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How Israel lost everything — and what God was still keeping
For most of the Old Testament, Israel has a land, a king, and a temple. Then, over about two centuries, they lose all three.
The exile is the hinge the rest of Scripture turns on. Nearly every prophet is speaking into it, out of it, or after it — and understanding it makes a whole section of your Bible suddenly legible.
For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.
Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia.
Translation note: Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (KJV). The King James Version is in the public domain.
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