Is the Devil in the Details?
The description of the King of Babylon continues: "For you have said in your heart: 'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; … I will ascend above heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High'" (Isa. 14:13-14). Was the devil lifted up with pride? Yes, but so is the king of Babylon. Here is the difference between the two: Satan was in heaven when he was lifted up with pride; he was then cast down (2 Peter 2:4). Belshazzar was on earth and thought he could raise himself and his kingdom to heaven.
He was wrong. Isaiah the prophet informs him: "Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit" (Isa. 14:15). The description continues through verse 27. More references to the grave follow (vv. 19-20). Clearly, this passage has only one subject, and it is not Satan; however, the king of Babylon was certainly his disciple.
Ezekiel 28
Noting the context is helpful here, also. God instructed his prophet to say a few words against the king of Tyre (Ezek. 27). God then added a few more words of denunciation in chapter 28, beginning with verse 1. Like King Nebuchadnezzar (who built a gold image of himself and commanded people to worship it—Dan. 3), the king of Tyre also had a problem with pride (a common affliction of rulers): "Because your heart is lifted up, and you say, 'I am a god, I sit in the seat of gods, in the midst of the seas,' yet you are a man, and not a god…" (v. 2).
He thought he was wiser than Daniel (Ezek. 28:3) and by his own wisdom he had gained all of his wealth (vv. 4-5). Therefore, nations would come against him and throw him "into the Pit" (vv. 6-8). The fact that this description is not of Satan is seen in the fact that he would die physically (vv. 9-10). God instructs Ezekiel to take up a lament for him (vv. 11-12a), part of which follows:
You were the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty, You were in Eden, the garden of God…. You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you…. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you (28:13-15).
Does this sound like the devil? Yes, but it is hyperbole (exaggeration)—figurative language. How do we know? Trading and commerce are things that earthly kings engage in—not Satan in heaven (v. 16). God turned him to ashes upon the earth; kings gazed at him. This is not a description of the devil but of a deposed king whose pride came before a fall. Neither Isaiah 14 nor Ezekiel 28 is dealing with the devil. The only point of similarity is that all three were lifted up with pride. The kings of Babylon and Tyre have long since been buried and received in hell. On the Day of Judgment, Satan (their role model) will join them (Rev. 20:11-15), along with all who are lifted up with pride.