Exile of Judah
In Minor Prophets today we were going over the history of the exiles of Judah from 605BC to 586BC. Israel in the north had already been taken into captivity in 722BC. The first time Nebuchadnezzar came through he took men like Daniel who he was planning on training up to be leaders back in Judah for him. He wanted them to work for him but be more accepted by the people. This exile was not part of God's punishment. The next two were.
In 597 the second exile takes place when Jehoiachin is king. His father, Jehoiakim, had been made to pay tribute to Nebuchadnezzer. This kind of relationship or international treaty is called a Szerine (I'm not quite sure how to spell that) Treaty I think. Bebuchadnezzer was the szerine and Jehoiakim was his vassel, but Jehoiachin rebels. Nebuchadnezzer comes through and takes the royal family, and those fit for war, and changes the kingship to Jehoiachin's uncle Mattaniah, renamed Zedekiah. Jeremiah tells Zedekiah that Judah will be given to Nebuchadnezzer, and because of his wickedness and rebellion the Babylonians come through once more in 586 and destroy just about everything.
The last two exiles take place through Divine Punishment and human mechanisms. The people are doing wicked things like practicing witchcraft, worshiping at high places they had built in their cities, and idolatry. Then they break their treaty with the king of Babylon and he has to come to squell the problem. Their breaking of the human treaty shows that they had already broken their divine szerine treaty.
It was interesting to find that all the time from the Exodus, and even before that I guess with Abraham, the promised land was the place to be. It was the land of blessing. However, during this time the land of exile becomes the place of blessing and the land of Israel is the place of disobedience and punishment. There is 70yrs. of exile and my prof. said that the wording used to describe the land seems to imply that it needed to be purified and this was a time of purging. The soiling or poiosonous elements had been removed and this was time for the land to remain fallow. Up to this time the Israelites had not been keeping the year of jubilee every seven years so this was also kind of making up for that time as well.
When it is time to come back the people aren't sure where God is and where His blessing is going to be. It had been in Israel but then it moved to Babylon, the land of exile. This time they are given a choice whether they want to return or not, they are not being driven by any army. Ones who do decide to return are commended.
In 597 the second exile takes place when Jehoiachin is king. His father, Jehoiakim, had been made to pay tribute to Nebuchadnezzer. This kind of relationship or international treaty is called a Szerine (I'm not quite sure how to spell that) Treaty I think. Bebuchadnezzer was the szerine and Jehoiakim was his vassel, but Jehoiachin rebels. Nebuchadnezzer comes through and takes the royal family, and those fit for war, and changes the kingship to Jehoiachin's uncle Mattaniah, renamed Zedekiah. Jeremiah tells Zedekiah that Judah will be given to Nebuchadnezzer, and because of his wickedness and rebellion the Babylonians come through once more in 586 and destroy just about everything.
The last two exiles take place through Divine Punishment and human mechanisms. The people are doing wicked things like practicing witchcraft, worshiping at high places they had built in their cities, and idolatry. Then they break their treaty with the king of Babylon and he has to come to squell the problem. Their breaking of the human treaty shows that they had already broken their divine szerine treaty.
It was interesting to find that all the time from the Exodus, and even before that I guess with Abraham, the promised land was the place to be. It was the land of blessing. However, during this time the land of exile becomes the place of blessing and the land of Israel is the place of disobedience and punishment. There is 70yrs. of exile and my prof. said that the wording used to describe the land seems to imply that it needed to be purified and this was a time of purging. The soiling or poiosonous elements had been removed and this was time for the land to remain fallow. Up to this time the Israelites had not been keeping the year of jubilee every seven years so this was also kind of making up for that time as well.
When it is time to come back the people aren't sure where God is and where His blessing is going to be. It had been in Israel but then it moved to Babylon, the land of exile. This time they are given a choice whether they want to return or not, they are not being driven by any army. Ones who do decide to return are commended.
posted by melmeander at 1:38 PM
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