Overview of the Return from Babylon — John Meekin

The Covenant Curses in Leviticus 26

Let's turn tonight to the scriptures and we'll read firstly in the book of Leviticus. I'll take a few references, but the first reference I think we should take together will be from the book of Leviticus.

Leviticus chapter 26 will be our first reference. And again, like our brother William has mentioned, I consider it personally a privilege to be here again for the conference. It's a privilege to share with my brother Dan and my brother Brandon and some of the other brethren who will be in attendance.

It's a sincere privilege and I count it a privilege to be here for the opening of the scriptures. Sincere thanks for and to all who have come tonight. Let's read then in Leviticus and in chapter 26 and look at verse number 23.

Leviticus 26, 23. And if he will not be reformed by me by these things, but will walk contrary unto me, then will I also walk contrary unto you and will punish you yet seven times for your sins. And I will bring a sword upon you that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant.

And when you are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. And when I have broken the staff of your bread, 10 women shall bake your bread in one oven and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight and ye shall eat and not be satisfied.

And if you will not for all this hearken unto me, but will walk contrary unto me, then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins and ye shall eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters shall you eat.

Look down at verse number 31 and I will make your cities waste and bring your sanctuaries into desolation. And I will not smell the savor of your sweet odors and I will bring the land into desolation and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it.

And I will scatter you among the nations, the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you and your land shall be desolate and your cities waste. Then shall the land enjoy her Sabbaths as long as it lieth desolate and ye be in your enemy's land.

Even then shall the land rest and enjoy her Sabbaths as long as it lieth desolate. It shall rest because it did not rest in your Sabbaths when ye dwelt upon it. Now that's all we read there. Let's look over to the book of Ezra.

We'll be taking references from this book quite a bit tomorrow particularly but we'll just pick up just a verse in chapter 1. Ezra chapter 1 and verse number 1. Ezra 1 verse 1. Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia and he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and put it also in writing saying thus saith Cyrus king of Persia the Lord God of heaven hath charged me all hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he hath charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah who is there among you of all his people his God be with him and let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah and build the house of the Lord God of Israel he is the God which is in Jerusalem.

Maybe we'll take a reference from the psalms. I'll take two more references. Psalm number 74. I wasn't going to read this but it's a most precious psalm and quite evocative as we consider its language in the destruction of the city.

Psalm number 74 and the title of the psalm Maskell of Asaph verse 1. Oh God why hast thou cast us off forever? Why doth thine anger smoke or smoke against the sheep of thy pasture? Remember thy congregation which thou has purchased of old the rod of thine inheritance which thou has redeemed this Mount Zion wherein thou has dwelt.

Look at verse number five. A man was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees but now they break down the carved work. This is referring to the temple in Jerusalem but now they break down the carved work thereof at once with axes and hammers.

They have cast fire into thy sanctuary they have defiled by casting down the dwelling place of thy name to the ground. They said in their hearts let us destroy them together. They have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land and look down just uh just for sake of time look down at verse number 12 for God is my king of old working salvation in the midst of the earth.

That's a most precious verse in the midst of all the desolation in the midst of the trial that had come upon Jerusalem. Asa is still able to trust in the Lord and I read it again to you. Verse number 12 God is my king of old working salvation.

And it's a very interesting expression. The midst of the earth. Now a final reference in Daniel 1 just to pull a few threads together. The book of Daniel and in chapter 1 a very well-known reference but we'll take it just before we move into the ministry.

Daniel 1 verse 1. In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem and besieged it and the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand with part of the vessels of the house of God which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his God and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his God and God blessed to us those readings from the sacred scriptures.

The Three Deportations to Babylon

Now our brethren have mentioned to me that just for a few minutes tonight maybe perhaps we'll spend these moments in an overview of the subject which is before us for the weekend. I would say that largely speaking for most of us we speak about the return from Babylon and we speak about the Babylonian captivity.

And I would say for most of us we perhaps have a variety of ideas about what this captivity was. Some of us will know some of the details about it and what what will happen over the weekend is this with the help of our brethren we'll have to rely heavily upon our brother Dan and upon our brother Brandon and some of the other brethren.

And they will be filling in the details and bringing together very disparate threads from all of the revelation of God. Concerning some of the details of this return from Babylon the first thing maybe I should mention is this.

We get the idea of captivity and we we maybe have the wrong idea of what this captivity was. This does not mean that the nation was in a cell held captive and in some way they they were in. It was a bondage.

There's no doubt it was a bondage but it was a particular bondage that God had delivered them into. He had given them up delivered them from their own land that he had given to them. We'll be coming back to that in a few minutes.

And he had allowed the king of Babylon to move into the promised land of Israel. And as he allowed the king of Babylon Nebuchadnezzar to move into the promised land he allowed the king of Babylon to take some of his own people and he allowed that king to take them back to his own land.

And we're going to notice that God allowed him to do that in three ways. It's very very common ground what I'm going to mention now. But one of the reasons why I read in the book of Daniel chapter 1 this is 606 BC.

And in 606 BC Nebuchadnezzar he moved up and he came into the land of Judah and he moved up into Jerusalem itself. And he took some of the princes and he took them captive and he took them back to the land of Babylon.

Then he came again. It's not now 606 BC but now it was 597 BC. If you want some of the corroborating evidence for this just read in 2nd Kings chapter 24. And in 2nd Kings chapter 24 we will learn now it's not 606 BC.

Now it's 597 BC. And again he sweeps into the land of Israel and again he brings from the land of Israel not now some of the princes and some of the young men and some of the royalty and carries them back to Babylon.

But what he targets now is some of the smiths and some of the artificers and some of those people with abilities and with gift and he carries them back to the land of and of course we get the picture now what he was doing was this was robbing the land.

He had robbed the land of some of its princes at the first. Now he's robbing the land of its most gifted people its most gifted men in 597 BC. And of course the last time he moved into the land was 586 BC.

And he took some of the poorest people. He uh he in a in a large measure he moved through the land and the land was completely decimated. He destroyed the the city of Jerusalem itself. The gates were burned with fire the walls of Jerusalem were demolished.

And of course the crowning thing that he did was this. He destroyed the sanctuary of the Lord. That brings us then into the book of the psalms. I'll come back to that in a moment as well. Psalm number 74.

The Three Returns from Babylon

One of the the most interesting things is this just in the same way that there were three dispersions from the land. God allowed it in his providence that there would be three recoveries three revivals back to the land and so we've had three dates there 606 BC 597 BC and 586 BC.

We are going to discover tomorrow morning that in 536 BC there was the first return back to the land and it was under two. There were a number of men mentioned but principally it's going to be under two men.

It's going to be under a princely man. His name is Zerubbabel. And it's going to be under a priestly man. His name is Joshua the high priest. And so in 536 BC there is the first return back to the land.

Then again in 458 BC there's going to be a second return. It's not under Zerubbabel and it's not under Joshua now but we're going to find in our brother Dan's second reading tomorrow afternoon it's going to be under Ezra.

This Ezra. Ezra is a wonderful character in scripture. He's a man. He's a man that some of us would aspire to be like this Ezra. He was a ready scribe. Our brother Dan will be unpacking some of that language tomorrow afternoon.

The man was quick and he was with it and he had the scriptures at his fingertip. It's great you know just just as a practical thing to have men and they have the scriptures just at their fingertips. I would love to be like I have to admit to you if there's the the bible says thou shalt not covet.

But if there's one thing I would covet is just to be like the man Ezra and and some of my brethren that I've listened to. I've listened at times to some of our brethren stepping forward to a podium like this and they open the book of God and as they open the book of God they have it and it's just right there at their fingertips and they're able to recall scripture.

And they've put their time into the scriptures. You know what I would say young men and young sisters tonight we are wasting our time if we don't dedicate our lives to the study of God's word. So many of us are using our time in things that they're quite legitimate things that we can spend our time in.

My beloved brethren beloved sisters this evening if we could take anything home from this one session of ministry I would encourage you you tonight young men particularly and young sisters put your time and effort and energy into the things of God.

You say what about Ezra. Did Ezra ever know when he was pouring over the scriptures that in 458 BC he would be leading back a band in revival back to the land of Israel. It's most unlikely. But God had it in his mind and so give yourself to the holy scriptures.

My beloved brethren and beloved sisters then the third return is not now 536 BC and it's not 458 BC. The third return was under a man called Nehemiah and that's in 444 BC. Our brother Brandon will be handling that for us on Sunday afternoon.

So three times that Nebuchadnezzar came up and took captives back to the land of Babylon and then God in his providence in his rich providential mercy three times God was sweeping and bringing mind you.

It's a great thing when God brings revival. I think one of the things that we would be looking for is that even from this conference that there might be revival revival in assembly life revival in our home lives revival in our personal lives.

It would be a wonderful thing my beloved brethren beloved sisters if God would grant revival mind you one of the solemn things about about this and we need to mention this the numbers of those who come back diminished each time and that's a most solemn thing.

In fact when Zechariah was raised up and we'll be learning about Zechariah maybe for a few minutes tomorrow we'll just see how the time goes. But when Zechariah was raised up in Zechariah chapter 4 it says this.

Who have despised the day of small things. You see the nation had been brought out of bondage before way back in their history they had been in bondage and God brought them out of bondage. I'm referring I'm referring to the exodus now.

And when God brought them out of the bondage of the exodus there might have been possibly two million maybe two and a half million that were brought out of the bondage in Egypt. You see when that man Zerubbabel and Joshua come back from Babylon you say will there be another two million that'll come back.

When we read about Zerubbabel and Joshua it's about 50 ,000. Not quite 50 ,000. In fact if you read the numbers 49 ,942 doing that from memory and you this time on a Friday night your memory can be a bit fragmentary but you just keep that in your mind.

That's the number that Nehemiah gives us 49 ,942 almost 50 ,000. When it came to Zerubbabel and Joshua when you say what about Ezra he'll bring another 50 ,000 back with him. When it comes to Ezra the number again is much lower about 1 ,800 maybe a little more than 1 ,800.

If we add servants into it that might have been added into the number. If we add wives into it that may also have been added to the number. Some children perhaps added to the number it might have it might have risen to approximately 7 ,000.

Seven and a half thousand possibly. But the number that the scripture gives is just under 2 ,000. And you say what about Nehemiah then when it comes to Nehemiah it's not two and a half million. It's not 50 ,000.

It's not 2 ,000 or seven and a half thousand. Whatever the accurate number is when it comes to Nehemiah we're just not sure. But one of the things we do know you say yeah just at the beginning here we thought that this this meeting would be upbeat.

And we thought that this meeting was going to be about revival. And we thought that this meeting might be something that might just give us a spirit at the beginning of the weekend so that we could put our best foot forward for God.

And here you are telling us about diminishing things numbers that are diminishing. Well the one thing that I do want to encourage you about was this. There were men that went with Nehemiah. Nehemiah himself he held a very high ranking position in the Persian empire and he left that position.

And when he left that position he was willing to give that up to make his way back to be with God's beloved people. You know what I would say beloved saints. One of the things I learned from that is this.

Oh people tell me there's diminishing numbers. Might be true. People say it's a day of small things. It might be true. People say well sometimes we can get down and dispirited under this. That also might be true.

The one thing I'll say is this just make sure you're one of those that go up. One of the challenges for my own heart and my own life is this that I would like to be like Nehemiah who has his sights on the city of God who has his sight on the sanctuary of the Lord who is moved by the Holy Spirit.

Nehemiah like Ezra like Zerubbabel like Joshua they went up to the place of the name. And so that's just a little bit of background before we get into any of this. Maybe maybe just for the next minutes.

Four Themes in the Captivity and Recovery

Maybe I couch my remarks around four points when it comes to this captivity I've told you about the first thing that I want to speak about is the revelation of the captivity. The captivity was revealed.

The second thing that I want to highlight is the reason for the captivity. What was the reason that God took them out of their land. What was the reason that God got the king of Babylon to sweep up to Jerusalem and remove them.

And so the revelation of the captivity and the reason for the captivity. The third thing I want to highlight is the great resources that God provided during the captivity. There's a number of resources and what we're going to find is this that there's a tremendous parallel from the resources that God gave them to the resources that God has provided for us.

And we'll be noticing these parallels some of these things I've I mentioned them just in passing tonight. What we will do is take time with them tomorrow and on Lord's Day and we come back to these resources in the midst of captivity.

And then of course the last thing I want to highlight is the great recovery that was seen from the captivity. Those four things I think I'll bookmark and highlight my remarks on those four points and that will do us until about 8 30.

We'll just see. Don't take that as gospel. We'll hold that thought for a moment. Just don't don't peg me too tight to that. Well you say what about the revelation of the captivity. You say we have read we have read passages in the book of Jeremiah and very evidently when we read Jeremiah chapter 25 the captivity or an aspect with regard to the captivity.

Not so much the captivity in that section but the desolations in that section. We have read Jeremiah 25 and we have read Jeremiah chapter 29. And we read about 70 years in Jeremiah 25. And we read about 70 years in Jeremiah chapter 29.

And very evidently God has revealed this in his word. The reason I read from Leviticus 26 is this that a way back in the days of Moses God revealed this in his word. Leviticus 26 is very clear about the seven aspects of judgment that God is going to bring.

And it's also equally clear about the seven times that God has in his mind. And God actually tells us in that chapter the reason why he would be taking those people out of their land. He says you haven't kept the land in its Sabbaths to just put that just put that in the back of your mind for now as they say in Newfoundland there's at least one Newfoundlander here tonight.

And as they say in Newfoundland put that on the sticky side of your memory. Most of us have a little small sticky part of our memory right. Well you just put that on the sticky side of your memory the land not keeping its Sabbaths.

And I'll come back to it in a minute. When you say why are you telling us about Moses. Well what the Lord told Moses was this these people have been brought near to me because they've been brought near to me then now they are responsible in a way that they've never been responsible before.

And because of that I will judge them because of the privileges they have. Mind you beloved saints privilege brings responsibility. Keep in mind now even for us in assembly life great privilege brings great responsibility on us and God will judge us on the ground that we take.

God judged them on the ground that they were taking. And so here we are. And we will find that this captivity is revealed to Moses if we stepped into the book of Kings. And now in 1st Kings chapter 9 the Lord appears to Solomon for the second time he had appeared to Solomon at Gebeah.

Now in 1st Kings chapter 9 he appears to Solomon again the second time. And you see what the Lord told Moses. He re-echoed to Solomon. And you say why is this one of the things that's echoed both to Moses and to Solomon.

There's a number of things that the Lord is telling his people. Number one he he's telling them if you sin you will lose the relationship with the Lord. That's the first thing he says. Number two not only are you going to be charged with losing the relationship with the Lord but he says there's going to be the responsibility that you have in the land itself he says.

Number three there's going to be the reign of the leaders. And you're going to lose that these kings they boasted they boasted that they were linked to David. Oh David was our king. David is of the tribe of Judah.

The royal tribe following David. We had and they ran through those kings those 19 kings of Judah. And at last here they are. And the Lord says to them. Now he says listen. Because of your sin the relationship with the Lord will be called into question.

Because of your sin the responsibility in the land is called into question because of your sin the reign of the leaders is called into question. And the last thing he told them was this. He says you see that temple that you boasted the temple of Solomon.

He says I will take it away. Your sanctuaries. It's a very interesting word used there. That plural expression that's used there in the book of Leviticus chapter 26. Your sanctuaries will be left desolate.

And here the Lord is actually going to touch every one of those fields when he takes them away. Now beloved saints the key to all of that. I don't have time to stay with all of those four points. But the key to all of those four points is this their relationship with the Lord.

What was it that went first. It was their relationship with the Lord. You know beloved saints Ezekiel saw this. Ezekiel was the prophet. He gets to see in his book. You know it very well chapter 11. He sees the glory cloud the cloud that signified God's presence.

He sees that presence of the Lord. Move from the sanctuary. He sees it going eastward over the gate. He sees it abiding there for a little time. And it goes again. And it goes to the mountain on the east side of Jerusalem.

And at last he sees it go quite a solemn thing. You know beloved saints I would judge in my own experience. I would never speak about your experience tonight. But I'll let you into a secret about my own experience.

Sometimes I get a problem with the land if I could spiritualize that the assembly. Sometimes I get a problem with the leaders and I think oh what are they. Ever. What are they doing. You know what I come back to beloved saints.

It's my relationship with the Lord. And the revelation of the captivity. It had been given right through the scriptures. And the Lord says now he says you're going to lose this relationship with me. He says I will take you out of the land.

You'll lose your land. He says you will leave and lose the leadership. And he says at last you'll. You'll lose the resplendence of the locale that is found in the sanctuary. He says you'll lose it all through your sin and through your disobedience.

And so that's the revelation of the captivity. The second thing maybe I should mention is this what was the reason for the captivity. Maybe I I'd suggest to you there are two very prominent reasons for the captivity.

Idolatry as a Reason for the Captivity

The first reason was this idolatry. We're coming close again to the fact of the relationship with the Lord. But the Lord had actually told them when you come into the land. When you get into that land you'll be faced with things you've never been faced with before.

When you get into that land you'll be faced with people. And you've never seen this people before. He says there's seven nations that are inside this land the land of Canaan. And he says when you get into that land you'll be face to face with them.

They have ways of worshiping their gods. He says they're linked with idolatry. They're linked with sexual immorality. They're linked with all kinds of things. They take it as normal. And he says to his people now he says they will try to get you involved in the things that they enjoy.

And if you go with them this idolatry will sweep through the nation and it will take you away from me. And I would suggest beloved saints that that is most likely the number one big problem in which the Lord granted the captivity it was to deal with idolatry and to deal with the spirit of idolatry.

And the Lord allowed them to go into Babylon. And you say that's a good question. Maybe I should stop here for a moment. Why Babylon. You ever asked that question. The Lord could have sent them into Assyria.

He had done that before. He sent the 10 tribes 721 BC. He sent them up into Assyria. Well you say he could have sent them into Egypt. He didn't send them into Egypt. Now in 606 BC he sent them into Babylon.

And I ask you again beloved saints why did the Lord allow 606 597 586 BC. Why did he allow it to be Babylon. And the Babylonian captivity could I suggest to you that was where he delivered Abraham from.

There was a moment came in Abraham's life when Abraham was called out of Ur of the Chaldees in Babylon. And he was delivered from Babylon's captivity. And he was delivered from immorality. And he was delivered from idolatry.

And the Lord brought him across the river according to Joshua chapter 24. And the Lord delivered him out of it all. And you know what the Lord is doing now he's allowing Abraham's posterity to go back into the very thing that their forefather come out of.

Do you know one of the big things let me I'll share with you tonight on a Friday night one of the things that I fear most I was almost about to tell you my age. I'm not going to do that. But one of the big things that I fear most is this.

My grandfather was the first in our family that the Lord delivered out onto New Testament assembly ground. You know one of my greatest fears that in my life in my lifespan I will actually go against the truth that my grandfather bought for himself.

And I will retrace the path into captivity that my grandfather left. You know that's a very real thing for all of us now. That's a great challenge that here they are. And it's not now the revelation of the captivity but it's the reason for the captivity.

The Lord allowed this. He put them right back into the arena and right back into the area that he had delivered Abraham from. And you know what the Lord did. He made sure that the nation would be completely free from idolatry from that day to this.

In fact they will have a form of idolatry in the future. The greatest form of idolatry that the nation will ever bow to will be seen in the future. And you say what is that they will accept the man of sin.

And according to Matthew's gospel chapter 12 that we can't unpack tonight. According to Matthew's gospel chapter 12 the last state will be worse than the first. And they will have idolatry par excellence in the nation when they accept the man of sin.

And so the first reason for the captivity was idolatry amongst the people. And God is going to clear them and cleanse the nation from the great sin of idolatry. The second thing was simply great. We read in Leviticus chapter 25 I didn't do this tonight.

Sabbath Rest, Stewardship, and Greed

But we read in Leviticus chapter 25 that God said to them now when you're in this land he said there's certain stipulations that I want you to obey when you're in the land. You say it was their land. No it wasn't.

I hear people and they tell me that the land belongs to the Jewish people. It does not. The land does not belong to the Jewish people. The land belongs to the Lord. Now the Bible is clear on that he has given that land to the Jewish people to hold for him.

It is theirs by right beloved saints. But if we read in passages like Leviticus chapter 25 and associated passages like that the land is the Lord's and theirs is a stewardship in the land. And the Lord said to them now he said there were people in that land and their sin rose in abomination before me.

And he said I have given them into your hand. You drive them out because the land is mine. He says I'm going to give you a stewardship in that land. And part of the stewardship was this. This is the part I told you to stick on the sticky side of your memory.

He said six years go ahead and sow. And six years go ahead and reap. But he said see that seventh year. That seventh year is to be a fallow year. That seventh year is to be a sabbatical year. And you're not to sow and you're not to reap.

And you say how would they ever get food. You know what the Lord said to them. The Lord said don't worry about it. I give you such abundance in the sixth year that that abundance will do for the seventh year.

And that abundance will be such plenty it will do for the eighth year. I will cover all of that. And then he said in the eighth year go ahead and so again and just repeat the cycle. And the nation didn't do it.

You say why would they not do it just for this. They became quite greedy. And they got to the stage where they thought well we know the scripture say but maybe we could maybe maybe we could just squeeze it a little bit and maybe we won't take it at face value.

And maybe it really doesn't mean what it says. I can hear the echo of my own heart again. Maybe it just doesn't mean what it says. And maybe we just shouldn't that verse. That's a very difficult verse.

You know that one I'm thinking there's a number of those very different. And maybe maybe we could just. And what they did was this. They just denied the claims of the Lord in that seventh sabbatical year.

And so what the Lord says is this. He says I'm going to send the Babylonians. They will take you back to the land of Babylon. And from 606 BC 490 years have elapsed in the nation's history. That means that 70 years have not been kept.

70 sabbatical years have not been kept. And God says to them I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll take you to the land of Babylon and I will let the land rest for 70 years. You say he sorted out their idolatry.

Yes. What about their greed. We're going to learn a bit about that tomorrow. You say what. Tell me if I was naming any nation on the earth that has tremendous business acumen. What would that be. Well you would say that'd be the Americans tariffs.

It's a very it's a very touchy thing at the minute isn't it. But pardon that reference. And we'll move on from that. But the business acumen oh the business acumen that these people had see in Babylon the business acumen that they that they showed in the land of promise.

The business acumen just began to multiply and multiply. And you and I know if there is any nation on this earth in fact I personally believe I've heard others at this and I agree with it in measure. There is no nation upon the earth that God has favored like the Jewish nation in their ability in the gifts that seem to be given.

Whether it's commercially whether it's uh whether it's it's uh intellectually you go through all those aspects of that one nation. And we have to admit beloved saints they have been divinely bestowed with just tremendous gift and power.

And here they are in Babylon. And one of the reasons for the captivity was this just their great in not giving to the Lord what he demanded. Mind you beloved saints it will be touched again. I don't have time to spend a lot of time with this but the Lord demands first place.

One of the reasons that we learn with that sabbatical year is this whenever they let the land keep its Sabbaths they were showing this. The Lord gets first. The Lord's claims are here. And when the Lord presents his claims the Lord is first.

Beloved saints I hope that's the case in my life that the Lord is first place. We're going to be finding that tomorrow morning the Lord is first. When our brother Dan opens the reading his reading tomorrow afternoon we're going to see it again.

The Lord is first. And beloved saints if we lose our focus in that I would judge we have lost our focus in almost everything. And so here we are. The revelation of the captivity and the reason for the captivity.

Divine Resources for Recovery

The third thing. And I mentioned this very quickly. Maybe I won't even have to unpack all of these. What about the resources that God gave them during this captivity. There were a number of resources and revival is going to come and there will be recovery.