A Deceptive Lull
On December 26, 2004, a 9.1 magnitude earthquake triggered a massive tsunami off the Indonesia coast. Around 10:21 on this morning, an unannounced massive wave struck Phuket, Thailand. A few were killed and the water damaged random businesses on the beach. As the water receded way beyond the coastline, people were seen searching the area for loved ones, others for treasure, and a few were simply having fun in the newly uncovered land. Everyone thought they had survived the danger. It was a beautiful sunny day, and there was no indication to think otherwise. It appeared as though this resort area had escaped the worst, but it was just a deceptive lull, before the true disaster struck. One hour later, a second wall of water, this time 15 feet high engulfed paradise, and unleashed one of the most devastating natural disasters the world has ever seen. In total, it struck 14 different countries, and claimed over 230,000 lives.
In 605 BC, all seemed sunny in Judah. Their righteous king, Josiah, had died a few years prior, and the ominous threat of Babylon lurked to the north. However Judah had survived the first wave of attack about a hundred years before (720 BC). The Assyrian war machine had obliterated the northern kingdom and marched all the way to Jerusalem’s doorstep. Yet in that dark hour God bestowed His mercy upon Judah through the words of Isaiah, and Sennacharib with his ruthless armies were sent back to Nineveh without even a battle. With this resounding miracle, God proved the favored status of Judah. There was no reason for any Jew to expect a second wave – except for the words of Jeremiah.
The 25th chapter of Jeremiah begins:
“The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (which was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), 2 which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying: 3 ‘From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even to this day, this is the twenty-third year in which the word of the Lord has come to me; and I have spoken to you, rising early and speaking, but you have not listened. 4 And the Lord has sent to you all His servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, but you have not listened nor inclined your ear to hear.’”
Verse 1 places this prophecy 3 to 4 years after Josiah’s death (in 609 BC), and in the first year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign (dated between 607 and 605 BC). In a very short time Babylon will march into Judah and not be stopped at Jerusalem’s gates. Some Jews will be taken captive, and those that remain will still place their faith in the Temple and its rituals. They will say, “Look, in spite of everything, the house where Jehovah dwells still stands.” After another lull of about 2 decades, the next Babylonian wave will hit the city and this time, the Temple also will be destroyed.
Verse 3 begins with, “From the thirteenth year of Josiah…” 2 Chronicles 34:3 says that Josiah began his reform in the twelfth year of his reign. In verse 3, Jeremiah says that from the 13th year to his present time (a span of 23 years) the people had not listened nor inclined their ears to hear. Numerous verses in Chronicles tell of a massive reform under Josiah, and how God postponed His impending judgement. His son Zedekiah, reverted to wickedness and this was the final straw that brought about the downfall of Judah. However Jeremiah reaches a different conclusion. He said the people had never listened, nor even thought about listening, from the beginning of Josiah’s reform, and for the next 23 years – all the way up to Jeremiah’s present day.
There's also another problem. It is generally concluded that the Babylonian captivity was because Judah had not kept the Sabbatical year for the previous 490 years. Every seventh year they were to cease from growing crops in order to give the land a rest (Lev 23). But with all of the passages that speak of Jeremiah’s 70 year prophecy, only one ties it to the land’s sabbatical rest, and it’s not Jeremiah (25:11 and 29:10). It’s not Daniel (9:2), but, once again, it’s the Chronicler.
There’s so much more detail that we will delve into on Sunday, but let’s stop and ask a couple of common sense questions:
If the 7th-year sabbatical was so important to God that He would send Israel into captivity for 70 years for violating it, why did He not mention it once during the 900 years from Moses to Jeremiah?
Is this really the Sabbath that God intended for Israel to keep? Was it to be a cessation from all work, or a cessation from their work?
If 2 Chronicles misinterprets Josiah's reform, and the cause of Judah's captivity, does that mean we have a problem with the Chronicler?
Food for thought! Till Sunday.