Calvary Road Baptist Church
“A Survey Of Satanic & Demonic Warfare In Isaiah”
Isaiah
Our survey of Satanic and demonic warfare brings us to the first of the Old Testament books referred to as the major prophets (owing to their size), the book of Isaiah. We take up Isaiah at this time because nothing of note in Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon stirred even the slightest interest by scholars who have studied such issues. My search of those books did not produce anything of significance related to Satanic or demonic activity. The last look we took at Satanic and Demonic warfare was a survey of the Psalms.
I not only surveyed those books as thoroughly as I could with the time available to me, but I also relied upon Clinton E. Arnold, 3 Crucial Questions About Spiritual Warfare, Lewis Sperry Chafer, Satan - His Motive and Methods, Hobart E. Freeman, An Introduction To The Old Testament Prophets, Michael S. Heiser’s Angels: What The Bible Really Says About God’s Heavenly Host and Demons: What The Bible Really Says About The Powers Of Darkness, Dave Hunt and T. A. McMahon, The New Spirituality, Sydney H. T. Page, Powers Of Evil: A Biblical Study of Satan & Demons, and Archie T. Wright, The Origin Of Evil Spirits.
Because of the enormity of the book of Isaiah and the other major prophets, my approach will be to divide my message into three main divisions. First, I will provide an overview of the book of Isaiah as a general introduction, much as you would find in a study Bible. Second, I will draw attention to pertinent words and some passages the words appear in. Finally, I will close with a treatment of the most obvious passage in Isaiah related to Satanic and demonic matters.
First, AN INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH
As to the nature of the book of Isaiah.
The prophet’s ministry was concerned primarily with Judah and Jerusalem (1:1) at a very crucial period of the nation’s history (c. 739-700 b.c.) which formed the background for his prophecies. Several of his most significant messages are directly related to the critical circumstances encountered by Judah in the second half of the eighth century b.c., such as the Syro-Ephraimitic war (734) and the Sennacherib crisis (701). His prophecies are by no means limited to Judah, however, as he pronounces judgment upon Babylon, Assyria and Egypt, as well as upon the surrounding nations, and occasionally upon Israel.[1]
The importance of the prophecy is indicated by the frequent quotations from it by the New Testament writers and by the Lord Himself. Besides numerous allusions and quotations where the prophet’s name is not given, there are twenty-one quotations by name. Christ inaugurated His public ministry with a quotation from the Prophet Isaiah (Luke 4:17 ff.), and later referred to him in explaining the parable of the sower (Matt. 13:14 f.).[2]
As to the themes of the book of Isaiah.
Isaiah has always been considered the greatest of the Hebrew prophets and is known as the evangelist of the Old Testament. There are two principal themes in the book: judgment (chaps. 1-39) and redemption (chaps. 40-66). As chapter 1 introduces the first theme whereby the prophet denounces the corruption of Jerusalem and its impending judgment, chapter 40 announces the second with a message of comfort and the promise of redemption. As a sign of the latter, Isaiah predicts the birth of a Deliverer (7:14) as well as His spiritual work of deliverance (chap. 53).[3]
The book of Isaiah abounds with Messianic prophecies concerning the Messiah’s person, work, and kingdom, especially in its millennial aspect. Isaiah predicts His virgin birth (7:14); His deity and eternal kingdom (9:1-7); His humanity (a branch of the root of Jesse, 11:1) and righteous reign (11:2-5); and His vicarious sufferings and death (52:13-53:12). Among the prophecies concerning the millennium and related events are chapters 2; 11-12; 24-27; 59-66.[4]
While the principal theme of the first section of the book is judgment and that of the latter, redemption and deliverance, prophecies concerning both judgment and redemption occur throughout the two divisions of the single prophecy. These two major divisions consist of eight subdivisions: chapters 1-12; 13-23; 24-27; 28-35; 36-39; 40-48; 49-55; 56-66.
As to the highlights of the book of Isaiah.
This is very subjective, and our time constraints will force me leave out what you might be persuaded I should have included. Be that as it may, I mention but five things:
First, there is Isaiah’s graphic description of the moral and spiritual condition of the degenerate nation at the time he began his ministry. The nation, he warns, can avoid her inevitable judgment only if she, by genuine repentance, turns from her present course back to the Lord, who in vain invites the sinful people, “Come now and let us reason together, ... though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land” (1:18-19).[5] This establishes the starting point for any interaction between God and a sinner, that individual’s sinfulness and the prospect of forgiveness and cleansing is the starting point. This is foundational.
Second, there is Isaiah’s vision of Christ in preincarnate glory, 6.1:
“In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.”
So understood from the Apostle John’s declaration in John 12.41, further attesting to both Christ’s deity and eternity, where we read,
“These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him.”
Third, there is Isaiah’s prediction and recording of Christ’s virgin birth, Isaiah 7.14:
“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”
Fourth, there is Isaiah’s prediction of the Messiah’s sufferings and glory, in Isaiah 52.13-53.12. Sadly, we haven’t the time to read that prediction, but parents would be wise to consider rewarding their children for memorizing and being able to recite this passage word letter perfect. I once rewarded the first student in our school $50 who could recite the entire passage without error.
Fifth, and it is no surprise that commentators do not emphasize this passage, there is what appears to be a record of the fall of Lucifer imbedded in a larger proclamation of God’s judgment against Babylon, in Isaiah 14.12-17.[6] I will return to this passage for the third main division of this message.
Next, PERTINENT WORDS AND PASSAGES IN ISAIAH
If Greek is recognized as a language with a great capacity for abstraction and philosophic expression, Hebrew is a language with a great capacity for imagery that is dependent upon context. We will see some of that as we proceed.
Isaiah 2:18:
“And the idols he shall utterly abolish.”
lyla ('eliyl) is found eighteen times in the Hebrew Scriptures and ten times in Isaiah. Always translated idols in Isaiah and almost always idols everywhere else.[7]
Transliterated lilith, this word usually refers to flying night demons who were regarded primarily as demons who seduced men in their dreams, who murdered young children, who were special threats during childbirth, and who have recently emerged as positive symbols for contemporary Jewish feminists.[8]
Isaiah 6.2:
“Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.”
Seraphim are winged guardian creatures, not correctly identified as angels since angels are only those who are always messengers. The word seraphim, being a plural form of sarap, deriving from the Hebrew noun for serpent, it is translated snake in Numbers 21.6 and Isaiah 14.29. The verb form of saraph means to burn.[9]
The word is found seven times in the Old Testament, used three times by Moses and four times in Isaiah. However, only in the two Isaiah chapter 6 verses is the Hebrew word transliterated to seraphim, with the other passages translating the term fiery serpents.[10] Would the seraphim have the appearance of flaming winged serpents?
Isaiah 13 is a chapter you might want to read, though we haven’t the time at present.
I mentioned earlier that Isaiah 13 contains a pronouncement against Babylon, and we find the phrase “the LORD of hosts” repeated in the chapter. In connection with “the LORD of hosts” are those beings who are the LORD’s hosts, His supernatural fighters, if you will, that God uses to execute divine judgment.[11]
The LORD’s warriors, gibborim, are mentioned in Isaiah 13.3, there translated “mighty ones.” The word is used eight times in Isaiah, at least once to describe God.[12]
Isaiah 13.21:
“But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there.”
The LXX translates the Hebrew word “wild beasts” into the Greek word daimon. “Doleful creatures” is found in the LXX as sirens, beings who lured sailors to their deaths with beautiful singing.[13] “Satyrs” translates as a Hebrew word meaning “demons (with he-goat’s form, or feet).”[14]
What is meant by these terms are supernatural beings of some kind that are evil and associated with gross idolatry.
Isaiah 14.29:
“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.”
Here is our word seraphim again, translated “fiery flying serpent” in this verse.[15]
Isaiah 19.13-14:
13 The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Noph are deceived; they have also seduced Egypt, even they that are the stay of the tribes thereof.
14 The LORD hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit.
Take note of the words “perverse spirit” in verse 14. I am persuaded this is one of those instances when God dispatched one of His holy angels to properly influence someone, but the person influenced was disturbed by the influence and the angel was felt by him to be “perverse.”[16]
This would be roughly analogous to the unpleasant sensation of being convicted by the Holy Spirit, so that the Holy Spirit makes one feel badly despite the beneficial effect of the Spirit’s reproving ministry on the individual.
Isaiah 24.21:
“And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.”
This verse speaks of the impending judgment of the “high ones,” the “patron angels of the nations ... These heavenly powers wielding territorial influence through the kings of the earth may be truly powerful, but they have underestimated the infinite wisdom and almighty power of their Creator. They will most assuredly meet their doom.”[17]
Isaiah 26.13:
“O LORD our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion over us: but by thee only will we make mention of thy name.”
This verse serves to remind us that the word for God, Elohim, can refer to any incorporeal being, any nonphysical being. What is to be noted here is that the LORD is our God, Jehovah is our Elohim. Among the supernatural beings that exist, there is only One who is our Creator and our Sovereign.[18]
Isaiah 34.1-4:
1 Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it.
2 For the indignation of the LORD is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter.
3 Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcases, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood.
4 And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree.
“Several passages in the Old Testament describes an end-times conflict involving the army of the holy ones unleashing the wrath of God on both his earthly and heavenly enemies.”[19] This is one such passage.
“The apocalyptic judgment of the day of the Lord is enacted in both the earthly and supernatural realms.”[20] Make no mistake, though they inflict great harm during this era, evil spirits will no more escape the wrath of God on Judgment Day than will sinners who perish without Christ. God’s enemies, both human and supernatural, are doomed.
There are numerous other passages in Isaiah that bear directly on Satanic and demonic activity, but we have seen enough to prove the point.
Finally, THE MOST OBVIOUS PASSAGE IN ISAIAH RELATED TO THE ACTIVITIES OF SATAN AND DEMONS
Isaiah 14.12-15:
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.
Michael Heiser’s comments about this passage are worth considering:
“It is useful to first note that the content of Isaiah 14:12–15 and Ezekiel 28:1–19 overlaps in a variety of ways. This is not in dispute among scholars. There is also consensus that both passages are aimed at human kings (Babylon and Tyre, respectfully) and share elements of the literary genres of a mocking taunt and a lament in their characterizations of those kings. When it comes to the original context (or source) of the material used in both passages to mock/lament the demise of these kings, scholars disagree sharply.
Some scholars (this writer included) believe that, while each prophetic taunt/lament is directed at a human king, both passages draw on the primeval tale of a divine rebellion to portray the respective kings the way they do.”[21]
“In Isaiah 14:13, the hubris of the king of Babylon is analogized with that of a rebel who sought to displace the God of heaven: I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high.”[22]
Allow me to summarize the thrust of this prophetic pronouncement that I place at the time of Satan’s final judgment by God in anticipation of his consignment to the lake of fire:
Isaiah 14.12:
“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!”
This reminds me of Luke 10.18, where the Savior commented when the seventy returned and expressed delight that even the devils were subject to them through His name:
“And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.”
Isaiah 14.13-14:
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.
Only the LORD would have known what was in his heart, the five “I wills.” The highest of God’s creatures, Lucifer felt humiliated that God’s assigned place of service was Earth, not aware that this place where humanity was created would be the focus of God’s activities. So he rebelled and set on a scheme of self-exaltation to be like the most High, putting him on the course of pride and untruth from then until now.
Isaiah 14.15:
“Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.”
This will be his end. This will be his eternal destiny, and the destinies of all the other supernatural beings who followed his lead, as well as those of the human race who die under his influence without Christ.
Since the focus of God’s Word is God and His dealings with humanity, the truth about Satan and the demons is not presented as forthrightly in Scripture as are the truths about God and the human race. However, as God’s revelation is presented from book to book in the Bible we learn more and more. In Job and the Psalms we learned a bit more about the supernatural creatures God fashioned before Genesis 1.1 and the creation of the time-space-matter continuum, those incorporeal beings being witnesses to God’s creation.
From Genesis chapter three we were made aware that at least one of them took the form of a serpent and seduced Eve and then Adam into sin. And throughout the historical books we saw evidence of demonic activity through the means of idols and pagan religious practice.
But in Isaiah, and when we come to Ezekiel, we are given glimpses into the beginnings of supernatural rebellion against God, and what their end will be. They will be finally defeated, along with any human beings who align with their wicked and rebellious cause.
Wonderfully, what is also found in Isaiah is the prediction of the arrival of the virgin-born Messiah. And that is a very good thing, indeed, for He has come, and will come again.
__________
[1] Hobart E. Freeman, An Introduction To The Old Testament Prophets, (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1968), page 191.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid., pages 191-192.
[5] Ibid., page 192.
[6] See footnote for Isaiah 14:12-14 from John MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible, (Nashville: Word Publishing, 1997), page 977, “Jesus’ use of v. 12 to describe Satan’s fall (Luke 10:18, cf. Rev. 12:8-10) has led many to see more than a reference to the king of Babylon. Just as the Lord addressed Satan in His words to the serpent (Gen. 3:14,15), this inspired dirge speaks to the king of Babylon and to the devil who energized him. See Ezek. 28:12-17 for similar language for the king of Tyre and Satan behind him.”
[7] Isaiah 2.8, 18, 20; 10.10, 11; 19.1, 3; 31.7
[8] Sydney H. T. Page, Powers Of Evil: A Biblical Study of Satan & Demons, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1995), page 71.
[9] Michael S. Heiser, Angels: What The Bible Really Says About God’s Heavenly Host, (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2018), page 25-26.
[10] Numbers 21.6, 8; Deuteronomy 8.15; Isaiah 6.2, 6; 14.29; 30.6
[11] Angels, pages 52-55 and Michael S. Heiser, Demons: What The Bible Really Says About The Powers Of Darkness, (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2020), page 88 note 19.
[12] Isaiah 3.2; 5.22; 9.6; 10.21; 13.3; 21.17; 42.13; 49.24-25
[13] Demons, pages 27-29, 52-54, 184.
[14] Francis Brown, S. R. Driver & Charles A. Briggs, The New Brown-Driver-Briggs-Gesenius Hebrew And English Lexicon, (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1979), page 972 III.
[15] Angels, page 25.
[16] Demons, pages 190n32, 197 and Angels, page 4,
[17] Clinton E. Arnold, 3 Crucial Questions About Spiritual Warfare, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 1997), page 151.
[18] Angels, page 29n2.
[19] Ibid., page 98.
[20] Ibid., page 106.
[21] Demons, page 67.
[22] Angels, page 9.
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