Read Isaiah 13—18
Today’s Scripture: How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! Isaiah 14:12

Jeremiah had prophesied that the Babylonian captivity would last for only
seventy years. So, the capture of Babylon by Darius the Mede would be
good news to the Jews; for it would mean the end of their exile and
bondage.

The picture in Isaiah 14 is that of a mighty monarch whose pride brought
him to destruction. This is what happened to Belshazzar when Darius
captured Babylon in 539 BC. Isaiah described the king’s arrival in sheol,
the world of the dead, where the king’s wealth, glory, and power vanished.

Death is the great leveler; there are no kings in the world of the dead.
Lucifer (Isa. 14:12 KJV) is Latin for “morning star” and suggests that this
king’s glory did not last very long. The morning star is soon swallowed up
by the light of the sun.

The name Lucifer also indicates that Satan tries to imitate Jesus Christ,
who is “the bright and morning star” (Rev. 22:16 KJV). “I will be like the
most High” (Isa. 14:14 KJV) reveals his basic strategy, for he is an imitator.

Like the king of Babylon was, Satan will one day be humiliated and
defeated.

Something to Ponder
In what ways do some people today sinfully strive to “be like the most
High”?