THE LOSS
Things were
not going well for the Jewish people.
The Northern
Jewish Kingdom, known as Israel, had fallen to the Assyrians in 720 BCE. The
inhabitants were dispersed throughout Assyria and beyond.
In 597 BCE the
Southern Jewish Kingdom, known as Judah, was invaded by Assyria. The elite of
the population was carried off to Babylon. In 586 BCE the Temple in Jerusalem
was destroyed and many of the remaining inhabitants of Judah were deported to
Babylon.
The fall of
the Southern Kingdom was a tragic blow to Hebrew faith and culture. They land God had promised to Abraham and his
descendants was now fully lost into Gentile hands
Many in the land had come to believe Jerusalem
was inviolable. Now the holy city Jerusalem was ransacked and lay in ruins.
The Temple in
Jerusalem was desecrated, stripped of its wealth, and left as a relic. This
Temple was the very spot where the Name of God dwelt and the people met God in
worship and sacrifice. It was the only
place where this was to happen (Deuteronomy 12). The structure was singularly irreplaceable. In the most sacred space in the Temple sat
the Ark of the Covenant, containing the original autograph of the Tablets Moses
brought down from Mt. Sinai.
The
Jerusalem Temple was the only place on the face of the entire earth where
sacrifices could be offered—no exceptions.
Without the capacity to sacrifice, where did that leave the practice of
the Hebrew faith?
It is likely
the Assyrian invaders carried the Ark and its holy cargo back to Babylon. It was never recovered, There is no mention of it again until some second century Rabbis
speculated about where it might be.
The fire on
the altar in the Temple must burn continuously it must never go out (Leviticus
6:13). That fire had gone out.
The point
is, things necessary for the efficacy of the Hebrew faith as they knew it were now
gone.
William
Butler Yates caught the mood of these exiled Hebrews: “Things fall apart, the
center cannot hold; mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.” We hear the exiles’ pain in the words of
Psalm 137:
By the rivers of Babylon—
there we
sat down, and there we wept
when we
remembered Zion.
2 On the willows[a] there
we hung
up our harps.
3 For there our captors
asked us
for songs,
and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying,
“Sing us
one of the songs of Zion!”
4 How
could we sing the Lord’s song
in a
foreign land?
LOSS IS NOT THE LAST WORD
Loss
is a part of all our lives, but God does not permit loss to be the last
word. There is always a way beyond the
loss.
Do not
remember the former things
or consider the things of old.
I am about to do a new thing;
now it springs forth; do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the
wilderness
and rivers in the desert. (Isaiah 43:18-19)
The people
are going home. Yet the Prophet has a discordant
note in the announcement. He tells the
people not to remember the former things, not to consider the things of
old. God is about to do a new thing.
Isaiah is warning them they are not just going to return to “the good old days.”
Much of what they lost they will never get back.
WHAT THEY DID AND DID NOT GET BACK
They rebuilt the Temple, over time. But prophesy became rare in that place and miracles faded. The Ark of the Covenant with those precious tablets was never recovered.
Except for a
brief period between 167 and 160 BCE during the Maccabean revolt when the great
powers of the word were preoccupied with other things, the ancient Hebrews
never lived as free and sovereign people in the land again. In 70 CE, the Temple built by Herod was destroyed by the Romans, never to be rebuilt.
Even today in the modern State of Israel, sacrifices are not
offered in Jerusalem. There is not
Temple there.
What did the Hebrews take home from Babylon? They
left with a faith that could survive anywhere in any age.
The reading
of the scriptures took the place of burnt offerings in the Temple. This became a type of sacrifice. This could be done anywhere in the world.
The
synagogue system came out of the exile.
Through the synagogue, Hebrews could hold communal worship anyplace you had
10 or more adult males. Can’t get that
together? Fewer than 10 adults could
hold a reduced sort of service. This meant the worship of God was no longer
tied to a purpose built building in a particular city. One could worship anyplace one found oneself.
In Babylon,
God was preparing the Hebrew people for their dispersion throughout the world.
They now had a faith that could survive, and even flourish, wherever they found
themselves.
The exile
brought loss, but it also gave birth to a form of faith observance that was
positioned for whatever history might bring their way.
IN OUR DAY
At
our ABCNYS 2022 Biennial, we are going to think about how the experience of the
pandemic has equipped us, even in the midst of loss, for God’s future. We are not going to relive the losses. We are going to seek out the gifts God has nurtured
within us for a future of faithful service.
To join in this journey, go to https://www.abc-nys.org/abcnys-biennial.html
Jim
Kelsey
Executive
Minister—American Baptist Churches of New York State
