What is the link between living in the lockdown caused by the coronavirus plague and the experience of the exiles in Babylon? That is the question we are going to explore in this week’s instalment of our series ‘Living in Babylon Today’.
The first wave of exiles taken to Babylon after the surrender of Jerusalem in 597 BC numbered about 10,000 (according to the account in 2 Kings 24:25-26). For those who knew their history, this was a reversal of the journey made by their ancestor Abraham, who came from Ur of the Chaldeans which was very close to the city of Babylon.
Abraham heard God telling him to leave his people and his country and he would be led to a place where God would establish him and fulfil the promise of his blessings upon him and his ancestors. On reaching Jerusalem, Abraham shared a sacramental meal with Melchizedek, a priest-king who also had discovered the one true God.
The Exiles Adjust
19th-Century illustration of ancient Babylon by William Simpson
For the exiles, reaching Babylon (famed as the capital of the world at that time) must have been a bewildering experience. Its magnificent buildings dwarfed anything they had known in Jerusalem. The most stupendous building was the temple of Marduk which rose like a great square pyramid to a height of about 600 feet, with each section in a different colour like a gigantic rainbow, topped with gold and silver.
Psalm 137 gives a picture of the grief and suffering of this first wave of captives in the early days of their settlement: “By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. There on the poplars we hung our harps, for our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, sing us one of the songs of Zion! How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?”
The first wave of Jewish exiles taken to Babylon made the reverse journey of that made by their ancestor Abraham, who came from Ur of the Chaldeans.
But soon after this, a letter arrived from Jerusalem written by the Prophet Jeremiah, telling them to build houses and settle down because they were going to be there for a long time. Biblical scholars have always been puzzled by this: how could a company of slaves “build houses, plant gardens and eat what they produce”, as the letter commanded? It seemed almost like a cruel joke, until the recent discovery of a cache of clay tablets by archaeologists near the ancient site of Babylon. They bear the title of ‘Al Yahuda’: ‘Village of Judah’.
These clay tablets, now in the Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem, have been translated and published by Cornell University in the USA. They show that the exiles from Judah lived in settlements scattered around a wide area where they were engaged in a variety of industries, from agriculture to working as civil servants, or merchants, or in various parts of the finance sector.
The clay tablets reveal that the land on which the exiles settled, built their houses and grew their food was called ‘Bow land’ as a result of a deal offered by Nebuchadnezzar to the skilled bowmen of the army of Judah who had surrendered to him. They were to give a period of service in the Babylonian army, in return for the lease of land.
God’s Good Plans
Jeremiah undoubtedly knew of this offer which was being firmly resisted by the false prophets among the exiles, who were telling them to be ready to leave Babylon at any moment because God was going to do something amazing – overthrowing the Babylonian empire and releasing his people to go back home. In Jeremiah’s letter he roundly condemned these prophets, whom God said “are prophesying lies to you in my name” (Jer 29:21).
Jeremiah affirmed that God had sent the exiles to Babylon for a long time, until he had finished with Babylon. Then they would be released and return to the Promised Land. In the meantime, God had good plans for them: “plans to give you a hope and a future” (Jer 29:11). They would discover that they didn’t need the Temple or the priesthood and all the trappings of religion, but they would come into a new relationship with God through prayer: “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord” (Jer 29:13).
The false prophets among the exiles were telling them to be ready to leave Babylon at any moment because God was going to overthrow the Babylonian empire.
A Redeemed People
It was God’s purpose to send this group of men and women to Babylon, to live under alien rule, wherein they would discover God in a new way. Separated from the institutions of religion, they would discover God in their homes, while praying in their family groups, singing psalms and remembering passages of Scripture that they could recite by heart, such as:
Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commands that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children, talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. (Deut 6:4-7)
It was God’s intention to use the adversity of the exile to produce a redeemed people who would each know God for themselves in accordance with the promise given to Jeremiah: “I will put my law in their mind and write it on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people…They will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord” (Jer 31:33-34).
God’s Purpose Today
Today, we are certainly living under alien rule, even though it is the rule of our own Government who forbid us to leave our homes except under strict conditions. Like the exiles in Babylon, we cannot go anywhere or do anything that is not allowed by those who rule us. But could it be that God intends to do with us something like he did with the exiles in Babylon, who came to know him for themselves in a new and intimate way?
We have time on our hands – precious time to be quiet and know the presence of our God; to listen to him and allow him to speak into our lives, refining our values and reassuring us of his love. We have time to discover his intention to produce a redeemed company of believers who will re-evangelise the nation – beginning right now (albeit in new ways), with the contacts we have with family and friends and neighbours.
This article is part of a series. Click here for previous instalments.
