11. By the Rivers of Babylon

Time:  605 BC - 536 BC
Place:  Babylon Rivers
Event:  Psalm 137
People:  The Exiles

Yesterday, we saw that Ezekiel was often at Chebar River because the exiles lived there.  Chebar River was a long canal in lower Mesopotamia whose water came from the Euphrates.

What is it like by the Rivers of Babylon?

Psalm 137 gives us a glimpse of what the exiles were doing by the Rivers of Babylon.

Spend some time to meditate on Psalm 137 for it helps us to understand their longing for God in a foreign land.

Psalm 137 :1-6

By the rivers of Babylon,
    there we sat down and wept,
    when we remembered Zion.
² On the willows there
    we hung up our lyres.
³ For there our captors
    required of us songs,
and our tormentors, mirth, saying,
    “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

⁴ How shall we sing Yahweh's song
    in a foreign land?
⁵ If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
    let my right hand forget its skill!
⁶ Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth,
    if I do not remember you,
if I do not set Jerusalem
    above my highest joy!

:)

10. Ezekiel was among the 2nd Exile

Place:  Chebar River, River of Babylon
Time:  597 BC 

Ezekiel 1:1, "In the 30th year, in the fourth month, on the 5th day of the month, as I was among the exiles by the Chebar canal, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. On the fifth day of the month (it was the 5th year of the exile of King Jehoiachin),  the word of the Yahweh came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the Chebar canal, and the hand of the Lord was upon him there.

Ezekiel  was among the exiles with King Jehoiachin.   Jehoiachin was carried off  to Babylon in 597 BC.  (2King 24:15)

The word of Yahweh came to Ezekiel in the 5th year of the exile of King Jehoiachin, which is 592 BC.  Ezekiel 1:1 tells us that Ezekiel was 30 years old when he began his prophetic ministry when the word of Yahweh came upon him.  So Ezekiel was 25 years old in 597 BC.

Please take note that Ezekiel was at Chebar River when he saw the vision.  Chebar River is mentioned 8 times in the book of Ezekiel.

Ezekiel often comes to this Chebar River of Babylon because the exiles lived there.  "And I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who were dwelling by the Chebar River, and I sat where they were dwelling."

Tel-abib was located about 75 miles southeast of Babylon near the ancient city of Nippur.


Homework:

Take out your timeline graph and let's fill in the following 2 points:

1.  Ezekiel
2.  Ezekiels' age - 25

As we study Daniel, we also need to study the Book of Ezekiel alongside.

• Ezekiel was a contemporary prophet of  Daniel.   
• He was a little bit older than Daniel.  
• In Jerusalem, he sat under the prophetic ministry of Jeremiah for 25 years.  
• At the peak of his youth, he was exiled to Babylon along with 10,000 Israelites.  
• 5 years later, he started his prophetic ministry when he turned 30 in Babylon.
• From the graph, you can see that Ezekiel's ministry lasted for about 22 years, shorter than Daniel.

:)

9. 2nd Group of Exile

Place:  Jerusalem
Time:  597 BC 
Event: 2nd Group of Exile

To understand the Book of Daniel, sometimes we need to zero in to study one verse, and sometimes we need to step back and look at the situation in a panoramic view.

The Book of Daniel only tells us about the 1st group of exile in 605 BC.

In Dan 1:1-2, it says, "In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god."

• Only part of the vessels were taken back to Babylon at this time. 
• This was NOT a complete take over of Jerusalem yet. 

This act would have warned the Israelites that they either subject totally to Babylon or everything will eventually be destroyed in Jerusalem and taken away in due time if they do not obey God.

This is why Jeremiah kept warning the Israelites and Judah kings to repent and surrender to Babylon, but they did not take to heed Jeremiah's warnings.

In 597 BC, Nebuchadnezzar came back to Jerusalem again to lay siege in Jerusalem and carried off the second group of exile.

The second group of Exile is recorded in 2 Kings 24:13-16.

This time, Nebuchadnezzar carried off all the treasures of the house of Yahweh and the treasures of the king's house.  They cut in pieces all the vessels of gold in the temple of  Yahweh as Yahweh had foretold.  The King carried away all Jerusalem, and all the officials and all the mighty men of valor, all the craftsmen and smiths - a total of 10,000 captives.    King Jehoiachin was also carried away to Babylon.   2 Kings 24:10-16

Nebuchadnezzar ransacked the city for everything of value and carried away 'all' he could. Much of the population of Jerusalem were taken to become slaves in Babylon.  Only the poorest  people were left behind.

This event happened 8 years after the 1st Exile.


Homework:

Take out your Timeline graph and write in "597 2nd Exile" in the second box.

:)

3. 605 BC - The Book of Daniel begins at Jerusalem

Daniel 1:1

In the 3rd year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.

The Book of Daniel begins at Jerusalem.

Place:  Jerusalem
Time:  September 605 BC 

Daniel 1:1 tells us a significant event - Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, came to besiege Jerusalem. This took place in September, 605 BC. How do we know?  It is the  3rd year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah.

Here are the following series of events in Nebuchadnezzar's life in the year 605 BC.

• 605 BC -  Nebuchadnezzar leads an army against Egypt in the Battle of Carchemish.  Egypt is defeated. 

• 605 BC May-June - Carchemish destroyed.  

• 605 BC August - Nebuchadnezzar learns of his father's death so he returns to Babylon to assume the crown as king of Babylon.

• 605 BC September - Nebuchadnezzar returns to Palestine, attacking Jerusalem and takes a few of the choicest of the people back to Babylon.  This is known as the  "1st Exile".

Take out your timeline graph and fill in the 605 BC Box.

The 1st exile takes place in the year Nebuchadnezzar was crowned as King of Babylon - 605 B.C. 

:)