Audio Recording

Sermon Outline

Speaker: Rev. Tim Chang
Sermon Series: Come, Let Us Walk in the Light of the Lord

Isaiah 14:1-23 (ESV)
1 For the Lord will have compassion on Jacob and will again choose Israel, and will set them in their own land, and sojourners will join them and will attach themselves to the house of Jacob. 2 And the peoples will take them and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess them in the Lord's land as male and female slaves. They will take captive those who were their captors, and rule over those who oppressed them.

3 When the Lord has given you rest from your pain and turmoil and the hard service with which you were made to serve, 4 you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon:

“How the oppressor has ceased,
    the insolent fury ceased!
5 The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked,
    the scepter of rulers,
6 that struck the peoples in wrath
    with unceasing blows,
that ruled the nations in anger
    with unrelenting persecution.
7 The whole earth is at rest and quiet;
    they break forth into singing.
8 The cypresses rejoice at you,
    the cedars of Lebanon, saying,
‘Since you were laid low,
    no woodcutter comes up against us.’
9 Sheol beneath is stirred up
    to meet you when you come;
it rouses the shades to greet you,
    all who were leaders of the earth;
it raises from their thrones
    all who were kings of the nations.
10 All of them will answer
    and say to you:
‘You too have become as weak as we!
    You have become like us!’
11 Your pomp is brought down to Sheol,
    the sound of your harps;
maggots are laid as a bed beneath you,
    and worms are your covers.

12 “How you are fallen from heaven,
    O Day Star, son of Dawn!
How you are cut down to the ground,
    you who laid the nations low!
13 You said in your heart,
    ‘I will ascend to heaven;
above the stars of God
    I will set my throne on high;
I will sit on the mount of assembly
    in the far reaches of the north;
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
    I will make myself like the Most High.’
15 But you are brought down to Sheol,
    to the far reaches of the pit.
16 Those who see you will stare at you
    and ponder over you:
‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble,
    who shook kingdoms,
17 who made the world like a desert
    and overthrew its cities,
    who did not let his prisoners go home?’
18 All the kings of the nations lie in glory,
    each in his own tomb;
19 but you are cast out, away from your grave,
    like a loathed branch,
clothed with the slain, those pierced by the sword,
    who go down to the stones of the pit,
    like a dead body trampled underfoot.
20 You will not be joined with them in burial,
    because you have destroyed your land,
    you have slain your people.

“May the offspring of evildoers
    nevermore be named!
21 Prepare slaughter for his sons
    because of the guilt of their fathers,
lest they rise and possess the earth,
    and fill the face of the world with cities.”

22 “I will rise up against them,” declares the Lord of hosts, “and will cut off from Babylon name and remnant, descendants and posterity,” declares the Lord. 23 “And I will make it a possession of the hedgehog, and pools of water, and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” declares the Lord of hosts.

Sermon Outline

Remembering Past Promises (v. 1-2)
Confronting the Present Reality (v. 3-21)
Holding onto a Future Certainty (v. 22-23)

Prayer of Confession
Heavenly Father, the darkness of the world looms overs us. We fail to remember your promises from of old. We are prone to trust the powers of the world instead of yours. We struggle with despair and sometimes believe that hoping is in vain. But you are the sovereign and compassionate God who has made good on your promise by sending Jesus to be our salvation. May we trust in his finished work that gives us an enduring hope. Amen.

Questions for Reflection

What connected with you from the sermon or the passage?
Why do you think it was difficult for the Israelites to remember God’s promises? Why do you find it difficult to remember God’s promises?
How does the prophesied downfall of Babylon in Isaiah 14 illustrate the limits of worldly power?
Discuss the tension between confronting the present reality with all of its struggles along with God’s sovereignty.
Describes the differences between how Babylon shows power and how Jesus shows power.
In what ways do you need to hold onto the future certainty secured for us by Jesus?
What do you sense God calling you to do from this passage?

Read Ahead

Isaiah Sermon Series