A few thoughts on the Babylonian Exile.
The people who composed and edited the Hebrew Scriptures tell us that Jerusalem was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar because the people of Israel and Judah were continually evil and they had failed to heed the warnings given by the prophets and priests throughout the whole period from Moses to Zedekiah. This is the sole reason given for the Lord’s judgment against his city.
--------------------
Jeremiah had declared the Lord’s seventy-year judgment, and he pleaded with Zedekiah to willingly submit to Babylon’s rule, so that the city need not be destroyed. The nexus between the declared seventy years and Jerusalem’s destruction was Judah’s continuing disobedience, this time it was the king’s failure to accept prophet Jeremiah’s pleading.
--------------------
The exiles were later permitted to return because of their changed spiritual condition (Jer. 29:12, 13). God had promised them a new heart (Jer. 24:7), to write the law in their minds and on their hearts (Jer. 31:33). The people confessed their sin (Dan 9), and they had turned to religious piety (Ezra). Cyrus’ permission for exiles being permitted to return is explained in religious terms, that the temple would be rebuilt (2 Chron. 36:23; Ezra 1:2).
--------------------
The differences between the LXX and MT of Jeremiah 25 show the preparedness of the Jews to amend that passage, which demonstrates the folly of relying on that passage as a foundation stone. It is no longer possible to know precisely the warning that Jeremiah gave, which is a problem only for the WTS.
--------------------
The following passage from Jeremiah 32:28-44 shows that even before the city fell to the Babylonians, the people of Judah considered that their land was already desolate, while they were still living in it, because the Babylonians had invaded and were in control. (“ It is a desolate waste, without men or animals, for it has been handed over to the Babylonians”, Jer. 32:43, NIV). The land had been defiled by the infidel being in it.
-------------------- Therefore, this is what the LORD says: I am about to hand this city over to the Babylonians and to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who will capture it.
The Babylonians who are attacking this city will come in and set it on fire; they will burn it down, along with the houses where the people provoked me to anger by burning incense on the roofs to Baal and by pouring out drink offerings to other gods.
“The people of Israel and Judah have done nothing but evil in my sight from their youth; indeed, the people of Israel have done nothing but provoke me with what their hands have made, declares the LORD . From the day it was built until now, this city has so aroused my anger and wrath that I must remove it from my sight.
The people of Israel and Judah have provoked me by all the evil they have done—they, their kings and officials, their priests and prophets, the men of Judah and the people of Jerusalem. They turned their backs to me and not their faces; though I taught them again and again, they would not listen or respond to discipline.
They set up their abominable idols in the house that bears my Name and defiled it. They built high places for Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to sacrifice their sons and daughters to Molech, though I never commanded, nor did it enter my mind, that they should do such a detestable thing and so make Judah sin.
“You are saying about this city, ‘By the sword, famine and plague it will be handed over to the king of Babylon’; but this is what the LORD , the God of Israel, says: I will surely gather them from all the lands where I banish them in my furious anger and great wrath; I will bring them back to this place and let them live in safety. They will be my people, and I will be their God.
I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me. I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul.
“This is what the LORD says: As I have brought all this great calamity on this people, so I will give them all the prosperity I have promised them.
Once more fields will be bought in this land of which you say, ‘It is a desolate waste, without men or animals, for it has been handed over to the Babylonians.’
Fields will be bought for silver, and deeds will be signed, sealed and witnessed in the territory of Benjamin, in the villages around Jerusalem, in the towns of Judah and in the towns of the hill country, of the western foothills and of the Negev, because I will restore their fortunes, declares the LORD .” (Jer. 32:28-44, NIV)
Question about 70 yr. excile:
by whyizit 31 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
-
Doug Mason
-
AllTimeJeff
The Jews had a chronology that was independent and far more reliable than that of the Babylonians and the Egyptians because it was complete and had no gaps in its history thus the prophecies were anchored in biblical history pointing forward to that momentous year 1914 CE.
No they didn't. Are you referring to the bible? What years can we measure independent of Egyptian and Baylonian chronology? JW's don't claim this.
Once again: Fail.
The year 1914 CE is firmly based on the foundation of history, chronology and prophecy and has withstood the attacks of apostates and modern critics.
No, 1914 is not based on (accurate) history, (accurate) chronology and (accurate) prophecy. It has not withstood the attacks of former Jehovah's Witnesses and modern critics.