the highest place, the greatest honour and supreme power, he is brought down to the lowest place, the greatest shame and complete weakness (12-15). Those who see him can scarcely recognize him as the one who destroyed kingdoms and enslaved entire nations. They find it hard to believe that one who terrified the world can come to such a humiliating end (16-17).
Most kings are buried with honour, but this king is treated with disgrace. He is left unburied, his corpse thrown out to rot in the sun. His sons also are to be killed, to make sure they have no opportunity to copy their father (18-21). The power of Babylon must be destroyed, so that the nation can never rise again (22-23).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

"Sheol from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming; it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it has raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. All they that answer and say unto thee, Art thou also become as weak as we? art thou become like unto us? Thy pomp is brought down to Sheol, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and worms cover thee."

What a welcoming committee! The kings who have brought death to so many are doomed to death; and this inspired picture reveals the kind of welcome they would receive in the other world!

Sheol is not a very definite place, as the word is used in the Old Testament.; but here it refers to the dwelling place for the spirits of the wicked dead; and what we have here represents these wicked dead as welcoming the king of Babylon, "with malicious satisfaction, because all of his brief earthly glory has been extinguished, even as was theirs."Wycliffe Old Testament Commentary, p. 622

SHEOL

Properly speaking, this word means "the grave" or the realm of the dead. It comes from a word which means "asking, demanding, requiring, seeking,"Albert Barnes' Commentary, p. 268 and carries with it the thought of insatiable desire to consume all living beings. It is variously translated as the grave, hell, Hades, or the pit. It is different from a grave in that a grave is dug for some individual, whereas, Hades includes all graves, and beyond that all who ever died without regard to where their bodies were placed. All the dead are in Sheol, but not all the dead are in graves. Some are in the sea, and others were trodden or plowed into the mire of some battlefield, or eaten by wild beasts.

It is called: Abaddon (destruction), Job 26:6; a place of silence, Psalms 94:17; a place of darkness and the shadow of death, Job 10:21; in Sheol are the foundations of the mountains, Deuteronomy 32:22; men penetrate Sheol by digging into the earth, Amos 9:2; the roots of trees strike down into it, Ezekiel 21:16; Korah and others went down alive into it, Numbers 16:30; Numbers 16:33; "In Sheol, there is no knowledge, nor can any praise God or give thanks there, Psalms 6:5; Ecclesiastes 9:10; and Isaiah 38:10-11."Ibid.

However, "It is erroneous to think of Sheol as a place independent of God; `If I make my bed in Sheol,' says the Psalmist, `Behold, thou art there' (Psalms 139:8)."James Orr, International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (Chicago, Illinois: The Howard-Severance Company, 1915), p. 2760.

There is little Biblical information regarding the question of whether the dead are conscious or not. Based upon an inaccurate understanding of Jesus' parable of the rich man and Lazarus, some think that perhaps the wicked dead are conscious; but Lazarus was not portrayed as conscious. Others cite the fact that Samuel was summoned from the dead (1 Samuel 28:11-15) and that in this section of Isaiah the dead kings of ancient times are represented as giving a sarcastic welcome to the arrival in death (Hades) of the king of Babylon. However, we believe this so-called "example" of conscience activity in death is no more than a literary device. The case of Samuel cannot be so explained; but certainly, we can deny that the witch of Endor had anything to do with it. Samuel came back, all right, but it almost scared the witch to death!

And then, there is the case of Moses and Elijah appearing on the mount of Transfiguration with Christ and carrying on intelligent conversation with the Lord. In this event, however, there was an extraordinary factor. Elijah was most certainly translated; and since God buried Moses, it is likely that he also was translated. At least, no one knows for sure.

The scripture most favorable to the idea of consciousness in Sheol is Christ's astounding declaration in Matthew 22:31-33 that God is God of the living and not of the dead, affirming at the same time that He is indeed the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob. Add to this, the sacred promise of Jesus Christ that he will be with his church "always, even unto the end of the world" (Matthew 28:20), which most certainly includes God's being with his saints in Sheol.

To us, there does not appear any sufficient grounds for dogmatic conclusions on this question; and therefore we leave it as one of "the hidden things," belonging unto the Lord.

This sarcastic "welcome" song addressed to the fallen king of Babylon has two themes, identified by Kidner as: (1) the unqualified relief that the whole world (even the trees of the forest) received when they heard he was dead (Isaiah 14:3-11); and (2) the second theme pertained to the "fallen Day Star (Lucifer in KJV),"The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 600. and the king of Babylon's vain ambition (Isaiah 14:12-21).

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Hell from beneath - The scene is now changed. The prophet had represented the people of all the subject nations as rejoicing that the king of Babylon had fallen, and had introduced even the trees of the forest as breaking forth into joy at this event. He now transfers the scene to the mournful regions of the dead; follows the spirit of the departed king of Babylon - the man who once gloried in the magnificence of his kingdom and his court, and who was more distinguished for pride and arrogance than all other monarchs - down to the land of darkness, and describes his reception there. This portion of the ode is signally sublime, and is managed with great power and skill. It is unequalled, perhaps, by any writings for boldness, majesty, and, at the same time, for its severe sarcasm. The word ‘hell’ here (שׁאול sh^e'ôl) is rendered by the Vulgate, “infernus;” and by the Septuagint, ὁ ᾅδης ho Hadēs, “Hades.”

It properly means the grave, and then the dark regions of the lower world - the region of ghosts and shades a place where thick darkness reigns. The verb from which it is derived means, properly, “to ask, to demand, to require, to seek;” and this name (שׁאול sh^e'ôl) is supposed to have been given to the grave, and to the regions of departed spirits, from the insatiable demand which they are constantly making of the living (see the note at Isaiah 5:14, where the word is explained). The word denotes, says Taylor (“Heb. Con.”), ‘The underground parts of the earth, otherwise called the nether, or lower parts of the earth; the earth beneath in opposition to the earth above, where people and other animals live. In “sheol” are the foundations of the mountains Deuteronomy 32:22. In “sheol “men penetrate by digging into the earth Amos 9:2. Into “sheol” the roots of trees do strike down Ezekiel 31:16.

Into “sheol,” Korah, Dathan, and Abiram went down alive Numbers 16:30, Numbers 16:33. In “sheol” the body is corrupted and consumed by worms Job 17:13-14; Psalms 16:10; Psalms 49:14. They that rest together in the dust are said “to go down to the bars, or strong gates of sheol” Job 17:16. In “sheol” there is no knowledge, nor can any praise God or give thanks there Psalms 6:5; Ecclesiastes 9:10; Isaiah 38:10-11. “Sheol” and the pit, death and corruption, are synonymous Psalms 16:10; Psalms 89:48; Proverbs 1:12; Proverbs 7:27; Ezekiel 31:16; Hosea 13:14. A grave is one particular cavity purposely digged for the interment of a dead person; “sheol” is a collective name for all the graves. He that is in the grave is in “sheol;” but he that is in “sheol” may not be in a grave, but in any pit, or in the sea. In short, it is the region of the dead; which is figuratively considered as a city or large habitation with gates and bars in which there are many chambers Proverbs 7:27.’ “Sheol” is never full, but is always asking or craving more Proverbs 27:20; Hebrews 2:5. Here it means, not a place of punishment, but the region of the dead, where the ghosts of the departed are considered as residing together.

From beneath - From beneath the earth. “Sheol” was always represented as being “in” or “under” the ground, and the grave was the avenue or door that led to it (see the note at Isaiah 5:14.)

Is moved for thee - Is roused to meet thee; is surprised that a monarch once so proud and magnificent is descending to it. The image here is taken from the custom of the ancients in burying, especially of burying princes and kings. This was usually done in caves or sepulchres excavated from a rock (see the notes and illustrations on Isaiah 66:4). Mr. Stephens, in his “Travels in Egypt, Arabia Petrea, and the Holy land,” has given an account of the manner in which he passed a night in Petra, which may serve to illustrate this passage: ‘We ascended the valley, and rising to the summit of the rocky rampart, of Petra, it was almost dark when we found ourselves opposite a range of tombs in the suburbs of the city. Here we dismounted; and selecting from among them one which, from its finish and dimensions, must have been the last abode of some wealthy Edomite, we prepared to pass the night within its walls.

In the front part of it was a large chamber, about twenty-five feet square, and ten feet high; and behind this was another of smaller dimensions, furnished with receptacles of the dead, not arranged after the manner of shelves along the wall, as in the catacombs I had seen in Italy and Egypt, but cut lengthwise in the rock, like ovens, so as to admit the insertion of the body with the feet foremost. My plans for the morrow being all arranged, the Bedouins stretched themselves out in the outer chamber, while I went within; and seeking out a tomb as far back as I could find, I crawled in feet first, and found myself very much in the condition of a man buried alive. I had just room enough to turn round; and the worthy old Edomite for whom the tomb was made, never slept in it more quietly than I did.’ (Vol. ii. pp. 82, 83, 86.) To understand the passage before us, we are to form the idea of an immense and gloomy cavern, all around which are niches or cells made to receive the bodies of the dead. In this vast vault monarchs repose in grandeur suitable to their former rank, each on his couch, ‘in glory,’ with their arms beside them (see Isaiah 14:18). These mighty shades - these departed monarchs - are represented as rising from their couches to meet the descending king of Babylon, and receive him with insults on his fall. The Hebrew word for “moved” denotes more than our translation conveys. It means that they were “agitated” - they “trembled” - they advanced toward the descending monarch with trepidation. The idea of the shades of the mighty dead thus being troubled, and rising to meet the king of Babylon, is one that is exceedingly sublime.

It stireth up - “Sheol” stirreth up; that is, they are stirred up or excited. So the Septuagint renders it ‘All the giants who rule the earth rise up to thee.’

The dead - Hebrew, רפאים r^epā'ı̂ym. The Septuagint renders this, Ὁι γίγαντες hoi gigantes ‘giants.’ So the Vulgate and the Chaldee, The meaning of this word has been a subject of great difference of opinion among lexicographers. It is sometimes found as a gentile noun to denote the sons of Raphah, called “Rephaim” 2 Samuel 21:16, 2 Samuel 21:18, a Canaanite race of giants that lived beyond Jordan Genesis 14:5; Genesis 15:20, from whom Og the son of Bashan was descended Deuteronomy 3:11. It is sometimes used to denote all the giant tribes of Canaan Deuteronomy 2:11, Deuteronomy 2:20; and is particularly applied to people of extraordinary strength among the Philistines 2 Samuel 21:16, 2 Samuel 21:18. Vitringa supposes that the term was given to the spirits of the dead on account of the fact that they appeared to be “larqer” than life; that they in their form and stature resembled giants. But a more probable opinion is, that it is applied to the shades of the dead as being weak, feeble, or without power or sensation, from the word רפא râpâ', weak, feeble, powerless. This interpretation is strongly confirmed by the place before us Isaiah 14:10, ‘Art thou become weak as we?’ The word is rendered ‘giants’ in the following places: Deuteronomy 2:11, Deuteronomy 2:20; Deuteronomy 3:13; Joshua 21:4; Joshua 15:8; Joshua 17:15; Joshua 18:16; 2Sa 21:16, 2 Samuel 21:18, 2 Samuel 21:20, 2Sa 21:22; 1 Chronicles 20:5-6, 1 Chronicles 20:8. It is rendered ‘Rephaims,’ Genesis 14:5; Gen 15:20; 2 Samuel 5:18, 2 Samuel 5:22; 2 Samuel 23:13. It is rendered ‘the dead’ Job 26:5; Psalms 88:10; Proverbs 2:18; Proverbs 9:18; Proverbs 21:16; Isa. 26:29; and once it is rendered ‘deceased,’ Isaiah 26:14. It here means the departed spirits of the dead - the inhabitants of that dark and dismal region, conceived by the Hebrews to be situated beneath the ground, where dwell the departed dead before their final destiny is fixed - called “sheol” or “hades.” It is not the residence of the wicked only - the place of punishment - but the place where all the dead are supposed to be congregated before their final doom is pronounced.

(The author entertains unique views of the state of knowledge among the Hebrews regarding the future world - views which will be found fully canvassed in the preface to the volumes on Job. As to the alleged notion of all the dead dwelling in some dismal region before their final doom is pronounced, we have there taken pains to show that the righteous in ancient times entertained no such gloomy expectations. The opinions of the ancient Hebrews on this subject, must be taken from passages in which they expressly treat of it, and intimate plainly what their belief is, and not from passages confessedly full of poetical imagery. Nor are we to construe popular and poetical phraseology so strictly and literally as to form a theological creed out of it, in contradiction to the actual belief of those who daily used that phraseology. Because Englishmen speak of the dead “indiscriminately” as having “gone to the grave,” and “to the land of spirits,” must we, out of this, construct a Popish purgatory as the national belief?

Yet this would be just as reasonable in the case of the English, as in the case of the Jews. The reader will appreciate the following observations of Professor Alexander on the place: ‘Two expressions have been faithfully transcribed by interpreters, from one another, in relation to this passage, with a very equivocal effect upon its exposition. The one is, that it is full of biting sarcasm - an unfortunate suggestion of Calvin’s, which puts the reader on the scent for irony, and even wit, instead of opening his mind to impressions of sublimity and tragic grandeur. The other, for which Calvin is in no degree responsible, is, that we have before us not a mere prosopopeia, or poetical creation of the highest order, but a chapter from the popular belief of the Jews, as to the locality, contents, and transactions of the unseen world. Thus Gesenius, in his Lexicon and Commentary, gives a minute topographical description of “Sheol,” as the Hebrews believed it to exist.

With equal truth, a diligent compiler might construct a map of hell, as conceived of by the English Puritans, from the descriptive portions of the Paradise Lost. The infidel interpreters of Germany regard the scriptural and Classical mythology precisely in the same light. But when Christian writers copy their expressions or ideas, they should take pains to explain whether the popular belief of which they speak was true or false, and, if false, how it could lie countenanced and sanctioned by inspired writers. This kind of exposition is, moreover, chargeable with a rhetorical incongruity, in landing the creative genius of the poet, and yet making all his grand creations commonplace articles of popular belief. The true view of the matter, as determined both by piety and taste, appears to be, that the passage now before ns comprehends two elements, and only two religious verities or certain facts, and poetical embellishments. The admission of a “tertium quid,” in the shape of superstitious fables, is as false in rhetoric as in theology.’)

The chief ones of the earth. - Margin, ‘Leaders,’ or ‘great goats.’ The Hebrew word means properly “great goats,” or goats that are leaders of the flock. Perhaps there is intended to be a slight degree of sarcasm in applying this word to princes and monarchs. It is nowhere else applied to princes, though the word is often used or applied to rams, or to the chief goats of a flock.

From their thrones - In “hades,” or “sheol.” They are there represented as occupying an eminence similar to that which distinguished them on earth.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

9.Hell from beneath is moved for thee. ⁽²¹⁷⁾ As he had formerly attributed gladness to the trees, so now, by a similar figure, he attributes speech to the dead ⁽²¹⁸⁾ He arouses them, as it were, from their graves, to mock at the pride of this tyrant. The whole passage is ironical, and full of keen sarcasm. At the approach of kings, the people tremble, and come forth to meet and receive them with pompous display. The Prophet makes a fictitious representation, that when this tyrant shall die and go down to the grave, the dead will go forth to meet and honor him, but with such honor as he deserves. As if he had said, “Not only the living, but also the dead will rejoice at his death. The dead also will treat him respectfully according to his deserts.”

(217) Bogus footnote

(218) Bogus footnote

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 14

For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob ( Isaiah 14:1 ).

Again, now he moves out to the end of the Kingdom Age where Israel is restored and exalted among the world.

The people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the LORD for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over the oppressors. And it shall come to pass in the day that the LORD shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou was made to serve. That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased! The LORD hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers ( Isaiah 14:2-5 ).

Now you remember that in Revelation, the angel in the fourteenth chapter flies through the midst of the heaven saying, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city" ( Revelation 14:8 ), and so forth, and declares the fall of this Babylonian system. "The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked, the sceptre of the rulers."

He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth. The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing. Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us ( Isaiah 14:6-8 ).

The trees have an opportunity to grow.

Now we are getting into the area of the beast, the man of sin, the son of perdition, the one who is anointed with Satan's power as he makes reference to

Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us? Your pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee ( Isaiah 14:9-11 ).

This man that the whole world marvels at, his reception in hell will be an interesting thing. As the kings rise up and say, "Hey, you... "

Now the prophecy lapses from the beast to the power behind the beast, or the antichrist to Satan who gave him the power.

How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High ( Isaiah 14:12-14 ).

These five "I wills" of Satan. This was the beginning of sin in the universe. This was the beginning of the rebellion against God's government and God's kingdom, and they came with Satan's willing against the will of God.

In Ezekiel we are told concerning Satan that he at one time was an anointed cherub. Cherubim, the B-I-M, or the I-M, is actually a plural suffix in the Hebrew language. So a cherub would be singular. But there are cherubim; there are many of these angelic beings. Satan was one of these exalted angelic beings. Interesting it would seem that the cherubim are there to guard the holiness of God. And perhaps he was the chief over the cherubim. It would seem to indicate that as Ezekiel addresses him in the form of the king of Tyre, "the anointed cherub that covers. Thou has been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, beryl, onyx, sapphire, carbuncle," and so forth. "Thou wast perfect in beauty, perfect in wisdom, perfect in all of your ways until the day that iniquity was found in thee" ( Ezekiel 28:13-15 ). And then he speaks of his fall.

Now Isaiah tells us exactly what the iniquity was. It was his declaring, "I will," in opposition to God's will. And anytime you declare your will in opposition to God's will, that's sin. That's rebellion. Rebellion against God. Sin is the failure to do the will of God, to surrender, to submit to the will of God. "I will ascend into heaven. I will sit also. I will exact my throne above the stars of God." Stars of God being the angels of God. "I'm going to exalt above them. I will sit also on the mount of the congregation on the sides of the north. I will ascend above the heights. I will be like the Most High." Interesting. The climactic "I will" of Satan: "I will be like God."

Shakespeare in the one play has someone addressing Cromwell, "Oh, Cromwell, flee ambition. For by this sin the angels fell." I will be like God.

It is interesting when Satan came into the garden to tempt Eve, what was the hook? "God doesn't want you to eat that fruit, for He knows that the day that you eat that fruit, you will be like God. You want to be like God? Eat this fruit." And that was the hook. It was the thing that tripped him up, and so it's the very thing then that he used to trip Eve up--to be like God. "God doesn't want you to eat it. He's afraid you're going to be like Him."

So any of these religions today that make you like God, that put you in a God category, "When you die, you and your wife can be as gods. You go to your own little planet," be careful. That was the hook that got Satan. That was the hook that he used for Eve. These that make a god out of you. "Recognize the god in you." The self-realizations. What is the self-realization concept? "I am God," that's what I need to realize. Isn't that wonderful? Tragic! But so many people are being drawn by this desire to be God. And so the god in me blesses the god in you, the self-realization of who I am. So Satan's fall: "I will be like the Most High."

Now the interesting thing is that God is making us again in His image. When God first created man, He created man in His image and after His likeness. But man through disobedience, in his desire to be like God, fell from that image of God. And "by one man sin entered the world, and death by sin; so that death passed unto all men, for all sinned" ( Romans 5:12 ). So if I want to know what God intended when He created man, I can't look around the world and find it. Because in the world that doesn't exist, because I see fallen man. I see man that is filled with greed. I see man that is filled with hatred, with avarice. I see a man who is controlled by his own desires and lust. That isn't the way God intended man to live. That isn't what God intended for man.

We see man in his fallen state. But God reached down to touch man in his fallen state, and the purpose of God in working in your life tonight is to restore unto you that which was lost through the fall. God wants to restore you back into His image. And so Paul said, "We, with open face beholding the glory of the Lord, are changed from glory to glory into the same image" ( 2 Corinthians 3:18 ). That doesn't mean I'm God. It doesn't mean I'm going to be God. I'm always going to be me. But I will be conformed again by the Spirit of God into the image of Jesus Christ, where love will once again dominate instead of greed or selfishness, and made again into the image of Jesus Christ. That's the purpose of God's work in our lives tonight.

So Satan fell. "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning?" You said you're going to exalt yourself. You're going to be like God.

Yet you will be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms ( Isaiah 14:15-16 );

Man, when you see Satan down there, you'll say, "Wow, is that the guy that gave me such a bad time? The man that created all of the problems for this universe? The one that started the whole rebellion against God. Is that? Wow, look at him." What a sight that's going to be.

That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities; that opened not the house of his prisoners? [All the kingdoms of the earth, or] all the kings of the nations, even all of them that lie in glory, every one in his own house. But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcass that is trodden under foot ( Isaiah 14:17-19 ).

The kings are buried in tombs, sepulchers and so forth. But you're going to be cast out of the grave. You're going to be like the coat of a man who has fallen in battle that's just cast aside to be trodden down under the feet.

Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people: the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned. Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers; that they do not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities. For I will rise up against them, saith the LORD of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name, and the remnant, and son, and nephew, saith the LORD ( Isaiah 14:20-22 ).

How many of you have met a Babylonian lately? They don't exist. God cut them off. The name, the son, the nephew, they are no more family, Babylonians.

I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith 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 ( Isaiah 14:23-24 ):

That is one powerful verse. God said. He's sworn. This is, men take an oath to confirm what they have said as being really true. Well, God who has never spoken anything but truth, when God swears to something, man, how true can you get? How firm can it be? How well can a thing be established? When God has sworn, "Surely as I have thought, it shall come to pass." God's Word shall surely be fulfilled.

When the Lord told Daniel to write these things, He said, "For the prophecy is certain" ( Daniel 2:45 ). It's going to be fulfilled. God declares, "Surely as I have thought, so it's going to be. And as I have purposed, so shall it stand." The purposes of God are set. They cannot be changed. The plan of God will be fulfilled.

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. For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who can disannul it? his hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back? ( Isaiah 14:25-27 )

The tremendous, awesome sovereignty of God.

In the year that king Ahaz died was this burden ( Isaiah 14:28 ).

So now we're moving on into a new area. It is not distinguished by a chapter change, but it is distinguished by the fact that he introduces this new section by, "In the year that king Ahaz died was this burden."

Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent ( Isaiah 14:29 ).

Now he's just spoken of the destruction of Assyria, but don't rejoice because Assyria is broken by Babylon, because now God is going to bring the Babylonians against you.

And the firstborn of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety: and I will kill thy root with famine, and he shall slay thy remnant. Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou, whole Palestina, art dissolved: for there shall come from the north a smoke, and none shall be alone in his appointed times. What shall one then answer the messengers of the nation? That the LORD hath founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it ( Isaiah 14:30-32 ).

So God is going to found Zion, the ultimate bottom line. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

The second strophe relates the joy in Sheol that would result when this king died. Other dead rulers there would rejoice because this great monarch now shared the humiliating fate of them all. Rather than honoring him, these dead leaders would mock him because in death he was not superior to them. Instead of an honorable bier he would get maggots for a bed and worms for a bedspread. What a final resting place for a king!

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Hell from beneath is moved for thee,.... Or the "grave", or the place and state of the dead, and particularly of the damned, meaning those that are in such a place and state; and the sense is, that not only the inhabitants of the earth, and the trees upon it, express their joy at the fall of the king of Babylon, but those that are under the earth, in the grave, or in hell, are affected with it, and moved on account of it, not with fear and dread, as they were in his and their life time, as Kimchi suggests; but they are represented as in motion, and that as attended with a great noise, because of the multitude of them, upon hearing of his death, and his entrance into the regions of the dead:

to meet [thee] at thy coming: as kings used to be met when they, and as he used to be when he, entered into any city that was taken, to salute him, and congratulate him upon his entrance into the dark regions of death, the grave, and hell; a biting sarcasm:

it stirreth up the dead for thee; the dead that are in it, in hell or the grave; not to oppose him, but to welcome him into their parts, as being now one of them, and to be joined to their company; hell or the grave is said to rouse them, as if they were asleep, and took no notice of the death of so great a monarch, who was just making his public entry among them. The word "Rephaim", here used, is sometimes rendered "giants", as in Deuteronomy 2:11 and Jarchi interprets it of the Anakim; and so the Targum,

"it raiseth up unto thee mighty men;''

for not the common people among the dead, but the princes and great ones of the earth, whom the Babylonian monarch had subdued and slain, and to whom he was well known, are intended, as appears by what follows:

[even] all the chief ones of the earth; or the "great goats"; the leaders and commanders of the people, who, as goats go before and lead the flock, so they the people. The Targum calls them

"all the rich in substance;''

who were persons of wealth, power, and authority, when on earth:

it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations; to offer in a jeering manner their thrones to him, who had been obliged, in their life time and his, to surrender to him their crowns, and thrones, and kingdoms; but by their thrones here are meant their sepulchres, built, as many of them were, in great pomp and splendour; for kings at death have no other thrones but their graves. Aben Ezra says, it was the custom of the Babylonians to set thrones in the sepulchres of their kings.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      4 That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!   5 The LORD hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers.   6 He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth.   7 The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing.   8 Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us.   9 Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.   10 All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us?   11 Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.   12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!   13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:   14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.   15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.   16 They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;   17 That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?   18 All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house.   19 But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet.   20 Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people: the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned.   21 Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers; that they do not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities.   22 For I will rise up against them, saith the LORD of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and nephew, saith the LORD.   23 I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the LORD of hosts.

      The kings of Babylon, successively, were the great enemies and oppressors of God's people, and therefore the destruction of Babylon, the fall of the king, and the ruin of his family, are here particularly taken notice of and triumphed in. In the day that God has given Israel rest they shall take up this proverb against the king of Babylon. We must not rejoice when our enemy falls, as ours; but when Babylon, the common enemy of God and his Israel, sinks, then rejoice over her, thou heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets,Revelation 18:20. The Babylonian monarchy bade fair to be an absolute, universal, and perpetual one, and, in these pretensions, vied with the Almighty; it is therefore very justly, not only brought down, but insulted over when it is down; and it is not only the last monarch, Belshazzar, who was slain on that night that Babylon was taken (Daniel 5:30), who is here triumphed over, but the whole monarchy, which sunk in him; not without special reference to Nebuchadnezzar, in whom that monarchy was at its height. Now here,

      I. The fall of the king of Babylon is rejoiced in; and a most curious and elegant composition is here prepared, not to adorn his hearse or monument, but to expose his memory and fix a lasting brand of infamy upon it. It gives us an account of the life and death of this mighty monarch, how he went down slain to the pit, though he had been the terror of the mighty in the land of the living,Ezekiel 32:27. In this parable we may observe,

      1. The prodigious height of wealth and power at which this monarch and monarchy arrived. Babylon was a golden city,Isaiah 14:4; Isaiah 14:4 (it is a Chaldee word in the original, which intimates that she used to call herself so), so much did she abound in riches and excel all other cities, as gold does all other metals. She is gold-thirsty, or an exactress of gold (so some read it); for how do men get wealth to themselves but by squeezing it out of others? The New Jerusalem is the only truly golden city, Revelation 21:18; Revelation 21:21. The king of Babylon, having so much wealth in his dominions and the absolute command of it, by the help of that ruled the nations (Isaiah 14:6; Isaiah 14:6), gave them law, read them their doom, and at his pleasure weakened the nations (Isaiah 14:12; Isaiah 14:12), that they might not be able to make head against him. Such vast and victorious armies did he bring into the field, that, which way soever he looked, he made the earth to tremble, and shook kingdoms (Isaiah 14:16; Isaiah 14:16); all his neighbours were afraid of him, and were forced to submit to him. No one man could do this by his own personal strength, but by the numbers he has at his beck. Great tyrants, by making some do what they will, make others suffer what they will. How piteous is the case of mankind, which thus seems to be in a combination against itself, and its own rights and liberties, which could not be ruined but by its own strength!

      2. The wretched abuse of all this wealth and power, which the king of Babylon was guilty of, in two instances:--

      (1.) Great oppression and cruelty. He is known by the name of the oppressor (Isaiah 14:4; Isaiah 14:4); he has the sceptre of the rulers (Isaiah 14:5; Isaiah 14:5), has the command of all the princes about him; but it is the staff of the wicked, a staff with which he supports himself in his wickedness and wickedly strikes all about him. He smote the people, not in justice, for their correction and reformation, but in wrath (Isaiah 14:6; Isaiah 14:6), to gratify his own peevish resentments, and that with a continual stroke, pursued them with his forces, and gave them no respite, no breathing time, no cessation of arms. He ruled the nations, but he ruled them in anger, every thing he said and did was in a passion; so that he who had the government of all about him had no government of himself. He made the world as a wilderness, as if he had taken a pride in being the plague of his generation and a curse to mankind, Isaiah 14:17; Isaiah 14:17. Great princes usually glory in building cities, but he gloried in destroying them; see Psalms 9:6. Two particular instances, worse than all the rest, are here given of his tyranny:-- [1.] That he was severe to his captives (Isaiah 14:17; Isaiah 14:17): He opened not the house of his prisoners; he did not let them loose homeward (so the margin reads it); he kept them in close confinement, and never would suffer any to return to their own land. This refers especially to the people of the Jews, and it is that which fills up the measure of the king of Babylon's iniquity, that he had detained the people of God in captivity and would by no means release them; nay, and by profaning the vessels of God's temple at Jerusalem, did in effect say that they should never return to their former use, Daniel 5:3. For this he was quickly and justly turned out by one whose first act was to open the house of God's prisoners and send home the temple vessels. [2.] That he was oppressive to his own subjects (Isaiah 14:20; Isaiah 14:20): Thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people; and what did he get by that, when the wealth of the land and the multitude of the people are the strength and honour of the prince, who never rules so safely, so gloriously, as in the hearts and affections of the people? But tyrants sacrifice their interests to their lusts and passions; and God will reckon with them for their barbarous usage of those who are under their power, whom they think they may use as they please.

      (2.) Great pride and haughtiness. Notice is here taken of his pomp, the extravagancy of his retinue, Isaiah 14:11; Isaiah 14:11. He affected to appear in the utmost magnificence. But that was not the worst: it was the temper of his mind, and the elevation of that, that ripened him for ruin (Isaiah 14:13; Isaiah 14:14): Thou has said in thy heart, like Lucifer, I will ascend into heaven. Here is the language of his vainglory, borrowed perhaps from that of the angels who fell, who not content with their first estate, the post assigned them, would vie with God, and become not only independent of him, but equal with him. Or perhaps it refers to the story of Nebuchadnezzar, who, when he would be more than a man, was justly turned into a brute, Daniel 4:30. The king of Babylon here promises himself, [1.] That in pomp and power he shall surpass all his neighbours, and shall arrive at the very height of earthly glory and felicity, that he shall be as great and happy as this world can make him; that is the heaven of a carnal heart, and to that he hopes to ascend, and to be as far above those about him as the heaven is above the earth. Princes are the stars of God, which give some light to this dark world (Matthew 24:29); but he will exalt his throne above them all. [2.] That he shall particularly insult over God's Mount Zion, which Belshazzar, in his last drunken frolic, seems to have had a particular spite against when he called for the vessels of the temple at Jerusalem, to profane them; see Daniel 5:2. In the same humour he here said, I will sit upon the mount of the congregation (it is the same word that is used for the holy convocations), in the sides of the north; so Mount Zion is said to be situated, Psalms 48:2. Perhaps Belshazzar was projecting an expedition to Jerusalem, to triumph in the ruins of it, at the time when God cut him off. [3.] That he shall vie with the God of Israel, of whom he had indeed heard glorious things, that he had his residence above the heights of the clouds. "But thither," says he, "will I ascend, and be as great as he; I will be like him whom they call the Most High." It is a gracious ambition to covet to be like the Most Holy, for he has said, Be you holy, for I am holy; but it is a sinful ambition to aim to be like the Most High, for he has said, He that exalteth himself shall be abased, and the devil drew our first parents in to eat forbidden fruit by promising them that they should be as gods. [4.] That he shall himself be deified after his death, as some of the first founders of the Assyrian monarchy were, and stars had even their names from them. "But," says he, "I will exalt my throne above them all." Such as this was his pride, which was the undoubted omen of his destruction.

      3. The utter ruin that should be brought upon him. It is foretold, (1.) That his wealth and power should be broken, and a final period put to his pomp and pleasure. He has been long an oppressor, but he shall cease to be so, Isaiah 14:4; Isaiah 14:4. Had he ceased to be so by true repentance and reformation, according to the advice Daniel gave to Nebuchadnezzar, it might have been a lengthening of his life and tranquillity. But those that will not cease to sin God will make to cease. "The golden city, which one would have thought might continue for ever, has ceased; there is an end of that Babylon. The Lord, the righteous God, has broken the staff of that wicked prince, broken it over his head, in token of the divesting him of his office. God has taken his power from him, and rendered him incapable of doing any more mischief: he has broken the sceptres; for even these are brittle things, soon broken and often justly." (2.) That he himself should be seized: He is persecuted (Isaiah 14:6; Isaiah 14:6); violent hands are laid upon him, and none hinders. It is the common fate of tyrants, when they fall into the power of their enemies, to be deserted by their flatterers, whom they took for their friends. We read of another enemy like this, of whom it is foretold that he shall come to his end and none shall help him,Daniel 11:45. Tiberius and Nero thus saw themselves abandoned. (3.) That he should be slain, and go down to the congregation of the dead, to be free among them, as the slain that are no more remembered,Psalms 88:5. He shall be weak as the dead are, and like unto them,Isaiah 14:10; Isaiah 14:10. His pomp is brought down to the grave (Isaiah 14:11; Isaiah 14:11), that is, it perishes with him; the pomp of his life shall not, as usual, end in a funeral pomp. True glory (that is, true grace) will go up with the soul to heaven, but vain pomp will go down with the body to the grave: there is an end of it. The noise of his viols is now heard no more. Death is a farewell to the pleasures, as well as to the pomps, of this world. This mighty prince, that used to lie on a bed of down, to tread upon rich carpets, and to have coverings and canopies exquisitely fine, now shall have the worms spread under him and the worms covering him, worms bred out of his own putrefied body, which, though he fancied himself a god, proved him to be made of the same mould with other men. When we are pampering and decking our bodies it is good to remember they will be worms'-meat shortly. (4.) That he should not have the honour of a burial, much less of a decent one and in the sepulchres of his ancestors. The kings of the nations lie in glory (Isaiah 14:18; Isaiah 14:18), either their dead bodies themselves so embalmed as to be preserved from putrefaction, as of old among the Egyptians, or their effigies (as with us) erected over their graves. Thus, as if they would defy the ignominy of death, they lay in a poor faint sort of glory, every one in his own house, that is, his own burying-place (for the grave is the house appointed for all living), a sleeping house, where the busy and troublesome will lie quiet and the troubled and weary lie at rest. But this king of Babylon is cast out and has no grave (Isaiah 14:19; Isaiah 14:19); his dead body is thrown, like that of a beast, into the next ditch or upon the next dunghill, like an abominable branch of some noxious poisonous plant, which nobody will touch, or as the clothes of malefactors put to death and by the hand of justice thrust through with a sword, on whose dead bodies heaps of stones are raised, or they are thrown into some deep quarry among the stones of the pit. Nay, the king of Babylon's dead body shall be as the carcases of those who are slain in a battle, which are trodden under feet by the horses and soldiers and crushed to pieces. Thus he shall not be joined with his ancestors in burial,Isaiah 14:20; Isaiah 14:20. To be denied decent burial is a disgrace, which, if it be inflicted for righteousness' sake (as Psalms 79:2), may, as other similar reproaches, be rejoiced in (Matthew 5:12); it is the lot of the two witnesses, Revelation 11:9. But if, as here, it be the just punishment of iniquity, it is an intimation that evil pursues impenitent sinners beyond death, greater evil than that, and that they shall rise to everlasting shame and contempt.

      4. The many triumphs that should be in his fall.

      (1.) Those whom he had been a great tyrant and terror to will be glad that they are rid of him, Isaiah 14:7; Isaiah 14:8. Now that he is gone the whole earth is at rest and is quiet, for he was the great disturber of the peace; now they all break forth into singing, for when the wicked perish there is shouting (Proverbs 11:10); the fir-trees and cedars of Lebanon now think themselves safe; there is no danger now of their being cut down, to make way for his vast armies or to furnish him with timber. The neighbouring princes and great men, who are compared to fir-trees and cedars (Zechariah 11:2), may now be easy, and out of fear of being dispossessed of their rights, for the hammer of the whole earth is cut asunder and broken (Jeremiah 50:23), the axe that boasted itself against him that hewed with it,Isaiah 10:15; Isaiah 10:15.

      (2.) The congregation of the dead will bid him welcome to them, especially those whom he had barbarously hastened thither (Isaiah 14:9; Isaiah 14:10): "Hell from beneath is moved for thee, to meet thee at thy coming, and to compliment thee upon thy arrival at their dark and dreadful regions." The chief ones of the earth, who when they were alive were kept in awe by him and durst not come near him, but rose from their thrones, to resign them to him, shall upbraid him with it when he comes into the state of the dead. They shall go forth to meet him, as they used to do when he made his public entry into cities he had become master of; with such a parade shall he be introduced into those regions of horror, to make his disgrace and torment the more grievous to him. They shall scoffingly rise from their thrones and seats there, and ask him if he will please to sit down in them, as he used to do in their thrones on earth? The confusion that will then cover him they shall make a jest of: "Hast thou also become weak as we? Who would have thought it? It is what thou thyself didst not expect it would ever come to when thou wast in every thing too hard for us. Thou that didst rank thyself among the immortal gods, art thou come to take thy fate among us poor mortal men? Where is thy pomp now, and where thy mirth? How hast thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer! son of the morning!Isaiah 14:11; Isaiah 14:12. The king of Babylon shone as brightly as the morning star, and fancied that wherever he came he brought day along with him; and has such an illustrious prince as this fallen, such a star become a clod of clay? Did ever any man fall from such a height of honour and power into such an abyss of shame and misery?" This has been commonly alluded to (and it is a mere allusion) to illustrate the fall of the angels, who were as morning stars (Job 38:7), but how have they fallen! How art thou cut down to the ground, and levelled with it, that didst weaken the nations! God will reckon with those that invade the rights and disturb the peace of mankind, for he is King of nations as well as of saints. Now this reception of the king of Babylon into the regions of the dead, which is here described, surely is something more than a flight of fancy, and is designed to teach these solid truths:-- [1.] That there is an invisible world, a world of spirits, to which the souls of men remove at death and in which they exist and act in a state of separation from the body. [2.] That separate souls have acquaintance and converse with each other, though we have none with them: the parable of the rich man and Lazarus intimates this. [3.] That death and hell will be death and hell indeed to those that fall unsanctified from the height of this world's pomps and the fulness of its pleasures. Son, remember,Luke 16:25.

      (3.) Spectators will stand amazed at his fall. When he shall be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit, and be lodged there, those that see him shall narrowly look upon him, and consider him (Isaiah 14:15; Isaiah 14:16); they shall scarcely believe their own eyes. "Never was death so great a change to any man as it is to him. Is it possible that a man, who a few hours ago looked so great, so pleasant, and was so splendidly adorned and attended, should now look so ghastly, so despicable, and lie thus naked and neglected? Is this the man that made the earth to tremble and shook kingdoms? Who could have thought he should ever come to this?" Psalms 82:7.

      5. Here is an inference drawn from all this (Isaiah 14:20; Isaiah 14:20): The seed of evil-doers shall never be renowned. The princes of the Babylonian monarchy were all a seed of evil-doers, oppressors of the people of God, and therefore they had this infamy entailed upon them. They shall not be renowned for ever (so some read it); they may look big for a time, but all their pomp will only render their disgrace at last the more shameful. There is no credit in a sinful way.

      II. The utter ruin of the royal family is here foretold, together with the desolation of The royal city.

      1. The royal family is to be wholly extirpated. The Medes and Persians, that are to be employed in this destroying work, are ordered, when they have slain Belshazzar, to prepare slaughter for his children (Isaiah 14:21; Isaiah 14:21) and not to spare them. The little ones of Babylon must be dashed against the stones,Psalms 137:9. These orders sound very harshly; but, (1.) They must suffer for the iniquity of their fathers, which is often visited upon the children, to show how much God hates sin and is displeased at it, and to deter sinners from it, which is the end of punishment. Nebuchadnezzar had slain Zedekiah's sons (Jeremiah 52:10), and, for that iniquity of his, his seed are paid in the same coin. (2.) They must be cut off now, that they may not rise up to possess the land and do as much mischief in their day as their fathers had done in theirs--that they may not be as vexatious to the world by building cities for the support of their tyranny (which was Nimrod's policy, Genesis 10:10; Genesis 10:11) as their ancestors had been by destroying cities. Pharaoh oppressed Israel in Egypt by setting them to build cities, Exodus 1:11. The providence of God consults the welfare of nations more than we are aware of by cutting off some who, if they had lived, would have done mischief. Justly may the enemies cut off the children: For I will rise up against them, saith the Lord of hosts (Isaiah 14:22; Isaiah 14:22), and if God reveal it as his mind that he will have it done, as none can hinder it, so none need scruple to further it. Babylon perhaps was proud of the numbers of her royal family, but God had determined to cut off the name and remnant of it, so that none should be left, to have both the sons and grandsons of the king slain; and yet we are sure he never did, nor ever will do, any wrong to any of his creatures.

      2. The royal city is to be demolished and deserted, Isaiah 14:23; Isaiah 14:23. It shall be a possession for solitary frightful birds, particularly the bittern, joined with the cormorant and the owl, Isaiah 24:11; Isaiah 24:11. And thus the utter destruction of the New-Testament Babylon is illustrated, Revelation 18:2. It has become a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. Babylon lay low, so that when it was deserted, and no care taken to drain the land, it soon became pools of water, standing noisome puddles, as unhealthful as they were unpleasant: and thus God will sweep it with the besom of destruction. When a people have nothing among them but dirt and filth, and will not be made clean with the besom of reformation, what can they expect but to be swept off the face of the earth with the besom of destruction?