Exiled in Babylon

MEMORY VERSE: “Let Israel hope in the Lord: for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption.” —Psalm 130:7

LAMENTATIONS 5:1-7, 15-22

JEREMIAH had prophesied that God’s judgments would come upon the kingdom of Judah; and all that he foretold came to pass. Jerusalem, the kingdom’s capital and center of worship, was captured by the Babylonian armies, destroyed, and its treasures looted. Zedekiah, Judah’s last king, was captured, blinded, and carried as a prisoner to Babylon. Driven into exile with him were most of the citizens of Judah—only the very poorest were left in the land.

The people of Judah must have been most unhappy and miserable in their new surroundings as captives; and Jeremiah, in his poetical Book of Lamentations, gives expression to the profound grief of his people under these circumstances. He emphasizes that this great evil had come upon them because of their sins against their God, with whom the nation had entered into a covenant at Sinai.

While the Book of Lamentations, as its name indicates, is principally one of lament over the calamities which had come upon God’s chosen people, nevertheless it also emphasizes God’s mercy and faithfulness in dealing with his people. Jeremiah wrote, “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.”—Lam. 3:22,23

God is always faithful to his people; in many instances despite their unfaithfulness to him. In the case of his people Israel he had made many promises that in spite of their waywardness he would ultimately reestablish them in the Promised Land, and pour out his blessings upon them through the agencies of Christ’s kingdom. It was because of God’s mercy that they were taken to Babylon as exiles instead of being consumed.

The time of the final gathering of Israel under the messianic kingdom is mentioned by Paul in Romans, chapter 11. The Israelites had only recently committed their greatest sin; the sin of rejecting their Messiah and persecuting him unto death. But despite this, Paul informs us, when Messiah’s kingdom is established mercy will be extended to these unfaithful ones.

“And so all Israel shall be saved:” Paul writes, “as it is written, There shall come out of Sion [the spiritual phase of Christ’s kingdom] the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: for this my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.” (Rom. 11:26,27; Jer. 31:31-34) Paul adds that God hath “concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!”—Rom. 11:32,33

Our memory verse again emphasizes God’s mercy in dealing with Israel, and points out that because of his mercy they can continue to hope in him. Jeremiah also presents this theme of hope based upon God’s mercy. We quote: “The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.”—Lam. 3:24-26

Thus did Jeremiah urge the captives in Babylon to accept the judgments of the Lord against them, and to continue to hope in him. He wanted the Israelites to learn a needed lesson from their experience; namely, that the Lord is good to them who wait for him and to those who seek him. This is an important lesson for all the Lord’s people to learn. We, too, can depend upon the Lord’s faithfulness in fulfilling all the good promises he has made to spiritual Israel.

QUESTIONS

How was Israel’s captivity a demonstration of God’s mercy and faithfulness?

How will God’s mercy be shown in his dealings with Israel in Messiah’s kingdom?

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