- HOME
- MESSIAH
- THE BODY OF MESSIAH
- ONE NEW MAN
- THE OLIVE TREE
- THE BRANCHES
- LAW AND GRACE
- UNITY
- OBEDIENCE
- KINGDOM LIVING
- UNIVERSAL CHURCH
- BIBLICAL HOLIDAYS
- MESSIANIC
-
SCRIPTURE INSIGHTS
- WISDOM
- WORSHIP
- TRUTH
- PRAYER
- THE TRINITY
- THE ANNOINTED ONE
- WHAT IS SIN?
- FORGIVENESS
- ANTICHRIST
- FAITH BUILDERS
- BRIDGE OF UNDERSTANDING
- TABERNACLE
- THINGS TO PONDER
- DISTORTIONS OF CHRISTIANITY
- ISRAEL
-
RELIGIOUS HISTORY
- FAITH THROUGH THE CENTURIES
- THE END TIMES
- RAPTURE
- OUR COMMISSION
- HEAVEN
- GLOBAL VISION
- BIBLICAL WORLD VIEW
- DEVOTIONALS
- SALVATION
- ENCOURAGEMENT
- GIVING
- BIBLE TOOLS
- RESOURCES
- ABOUT THIS SITE
- MISSION STATEMENT
- DEDICATION
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
- GUEST BOOK
- BLOG
598 BC JEHOIACHIN BECOMES KING OF JUDAH
Jehoiachin (r. 598-597 BC) became king of Judah at the age of eighteen after the death of his father, Jehoiakim (r. 609-598 BC). Jehoiachin did evil in the sight of God, returning to much of the idolatry practiced during Manasseh's (r. 697-642 BC) reign. He reigned for only three months and ten days before surrendering to Nebuchadnezzar (r. 605-562 BC), who had laid siege to Jerusalem. The Babylonians carried him away with his mother, servants, and officials as well as the Temple treasures. Jehoiachin died in Babylon.
597 BC SECOND GROUP OF JEWS IS DEPORTED TO BABYLON
After the first deportation of Jews to Babylon (modern-day Iraq) in 605 BC, the second occurred in 597 BC when King Nebuchadnezzar (r. 605-562 BC) captured Jerusalem and exiled King Jehoiachin (r. 598-597 BC) and his family to Babylon. Also deported were ten thousand Jews, including all the princes and the best of the soldiers. Only the poor were left behind (2 Kings 24:8-16).
597 BC ZEDEKIAH BECOMES JUDAH'S FINAL KING
In 597 BC, King Nebuchadnezzar (r. 605-562 BC) of Babylon removed Jehoiachin (r. 598-597 BC) from the throne of Judah and took him captive to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar appointed Mattaniah, Jehoiachin's uncle, as king and changed his name to Zedekiah (r. 597-586 BC). Although the prophet Jeremiah had proclaimed that Babylon's rule over Judah had been ordained by God, Zedekiah rebelled against Babylon with the help of the Egyptian Pharaoh Hophra (r. 589-570 BC). In response, Nebuchadnezzar led an army to Jerusalem in 588 BC, and the city was under siege for many months. In July 586 BC, the Babylonian army broke through the gates and destroyed the city. Zedekiah fled, but was captured by the Babylonian army. He was forced to watch the execution of his sons and then was blinded and taken captive to Babylon (2 Kings 24:14-25:7).
593 BC EZEKIEL RECEIVES HIS INAUGURAL VISION
Ezekiel was among those exiled to Babylon in 597 BC as part of the Babylonian captivity. He was placed in the village of Telabib. On July 31, 593 BC, as Ezekiel stood beside the Kebar River, he received his first prophetic vision. An enormous cloud appeared to Ezekiel, and from it four creatures emerged, each with four faces and four wings. Beside each of the faces, brightly shining spinning wheels moved in sequence with the creatures. Above the creatures sat a glorious throne upon an enormous crystal platform. Ezekiel realized that he was beholding the glory of God, and he fell on his face before the throne. God called Ezekiel and commissioned him to go and proclaim the word of the Lord to the rebellious house of Israel (Ezekiel 1:1-2:7).
THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT TAKING GOD SERIOUSLY
March 16, 597 BC
The year 605 BC was a decisive one in the history of the ancient Near East. Nebuchadnezzar II, crown prince of Babylon, became commander in chief of the armies of Babylon. In the spring of 605 he marched to Carchemish and defeated the Egyptians and Assyrians. As a result, Babylon assumed control of Syria and Palestine.
From his victory at Carchemish, Nebuchadnezzar led his armies to Judah and besieged Jerusalem. After the fall of Jerusalem, Jehoiakim became a vassal of Babylon (2 Kings 24:1). Nebuchadnezzar took a number of Jewish leaders hostage to Babylon, including Daniel (Daniel 1:1-6).
Jehoiakim, an evil king, remained loyal to Babylon for only three years, so Nebuchadnezzar, now king of Babylon, once again sent his armies to force Jehoiakim to submit. Jehoiakim then remained in subservience to Babylon until his death in 597 BC (2 Kings 24:1-6).
Jehoiakim was succeeded by his eighteen-year-old son Jehoiachin, who likewise did not follow Jehovah (2 Kings 24:8-9). He was so despicable that God said through Jeremiah: '"As surely as I live,' says the Lord, 'I will abandon you, Jehoiachin.......I will hand you over to those who seek to kill you, of whom you are so desperately afraid—to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and the mighty Babylonian army. I will expel you and your mother from this land, and you will die in a foreign country'" (Jeremiah 22:24-26).
On March 16, 597 BC, three months into Jehoiachin's reign, this prophesy was fulfilled when Nebuchadnezzar, after besieging the city of Jerusalem accepted the surrender of King Jehoiachin along with those of his mother, advisors, nobles, and officials.
Nebuchadnezzar took ten thousand people captive to Babylon, including the king and all who had surrendered. In addition, Nebuchadnezzar carried away the treasures from the Temple and the royal palace.
Eleven years later, Nebuchadnezzar returned a final time to destroy the city and Temple and to take all but the poorest of the remaining Jews captive to Babylon (2 Kings 25:1-21).
Eight hundred years earlier, God had declared in his covenant with Israel: "If you refuse to listen to the LORD your God and do not obey all the commands and laws I am giving to you today.....the Lord will scatter you." (Deuteronomy 28:15, 64).
Judah refused to listen to God, and God did just what he had promised.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
592 BC EZEKIEL IS TRANSPORTED TO JERUSALEM
As Ezekiel sat in his house in Babylon on September 17, 592 BC, a messenger from the Lord appeared to him, and in a vision the Spirit transported him into the inner court of Jerusalem's Temple. As Ezekiel toured the Temple, he saw statues and images that represented false gods. In the very place where God had revealed his glory to them, the people of Israel were committing horrific abominations and idolatry! As Ezekiel continued to watch, God's glory moved from the Holy of Holies to the threshold of the building, and then out of the Temple and out of the city. The glory of God departed from Israel because the people had repeatedly broken their covenant with God (Ezekiel 8:1-11:25).
586 BC JERUSALEM FALLS
Since 605 BC, the kingdom of Judah had been a vassal of Babylon because of its unfaithfulness to God. However, King Zedekiah (r. 597-586 BC) rebelled against Babylon and switched his allegiance to Pharaoh Hophra (r. 589-570 BC) of Egypt. In response, in 588 BC Nebuchadnezzar's (r. 605-562 BC) army began a siege of Jerusalem that continued for many months. After a brief respite during which the Babylonian army left Jerusalem to defeat the Egyptians, the siege continued, and food became scarce. Just as the famine reached its height, the Babylonian army broke through the walls and destroyed Jerusalem in 586 BC. Nebuchadnezzar's army slaughtered many inhabitants of the city, broke down the walls, burned down the Temple, and took its precious vessels. The city lay in ruins until the rebuilding effort led by Nehemiah (2 Kings 24:1-25:21; 2 Chronicles 36:1-21).
586 BC THIRD GROUP OF JEWS ARE DEPORTED TO BABYLON
Judah Exiled: Evil permeated Judah, and God's anger flared against his rebellious people. Babylon conquered Assyria and became the new word power. The Babylonian army marched into Jerusalem, burned the Temple, tore down the city's massive walls, and carried off the people into captivity.
The Babylonian army had already taken a group of captives from Jerusalem to Babylon in 605 BC and again in 597 BC. Judah had been a vassal state of King Nebuchadnezzar (r. 605-562 BC), who appointed Zedekiah (r. 597-586 BC) to rule as the king of Judah. Judah rebelled against Babylon in 588 BC, but after a lengthy siege the Babylonians broke through Jerusalem's walls and decimated the city. For a third and final time, the Babylonians deported a large number of Jews, this time taking nearly all of them. Only the poorest of the poor were left in Judah. (2 Kings 24:1-25:21).
580 BC JEREMIAH WRITES LAMENTATIONS
The book of Lamentations is a prophetic lament over the fallen city of Jerusalem. The prophet Jeremiah composed the book in about 580 BC. A distinguishing mark of the book is its literary craftsmanship. The first, second, and fourth chapters are arranged in Hebrew acrostic poetry—each line begins with one of the twenty-two letters in the Hebrew alphabet in correct order. The fourth chapter includes three consecutive acrostics, and the final chapter contains twenty-two verses as well. The first poem recounts the city's fall (chapter 1). The second poem is a reminder that God's wrath over sin was the reason for the fall (chapter 2). The third poem (chapter 3) is an extended prayer for mercy. The fourth poem (chapter 4) repeats themes about the destruction of the city. The book ends with a prayer for restoration (chapter 5).
573 BC EZEKIEL RECEIVES A VISION OF A FUTURE TEMPLE
Exile in Babylon: Ezekiel worked for God among the exiles in various colonies near the Kebar River in Babylonia. Jerusalem and its Temple lay more than 500 miles away, but Ezekiel helped the people understand that, although they were far from home, they did not need to be far from God.
The prophet Ezekiel had been taken captive to Babylon in 597 BC. Once there, the prophet saw a vision of God's glory departing from the Jerusalem Temple. In 586 BC, the Babylonian army destroyed that Temple. However, Ezekiel encouraged his fellow exiles with prophecies of restoration, both in the immediate future and in the more distant future to the final restoration and consummation of history. Israel was without a temple for the first time since Solomon's reign. Since the Temple signified God's presence, the people had lost the special privilege of God dwelling in their midst. However, on April 28, 573 BC, Ezekiel received a vision of a glorious Temple to come. That vision represented the hope of the restoration of God's presence among his people (Ezekiel 10:1-22; 33:21-40).—Complete Book of When and Where, The
BC, Ezekiel received a vision of a glorious Temple to come. That vision represented the hope of the restoration of God's presence among his people (Ezekiel 10:1-22; 33:21-40).
553 BC DANIEL RECEIVES A VISION OF FOUR BEASTS
In 553 BC, early in Belshazzar's (r. 556-539 BC) Babylonian reign, Daniel had an apocalyptic vision of four beasts coming out of the sea. Each beast was more terrible than the one before it. While Daniel was watching, God the Father took his seat on a throne of fire, and one like a Son of Man came before him. This Son of Man was given a kingdom that will never be destroyed. Daniel was told that the four creatures represented four kingdoms that would be stripped of their power and replaced with an everlasting kingdom. The consummation of this vision was inaugurated more than five hundred years later with the coming of the Son of Man, Jesus Christ (Daniel 7:1-28).
539 BC BABYLON FALLS
On October 12, 539 BC, while giving a great banquet in his palace, King Belshazzar (r. 556-539 BC) brought out the vessels that King Nebuchadnezzar (r. 605-562 BC) had taken from the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. Then his guests drank from the sacred vessels while offering praise to their idol gods. At the height of their revelry, a hand appeared and wrote a mysterious message on the wall. The king was terrified and called all of his enchanters to interpret the message left by the phantom hand. After all the wise men failed to interpret it, the queen mother directed Belshazzar to Daniel, who was able to interpret the message immediately: Belshazzar's kingdom was going to be overthrown. That very night Darius the Mede conquered Babylon, Belshazzar was killed, and the kingdom fell (Daniel 5:1-31).
MISGUIDED NONCHALANCE
October 12, 539 BC
Arrogance can spell ruin.
The year was 539 BC, and the Babylonian Empire had dominated the Near East for eighty-seven years. King Nebuchadnezzar had taken the Jews captive to Babylon where they still remained. His son-in-law Nabonidus now ruled the empire, together with his son Belshazzar.
Twenty years earlier, Cyrus II had become king of Persia, and now he commanded the combined Medo-Persian forces at war with the Babylonians. Nabonidus was in charge of the Babylonian army in the field, while Belshazzar was in charge of the city of Babylon. The Greek historian Herodotus reported, "A battle was fought at a short distance from the city, in which the Babylonians were defeated by the Persian king, whereupon they withdrew within their defenses. Here they shut themselves up and made light of this siege, having laid in a store of provisions for many years in preparation against this attack."
We see how lightly the Babylonians took this siege by what happened the next day. On October 12, 539 BC, in spite of the siege, Belshazzar held a state banquet in his palace for a thousand of his nobles. The wine was flowing freely when Belshazzar remembered the beautiful gold and silver cups Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Temple in Jerusalem when he had defeated the Jews. The Temple cups were brought in and distributed to the king and his guests (Daniel 5:1-4).
As they were drinking toasts to their idols, everyone suddenly saw the fingers of a human hand writing on the wall. The king turned pale with fear as terror gripped him (Daniel 5:5-6).
"When the queen mother [Nebuchadnezzar's daughter], heard what was happening, she hurried to the banquet hall. She said to Belshazzar,... 'Call for Daniel, and he will tell you what the writing means" (Daniel 5:10-12).
Daniel said, "This is the message that was written: Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parsin. This is what these words mean: Mene means 'numbered'—God has numbered the days of your reign and has brought it to an end. Tekel means 'weighed"—you have been weighed on the balances and have failed the test. Parsin means 'divided'—your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians" (Daniel 5:25-28).
Meanwhile, unknown to the celebrating Belshazzar, that very night the Medo-Persian army diverted the waters of the Euphrates River that flowed through the city of Babylon. With the water level in the riverbed lowered, the Medo-Persian army was able to wade into the city under cover of darkness. They captured Babylon and killed Belshazzar that night before his defenders knew what had happened (Daniel 5:30).
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
539 BC DANIEL PRAYS FOR THE EXILE TO END
As Daniel read the words of Jeremiah the prophet during the Babylonian captivity, he realized that the seventy-year exile of Israel was nearing its completion. He began to pray, asking God's forgiveness for the sins of his people and pleading for the restoration of Jerusalem. In the midst of Daniel's prayer, the angel Gabriel appeared and gave him a vision. Seventy "sevens" had been decreed for the people of Israel and the holy city Jerusalem. From the decree to rebuild the Temple until the Anointed One comes, there would be sixty-nine "sevens," after which the Anointed One would be cut off, and the last "seven" would come. During this period God would atone for guilt and ring in everlasting righteousness (Daniel 9:1-27).
538 BC CYRUS REIGNS OVER BABYLON
Cyrus II of Persia (r. 559-530 BC), commonly known as Cyrus the Great, was crowned king of the Persians in 559 BC. In 550 BC, he conquered his own grandfather and took the title "king of the Medes." Then on October 12, 539 BC, Cyrus conquered Babylon, beginning his official reign on March 24, 538. Cyrus' reign was marked by a decidedly different policy than that of the Assyrians and Babylonians who had gone before him. He committed himself to restoring people to their native lands and appointing governors to represent his rule. This policy resulted in the declaration that the Jewish people could return to Palestine and rebuild the Temple, thus fulfilling the prophecies of Isaiah, who named Cyrus as one who would carry out God's purpose for Israel, and of Jeremiah, who prophesied a return to the Promised Land after seventy years (2 Chronicles 36:22-23; Ezra 1:1-4; Isaiah 44:28; 45:1-13; Jeremiah 25:11-12).
537 BC SHESHBAZZAR LEADS THE RETURN FROM BABYLON
Soon after he had conquered the Babylonian kingdom, Cyrus the Great (r. 559-530 BC) proclaimed that the Jewish people could return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple. Cyrus appointed Sheshbazzar as his official representative to lead the people and function as governor when they returned to Judah. With Sheshbazzar taking responsibility for the sacred vessels of the Temple, more than forty thousand Jewish exiles returned to their homeland. Soon after their return, the people took up a collection for the Temple's reconstruction. The Temple was later completed under the leadership of Zerubbabel.
537 BC DANIEL RECEIVES A VISION OF THE FUTURE
In 537 BC, while serving under King Cyrus of Persia (r. 559-530 BC), Daniel spent twenty-one days fasting and praying. At the end of the three weeks, he had a vision of what the future would hold. He had been given a prophecy that precisely predicted the events from his day to the abomination of desolation in 168 BC, when Antiochus Epiphanes (r. 175-164 BC) desecrated the Jewish Temple, leading to the successful Maccabean revolt (Daniel 11:1-35). Daniel then fast-forwards to the end of the age and summarizes the conclusion of history (Daniel 11:36-12:13).
536 BC RECONSTRUCTION OF TEMPLE BEGINS
The temple that Solomon (r. 970-930) had built was destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar (r. 605-562 BC) and his armies. When King Cyrus of Persia (r. 559-530 BC) conquered Babylon, he issued a decree around 538 BC, allowing the Israelites to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. The book of Ezra records that more than forty thousand Jews returned to Jerusalem and began work on the temple in 536 BC. However, they stopped construction when opposition arose from neighboring nations. The work on the temple remained dormant for well over a decade until God used Haggai and Zechariah to enable the Israelites to complete the project in 516 BC (Ezra 1:1-6:15).
520 BC HAGGAI WRITES HIS PROPHECY
Haggai received a message from the Lord on August 29, 520 BC, for the Israelites who had returned to Jerusalem under Cyrus' (r. 559-530 BC) decree to rebuild the Temple. The message addressed Israel's complacency about the rebuilding. They had not done any work on the Temple since laying the foundation almost fifteen years earlier. Their only concern was with their own houses, finances, and comfort. Haggai's message was a rebuke to the Israelites for being concerned with these things when they should have been giving themselves to the work of rebuilding God's house. Haggai concludes his prophecy by telling the Israelites that the great drought that had come upon the land was a result of their sinful priorities (Haggai 1:1-11; Ezra 1:1 -4; 2:1).
520 BC WORK ON TEMPLE RESUMES UNDER DARIUS
Haggai began preaching in the second year of Darius (r. 550-485 BC), king of Persia, and his preaching motivated the Israelites to resume reconstruction of the Temple. As they began rebuilding, they were confronted by Tattenai, the Persian provincial governor. When Tattenai inquired as to where the Jews got the authority to reconstruct the Temple, they told him of Cyrus' (r. 559-530 BC) decree. Never having heard of it, he made inquiry to Darius. Darius searched the kingdom archives and found Cyrus' decree. Then Darius himself issued a decree to speed the building of the Temple, agreeing to cover whatever expenses they incurred from the royal treasury (Ezra 5-6; Haggai 1:1).
520 BC ZECHARIAH BEGINS TO PREACH
Zechariah, a contemporary of Haggai, received his first prophetic message in October 520 BC. His prophecy was directed toward the Jews who had returned to Jerusalem under Cyrus' decree to rebuild the Temple. The primary message was for the Jews to return to God so that he would return to them. Zechariah exhorted the Jews to renew their covenant with God. His message, along with Haggai's, was influential in encouraging the Jewish people to continue Temple reconstruction. Zechariah's prophecies were filled with apocalyptic visions that included the declaration of the coming Day of the Lord as a time when God would remove all idols and false prophets from the land, when all those who war against Jerusalem would be defeated, and when the Lord alone would be worshiped in his house (Ezra 5:1-2; 6:14; Zechariah 1:1-7; 12:1-14:21).
516 BC TEMPLE IS COMPLETED
The Jews had started rebuilding the Temple in 536 BC, but they experienced so much opposition from their neighbors that they ceased building from 530 to 520 BC. The Lord then raised up Haggai and Zechariah to exhort them to complete the work they had started. The Temple, much simpler and smaller than Solomon's, was finished in 516 BC. However, history records that this Temple remained standing for approximately five hundred years, longer than either Solomon's or Herod's (Ezra 1:1-6:15).
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
Jehoiachin (r. 598-597 BC) became king of Judah at the age of eighteen after the death of his father, Jehoiakim (r. 609-598 BC). Jehoiachin did evil in the sight of God, returning to much of the idolatry practiced during Manasseh's (r. 697-642 BC) reign. He reigned for only three months and ten days before surrendering to Nebuchadnezzar (r. 605-562 BC), who had laid siege to Jerusalem. The Babylonians carried him away with his mother, servants, and officials as well as the Temple treasures. Jehoiachin died in Babylon.
597 BC SECOND GROUP OF JEWS IS DEPORTED TO BABYLON
After the first deportation of Jews to Babylon (modern-day Iraq) in 605 BC, the second occurred in 597 BC when King Nebuchadnezzar (r. 605-562 BC) captured Jerusalem and exiled King Jehoiachin (r. 598-597 BC) and his family to Babylon. Also deported were ten thousand Jews, including all the princes and the best of the soldiers. Only the poor were left behind (2 Kings 24:8-16).
597 BC ZEDEKIAH BECOMES JUDAH'S FINAL KING
In 597 BC, King Nebuchadnezzar (r. 605-562 BC) of Babylon removed Jehoiachin (r. 598-597 BC) from the throne of Judah and took him captive to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar appointed Mattaniah, Jehoiachin's uncle, as king and changed his name to Zedekiah (r. 597-586 BC). Although the prophet Jeremiah had proclaimed that Babylon's rule over Judah had been ordained by God, Zedekiah rebelled against Babylon with the help of the Egyptian Pharaoh Hophra (r. 589-570 BC). In response, Nebuchadnezzar led an army to Jerusalem in 588 BC, and the city was under siege for many months. In July 586 BC, the Babylonian army broke through the gates and destroyed the city. Zedekiah fled, but was captured by the Babylonian army. He was forced to watch the execution of his sons and then was blinded and taken captive to Babylon (2 Kings 24:14-25:7).
593 BC EZEKIEL RECEIVES HIS INAUGURAL VISION
Ezekiel was among those exiled to Babylon in 597 BC as part of the Babylonian captivity. He was placed in the village of Telabib. On July 31, 593 BC, as Ezekiel stood beside the Kebar River, he received his first prophetic vision. An enormous cloud appeared to Ezekiel, and from it four creatures emerged, each with four faces and four wings. Beside each of the faces, brightly shining spinning wheels moved in sequence with the creatures. Above the creatures sat a glorious throne upon an enormous crystal platform. Ezekiel realized that he was beholding the glory of God, and he fell on his face before the throne. God called Ezekiel and commissioned him to go and proclaim the word of the Lord to the rebellious house of Israel (Ezekiel 1:1-2:7).
THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT TAKING GOD SERIOUSLY
March 16, 597 BC
The year 605 BC was a decisive one in the history of the ancient Near East. Nebuchadnezzar II, crown prince of Babylon, became commander in chief of the armies of Babylon. In the spring of 605 he marched to Carchemish and defeated the Egyptians and Assyrians. As a result, Babylon assumed control of Syria and Palestine.
From his victory at Carchemish, Nebuchadnezzar led his armies to Judah and besieged Jerusalem. After the fall of Jerusalem, Jehoiakim became a vassal of Babylon (2 Kings 24:1). Nebuchadnezzar took a number of Jewish leaders hostage to Babylon, including Daniel (Daniel 1:1-6).
Jehoiakim, an evil king, remained loyal to Babylon for only three years, so Nebuchadnezzar, now king of Babylon, once again sent his armies to force Jehoiakim to submit. Jehoiakim then remained in subservience to Babylon until his death in 597 BC (2 Kings 24:1-6).
Jehoiakim was succeeded by his eighteen-year-old son Jehoiachin, who likewise did not follow Jehovah (2 Kings 24:8-9). He was so despicable that God said through Jeremiah: '"As surely as I live,' says the Lord, 'I will abandon you, Jehoiachin.......I will hand you over to those who seek to kill you, of whom you are so desperately afraid—to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and the mighty Babylonian army. I will expel you and your mother from this land, and you will die in a foreign country'" (Jeremiah 22:24-26).
On March 16, 597 BC, three months into Jehoiachin's reign, this prophesy was fulfilled when Nebuchadnezzar, after besieging the city of Jerusalem accepted the surrender of King Jehoiachin along with those of his mother, advisors, nobles, and officials.
Nebuchadnezzar took ten thousand people captive to Babylon, including the king and all who had surrendered. In addition, Nebuchadnezzar carried away the treasures from the Temple and the royal palace.
Eleven years later, Nebuchadnezzar returned a final time to destroy the city and Temple and to take all but the poorest of the remaining Jews captive to Babylon (2 Kings 25:1-21).
Eight hundred years earlier, God had declared in his covenant with Israel: "If you refuse to listen to the LORD your God and do not obey all the commands and laws I am giving to you today.....the Lord will scatter you." (Deuteronomy 28:15, 64).
Judah refused to listen to God, and God did just what he had promised.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
592 BC EZEKIEL IS TRANSPORTED TO JERUSALEM
As Ezekiel sat in his house in Babylon on September 17, 592 BC, a messenger from the Lord appeared to him, and in a vision the Spirit transported him into the inner court of Jerusalem's Temple. As Ezekiel toured the Temple, he saw statues and images that represented false gods. In the very place where God had revealed his glory to them, the people of Israel were committing horrific abominations and idolatry! As Ezekiel continued to watch, God's glory moved from the Holy of Holies to the threshold of the building, and then out of the Temple and out of the city. The glory of God departed from Israel because the people had repeatedly broken their covenant with God (Ezekiel 8:1-11:25).
586 BC JERUSALEM FALLS
Since 605 BC, the kingdom of Judah had been a vassal of Babylon because of its unfaithfulness to God. However, King Zedekiah (r. 597-586 BC) rebelled against Babylon and switched his allegiance to Pharaoh Hophra (r. 589-570 BC) of Egypt. In response, in 588 BC Nebuchadnezzar's (r. 605-562 BC) army began a siege of Jerusalem that continued for many months. After a brief respite during which the Babylonian army left Jerusalem to defeat the Egyptians, the siege continued, and food became scarce. Just as the famine reached its height, the Babylonian army broke through the walls and destroyed Jerusalem in 586 BC. Nebuchadnezzar's army slaughtered many inhabitants of the city, broke down the walls, burned down the Temple, and took its precious vessels. The city lay in ruins until the rebuilding effort led by Nehemiah (2 Kings 24:1-25:21; 2 Chronicles 36:1-21).
586 BC THIRD GROUP OF JEWS ARE DEPORTED TO BABYLON
Judah Exiled: Evil permeated Judah, and God's anger flared against his rebellious people. Babylon conquered Assyria and became the new word power. The Babylonian army marched into Jerusalem, burned the Temple, tore down the city's massive walls, and carried off the people into captivity.
The Babylonian army had already taken a group of captives from Jerusalem to Babylon in 605 BC and again in 597 BC. Judah had been a vassal state of King Nebuchadnezzar (r. 605-562 BC), who appointed Zedekiah (r. 597-586 BC) to rule as the king of Judah. Judah rebelled against Babylon in 588 BC, but after a lengthy siege the Babylonians broke through Jerusalem's walls and decimated the city. For a third and final time, the Babylonians deported a large number of Jews, this time taking nearly all of them. Only the poorest of the poor were left in Judah. (2 Kings 24:1-25:21).
580 BC JEREMIAH WRITES LAMENTATIONS
The book of Lamentations is a prophetic lament over the fallen city of Jerusalem. The prophet Jeremiah composed the book in about 580 BC. A distinguishing mark of the book is its literary craftsmanship. The first, second, and fourth chapters are arranged in Hebrew acrostic poetry—each line begins with one of the twenty-two letters in the Hebrew alphabet in correct order. The fourth chapter includes three consecutive acrostics, and the final chapter contains twenty-two verses as well. The first poem recounts the city's fall (chapter 1). The second poem is a reminder that God's wrath over sin was the reason for the fall (chapter 2). The third poem (chapter 3) is an extended prayer for mercy. The fourth poem (chapter 4) repeats themes about the destruction of the city. The book ends with a prayer for restoration (chapter 5).
573 BC EZEKIEL RECEIVES A VISION OF A FUTURE TEMPLE
Exile in Babylon: Ezekiel worked for God among the exiles in various colonies near the Kebar River in Babylonia. Jerusalem and its Temple lay more than 500 miles away, but Ezekiel helped the people understand that, although they were far from home, they did not need to be far from God.
The prophet Ezekiel had been taken captive to Babylon in 597 BC. Once there, the prophet saw a vision of God's glory departing from the Jerusalem Temple. In 586 BC, the Babylonian army destroyed that Temple. However, Ezekiel encouraged his fellow exiles with prophecies of restoration, both in the immediate future and in the more distant future to the final restoration and consummation of history. Israel was without a temple for the first time since Solomon's reign. Since the Temple signified God's presence, the people had lost the special privilege of God dwelling in their midst. However, on April 28, 573 BC, Ezekiel received a vision of a glorious Temple to come. That vision represented the hope of the restoration of God's presence among his people (Ezekiel 10:1-22; 33:21-40).—Complete Book of When and Where, The
BC, Ezekiel received a vision of a glorious Temple to come. That vision represented the hope of the restoration of God's presence among his people (Ezekiel 10:1-22; 33:21-40).
553 BC DANIEL RECEIVES A VISION OF FOUR BEASTS
In 553 BC, early in Belshazzar's (r. 556-539 BC) Babylonian reign, Daniel had an apocalyptic vision of four beasts coming out of the sea. Each beast was more terrible than the one before it. While Daniel was watching, God the Father took his seat on a throne of fire, and one like a Son of Man came before him. This Son of Man was given a kingdom that will never be destroyed. Daniel was told that the four creatures represented four kingdoms that would be stripped of their power and replaced with an everlasting kingdom. The consummation of this vision was inaugurated more than five hundred years later with the coming of the Son of Man, Jesus Christ (Daniel 7:1-28).
539 BC BABYLON FALLS
On October 12, 539 BC, while giving a great banquet in his palace, King Belshazzar (r. 556-539 BC) brought out the vessels that King Nebuchadnezzar (r. 605-562 BC) had taken from the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. Then his guests drank from the sacred vessels while offering praise to their idol gods. At the height of their revelry, a hand appeared and wrote a mysterious message on the wall. The king was terrified and called all of his enchanters to interpret the message left by the phantom hand. After all the wise men failed to interpret it, the queen mother directed Belshazzar to Daniel, who was able to interpret the message immediately: Belshazzar's kingdom was going to be overthrown. That very night Darius the Mede conquered Babylon, Belshazzar was killed, and the kingdom fell (Daniel 5:1-31).
MISGUIDED NONCHALANCE
October 12, 539 BC
Arrogance can spell ruin.
The year was 539 BC, and the Babylonian Empire had dominated the Near East for eighty-seven years. King Nebuchadnezzar had taken the Jews captive to Babylon where they still remained. His son-in-law Nabonidus now ruled the empire, together with his son Belshazzar.
Twenty years earlier, Cyrus II had become king of Persia, and now he commanded the combined Medo-Persian forces at war with the Babylonians. Nabonidus was in charge of the Babylonian army in the field, while Belshazzar was in charge of the city of Babylon. The Greek historian Herodotus reported, "A battle was fought at a short distance from the city, in which the Babylonians were defeated by the Persian king, whereupon they withdrew within their defenses. Here they shut themselves up and made light of this siege, having laid in a store of provisions for many years in preparation against this attack."
We see how lightly the Babylonians took this siege by what happened the next day. On October 12, 539 BC, in spite of the siege, Belshazzar held a state banquet in his palace for a thousand of his nobles. The wine was flowing freely when Belshazzar remembered the beautiful gold and silver cups Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Temple in Jerusalem when he had defeated the Jews. The Temple cups were brought in and distributed to the king and his guests (Daniel 5:1-4).
As they were drinking toasts to their idols, everyone suddenly saw the fingers of a human hand writing on the wall. The king turned pale with fear as terror gripped him (Daniel 5:5-6).
"When the queen mother [Nebuchadnezzar's daughter], heard what was happening, she hurried to the banquet hall. She said to Belshazzar,... 'Call for Daniel, and he will tell you what the writing means" (Daniel 5:10-12).
Daniel said, "This is the message that was written: Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parsin. This is what these words mean: Mene means 'numbered'—God has numbered the days of your reign and has brought it to an end. Tekel means 'weighed"—you have been weighed on the balances and have failed the test. Parsin means 'divided'—your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians" (Daniel 5:25-28).
Meanwhile, unknown to the celebrating Belshazzar, that very night the Medo-Persian army diverted the waters of the Euphrates River that flowed through the city of Babylon. With the water level in the riverbed lowered, the Medo-Persian army was able to wade into the city under cover of darkness. They captured Babylon and killed Belshazzar that night before his defenders knew what had happened (Daniel 5:30).
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
539 BC DANIEL PRAYS FOR THE EXILE TO END
As Daniel read the words of Jeremiah the prophet during the Babylonian captivity, he realized that the seventy-year exile of Israel was nearing its completion. He began to pray, asking God's forgiveness for the sins of his people and pleading for the restoration of Jerusalem. In the midst of Daniel's prayer, the angel Gabriel appeared and gave him a vision. Seventy "sevens" had been decreed for the people of Israel and the holy city Jerusalem. From the decree to rebuild the Temple until the Anointed One comes, there would be sixty-nine "sevens," after which the Anointed One would be cut off, and the last "seven" would come. During this period God would atone for guilt and ring in everlasting righteousness (Daniel 9:1-27).
538 BC CYRUS REIGNS OVER BABYLON
Cyrus II of Persia (r. 559-530 BC), commonly known as Cyrus the Great, was crowned king of the Persians in 559 BC. In 550 BC, he conquered his own grandfather and took the title "king of the Medes." Then on October 12, 539 BC, Cyrus conquered Babylon, beginning his official reign on March 24, 538. Cyrus' reign was marked by a decidedly different policy than that of the Assyrians and Babylonians who had gone before him. He committed himself to restoring people to their native lands and appointing governors to represent his rule. This policy resulted in the declaration that the Jewish people could return to Palestine and rebuild the Temple, thus fulfilling the prophecies of Isaiah, who named Cyrus as one who would carry out God's purpose for Israel, and of Jeremiah, who prophesied a return to the Promised Land after seventy years (2 Chronicles 36:22-23; Ezra 1:1-4; Isaiah 44:28; 45:1-13; Jeremiah 25:11-12).
537 BC SHESHBAZZAR LEADS THE RETURN FROM BABYLON
Soon after he had conquered the Babylonian kingdom, Cyrus the Great (r. 559-530 BC) proclaimed that the Jewish people could return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple. Cyrus appointed Sheshbazzar as his official representative to lead the people and function as governor when they returned to Judah. With Sheshbazzar taking responsibility for the sacred vessels of the Temple, more than forty thousand Jewish exiles returned to their homeland. Soon after their return, the people took up a collection for the Temple's reconstruction. The Temple was later completed under the leadership of Zerubbabel.
537 BC DANIEL RECEIVES A VISION OF THE FUTURE
In 537 BC, while serving under King Cyrus of Persia (r. 559-530 BC), Daniel spent twenty-one days fasting and praying. At the end of the three weeks, he had a vision of what the future would hold. He had been given a prophecy that precisely predicted the events from his day to the abomination of desolation in 168 BC, when Antiochus Epiphanes (r. 175-164 BC) desecrated the Jewish Temple, leading to the successful Maccabean revolt (Daniel 11:1-35). Daniel then fast-forwards to the end of the age and summarizes the conclusion of history (Daniel 11:36-12:13).
536 BC RECONSTRUCTION OF TEMPLE BEGINS
The temple that Solomon (r. 970-930) had built was destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar (r. 605-562 BC) and his armies. When King Cyrus of Persia (r. 559-530 BC) conquered Babylon, he issued a decree around 538 BC, allowing the Israelites to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. The book of Ezra records that more than forty thousand Jews returned to Jerusalem and began work on the temple in 536 BC. However, they stopped construction when opposition arose from neighboring nations. The work on the temple remained dormant for well over a decade until God used Haggai and Zechariah to enable the Israelites to complete the project in 516 BC (Ezra 1:1-6:15).
520 BC HAGGAI WRITES HIS PROPHECY
Haggai received a message from the Lord on August 29, 520 BC, for the Israelites who had returned to Jerusalem under Cyrus' (r. 559-530 BC) decree to rebuild the Temple. The message addressed Israel's complacency about the rebuilding. They had not done any work on the Temple since laying the foundation almost fifteen years earlier. Their only concern was with their own houses, finances, and comfort. Haggai's message was a rebuke to the Israelites for being concerned with these things when they should have been giving themselves to the work of rebuilding God's house. Haggai concludes his prophecy by telling the Israelites that the great drought that had come upon the land was a result of their sinful priorities (Haggai 1:1-11; Ezra 1:1 -4; 2:1).
520 BC WORK ON TEMPLE RESUMES UNDER DARIUS
Haggai began preaching in the second year of Darius (r. 550-485 BC), king of Persia, and his preaching motivated the Israelites to resume reconstruction of the Temple. As they began rebuilding, they were confronted by Tattenai, the Persian provincial governor. When Tattenai inquired as to where the Jews got the authority to reconstruct the Temple, they told him of Cyrus' (r. 559-530 BC) decree. Never having heard of it, he made inquiry to Darius. Darius searched the kingdom archives and found Cyrus' decree. Then Darius himself issued a decree to speed the building of the Temple, agreeing to cover whatever expenses they incurred from the royal treasury (Ezra 5-6; Haggai 1:1).
520 BC ZECHARIAH BEGINS TO PREACH
Zechariah, a contemporary of Haggai, received his first prophetic message in October 520 BC. His prophecy was directed toward the Jews who had returned to Jerusalem under Cyrus' decree to rebuild the Temple. The primary message was for the Jews to return to God so that he would return to them. Zechariah exhorted the Jews to renew their covenant with God. His message, along with Haggai's, was influential in encouraging the Jewish people to continue Temple reconstruction. Zechariah's prophecies were filled with apocalyptic visions that included the declaration of the coming Day of the Lord as a time when God would remove all idols and false prophets from the land, when all those who war against Jerusalem would be defeated, and when the Lord alone would be worshiped in his house (Ezra 5:1-2; 6:14; Zechariah 1:1-7; 12:1-14:21).
516 BC TEMPLE IS COMPLETED
The Jews had started rebuilding the Temple in 536 BC, but they experienced so much opposition from their neighbors that they ceased building from 530 to 520 BC. The Lord then raised up Haggai and Zechariah to exhort them to complete the work they had started. The Temple, much simpler and smaller than Solomon's, was finished in 516 BC. However, history records that this Temple remained standing for approximately five hundred years, longer than either Solomon's or Herod's (Ezra 1:1-6:15).
—Complete Book of When and Where, The