Articles
Turning Points in Bible History - 13
The exiles of both Israel (722-721 BC) and Judah (586 BC) were more than “watersheds”; they were as close as Abraham’s descendants ever came to complete annihilation. God had promised that Abraham’s seed would become a source of blessing to the whole world. That promise was tied in with the development of Abraham’s descendants into a nation and their occupation of the land of Canaan. If the nation lost its identity and was permanently barred from the land, God’s promises would have been proven false.
In the sieges and deportations, many Israelites were killed. The social, political and religious structure of the nation collapsed and captives were scattered across the empires of Assyria, Babylon and Persia. With the complete fragmentation that occurred, along with the political policy of conquering monarchs of that era, it appeared quite impossible that Israel could ever be reorganized and return to the land of Canaan.
This turning point of exile is instructive. Israel couldn’t envision itself driven from the land because of a faulty assumption: they thought that God would never let Jerusalem and especially His temple be overrun (Jer 7:4; 14:13-15). But those assumptions flew in the face of God’s actual declarations. He clearly said through Jeremiah and others that this would be the eventual outcome of their idolatry and immorality. We tend to measure God’s words against what makes sense to us. This is dangerous, for God’s purposes are greater than our human reasoning.
