Like the Most High: A Cautionary Tale

“I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”

Isaiah 14 starts with a taunt for the king of Babylon. That’s what the prophet plainly tells us at the beginning of the chapter. Israel was shortly to go into exile and Judah destined to join them, but Isaiah promises that in good time God will once again restore the nation to their land. By the time Israel finds rest, Isaiah says, both Assyria’s and Babylon’s days in the sun will be over, their empires long past. He assures his countrymen, “You will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon.”

An Unexplored Genre

There are not many taunts in scripture. It’s kind of an unexplored literary genre, but the examples we have are memorable. The word translated “taunt” means literally proverb or parable, but this kind of proverb has a sting in its tail. The best English equivalent I can think of is “cautionary tale”.

The first taunt in the OT was a doozy. Balaam taunted King Balak, probably not intentionally. He found himself unable to speak any words except those God put in his mouth. He was supposed to curse Israel but he ended up mocking the man who tried to make him rich. He did it not once but seven times. Each time Balaam “took up his parable” (in the ESV, “discourse”), he ended up saying something Balak absolutely didn’t want to hear.

Pigs and Pomp

Another famous taunt is this one: “Is Saul also among the prophets?” It sounds like a compliment, but it ended up becoming the Hebrew equivalent of “Are you kidding me?” or “Will pigs fly?” It commemorated one of Saul’s worst days, one in which the king stripped off his clothes and lay naked all day and night saying things he couldn’t control.

Psalm 49 is yet another fine example. Written by the Sons of Korah, it memorializes the foolish pride of man with lines like “Man in his pomp will not remain; he is like the beasts that perish” and “This is the path of those who have foolish confidence; death shall be their shepherd.”

A Taunt for the King of Babylon

I could go on, but three should do it. That’s the essence of a taunt. It’s God’s way of making sure people he uses to accomplish his purposes don’t get too big for their britches. The taunt in Isaiah 14 goes on for eighteen verses, every line of it a hard saying. Between verses 12 and 15, Isaiah compares the king to Satan himself. Here’s the whole section:

“How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit.”

That’s five “I wills” all ending in “I didn’t.”

The Fall of Lucifer

We don’t read too much about the fall of Lucifer in the Bible, and this is the passage from which we infer much of it. His fall preceded the fall of humanity, spawning the genocidal malice with which he deceived Eve and through her manipulated Adam. The Genesis narrative simply introduces him disguised in the form of a serpent. You’d have to read between the lines (or read the rest of your Bibles) to know that he’s anything more than a talking snake. But he is.

If we had nothing else to go on, we could simply observe that he tempted Eve with his own deepest desire. “You will be like God,” he told her. That’s exactly the aspiration Isaiah attributes to him, the fatal flaw in his character: “I will make myself like the Most High.” Having himself failed to ascend, he then tempts Eve with the same impossible objective.

Spreading the Pain Around

This is what evil always does. Having bound itself over to chaos and misery, it insists on making as many as possible of its own kind. The God-haters at the end of Romans 1 have this feature of character, that “Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.” Jesus charged the scribes and Pharisees with making proselytes twice as much children of hell as themselves. Malachi wrote concerning the priests of his day who had first turned aside from the right way, “You have caused many to stumble by your instruction.”

Of course they did. They couldn’t help themselves. Evil wants to spread the pain around. The devil was a murderer from the beginning. He told humanity we could be like God. Instead, he made us like him.

Being Like God

Here is the irony: there IS a way to be “like God”, but it’s not the sort of God-likeness Lucifer was after. He wanted the splendor without the sacrifice, the glory without the suffering, the exaltation without the humility and service. Projecting from his own desires, he offered the Jesus the same kind of shortcut he would have taken, but there was nothing in our Lord’s sterling character to entertain such a temptation. He did not have to aspire to be like God. He was in the form of God, yet did not count such equality a thing to be seized and held on to, so he adopted the “likeness of men” instead, taking the form of a servant. In doing so, nobody was ever more “like God” than he.

Paul invites Christians to think the same way about being like God, and to emulate the humility and service of our Savior. There is no other road to God-likeness. The alternative is becoming a cautionary tale.