Resources:

• Map of Babylonian Empire and Exile

The Story Blog:

• Judah Falls
• Prophetic Hope

Prophets, if you remember, provide a vision of two ways. The first way is the way to destruction and its implications. "If you go this way, this is what it's going to look like." The prophets warned both Israel and Judah, but they didn't listen, and those words proved to be prophetic. The other way is the way of the Lord that Psalm 1 speaks so beautifully of, echoed in the prophet Jeremiah in Jeremiah 17.  Often, the words of a prophet are not "seeing the future" but are explicating a potential future. In chapter 17, both Jeremiah and Ezekiel’s words turn to hope after destruction:  cf. p. 202 (Jeremiah) and p. 203 (Ezekiel 33-48). Note these:

• God keeps his word about consequences (p. 202)
• “Great is Thy Faithfulness” p. 202
• Promise and covenant renewal p. 203
• Resurrection out of the dry bones (echoing creation and God's breath of life, and prefigures the resurrection of Jesus

Ezekiel is a man of metaphors, using pictures to teach:

• Vision of Chariot (Ezekiel 1)
• Eating of the Scroll (Ezekiel 2-3:3)
• The Watchman (Ezekiel 3:16-17; 33:1-7; Isaiah 52:8) and the “man in the gap of the wall” (Ezekiel 13:3-7; 22:30-31)
• Symbols of Jerusalem’s demise and destruction
  • Clay tablet; Shaving the beard and division into thirds (what are the thirds?), baggage through hole in the wall
  • Sour Grapes (Ezekiel 18)
  • Heart of flesh replaces heart of stone (Ezekiel 36:24-26)
  • Dry Bones (Ezekiel 37)

[PS - the page numbers here are from my older version of The Story. I will check them and update them when I get ahold of my newer copy which I don't have in my possession right now.]

Chapter 17 is a chapter that moves towards the final fall of the people of God in the land that God has given them.  The same problems seem to plague the Israelites who continually turn away from the LORD and serve other Gods. Manasseh is a brutal and terrible king (cf. 2 Kings 21:1-18, The Story pp. 191). Manasseh reintroduces other gods to the people, erects asherah poles, sacrifices his own son, and sets up Assyrian gods in temple.  Then we read about Amon, Manasseh's son(2 Kings 21:19-26, p. 192). And, like father like son, Amon did what his father did.

There is a bright light int he story in Josiah in what is known as Josiah’s Reform (cf. 2 Kings 22-23, p. 193). At this time, Assyria is weakening in power.  One of the most important parts of this story is the rediscovery of the book of the law in the repairing of the temple. This probably refers to the book of  Deuteronomy, which includes the Ten Commandments. They re-establish some of the traditional religious practices of the people of God, including reinstituted the Passover celebration and rediscovering the importance of the Exodus. In 621BC, in an important religious and political move, Josiah removed idolatry and false worship from the temple.

Then follow what can be broken into two waves of exile or captivity to Babylon. Here's a little history for you. First, Pharoah Neco kills Josiah at Meggido when Josiah joins with Assyria in battle against Egypt and Babylon.  At this point, Judah becomes a vassal of Egypt for a few years (609-605BC), after which Babylon turns against its partner Egypt and overtakes them, making Judah a vassal of Babylon in 601BC under Nebuchadnezzar.  (cf. The Story p. 193 “During Jehoiakim’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded the land, and Jehoiakim became his vassal for 3 years.”  601-598BC.)  Judah - not one to be rule by others - gets a little cocky with Babylon in 598BC under Jehoiakim after Egypt wins a battle against Babylon… (cf. p. 193 “But then he turned against Nebuchadnezzar and rebelled.”) Babylon - in retort - strikes Judah and takes its first round of prisoners into exile. Judah had sided with the wrong partner in the fight - and geographically was caught in the middle of the two. Jehoiakim escapes this because he dies just before Jerusalem is taken, but his son Jehoiachin, who replaces him for a brief time, is taken into exile along with the prophet Ezekiel.  (pp. 193-194)  At this point, Nebuchadnezzar puts Mattaniah (Zedekiah), Jehoiachin’s uncle in place as a puppet king.  (p. 194)

So you have a wave of people brought into exile to Babylon, with some staying in the land of Judah - which is now under the power of Babylon.  There are notes in The Story (notes are in italics) about Ezekiel as prophet in Babylon (pp. 194-196) while Jeremiah is Prophet in Jerusalem (196-199). God has a prophet in each area. As always, God is still looking for “a few good men” who are men “after God’s own heart." (Cf. p. 199) (Note: “he hardened his heart”… remind you of Saul? And the juxtaposition of Saul and David?) Here we see these words of the LORD: “I am bringing disaster from the North.” (p. 198) “If you can find but one person…” which is reminiscent of Lot.

The history gets complicated, but it continues. Zedekiah (Jehoiachin's uncle... puppet King of Nebuchadnezzar) revolts against Babylon (p. 199) and Babylon retaliats, dessimating Jerusalem, just as the LORD promised.  Zedekiah then calls to Jeremiah for help from the LORD, but it is too little, too late. (p. 200) Jeremiah says, “If you stay, you’ll die, if you surrender to Babylon, you’ll live.”  Jeremiah does give advice, but of course, Zedekiah doesn't listen and instead takes his own 3rd alternative – “run.” (p. 201) Zedekiah is captured, his sons are killed before his eyes, then his eyes are taken out, and he and Jerusalem are exiled to Babylon. (p. 201) This is the second wave into exile in roughly 597.

It is not a full exile, though. We find that Gedaliah is appointed the governor of Judah and Jeremiah remains with him.  (p. 201)  Later, Gedaliah is assassinated and Jeremiah is forced to flee with the remaining Jews to Egypt for fear of retribution.

So, at this point, the Northern Kingdom has fallen (northern tribes of Israel), and now the Southern Kingdom has also fallen (Judah), and they have been taken into exile in Babylon, while some have fled to Egypt. The people of God are no longer occupying the Promised Land. They are slaves to a foreign Kingdom, scattered from the land.

Resources:

The Story Blog:

• How The Mighty Fall

Resources:

• Assyrian Empire

The Story Blog:

• A Good King (for once)
• Kingdom Collapse

Chapter 16 also tells us of one of the few stories of a good King who trusted the Lord, and we see God coming through for him. During this time when Israel is falling to the Assyrians (we read, "Sargon II of Assyria deported more than 27,000 people from the northern kingdom of Israel to disant cities after Israel's defenses broke down"), and Assyria is surrounding them (click here for a map of the Assyrian Empire), we hear some challenging words from the king of the Assyrians to Hezekiah, King of Judah to the south:

On what are you basing this confidence of yours?
Come now, make a bargain...
Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the Lord...
Do not listen to Hezekiah...
....he is misleading you when he says, 'The LORD will deliver us...'

But Hezekiah goes up on the mountain and pleads with God, and we see God dramatically delivering and protecting Judah from the mighty Assyrian army. First, he is assured through Isaiah that God will protect the city, then we read the conclusion:

That night the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp.

Sargon was wrong. You can put your trust in this God. He will protect and deliver you if you trust him.

I find often that my life is a lot like this. The words of the world, the voices of those who seem to make so much sense tell me not to trust in the LORD, not to follow his way, or even as Sargon says, "Choose Life and not death," claiming that there is life in an alternative way of living. But it's not true. True life comes through the giver of life himself, not some powerful army or present world power. Often the ways of the world look better, stronger, and more fruitful than following the ways of the LORD, but the consistent and persistent story of the Bible is that God's way is the right way, and other paths lead to destruction.

Getting back to Judah... King Hezekiah is a good king and follows the LORD. Isaiah speaks prophetic words of assurance and protection. But later in the chapter, that is not true. In the last half of the chapter, we hear Isaiah speaking words that are not so nice to hear. He is saying once again that Judah, now, will turn away from the LORD and there will also be consequences to those actions - just as there was for Israel. Judah will be overcome, destroyed, and carried away into exile. Because Judah will forsake the LORD, he will turn his back on them when the Babylonians come. Again, as before, we see the prophet speaking words of discipline and consequence for walking in the wrong ways - even after a time of faithfulness. Listen to how the chapter ends:

...faithful King Hezekiah died and was buried. Unfortunately, his son, Manasseh, did not follow the faithful example set by his father. Manasseh's reign actively supported detestable religious practices and brutal oppression.

And the end will come for Judah next.

This period in the Bible can get really confusing for Christians. Most people I talk to have a hard time understanding it. The kingdom divides in the wake of Solomon’s united Kingdom and time of peace with the battle between Rehoboam and Jeroboam and who would be king. At that time, we end up seeing two kingdoms – one in the North and one in the South.  It might be good to reread chapter 14 to get a handle on it.

The Bible, in dealing with the two kingdoms and the surrounding nations, Bible flips back and forth between them, which gets really confusing. One moment, you’re reading about the South, then the North, then back to the South. If you look at this chart, it helps to clear up who is where and when in the South and North.  Adding to that, the dates and times the Kings serves is not clear in terms of timeline because of what is called “co-regency.” Co-regency is when a son would serve as a co-regent with his father because either the father was too old to reign or the son too young or both. It is also confusing because the organization of the Bible is so hard to figure out in combining the letters of the prophets with Kings and Chronicles. You see, the books of the prophets are often written in times that fall within the history of the Kings and Chronicles, and some prophets are prophets to the North while others are prophets to the South. So to really understand what’s going on, you have to know when the prophet is speaking (timeline) and to whom (north or south) - click here for help. (Isaiah is particularly confusing because of how it is organized).  Once you get a handle on that, it makes a lot more sense. The Story helps with this by keeping things in chronological order and, in chapter 16, by talking specifically about the fall of Israel (click here for a map of the Assyrian Empire). We read this:

"All this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of Egypt from under the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshipped other gods... So the people Israel were taken from their homeland into exile in Assyria, and they are still there. The LORD was very angry with Israel and removed them from his presence. Only the tribe of Judah was left."

Here, in chapter 16, Israel falls because of the northern kingdom’s alliance with Syria (Damascus) against Assyria, and then Assyria’s destruction of the northern kingdom and the lost tribes. Then later, Judah is captured and taken into exile. So, when you hear about “the lost tribes of Israel,” that refers to these tribes (not including Judah and Benjamin to the south – remember… they settled in different places.)

What is a prophet? That's a good question. If you've ever thought about, it's a bit tough to answer. The Bible has a number of answers, and there are a lot of prophets in the Bible. Let me start with a categorization of prophets. There are different categorizations that can get confusing: Minor prophets, Major prophets, Former Prophets, Latter Prophets, Pre-exilic, Post-exilic. Obviously there are a number of ways to categorize the prophets.

• Former prophets refer to the narrative books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings which give us much of the early history of the Jewish people.
• Latter prophets, then, refer to more poetical books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the twelve Minor Prophets (see below).
• Pre-exilic refers to a more time-bound set of prophets surrounding the event of the exile to Babylon. These are any prophets who come before the Exile.
• Post-exilic refers similarly to those prophets who come after the Exile.
• Major prophets is a Christian designation, not a Jewish one. The list includes Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel.
• Minor prophets - There are 12 minor prophets: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obediah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi

The prophets were primarily chosen and called by God to help people know the “Way” of the Lord, and to see that alternative “ways” lead to destruction. They were often speaking words of destruction, reminding people of their path and asking them to "turn" or repent and come back to the way of the Lord.  Punishment, then, of the people comes when calamity is the direct result of the choices we make. This means that destruction is the function of sin and evil, a natural consequence of disobedience. Consequences then function as an act of discipline to help us in our repentance.  Notice how often the phrase "yet you have not returned to me" occurs in these passages, or "seek the Lord and life".

Question to ponder: are all negative circumstances in our lives the result of sin and evil? Are they all the "direct" result of our personal sin and disobedience?

Here are some helpful resources to understand the prophets better.

• A table of the Kings and Prophets
• A history of the prophets

It's not a new story. This is an old story that goes back a long time, and yet is so current. How many times have we heard of leaders who have fallen, particularly in the area of sexual sin? This is what happens to the great leader David in this story. We see Nathan making the powerful analogy that causes David to be angry, not realizing that his anger is kindled at himself.  David lustfully looks on at another man's wife, then uses his power to be with her. Afterwards he seeks to cover his tracks, and when Uriah shows himself to be more of a man of integrity than David, David has him killed. Isn't it interested how far we can go to cover up a sin, to not face our own fear of honestly with ourselves, and how devastating that is for both us and for others? Think of how much damage was done in this case. Damage - obviously - to Uriah who loses his life. Damage to David's integrity - possibly even with Joab, the leader of his armies. Damage to David's integrity with those who worked closest to him. Damage to Bathsheba, who must have been on an emotional roller coaster ride.  Damage to the children of David, who see their father in a new light. Damage to future generations.

The Story, however, points out what's different about David in comparison to Saul. David - even though he is a sinner - is a man after God's own heart. When confronted with his sin and when he finally gets honest with himself, he is cut to the heart and cries out in deep, profound, and real confession of his sin. This comes in what is now one of the most well-known and regularly used confessions of sin - Psalm 51. In this prayer-poem, David is dealing directly with God having had to face his own sin after Nathan tells him, "You are the man." David is profoundly guilty, and he knows it. He confesses it. And he receives God's forgiveness personally, which we see here in Psalm 32. David is distinguished from Saul because David is in a regular relationship with God. He meets with God and listens to him. He praises God regularly and gives him the credit for his successes. David asks for forgiveness for sin and rejoices in his salvation. David is in a relationship with God, and even though he is a profound sinner, he is seeking to follow God, admitting when he doesn't.

I love this line in Psalm 32: "When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long." This is a line that talks about the heaviness of living in sin in secret. It reminds me of what Paul says in Ephesians 5:8-14

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light  (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord.  Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.  It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.  But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light.  This is why it is said:   “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

The reality is that while we walk in darkness (cf. 1 John 1-2) we are dead to ourselves and dead to God. But when we allow the light of God to shine on our darkness and into our sin and expose, we have the opportunity to step into the light. Saul had this opportunity, too, many times, but he chose instead to hide in the darkness. David gives us a pattern of honesty, contrition, humility, and forgiveness. It is the story of what a follower of the Lord experiences when he or she is honest enough to face the darkness in his/ her own heart.

So here is the challenge in this Scripture: it is not just the might who fall. It is you and I who fall. What sin or sins do you need to let God shine his light upon? Use  Psalm 51 as a guide as you confess your sins. Write it out in your own words and confess to God the things that you most want to keep in the dark and in hiding. Then use Psalm 32 as an assurance of your pardon, rejoicing in the forgiveness that comes through God in Jesus Christ. I like to sometimes journal these things, rewriting them and making that personal. They were personal to David, and they can be personal to you and I, too.

The Story Blog:

• Keeping Up With The Joneses
• Second Chance
• Anointing
• Children's Bibles
• Homosexuality in Samuel?

Additional Resources: