Over and over phrases and attitudes I find in the Bible jolt me.

Isaiah prophesied to the people of Israel, preparing them to trash talk their captors, the Babylonians, when finally freed from bondage.

On the day the Lord gives you relief from your suffering and turmoil…take up this taunt against the king of Babylon.

Isaiah started gently, referring to the natural world:

Even the junipers and the cedars of Lebanon gloat over you…

Not so bad, but he’s just warming up. Next he plays an scene from a horror movie:

The realm of the dead below is all astir to meet you…it rouses the spirits of the departed to greet you—it makes them rise from their thrones…all your pomp have been brought down to the grave…maggots are spread out beneath you and worms cover you.

Dragged into the underworld by the grasping hands of skeletal kings, dumped on a bed of maggots and covered with a blanket of worms. That’s legit.

A section of this passage refers to the fall of Satan:

How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You said in your heart…’I will make myself like the Most High.’ But you were brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit (see verses 12-15 for the full quote).

Trash talking the Babylonians, trash talking Satan. The King of the Universe trash talks whoever he wishes. Take note—pridefulness and putting oneself above God particularly draws his ire.

Which makes for a good lesson for all of us.

But I’ll admit, with football season starting, the fact that Isaiah taunted with such animation and creativity inspires me. Week zero here we come!

Isaiah 14 in week thirty-four of reading the Bible cover to cover

Photo by Brock Wegner