When Home Is Lost: Understanding the Babylonian Exile

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We explore the Babylonian exile—a pivotal moment when God's people were removed from Jerusalem and forced to live in Babylon for 70 years. This watershed event reshaped their faith and demonstrates how God works even through painful consequences to call his people back to himself.

• The exile didn't come suddenly but in three waves (605 BC, 597 BC, and 586 BC)
• Babylon specifically targeted leaders, skilled workers, and educated elites when conquering nations
• God had warned about exile since Deuteronomy if the people abandoned the covenant
• After centuries of idolatry and injustice, God allowed his people to face the consequences
• Even in exile, God sent prophets like Daniel and Ezekiel with messages of hope
• The exile echoes the Garden of Eden story—separation from God's presence due to disobedience
• God instructs the exiles through Jeremiah to build houses, plant gardens, and seek peace in Babylon
• God promises a future beyond exile: "I know the plans I have for you, plans to give you hope"

SOURCES:

• Beale, G. K., & Gladd, B. L. (2018). The Story retold: A Biblical-Theological Introduction to the New Testament. IVP Academic.
• Bowker, J. (1998). The Complete Bible Handbook. DK Publishing.
• Halley, H. H. (2000). Halley’s Bible Handbook (25th ed.). Zondervan.
• MacArthur, J. (Ed.). (2010). The MacArthur Study Bible (NIV ed.). Thomas Nelson.

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Note: All scripture references are from the NIV translation unless otherwise indicated.

Episode Transcript

Jacqui (00:12):
Greetings listeners.
I'm excited to announce thatthe next few episodes that we're
going to be looking at will befocused on the prophets in
Babylon during the exile.
Hold up what just happened Oneminute.
We're in Jerusalem withprophets like Isaiah Zephaniah,

(00:35):
Jeremiah Habakkuk, calling God'speople to repent before it's
too late.
And now we're in Babylon,hundreds of miles from Jerusalem
.
No temple, no king, just exilestrying to figure out what went
wrong and where God is in all ofit.

(00:57):
Before we jump to those voicesof the exile like Daniel Ezekiel
Malachi, I thought we shouldpause and make sure we're all on
the same page.
Let's focus on the exile.
What exactly was the exile andwhy did it happen, and why is it

(01:17):
such a major turning point inthe story of the Bible?
That's what we're going tobreak down in this short episode
, so you can see how we got fromJerusalem to Babylon and what
it meant to God's people.
Well, welcome everyone.
I'm your host, jackie Adewole,and this is the Bible Basics

(01:40):
Podcast, where, weekly, we breakdown the basics of the Bible
into understandable, bite-sizedchunks.
Now let's rewind a bit.
The kingdom of Israel hadalready split in two in 931 BC
Israel in the north and Judah inthe south.

(02:01):
We see that in 1 Kings 11.
We see that in 1 Kings 11.
God sent prophets to both overand over.

(02:30):
God warned them to return tohim, to stop worshiping false
gods and to stop ignoring thepoor and vulnerable.
But the people didn't listen.
And what happens when God'speople refuse to heed his
warnings and his call?
Let's keep going and find out.
In 722 BC, the northern kingdomof Israel fell to Assyria.

(02:52):
The people were scattered.
About a century later, babylonrose as the new world power and
in 586 BC, they marched intoJerusalem, destroyed the temple,
tore down the city walls andtook thousands of people,
including the young, theeducated and the influential.

(03:15):
They took them all intocaptivity, and that's what we
call the Babylonian exile.
It refers to a period when manyof the people of Judah were
taken from their homeland andforced to live in Babylon.
So to be in exile means to beforced out of your home, to live

(03:37):
in a place that isn't yours,often against your will and
under someone else's rule atotal loss of freedom.
We actually see the firstexample of exile all the way
back in Genesis, when Adam andEve disobeyed God.
They were exiled from theGarden of Eden.

(03:57):
They lost access to the placeof God's presence, provision and
peace and were sent out to liveunder the weight of that
separation, that's, the heart ofexile being separated from what
God intended, often because ofsin.
In more recent history, we'veseen other examples of forced

(04:22):
exile too, like refugees fleeingwar or people groups removed
from their land by invadingpowers.
It's not just about geography,it's about being uprooted,
powerless and wondering ifyou'll ever return to what once
felt sacred and secure, to whatonce felt sacred and secure.

(04:46):
So when we say the exile, we'retalking about a time when God's
people were removed from theland that he gave them, with no
temple to worship in and no kingto lead them.
And it didn't happen all atonce.
It came in three waves.
There was the first wave.
That was in 605 BC.
This was the earliest grouptaken Babylon, defeated Egypt at

(05:12):
the Battle of Carchemish andgained control of Judah.
During this time, daniel andother young nobles were taken to
Babylon to be trained for royalservice.
Then there's the second wave.
Oh, and that first wave you canfind, you can read about that
in 2 Kings, 24, 2 Chronicles, 36, and Daniel, chapter 1.

(05:39):
Now let's talk about the secondwave, at the beginning of the
6th century BC, the kings ofJudah rebelled against their
Babylonian overlord, kingNebuchadnezzar II.
His response was swift anddecisive.
In 597 BC, he accepted thesurrender of Jerusalem and took

(06:02):
many of the city's leadingcitizens into Babylon.
That included King Jehoiachin,royal officials, soldiers,
artisans and skilled workers Atotal of about 10,000 people.
This was a massive blow toJudah's leadership and economy,

(06:25):
and we see that in 2 Chronicles36.
Ezekiel was taken captive toBabylon in this particular wave.
Now let's look at that thirdwave.
After King Zedekiah alsorebelled, Babylon came back with
full force.

(06:46):
This time they completelydestroyed Jerusalem.
After they removed all thetreasures, burned the temple and
all the other importantbuildings and took most of the
remaining population into exile.
They also broke down the wallsaround Jerusalem.
Only a few of the poorest,unskilled laborers were left in

(07:12):
the land, and we find this in 2Chronicles 36, verses 5 to 21.
So God's people remained therein Babylon from approximately
605 to 536 BC.
This 70-year period was infulfillment of the word of the

(07:34):
Lord spoken by Jeremiah.
We see that in 2 Chronicles 3621.
That period is called theexilic period, or the Babylonian
exile.
Spoiler alert.
God had also promised thatafter judgment, restoration
would follow.
So in 539 BC, the Babylonianconquerors were themselves

(07:59):
conquered by the Persians, ledby Cyrus.
The Great Jews who wanted to doso were allowed then to return
to Judah and begin therebuilding process.
Now let's talk a little bitabout Babylon's approach to
exile.

(08:19):
When Babylon conquered a nation, they didn't just destroy it,
they relocated its people.
They especially targeted theleaders, skilled workers and
educated elites, people who hadinfluence, talent and training.
The goal was threefold Toprevent rebellion by removing

(08:42):
anyone who might organizeresistance back home.
Second, to strengthen Babylonitself by putting those people
to work in service of the empire.
And third, to prevent them fromworshiping their god, whom
Babylon knew was powerful.
By bringing the best minds andhands to Babylon, the empire

(09:06):
gained advisors, craftsmen,soldiers gained advisors,
craftsmen, soldiers, scholarsand even servants for the royal
court, such as Daniel and hisfriends.
It was a strategic way toweaken the conquered nations
while enriching Babylonculturally, politically and

(09:27):
economically.
At the same time, babylon triedto reshape these exiles by
immersing them in Babylonianlanguage, religion and customs,
hoping they'd adopt a newidentity and forget where they
came from.
But many, like Daniel, didn'tforget.

(09:53):
Now let's talk about why it evenhappened.
The exile didn't come out ofnowhere.
God had warned his people fromthe very beginning, all the way
back in Deuteronomy 28 andLeviticus, chapter 26.
God laid it out clearly If youfollow me, I'll bless you, but

(10:16):
if you turn away, if you chaseafter other gods, you'll be
removed from the land.
So this wasn't a surprise.
It was the result of long-termsin and disobedience.
For generations, judah'sleaders and the people had
ignored God's covenant.

(10:37):
They worshipped idols, abusedpower and ignored the cries of
the poor.
And it wasn't just aboutbreaking rules, it was about
breaking relationship.
The prophets, jeremiah,zephaniah, habakkuk, for example
, warned them over and overagain stop trusting in politics

(11:01):
and power plays, stop theviolence, stop ignoring justice.
Come back to God.
But they didn't.
They hardened their hearts,they refused to listen, and so
eventually, God let them facethe consequences.

(11:25):
In a book called the StoryRetold by GK Beale and Benjamin
Glad, we're told that quote.
At the end of 2 Kings, Goddiscloses why he sent Israel
into exile.
I am going to bring disaster onthis place and its people,
according to everything writtenin the book the king of Judah

(11:49):
has read, because they haveforsaken me and burned incense
to other gods and aroused myanger by all the idols their
hands have made.
My anger will burn against thisplace and will not be quenched.
And we find that in 2 Kings, 22, 16 and 17.

(12:13):
And centuries before, mosespredicted this very thing in
Deuteronomy, chapter 29, verses26 to 28.
Quote they went off andworshiped other gods and bowed
down to them.
In furious anger and in greatwrath, the Lord uprooted them
from their land and thrust theminto another land.

(12:36):
Unquote.
Like Adam and Eve, the nation ofIsrael committed heinous acts
of idolatry.
So God drives Israel from hispresence into Babylonian exile,
just like he drove the firstcouple out of the garden.
It's important to say thiswasn't God being cruel, it was

(13:00):
God being just.
He gave them chance afterchance, but when they refused he
let them go into exile.
We now understand what sentGod's people there and how their
story didn't end in ruins.
In fact, right in the middle ofexile we get new prophetic

(13:25):
voices.
Some of the most powerful actsof faith and boldest visions
from God came after the exilebegins.
This teaches us that even whenwe're in the middle of a bad
situation that we wander into,god's grace and mercy continues

(13:46):
to pursue us, not so that we canremain in the disobedience, but
so that we can return to God'smuch better provisions for our
lives.
Remember, Jeremiah writes aletter to the exiles and says,
quote this is what the LordAlmighty, the God of Israel,

(14:06):
says to all those I carried intoexile from Jerusalem to Babylon
Build houses and settle down.
Plant gardens and eat what theyproduce.
Marry and have sons anddaughters.
Find wives for your sons andgive your daughters in marriage
so that they too may have sonsand daughters.

(14:28):
Increase in number there, donot decrease.
Also, seek the peace andprosperity of the city to which
I have carried you into exile.
Pray to the Lord for it,because if it prospers, you too
will prosper.
And moving down to verse 11, itsays For I know the plans I

(14:52):
have for you, declares the Lord.
Plans to prosper you and not toharm you.
Plans to give you hope and afuture.
So stay tuned to the nextepisode, where we'll begin
exploring those messages of hopeand the future.

(15:13):
We'll find out that, even whenit felt like everything was lost
, god was with his people.
He didn't forget them.
Until then, keep reading, keepseeking and keep growing in your
faith.