No 8

(The deportation to Babylon)

God gave His people myriad’s of chances to repent of their disobedience and whenever they did repent, He blessed them; we see this several times in the book of Judges. Jeremiah, in the year 606 BC, writes in chapter 25 verses 1 to 11 that God’s people, because of their idolatry, will be sent in captivity to Babylon and will be treated badly by the king of Babylon (Nebuchadnezzar) for seventy years. Did they listen and mend their ways? No they didn’t because not long after these words, they were taken, in exile, to Babylon and stayed there for the 70 years that Jeremiah had predicted. This is when Daniel, an exilic prophet, was taken captive with “certain of the children of Israel, and of the king’s seed, and of the princes” (Dan 1 :3b) and sent to Babylon. Ezechiel, at the beginning of the exile, wrote in chapter 3 verse 7b that : “for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted”. The Jewish people have always been arrogant and hard-headed but their experience in Babylon cured them of their idolatry and have never, to this day, fallen to that sin. They were cured of one sin only to develop another sin which is equally deadly; that is the sin of self-righteousness. We will see later on what happens during this period of 400 years between the Old Testament and New Testament. God started a work in His people and will complete it one day. Just as God started a work in us and will complete it one day also. The Bible says in Philippians 1 verse 6 : “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ”. We have a God who keeps His promises.