THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY

Dr. W. A. Criswell

Daniel 1:1

09-22-96    Sunday School

 

 

I remind you that you owe me a whole lot of deference.  Oh, dear.  And I’m most appreciative.

Before we begin our study of the Babylonian captivity, I took a moment to write two sentences to form the introduction.  They are: The biblical story is complicated and fraught with many details, but God has a message in it all; blessing for us who take the time and patience to look at it and to profit by it.  And the second sentence: The ordinary reader can be wearied with minute details, but the holy Word is inspired and, if we take the time to read it, it will bring immortal lessons to our souls.  So when we enter a study like this, it is very, very minute and hardly anybody ever has even looked at it.  It is do wearisome and fraught with so much uninteresting detail to us.  But, God inspired it and the Lord had it written in this Book and we’re going to be one of those few who look at it ask God to bless us in it.

We’re going back 2,600 years to the empires of Assyria, Persia, Babylonia, and Egypt.  Heretofore, the names of these are familiar to us: Moses, Samuel, Daniel, David, Solomon, Hezekiah, Jonah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel.  We have been introduced to these since childhood.  But, the Bible also has minute introductions to us of Sargon, Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, Tiglath-Pileser, Shalmaneser, Maradat-Paladin, Nabopolassar, Nebuchadnezzar, Nabonidus, Belshazzar, Darius and Cyrus.  And yet, to the whole vast world, those names are absolutely unknown and immaterial.

When we turn now to the story of the Babylonian Captivity, these words are so typical of the tragedy and sorrow of that unbelievable destruction: the destruction of the nation; the destruction of the walls and city of Jerusalem; the destruction of the Temple; and the horrible seizure of a city by pagan soldiers pouring into its confines.  If I could make just one observation without seeming to be; without thought and kindness; when those soldiers poured into a city, the first thing they did was to seize all the women and all the girls, tear off their clothes and rape them.  That is what you see in the tragedy of what we are speaking of today.

So this Psalm is just reflective of the hearts of those tragic people who were overwhelmed and taken into slavery.  The one hundred thirty-seventh Psalm:

 

By the rivers of Babylon we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.

We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.

For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.

How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?

If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.

If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.

 

This is so reflective of the indescribable hurt and sorrow that came to those dear people who were overwhelmed by the Chaldean army.

So we mention that Sargon, in 722, captured and destroyed the northern kingdom of the ten tribes of Israel.  And he raised Assyria to new heights of prestige.  But, he fell in battle and left his great power to his son, Sennacherib.  It was Sargon that made the capitol of Nineveh the famous and ancient city on the east bank of the Tigris River.  So, under Sennacherib, the son of Sargon, the Assyrians moved closer and closer to Judah.  The prophet Isaiah walked the streets of Jerusalem naked and barefoot for three full years at the commandment of God, as a sign that Assyria was coming.  We read that in Isaiah 20:2-3.

So, the Lord called the Chaldeans, and before them, the Assyrians.  In Isaiah chapter 10 verse 5, he refers and says: “Assyria is the rod of my anger and the staff of my indignation.”  Well, we come into the story of the destruction and captivity of the people.  God warns again and again and yet again.  Judgment does not fall unexpectedly or unannouncedly.  Even in the hammer blows of falling judgment, God gives time and space for repentance.  It is never too late to get right with God.  If we repent, God repents.  Isn’t that what you read in Jonah?  When the people of Nineveh repented, God repented.

Out of the ruins and ashes of destruction, God, in mercy and grace, raises up a noble and purified people to do His will in the earth.  The purposes of God are never frustrated.  Every sob and tear and sorrow is meant toward this infinite purpose in the earth, namely God’s design for our blessing and salvation.  So, we look for a moment at the warnings of God to Judah.  First, the example of Israel’s northern ten tribes: idolatry in Israel was rampant under their first leader, Jeroboam.  And it brought back the remembrance of the golden calves at Bethel and Dan. 

Hosea 4:17 says—quoting God: “Israel is joined to idols.  Let him alone.  I have tried and tried.  I leave it in the hands of judgment.”  So, Tiglath-Pileser placed Israel under tribute.  Shalmaneser besieged Samaria.  And Sargon as I said destroyed the northern kingdom and the ten tribes were disbursed through Assyria and to the whole world.

The Assyrians, as I say, moved closer and closer to Judah.  When Sargon fell in battle, he left his empire to his son, Sennacherib.  And Sennacherib invaded Judah when Judah was under King Hezekiah, a godly king.  And Judah was delivered.  In keeping with Isaiah and good King Hezekiah, Judah was delivered by the angel of God.  Do you remember the story?  There passed over the vast armies of Assyria that night an angel of God and destroyed 185,000 of their soldiers.  That was God’s goodness to Hezekiah.  In the Annals of Sachariah, clay cylinders that were dug up there in cylinder, it says that Sennacherib took 200,000 captives from Judah.

Now, the son of Hezekiah came Manasseh plunged the nation into gross idolatry.  Hezekiah was a godly, wonderful, marvelous king but, his son, Manasseh, was tragic.  And the Assyrians captured Manasseh and carried him in chains to one of their provinces named Babylon.  Now, Manasseh was released upon his repentance.  But, because of the sins of Manasseh, God refused to spare Judah.

Under the weak leadership of Ashurbanipal, Assyria was destroyed in 612 BC.  But, Babylon took the place of Nineveh and the Chaldeans.  And Habakkuk chapter 1 verse 12 speaks of the Assyrians as “ordained for judgment” and “established for correction.”

The rise of the Babylonian Empire, upon the collapse of Assyria, was as rapid as its demise when the divine mission of chastening God’s people was accomplished.  So, we mention the blunt prophecies of Isaiah and Micah.  Babylon was cited by name over a hundred years before it came into being and Isaiah 39, verse 6 and 7, is told that they will be taken into captivity to Babylon and their sons would be eunuchs thereof.  And you remember, Daniel and his three bretheren were taken to Babylon and they were castrated.  They were emasculated.  They became eunuchs.  And that is a part of the judgment of God.  And Jeremiah, later, in the twenty-fifth chapter of his prophecy, speaks of the fact that Babylon will be sovereign over Judah until seventy  years had passed.  And we’re going to look at that seventy years and some of the things that came out of it.

So, we speak of the inevitable judgments of Almighty God.  And you look at it.  There was a tremendous revival in Judah under Josiah—the good king, Josiah.  And during the latter days of his reign, Assyria was destroyed.  And Judah faced a golden future.  The hand of God and the blessings of the Lord were upon the people.  But, neither the spiritual revival under Josiah nor the defeat of the Assyrian Empire had any permanent effect on Judah.

Idolatrous kings nullified Josiah’s spiritual impact.  And the Chaldeans of the Babylonian Empire took the place of Assyria.  And Nebuchadnezzar, one of the most powerful and autocratic of ancient rulers, adopted the, essentially the same policy of displacing whole populations.  And he, founded and inaugurated by the Assyrian kings and he just followed after it.

Now, the captivity for Nebuchadnezzar had two things: one, there was no longer any rebellion in Judah.  It was destroyed forever.  Until the fourteenth of May in 1948, it was forever destroyed.  And second: it supplied that ambitious monarch with skilled craftsmen and artisans for the execution of his building the glorious city of Babylon that he refers to.  And slave labor was rampant, multitudinous to give him the ability to carry out all those works of grandeur.

Now, under those Babylonians that took the place of the Assyrians; there were three deportations.  The first one was in 605 BC when Daniel and his three brethren—Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah—when they were taken into captivity, along with other members of the royal family and some of the treasures of the kingdom.  That was the first deportation when Daniel was taken away.  The second deportation was in 598 BC when King Jehoiakim and the royal family, including the prophet Ezekiel were carried away into captivity.  And the third captivity and the final one was in 587 BC.  And it carried with it the destruction of the Temple, the destruction of the city and the total captivity of the people.

King [Zedekiah], whom we will meet a little later, revolted in the ninth year of his reign.  And he brought about that complete destruction of the city and the Temple.  All the priests were put to death.  Zedekiah’s sons were killed before his eyes.  And he was carried in fetters to Babylon.  Just the poor and indigent and helpless were left in the land and Nebuchadnezzar placed a governor over the land named Gadeliah.

So, let’s look at the kings and the prophets during that tragic time.  There were five prophets: Jeremiah—who we’re going to meet several times, in a minute—Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Zepheniah and Habakkuk.  There were five prophets during that day.  And the four sons of Josiah were kings: Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin and Zedekiah.

The people of Judah did not realize the changes which were in store for them following good King Josiah’s death—Judah’s last good king: Josiah.  They doubtless expected Josiah’s successors to continue the spiritual revival and the policy of political independence for Judah.  But, the successors of Josiah—all four of those sons—were idolatrous and did evil in the sight of the Lord and brought the land and the nation to utter ruin.

Now, we’re going to look at those four kings—those four sons of Josiah.  First, Jehoahaz: upon Josiah’s death, the people of the land took a younger son of Josiah, Jehoahaz, and anointed him as their king.  He reigned but three months, doing evil in the sight of the Lord, and was removed by Pharoah Neco, who had slain Josiah.  Pharoah Neco an Egyptian placed Jehoahaz in chains and took him to Egypt where he died.

Neco, then took another son of Josiah; gave him the name of Jehoiakim and placed him on the throne.  Jehoiakim was evidently pro-Egyptian; anti-Chaldean and the reason the people of the land passed him by to anoint his younger brother Jehoahaz to the kingship and why he was chosen by Neco to be king, Jehoiakim gave heavy tribute to Neco, taxing the people and Jehoiakim reigned for eleven years.

Now, when Jehoiakim was taken to Egypt, where he died, his brother, Jehoiachin, was made king in 605 and this is the first deportation under Jehoiachin, in 605.  When Neco was defeated by Nebuchadnezzar at Carchemish and again at Hamath, the Babylonians followed the retreating Egyptians southward and the land of Judah came under the sovereignty of Babylonia.

Jehoiakim—2 Kings 23:37—quote: “did evil in the sight of the Lord.”  And after three years, he rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, refusing to pay the tribute.  And relying not on God, but on Egypt, to deliver him, his hope was encouraged—and that’s why you see so many details in a thing like this—his hope, not in God but in Egypt to deliver him was encouraged by the false prophets and Jeremiah 5:[31], quote, “the people loved to have it so.”

Now, I have a note here about Jeremiah.  Jeremiah, the great prophet, raised a strong voice against this alliance with Egypt.  God’s will, he said, was not to rebel against the Babylonians.  Jehoiakim became the bitter enemy of Jeremiah.  The king imprisoned him to keep him out of the Temple and away from the people.  Jeremiah, then, dictated to Baruch, his right-hand man, the message of the Lord and you look at this.  When that message from Jeremiah—who got it from God—was delivered to Jehoiakim, he cut it up, leaf by leaf, with a penknife, and threw it, leaf by leaf, into the winter fire burning in the palace.  But, the prophecy from God regarding [Jehoiakim’s] dying in disgrace came to pass.  I quote: God said, “Jehoiakim will be buried with the burial of an ass.”

Now, my comment: No man can do dishonor to the Word of God and escape from falling and coming judgment whether that is in the pulpit or in the nation or in a denomination or in a church or in a college or in a preacher.  Somewhere, sometime, there will be a judgment from God upon those who belittle and disregard and disdain the holy Word of God.  It may not be immediately.  It may not be in time.  But, it will definitely come.  We’re going to see that, again and again, in the judgments of God upon the people.

The marching armies of Nebuchadnezzar reached Judah again.  Jerusalem was besieged by the Chaldeans.  But, just before the city fell, Jehoiakim suddenly died.  Possibly—almost certainly—he was assassinated.  And his young son, 18 years old, was placed on the throne: Jehoiachin, “I-N.”

Now, under Jehoiachin, the second great deportation from Israel taken captive to Babylon, came to pass.  Jehoiachin was as evil as his father, Jehoiakim.  And after reigning one hundred days, a little over three months, the city fell to the Babylonians in 598 BC.  And the great sorrowful captivity followed after.  Ezekiel was one of them; the king was one; the queen mother; the court; the soldiers; the captives of the land; the best of the land and of the people, the treasures of the Lord’s house and of the king’s palace—all of that was taken in the second deportation.

This is commonly called “the captivity.”  It was called the captivity because of its magnitude: because the king, Jehoiachin, was a prisoner there for thirty seven years in Babylon; and because it contained the seed of the future restoration.  Only on the death of Nebuchadnezzar did his son and his successor, Evil-Merodach, free Jehoiachin.  And the fact of the liberation of Jehoiachin is written in Babylonian cuneiform records.

The exiles there and for all the years after looked upon Jehoiachin as their legitimate king and dates were reckoned from the exile of King Jehoiachin.  For example, when Ezekiel begins his great long prophecy in the Book of Ezekiel, that’s the way he starts it; Ezekiel 1:2: from the exile of King Jehoiachin.

Now, Jeremiah writes to the exiles—he says: seventy years you will be there.  Then, you will be at liberty to return home.  So, build your houses and build the land.  Now, false prophets said that Jehoiachin would be free in two years.  But, Jeremiah said it will last seventy years.  And Jeremiah, there in Judah, went around with a yoke around his neck, signifying the continuing captivity of those people in Babylon.  And there was a false prophet named Beniah.  And he broke that yoke from off the neck of Jeremiah, saying the people would be free in two years.  And Jeremiah looked at him and said, “You will soon die.”

Then, we come to the fourth king.  Now remember Jehoiachin is in Babylon, [thirty seven] years that.  The fourth son of Josiah, Zedekiah, comes to the throne.  And taking Jehoiachin captive to Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar placed another of the ill-fated sons of Josiah on the throne.  And Zedekiah, that king reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.  He was as evil as his brothers.  Eleven years of fully-ripened rebellion and corruption characterized his reign.

Zedekiah, that fourth son, the last king, Zedekiah in his heart seemed to desire to listen to Jeremiah and sought to save his life.  But, he succumbed to the pro-Egyptian party and rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar.  And 2 Kings speaks of him relying not on God, but on Egypt.  Nebuchadnezzar reacted swiftly.  This time, resolved to put the nation away forever.  This is remember, the third deportation and sent by God to finish the work of judgment.  And by January, 588—the thing started in 597—Jerusalem was under siege and soon destroyed.

Now, you have the prophecies of Jeremiah—long they are.  During the long siege, he suffered greatly.  During the early part of the siege, he wrote chapter 34.  During the latter part of the siege, he wrote chapters 32, 33 and 39.  He was accused of treason and thrown into a vile prison.  As the siege went on, he was cast into a slimy pit, where he would have perished, had it not been for Ebed-Melech, a eunuch of Ethiopia, who rescued him.  And this little detail to show you the tragedy of that hour; he was placed in a pit.  And when Ebed-Melech sought to take him out, the starvation had been so long and tragic that it took thirty men to lift him up.  It took thirty men to raise Jeremiah out of that slimy pit.  But God told Jeremiah to tell Ebed-Melech that he would be saved alive and taken care of.  And that came to pass.

Well, after a siege of a year and a half, the people starving and during the summer of 587, the end came.  The walls were broken.  Nebuchadnezzar determined the city never to be a fortress again and it would be a place of no rebellion.  The Temple, the houses, the walls were completely destroyed; and that occasion the third, and final deportation.  Zedekiah, the king, attempted to escape toward Amman, but was captured near Jericho.  And his sons were executed before his eyes.  His very eyes were blinded.  And blinded and in chains to Babylon, he soon died.  Jeremiah was treated very kindly by the victorious Babylonians.

Now, I must close.  And the main part of our lesson today is what I speak of now.  Remember: the nation is destroyed.  The Temple is destroyed.  The priests are all killed and the people are all there, by the rivers of Babylon, singing their song of desperation and destitution.  But, three great things came out of the Babylonian captivity.  The sins of men cannot frustrate the ultimate purposes of God.

Number one; the nation of Israel was never again idolatrous.  Up until this time—you read in the Bible starting that golden calf under Moses—every generation of the Jews, of the Israelites—they were idolatrous.  After the Babylonian captivity, the Jews was no more idolatrous.

For example, you go into a synagogue, can you imagine an idol or an image in a synagogue?  And the synagogue is what we today would call our church.  Can you imagine an image or a graven idol in a Baptist church?  Can you?  It was forever gone in the Babylonian captivity.  The people were never more idolatrous.

Number two; the captivity gave birth to the synagogue.  Our church congregation is that—it’s patterned thereon: gathering together to hear the Law and the Prophets, we gather to hear the Word of God, too.  The people were taught to be obedient to the Law of Moses and to worship God and to pray and to praise Him.  I cannot imagine a synagogue other than that.  I cannot imagine a Baptist church other than that; opening God’s Book—the Jew reading the Old Testament; the Law and we reading the New Testament and the love of Christ.

I have been in many temples in India: the Hindus.  And they have thousands of gods and those temples are filled with images.  I have been in many temples of the Buddhists.  Always, there is that graven image of Buddha.  I have been in many Catholic churches filled with images—all through it.  I couldn’t imagine in the First Baptist Church in Dallas.  This came out of that Babylonian Captivity.

All right, the third great thing that came out of the captivity was the canon of the Holy Scriptures; this Book.  As the people wept in despair and sought the comfort and encouragement of God’s Word, they gathered those canonical books together.  Ezra was used of the Lord, in the captivity, to collect those wonderful, wonderful books that you call the Bible and I think I’ve got to quit. 

In the dispersion of the people, the true knowledge of God was broadcast in the earth.  I have a conclusion: the sweep of history, sometimes centuries before it is seen, God’s sovereign grace worked out.  And that is true in our lives.  Sometimes only in eternity will we be able to see God’s sovereign grace in our lives.