Advancing the Revelation of Truth

 

The Babylonian Captivity of

The House of Judah.

INTRODUCTION

After the disastrous years following the Jeroboam rebellion, The Land of Israel was divided between the North and South kingdoms. The Southern Kingdom consisted of the two tribes loyal to the House of David under King Rehoboam, Benjamin and Judah, named The House of Judah. The Northern Kingdom consisted of the remaining ten tribes, rebellious to The House of Judah, named The House of Ephraim, or sometimes The House of Israel. They lived apart, having nothing to do with one another.

This division was according to the will of God. King Rehoboam had etermined to raise an army from the two tribes loyal to the House of Judah and invade the northern kingdom to again unite the whole house of Israel. God said to him: 'See you do it not, this thing is of me'.

Sometime later, both the kingdoms were exiled.  Firstly that of Ephraim/Israel was taken into captivity by the king of Assyria.   After many years, when released, the majority were scattered in the world, not to return until God prepared the Second Advent of The Messiah. The small number that did return joined the Southern Kingdom.

The House of Judah, together with the Temple implements, were captured by King Nebuchadrezza during two invasions. The first was in Nebuchadrezzar's first year and Jehoiakim's 4th year. Thus began 70years servitude. 

And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.   And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.   Jeremiah 25:11

These invasions captured Judah 'and all the nations round about' [Jer 25:9] 

Thus saith the LORD to me; Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck, And send them to

by the hand of the messengers which come to Jerusalem unto

And command them to say unto their masters, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say unto your masters;  I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me. And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him. And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the very time of his land come: and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him.       Jeremiah 27:2

At the end of this servitude God punished the King of Babylon and returned The House of Judah to The Land, but it remained subject to the king of Babylon. Thus the kingdom of Judah remains subject to the nations to this day. 

And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the very time of his land come: and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him. And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith the LORD, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand. Jeremiah 27:7

It is important to note that all this action is performed directly by God Himself, Nebuchadrezzar being His servant:

And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him.  Jeremiah 27:6      

There were three captivities of Judah by Nebuchadrezzar, 1st 758bc when he had just taken the throne, 2nd 750bc, 3rd 718bc

During 2nd Jehoiachin [also recoded in the A.V. as: Jehoiachin, Coniah, Jechonias, 18yrs old]   the king of Judah was taken captive together with, amongst others, the four children of Judah:  Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. [The prince of the Eunuchs gave them Chaldean names: Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego].  And finally, the 3rd, when the rebellious Zedekiah king of Judah was taken captive.

Because king Zedekiah and his subjects had remained in Judah, contrary to God's command, God indicated by parable what would be the results of this disobedience:

The LORD shewed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs were set before the temple of the LORD, after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon. 

One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe: and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.         

Then said the LORD unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.  Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,  

Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good.  For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up.  And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart. 

And as the evil figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so evil; surely thus saith the LORD, So will I give Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt:   And I will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them.   And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers. Jeremiah 24:1

 

THE PERPETUAL CAPTIVITY

The captivity of The House of Judah under one nation or another has continued until today and will not end until the Second Advent of The Lord Jesus Christ. This will answer the disciples question which they put to their Lord before His ascension::

Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom again to Israel

At that time they were a rebellious member of the Roman Empire, but their Lord told them:

It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which The Father hath put in His own power, but you will receive power after The Holy Spirit is come upon you.

After that time, all the New Testament documents were written. These revealed the event which would restore the kingdom to Israel. That event will be the Second Advent of The Lord Jesus Christ at the conclusion of The Last Days and the prophetic seventy weeks of years revealed by the Archangel Gabriel to Daniel the prophet.

The diagram which follows shows God's plan in relation to the Jubilees which began when the Israelites first planted seeds in their Land of Canaan in 1444bc, after 'The Wars of The Lord' which cleared it of the majority of the foreign tribes, including the 'giants' or Nephilim [A]

During the following 686 [2.7.49] years, the nation of Israel was ruled by Joshua followed by The Judges and finally by a series of kings of which the first was Saul and the last was Jehoiakim. [B]

Also shown is its relationship to Enoch's Apocalypse of Weeks, particularly the closure of the fifth week:

And after that in the fifth week, at its close, 
the house of glory and dominion shall be built for ever.

This momentous event was organised by the prophets Haggai and Zechariah and built by Zerubbabel and Jeshua upon his return from the Land of the Chaldeans where the whole House of Judah had been held captive during the previous seventy years. The end of the fifth week of the Apocalypse occurred in 632bc.

Since that time Israel has been subject to a series of national empires, the most noteworthy of which being that of Rome. [C]

Had God not introduced this present Administration of His Grace in 62ad, lasting for 1960 years (40.49), the Second Advent of The Messiah would have occurred in 517ad. It is during this period that the Last Days prophesy, relating to the dream vision of the multi metal image of king Nebuchadrezza, would have taken place. [D]

After the Second Advent, the thousand year reign of The Christ will bring an end to all subjection by any other nation and will initiate a disciplined training period upon selected members of the nation of Israel. [E]

In order to clearly understand this subjection period, it must be recognised that the days in which we are living, in fact the days which began in 62ad, were not part of any plan of God until He revealed them to the apostle Paul in 69ad. This period is known as The Administration of God's Grace:

Of this grace, I Paul, the bound one of Christ Jesus for you of the nations, Assuming, that you surely hear of the administration of the grace of God, which is given to me for you, for, by revelation the secret is made known to me, even as I have written before in brief,........................ to me, less than the least of all saints, was this grace granted: to herald among the nations the good message of the untraceable wealth of Christ, Even, to enlighten all as to God’s secret administration, which has been concealed from the eons in God, Who creates all these, That, now to the sovereignties and the authorities among the most elevated may be made known, through the Outcalled Ones, the manifold wisdom of God. In accord, with the purpose of the eons, which He makes in Christ Jesus our Lord, In Whom we have boldness and access with confidence through the faith relating to Him.

During this Administration of God's Grace no prophetic acts of God relate to the nation of Israel although they remain subjected to other nations as part of The Captivity.

Present day events, following the World wars of 1914 and 1939 could lead us to believe that the tribes of Israel have a restored kingdom free from any other international power. This is a deceit brought about by 'the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan'. This is a clear warning recorded in Revelation 2:9 and 3:9. 

The diagram above can therefore be updated to show how this present Administration of God's Grace relates to Israel's captivity. The three periods:

  1. The Captivity of Israel which began in 1444bc

  2. The Last Days of Israel which began in 4bc

  3. The seventy weeks of Daniel's prophesy which began in 27ad

are all postponed at the end of the sixth decade ad to begin again during the fortieth decade of the twenty-first century, when the present Administration ends.

This Administration of God's Grace splits the captivity into two parts:

Section [C] from 758bc to 62ad.................819 years [factors: 9.7.13]

Section [D] from 2022ad to 2477ad..........455 years [factors: 5.7.13]

Totalling:    Sections [C+D] from 758bc to 2477ad...1274 years [factors: 2.13.49]

The factor 13 plays a major part in the whole experience of Israel subject to Babylon and many other nations. The idolatrous condition of all the nations involved was intended to be an important experience that Israel needed to reach maturity. The letter to the Hebrews teaches us:

For every one that uses milk is unskilful in the word of Righteousness, for he is a babe. But strong meat belongs to them which are mature, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

This factor 13 indicates an experience of rebellion, apostasy defection, corruption, disintegration etc., whereas the factor of 49 indicates a period controlled by God Himself.  The factor of 2 indicates division.

 

CONCLUSION

There is little doubt that the Babylonian captivity of The House of Judah began in the year 611bc at the time of seventeenth Jubilee.  They remained in Babylon until the 70th year following [Jeremiah 29:10] when God stirred up the spirit of CYRUS     King of Persia to fulfil the Word by Jeremiah the prophet. Thus the tribes of Judah and Benjamin returned to Jerusalem. Even though the tribes returned to their home, they remained under the power of Babylon and later, Artaxerxes king of Persia [Jeremiah 4:11-24]. This captivity under various world powers continues until The Second Advent in 2477ad.

END