Crushing the Serpent's Head

1 But the Lord will have mercy on the descendants of Jacob. He will choose Israel as his special people once again. He will bring them back to settle once again in their own land. And people from many different nations will come and join them there and unite with the people of Israel. 2 The nations of the world will help the people of Israel to return, and those who come to live in the Lord’s land will serve them. Those who captured Israel will themselves be captured, and Israel will rule over its enemies.

3 In that wonderful day when the Lord gives his people rest from sorrow and fear, from slavery and chains, 4 you will taunt the king of Babylon. You will say,

“The mighty man has been destroyed.
Yes, your insolence is ended.
5 For the Lord has crushed your wicked power
and broken your evil rule.
6 You struck the people with endless blows of rage
and held the nations in your angry grip
with unrelenting tyranny.
7 But finally the earth is at rest and quiet.
Now it can sing again!
8 Even the trees of the forest—
the cypress trees and the cedars of Lebanon—
sing out this joyous song:
‘Since you have been cut down,
no one will come now to cut us down!’

9 “In the place of the dead there is excitement
over your arrival.
The spirits of world leaders and mighty kings long dead
stand up to see you.
10 With one voice they all cry out,
‘Now you are as weak as we are!
11 Your might and power were buried with you.
The sound of the harp in your palace has ceased.
Now maggots are your sheet,
and worms your blanket.’

12 “How you are fallen from heaven,
O shining star, son of the morning!
You have been thrown down to the earth,
you who destroyed the nations of the world.
13 For you said to yourself,
‘I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God’s stars.
I will preside on the mountain of the gods
far away in the north.
14 I will climb to the highest heavens
and be like the Most High.’
15 Instead, you will be brought down to the place of the dead,
down to its lowest depths.

Immanuel comes to deal a fatal blow to the devil, whose obsession is to keep the nations in chains and darkness. God will deal not only with nations that have been oppressors; God will also deal with the evil one, who has lurked behind the scenes to deceive the nations throughout history. In some ways our reading for today can be seen as God’s judgment on Satan. You see, in the Bible, the powerful, excessive, oppressive Babylon is sometimes described as a symbol of the kingdom of this world—that is, the kingdom of Satan.

“How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth… You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God … I will make myself like the Most High.’” The devil, Satan, was thrown down from heaven because he wanted to take the place of God. And he not only deceived himself but now in his rage wants to deceive others and pull them away from God (see Revelation 12:7-12).

But the offspring of the woman came to crush the serpent’s head. And because of Christ, the devil is now weakened and bound, and the nations have been freed to respond in faith to the good news of salvation.

As disciples of Jesus, we can experience that freedom too. The Lord has dealt the fatal blow to our enemy.

Almighty God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit —thank you for freeing us from bondage to sin and Satan. We look forward to the day when the oppressor’s fury will be over. Amen.