The King of Babylon

The year of our Lord 2024 in the hip-hop and pop music context was unequivocally marked by the beef between Kendrick Lamar and Drake. Two titans of the industry going bar for bar and song for song to position themselves as the best of their generation and if not the best hip-hop artist of all-time. I'm not going to call a winner but I will say that that rap battle ultimately served as a springboard for a new album and culminated in a Super Bowl halftime performance in 2025. The halftime show, new album and rap battle had many with Kendrick at the top of their mind.

One day my friends and I were discussing none other than Kendrick Lamar after sharing many memes from his halftime performance and our conversation led to them questioning me about track 6 on his latest album GNX and the song entitled Reincarnated. As the resident theologian in our group chat they asked me what I thought about the song given that Kendrick clearly cited Isaiah 14 and was referring to Satan in the song. I will later dive deeper into the song but as I thought about how to respond to such a captivating subject for our current context and my fascination with the book of Isaiah my only response could be I don't know, I need more time, and I will get back to you. After many turns and obstacles I am finally able to honor my commitment and respond to the loaded question of what do you think about Reincarnated by Kendrick Lamar.

My hope is that in writing this exposition of both Isaiah 14 and Reincarnated by Kendrick Lamar that it will serve as a catalyst for greater interest in the word of God, greater intimacy with God, and ultimately give God the glory he deserves. For my friends, thank you for always challenging my beliefs and how I think. I greatly appreciate your patience with me and your desire to learn more about what it means to walk this faith out.

Before diving into Isaiah 14 I first want to provide some context to the book of Isaiah and take a look at Isaiah 13. The book of Isaiah was written roughly in 740 B.C., and its central theme is “God himself, who does all things for his own glory” (esv.org). The book is primarily written to the Southern Kingdom of Judah, and God through Isaiah, is seeking to persuade God’s people to rest in Him and trust God alone because all things including His people are made for His glory. In this particular section of Isaiah God is predicting His judgement upon the nations that have rebelled against Him. What is critical to understand is that sin is anything that falls short of God’s righteous standard and because God is just He must provide consequences for anything or anyone that falls short of His righteous standard, this can also be defined as God’s wrath. Therefore, when we hear about God pouring out His wrath or God’s judgment it is attached to the fact that God cannot relate to anything or anyone that is unlike Him. The best example, for God’s inability to relate to sin is light and darkness, where there is light, darkness is absent. In the same way light chases after darkness, God pursues to stomp out the darkness that is associated with sin.

God’s wrath is revealed as one reads through Isaiah 13. God who is several times referred to as the Lord of Hosts (Lord of heavenly armies) says in Isaiah 13:3

[3] I myself have commanded my consecrated ones,
 and have summoned my mighty men to execute my anger,
my proudly exulting ones. (ESV)

Oftentimes we question why God allows evil in this world and I think we often ask that question because we don’t quite understand how holy God is and how he must exact His wrath on all things that are evil. Therefore, if God was to exterminate all things that are evil or unholy, then why would that not include us? So as God seeks to exact His wrath on the Babylonians He outlines who He is after Isaiah 13:11

[11] I will punish the world for its evil,
 and the wicked for their iniquity;
 I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant,
and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless. (ESV)

In all honesty I can’t help but feel that I am included as the evil, the proud and the ruthless. However, God is merciful and gives me another day to reconcile with Him through Jesus. More on that later.

When we look at verse 11 one thing that we should question is why is the world being judged for the sins of Babylon? Isn’t Isaiah 13 a prophecy about Babylon? What is fascinating about prophecies is that they can often have near time fulfillment and end time fulfillment. Jesus gave credence to this reality when he opened His public ministry in Luke 4:17–19

[17] And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll
and found the place where it was written,
[18] “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
 because he has anointed me
 to proclaim good news to the poor.
 He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
 and recovering of sight to the blind,
 to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
 [19] to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (ESV)

The scripture that Jesus read was Isiaiah 61:1-2 but His brief reading of the text is believed by most to be due to, Jesus knowing that He will fulfill this portion of the prophecy in this mission trip to earth, whereas His second return to earth will fulfill the remaining prophecy found in Isaiah 61. Therefore, when we look at Isaiah 13:9

[9] Behold, the day of the LORD comes,
cruel, with wrath and fierce anger,
 to make the land a desolation
 and to destroy its sinners from it. (ESV)

What we need to take note of is the phrase – “the day of the LORD” this phrase is often a signal that the prophecy is referring to an end times fulfillment or more succinctly put – when Jesus comes back to judge the world.

With that in mind this sets the stage for what we can expect out of Isaiah 14. We can expect to find the prophecy to dance between a near time fulfillment and an end times fulfillment. What I believe this to mean (and not every Christian theologian would agree) is that the prophecy found in Isaiah 14 is about the King of Babylon who is to come in about 100 years and about Satan who is to be judged in the season known as “the day of the LORD.”

Historically speaking Isaiah is writing this prophecy around the time of the reign of king Ahaz, who put his trust in the king of Assyria as opposed to God when Israel and Syria conspired to overthrow Judah. It is important to note that what we know as Israel was divided into two kingdoms; Israel in the north and Judah in the south. The two kingdoms were marred with evil kings with the northern kingdom of Israel suffering with far more wicked kings than the southern kingdom of Judah. Nevertheless both kingdoms were in need of judgement from God because of their idolatry, their greed, and their gross disobedience to God’s commandments. This is where kingdoms like Assyria and Babylon will step in. These nations would be used to judge both Israel and Judah. The tension lies in the fact that nations like Assyria and Babylon undoubtedly had more disregard for the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob than Israel or Judah, yet God is using a seemingly more wicked nation to judge another. This is evident as Habakuk reflects on judgement from the Babylonians in Habakuk 1:12-17. We often question what God is doing when we see the deeds of the wicked prosper but, God will ultimately judge the wicked, even when it seems as if they will get away with their schemes.

This brings us to Isaiah 14, the chapter that was referenced in Kendrick Lamar’s song Reincarnated. What I found most interesting about this particular chapter in light of K. Dot’s reference to this chapter is that some commentators believe this chapter to be a dirge. A dirge is a song for the dead and I find it ironic that Isaiah 14 serves as a death song for the King of Babylon and Kendrick’s highlights for 2024 were based on creating death songs for one of the music industry's most famous or infamous artists. The literary form of this passage is important. “Its form is really that of the funeral dirge, with the characteristic limping rhythm of a Hebrew lament, so plaintive and yet ominous to the sensitive ear…. There is a considerable element of irony, so that the whole song becomes a taunt in the guise of a lament.” (Grogan)

In view of the near-term fulfillment of this prophecy, it should be clear that Isaiah 14 is addressing the actual king of Babylon. This is noticeable when we examine parts of the text like verse 8. Isaiah 14:8:

[8] The cypresses rejoice at you,
 the cedars of Lebanon, saying,
 ‘Since you were laid low,
no woodcutter comes up against us.’ (ESV)

The cedars of Lebanon are world-renowned trees for their size, durability, and quality; and because of these attributes, they were valuable to people in the ancient world for building a large army and a city like what was required for Babylon. Therefore, it’s no accident that Isaiah is specifically highlighting how even elements of nature will rejoice when the King of Babylon is overthrown.

While this prophecy does have near-term fulfillment in mind, it is evident to me and many others that this prophecy is also addressing Satan, or Lucifer the son of the morning as he is addressed in some translations in this chapter. The biggest argument for this addressing Satan—and most likely the reason Kendrick chose this chapter for his song—is found in verses 12 and 13:

Isaiah 14:12–13
[12] “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!
[13] 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; (ESV)

The direct address of Lucifer (Day Star) is the signal to us, along with the previously referenced “day of the Lord” found in Isaiah 13:9, that Isaiah seeks to show the schemes of the Devil and how God plans to ultimately end the plans of the Devil.

In a more indirect way, it is hard to look at the qualities of the king of Babylon and not see ourselves. One thing we must come to grips with is that we have a natural desire to be like God. I think Kendrick is right in this aspect of his song where he infamously reincarnates himself as the devil because man has the innate desire to go to God and say, look at what I have done to be like you. Isaiah captures this thought in Isaiah 14:14 when he says of the king:

[14] I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.’ (ESV)

When we truly reflect on the evil we have on the heart and thought level, we truly are worthy of God’s wrath. Therefore, we must be humble as we look at how we seek to approach God. We must question if we, like Kendrick did in his third verse of Reincarnated, start listing things that we’ve done that we deem good, or are we submitting ourselves unto God’s plan for our salvation.

Moreover, we must properly consider that Jesus ultimately took the wrath of God that we deserved. I love how Thom Mozloom put it when he said: “The wrath that Jesus experienced was like no other wrath that anyone has ever experienced. He experienced the total and complete absence of God’s presence, and that’s hell.” Consider some of the judgment statements that we find here in Isaiah 14, like in verse 11, where it says:

[11] Your pomp is brought down to Sheol,
the sound of your harps;
maggots are laid as a bed beneath you,
 and worms are your covers. (ESV)

Or in verse 19, where it says:

[19] but you are cast out, away from your grave,
like a loathed branch,
 clothed with the slain, those pierced by the sword,
 who go down to the stones of the pit,
like a dead body trampled underfoot. (ESV)

The judgment for the king of Babylon is one of dishonor in death; it is a judgment that is characterized by loneliness in the afterlife—all of which was our destiny and experienced by Jesus at an even greater level when He drank the cup of wrath from the Father. Praise God that we can place our faith in Jesus’ work on the cross and ultimately establish a relationship of peace between us and God, and as a result avoid a death like the king of Babylon.

Now that we have established the framework for Isaiah 14, we can look at Reincarnated and truly dissect what is being conveyed, and provide opinions, interpretations, agreements, and disagreements on the song. From a song structure standpoint, there are a couple things that are clear to me.

Starting with identifying the hook, we can deduce that the Latin vocalist in the beginning of the song is not the hook, given that we don’t hear from her again. Since most artists use a hook in the first few seconds of the song, we can conclude that the hook is this melodic piano run that is reminiscent of 1990s West Coast hip-hop and often rapped by Tupac. Kendrick, from a flow and a vocal standpoint, is patterning himself after Tupac, also serving to hook his listeners to explore the depth of this song. The song has three verses and is missing vocals in the chorus, but as I outlined above, the hook is the melody of the piano, which serves as our chorus and is enhanced by layering a guitar to sort of respond to the melody of the piano. Based on our song structure, we can conclude that this song is meant to have a hyper-focus on the lyrics.

Looking at the verses, what Kendrick has done is provide a look into the life of three artists. Many commentators on the song believe that he is reflecting on a specific artist, while other commentators believe that he is pulling from the lives of many artists. Based on the idea that we all can take on traits of the king of Babylon that we addressed earlier, I believe that Kendrick is using the shortcomings and circumstances of many artists to construct one artist. He’s creating more of an archetype than pulling a historical depiction of a specific artist's life.

In my estimation, we can see the similarities in writing styles between what Kendrick has written and what Isaiah has written in chapter 14. Like Isaiah, Kendrick is seeking to paint a picture of a life that is rebellious to God, but instead of looking at the life of a king, he’s zooming in to the life of an artist. Also, like Isaiah, Kendrick seeks to provide a sort of an origin story as to why these artists rebel and live a life of sin and wickedness. He does this in the first verse when he alludes to rebelling against God, when he says in the first verse:

“My father kicked me out the house 'cause I wouldn't listen to him
 I didn't care about his influence, only loved what I was doin'
 Gifted as a musician, I played guitar on a grand level
 The most talented where I'm from, but I had to rebel”

What stands out to me in these verses is the emphasis on the word I. This parallels the five “I will” statements found in Isaiah 14, where Satan says, “I will make myself like the most high” in verse 14.

One subtle difference between the song and the Biblical writing is that often the Scriptures would provide the main thought and then further reveal that thought throughout the verses. This is especially true in the case of songs that we find in the Bible, like the one we find here in Isaiah 14. However, Kendrick flips that and provides the descriptions first, and then provides the main thought at the end of his song when he reveals:

“I rewrote the devil's story just to take our power back, 'carnated”

This brings us to verse 3, the verse that reveals that these stories that we’ve been hearing over the course of two verses have been about the devil. The third verse also sheds light on how Kendrick believes the devil—or we (those not in Christ)—can take “our power back.” The question we have to wrestle with is: what is this power that we are trying to get back, and from whom are we trying to get this power?

Looking back at the Garden of Eden, man has rebelled from God by saying to God: look God, I can be like you, I can save myself, and I don’t need you. In the conversation between God and the Devil, or Kendrick, or a king of Babylon, we can visualize Kendrick presenting his case before God that he is good, when he says:

I'm yelling, "Father, did I finally get it right? Everything I did was selfless
I spoke freely, when the people needed me, I helped them
 I didn't gloat, even told 'em, 'No,' when the vultures came
Took control of my fleshly body when the money changed"
"Son you do well but your heart is closed
 I can tell residue that linger from your past creates itself"
 Father, I'm not perfect I got urges, but I hold them down
"But your pride has to die," okay Father show me how
 "Tell me every deed that you done and what you do it for"
 I kept one hundred institutions paid, "Okay, tell me more"
 I put one hundred hoods on one stage, "Okay, tell me more"
 I'm tryna push peace in LA, "But you love war"
 No, I don't, "Oh, yes, you do," okay then tell me the truth
 "Every individual is only a version of you
 How can they forgive when there's no forgiveness in your heart?"
I could tell You where I'm goin', "I could tell you who you are"

A lot to unpack here, but a few main themes to harp on are how Kendrick tries to seek justification by yelling, “Father, did I finally get it right?” This is evidence of our natural disposition to present God with our righteous acts, and the verse further expands on that in Isaiah 64:6, where it says about our righteous acts:

“All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like
filthy rags;”

But here, in this verse, we see Kendrick presenting his righteous acts to God, and consistent with Isaiah, nearly every time God exposes his charity as unworthy. Another lyric that stands out is where Kendrick says: “Every individual is a version of you.” In my view, since Kendrick is drawing inspiration, this is less about reincarnation and more about Satan’s pride being an archetype or a model that many fall in line with. This would be akin to how many Old Testament figures were versions or models of Jesus, or how currently many figures are representations of the Anti-Christ.

The most fascinating part of this song, in my mind, is not the fact that Kendrick has been concealing that he’s been talking about the devil nearly the entire song, but it is the conclusion that Kendrick lands on. The song concludes with the following verse:

"So, can you promise that you won't take your gifts for granted?"
 I promise that I'll use my gifts to bring understandin'
 "For every man, woman and child, how much can you vow?"
 I vow my life just to live one in harmony now
"You crushed a lot of people, keepin' their thoughts in captivity"
 And I'm ashamed that I ever created that enemy
 "Then let's rejoice where we at"
I rewrote the devil's story just to take our power back, 'carnated

In this final verse, there is a hypothetical back-and-forth between God the Father and Kendrick/Satan. In this back-and-forth, Kendrick is painting a picture that Satan is in God’s court of law, and Satan is pleading his case to God. In pleading his case, Kendrick/Devil is acknowledging that he has done wrong but is hoping in the future to use his gifts for good, or to bring harmony instead of division. The implication here is that Kendrick/Satan/King of Babylon/Us can come to God and plead our case for a right standing with God. This is apparent in the last line of the song, where he says, “I rewrote the devil’s story just to take OUR POWER BACK.”

What is the power that he is fighting to take back? The power he is seeking to recover is our ability to be righteous before God without needing God. The power he seeks is to come to God apart from the saving work of Jesus Christ.

Which leads us to question: why are so many people more offended about Christianity versus any other religion? Is it because of the abuse of Jesus’ physical features that have historically portrayed him as white? Is it the abuse of many who use Jesus for their financial gain? Or is it the reality that we know that we will ultimately be judged by God and Jesus claims that all who come to God apart from Him will be deemed unrighteous? My best guess is that it’s our inability to come before a Holy and righteous God and say, as Kendrick did in Reincarnated, “I promise that I'll use my gifts to bring understandin'.”

Instead, God requires us to go through Jesus. Jesus affirms this when he says in John 14:6, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” The tension in this statement by Jesus is that if what Jesus says is true, then we are powerless in saving ourselves, and that is ultimately the offense of the cross. The offense of the cross challenges all who are not in Christ by affirming what God said in Isaiah: that all our righteous acts are filthy rags before God (Isaiah 64:6).

What does this all mean in light of what Kendrick has presented in Reincarnated? In one sense, Kendrick is right: we all are (if I may borrow the term loosely) reincarnations of the devil or, as Paul more accurately puts it in Ephesians, children of wrath and sons of disobedience. In our fallen state, we all are enemies of God. We seek to destroy, we are filled with deceit, and we find schemes to advance our own cause regardless of how it affects our neighbors (I’m paraphrasing from Romans 3:10-18).

Where Kendrick is in error is where he believes and/or communicates to his audience that we will have an audience with God to plead our case and even receive a pardon from God if we seek to change our heart and do good. If we seek to approach God apart from the saving work of Jesus Christ, we will ultimately receive the same fate as the devil, where we will suffer for eternity.

However, if we place our faith in the saving work of Jesus Christ and live a life that affirms our faith in Him as Lord and Savior of our lives, then we will be honored as Kings & Queens of The Most High. In conclusion, the choice remains: receive the honor as a king by God, or be disgraced as a king alongside other kings of Babylon. May the grace and peace of Jesus be with you both now and forever.

Amen