No. 31. >> Okay. So the Book of Comfort is spoken prophetically to a nation that will be in exile. I presume then that this event is important for us to understand. So why did the Babylonian exile occur? >>DR. DANIEL L. GARD: I appreciate that question. And to begin to understand the Babylonian exile and its importance, there's more than one aspect of this. First and foremost is why does the Bible say it happened? Well, we read in Isaiah, we read throughout the Old Testament where the Babylonian exile is dealt with that there were some reasons why God allowed this to happen. They included, for example, the unfaithfulness of the priest. That the cult, that is to say the temple in Jerusalem, had become corrupted. That the priestly families did not perform their duties. They were corrupt in every possible way. And when they became corrupt, the people became corrupt. We also read that God would send prophets. And the people would not listen to the prophets. They would fail to hear that Word of God that was being spoken to them. And as a result, God's anger rose up against them. We see the kings of Judah and of Israel. And they, too, were so often unfaithful to their God. And failed to listen to his Word. And rather, went their own way. Formed their alliances. And ultimately brought destruction upon their people. In fact, the book of Chronicles, in II Chronicles 36, speaks to us about why this happened. And says it is God who raised up the Babylonians. In other words, the Babylonians who ultimately would destroy Jerusalem did not simply come about on their own. But rather, God brought this about in order to chastise his people and to draw them back to himself. Even when God does chastise his people, he does so for one purpose. And that is that we might be called back to him. To live in his kingdom of grace and righteousness and peace. Rather than those kingdoms of man's unjustness. Man's unfairness. Man's pain. Man's inflicting of that pain on others. So we have not only the theological reasons. But remember I said before that the Bible is given in real history. That there are real nations that rise and fall. And if you study the history of the ancient Near East, indeed, the history of mankind in any part of the world over any of the centuries in which the human race has existed, you'll see this pattern repeated again and again. But in the ancient Near East, it always struck me as interesting that God placed Israel geographically where he placed her. Israel was placed right in the center of a route that everybody had to take to get anywhere. Whether it was from Europe down into Asia Minor. Into North Africa. To Arabia. To what is now Iraq. That is ancient Babylon. Or Persia which is modern Iran. India ultimately. That was the crossroad. Now in any time if you want to control power, you control the crossroads. Because then all trade has to pass through your territory. And if you control that, you gain the wealth. As a result we see that Israel, simply because God had given to them not some far off corner of the world where nobody would bother them but rather, he had given to them this particular piece of land. And through this particular piece of land, all the nations of the ancient world crossed in order to obtain their own goals. As a result of that, the nation of Israel was always in the center of conflict of the. And as long as they refused to submit to their God and to his reign and to recognize themselves for what they were, that is the people of God, they would suffer because of that location. And those times where they were faithful to their God, where the king was faithful, where the priests were faithful, where the prophets spoke and were heard, then the nation of Israel feared nothing because they were under the protection of their God. Now, as I said earlier, Isaiah prophesies into the future. And he sees a time beyond the destruction of the northern kingdom of Israel to a time of the destruction of the southern kingdom. The southern kingdom after the division of the kingdom, as you recall that followed the death of Solomon when his son, Rehoboam, ascended then the throne and the north was led in rebellion against Jeroboam. From that point on after the death of Solomon, there were two kingdoms, the north and the south. The south was different than the north because the south always had two things that the north never had. No. 1, they had the temple. Because the temple was in Jerusalem, which was in the southern kingdom. Second, they always had a Davidic king. That is to say a king who was a son, a descendant, of David. The north had neither of those things. The north did not have the temple. In fact, they consistently tended to rectify that situation by building their own sanctuaries wherever they so choose. They also never had a Davidic king. They had a series of dynasties. Each one would take over from the prior one. And typically by very bloody means. So the south, as the part of the nation that survived, would live with the echoing words of Isaiah's promises. And Isaiah's prophesies concerning their future. And again, that future is lived out not in an abstract, imaginary world. But in a very real historical world. As we come to the time of the Babylonian captivity, we see great changes taking place. Assyria had been the nation that had conquered the north. And in fact, had placed Judah, the south, under its subjection requiring even that the south and the southern king pay tribute to Assyria. But towards the end of the Seventh Century, about the year 609, we see a major shift begin to take place. Assyria was in decline as an empire. In fact, in the year 612, Nineveh, the capital, had fallen. Ashur had fallen in 614. Another major city. It's the Babylonians who are now arriving. The Babylonians arise from an area that if we were to place it on a modern map is still very much in the news. Modern day Iraq. The Babylonians had begun the conquest of all of that which had been the Assyrian empire. Needless to say, the Assyrians were not particularly happy with this. Other nations become involved. For example, Necho, who is the king of Egypt, is allied with the Assyrians. However, Josiah, who is the king of Judah at the time, really had very little interest in preserving the Assyrians. And so he takes his army and marches to a site called Megiddo where he plans to stop the Egyptians. But at that battle of Megiddo, instead Josiah dies. As a result, the people of Judah place Jehoahaz on the throne. Necho of Egypt, of course, was not very happy with Josiah or Judah for having marched out to attempt to stop him from going forward to support his Assyrian allies. And as a result, Necho comes into Babylon -- or into Judah rather and takes Jehoahaz to Egypt. And Jehoahaz then is replaced by another Davidic king, Jehoiakim. Necho then, the pharaoh of Egypt, marches to another battlefield called Karkemish. And there he sets up his headquarters. In 605 there's a major battled fought at Karkemish. This is during the fourth year of the reign of Jehoiakim the king. And in the early summer the Egyptians take on the Babylonians. The Babylonians emerge clearly victorious. In fact, it was something of a military route. In August then Nebuchadnezzar, who is the crowned prince, the son of Nabopolassar, the king of Babylon, advances his army having defeated Necho into Palestine. Once he reaches Palestine, he raids Jerusalem. And the first deportation actually takes place in August of 605 where hostages were taken, including the biblical writer Daniel. He then returns and replaces Jehoiakim on the throne. And the Babylonians then march to Syria to Ascalon. And then they take on Necho at the very borders of Egypt. This last battle occurs in the year 601. With the defeat of Necho of Egypt in 601, there ended any hope of any kind of termination of the Babylonian conquest. And this would have profound consequences for Judah. Babylon had been supported by nations like the Moabites, the Syrians, the Ammonites. Those are nations that you may have heard of before simply by reading through texts like the Pentateuch. Or Joshua. Or Judges. These nations then under the -- with the support, rather, of Babylon begin to raid Judah. As a result, Jehoiachin is placed on the throne over and against Jehoiakim. One ends with an N, one with an M. Two different kings. In the year 597 the Babylonians again enter into Judah. And they surround Jerusalem. And Jehoiachin, the new king, then surrenders to the Babylonians. And in this year then, 597, other deportations take place. The Babylonians begin to take treasures from the city. Begin to take hostages. Jehoiachin, the queen mother, they also are taken. The treasury and the temple are raided. And many of the leading people of the city are taken captive. In this captivity we include the taking of Ezekiel. Just as Daniel in the first and now Ezekiel in the second. In 594, a new king arrives in Egypt. And Egypt begins to ally itself with other nations against Babylon. The king who now sat on the throne of Judah, Zedekiah, yields to that alliance. And as a result, Nebuchadnezzar is more than a little irritated. And in 586-587 BC, his army invades Judah again. And in this year, the fall of Jerusalem occurs. And the temple is destroyed and another great deportation takes place. you will often see the year 596-597 is the year of deportation. And in fact, it was the major one. But we had already seen two. And there would, in fact, be a third in the year 582. What does all this have to do with the people of Judah? These are the circumstances under which they would live as they lived out the days which Isaiah foresaw. Days which could have been averted had they listened to the prophets. Had they gone to that temple and repaired to the temple. There to worship the true God. Had their kings been faithful to the God who had placed them on the throne. These things may not have -- did not need to have happened. And Isaiah foresaw this. And he foresaw the pain that would come with rebellion against God.