August 28, 2022 - Morning Star, Son of the Dawn (Hebrews 14:1-23)

Morning Star, Son of the Dawn! (Isaiah 14:1-23)

Rev. Myung-Sin Choi

“1 For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will still choose Israel, and settle them in their own land. The strangers will be joined with them, and they will cling to the house of Jacob. 2 Then people will take them and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess them for servants and maids in the land of the Lord; they will take them captive whose captives they were, and rule over their oppressors. 3 It shall come to pass in the day the Lord gives you rest from your sorrow, and from your fear and the hard bondage in which you were made to serve, 4 that you will take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say: 'How the oppressor has ceased, The golden city ceased! 5 The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked, The scepter of the rulers; 6 He who struck the people in wrath with a continual stroke, He who ruled the nations in anger, Is persecuted and no one hinders. 7 The whole earth is at rest and quiet; They break forth into singing. 8 Indeed the cypress trees rejoice over you, And the cedars of Lebanon, Saying, 'Since you were cut down, No woodsman has come up against us.' 9 ‘Hell from beneath is excited about you, To meet you at your coming; It stirs up the dead for you, All the chief ones of the earth; It has raised up from their thrones All the kings of the nations. 10 They all shall speak and say to you: 'Have you also become as weak as we? Have you become like us? 11 Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, And the sound of your stringed instruments; The maggot is spread under you, And worms cover you.' 12 'How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! 13 For you have said in your heart: 'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.' 15 Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit. 16 ‘Those who see you will gaze at you, And consider you, saying: 'Is this the man who made the earth tremble, Who shook kingdoms, 17 Who made the world as a wilderness And destroyed its cities, Who did not open the house of his prisoners?' 18 'All the kings of the nations, All of them, sleep in glory, Everyone in his own house; 19 But you are cast out of your grave Like an abominable branch, Like the garment of those who are slain, Thrust through with a sword, Who go down to the stones of the pit, Like a corpse trodden underfoot. 20 You will not be joined with them in burial, Because you have destroyed your land And slain your people. The brood of evildoers shall never be named. 21 Prepare slaughter for his children Because of the iniquity of their fathers, Lest they rise up and possess the land, And fill the face of the world with cities.' 22 ‘For I will rise up against them," says the Lord of hosts, 'And cut off from Babylon the name and remnant, And offspring and posterity,' says the Lord. 23 'I will also make it a possession for the porcupine, And marshes of muddy water; I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,' says the Lord of hosts.”

Introduction

Two weeks ago, in the early morning of August 15th, a man was shot in Koreatown. Two cars got into a car accident and it escalated into an argument. One of the cars involved in the accident, a woman was inside and called someone over to the site of the accident. The man who was called by the woman shot the Korean man, who was an owner of a Korean karaoke. This man was actually the man who gave a donation when a Korean salon experienced a shooting a few months ago. The owner of the Korean salon was a shaman and was the owner who I tried to share the gospel to, two years ago. When I shared the gospel to the Korean owner as well as to the customers at the salon, she didn’t like what I was doing so I stopped what I was doing. The man who was shot gave a donation to this shaman. This was in the Korean news and it was very unfortunate news. When I heard that this man passed away, I wondered if this man received the gospel or not, and I got worried. What is important is that when you are in a car, you may get into a car accident and if that happens, always yield to the people who you got into an accident with. Since this car accident happened in the early morning hours, it is late at night and it is very dangerous. Just like Rev. Kwang-Su Ryu always says, there are so many mentally ill people out in the world and you don’t know what they will or can do to you. Think of it as a mission offering and yield to people around you. Just say one thing to them, “I beleive in Jesus and may you believe in Jesus Christ too.” I truly believe that your offerings will bring great blessings to you. Today’s sermon is very important. I thought that this message was so important that I wanted to interpret this Biblical passage with you all. Last week, I spoke to you about the kingdom of God and the Day of the Lord which is the day of Judgment.

1. The Day of the Lord

1) The day of a new beginning

Verses 1-5 - You can interpret the Day of the Lord as the judgment day but it can also be viewed as a new day, a new start.

Verse 3 - On the Day of the Lord also means a new start, a new beginning.

Verse 2 - It may be a new start for the believers but what about the sinners and the corrupted?

Verse 4 - Babylon received God’s judgment but on that day, it was a day of liberation for the believers but for the nonbelievers and Babylonians, it was a day of judgment and destruction. A golden city and its city walls were created with gold and on top of the temple, it was built with a great, big roof that allowed great chariots to stand on top of it. The city was so strong and mighty.

Verse 5 - Who broke it? It was God. The fact that God broke it means that the last king of Babylon perished and passed away. This started the Judgment Day for Babylon. Where did King Belshazzar go?

2) The amazing sight of hell

Verse 9 - Sheol is referring to grave, hell. Belshazzar experienced death and he ended up going to hell. This is astounding. The book of Isaiah explains the most in depth regarding how hell is like. What happens in hell, the book of Isaiah explains it very explicitly. It tells what happens when King Belshazzar goes to hell; all of the condemned souls of this world will go to hell. All of these condemned souls mean, “Weak, powerless, and helpless” beings. King Belshazzar may have conquered many nations but you become nothing when you go to hell, you become a weak being without any power and live just like a shadow. All of those helpless souls in hell, they all came to meet and greet King Belshazzar at the gate of hell. All of the kings who were seized by the King of Babylon, they all arose when the King of Babylon, King Belshazzar entered into hell. When they stood up, they gave Belshazzar a reception and started mocking him.

Verse 10 - The kings were all telling King Belshazzar that he was just the same as them even though he was the king of Babylon on earth. King Belshazzar claimed on earth that he was the son of god but when he came to hell, he was nothing and was just as powerless as everyone else in hell. This person who seemed so powerful on earth, before God and in hell, he was absolutely powerless and weak and in the end, could not defeat death. No matter who you are, you cannot defeat death.

Verse 11 - It talks about the location of where King Belshazzar went in hell. All maggots were covering him and worms were falling on top of him. The maggots became his bed and the worms were his blanket. On earth, he was sleeping with warm and soft blankets and pillows but what ended up happening? Maggots became his bed and worms were covering his entire body as a blanket.

Mark 9:48 “Where ‘Their worm does not die And the fire is not quenched.’ ” - This is what hell is like, the worms and maggots do not die. This means that the people in hell will never be able to rest but in eternal torment and suffering. How did this ended up happening to King Belshazzar?

2. The Sins of the Babylonian King

1) His sins before God

Verses 12-15 - The golden star is referring to the star that shines before the sun rises. That is why people called it the son of the morning. Many theologians said a lot of astounding things regarding this as they were interpreting it. One of the theologians was saying that this was referring to Satan but John Calvin interpreted this as King Belshazzar. This means that King Belshazzar tried to rise as high as the sun in the sky, this showed the arrogance of King Belshazzar. He tried to shine before the sun. He tried to show how bright he was shining and was showing his great pride and ego as the King of Babylon. No matter how bright a star may be, when the sun shines and rises, the star’s brightness disappears. This is what it is referring to.

2 Corinthians 11:4 “For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!” - Satan thought that he was a great and powerful being. Babylon seized and conquered many nations, and wherever they went, they raised their banner and told all people to only look at them. This didn’t end there.

Verse 13 - King Belshazzar was proclaiming that he will rise so high that he will rise above the angels in heaven. The fact that he will rise above the angels, this means that he was trying to conquer heaven. This shows the extent of King Belshazzar’s arrogance. At that time, in the north, there were great mountains and people had this mythology that all of the gods of the world would gather on top of these great mountains and hold their meetings there. King Belshazzar was saying that he will conquer all of the gods who sit on the northern mountains. King Belshazzar became so arrogant. It didn’t end there. King Belshazzar said that he will sit on the farthest side of the north.

Genesis 14:18 “Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High.” - This was referring to God. King Belshazzar was proclaiming that he would become as powerful as God. King Belshazzar was proclaiming that the ark of the covenant that the people of God in Judah were worshiping, King Belshazzar commanded his people to bring that to Babylon and worship him as well. King Belshazzar was saying that he was on the same level as God. If someone becomes arrogant, there is no limit to how high their ego and pride can go. When God saw this, God poured down His judgment to the King of Babylon and Babylon.

Verse 15 - God was saying that He will throw the King of Babylon to the most tormented place. When I heard this, you may think how could God do this? But for nonbelievers and our old past, this is the destiny that we were supposed to face. We used to live an idolatrous life and without God, and lived a life challenging God. After you knew God, you realized that was all sin. God is most happy when we live a walk of faith where we acknowledge and fear God. But for the King of Babylon, he also sinned against the people.

2) His sins before people

Verses 16-23 - All of the people in hell were staring at the King of Babylon as someone who was so great as someone who conquered the world. Wherever the King of Babylon went, he seized nations, people, and goods. Even though life and death is in God’s hands, the King of Babylon killed people as if the power of death was in his hands. You can see the sins of the King of Babylon in verse 18.

When a king died, they would hold a ceremony and build a tomb but when the King of Babylon died, it was said what happened to his tomb in verse 19. After the King of Babylon died, he wasn’t buried in a tomb but he was buried into the ground like any other dead corpse. They buried his body into the ground and just covered it with dirt. To the point where people wouldn’t know that the King of Babylon, King Belshazzar was buried there and walked over his dead body like it was nothing. God was saying that his dead corpse will be acknowledged like it is nothing but waste.

Not only that but God said what will happen to his next generations as well in verse 20. Many people want their future generations to be known but his generations will not have a name at all. They won’t be known at all.

Verse 21 - God will destroy the generations of kings of Babylon and of Babylon so that Babylon cannot rise ever again.

Verse 22 - They will make it where they cannot make any more cities and build up their people. After this incident and the fall of Babylon, the land of Iraq could not become a mighty or prosperous nation.

Verse 23 - The destruction of the land of Babylon also occurred. This will become an uninhabitable land and a land where people cannot live but where animals will end up living. This is an astounding message. When you look in history, the land of Babylon, many people couldn’t locate where it was for a long time. Assyria and Babylon, God destroyed both lands but there were no traces of Babylon left and people could not find Babylon. They couldn’t locate where Babylon was until a scientist discovered where Babylon was in the 1900s. He was digging in the ground and he found the castle of Babylon. God ended up flooding the land of Babylon. This was a historical event that did occur. When we look in the Bible, we can see it talking about people who go to hell and what hell is like.

3. The Covenant God Gave to Us

1) Those who went to hell in the New Testament

As you all know, there was a parable of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man wore luxury clothes and he would hold a feast every night. Even though he held a feast every night, he still maintained good health. But on the other hand, Lazarus was someone who was a beggar who ate the leftovers of the rich man’s feasts. The rich man gained the most success on earth and Lazarus was considered as the biggest failure on earth. It may be perceived that the rich man lived the most luxurious life and didn’t help Lazarus at all, and where Lazarus just dug in the trash to eat the leftovers. The rich man could be thankful for his wealth and could’ve given offerings to God but that did not happen at all.

Luke 16:24 “Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’ ” - This means that a rich man knew who God was and even though he knew who God was, he wasn’t able to give glory to God at all and didn’t have any thanksgiving. Lazarus, even though he dug in the trash, he had one thing and that was God. When you look at this parable, it speaks about how the rich man went to hell and he pleaded for just one drop of water. In hell, there is no water and nothing to eat. The rich man could eat whatever he wanted on earth but in hell, there was no water and food. From here, we need to hold onto the covenant of God. Who is a true person of success? Was the rich man really considered successful or Lazarus? I am not asking you to distinguish the difference between worldly success and no success. A true successful person is someone who takes God as their true master and Lord of their lives and heart. The person who has Jesus as their masters and Lord versus someone who doesn’t, it makes a big difference. The correct question to ask is if you are living a life where you have God as your true master of your life or not. King Belshazzar is still in hell living in torment and hell. Right now, we have been given the great covenant regarding the heavenly throne.

2) The reason for the blessing of the Throne

Satan will try to continuously attack us with his 12 strategies. He will even attack believers. How does he attack the believers? He will attack us through our minds and hearts. When you get attacked by Satan, you may fall into trials, leave the church, and fall into grumbling and complaints.

For Apostle Paul, he always contemplated on this Romans 7:24 “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” - The answer from here is for us to enjoy the blessing of the heavenly throne. When you enjoy the blessing of the heavenly throne, you will receive great power.

God is always waiting for you. It is so important for us to hold onto God and pray. God is waiting for our prayers. Why is God waiting? He wants to bless and answer us. No matter what kind of sinner you are, if you come before God and pray, then God will answer you. With this heart, we need to pray.

That is why God told us in Matthew 11:28 “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” - Make God our master and go before God, then we can enjoy the blessing of the heavenly throne.

We need to hold onto the characteristics of the church. Why did God save our church? To save the 237 nations and to heal the world. When we hold onto only Christ, then we can enjoy the blessing of the heavenly throne. Then God will give us the blessing to testify of the good news to the world.

Luke 10:17 “Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, 'Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.' ” - God who is inside of us is listening to our prayers and answering us, and showing evidence in our lives.

Conclusion

Ezekiel 18:23 “ 'Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?' says the Lord God, 'and not that he should turn from his ways and live?' ” - When you look at this message, when King Belshazzar went to hell and lived in torment, God was not pleased with this. God was actually saddened by this. The reason why Jesus came to earth; we were a sinner in the past and we were supposed to go to hell. And, we were supposed to go through the suffering and torment that King Belshazzar is experiencing right now but through God’s great grace, we became saved. In other words, through the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross, I was saved from all of this. If this is so, then we must participate in prayer to save people around us. May you become people of God who receive answers.