Exiled – Why and How?

Sunday Bible Study Lesson, Feb. 18

2 Kings 23:1-7, 10; 24-25; 26-27.  Even though Josiah was a good king, he couldn’t stop the wave of disobedience.  It was so deep within the leadership and people (sheeple).

Why the exile?  Long-term disobedience to God’s clear law despite their history.  They had gotten so bad that they were having worship services to pagan gods in the Temple.  They were violent, neglecting the poor and orphans, as well as gross idolatry. 

2 Kings tells the story.  There were three phases of the exile.

609 BC   .  The Assyrians were defeated by the new Babylonians (Chaldeans) and Judah became a vassal state under Babylon.  Babylon was fighting Egypt at this time for world power, and Judah was caught in the middle.  Josiah sided with Egypt and was killed in battle for it.  23:29.  In 24:1 we read of a rebellion; the first part of Daniel tells us this was when Daniel and friends ended up in Babylon in 605 bc.  This is when Greece and Rome are still in their infancy.

597 BC 2 Kings 24:10-17 Daniel and friends were probably in this one.  A puppet king, renamed Zedekiah, was put in place by the Babylonians.  Eventually, another rebellion, leading to the exile in

586 BC 2 Kings 25:11-12.  Gedaliah was put in place as the leader.  Jeremiah was living at this time and part of his message was that this situation was part of God’s plan and not to buck it.  Some rebel groups were allying with Egypt but Jeremiah told them not to; they did anyway.

What did the exile mean?  Loss of everything, and defilement of their religion.  Nebuchadnezzar was not into tolerance.  He won, he got the spoils, the gold of the temple.  18-cubit, that’s a 27-foot pillar.  Took it all. 

How long in exile?  70 years from the first one of 609, so it ended around 539 when Ezra came back with exiles.  But only 42,360 came back.  Almost 2 million went into the land, according to Joshua.  What happened to the rest?  Many died, of course, but what about the rest?  They grew comfortable, they spread out.  Esther’s family in Persia (Iran).  Paul’s family is an example.  They lived far away from Jerusalem, in Turkey (Tarsus).  There were Jews all over the world, flourishing and living their lives, never to be pagans again.  Dispersed--diaspora

Let’s start by me being provocative.

America is not Israel.

           

The church is not Israel.

            Similarities:  We are under covenant.

            Differences:  Israel is God’s wife, the church is his bride.

            Israel is local and racial; the church is global and multi-racial

The church is not America and America is not the church.

Christians are citizens of two countries, two kingdoms.  We have a temporary home and a permanent home. 

In some ways, we are in exile as the church, but not because of punishment, because we have work to do. 

So how do we live in exile?

Like Daniel and Hannaniah, Azariah, and Mishael do.

Daniel 1.  Was Daniel a eunuch?  It’s highly probable.  Being made a eunuch meant he wouldn’t have offspring, and he would be safe to be around the women of the court.  In the law, eunuchs or castrated men, even by accident, were not allowed to be priests or engage in certain rituals or groups, but later it is clear that eunuchs were not separated from God.  Isaiah 56:1-6.  The imperfect enjoy perfection. 

So he has lost his homeland, his family, his manhood.  But he is not going to lose his identity, his faith, his prayer life, his obedience. 

What we don’t see here is what about the other people brought over?  1:6 “and among these were ….”  Did the others compromise?  Did they follow Daniel’s lead?

Four other incidents in their lives:

Daniel 2:14.  Crazy king. 

Daniel 3:16-17, the fiery furnace.  Still crazy king.  Daniel and his friends had to keep on their toes, but it appears that some Jews became comfortable and compromising in this new place.  Why not get comfortable?  Maybe when they lost everything, they realized what they had lost. 

Crazy king, 4:28 ff.

Other story, Daniel targeted by jealous people in the next realm, now under Medes and Persians (the kingdom that would eventually be the one Esther is in) 

Daniel could have gone home when he was a very old man.  1:19-21 says he stayed in service until 536, and they went back in 539.  He lived to be at least about 90, and would have been quite old when he was put in the lion’s den. 

Americans look at Daniel’s life and see individualism, standing up for what you believe.  That may be true, but I don’t think that is what you are supposed to see. 

What virtues do we see in Daniel’s life?   Faithfulness, hope.

HOPE definition:    You have to draw a distinction between hope and optimism. Vaclav Havel put it well when he said “optimism” is the belief that things are going to turn out as you would like, as opposed to “hope,” which is when you are thoroughly convinced something is moral and right and just and therefore you fight regardless of the consequences. In that sense, I’m full of hope but in no way optimistic. Cornel West