43. Babylonian Captivity : By Grace

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. led by their King Jeroboam. They lived apart, having nothing to do with one another.

This division was according to the will of God. King Rehoboam had determined to raise an army from the two tribes of 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 resurrects and unites both houses prior to His introduction of The Kingdom of Heaven. However, a small number did return and joined the House of Judah.

The House of Judah, together with the Temple implements, were captured by King Nebuchadnezzar during two invasions. The first was in Nebuchadnezzar's first year and Jehoiakim's 4th year…..758bc. The 70years servitude began at the third invasion.

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

the king of Edom,
and to the king of Moab,
and to the king of the Ammonites,
and to the king of Tyrus,
and to the king of Zidon,

by the hand of the messengers which come to Jerusalem unto

Zedekiah king of Judah;

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 of Canaan, but it remained subject to the king of Babylon.

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, Nebuchadnezzar 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 under Nebuchadnezzar, the first occurred when he had just taken the throne.
During the 2nd captivity, Jehoiachin [also recorded 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 Nebuchadnezzar 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 during this time of the Diaspora, has continued until today and will not end until the Kingdom of God is introduced. This answers the disciples question put to The Lord before His ascension::

Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom again to Israel [Acts 1:6]

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.

Later, when that power was received by them they would know the time of restoration.

[At this point we should note the fact that ‘not for you to know the times and seasons’ no longer applies during this present Administration of God’s Grace. The reasons are given by the apostle Paul when he tells us:

I ceased not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him: the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints……..(Ephesians 1:16)]

Together with his letter to the Colossians, these were the last documents written by Paul, our Apostle, These were written during the present Administration of God’s Grace showing that the eyes of our understanding are to be enlightened. We now know therefore that The Kingdom of Heaven in Israel is to be introduced during The Last Days, following the first seven weeks of years revealed by the Archangel Gabriel to Daniel the prophet. [see By Grace Nos:5, 27, 39 and 70]

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, the sons of Cain [A]

During the following 966 years, Israel was ruled by Joshua followed by The Judges and by The kings, the first of which was Saul and the last 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 [Enoch 93:7]

This momentous event was organised by King Josiah of Judah when he repaired The Temple and restored The Law and the ordinances. He turned not aside to the right hand nor to the left. God said of him:

Like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to The Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him.

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 those of Babylon, Rome and the Edomites. [C]

Had God not introduced this present Administration of His Grace in 69ad, lasting for 1960 years, the Second Advent of The Messiah would have occurred in 524ad. It is during this period that the Last Days prophecy, relating to the dream vision of the multi metal image of king Nebuchadnezzar, 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 period of Israel’s subjection to the nations, it must be recognised that during the days in which we are now living, The Administration of God's Grace, the true Israel is subject to a covert nation. Although the true Israel appears to be free, the Zionists hold them in subjection. This period, lasting 1960 years, was revealed by Paul in 69ad, having been hidden in God until that time:

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, no matter how similar they might appear to be, relate to the nation of Israel. 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 warning is given in Rev. 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:

The Captivity of The House of Judah which began in 478bc
The Last Days of The Whole House of Israel beginning in 4bc. [See By Grace No:39]
The Seventy Weeks of Daniel's prophesy beginning in 27ad. [See By Grace No:26]

The latter two were postponed in 62ad to begin again shortly in the twenty-first century. when the present Administration of God’s Grace ends. The captivity was not postponed in 62ad but continues through for a total of 2513 years. ending in 2036ad but extending to the personal presence of The Messiah in 2484ad
Section [C] from 478bc to 62ad................539 years [factors: 11.49]
Section [D] from 2036ad to 2484ad..........441 years [factors: 9.49]
Admin of Grace, 62ad to 2022ad……….1960 years [factors:40.49]
2022ad to 2036ad………………………….14 years [factors: 2.7]
Totalling:…2954 years

The factors 11, 9, 40 and 2 indicate a condition dominated by incompleteness, judgement, probation, chastisement and division. This plays a major part in the whole experience of The Houses of Judah and Israel, being subject to many 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. [Heb 5:13-14]

The factor of 49 indicates emphatic completion to Spiritual Perfection.
Because the captivity of the House of Judah has continued through this present 1960 years of God’s Administration of Grace, the full period from 478bc to 2477ad is 2954 years exactly [total bc added to ad years is minus one year because there is no zero year]

This period runs from the 20th to the 80th Jubilee, 60 Jubilees of 49 years in length equals 2940 years whose factors are 6.10.49. [unregenerate man (6), subject to the perfection of Divine Order (10) to complete Spiritual maturity (49)]
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CONCLUSION

The Babylonian captivity of The House of Judah began in the year 478bc at the time of the twentieth Jubilee. They remained in Babylon until God stirred up the spirit of CYRUS King of Persia to fulfil the Word by Jeremiah the prophet to release the tribes of Judah and Benjamin to return to The Land of Palestine.

Even though they were then in their own land, 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 hope of both The House of Judah and that of Israel is fulfilled at the time when God on His throne in heaven instates The Kingdom of Heaven in Israel in the tear 2036ad. The kingdoms of the World are to become The Kingdoms of The Lord in 2477ad. [Rev 11:15] when The Lord Jesus Christ will be personally present.

Many Christians believe that what appears to be the present nation of Israel is occupying the land of Palestine without hindrance or subjection to any other nation. This impression is erroneous. The true House of Judah, the Jews, is subject to the House of Esau, those known in the New Testament as Idumeans of which King Herod and the Pharisees are examples. God’s record refers to these usurpers when He says: I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan [Revelation 2:9 and 3:9] *