What Are We Showing to Babylon?
By HARRY ARMSTRONG
“Then said he, What have they seen in thy house? And Hezekiah answered, All that is in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not showed them.” Isa. 39:4. It is significant and of the greatest importance, said they, that Merodach-baladan, the son of Baladan, should at this time send unto us a royal embassy from the courts of Babylon. It will be our first duty, in seeking to gain their admiration, to set our house in order, display all our worth for their special benefit, and make an effort to impress them duly with a sense of our prestige and power. We will show them the most precious things we have in all Jerusalem; for we have now “exceeding much riches and honor.” O, it is well for us that they did not come to us in our ragged wilderness days before we had built up a name and a reputation! We have something to show Babylon now, and we will show them all we have. What, think you, will they say to the treasuries we have built for our silver, and for gold, and for precious stones, and for spices, and for shields, and for all manner of pleasant jewels? All these will we show them. Thus made they their boast—they to whom pertained the adoption, and the covenants, and the glory of the service of God, and the giving of the law and the promises. “At that time Merodach-baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah: for he had heard that he had been sick, and was recovered. And Hezekiah was glad of them, and showed them the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his11armor, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah showed them not. “Then came Isaiah the prophet unto King Hezekiah, and said unto him, What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country unto me, even from Babylon. Then said he, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All that is in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not showed them. Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the Lord of hosts: Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the Lord.” Think for a moment what Hezekiah might have shown them,—the things in Jerusalem which had no comparison in the treasures of Babylon. Then there was the wonderful story of God’s gracious dealings with his chosen people,—the story of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who, while dwelling in tents “looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God,”—and of Joseph,—his arrest, imprisonment, and release, and the wonderful deliverance God wrought through him in preserving the life of the Egyptians during the long years of famine,—and of Moses, who from an ark of bulrushes grew up to be Israel’s leader out of Egypt, through all their wilderness wanderings, and into the promised land. And Hezekiah could have told them concerning “the wonder that was done in the land,” and how “he had been sick and recovered.” Babylon had no such story to unfold, but he to whom it was given to make known flaunted a stock-in-trade of spurious and paltry vanity instead of the glory and power of his Jehovah God. You will observe that he who played this devil’s comedy had only recently been snatched from the jaws of death, and brought back from the brink of the grave. Affliction does not always refine. One would have thought that standing face to face with things eternal would have caused him to see things in their right proportion. To little purpose had the Lord thus dealt with him. And now the solemn words are heard, saying, “Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the Lord.” The sin of Hezekiah is the sin of the church. To-day the remnant and true church of God is in danger of allowing history to repeat itself in being turned away from its true mission in the world. The spirit of rivalry and competition is gaining an entrance into the church, and is paralyzing all its spiritual power. The church can conquer the world, but she can not compete with it without becoming a second-rate world. Any attempt at competition is fatal, and signifies compromise and failure. What shall we show to Babylon,—we who are raised up in fulfilment of prophecy to close up the history of the world? Shall we make our boast numerically, saying our numbers are increasing? In this respect we can not begin to compare with that false system, Roman Catholicism, which numbers its adherents by the million. Shall we make mention of our buildings, and invite the attention of the world to their size and architecture? The very prisons and asylums can boast of more solidity, and perhaps of more structural magnificence. Sometimes we hear it said that “such a building is a credit to our cause,” but we do well to remember that buildings are not ends, but means. And while it is true that they are necessary, buildings are only incidental to the great work of soul saving; and when the church has completed that work, and receives her translation, she will not take her buildings with her. Institutionalism and commercialism are not pillars of God’s work. The divine inventory does not record what our churches and buildings are, but what is done in them. It is stated that the Mormon tabernacle at Utah is the largest place of worship in America; and that the mosque at Constantinople is the largest place of worship in the world. The Taj Mahal in India is the most beautiful building in the world. Shall we try to compete with these?—Never. Numbers, wealth, social position, splendor of architecture,—we have something better than these to show to Babylon. We will show the ambassadors our gallery of living pictures, with which no cinematograph can compare. Each picture, while complete in itself, is still a part of a wonderful series of views culminating in the glorious presentation of the rapture scene, which presents the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. We will put them in line with Enoch, who was able to look down through the ages and see the Lord coming with ten thousand of his saints. We will also show to Babylon the ancient seal of Jehovah, in which is inscribed his name, title, and the extent of his dominions. They shall learn that the wonderful Edenic institution of God’s holy Sabbath is the memorial of creative power, and the perfect seal of a perfect creation given to a perfect man. We will lift it up before them as an ensign of rest, and tell them that because Jesus Christ is Lord also of the Sabbath day, there remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. The royal ambassy shall also learn of God’s gracious dealings with our forefathers, and how he sent unto them his messengers and prophets, “rising up betimes, and sending: because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling-place.” They shall know that even to-day the voice of prophecy is heard in our midst, and that God graciously speaks to his people through the instrumentality of his own choosing. They shall discern and judge between the “Testimonies to the Church” and those false divinations which the prognosticators of Babylon prepare. They shall also learn the true significance of baptism. We will lead them in the footsteps of Jesus to Jordan’s watery grave. There they shall see through those silent waters the reflection of Calvary, and learn of its gracious import as the portal to resurrection power. All this will prepare them for the judgment scene, which is described in solemn grandeur: “I beheld till the thrones were cast down [placed], and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.” With this wonderful scene before us, we can set forth to Babylon the loud cry of the third angel’s message, which announces that “the hour of his judgment is come.” This will open the way into the heavenly sanctuary, even into the most holy place, where Jesus, our forerunner, is for us entered. We can show that all that took place in that ancient typical day of atonement is now being fulfilled in that true tabernacle, in the heavens, which the Lord pitched, and not man. As they view that work steadily going on in the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, they must learn that God is now making a final appeal to all who dwell in the earth, to “worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” What are we showing to Babylon? Can we show anything greater than these pillars of living truth? We do not need anything greater; for these are royally eloquent and mighty in their true setting. You may read of what they have done in wounded hearts comforted, feeble wills strengthened, prodigals restored, inveterate habits broken, imaginations cleansed, lives sanctified, and souls saved. These are our jewels; these are our wealth. Nay, they are not ours; they are His.