BABYLON- WHEN THE ENEMY SEEMS HARMLESS
Notes
Transcript
Psalm 137:1 reads:
1 By the rivers of Babylon, There we sat down and wept, When we remembered Zion.
We continue our look at the biblical city of Babylon. It is mentioned 264 times in the Bible.
We are going to jump from Genesis to 2 Kings today. In our passage, Hezekiah was sick and God sent the prophet Isaiah to tell him to get his house in order because he was going to die.
Hezekiah reacted like most of us probably would. He begged God to not let him die and God gave him 15 more years to live.
God also told Isaiah to tell him that Jerusalem would be safe from the Assyrians who had captured the rest of Israel.
Let’s notice that when everything begins to look good, that is when Satan gets involved. When God delivers us from something and we have a great victory, you can be sure that the enemy will attack.
Follow along as I read our passage in 2 Kings.
12 At that time Berodach-baladan, a son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, because he heard that Hezekiah had been sick.
13 And Hezekiah listened to them, and showed them all his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the balsam oil, the scented oil, the house of his armor, and everything that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his house nor in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them.
14 Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, “What did these men say, and from where have they come to you?” And Hezekiah said, “They have come from a far country, from Babylon.”
15 Isaiah said, “What have they seen in your house?” So Hezekiah answered, “They have seen everything that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasuries that I have not shown them.”
16 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord:
17 ‘Behold, the days are coming when everything that is in your house, and what your fathers have stored up to this day, will be carried to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the Lord.
18 ‘And some of your sons who will come from you, whom you will father, will be taken away; and they will become officials in the palace of the king of Babylon.’ ”
19 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord which you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Is it not good, if there will be peace and security in my days?”
Hezekiah did not even realize that he was dealing with a great enemy. Hezekiah’s mistakes are example to us about the dangerous enemy that we face.
Hezekiah…
1. Did not recognize the enemy
The King of Babylon’s son sent letters and gifts to Hezekiah because of his sickness. He was showing kindness to Hezekiah, so he had to be a friend, right? The enemy often seems to be your friend and you do not recognize that he is your enemy.
An email with a virus does not have flashing lights telling you there is a virus attached. An email that is trying to scam you will seem to be one of the most concerned or official emails you will see.
Our recognition of things and people is not innate in us. It is something that we learn. How do we learn who are mother and father are? We keep seeing the people, hearing their voices, hearing the name “daddy” and “mommy” attached to that person. We don’t even start to identify ourselves as an individual until around 2-3 years old. We get a sense of right and wrong from our parents and then our friends. However, this is not completely true in all aspects of our lives. Somehow, someway, every person knows there is a right and wrong, not just because we have been taught what is right and wrong but because it has been impressed on our hearts.
14 For when Gentiles who do not have the Law instinctively perform the requirements of the Law, these, though not having the Law, are a law to themselves,
15 in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience testifying and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them,
We know there is a right and wrong because it is written on our hearts. To learn exactly what is right and what is wrong, we must study the Scriptures. It is in God’s word, it is God’s word being put into us, that we see our enemy; and more importantly, we learn to recogize the Holy Spirit. When you learn the Holy Spirit, when you see Him at work, you will also see false spirits at work and know the difference.
1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God;
3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and now it is already in the world.
4 You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.
5 They are from the world, therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them.
6 We are from God. The one who knows God listens to us; the one who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
Learn the Holy Spirit and you will learn to recognize the enemy.
Hezekiah…
2. Was blinded by the enemy’s gift
The enemy loves to give us things so that we will drop our guard. The enemy knows how to do things in a way that we are blinded to the truth.
Have you ever heard the saying, “Money is the root of all evil”?
I think it is one of the most misquoted texts and is taught to us by the world and by some who claim to be Christian. The misquote is a small but deadly mistake. That quote is taken from 1 Timothy:
10 For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Money isn’t evil. But loving money above God is evil. Anything that we put our love in more than God is evil. The King of Israel was forbidden to acquire certain things.
17 And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, so that his heart does not turn away; nor shall he greatly increase silver and gold for himself.
I think this should be written as an amendment to our Constitution for our elected officials. Be careful what you strive to get because that may be what you get.
27 One who diligently seeks good seeks favor, But one who seeks evil, evil will come to him.
Hezekiah…
3. Let the enemy in
Since Hezekiah didn’t recognize the enemy, and was blinded by the gifts of the enemy, he allowed the enemy into the very heart of Israel. He allowed the envoys to come into his palace, his storehouses, and his entire kingdom. The enemy walked right in and was welcomed.
In WW II, before we ever stepped foot into Berlin, we had to establish a beachhead on the beaches of France. That beachhead gave us a foothold and from the foothold, we defeated Germany.
We must be careful to not allow the enemy to come into our lives. All he needs is a foothold; and he is in.
Our enemy can give what seems like great gifts. As a matter of fact, our enemy will promise us exactly what we are wanting if we only bow down to him. Remember the temptation of Jesus?
8 Again, the devil took Him along to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory;
9 and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.”
I have heard this explained as Jesus was already going to get the whole earth but in order to get it, He had to do it God’s way.
While this is true I also think there is a bit more. In passage in Matthew, it read that Satan promised Jesus “All these things”. What Jesus came to do was to offer salvation to all the people, not to offer salvation to all these things. It might seem minor but I think it is significant. After all, in Revelation, we read that all these things will burn up and then a new heaven and a new earth will be created. So what Jesus was after was all the people, not things.
If we give the enemy a foothold, he will offer us all these things but we can never have God on the devils terms.
Hezekiah…
4. Showed the enemy his most precious things
Not only did Hezekiah give the enemy a tour throughout the kingdom; but he also showed him the most important things.
I am sure when we read this passage earlier, you thought, why on earth would he take these strangers in and show them everything that was a treasure to Hezekiah. It doesn’t make sense and we wouldn’t have done that. I mean we are all smart enough, seen enough movies etc that we would recognize the enemy. We are even smart enough and have seen enough that we don’t show anyone what we hold dear to us.
There are certain things we do that are done because someone is important to us. Men typically walk to the right of a woman; not because it is the place of honor but because a man wants to protect his treasure. It is from the right he can do this since most people are right handed, it is with the right hand then wield their weapon.
Some want to call this type of thinking as misogynistic, which it is not. It is biblical.
Ephesians 5 teachs us that men should love their wives like Jesus loved the church. Jesus gave His life for the church. If men are supposed to treat their wives that way, then they should be ready to defend them.
What are the things and people that are precious to you? Do you treat them as you should?
Hezekiah…
5. Lost everything to the enemy
Isaiah gave Hezekiah the message of Judah’s upcoming destruction. Because of Hezekiah, the enemy knew everything about Jerusalem. He knew about their treasures, the setup of the buildings, where the guards were located. He didn’t have to figure out where anything was because he was shown everything that was important.
We must never forget that Satan is not God. Satan does not know what you are thinking. Satan does not know anything about you unless you tell him. It is not until we show the enemy what we have and who we are that he can attack us in those exact areas.
Later, as we look more into Babylon, we will read about how they destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple. When they did this, they took everything they could carry and most of the people back with them to Babylon.
This defeat that ended in destruction began with Hezekiah opening the doors to the enemy. Even though he was one of the most godly kings of Judah, he ushered in an era of defeat and exile.
Our sin does this for us currently. Every time we allow the enemy into our lives, we begin a period of exile from God. It is a break in fellowship in which we turn away from God and toward our enemy.
Only after we turn back to God will that fellowship be restored. Have you let the enemy into your life? How is your relationship with God?
Let’s pray.
