In this session, we carry on with our survey of the Old Testament, looking at the period of exile. The timeline has shifted forward, and the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel are located in this time period. As we seek to understand how the Jews went from Egypt to Exile, King Solomon is an important king and his reign marks a certain milestone in Israel’s history. Under Solomon, the kingdom reached its zenith, before its gradual decline under subsequent kings. The Northern Kingdom falls first, followed by the Southern Kingdom of Judah, after a successive series of invasions. While this study focuses on the kingdom of Judah, the lineage God promised to preserve, we should also understand that the earlier fall of the Northern Kingdom was no less traumatic. From extra-biblical sources, we also learn that the Assyrians exhibited great cruelty to the people.
However, in spite of the pain and loss of exile, we will see in this overview of the exile that God does plan to restore His kingdom, even by using pagan, non-Jewish kings to accomplish His purposes. And as we approach this study, it will be important to remember that these studies of the Old Testament serve ultimately to reveal how God accomplishes his redemptive purposes in Christ Jesus.
(A) Why Exile? Disobedience -> Displacement, Sin -> Separation
When looking at the exile, it would be helpful to begin by identifying the mood of the people as they are brought out from their land.
In Lam 3:17-20, Jeremiah laments the state of God’s people. They experience despair, having “forgotten what happiness is” (Lam 3:16) and are brought low, to a place of contrition, where their souls are bowed low. Without any peace, they were downcast and downtrodden, as they longed for their homeland.
Why would the people of God be brought so low, and why would they be sent into exile? 2 Chron 7:19-22 shows us that this not just a matter of politics or military history. In these verses, we learn that the cause of the exile is that both the king and people were unfaithful to the covenant of God. They worshipped other Gods and they desecrated the house of God in its holiness.
Subsequently, in 2 Chron 36:15-16, we learn that God had warned them about their grievous sins, that He had sent prophets and messengers to them. However, the Israelites mocked and despised the words of his prophets (2 Chron 36:16), rather than turning to God in repentance. These verses tell us that God is not a cruel God for sending them into exile, but He is just and righteous in this act!
This parallels events in Gen 3:17-24. Right at the beginning, at the Fall, we learn that Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, although specifically told not to. The act of eating represents their disobedience against God. Consequently, verse 23 shows us that they were cast out, ‘exiled’ from the Garden, and the Garden was sealed from them. Thus, the pattern of exile experienced in 2 Chron was already present from Genesis 3. Exile represents God’s judgement against disobedience, displacement from the kingdom God’s people should be in, and finally, separation from God’s presence! In Genesis 3, we see that Adam and Eve were cast out from Eden and could no longer commune with God. Similarly, in 2 Chronicles, the people are separated from the temple, the place where God dwells, and can no longer dwell with Him.
Thus, the exile served as a representation of:
Judgement against sin
Displacement from the place
Separation from presence of God
God’s mercy
The last point above may seem surprising but we must recognize that the exile does represents God’s mercy. God is righteous, and He uses exile as a means of discipline. As the righteous God, God has the right to punish sinners, and yet He is patient amidst the sin of the Israelites. As we look into the nature of their lives in exile, we will see that God’s discipline is accompanied by promises of return and restoration.
(B) Life in Exile: Promises, Hopes and Dreams
The Bible also provides for us an account of the life of God’s people while in exile. From those accoutns, we can also see that the people of God sometimes occupied high positions in the new land. This is particularly apparent in the lives of Daniel, Esther, Modercai, Ezra and Nehemiah.
Though the Jews were just one captive people out of many in exile and a rather small nation, some of God’s people were promoted to inordinately high positions. From this, we know that God remained with His people in exile. God did not abandon His people entirely, but showed favour upon them. And in that there was still hope for the exiles!
What is more important for us to realise from these accounts is how God is preserving His people for His own sake. For example, in Esther, we learn that a man called Haman tries to exterminate every one of the Jews in the Persian empire. This is significant because Haman is a descendant of the Amalekites, Israel’s mortal enemies, who are descended from Esau, with whom Jacob has had conflict. Scripture tells us that this struggle is characterized by struggle and opposition towards God’s people. Yet at the end of the book of Esther, God snuffs out Haman, showing us that God preserves the people in the time of exile, for His own sake.
However, beyond their high positions, how else do we know that there was hope for Israel? We see that clearly in three sections of Jeremiah, which illustrate for us the promises of God for the people:
Jer 29:10-14 — God will bring His people back to the land.
Jer 31:31-34 — God will establish a new covenant with His people.
Jer 33:14-18 — God promises a Messiah King.
Firstly, Jer 29:10-14 shows us that God brings His people back to the land. As we read these verses, we must understand that there are multiple horizons to prophecy. Not only is God promising to restore His people to the land, but verse 14 tells us that God will draw all the people of Israel to the city of Jerusalem. This is God’s wonderful promise to the people!
Secondly, Jer 31:31-34 tells us that the second hope that the people of Israel had is a new covenant that God establishes before His people, which will resolve the problem of the people’s sin before God. In this new covenant, God promises to “forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more”.
And finally, Jer 33:14-18 tells us of that the people had the hope of the Messiah King. God promises to send His anointed one to save His people, who would execute justice and righteousness. Even though the temple had been destroyed and desecrated at the time this passage was written, we learn from verse 18 that the Righteous One will be in His presence, offering burnt offerings and grain offerings, fulfilling the ceremonial laws of worship.
From these sections, we learn that God is and was at work among His people in exile. He preserves and sustains His people in times of trouble, giving them hope through the message of the prophets, and telling them of what is to come. And similarly for us today, we know that God will never desert us!
(C) End of Exile: The ‘already but not yet’
We now progress to examine the return of the Jews from exile, and what that return can show us about God. Firstly, we should note that these books of Exile also tells us of 3 foreign kings: Cyrus the Great, Ahaserus, and Artaxerxus. Ezra 1:1-4 and Neh 2:1-8 shows us that God is able to “stir up the spirit” of Cyrus (Eze 1:3), and that it “pleased” Artaxerxes to send Nehemiah back.
We should note that it is significant that God is able to use 3 pagan kings to accomplish His redemptive purposes. This tells us that God does use what is profane, what is unholy to fulfil His own will. However, do note that being used by God does not mean that God affirms the profane. We cannot extrapolate this freely, but we do know that God uses regional powers and authorities to judge His people and to restore them.
To understand the nature of their return, it is helpful to understand that the Exiles returned in 3 major waves. The 1st wave returned with Zerubbabel, the 2nd with Ezra, and the 3rd with Nehemiah, as part of a rebuilding effort. The people settled in the land, they rebuilt the temple and reinstated sacrifices. They conducted a census, and the entire assembly numbered 50 000 people.
After their return, Nehemiah 8 tells us that the people gathered in one assembly, and asked Ezra to read the book of the Law to them. Previously, the people grew up in a foreign land without access to God’s Law. The reading of the Law convicted them of sin, but also gave them great joy, when they understood what was proclaimed to them.
We should pause here and take stock of the significance of the return, as we’ve observed it so far. In their return to the land, we see that the people are in God’s place, and they pledged themselves to God. Significantly, Israel never again worshipped other gods, and we see that they never turned to worship created objects as they once did. Can we conclude that they have been restored?
However, if we were to consider how a “nation” is defined, we would see that a fundamental requirement is that its people must be able to act sovereignly over their affairs. Here, Jerusalem was still under Persian rule, and is continually subjected to foreign rule by foreign empires. The Kingdom of Israel was never sovereign after its fall. God’s people (while back in their right place) had no kingdom!
Furthermore, we learn that while the people made a covenant in Neh 10, they broke its promises later, as shown in Neh 13! Sin is clearly still present among God’s people, even though they have returned. We see from the book of Nehemiah that the God’s promise to cleanse and forgive the iniquity of His people, in Jer 31:31-34, is not yet fulfilled. The people still awaited the New Covenant.
Finally, we see that a Messiah King had yet to come! The end of exile had taken place, but Israel was still in a state of waiting for the Anointed One. The hope set out in Jer 33:14-18 has not come to past.
However, we learn that Luke 2:25-32 tells us that Jesus Christ is the consummation of these promises. He is the Messiah King, “the Lord’s Christ”, who is “a light for the revelation of the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel”. And because of His death for us on the Cross, we are no longer separated from God because of our sin: those of us once far off, can be reconciled with God! The curse of sin and death is lifted and defeated through one man, Jesus Christ. In Christ Jesus, God’s kingdom is ushered in. We are given new life, new citizenship, and are called to be His ambassadors in this world.
Nonetheless, Jesus Himself says that “My kingdom is not off the world”. (Jn 18:36) We must know that the world has not gone away: we still have work and responsibilities and things to do in our daily lives, as we live in a flawed and broken world. But in this world, we know that we were once damned and worthy of condemnation, but now made alive through Jesus Christ! The status, and the reality of our soul has indeed changed.
How should then live our lives in this world? As we have read the biblical account of the exiles, we see learn that we must live as the exiles did in Babylon, in this world of “already” but “not yet”.
Firstly, we should grieve for the broken state of this world. Pray for the people of this world, that they may find restoration in Christ.
Secondly, we must believe and repent, and call others to do so. We must call others to repentance, and we do so today by sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Thirdly, we must cling to the hope of God’s promises. We are to trust and wait for God to act. The present circumstances are a temporary state, and we have hope, for know that Christ will come again to restore all things!
Fourthly, we must seek the welfare of the place we are in. We should not isolate ourselves, but to be in the world and not off it. We are to be a productive citizens, and to do it all for the glory of Christ.
Finally, let us rejoice! The people rejoiced when they heard God’s Law. Today, we have even greater reason to rejoice, for we have received the Word who dwells in flesh (John 1:14), and He dwells with us. May we rejoice evermore in Christ!
Christ’s first coming put an end to the exile, the displacement and separation we experienced from God. We know that when He comes again, He will put an end to the exile forever. In this world of the “already” but “not yet”, let us remember and live with these truths: that Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again.