Captivity and Christians, 2 Cor 2

Captivity and Christians

2Cor 2

2Kings 24:1 In his days, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him.

2 And the LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldeans and bands of the Syrians and bands of the Moabites and bands of the Ammonites, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by his servants the prophets. 

3 Surely this came upon Judah at the command of the LORD, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, 4 and also for the innocent blood that he had shed. For he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the LORD would not pardon. 

That is one of the most amazing Old Testament narratives. Because of sin among those who were to be God's people, the Lord sent judgment by sending at least four countries to attack them and judge them for their many sins. It is a narrative that ought to make church people uncomfortable, especially, the nominal so-called Christians who refuse to tremble at his word and manifest no fear of what God might do to call his people back to covenantal faithfulness.

5 Now the rest of the deeds of Jehoiakim and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 

We could go there and read them. The writer who was a near contemporary of the Chronicler, knew that he had written and knew the content of his work. There foci was the same. One focuses on Judah, the other on the other tribes called Israel.

Giving the king the respect due to him, the writer adds:

6 So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers, and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place. 

One king died another, his son, ascended to the throne. While this was going on, more broadly in SW Asia we have other things going on:

7 And the king of Egypt did not come again out of his land, for the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt from the Brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates.

And then back to Kings:

8 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. 

9 And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father had done.

If we were allowed to make noise in worship, this is where hissing would come in. It is a bad thing for God's leaders to do evil in his sight--he sees everything--nothing can be hidden from his view.

10 At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged.

11 And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to the city while his servants were besieging it, 12 and Jehoiachin the king of Judah gave himself up to the king of Babylon, himself and his mother and his servants and his officials and his palace officials. The king of Babylon took him prisoner in the eighth year of his reign 13 and carried off 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 in the temple of the LORD, which Solomon king of Israel had made, as the LORD had foretold. 

14 He carried away all Jerusalem and all the officials and all the mighty men of valor, 10,000 captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths. None remained, except the poorest people of the land. 

15 And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon. The king's mother, the king's wives, his officials, and the chief men of the land he took into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. 16 And the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon all the men of valor, 7,000, and the craftsmen and the metal workers, 1,000, all of them strong and fit for war.

17 And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin's uncle, king in his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah.

Museums often have decorative friezes. They are made up of panels in wood or stone sculpted by artists to show how a grand army defeated a foe. The war or the journey to it and back were memorialized. It is often from these friezes that historians get the best idea of what happened. They see the kind of uniforms that were worn in battle, the kind of weapons, wagons and strategy used in the ancient world. They end up in art museums even though they are really works of history--pictorial panels about what went on. These panels show marches where armies march their captors to show their own people who and what they have conquered and brought back into captivity. They brought kings, armies, anyone of note. They also took stuff like jewels, Gold statues and pieces of anything made with precious metals and encrusted with Jewells.

18 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 19 And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. 20 For because of the anger of the LORD it came to the point in Jerusalem and Judah that he cast them out from his presence. And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

Some people never learn. When God's providence around them ought to make them cry out in repentance, they don't but blame other things and people for the problems.

The Lord sought to teach his ancient people many things by having them carried off into captivity. Judah and Israel were carried off many times together. Israel was taken captive so many times, they eventually lost their unique identity as the people of Yahweh. Because of this sin, they were left in captivity. The Lord would not allow them to return to the Land. 

This narrative also indicates why mixed marriages are so bad by their effects.

Ezra 9: 1 After these things had been done, the officials approached me and said, "The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands with their abominations, from the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.

2 For they have taken some of their daughters to be wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has mixed itself with the peoples of the lands. And in this faithlessness the hand of the officials and chief men has been foremost." 

3 As soon as I heard this, I tore my garment and my cloak and pulled hair from my head and beard and sat appalled. 

4 Then all who trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the faithlessness of the returned exiles, gathered around me while I sat appalled until the evening sacrifice. 

5 And at the evening sacrifice I rose from my fasting, with my garment and my cloak torn, and fell upon my knees and spread out my hands to the LORD my God, 

6 saying: "O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens. 

7 From the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt. And for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plundering, and to utter shame, as it is today. 

8 But now for a brief moment favor has been shown by the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant and to give us a secure holdwithin his holy place, that our God may brighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our slavery. 

9 For we are slaves. Yet our God has not forsaken us in our slavery, but has extended to us his steadfast love before the kings of Persia, to grant us some reviving to set up the house of our God, to repair its ruins, and to give us protection in Judea and Jerusalem. 

10 "And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken your commandments,

11 which you commanded by your servants the prophets, saying, 'The land that you are entering, to take possession of it, is a land impure with the impurity of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations that have filled it from end to end with their uncleanness. 

12 Therefore do not give your daughters to their sons, neither take their daughters for your sons, and never seek their peace or prosperity, that you may be strong and eat the good of the land and leave it for an inheritance to your children forever.' 

13 And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great guilt, seeing that you, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserved and have given us such a remnant as this, 

14 shall we break your commandments again and intermarry with the peoples who practice these abominations? Would you not be angry with us until you consumed us, so that there should be no remnant, nor any to escape? 

15 O LORD, the God of Israel, you are just, for we are left a remnant that has escaped, as it is today. Behold, we are before you in our guilt, for none can stand before you because of this."

This is the language we find in our text today. But the language of captivity is used in a positive way. The language and the idea had been redeemed in order to illustrate what God has done in Christ by calling a people for himself.

                                             

The Text:

1. Triumphal Procession

2Cor 2: 14 But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession,

2. Fragrant Aroma

14b and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. 15 For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, 16 to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. 

3. The Commission of God

16b Who is sufficient for these things? 

17 For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.

What a wonderful word. We read it and are thankful for it, but do we see these realities in our own lives and our life as a church?

Let's look a little closer:

1. Triumphal Procession

2Cor 2: 14 But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession,

        A. Thanks to God for what we are and have

        B. The Perpetual leadership of Christ as the shepherd who provides undershepherds for us.

        C. Perpetual leadership in his captivity

        D. Always with victory--always--never a time when the church does not have this to claim. We may not realize it, but it is as true as being already seated in the heavenly places in Christ. There is nothing else that must be done for the triumph of the church. We are always lead in triumphal procession. 

2. Fragrant Aroma--as the captors are being paraded, a great display or expensive incense would be burned. That is the shift of the captive metaphor in this passage.

14b and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. 15 For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, 16 to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. 

The same words spoken to different kinds of people can have very different results. To those who are being saved, who have the fact of the matter of Christianity in them, they rejoice in the life it has brought. But, others, cannot see the glory of the message of salvation and see nothing special in the message of God's salvation. To one who is being carried away to heaven as a captor of God, they rejoice. To all of the others, they could care less--they are on their way to hell and won't do anything about it. But, that is ….

3. The Commission of God

16b Who is sufficient for these things? 

17 For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.

True ministers of the gospel are not like the hawkers of old who peddled their wagons in many places in order to sell their wares and balms supposedly for the good health of others, but were nothing after they were used and the peddler was far on his way down the road never to return to accountability. This is what some preachers claiming to be super-apostles had done.

The Apostles had no fear in their identity as sincere men--those who believed and lived according to the principles they proclaimed. They were not commissioned by themselves, but by God. That is a big difference. The people were protected by the careful examination of men put forward in the church. All of this is done openly in the sight of God and h. Let's see what wort of captor he was:is people.

The language of captivity is found elsewere in the NT. Look at Eph 4:starting at verse one. Paul calls himself a captor

Eph 4:1-12 1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 

A captor urging others to live a life worthy of the calling they have received. And, as Paul opens up his meaning, we discover it is a unique Christian calling:

2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 

3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 

4 There is one body and one Spirit--just as you were called to one hope when you were called--5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 

Paul's Proof Text

8 This is why it says: "When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men."

As a victor, for the good of those he conquered by his grace and loves, he gave gifts. This is a part of what an ancient deliverer would do upon returning to his home base--he would give lavished gifts from among the booty to the army generals and to the dignitaries back home.

The giving of gifts is something Jesus continues to do. He continues to give us gifts… But, who are those gifts or what are those gifts?

Skip down to verse 11

11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,

Christ gave four categories of men to the churches to prepare them. These men were in the first place Apostles like Paul, Prophets like those we find active and true in the New Testament Church, evangelists like Phillip and Timothy and pastor-teachers as the abiding gift in the church. All pastor-teachers are given to churches as gifts by the ascended Christ for t he church's good. Or, as the text says………

12 to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up

And, that body of Christ that is the church, also has a place in this captivity in Christ. With Christ and in Christ, his victory is ours. Nothing can come into the life of a true believer to beat them down and defeat them. Times might be hard and the way difficult, but Jesus is always to be trusted because of what is already won for us….

Rom 8: 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 

We are more than conquerors…just think about that for a moment. Think about the photos or art work you may have seen about great conquerors in the past--think of the arche de triumph built for Napoleon in the middle of Paris, think of all those friezes found in the museums libraries or still on buildings. Think of anything else you know about that depict great victories in the history of the world, In God's sight, if you are a true CHristian, you are more than them. The more speaks to the greatness of the conquest. The life that seeks to spread the gospel and live for Christ in a hostile world is the life of those who are more than conquerors through him who loved us. We can do it because of Him. Nothing can keep us from it:

38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 

39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This is the love we celebrate in the supper of the Lord. He has bought us to be his people. He has redeemed us to be his captives--a holy army without country moving forward on our way to heaven.