Sermon Tone Analysis

4

Intro:

What we worship will always cost us something.

The question is, what is the payoff?

WE

This is really where a lot of tension comes into the body of Christ.

What does it look like to live lives that reach out to others, yet live lives separate from the world?

In other words, we want the boat in the water, but not the water in the boat.

We can separate from the world to the point where we are living contrary to the call of sharing our faith, and we can also work so hard not to do this that we throw away all discretion and end up living lives that are no different than someone who doesn’t even claim to follow Christ.

Observations:

Encountering Idols in Babylon - 3:4-7 Babylon’s Appeal - the appeal of the world

A word about Babylon; Walking in ways contrary to Babylon would not have been as easy as we may think.

A word about Babylon;

the Story- todays thoughts touch on two things that run true through different parts of scripture and these things are important for us to understand as we read and study the word of God.

One being Babylon, which we’ll talk more about in a minute.

The second thing, God’s people exiled to foreign places.

God’s people where slaves in Egypt, we see here at this point in the story, God’s people in the land of Babylon, far from home, having to remain faithful, we see this theme in the New Testament, Jesus brings his teaching of the New Kingdom and how Jesus followers would be like foreigners during their time on earth.

New Testament writers pick up on this, that we are to live as if this world is not our home.

We are to live as citizens of another place.

In OT times, the commercial, religious and political capital of Babylonia, which was the dominant power in the Near East in the sixth century b.c.

In the NT, “Babylon” signifies the world and its forces in opposition to God.

It is often contrasted with “the new Jerusalem”, in which God will finally reign supreme.

-Dictionary of Bible Themes

In OT times, the commercial, religious and political capital of Babylonia, which was the dominant power in the Near East in the sixth century b.c.

In the NT, “Babylon” signifies the world and its forces in opposition to God.

It is often contrasted with “the new Jerusalem”, in which God will finally reign supreme.

1.

When you read through your Bible, you’ll notice this reoccurring reference to the “Babylon”- In fact you’ll see in you see the beginning of a Kingdom called “Babel” which is the start of what would become the Babylonian empire and the last mention of it in .

Historically The great evil of the tower builders is their sinful pride against the rule of God.

This theme will reappear in the prophetic writings against the city.

The prophets describe Babylon as a city of pride and idolatry.

In OT times, the commercial, religious and political capital of Babylonia, which was the dominant power in the Near East in the sixth century b.c.

—> Babylon was beautiful, it’s “Hanging Gardens” were one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

Because of the Babylonians doing to other civilizations what they did to God’s people, taking the brightest and best and leaving the poor to work the land, Babylon was culturally diverse.

It was the wealthiest part of the world at that time, known for it’s high quality education.

It was a pluralistic society, diverse, many gods would have been believed in.

It would have been absurd to believe that there was only one true God.

In the NT, “Babylon” signifies the world and its forces in opposition to God.

It is often contrasted with “the new Jerusalem”, in which God will finally reign supreme.

When you read through your Bible, you’ll notice this reoccurring reference to the “Babylon”- In fact you’ll see in you see the beginning of a Kingdom called “Babel” which is the start of what would become the Babylonian empire and the last mention of it in .

Historically The great evil of the tower builders is their sinful pride against the rule of God.

This theme will reappear in the prophetic writings against the city.

The prophets describe Babylon as a city of pride and idolatry.

In OT times, the commercial, religious and political capital of Babylonia, which was the dominant power in the Near East in the sixth century b.c.

—> Babylon was beautiful, it’s “Hanging Gardens” were one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

Because of the Babylonians doing to other civilizations what they did to God’s people, taking the brightest and best and leaving the poor to work the land, Babylon was culturally diverse.

It was the wealthiest part of the world at that time, known for it’s high quality education.

It was a pluralistic society, diverse, many gods would have been believed in.

It would have been absurd to believe that there was only one true God.

In the NT, “Babylon” signifies the world and its forces in opposition to God.

It is often contrasted with “the new Jerusalem”, in which God will finally reign supreme.

Manser, M. H. (2009).

Dictionary of Bible Themes: The Accessible and Comprehensive Tool for Topical Studies.

London: Martin Manser.

During the reign of Hezekiah, envoys from Babylon came to Jerusalem ().

The prophet Isaiah chastised the king for showing off the treasures of Judah and predicted that Babylon would some day carry these riches off.

This was a startling revelation, for Assyria was the great power of the day and seemingly unassailable.

The visit was probably an attempt by Babylon to foment problems for Assyria in the west, thereby diverting attention from Babylon.

The postexilic reader would have seen the roots of the destruction of Jerusalem in the foolish pride of Hezekiah and in the greed of Babylon.

The prophets describe Babylon as a city of pride and idolatry.

Yet the destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon presents the prophets with a dilemma.

If God is sovereign and makes use of Babylon to punish Judah, can Babylon—as a tool in the hand of its Master—be blamed for its behavior?

Isaiah addresses this problem by portraying Babylon as a woman, the queen of kingdoms (47:5), who should be tender and delicate but is not.

God gave his people over into her power, but rather than caring for them she has shown them no mercy.

This is a result of her overweening pride, evidenced in her statement that “I am, and there is none besides me” (v.

8).

Although the conquest of Jerusalem is in keeping with the will of God, the brutality and greed of the conquerors—the fruit of Babylon’s idolatry and failure to recognize the kingship of God—are not.

Because of Babylon’s pride, she will be destroyed.

personifies Babylon as a woman who is doomed to destruction and whose infant children will be savagely killed.

Jeremiah sees the future destruction of Babylon as a punishment because the Babylonians rejoiced at the destruction of Judah and ruthlessly plundered the people of God (50:11).

Babylon herself will become a “heap of ruins” (51:37).

Daniel reinforces the picture of Babylon as full of pride and defiance toward God.

Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, is punished with madness because he denied God’s control over “Babylon the Great” (4:30).

Centuries after the destruction of the Neo-Babylonian state by Cyrus of Persia, Babylon reappears in a dramatic role in the Book of Revelation—a role marked by numerous references to Old Testament imagery.

Pride, idolatry, cruelty, and greed are associated with the city.

The dominant image of Babylon in Revelation is the city’s personification of a rich woman, the “mother of prostitutes” (17:5).

Babylon is a great city that rules over the earth.

Babylon, the historic oppressor of God’s people, represents the new oppressor of Christ’s church.”

Davis, T. W. (1996).

Babylon.

In Evangelical dictionary of biblical theology (electronic ed., p. 47).

Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.

Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology

Observation;

Observation; We have to recognize the appeal of Babylon, and the incentive to by into its ways.

There is an easiness to going with the flow, and there is a price to be paid for going against it.

God’s people faced challenges as they sought to serve God in a secular society.

The Consequences of not Worshiping - 3:13-19

The Consequences of choosing devotion over compromise 3:13-

not Worshiping - 3:13-19Babylon’s Challenge to God’s People - idolatry

When God is appealing, Babylon pays attention;

Nebuchadnezzar’s countenance changes toward them 13&19;

There is a mixture of excitement about the one true God, but a failure to worship him exclusively.

Nebuchadnezzar’s confession of God (2:46-47) did not prevent him being a worshipper of idols, besides.

No other nation but the Jews would feel this edict oppressive; for it did not prevent them worshipping their own gods besides.

It was evidently aimed at the Jews by those jealous of their high position in the king’s court,

Nebuchadnezzar’s countenance changes toward them 13&19;

No other nation but the Jews would feel this edict oppressive; for it did not prevent them worshipping their own gods besides.

It was evidently aimed at the Jews by those jealous of their high position in the king’s court,

Nebuchadnezzar’s confession of God (2:46-47) did not prevent him being a worshipper of idols, besides.

Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997).

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 1, p. 626).

Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.