There is hardly any portion of the Bible story that receives less attention than that relating to the period of the restoration of Israel to their own land, from the captivity to Babylon.
And yet there is hardly any portion of the Bible story that is more full of the very life and movement of God in human affairs; hardly any portion more full of valuable lessons. Indeed, there is no portion of the Bible story so full as is this of striking illustrations of how promptly and how triumphantly, God can interpose with kings and powers in behalf of His cause and His people in the earth.
For this reason, we want to look at that interesting and important part of the Bible story. The books of the Bible especially embraced in this are, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. The period of the world covered in the narrative is about from B.C. 536 to the crucifixion.
God had brought Israel out of Egypt, and, separated from all the nations, had placed them in the land of Canaan, “the glory of all lands,” to be the light of the world. The chief reason why He placed them in the land of Canaan--Palestine--is that then, and for ages afterward, that little country was the pivot of the world. Between Egypt and the eastern and northern nations there was then, and for ages afterward, constant intercourse, practically all of which necessarily passed through Palestine. Yet later, when the weight of empire passed to the west, still Palestine was the center around which swirled the grand sweep of the world’s affairs.
At that center of the world’s great currents God set His people to be His light to all the nations, whose people by thus constantly passing and repassing through that land, should behold that blessed people and glorious land, and be led to say,
“Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” (Deuteronomy 4:6)
And thus be led to inquire for the source of this wisdom and understanding, this prosperity and glory, and so find the true God, and turn from idolatry to the worship of Him. God intended that by His splendid presence abiding with them, His people should thus influence all the nations for good; and thus to carry on His fulfillment of His promise to Abraham,
“In you shall all nations of be blessed.” (Galatians 3:8)
Therefore, of Israel God had said,
“Lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.” (Numbers 23:9)
But the people would not have it so. They exclaimed and insisted,
“...make us a king. ...that we may be like all the nations.” (1 Samuel 8:5)
They had their way, they rejected God, and not only be came “like all the nations,” but did “worse than the heathen” round them. And then, as they became like the nations that were in that land before them, likewise as with those nations the land could no longer endure them, and so must spew them out, as it had spewed out the nations before them.
They were carried captive to Babylon, and the land was left desolate that it might have rest from the sickening iniquities with which it had been afflicted.
The special sins that brought the captivity of Israel and the desolation of the land were:
1. Oppression and injustice.
“O house of David, thus says the Lord, Execute judgment in the morning, and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, lest My fury go out like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.” (Jeremiah 21:12)
“Thus says the Lord, Execute judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor; and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place.” (Jeremiah 22:3)
“For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings; if you thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor; If you oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt: Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever.” (Jeremiah 7:5-7)
2. Oppressing and defrauding the laborer in his wages, while they in their wealth reveled in luxury.
“Woe unto him that builds his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that uses his neighbor’s service without wages, and gives him not for his work; 14 That says, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cuts him out windows; and it is ceiled with cedar, and painted with vermillion.” (Jeremiah 22:13-14)
3. Neglect of the poor.
“Shall you reign, because you closed yourself in cedar? did not your father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him? He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know Me? says the Lord. But your eyes and your heart are not but for your covetousness.” (Jeremiah 22:15-17)
4. Disregard of the Sabbath.
“Thus says the Lord; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither do any work, but hallow the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers. But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction. And it shall come to pass, if you diligently hearken unto me, says the Lord, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but hallow the sabbath day, to do no work therein; Then shall there enter into the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: and this city shall remain for ever. And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the places about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the plain, and from the mountains, and from the south, bringing burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and meat offerings, and incense, and bringing sacrifices of praise, unto the house of the Lord. But if you will not hearken unto me to hallow the sabbath day, and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.” (Jeremiah 17:21-27)
5. The worship of the sun, with all the abominations that go with it.
“And he put forth the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looks toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy. And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain. Then said he unto me, Son of man, lift up your eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up my eyes the way toward the north, and behold northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry. He said furthermore unto me, Son of man, do you see what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel commits here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? but turn yet again, and you shall see greater abominations. And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold a hole in the wall. Then he said unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had dug in the wall, behold a door. And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here. So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed upon the wall round about. And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up. Then he said unto me, Son of man, have you seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The Lord sees us not; the Lord has forsaken the earth. He said also unto me, Turn yet again, and you shall see greater abominations that they do. Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the Lord’s house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz. Then he said unto me, Have you seen this, O son of man? turn yet again, and you shall see greater abominations than these. And he brought me into the inner court of the Lord’s house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, be tween the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east; and they worshiped the sun toward the east. Then he said unto me, Have you seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose. Therefore will I also deal in fury: my eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.” (Ezekiel 8:3:18)
6. Rejection of the word and message of the Lord in reproof, counsel, and warning.
“In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word from the Lord, saying, Thus says the Lord; Stand in the court of the Lord’s house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the Lord’s house, all the words that I command you to speak unto them; diminish not a word: If so be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent me of the evil, which I purpose to do unto them because of the evil of their doings. And you shall say unto them, Thus says the Lord; If you will not hearken to me, to walk in my law, which I have set before you, To hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I sent unto you, both rising up early, and sending them, but you have not hearkened; Then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth. So the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord. Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak unto all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people took him, saying, You shall surely die. Why have you prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying, This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate without an inhabitant? And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the Lord. When the princes of Judah heard these things, then they came up from the king’s house unto the house of the Lord, and sat down in the entry of the new gate of the Lord’s house. Then spake the priests and the prophets unto the princes and to all the people, saying, This man is worthy to die; for he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your ears. Then spake Jeremiah unto all the princes and to all the people, saying, The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that you have heard. Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the Lord your God; and the Lord will repent him of the evil that he has pronounced against you. As for me, behold, I am in your hand: do with me as seems good and meet unto you. But know for certain, that if you put me to death, you shall surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon this city, and upon the inhabitants thereof: for of a truth the Lord has sent me unto you to speak all these words in your ears. Then said the princes and all the people unto the priests and to the prophets; This man is not worthy to die: for he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God. Then rose up certain of the elders of the land, and spake to all the assembly of the people, saying, Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spake to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus says the Lord of hosts; Zion shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest. Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him at all to death? did he not fear the Lord, and besought the Lord, and the Lord repented him of the evil which he had pronounced against them? Thus might we procure great evil against our souls. And there was also a man that prophesied in the name of the Lord, Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjath–jearim, who prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah: And when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men, and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death: but when Urijah heard it, he was afraid, and fled, and went into Egypt; And Jehoiakim the king sent men into Egypt, namely, Elnathan the son of Achbor, and certain men with him into Egypt. And they fetched forth Urijah out of Egypt, and brought him unto Jehoiakim the king; who slew him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people.” (Jeremiah 26:1-23)
“Now the king sat in the winterhouse in the ninth month: and there was a fire on the hearth burning before him. And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, he cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the roll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth.” (Jeremiah 36:22-23)
“And king Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah. But neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, did hearken unto the words of the Lord, which he spoke by the prophet Jeremiah.” (Jeremiah 37:1-2)
“Then Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashur the son of Malchiah, heard the words that Jeremiah had spoken unto all the people, saying, Thus says the Lord, He that remains in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goes forth to the Chaldeans shall live; for he shall have his life for a prey, and shall live. Thus says the Lord, This city shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, which shall take it. Therefore the princes said unto the king, We beseech you, let this man be put to death: for thus he weakens the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words unto them: for this man seeks not the welfare of this people, but the hurt. Then Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in your hand: for the king is not he that can do any thing against you. Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the son of Hammelech, that was in the court of the prison: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire: so Jeremiah sunk in the mire.” (Jeremiah 38:1-6)
But the very crowning abomination of all was:
7. Their making the temple of God, and the forms of wor ship of the Lord, their confidence of salvation, while practicing all those other iniquities and abominations; their holding God to a strict accountability for His promises, while they ran perfect riot against every precept upon which those promises could possibly rest; their making capital of God’s temple, and ordinances, and services designed to put away sin, as security in their corruptible abandon in the indulgence of sin:
“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. Trust not to lying words, saying, The temple of the Lord. The temple of the Lord. The temple of the Lord, are these.” (Jeremiah 7:3-4) [Luther’s translation: “Here is the Lord’s temple. Here is the Lord’s temple. Here is the Lord’s temple.”]
“Hear this, I pray, you heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity. They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity. The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the Lord, and say, Is not the Lord among us? no evil can come upon us. Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.” (Micah 3:9-12)
“Behold, you trust in lying words, that cannot profit. Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom you know not; And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by My name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations? ["There is no danger to us, though, or as long as, we do such abominations."--Luther’s Translation.] Is this house, which is called by My name, become a den of robbers [den of murderers, a resort of cut throats--German] in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, says the Lord.” (Jeremiah 7:8-11)
“Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house [of the Lord] as the high places of the forest.” (Micah 3:12)
“Go you now unto my place which [was] in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel. And now, because you have done all these works, says the Lord, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but you heard not; and I called you, but you answered not; Therefore will I do unto this house, which is called by My name, wherein you trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh. And I will cast you out of My sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim. Therefore pray not for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to Me: for I will not hear you.” (Jeremiah 7:12-16)
Because of that deplorable, even desperate, condition of things in Jerusalem, the Lord of Jerusalem was compelled to liken her to Sodom, declaring that she and Sodom were sis ters; and further:
“As I live, says the Lord God, Sodom your sister has not done, she nor her daughters, as you have done, you and your daughters. Behold, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty, and committed abomination be fore me: therefore I took them away as I saw good.” (Ezekiel 16:48-50)
And consequently Ezekiel saw in a vision a man with a writer’s ink horn by his side, passing throughout Jerusalem, setting a mark upon the foreheads of the men who were sighing and crying for all the abominations that were done therein. Following him were six other men, each with a slaughter-weapon in his hand, to “slay utterly” all to whom they should come, except that they were to “come not near any man upon whom is the mark.” (Ezekiel 9:1-7).
Now this whole narrative has its parallel in the last days, even in our own time:
1. General wickedness prevails (Matthew 24:12; 2 Timothy 3:1-3), oppression, injustice, defrauding the laborer in his wages to increase the overloaded coffers of the rich, who revel in luxury--all this is indulged (James 5:1-8);
2. In the midst of this abundance to boundless millions there is such neglect of the poor that God is obliged to turn His attention especially to them (Luke 14:21-23);
3. The Sabbath is disregarded (Isaiah 56:1, 2; 58:13, 14);
4. The sun--in the Sunday--is honored (Daniel 7:25; Revelation 14:9-12);
5. The Word of God in counsel and warning, concerning all the evil and impending destruction, is rejected (2 Peter 3:3-7, 10-14; Matthew 24:37-39); and, also
6. There prevails the same chief abomination of all--the indulgence of a whole catalog of iniquities under the form and profession of godliness (2 Timothy 3:1-5).
So that, looking again upon it all, God is compelled to liken it also to Sodom, because the last days of the world are as the last days of Sodom.
“Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot.even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. The same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.” (Luke 17:28-30)
And while this destruction and desolation is impending, the heavenly messenger (Revelation 7:2, 3) passes through the world, setting the royal seal--the heavenly mark--upon the servants of God, who are sighing and crying for all the abominations that are done in the land. And after him pass the messengers of judgment, slaying utterly all upon whom is not found the mark (Revelation 14:9, 10; 15:1; 16:1-21).
Thus certainly and thus fully does the period which culminated in the destruction of Jerusalem and the desolation of that land, contain lessons of deep meaning to the people of God of all times, and especially of the last days.