Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
The thou is Lucifer, son of the morning, who is Satan, once a covering cherub next to Christ, most glorious in wisdom and beauty in a holy and joyful home, who is to be brought low from that exalted position to ruin in the grave and depths of the pit. His downfall came through pride and selfish ambition that corrupted his wisdom, as he sought to ascend and exalt his throne above the stars of God to be like the Most High, envying the honor given to the Son and claiming honor equal with Christ in seeking supremacy equal with God. With the angels he drew into disaffection and revolt he was overcome and cast out of heaven, losing its happiness and fellowship with God with his position, honor and authority. The verse foretells his final defeat, degradation, punishment and destruction as originator of evil, when he is left isolated on the desolated earth and brought down from his former exaltation to receive retribution for the sin and misery he brought into the world and to lose his dominion. His self-exaltation ending in ruin warns that those who presumptuously exalt themselves and trust in their own power instead of relying on God and giving Him glory will likewise be thrust out and brought low to certain ruin, even while he who was brought down continues as god of this world, planting his throne by selfishness and covetousness between worshippers and God.
Subject and Wording
The "thou" is Lucifer, son of the morning, who is Satan, once a covering cherub, wise and perfect in beauty. He was the most glorious and exalted angel next to Christ, holding a high position among the angels. His heavenly home was one of holiness and joy, and his beauty and intelligence and excellence were derived from God. A highly intellectual being in that high position became a rebel, showing that intellectual ability by itself does not protect anyone from Satan's power. The one who sought supremacy was brought down from his exalted place to destruction in the pit.
The verse belongs to the account in Isaiah 14:12-15 of Satan's rebellion in heaven and his defeat. Though exalted and holding a high position among the angels, he challenged God's purposes and authority. Envy and dissatisfaction led him to seek supremacy equal with God, to draw angels into disaffection and revolt, and to contaminate a large number of God's angels. He originated sin and led the first rebellion in heaven, and he and his followers were overcome and cast out of heaven and turned out for it. His bid for mastery failed, and he was brought down from his former honor and position.
"Thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit" means brought low from exalted position to ruin. It is a complete downfall to the grave and to the depths of the pit. His prideful attempt to exalt himself above God and to place himself beside God and claim a position next to the Creator ends in being brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. His refusal to accept the place God assigned him led to his fall from his high estate.
Cause of Downfall
His downfall was caused by pride, ambition, selfish desire and self-exaltation that corrupted his wisdom. He sought to ascend into heaven, to exalt his throne above the stars of God, and to be like the Most High in a place above God. That attempt to exalt himself to God's place ends in complete overthrow, being brought down from his exalted position to hell, to the sides of the pit, to the grave and ruin in the pit.
In particular he became envious of the honor God gave His Son and claimed he should be exalted to equal honor with Christ. He coveted greater power, sought supremacy equal with God, and purposed to dethrone God and take the place of the Most High. That desire for supremacy and self-exaltation to a higher position than Christ led to his expulsion from heaven with the angels he drew into rebellion and revolt, and to his descent from former honor and position to destruction. His bid for mastery failed, he lost his dominion, and through faith in the preached Word his kingdom still falls as people gain victory over him and he is cast out of minds before sanctified truth.
He became dissatisfied that God had not revealed every secret of His purposes to him and disregarded what God had revealed about his assigned work. He refused to accept the place God assigned him and would place himself beside God claiming a position next to the Creator. Though he held an exalted position among the angels, envy and dissatisfaction led him by secret working to challenge God's purposes and authority and to lead angels into disaffection and revolt. After he sought supremacy equal with God, he and his followers were cast out, losing position, honor and authority.
His course that began in the heavenly courts involved secret working, conniving and double-dealing, with satanic craft and art. He worshiped his own ideas and plans, cherishing wicked ambition and pride in the heart. He pompously insisted that his own schemes and propositions be received as superior wisdom, resenting opposition, boasting of being rich and increased with goods and having need of nothing, despising the good and the true while having knowledge and power without wisdom to use it. He refused correction and was expelled from heaven by justice, no longer able to claim mercy and love.
Expulsion from Heaven
After his rebellion he was overcome and expelled and cast out of heaven together with the angels who followed him and joined his revolt, losing its happiness and fellowship with God. His being brought down was a degradation from his former exalted place and position because he exalted himself and challenged divine authority. In losing that place he lost his position and honor and authority. The fallen angels retained intelligence but lost connection with God and power of discernment.
Being brought down from his exalted place did not destroy his powers, for he retained great strength and turned it against heaven's government. He has become more artful in tempting people and continues his rebellion against that government. The angels cast down for self-exaltation in wanting to be above Christ now work with him to deceive people and hinder God's work.
All his beauty and intelligence and excellence had been derived from God, but he misapplied his powers, broke his connection with God, and apostatized, though he had been one of the highest angels next to Christ and not a rough specimen of humanity. By practice he gains ever-increasing knowledge of transgression and ever-increasing energy in using that acquired knowledge, with poisoned thought and abuse of his powers to hurt and destroy God's heritage. He measures human daring by cruel satanic treatment of man against fellow man, where the more pain caused means the more complete the work of destruction and the more joy given to the fallen apostate.
His fall was not caused by any failure in God's government or by withdrawal of divine influence, which vindicates God's decrees by showing they were not responsible for sin. He fell from heaven for transgressing God's law. That fall proves that being once in grace does not mean always in grace, and demonstrates the sure result of breaking God's law.
Final Ruin Foretold
The verse foretells the overthrow of Lucifer as leader of the fallen angels and originator of evil, whose rebellion against God ends in defeat, degradation, punishment and destruction by being brought down from his former exalted position to the pit. His desire to exalt himself above Christ and claim the honor due to God, seeking to exalt himself to God's place, ends in his being brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. The image of descent to the pit accords with the account of Satan and the angels who joined his rebellion being cast out of heaven. At that overthrow he is left defeated and isolated on the desolated earth to face the effects of sin's curse.
He who sought to exalt himself above God will be brought down to the grave and the pit at his overthrow. There onlookers will examine him in astonishment, gazing narrowly at him and asking if this is the man that made the earth tremble, shook kingdoms and held prisoners captive. Christ breaks his hold and sets God's people free. He who lost heaven through rebellion will thus be brought low to the pit to receive retribution for the sin and misery he brought into the world. Having coveted greater power and sought to be like God and having been cast out of heaven with his followers, he will ultimately lose his dominion.
That defeat is also seen in the gospel's casting him out of people's minds, for through faith in the preached Word people gain victory over him and his kingdom falls before sanctified truth. His heart-plan to ascend into heaven, to exalt his throne above the stars of God, and to be like the Most High is the same exalting of self above all that is called God or worshiped that the man of sin acts out by sitting as God in the temple of God. The revealing of the man of sin is now taking place as the great controversy grows stronger toward the close of earth's history.
Warning and Present Activity
Satan's self-exaltation in heaven ended in his being cast out, thrust out and brought low to ruin, and that ruin warns that people who presumptuously exalt themselves and trust in their own power instead of relying on God and giving Him the glory will likewise be ruined with certain ruin. Fallen people who exalt themselves rather than rely on God face the same end as his being brought down. His pride and ambition brought about his expulsion from heaven and descent to the pit, and pride and ambition if left rooted in human nature also produce envy and strife and overshadow good qualities. The descent marks the consequence of rebellion against God and opposing His will by one who had held a high position, and those who murmur against God follow the evil one in pressing their own wills against His.
His being brought down from an exalted heavenly position because of wicked ambition and worship of his own ideas and plans, after refusing correction and being expelled by justice with no longer a claim on mercy and love, warns against claiming infallibility. Angels in heaven looked to Lucifer and placed confidence in his greatness and thereby lost the sense of the presence of Christ and God, and confidence must never in the same way be placed in human greatness, especially when false sentiments coming from such trust have to be met. A person's character and conduct can become like Lucifer's when resisting Christ and letting Satan shape them, for he sought his own way and exaltation above Christ and was cast down. His course that began in the heavenly courts with secret working, conniving and double-dealing, satanic craft and art, and proud boasting of being rich and increased with goods and having need of nothing, ends in being left outside heaven never to spoil its happiness, for that lukewarm, neither cold nor hot, pompous spirit despises the good and the true and the righteous, cannot appreciate true virtue, insists its own schemes and propositions be received as superior wisdom and resents opposition, has knowledge and power without wisdom to use it, is pronounced poor, wretched, blind and miserable and to be spued out of the mouth, and if admitted would educate itself to accuse the brethren having cast itself wholly on Satan's side.
Though brought down from heaven he succeeded in becoming the god of this world, for pride and ambition made him God's enemy and forfeited his position. Once glorious, he let desire for supremacy take hold and was expelled, then came to earth and entered commercialism with great zeal, and those who depart from the faith by refusing the light God gives are following him. Once an exalted covering cherub in a heavenly home of holiness and joy, he swerved from allegiance and abode not in the truth, fell from his high estate and with a large army of associate rebels was cast out to become the avowed antagonist of God, then planted his standard on earth and established a rival empire where all powers of evil combine against God's influence, and by selfishness and covetousness which is idolatry planted his throne between human worshippers and God so that talents entrusted to men are invested for building up his kingdom and Satan and not God is worshiped, leaving no means untried to attract attention to himself and conform men to his nature, to eclipse every ray of light and efface God's likeness by making men recipients of his apostate character and stamping his image on their souls, leaving two classes of followers of Christ and followers of Satan, actuated by the principle working in all children of disobedience and stimulated by intense hatred of the God he dishonored.
Ambition and selfish desire ruled him and led to loss and ruin of heavenly beings, and ideas governed by that same spirit lead others toward ruin when taught and followed. His bid for mastery and supremacy equal with God failed when he led angels into disaffection and revolt and was cast out with his followers and brought down from former honor and position, and since then he with his followers opposes God's cause and deceives the world with false claims about God and Christ. Once a covering cherub wise and perfect in beauty, envy entered his heart and he was cast out after losing heaven's riches and pure glory, and his present work is to destroy people and ruin souls, operating stealthily and hiding his true character and power, while Christ's coming to unite humanity with God threatened his power. The angels cast down because in self-exaltation they wanted to be above Christ now work to deceive people and hinder God's work. He who first brought temptation into the courts of heaven purposed to dethrone God and take the place of the Most High, failed and was brought down and cast out, and since that time works constantly against the peace and prosperity of the church, representing its authority when seeking to free members from corrupting influences as harsh and lacking sympathy and putting in hearts the belief that God is arbitrary and harsh. He is alive and watching every movement, and with satanic agencies, evil angels and men gone from the faith he hinders saving work by differences of opinion, confusion and a forbidding spirit and allures and deceives people to ruin, and his opposition is connected with distress caused by those agencies. God is now looking for a commandment-keeping people whom He can bring into heaven without causing a second rebellion after the first rebellion led by the most exalted angel next to Christ contaminated a large number of angels so they had to be turned out.
The thou is Lucifer, son of the morning, who is Satan, once a covering cherub next to Christ, most glorious in wisdom and beauty in a holy and joyful home, who is to be brought low from that exalted position to ruin in the grave and depths of the pit.
His downfall came through pride and selfish ambition that corrupted his wisdom, as he sought to ascend and exalt his throne above the stars of God to be like the Most High, envying the honor given to the Son and claiming honor equal with Christ in seeking supremacy equal with God.
With the angels he drew into disaffection and revolt he was overcome and cast out of heaven, losing its happiness and fellowship with God with his position, honor and authority.
The verse foretells his final defeat, degradation, punishment and destruction as originator of evil, when he is left isolated on the desolated earth and brought down from his former exaltation to receive retribution for the sin and misery he brought into the world and to lose his dominion.
His self-exaltation ending in ruin warns that those who presumptuously exalt themselves and trust in their own power instead of relying on God and giving Him glory will likewise be thrust out and brought low to certain ruin, even while he who was brought down continues as god of this world, planting his throne by selfishness and covetousness between worshippers and God.
Subject and Wording
The "thou" is Lucifer, son of the morning, who is Satan, once a covering cherub, wise and perfect in beauty. He was the most glorious and exalted angel next to Christ, holding a high position among the angels. His heavenly home was one of holiness and joy, and his beauty and intelligence and excellence were derived from God. A highly intellectual being in that high position became a rebel, showing that intellectual ability by itself does not protect anyone from Satan's power. The one who sought supremacy was brought down from his exalted place to destruction in the pit.
The verse belongs to the account in Isaiah 14:12-15 of Satan's rebellion in heaven and his defeat. Though exalted and holding a high position among the angels, he challenged God's purposes and authority. Envy and dissatisfaction led him to seek supremacy equal with God, to draw angels into disaffection and revolt, and to contaminate a large number of God's angels. He originated sin and led the first rebellion in heaven, and he and his followers were overcome and cast out of heaven and turned out for it. His bid for mastery failed, and he was brought down from his former honor and position.
"Thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit" means brought low from exalted position to ruin. It is a complete downfall to the grave and to the depths of the pit. His prideful attempt to exalt himself above God and to place himself beside God and claim a position next to the Creator ends in being brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. His refusal to accept the place God assigned him led to his fall from his high estate.
Cause of Downfall
His downfall was caused by pride, ambition, selfish desire and self-exaltation that corrupted his wisdom. He sought to ascend into heaven, to exalt his throne above the stars of God, and to be like the Most High in a place above God. That attempt to exalt himself to God's place ends in complete overthrow, being brought down from his exalted position to hell, to the sides of the pit, to the grave and ruin in the pit.
In particular he became envious of the honor God gave His Son and claimed he should be exalted to equal honor with Christ. He coveted greater power, sought supremacy equal with God, and purposed to dethrone God and take the place of the Most High. That desire for supremacy and self-exaltation to a higher position than Christ led to his expulsion from heaven with the angels he drew into rebellion and revolt, and to his descent from former honor and position to destruction. His bid for mastery failed, he lost his dominion, and through faith in the preached Word his kingdom still falls as people gain victory over him and he is cast out of minds before sanctified truth.
He became dissatisfied that God had not revealed every secret of His purposes to him and disregarded what God had revealed about his assigned work. He refused to accept the place God assigned him and would place himself beside God claiming a position next to the Creator. Though he held an exalted position among the angels, envy and dissatisfaction led him by secret working to challenge God's purposes and authority and to lead angels into disaffection and revolt. After he sought supremacy equal with God, he and his followers were cast out, losing position, honor and authority.
His course that began in the heavenly courts involved secret working, conniving and double-dealing, with satanic craft and art. He worshiped his own ideas and plans, cherishing wicked ambition and pride in the heart. He pompously insisted that his own schemes and propositions be received as superior wisdom, resenting opposition, boasting of being rich and increased with goods and having need of nothing, despising the good and the true while having knowledge and power without wisdom to use it. He refused correction and was expelled from heaven by justice, no longer able to claim mercy and love.
Expulsion from Heaven
After his rebellion he was overcome and expelled and cast out of heaven together with the angels who followed him and joined his revolt, losing its happiness and fellowship with God. His being brought down was a degradation from his former exalted place and position because he exalted himself and challenged divine authority. In losing that place he lost his position and honor and authority. The fallen angels retained intelligence but lost connection with God and power of discernment.
Being brought down from his exalted place did not destroy his powers, for he retained great strength and turned it against heaven's government. He has become more artful in tempting people and continues his rebellion against that government. The angels cast down for self-exaltation in wanting to be above Christ now work with him to deceive people and hinder God's work.
All his beauty and intelligence and excellence had been derived from God, but he misapplied his powers, broke his connection with God, and apostatized, though he had been one of the highest angels next to Christ and not a rough specimen of humanity. By practice he gains ever-increasing knowledge of transgression and ever-increasing energy in using that acquired knowledge, with poisoned thought and abuse of his powers to hurt and destroy God's heritage. He measures human daring by cruel satanic treatment of man against fellow man, where the more pain caused means the more complete the work of destruction and the more joy given to the fallen apostate.
His fall was not caused by any failure in God's government or by withdrawal of divine influence, which vindicates God's decrees by showing they were not responsible for sin. He fell from heaven for transgressing God's law. That fall proves that being once in grace does not mean always in grace, and demonstrates the sure result of breaking God's law.
Final Ruin Foretold
The verse foretells the overthrow of Lucifer as leader of the fallen angels and originator of evil, whose rebellion against God ends in defeat, degradation, punishment and destruction by being brought down from his former exalted position to the pit. His desire to exalt himself above Christ and claim the honor due to God, seeking to exalt himself to God's place, ends in his being brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. The image of descent to the pit accords with the account of Satan and the angels who joined his rebellion being cast out of heaven. At that overthrow he is left defeated and isolated on the desolated earth to face the effects of sin's curse.
He who sought to exalt himself above God will be brought down to the grave and the pit at his overthrow. There onlookers will examine him in astonishment, gazing narrowly at him and asking if this is the man that made the earth tremble, shook kingdoms and held prisoners captive. Christ breaks his hold and sets God's people free. He who lost heaven through rebellion will thus be brought low to the pit to receive retribution for the sin and misery he brought into the world. Having coveted greater power and sought to be like God and having been cast out of heaven with his followers, he will ultimately lose his dominion.
That defeat is also seen in the gospel's casting him out of people's minds, for through faith in the preached Word people gain victory over him and his kingdom falls before sanctified truth. His heart-plan to ascend into heaven, to exalt his throne above the stars of God, and to be like the Most High is the same exalting of self above all that is called God or worshiped that the man of sin acts out by sitting as God in the temple of God. The revealing of the man of sin is now taking place as the great controversy grows stronger toward the close of earth's history.
Warning and Present Activity
Satan's self-exaltation in heaven ended in his being cast out, thrust out and brought low to ruin, and that ruin warns that people who presumptuously exalt themselves and trust in their own power instead of relying on God and giving Him the glory will likewise be ruined with certain ruin. Fallen people who exalt themselves rather than rely on God face the same end as his being brought down. His pride and ambition brought about his expulsion from heaven and descent to the pit, and pride and ambition if left rooted in human nature also produce envy and strife and overshadow good qualities. The descent marks the consequence of rebellion against God and opposing His will by one who had held a high position, and those who murmur against God follow the evil one in pressing their own wills against His.
His being brought down from an exalted heavenly position because of wicked ambition and worship of his own ideas and plans, after refusing correction and being expelled by justice with no longer a claim on mercy and love, warns against claiming infallibility. Angels in heaven looked to Lucifer and placed confidence in his greatness and thereby lost the sense of the presence of Christ and God, and confidence must never in the same way be placed in human greatness, especially when false sentiments coming from such trust have to be met. A person's character and conduct can become like Lucifer's when resisting Christ and letting Satan shape them, for he sought his own way and exaltation above Christ and was cast down. His course that began in the heavenly courts with secret working, conniving and double-dealing, satanic craft and art, and proud boasting of being rich and increased with goods and having need of nothing, ends in being left outside heaven never to spoil its happiness, for that lukewarm, neither cold nor hot, pompous spirit despises the good and the true and the righteous, cannot appreciate true virtue, insists its own schemes and propositions be received as superior wisdom and resents opposition, has knowledge and power without wisdom to use it, is pronounced poor, wretched, blind and miserable and to be spued out of the mouth, and if admitted would educate itself to accuse the brethren having cast itself wholly on Satan's side.
Though brought down from heaven he succeeded in becoming the god of this world, for pride and ambition made him God's enemy and forfeited his position. Once glorious, he let desire for supremacy take hold and was expelled, then came to earth and entered commercialism with great zeal, and those who depart from the faith by refusing the light God gives are following him. Once an exalted covering cherub in a heavenly home of holiness and joy, he swerved from allegiance and abode not in the truth, fell from his high estate and with a large army of associate rebels was cast out to become the avowed antagonist of God, then planted his standard on earth and established a rival empire where all powers of evil combine against God's influence, and by selfishness and covetousness which is idolatry planted his throne between human worshippers and God so that talents entrusted to men are invested for building up his kingdom and Satan and not God is worshiped, leaving no means untried to attract attention to himself and conform men to his nature, to eclipse every ray of light and efface God's likeness by making men recipients of his apostate character and stamping his image on their souls, leaving two classes of followers of Christ and followers of Satan, actuated by the principle working in all children of disobedience and stimulated by intense hatred of the God he dishonored.
Ambition and selfish desire ruled him and led to loss and ruin of heavenly beings, and ideas governed by that same spirit lead others toward ruin when taught and followed. His bid for mastery and supremacy equal with God failed when he led angels into disaffection and revolt and was cast out with his followers and brought down from former honor and position, and since then he with his followers opposes God's cause and deceives the world with false claims about God and Christ. Once a covering cherub wise and perfect in beauty, envy entered his heart and he was cast out after losing heaven's riches and pure glory, and his present work is to destroy people and ruin souls, operating stealthily and hiding his true character and power, while Christ's coming to unite humanity with God threatened his power. The angels cast down because in self-exaltation they wanted to be above Christ now work to deceive people and hinder God's work. He who first brought temptation into the courts of heaven purposed to dethrone God and take the place of the Most High, failed and was brought down and cast out, and since that time works constantly against the peace and prosperity of the church, representing its authority when seeking to free members from corrupting influences as harsh and lacking sympathy and putting in hearts the belief that God is arbitrary and harsh. He is alive and watching every movement, and with satanic agencies, evil angels and men gone from the faith he hinders saving work by differences of opinion, confusion and a forbidding spirit and allures and deceives people to ruin, and his opposition is connected with distress caused by those agencies. God is now looking for a commandment-keeping people whom He can bring into heaven without causing a second rebellion after the first rebellion led by the most exalted angel next to Christ contaminated a large number of angels so they had to be turned out.