2Kings 24:11-14 “And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, and his servants did besiege it. And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign. And he carried out thence 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 which Solomon king of Judah had made in the temple of the LORD, as the LORD had said. And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land.”
King Nebuchadnezzar was a man prepared by God to draw Judah back to Himself. Judah under Jehoiachin did “evil in the sight of the Lord.” His rule was only three years long. God had foreseen the need of King Nebuchadnezzar even before he began to reign. As Judah did evil, God moved Nebuchadnezzar against them.
Nebuchadnezzar was probably guided by God for he didn’t just kill everyone. He took the the treasure of the House of the LORD. He also took every person that would have rebuilt Jerusalem. He took all the men of valour. He took all the craftsmen. He took all the smiths that worked with iron. In short he left all those that had no real trade. God did not want them to rebuild Jerusalem and continue in the life of evil works.
Craftsmen, as a whole, were around for thousands of years. God gave men their several abilities in order to build the Tabernacle and the Holy Furniture for it. Tubalcain is listed as a grandson of Cain and was the father of every artificer in brass and iron way before the Tabernacle was built. Craftsmen built things that prominent men wanted built. Without those who had money and those who made the things they desired, Jerusalem was left with little ability to recover, which was God’s plan.
As men followed their King in evil works, God, who is a jealous God (Exodus 34:14 “For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:”), saw the evil practices of Jehoiachin that followed the reign of his father, Jehoiakim, in wickedness.
Now getting back to craftsmen, we still need them. They fabricate all that designers dream up. Moneyed men still need things built and craftsmen are the one that build them. They still need things repaired and craftsmen repair them.
In today’s society, there are few that understand the value of the blue collar working man. Everyone wants to begin their careers at the top of the food chain. Who ever heard of high school kids demanding $15.00 a hour for their minimal jobs? Yet we cannot survive without them and auto mechanics, and plumbers, and electricians, and men of construction.
When the craftsmen leave, the city become desolate. There is no growth and its starts simply. The workers move from the city to the suburbs and work there. The companies move to the suburbs and the jobs move with them. The city begins to die at that very moment. As the Rule of Law is ignored, the city becomes a place like Jerusalem after Nebuchadnezzar took all the craftsmen and moneyed men to Babylon. Jersusalem became a desolate place. The walls were broken down and no one was there to fix them. The houses began to fall into disrepair and there was no craftsmen to fix them. The city gates were burned with fire, yet no one person that had been left could or would repair them.
How many of our cities today fit in this category? What our country needs is less college graduates and more craftsmen. The only way to restore a city is to lure the craftsmen back into the city. That is hard to do with the Rule of Law is ignored. Look at Chicago. Even Walmart had to pull out because of the wickedness of the place. People would walk in, take stuff and walk out again, all the while the city government was stripping the police of the right to arrest those who broke the Rule of Law. Craftsmen will not come back into a situation like that.
Again, let me say how important craftsmen are to the safe and orderly operation of any city or town. Craftsmen, be proud of your work! You are the foundation of the current world! Nothing ever designed will work forever and craftsmen are the men and women to repair all that is broken.
Today’s preachers need to become craftsmen to repair what is broken in our spiritual world. Far to many have forsaken the owner’s manual (The Bible) and moved to philosophy in their preaching. They want to be socially accepted in society. They bow to the pressures of sinners. They forsake God in their pulpits, well at least the whole council of God.
2Timothy 4:1-2 “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.”
2Timothy 2:15 “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
A Workman…that tells of God’s word…rightly dividing…meaning that the entire Bible is written For us, but it is not all written TO us… it takes careful study to determine the difference. We learn from the fall of others what pitfalls are in the world and the preacher needs to be the one that warns you… preach the word…reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine!
