Isaiah 14:12–21, Lucifer. Linking the king of Babylon to Satan can present a hermeneutical problem unless one interprets this passage metaphorically. If so, is there biblical precedence for doing so? Yes, for elsewhere in the Scriptures, Babylon is a metaphor for this world’s anti-Elohim system of which the ultimate spiritual head of that system is Satan himself (Rev 13:2,4 cp. Rev 17:5; 18:1–24; 20:1–3) who is the god of this world (2 Cor 4:4).

The name Lucifer means “morning star,” which is also a name for Yeshua the Messiah (Rev 22:16). This emphasized the fact that Satan as the great counterfeiter and imitator has as his basic strategy the impersonation of Yeshua. After all, in this Isaiah passage, he says, “I will be like the Most High….” To this point, elsewhere we read that Satan comes as an angel of light in attempts to deceive even the saints of Elohim (2 Cor 11:13–15). 

The parallels between Lucifer, the king of Babylon and the end times Man of Sin and Antichrist figure who plays a prominent role in the end times Babylon the Great worldwide system are striking. Moreover, like the king of Babylon, Satan will fall from glory in defeat and will be cast into a pit and into the lake of fire (Luke 10:18; Rev 12:9; 20:1–3, 10).

Isaiah’s taunt of the king of Babylon in this passage goes to the heart of both the king’s and Satan’s rebellion against YHVH,which is pride. Both were attempting to deify themselves as the king of the earth, even as will the case with the end times Man of Sin, Antichrist figure along with the beast and whore systems with which he is aligned as revealed in Revelation chapters 13, 17 and 18.