Let's turn to 2 Kings chapter
24. Brother Fortner is in Cleveland
Clinic right now. I talked to him yesterday, and
he is fairly, he knows he's in the Lord's hands,
but they're making him more comfortable, and they're able to draw some
of the fluid off of him. So let's remember him in prayer
at this time. 2 Kings chapter 24, I'd like to
begin reading. in verse 8 and read down through
verse 16. Jehoiachin was 18 years old when
he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. And
his mother's name was Netushta, the daughter of Elanathan of
Jerusalem. And he did that which was evil
on the side of the Lord, according to all that his father had done.
At that time, the servants of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,
came up against Jerusalem and the city was besieged. And Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,
came up against the city and his servants did besiege it. And Jehoiachin, the king of Judah,
went out to the king of Babylon, he and his mother and his servants
and his princes and his officers. And the king of Babylon took
him in the eighth year of his reign. They surrendered. And
he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the
Lord, the treasures of the king's house, and cut in pieces all
the vessels of gold, which Solomon, king of Israel, had made in the
temple of the Lord, as the Lord had said. And he carried away
all Jerusalem. Now this is talking about the
captivity in Babylon. He carried away all Jerusalem
and all the princes and all the mighty men of valor, even 10,000
captives. And all the craftsmen and smiths,
the people that were able to produce things, none remained,
save the poorest sort of the people of the land. And he carried
away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king's mother, and the king's
wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land. Those
carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. And the
men of might, even 7,000, and craftsmen, and smiths, 1,000,
and all that were strong and apt for war, even them, the king
of Babylon brought captive to Babylon. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you that your
God and beside thee is none else. How we? Bow before the glory
of the Trinity of thy persons. God, the Father, God, the Son
and God, the Holy Spirit. And Lord, we pray for your spirit
that we might be enabled to worship you through your son. We pray
that his name might be exalted and glorified. and that we would
have you, your presence in our midst. Forgive us of our sins
for Christ's sake. Lord, we would remember the Fortner
family. We pray for your blessing upon
them. Comfort them as only you can
by your grace. Be with all your people wherever
they meet together. And again, we ask that you would
meet with us for Christ's sake. In his name we pray. Amen. Now this is about Judah being
carried into Babylon and they were in Babylon for 70 years. That is the main point of what
is taking place and it is what God said would happen and it
came to pass, but I want to spend the first part of this study
considering the significance of Babylon. Babylon represents
false religion. Would you turn with me for a
moment to Genesis chapter 10? We know that from what Revelation
says, we're going to look at that. Babylon, the great, the
mother of harlots is what it's called. But look here in Genesis
chapter 10, beginning in verse eight, and
Cush, That's the son of Ham whom God had cursed. Let's go back
to Genesis 9 for just a moment and see what took place. Beginning in verse 18, And the
sons of Noah that went forth of the ark, these were the only
men that were to replenish the earth, Shem and Ham and Japheth. And Ham is the father of Canaan.
These are the three sons of Noah, and of them was the whole earth
overspread. And Noah began to be in husband,
He planted a vineyard, he drank of the wine and was drunken.
And he was uncovered within his tent. And Ham, the father of
Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brethren
without. And Shem and Japheth took a garment
and laid it upon both their shoulders and went backward and covered
the nakedness of their father. And their faces were backward
and they saw not their father's nakedness. And Noah awoke from
his wine and knew what his younger son had done unto him. And he said, cursed be Canaan. A servant of servants shall he
be unto his brethren. Now this was the one who begat
the son who would begat Nimrod. But one of the things that just
hits me like a ton of bricks when I read this passage of scripture What did he do to his father?
People have made all kinds of attempts to explain it, but I
can tell you exactly what he did. He uncovered his father's
nakedness. He exposed his father. He exposed
his father. He went and told his brothers
about it. Now, anytime you have someone seeking to expose somebody
else, you've got great wickedness going on. It's really very hypocrisy. If I would find out something
about you and want to expose you, I'm playing the hypocrite
because I'm just as bad or worse than you are. Everybody's like
that. And what a lack of love is demonstrated
in that. Somebody wants to expose somebody
else. They want to expose their sin. They want to expose their
nakedness. That's bad. And he came under
the curse of his father because of that. Now look back in Genesis
chapter 10. And Cush begat Nimrod, and his name means rebellious. He began to be a mighty one in
the earth. He was a mighty hunter before
the Lord. Wherefore it is said, even is
Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord. Now this is really
not talking about him hunting animals. He became a hunter of
men. He tried to influence men and
get men to do what he wanted them to do. He was a man of influence
and the beginning of his kingdom was Babel. Now here's where we're
introduced to this thing of Babel or Babylon. Look in chapter 11. And the whole earth was of one
language and of one speech. Now, what I can ascertain is
the population of the earth at this time might've been up to
30, 35,000. It couldn't have been any more than that, considering
the three men that were going to replenish the earth. And God said, you go out and
replenish the earth. And there couldn't have been
that many people at this point. And they all had one language. There were not different languages
yet. And it came to pass as they journeyed from the east that
they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there.
And they said one to another, go to, let us make brick and
burn them thoroughly. And they had bricks for stone
and slime had they for mortar. And they said, go to, let us
build a city and a tower whose top may reach unto heaven. And let us make us a name, lest
we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. Now
here is Babylon. And what are they trying to do?
They're trying to build a tower that would reach all the way
to heaven. Now, does anybody believe that they literally thought
they could build a tower that will go beyond the moon and beyond
the sun and reach the third heavens? No, this is symbolic language.
They thought we can reach heaven by our works. That's what that
represents. We'll make the bricks. These
are not stones. They made the bricks, brick by
brick. They were going to work their
way to heaven. Now that's what Babylon represents,
salvation by works. Now what is meant? by salvation
by works. And you listen real carefully,
this is so important. If I believe that any part of
my salvation is dependent upon me, I believe in salvation by
works. And let me take that as far as
I can. If you think your salvation is
dependent upon an act of your will, you decide to accept Jesus
as your personal Savior. Or if you believe the difference
between you and somebody else, the reason you're saved and somebody
else is not saved is because of your reception. I received
Christ. They didn't. I did. You believe
in salvation by works. If you believe that during the
middle of your experience of grace, that somehow you make
yourself more holy and less sinful, more pleasing to God by what
you do. You really believe in salvation
by works when it comes right down to it. If you can become
more pleasing to God, less sinful by your works, by the bricks
you make, your acts of self-denial, your Bible reading, your prayer,
If you believe you make yourself more pleasing to God and less
sinful, you believe in salvation by works. If at the end of your
days you're rewarded a higher reward in heaven because you
were more faithful, because you Sacrifice more than somebody
else because you gave more, because you prayed more, you were more
committed, and you're going to earn a higher position in glory
because of your personal faithfulness. If you believe that, you believe
in salvation by works. It's that simple. That's what
was going on at this time. They were making brick in order
to work their way to heaven. Verse five. They were wanting,
notice it says they wanted to make a name for themselves. And
actually this was an act of disobedience in the first place because God
said spread out and replenish the earth. And they said, no,
we're going to settle right here and we're going to make a name
for ourselves. That's the significance of Babel. Verse five, and the Lord came
down to see the city and the tower where the children of men
builded. And the Lord said, behold, the people is one and they all
have one language. And this they began to do, and
now nothing will be restrained from them which they have imagined
to do. Now this is not saying that I'm worried, I'm afraid
that now that they have this one language they can get together
and frustrate my plans. You know from the character of
God that's not what's being said. But what does God say about this?
Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language that
they may not understand one another's speech. So the Lord scattered
them abroad from thence upon the face of the earth, and they
left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called
Babel. Now that's Babylon, same thing.
It's the same Hebrew word, Babylon or Babel. And what that word
means is confusion. Confusion. What is more confusing than salvation
by works? What do I need to do? Give me
an exact, it's confusion. It's confusion. That's all it
is. Now turn to Revelation chapter
17. Now this is about their being
carried away into Babylon. That passage from second Kings
chapter 24, but let's read this passage in Revelation. Chapter 17, and there came one
of the seven angels, which had the seven vials and talk with
me saying that to become hither, I will show unto thee the judgment
of the great whore that sit upon many waters. And we're going
to find out that who he's referring to is Babylon with whom the Kings
of the earth have committed fornication and the inhabitants of the earth
have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So he
carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness and I saw
a woman sit upon a scarlet-colored beast full of names of blasphemy,
having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in
purple and scarlet color and decked with gold and precious
stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of the abominations
and filthiness of her fornication. And upon her forehead was a name
written, Mystery. We'd never know this unless God
was pleased to make it known. Babylon the great, the mother
of harlots and abominations of the earth. And I saw the woman
drunken with the blood of the saints and with the blood of
the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I wondered
with great imagination, look in chapter 18, After these things,
I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power,
and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily
with a strong voice saying, Babylon, the great is fallen and has become
the habitation of devils and the whole of every foul spirit
and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all the nations
have drunk of the wine of the wrath of a fornication. This
is talking about works, religion, Babylon, confusion. And the kings
of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of
the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
People get rich off religion. And I heard another voice from
heaven saying, come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers
of her sins, that you receive not of her plagues. Come out.
Not stay in and reform and try to get her fixed up. Come out
of her. Now this is Babylon, and we see
the typical of significance of this, both in the Old Testament
and the New Testament. And God said Israel was going
to be carried away into Babylon. They're going to be there for
70 years. Now, with that in mind, turn back to 2 Kings 24. Verse 8, Jehoiachin was 18 years
old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three
months, and his mother's name was Nahushka, the daughter of
Elnathan of Jerusalem, and he did that which was evil in the
sight of the Lord, according to all that his father had done. At that time, the servants of
Nebuchadnezzar, he's the one we read about so much in the
book of Daniel, the most powerful man in the earth at this time.
God put him in this position, and he now has control, and he
comes in. At this time, the servants of
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Judah, or king of Babylon, came up against
Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. Now, what that means is they
cut off all supply lines. They couldn't get water into
the city, they couldn't get food into the city, and a famine would
hit the city. That's how they besieged it.
They'd starve them out. They're gonna have to come out, they're gonna
have to surrender, they're gonna have to do something. The city was besieged
by Nebuchadnezzar. Verse 11, or verse 11, and Nebuchadnezzar,
king of Babylon, came up against the city, and his servants did
besiege it. And Jehoiachin, The king of Judah
went out to the king of Babylon and surrendered. He surrendered.
He knew he couldn't stand before him. He and his mother and his
servants and his princes and his officers and the king of
Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign. And he carried
out thence all the treasures of the house of the Lord. He
went into the temple, he took everything brass, he took everything
gold, he took everything of any value, and he carried them out. He's gonna bring them back into
Babylon. You remember in Daniel chapter five where the king of
Babylon, Belshazzar, they were having a drunken feast and all
of a sudden he said, let's bring out some of the cups of Jehovah
and drink out of them. Now, Lord let him go until this
point, and that's when he took the vessels of the Lord. and
started drinking out of them to show his contempt for Jehovah.
That's when the writing came on the wall. You're weighed in
the balances and found wanting. And he was killed that very night.
But all these vessels are confiscated by Nebuchadnezzar, all the gold,
all the silver, all the brass, everything of any value. And
he's going to take them back to Babylon. Verse 13, and he
carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and
the treasures of the king's house, and cut in pieces all the vessels
of gold, which Saul, the king of Israel, had made in the temple
of the Lord. Look at this next phrase, as the Lord said. Everything
that took place was exactly as the Lord said. God was sovereign
in this, just like he's sovereign in everything else. And let me
remind you of this. He's either sovereign over everything,
period, or he's not sovereign at all. Everything happened as
the Lord said. Verse 14, and he carried away
all Jerusalem. This was to the land of captivity,
to Babylon. And he carried away all Jerusalem,
and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valor, the
courageous men, even 10,000 captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths,
the men who could produce things, who could make things. He carried
them all away. None remained, and that word
remained is survived. These are the only ones that
survived and were not carried into Babylon. Who? The poorest
sort of the people. They were the only ones that
weren't carried away. You see, they didn't have anything to
bring. They didn't have any contributions to make. The poorest sort. Verse 15, I can see by some of
your smiles you know what this is saying. Verse 15, and he carried
away Jehoiachin to Babylon and the king's mother and the king's
wives and his officers and the mighty of the land. Those carried
he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon and all the men of
might, even 7,000, the craftsmen and the Smiths, the people who
could produce things, a thousand and all that were strong and
apt for war, even them, the king of Babylon, brought captive to
Babylon. Now, there was one group of people
that were not carried into Babylon, and they're described as the
poorest sort of the land. You see, they didn't have anything
to bring to Babylon. They didn't have anything Babylon desired.
I mean, they were weak. They were poverty stricken. They
couldn't add anything to Babylon. Now Babylon took that which,
you know, the Smiths and the men apt for war and the mighty
men, Babylon took them. But the poorest sort of the land, the Babylonian rejects, you can
call them, the Babylonian rejects, the poorest sort of the land.
Now these same people are described by our Lord in the Beatitudes,
what is the first Beatitude? Blessed are the poor in spirit. Those who have nothing to bring
to the table. They don't have anything that
can aid Babylon. They're poor in spirit. Those who cannot be saved by
their works. Those who do not have anything
they could offer to God and move him to respond to them. They're
numbered with those who the scripture says work not. To him that worketh not, but
believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly. His faith is counted
for righteousness. They take their place with the
publican. God be merciful to me, the sinner. I have nothing to bring to the
table. All I am is sin. Now that's the poorest sort of
the people. They only have one disagreement
with Paul when he said, Christ Jesus came into the world to
save sinners of whom I am the chief. They believe themselves
to be. the very chief of sinners. They
really believe that about themselves. Now, if you agree with them,
they might get irritated because they're still got a self-righteous,
sinful bent to them. I'll say I'm, I've said this
so many times before, but I can say I'm the chief of sinners.
If you say, I agree, you are, I'm going to get, I'm going to
get irritated. Um, but, uh, that's because of
my sinful nature. That's the only reason every
believer sees themselves to be that way. Now listen to this,
listen to this. Here's what a sinner is. Somebody
who cannot not sin. How do you fit in that group?
Are you somebody who cannot not sin? Somebody says, oh, yeah,
I can. OK, you're not of the poor sort of the people. You've
been carried away into Babylon. A sinner is somebody who before
God, they know that all they do is sin. And they know for sure that their
sin is all their fault. They can't blame God. They can't
blame God's sovereignty. They can't blame their mom and
dad. They can't blame their circumstance. They know that their sin is all
their fault. And somebody that really is a
sinner, they can't look in judgment on anybody. They can't look at
anybody. I don't care what they're doing.
They can't look at anybody and sit in judgment on them as a
moral superior. And they know that they have
no claims on God. If God passed me by and let me
go to hell, just and holy is his name. Now that is the poorest
sort of the people. And those are the people who
were not brought to Babylon. They were delivered. They survived. And there's only one reason they
saw themselves that way. You see, these mighty people
really weren't any better. They thought they were, but they
really weren't any better. It's the grace of God that made
them see their poorness, their poverty of spirit. And these are the people who
were delivered.