How art thou fallen from heaven, Lucifer, son of the morning! Thou art cut down to the ground, that didst prostrate the nations!
The setting is God's judgment on Babylon, and at its centre comes this cry over a light that dropped out of the sky. Two questions hang over the verse: who is addressed, and how did something so bright end up on the ground?
The familiar name "Lucifer" is not Hebrew. Older English versions read "Lucifer, son of the morning" where the ESV has "Day Star, son of Dawn":
The name means "light-bringer" in Latin. It translates the Hebrew word helel, which is linked with "morning star." It is given in irony to the king of Babylon, because in his pride he said he would exalt his throne above the stars of God. He resembles the leader of this world in the last days (Revelation 13:1-10).
Commentators differ here. One reading keeps the address on a man: the ruler who holds the power Nebuchadnezzar once held, and who falls at the moment Israel is delivered:
The king of Babylon is meant here, the final holder of the power that was first placed in the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. It is the last head of the beast (Revelation 17). The context assumes that his destruction happens at the same time as the deliverance and blessing of Israel. In any full sense the scene is still future. Calling Satan "Lucifer" probably has no ground, except in the imagination of poets or the mistaken readings of early church writers.
Others hear a second voice in the passage, arguing that the words outrun any human king and describe the power standing behind him:
Even when the prophet announces God's judgment on ancient, pagan Babylon, the Holy Spirit looks forward to the symbolic Babylon that Nebuchadnezzar's city only pictured… The prophet's language goes beyond a simple description of that pagan king and his city… Lucifer, son of the morning, seems to be a reference to what Satan was before he fell. The words of his heart, "above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will make myself like the Most High," are the pride that caused his fall.
On the reading that sees Satan here, one thing lies at the root, and everything else grows out of it:
His sin began with pride. Out of that came the determination to be independent of God, and to be as God. He would rule a kingdom of his own, a kingdom of darkness, with the knowledge of God completely shut out. This kingdom carries the character of its founder. By its very nature it must oppose God and His kingdom in everything.
The order of events is what stings: he gets what he wanted, for a short time, and that is what ruins him.
The man called "the beast" will do homage to the devil and get the kingdom for a brief spell. For that same brief spell Satan will be openly acknowledged as "god," and so will seem to achieve what he has wanted from the beginning. We find a prophetic reference to it in Isaiah 14:12-14. "I will ascend… I will make myself like the Most High." Yet the result is, "How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn!" Reaching his cherished desire is the prelude to his fall.
One writer holds the two readings together: the king who laid the nations low is Satan's instrument. When he falls, the whole earth feels it:
The king of Babylon is only Satan's instrument… And when he is laid low, the earth is at rest. Does this not look forward to millennial rest, when Satan will be bound for a thousand years? (Isaiah 14:4-20.)
Scripture has another day-star, and the two could not be more different:
The day-star of the prophetic word is far from being Christ. He is Christ's enemy — the king of Babylon, the enemy of the Lord of glory, destined for destruction by the power of God. In Christ we find the glory of One who is above the sun, moon, and stars. He has no need to say in His heart, "I will make myself like the Most High." For He was and is the Most High — the lowly Man who once came into this world, by suffering in atonement to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. He snatched at no glory that was not His. He stooped down and gave up His own glory for God's glory, obeying even to death on the cross.
- Name. "Day Star" translates helel, "light-bringer" — a title handed out in irony to a king who wanted his throne above the stars of God.
- Ambition. Pride is the root; from it grows the demand to be independent of God and to rule a rival kingdom of darkness.
- Reach. Commentators differ. Some hold that the king of Babylon is meant, the last holder of imperial power. Others hear behind him what Satan was before he fell.
- Reversal. Getting what he wanted is not the triumph but the trigger. The height he reaches measures the drop to the ground.
- Rest. When the one who laid the nations low is himself laid low, the earth is quiet. The true Morning Star, who snatched at no glory but stooped to the cross, is the One left shining.
And thou that didst say in thy heart, I will ascend into the heavens, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit upon the mount of assembly, in the recesses of the north;
This boast is not shouted from a throne. It is said in the heart, where no one else hears it. Commentators read it on two levels: a human king of Babylon, and behind him an older ambition that first ruined a creature in heaven.
This verse and the next repeat "I will" again and again. One writer counts them, then sets them beside Christ, who moved the opposite way.
Notice the five-fold repetition of "I will." The very essence of sin is the assertion of the will of the creature against the Creator. In Genesis 2, God said to Adam, "You shall not"; but in Genesis 3, tempted by Satan, Adam virtually said "I will." Philippians 2 gives the complete contrast. There is the One who was "the Most High." His throne was "above the stars of God." He could not "ascend," because no place was higher than the one He already held. He came down and took the form of a Servant. Satan sought to exalt himself, and he will be brought low. Christ humbled Himself, and He is exalted, and will be exalted still.
Commentators differ over how far the figure reaches. Some trace a shift within the chapter itself, from a man to the power working through him.
Isaiah's prophecy in these verses applies first to the visible king — verses 4-11. The Lord will break his sceptre and cast him into hell; Revelation 19 explains this more fully. But in verses 12-15, we seem to move from the visible king to Satan, the one who will appoint him. Satan's original sin was his attempt to lift himself up to equality with God. He too is to be "brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit."
Others keep the human ruler in view, but as a pattern of a later one. They also warn against mixing up two figures who work together in the same evil.
The king of Babylon sets forth no other than the last head of the Beast, just as Nebuchadnezzar was the first of that line. We must keep the imperial chief of the last days separate from the religious head, the antichrist. We must be all the more careful here. Their policy is similar and they are partners in evil, so writers old and new keep confusing the two.
Read the boast line by line. Each claim — heaven, the stars, the mount in the north — matches something that already belongs to Christ.
This king claims for himself exactly all the privileges, all the rights, of Christ. "I will ascend to heaven" — what only Christ has done. "Above the stars of God I will set my throne on high" — the throne of Christ is above principalities and powers. "I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north" — "It is the palace of the great king," the king of Israel at Jerusalem. Christ is to come with clouds; this one says, "I will ascend above the heights of the clouds." His end is, "Yet you shall be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit."
To claim Zion, the city of the great King, is bold. One writer sets this claim beside a bolder one still.
"The king of Babylon" pictures the last holder of the imperial power that began with that Gentile empire. He said in his heart, "I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north… I will be like the Most High." This may sound so high that nothing could reach higher. But to take mount Zion in the far reaches of the north, the city of the great King, is not so great an invasion of what belongs to God alone as to sit in the sanctuary, showing himself to be God.
The root was not a lack of dignity but discontent with a dignity already given.
His fall came from not being content with the very high place God had given him as a creature — "the anointed cherub who covers" (Ezekiel 28:14). He dared to say in his heart, "I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high…" What a fall was his! And his end will be most sad — "thrown into the lake of fire" (Revelation 20:10).
The wish will be granted for a moment. That granting is what brings the ruin.
For a brief spell Satan will be openly acknowledged as "god," and so seem to reach what he has wanted from the beginning. We find a prophetic reference to it in Isaiah 14:12-14… Yet the result is, "How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!" The achievement of his dearest desire is the prelude to his fall.
- Heart — the sin starts inside, where no one hears it: a will set against the Creator, five times over.
- Discontent — the climb begins with refusing the high place already given, not with lacking one.
- Theft — every rung of the ladder (heaven, the stars, the mount, the clouds) is a right that belongs to Christ alone.
- Reach — the claim on Zion is bold; sitting in God's sanctuary as God is bolder still.
- Reversal — the one who says "I will ascend" goes down to the pit; the One who descended is the One God exalts.
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High
This is the last of five boasts. They climb step by step from a throne on earth to the throne of God itself — and the climb ends in the pit. Two questions follow. Whose voice is this, the king of Babylon or the spirit behind him? And what does the claim "like the Most High" ask for?
The force of the verse lies in its repetition. One writer counts the pattern and finds sin itself in it. He then points to the one Person who moved the other way:
Verses 13 and 14 are most striking. Notice the fivefold repetition of "I will." The very essence of sin is the assertion of the creature's will against the Creator. In Genesis 2, God said to Adam, "You shall not"; but in Genesis 3, tempted by Satan, Adam in effect said "I will." Philippians 2 gives the complete contrast. There we see the One who was "the Most High," whose throne was "above the stars of God." He could not "ascend," since there was no place higher than the one He occupied. Yet He came down and took the form of a Servant. Satan sought to exalt himself and is to be brought low. Christ humbled Himself, and He is, and shall yet be, exalted.
Commentators differ over the speaker. Some see the chapter moving from the human ruler to the spiritual power behind him:
Isaiah's prophecy in these verses applies first to the visible king — verses 4-11… But in verses 12-15, we seem to pass from the visible king to Satan, whose chosen man this king is to be. Satan's own first sin was trying to lift himself up to equality with God. He too is to be "brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit," as we also see in Revelation 20.
Others hold that the whole passage stays with a man. This writer also questions the name "Lucifer," which older translations use in verse 12:
The king of Babylon is meant here. He is the last holder of the power that was first placed in the hands of Nebuchadnezzar… In any full sense the scene is still future. For calling Satan "Lucifer" there is probably no ground, except the fancy of poets or the mistaken readings of early church writers.
The boast reaches for equality with God under one particular name. One writer shows where that name belongs:
"The Most High" appears in Isaiah 14:14, often from Genesis 14:18 onward, again and again in the Psalms, and also in the Aramaic part of Daniel. It is the title He will display in the future kingdom, when all rivals vanish into nothing.
Line by line, each boast copies something that belongs to Christ — the clouds included:
It is exactly all the privileges, all the rights of Christ, that this king claims for himself. "I will ascend into heaven" — what Christ only has done. "I will exalt myself above the stars of God" — the throne of Christ is above all rulers and powers. "I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north" — "It is the palace of the great king," the king of Israel at Jerusalem. Christ is to come with clouds. "I will ascend above the heights of the clouds," says this one. His end is, "Yet you shall be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit."
He gets what he wants for a short time. That is where his fall begins:
For a brief spell Satan will be openly acknowledged as "god." He will seem to achieve what he has wanted from the beginning. We find a prophetic reference to it in Isaiah 14:12-14… Yet the result is, "How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!" Reaching his dearest desire is the prelude to his fall.
This ambition is not confined to prophecy. One writer traces the spirit of Diotrephes, a man named in the New Testament, back to this verse:
We know from Scripture that his fall came from one thing. He was not content with the very high place God had given him as a creature… He dared to say in his heart that he would ascend to heaven and make himself like the Most High (Isaiah 14:13-14). What a fall was his… Here we trace the source of the evil spirit of Diotrephes, and of all who have gone the same way from his day to this.
- Will. Five times "I will." The creature's will set against the Creator's is the essence of sin.
- Wish. He wants more than power. He wants the rights of Christ, down to His coming with the clouds.
- Word. "Most High" is God's name for the coming kingdom, the day when every rival vanishes into nothing.
- Whose. Commentators differ. Some read verses 12-15 as passing to Satan. Others say the final king of Babylon is meant all through.
- Way down. Getting what he wanted comes right before the fall. The same spirit shows up wherever someone refuses the place God gave.