LESSON 7
The fall of Jerusalem and deportation. Ezekiel and the disciples of Isaiah: consolation and expiation. Priestly circles. Religious and literary activity. Persian period: restoration of Israel and of the Temple. Mission of Ezra and Nehemiah: the Law and the configuration of Judaism. Writing and copying of sacred books.
The calamity that the chosen people were to undergo was the overthrow of the two kingdoms by the Assyrians and the deportation of the people into exile. This was the instrument chosen by God to purify the people. (cf J. Monforte, Getting to know the Bible, Scepter 1998, pp. 105-106)
Click here for map of the Near East around 500 BC.
Barry L. Bandstra writes (see Early Judaism):
The destruction of Jerusalem in 587 BC initiated massive political, social, and religious changes among the survivors. The character of biblical faith and society changed markedly due to this crisis. Israel would not exist again as a sovereign state until the second century BC. The disappearance of the temple from Jerusalem (and therefore the ability to offer sacrifices) initiated a reconsideration of what could constitute worship. The changes were so fundamental that the debacle of 587 marks the shift from a people called the Israelites to a people called the Jews. Their religion came to be called Judaism.
This time also marks the beginning of a significant branching of Israelite people. The exile of thousands of Judeans to Babylonia was the start of an enduring population of Jews who live outside the Promised Land. Some would later return when given the opportunity, but many chose to remain expatriates indefinitely while retaining a Jewish identity. This scattered group of Jews is called the Diaspora, and their lifestyle is called Diaspora Judaism. They lived in Babylonia, Persia, Syria, Anatolia, and Egypt; anywhere but in Palestine.
The Jews who continued to live in the Promised Land are called Palestinian Jews, and their lifestyle Palestinian Judaism. The character of Diaspora Judaism often differed markedly from that of Palestinian Judaism because it was more open to influences from non-Jewish culture. Palestinian Judaism was more conservative and traditional, as defined by the Hebrew Bible. There were no doubt many Jews who intermarried with non-Jews and assimilated to the local population, but they cease to be part of the mainstream biblical tradition.
Bastra explains the implications of the Babylonian Exile (587-539 BC):
The demise of Jerusalem entailed major loss and massive disorientation among the Judeans. Many died in the destruction of Jerusalem in 587. Many others were deported to Babylonia in the event called the exile. Those left in Palestine were destitute and lacked direction. The survivors had lost everything which previously defined them.
But this tragedy was more than just a national defeat. According to the religious outlook of this period, each nation was protected by its patron god. Yahweh was the God of Israel, and was presumed to be the real power behind the nation. Nebuchadnezzar's victory could only imply that Marduk, the patron god of Babylon, was supreme. Israel's military defeat became a crisis of faith.
The prophetic tradition provided a frame of reference for understudying why the disaster had happened. Jeremiah in Judah and Ezekiel in Babylonia interpreted the events as divine judgment for the people's faithlessness to Yahweh.
The great miracle of the Babylonian exile was that faith in Yahweh did survive. Prophets such as Jeremiah and Ezekiel were instrumental in interpreting Yahweh's reason for allowing it to happen. The priestly tradition rekindled Israel's faith out of the ashes. The temple service and animal sacrifices that could not be performed in exile gave way to Sabbath worship and the study of the Torah as religious activities. A Davidic king no longer ruled, but a new sense of the kingship of Yahweh took hold. The land was lost, but circumcision became a symbol of transformed hearts whereby the faithful could enter a new spiritual kingdom.
This time of exceptional national crisis gave rise to some of the Hebrew Bible's most sublime and significant literature. The book of Lamentations agonizes over the demise of Jerusalem. Second Isaiah and Ezekiel inspire hope with triumphant visions of a new glorious future. The Priestly document of the Torah came out of the exile, as probably did the final form of the Torah itself. Also, sometime during the exile the final edition of the Deuteronomistic History, which consisted of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings, was completed.
Henri Daniel-Rops (Israel and the Ancient World, pp 214ff) writes that
Jeremiah had foretold this repentance, and Isaiah explained that it was because Yahweh had given his people a special destiny: to be his witness, his servant, with a divine mission. They would not perish because in them alone was deposited the doctrine of the one true God.
The most remarkable guide of the Israelites in this period was Ezekiel. His prophetic task was to lead his compatriots back to right thinking. In exile he became the preacher of consolation, reminding the people of their past greatness, and of the divine promises made to their forefathers, that still held good. He kept alive the national consciousness, and the awareness of the promises.
Peter Kreeft (You Can Understand the Bible, pp 130-131) tells us that Ezekiel, who was both priest and prophet,
lived during the dark days of the Babylonian captivity and prophesied in Babylon to his fellow Jewish exiles. When he spoke his first prophecies of the destruction of Jerusalem and of Solomon's temple, Jerusalem had not yet been destsroyed, though the Jews had already been taken captive to Babylon. When the Jews in Babylon heard the news of this destruction, they began to take Ezekiel seriously. He must have seemed like a madman to them before.
It was during the second stage of his prophetic career that Ezekiel spoke to the people expressly of hope, of a future return to the promised land, and of reconciliation with God. Like every true prophet of God, Ezekiel said two things, the bad news and the good news, sin and salvation. Whenever you hear either half of this message without the other, you know the messenger is not a true prophet.
Henri Daniel-Rops (Israel and the Ancient World, pp 214ff) confirms this:
While not belittling past faults (in fact, he continually called them to mind), he stressed not sin, but redemption. "Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, says the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?" (Ezek. 18:23) He becomes the great prophet of hope, telling the exiles of God's determination to set them free and bring them home. He looks forward to the time when the New Covenant will be made, in the kingdom of the Messiah to come: "They shall dwell in the land where your fathers dwelt that I gave to my servant Jacob; they and their children and their children's children shall dwell there for ever; and David my servant shall be their prince forever. I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will bless them and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. My dwelling place shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Then the nations will know that I the Lord sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary is in the midst of them for evermore." (Ezek. 37:25-28)
Ezekiel devotes the whole of his 18th chapter to the question of personal responsibility, and he goes back to this theme again and again. People were used to whole populations being punished, or for children to suffer the consequences of their parents' transgressions. Ezekiel, on the other hand, teaches that a man is responsible for his salvation or condemnation. God offers his love to each one personally, and each must personally respond to it. This free choice brings a personal reward or personal punishment. Nonetheless, he can recover lost grace by being converted, which is the true purpose of any punishment God metes out: "But if a wicked man turns away from all his sins which he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of his transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; for the righteousness which he has done he shall live." (Ezek. 18:21-22) (cf Fuentes, p 122 & Daniel-Rops, p 216).
Barry L. Bandstra explains (Restored Temple (40-48)):
Ezekiel, remember, was a priest as well as a prophet. His most elaborate depiction of restoration naturally involved that most sacred of areas, the temple complex in Jerusalem. In a vision dated to 573 B.C.E. (twenty-five years after the beginning of his exile, and twenty years after his call vision) he was given a vision of the restoration of the nation. The plan for restoration placed the temple at the center of the nation both physically and spiritually. Placing the temple in the center allowed for the dwelling of Yahweh, consistently called the "glory of Yahweh" in Ezekiel, in the middle of the people.
The following are some of the important features of the restoration program as expressed in Ezekiel's vision. A rebuilt temple would be located in the geographical center of the tribes, which would be arrayed around it symmetrically, three to a side. The rights and privileges of serving in the temple itself would be given exclusively to priests from the line of Zadok of the family of Aaron.
The ground would be revived. A river of fresh water would flow from under the temple, and run all the way to the Dead Sea, in the process making the sea wholesome and the surrounding wilderness a paradise. Jerusalem would once again be the center of attention. Its name would be changed to Yahweh is there because he will again take up residence.
Overall, Ezekiel had a comprehensive vision of the need for holiness and how it would be accomplished. He had a priest's sense of the need for devotion and worship centering on the presence of Yahweh in the temple. He combined this with a prophet's attention to inward spiritual renewal and devotion. His combination of devotion, as defined by the Mosaic covenant, along with an openness to the work of the spirit of God, makes him a major figure in the emergence of Judaism.
Peter Kreeft (You Can Understand the Bible, pp 67-68) writes:
There were three waves of deportation of the Jews to Babylon: in 606, 597, and 586 BC. Then there were three waves of return. The first, in 538, was led by Zerubbabel; the second, in 457, was led by Ezra; and the third, in 444 BC, was led by Nehemiah.
The period of time covered in Ezra and Nehemiah was crucial in world history. The philosopher Karl Jaspers calls it "the axial period" in the history of the world. About the same time the Book of Ezra was written (between 457 and 444 BC), Gautama Buddha lived in India (around 560-480 BC), Confucius (551-497 BC) and Lao Tzu (dates unknown) in China, and Socrates (470-399 BC) in Greece. All over the world at this time, great founders of spiritual traditions are calling their people to reconstitute their traditions on more inward and moral foundations. All over the world, spiritual history is turning a corner.
Yet only a small remnant of Jews returned from exile: a little less than fifty thousand out of the two or three million who were permitted to go. Imagine freeing three million prisoners and over 2,950,000 stay in their comfortable cells! During the first exodus, most of the Jews complained to Moses that life in Egypt had been more comfortable than the purgatorial wandering through the wilderness. We usually prefer comfort to freedom. Life in Babylon had been comparatively easy, but the trek to Jerusalem was 900 miles long--and there were no buses or trains. Not only that, but once they arrived, they faced a ruined land, city, temple, along with the formidable task of rebuilding.
Those who returned were from the southern kingdom, the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Levi. Then ten tribes of the northern kingdom are "the ten lost tribes of Israel". But a few representatives of these tribes probably returned as well; the "lost tribes" were not totally lost.
The Second Exodus under King Cyrus of Persia ... took place when King Cyrus of Persia overthrew the Jews' conqueror, Babylon, and issued a decree freeing them to return home. A prophecy of this event appears in Isaiah (44:28-45:4), which even mentions Cyrus by name.
Why did the Jews have to return to Israel? Simple: it was God's plan that the Messiah was to be born in Israel, not in Babylon. See the prophecy of Micheas (5:2).
More from Peter Kreeft (You Can Understand the Bible, pp 69-70):
Christ is symbolised in Ezra in the same way He is in Exodus. As Moses is a Christ-symbol, leading God's chosen people out of captivity and Egypt (sin and worldliness) and to the promised land (Heaven), so Ezra, Nehemiah, and Zerubbabel do the same. (Zerubbabel was also part of the direct Davidic messianic line: see I Chronicles 3:17-19 and Matthew 1:12-13).
...Ezra was a priest, in fact, a direct descendant of Aaron, the first high priest. He was also a scribe; thus he collected most of the books of the Old Testament. Tradition also ascribes to him Psalm 119, the longest psalm and the one in which the law is mentioned in every verse.
Nehemiah had been the cupbearer of Artaxerxes, king of Persia. (A cupbearer tasted the king's wine to prevent him from being poisoned.) This position meant that Nehemiah was a trusted official of the Persian court. He was allowed to leave Persia and lead the last group of Jews home from exile. (Ezra had already returned with the second group of exiles thirteen years earlier.)
Once home, Nehemiah challenged and organised the Jews to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, for a city without a wall was hardly a city at all. It could be conquered easily. Like most saintly people, Nehemiah had to overcome opposition from his enemies and even from his friends. Yet the task was completed (the wall rebuilt) in only fifty-two days--a feat that so impressed Israel's enemies that they knew God had to be on Israel's side.
Ezra and Nehemiah made up a team. While Nehemiah rebuilt the city wall, Ezra rebuilt his people's spirit. When he discovered that the people and even the priests had intermarried with Gentile women, he put a stop to this practice and led the people in repenting and recommitting themselves to the law. This separation from other peoples was important because Israel had been chosen by God to be holy (the word means to be "set apart"), different from the world, to accomplish God's plan of salvation for the world.
Peter Kreeft continues
Rebuilding the spiritual health of the people within the city wall was capped by the providential, nearly miraculous finding of a copy of the Scriptures, the Book of the Law. (The story of the preservation of all the books of the Bible makes one of the most amazing and exciting stories in literary history.) Nehemiah read this book to the people during a marathon, all-day session, and the people wept with joy. (Contrast our reaction to an even slightly long Scripture reading at Mass!)
The reaction of the people to the reading of the law was freely to bind themselves to it, to their covenant with God. Now everything was restored except the king: the people were back, their commitment to be set apart as God's chosen people was restored, the law was re-revealed, the city wall the holy city of Jerusalem and its temple were all rebuilt. The kingly line was intact, but the true king who was to spring from that line, the Messiah, would not be a political ruler, as most of the Jews, even His own disciples expected. (See the disciples' foolishly political question to Him even after the Resurrection in Acts 1:6.)