Mystery Babylon and the Stone Kingdom, part 77—Preparing to come out of Babylon
Welcome back! We left off in our study and analysis of what happened to those who returned to Jerusalem with Ezra. This, of course, was after Babylon had fallen and those of the tribes of Judah, Benjamin and some Levites were given permission to return to rebuild. We now continue the divine narrative where we left off.
Ezra 1: 7 Also Cyrus the king brought forth the vessels of the house of the LORD [Yahweh], which Nebuchadnezzar had brought forth out of Jerusalem, and had put them in the house of his gods;
8 Even those did Cyrus king of Persia bring forth by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and numbered them unto Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah.
9 And this is the number of them: thirty chargers of gold, a thousand chargers of silver, nine and twenty knives,
10 Thirty basons of gold, silver basons of a second sort four hundred and ten, and other vessels a thousand.
11 All the vessels of gold and of silver were five thousand and four hundred. All these did Sheshbazzar bring up with them of the captivity that were brought up from Babylon unto Jerusalem.
Hmmm…I wonder why God saw fit to give us all those numbers. This man, Sheshbazzar, by the way, is the same one called Zerubbabel. He was the governor of the Judahites returning to Jerusalem. The book of Ezra goes on to record the great difficulties and resistance that the Judahites encountered from other people in and around Jerusalem as they attempted to rebuild the temple there.
What they probably did not realize was that there was a 76-year “cleansing period” that had to be fulfilled first. This, too, is delineated meticulously in Stephen’s (Dr. Stephen Jones) book Secrets of Time. Therefore, towards the end of that period of time, we find in Ezra, chapter 5, that the Judahites write a letter describing their plight to Darius, King of the Medes, who had succeeded his partner, Cyrus, on the throne in Babylon.
Darius checks the royal records and finds out that—yep, sure enough, Cyrus really had made a decree with the purpose of them rebuilding the temple. Consequently, in the second year of Darius’ reign from Babylon, not only does Darius pave the way politically for them to be able to expedite the construction project, but he also.... well, let’s pick it up in Ezra 6, verse 6. This is the letter of decree from Darius telling his underlings to lay off.
Ezra 6: 6 Now therefore, Tatnai, governor beyond the river, Shetharboznai, and your companions the Apharsachites, which are beyond the river, be ye far from thence:
7 Let the work of this house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God in his place.
So here we find that Tatnai, who is a provincial governor for King Darius, is told to quit hindering and harassing the Judahites. Not only is he told to quit hindering them, but he is told to assist them!
8 Moreover I make a decree what ye shall do to the elders of these Jews for the building of this house of God: that of the king's goods, even of the tribute beyond the river, forthwith expenses be given unto these men, that they be not hindered.
Essentially, Darius commanded that taxpayers’ money be used to subsidize the building of the temple. Today, we are not looking for the rebuilding of any physical temple, for we, as Christians are the temple of God!
Bible teacher extraordinaire, Ron Oja, has noted for us on many occasions that when then-President George W. Bush established the faith-based initiative program that this could eventuate in a similar result in our era. It was establishing a precedent that federal tax money could be used for religious purposes.
Strict Constitutionalists will not like that, but we, as Christians are looking forward to the Kingdom of Heaven/the Kingdom of God upon the earth and we must realize that our beloved Constitution was not perfect. In the Kingdom of God there is no separation of church from state.
The two have their separate roles but the past century has shown us what happens when antichristians succeed in removing almost all traces of the Bible and Christianity from “the public square.” Look at the mess we are in today. Just look at how the Left even howls over having “In God We Trust” still being found engraved on our now nearly-worthless coins.
At this present time, we are still under Mystery Babylon and therefore the forces of antichrist appear to be benefitting from the “FBI,” the faith-based initiative, more than the true gospel of Jesus Christ, but not to worry, the foundation is there.
9 And that which they have need of, both young bullocks, and rams, and lambs, for the burnt offerings of the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the appointment of the priests which are at Jerusalem, let it be given them day by day without fail:
10 That they may offer sacrifices of sweet savours unto the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king, and of his sons.
Okay, that’s a very favorable law for God’s people, but what good is a law if it has no teeth? So here then are the teeth of Darius’ decree:
11 Also I have made a decree, that whosoever shall alter this word, let timber be pulled down from his house, and being set up, let him be hanged thereon; and let his house be made a dunghill for this.
12 And the God that hath caused his name to dwell there destroy all kings and people, that shall put to their hand to alter and to destroy this house of God which is at Jerusalem. I Darius have made a decree; let it be done with speed.
13 Then Tatnai, governor on this side the river, Shetharboznai, and their companions, according to that which Darius the king had sent, so they did speedily.
14 And the elders of the Jews builded, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they builded, and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.
15 And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.
So, within five years, the temple was now built to completion which was sometime in the years 516-515 B.C. To sum up this section of the lecture, allow me to quote this paragraph from Secrets of Time, pg. 82 :
“The Babylonian Empire lasted just 70 years, from 607 to 537 B.C. The captivity of Jerusalem also lasted precisely 70 years, from 604 to 534 B.C. The Temple remained desolate from late summer of 586 to March of 515 B.C., which is just a few months past 70 years.
“So when Jeremiah prophesied a 70-year captivity of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 29:10), the prophecy had multiple fulfillments and even applied to the time that Babylon was a world power.”
The significance of that quotation from Stephen’s book is not merely to show you the specifics of the numbers in the Babylonian Captivity, but there is a larger purpose here. Because many of us often notice and discuss how an individual prophecy can have multiple fulfillments.
For the person who might be new to the study of prophecy, here is a case history, as it were, where Dr. Jones has demonstrated that multiple fulfillments of a single prophecy are indeed Scriptural.
Now I want to summarize about this whole idea of coming out of Babylon. As we have shown, it is not about social security numbers and licenses and bank accounts, because as in the Scriptural precedent of the ancient Babylonian Captivity, we do not come out until after (Mystery) Babylon has fallen.
Meanwhile, we should be striving to “get the Babylon out of us,” which in general, is simply another way of describing our sanctification process, where we learn to hear God’s voice and be obedient. Of course, that is a life-long work.
But even though it is a life-long work, again, I caution, does that mean that we only focus on ourselves and our own personal spiritual growth? No! Christians also have a duty, a responsibility, an obligation to participate in the other levels of society as well.
From self to household. Our family responsibilities....well, that goes without saying. The next level is our local body of believers—commonly known as the church. For many in this audience, I understand where you are at, because I was in the same situation.
The situation where we have no local church because we are not welcome there—usually because of certain doctrines which we believe, but which the denominations call heresy. Such doctrines as that there is no burning hell and that God will ultimately save everybody.
Or such doctrines as that America is the Promised Land prophesied in 2 Samuel 7:10—one of the multiple fulfillments of the Promised Land concept, by the way. And the doctrine that America is the end-time Zion nation, the regathering place of all the tribes of Israel.
...And that America is the embryonic Stone Kingdom, and on and on with many of the teachings we have set forth in this series. These are rejected by the church at large. But remember that Martin Luther and his teachings were also rejected by the church in his day as well.
And so, such is the price of spiritual growth. Many of you are in the spiritual wilderness, and we understand why these conferences are so important to you and to us as well, for it affords all of us the opportunity to fellowship with others who are likewise shunned by the denominations in our own hometowns. Been there, done that, welcome to the wilderness!
But keep the goal in mind, because after the training in the wilderness comes to an end at its appointed time, then comes the crossing of Jordan into the Promised Land. So if you have been kicked out of your local church, start a little Bible study of your own.
We—meaning, Ron, Stephen, myself and others—have friends, a couple, who were instrumental in founding a church from scratch, a church which grew to have over 800 families.
Some few years ago now, while the husband was still on the board and served as an officer of the now-large church, he came across our teachings (Steve’s, Ron’s and mine) and started sharing with the pastors and other members of the congregation this really good news that everyone is going to be saved.
Well, it was not long before our friends were given the left foot of fellowship (as opposed to “the right hands of fellowship in Galatians 2:9) and he and his family were essentially excommunicated from the Field of Grapes Fellowship that they had had a primary role in starting. It’s not really called Field of Grapes Fellowship but some of you will be able to decode that.
So what did our friends do? They started a home Bible study fellowship. And do not fret if you feel you do not have the Bible knowledge or skills to do it from scratch, by preparing lessons and such, then do what I did when I was working 70 hours a week as a General Contractor in Palm Beach County, Florida back in the 1980s. I did not have the time to prepare Bible studies then either.
But my late wife, Roxanne, and I would invite a few families to our house and I would put on a recorded Bible study from one of the Bible teachers whom I subscribed to in those days. We would listen to it and then have a discussion afterwards.
It helped us in our spiritual growth and it helped alleviate the loneliness of the wilderness. It all worked quite well for a number of years until.... one of the ladies began bringing a big box of fancy pastries—you know, éclairs, bear claws, Danish, raspberry jelly-filled donuts, you name it.
And everyone began falling asleep ten minutes into the recording (grinning). No, I’m just kidding. The fellowship did not fall apart. We got over that obstacle by simply declaring the rule was that there would be no sweets until after the Bible study. Coffee or tea, yes—but no sweets until we were done!
Alright, the next level is your local government, be it the school board, the city or town council, county commission, planning and zoning board, whatever...get involved and let your voice be heard.
You may not feel comfortable running for office at this point, but at least begin attending some meetings to get to know your local leaders, for how can you influence them with the principles of God’s Stone Kingdom unless you know your local leaders?
“But James, my plate is already full.” I know. It is part of the burden of living in Mystery Babylonian Captivity. God sold us into this captivity to Mystery Babylon, and it is really God who is making it so difficult to make a living at this point, that it seems like an impossible request.
For some, it will be impossible, due to health reasons or the need to work three jobs or whatever, but I am encouraging all of us to do something. Even a shut-in can be a mighty prayer warrior and literally have much greater affect for good than ten county commissioners or town council members. I am challenging all members of the Body of Christ to report for duty.
I am not going to tell you what your part in the Body is—your God-given interests, inclinations and aptitudes will help you discern that, but just do something. Don’t just sit there and do nothing and think that God will do it all.
Actually, He does do it all—but He almost always does it all through the actions and prayers of His people—and through non-believers as well—the cases of Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes are classic examples.
Speaking of Artaxerxes, turn to Ezra chapter 7. And in doing so, we fast forward in time from Zerubbabel and the completion of the temple in 515 B.C. to many decades later when Ezra and Nehemiah return from Babylon in 458 B.C. with permission to rebuild the city of Jerusalem.
Notice this. I think it is very important for us to realize this: There were at least two waves of people, separated by many years, coming out of Babylon and returning to the homeland. The first wave came to rebuild the temple.
Then it was 57 years between the completion of the temple, and the time when the second wave left Babylon and came to rebuild the holy city. Is that a type and shadow of what will happen after Mystery Babylon falls? I will leave you to ponder that. We do not have time to explore it in this lecture.
But I want to focus on the work of Ezra now as he and Nehemiah and the second wave of emigrants returned.
Ezra 7:6 This Ezra went up from Babylon; and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the LORD [Yahweh] God of Israel had given: and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the LORD his God upon him.
Hmmmm. Apparently, Ezra was not a man who believed that God was in charge of everything and therefore we don’t have to do anything. Because Ezra obviously did something to bring about change. He approached the king and made his request known, didn’t he? He didn’t just sit around bemoaning what the government is doing to us now.
By the way, several messages back I mentioned about seeing a church sign in my town that exemplifies the do-nothing attitude of so many slumbering Christians. The sign said: “Everything is in God’s hands; (which is a wonderful statement of God’s sovereignty, but then they added to that:) “leave it there!”
Well, I don’t know if someone said something to them about it, but now the sign simply reads: “God is in control.” And that’s all it says.
Ezra 7:9 For upon the first day of the first month began he to go up from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month came he to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him.
10 For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.
Ezra had prepared his heart What is that if not Ezra getting the Babylon out of his heart, and do you think he had been preparing his heart while still in Babylon? You can be certain of that!
11 Now this is the copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes gave unto Ezra the priest, the scribe, even a scribe of the words of the commandments of the LORD, and of his statutes to Israel.
We don’t have time to even read, let alone analyze this letter from the king, but here are a couple of highlights in the context of this lecture as we wind down this message.
Ezra 7:14 Forasmuch as thou art sent of the king, and of his seven counsellors, to enquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of thy God which is in thine hand;
What did Ezra have in his hand? Today we would say he had the Bible in one hand, and what did he have in the other, figuratively speaking? Next verse...
15 And to carry the silver and gold, which the king and his counsellors have freely offered unto the God of Israel, whose habitation is in Jerusalem,
Well, what do we have here? Another example of coming out of Babylon with not only the blessing of an official government edict, but with the top men in the government making personal contributions to the cause!
Will that happen in America in the near future? We will see. Now in addition to the personal gifts of the king and his cabinet members, we find this:
16 And all the silver and gold that thou canst find in all the province of Babylon, with (in other words, in addition to...) the freewill offering of the people, and of the priests, offering willingly for the house of their God which is in Jerusalem:
“all the silver and gold that thou canst find”... that word “find” means to procure. I do not know if they held huge bake sales, or held raffles or whatever the means, but they came out of Babylon with a very large amount of silver and gold.
I know that many of us are in such dire financial straits now as we await Babylon’s fall in our day, that we can really use a financial blessing, but let us not lose sight of the fact that the silver and gold also symbolize the greater riches.
Biblically, silver represents redemption. It is the “adoption, to wit, the redemption of our bodies.” (Romans 8:23) Which is the resurrection into immortality, coupled with incorruptibility, meaning we can never fall into sin and death ever again! And gold represents the divine nature which will enliven our bodies endlessly. For as the Scripture says, when we see Jesus, we shall be like Him. And all the people said: AMEN!
(This series on Mystery Babylon and the Stone Kingdom will be continued as we are considerably less than halfway through the series.)
