When the people of Jerusalem were taken from their homes to Babylon, there were boys and girls among them, who grew up in the enemy’s land.
They were not all taken at the same time, but each journey must have been a sad one, with soldiers on guard over them. This enemy had many horses, but we do not know how their captives traveled (Hab. 1:6,86For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs. (Habakkuk 1:6)
8Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat. (Habakkuk 1:8)).
Babylon was about six hundred miles northeast of Jerusalem. It was one of the greatest cities of olden times, with grand palaces, temples, and gardens, yet even the finest city could not be a happy one for captives. Some were put in prison; many were set to work for the king. He especially wanted the most healthy of the boys taught his language and trained to serve him; and he gave orders for them to have the best meats and wine.
Among the boys was one named Daniel, who with three others wished to obey the Lord, and they knew His law to their people not to eat certain meats, and His warning about wine.
So Daniel asked the keeper for simple food and water, and these boys proved healthier than those who ate the king’s choice foods. God. gave them wisdom, so the king found they were wiser than his wise men, and he later made them rulers.
The temples of that city were for idols, but these boys did not bow to idols, but prayed to the Lord.
So when you hear of Daniel in the lion’s den, or other stories of these young people, you will know that they were of the captives from the land of Judah; and we find the Lord greatly helped those who trusted in Him, and they told His words to the kings and others.
Perhaps it was the saddest for the older people, who knew it was because they had refused to obey God, that He had let them be taken captives. Some of them were trained singers who were too sad to sing. Their captors, to mock them, and to Le entertained said,
“Sing us a song, of Zion.” That was a hill of Jerusalem where they had sung before the ark. The men, said,
“How can we sing the songs of Zion in a strange land?”
Still they had comfort, for Jeremiah wrote a letter to tell them of God’s care, telling them to pray to Him, and spoke of a return to Judah (Jer. 29:1-201Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the residue of the elders which were carried away captives, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon; 2(After that Jeconiah the king, and the queen, and the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the carpenters, and the smiths, were departed from Jerusalem;) 3By the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent unto Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon) saying, 4Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon; 5Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them; 6Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished. 7And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace. 8For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed. 9For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them, saith the Lord. 10For thus saith the Lord, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. 11For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. 12Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. 13And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. 14And I will be found of you, saith the Lord: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the Lord; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive. 15Because ye have said, The Lord hath raised us up prophets in Babylon; 16Know that thus saith the Lord of the king that sitteth upon the throne of David, and of all the people that dwelleth in this city, and of your brethren that are not gone forth with you into captivity; 17Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Behold, I will send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil. 18And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, and an astonishment, and an hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations whither I have driven them: 19Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the Lord, which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but ye would not hear, saith the Lord. 20Hear ye therefore the word of the Lord, all ye of the captivity, whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon: (Jeremiah 29:1‑20)). Ezekiel and others also told them God’s words (Ezek. 1:11Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. (Ezekiel 1:1)).
The words of God all came true, and we read of a, time when some of them and their children sang His praise again in Jerusalem.
There is a record of the exact numbers of these captives in Jeremiah 52:28-3028This is the people whom Nebuchadrezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year three thousand Jews and three and twenty: 29In the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar he carried away captive from Jerusalem eight hundred thirty and two persons: 30In the three and twentieth year of Nebuchadrezzar Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred forty and five persons: all the persons were four thousand and six hundred. (Jeremiah 52:28‑30), and in 2 Kings 25:10-1710And all the army of the Chaldees, that were with the captain of the guard, brake down the walls of Jerusalem round about. 11Now the rest of the people that were left in the city, and the fugitives that fell away to the king of Babylon, with the remnant of the multitude, did Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard carry away. 12But the captain of the guard left of the poor of the land to be vinedressers and husbandmen. 13And the pillars of brass that were in the house of the Lord, and the bases, and the brazen sea that was in the house of the Lord, did the Chaldees break in pieces, and carried the brass of them to Babylon. 14And the pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered, took they away. 15And the firepans, and the bowls, and such things as were of gold, in gold, and of silver, in silver, the captain of the guard took away. 16The two pillars, one sea, and the bases which Solomon had made for the house of the Lord; the brass of all these vessels was without weight. 17The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, and the chapiter upon it was brass: and the height of the chapiter three cubits; and the wreathen work, and pomegranates upon the chapiter round about, all of brass: and like unto these had the second pillar with wreathen work. (2 Kings 25:10‑17). After this we find these people from Judah called Jews, as those of their race are still called. The first mention of that name is in 2 Kings 16:66At that time Rezin king of Syria recovered Elath to Syria, and drave the Jews from Elath: and the Syrians came to Elath, and dwelt there unto this day. (2 Kings 16:6).
Now those who wish to sing a praise to God, do not wait to do so in one certain city, for their songs are of a Saviour for all, Who was promised in the days of the captives and before (Isa. 53. See 2 Chron. 36, Esther 1, and Dan. 1).
ML 11/12/1939