BAD NEWS

the story of the Exiles (ca. 721 & 587 BC)

Found in: 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles 10-36, Micah, Jeremiah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Ezekiel and Isaiah 40-55

God's prophets Elisha, Isaiah, and Jeremiah had been preaching inevitable doom to Israel and Judah for their infidelity to God. The kings in Judah weren't so bad at first (the "lamp of David still shining”), but not for long. As the rich grew further apart from the poor, the prophets warned them of their false sense of security. 

A new external threat was coming: the Assyrian Empire, bigger than any kingdom they had encountered. Instead of heeding the prophets and turning to God, the king of Israel joined with the kings of Aram and Egypt and tried to force the king of Judah to join them. The king of Judah, in turn, tried bargaining with the oncoming Assyrians! 

It was as if God's people had forgotten about God, prompting God to ask the prophet Isaiah, "Whom shall I send?" "Here I am!" responded the prophet. Again God's message was doom, and Jerusalem was likened to a whore, unfaithful to God. God would therefore use the other nations as his own “holy warriors” to punish Israel and Judah for their lip service to God over the years.

The prophecies came true when the Assyrian Empire overtook the northern kingdom of Israel and made Judah its vassal. The kings of Judah were spared until the next empire hit the scene: the Babylonians! This time it was the prophet Jeremiah who delivered God's warning of doom. The Babylonian Empire took Assyria and Judah In 587 BC, and Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed.

Although the prophecies foretold defeat, they also spoke of a hope - a day when a future remnant of Judah would come back to their land, be made into a kingdom, and be ruled by a "prince of peace" who, unlike the current kings of Israel, would show mercy and kindness to the poor. Isaiah prophesied of a young maiden giving birth to a son who would be called Immanuel (“God with us”). In one of these prophecies, those who died faithful to God would even rise again to new life! 

Jeremiah, meanwhile, prophesied about a new, personal relationship with God in which each person would experience a "circumcision of the heart". God would raise up a "branch for David", a "shoot of Jesse" (David's father) and lead them back to the promised land! 

These messages of hope continued amongst the exiled Israelites. Among them was the prophet Ezekiel, who envisioned a valley of dead bones rising and growing new flesh to form a new people of God heading to a "New Jerusalem." Later Isaiah prophesied with four songs about a “Servant of Yahweh” who would be a light to the nations and suffer as a sin offering for his people in an everlasting covenant in fulfillment of his promise to David. 




Notes:

The history of the prophets can be divided into three periods: the period before the exile in the north at the hands of the Assyrians, the period before the exile in the south at the hands of the Babylonians, and the period during the exiles, when the people of Israel and Judah are dispersed to the lands of  their conquerors (the "Diaspora").

The book of Isaiah appears to contain the writings of three generations of prophecies, possibly the original Isaiah then one or more of his disciples preserving and continuing his school of thought. The prophecies span the centuries before, during, and after the  exiles.

There are also "minor" prophets who are contemporaries of the “major” prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel The latter (along with Daniel) are called “major” prophets for their larger bodies of writing.

Review questions:

What earlier king made the kings of Judah be initially depicted in a better light than the kings of Israel?

What was at the "heart" of Jeremiah's message?

What's the difference between a "major" and a "minor" prophet?

Whom shall I call? 
Whom shall I send?
My people just talking smack 
all over again.
Isaiah, I call you. 
The rich forsaking the poor 
and that won’t do!

I got bad news you don’t want to hear:
You will lose when Assyria draws near. 
I’m bringing bad news, 
but the promise is true:
I still see a David light in you.

It’s like a fire inside your bones.
You just can’t keep my words 
inside your mouth.
Jeremiah, I call you. 
What happened in the north 
is heading south.

I got bad news you don’t want to hear:
You will lose when Babylon draws near. 
I’m bringing bad news, 
but the promise is true:
I still see a David light in you.

I see a valley of dry bones…
Ezekiel I call you 
to call them home. 

Scattered people, 
come on out of your graves.
La da da da, 
they laughed when you fell.
Scattered people, 
there will come a new day,
la da da da, 
when I shepherd you myself.

Do you still remember the glory days
with David on the throne, 
my Jerusalem?
My Servant suffers now, 
until I bring him home, 
Until the end.

And my bad news you don’t want to hear:
You will lose when Assyria draws near. 
I'm bringing bad news you don’t want to hear:
You will lose. Babylonia draws near! 
Go and tell them: 
Bad News, the ending is near!
You will lose when the empire draws near.
I’m bringing bad news, 
but the promise is true:
I still see a David light in you!

Whom shall I call? 
Whom shall I send? 
My people just talking smack 
all over again.