Real Restoration: Falling Away and the Beginning of Exile

The story of the fall of Judea is familiar. But we need to reflect on some elements that aren’t covered in the usual histories.

After Solomon, the nation of Israel was divided into two kingdoms, the Northern Kingdom or Israel, under Jeroboam, and the Southern Kingdom or Judah, under Rehoboam. Jerusalem and the Temple were in Judah, all God’s prophets came from Judah, and Judah took longer to fall away than did Israel.

Israel was ruled by a succession of dynasties, with the kingship passing by assassination and intrigue every generation or two. The sons of David remained on the throne of David until Jerusalem fell to Nebuchadnezzar.

Israel was, of course, taken into Assyrian captivity, but Judah remained independent for a while. And Judah has a handful of kings loyal to God, although most were idolaters. But the reformer kings ultimately failed. Hezekiah, for example, led a return to the worship of God, but his son Manasseh reversed all the good done by Hezekiah —

(2Ki 21:2-7 ESV) 2 And [Manasseh] did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel. 3 For he rebuilt the high places that Hezekiah his father had destroyed, and he erected altars for Baal and made an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel had done, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. 4 And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “In Jerusalem will I put my name.” 5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. 6 And he burned his son as an offering and used fortune-telling and omens and dealt with mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger. 7 And the carved image of Asherah that he had made he set in the house of which the LORD said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever.”

Ponder this one. One of the great kings in Judean history, the great reformer Hezekiah, was succeeded by a son who reversed all his decisions and led Judah deeper into idolatry! Why?

It’s easy to suggest that Hezekiah wasn’t a very good father — which is likely true — but why is it that nearly all the reformer kings failed to extend their reforms to the next generation. Consider Josiah. Regarding his son, the scriptures say —

(2Ki 23:37 ESV) 37 And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.

Again, Josiah was a one-generation reformer. Jehoshaphat was a good king, like his father Asa. And that’s about it. Otherwise, the good kings failed to pass their loyalty to God to the next generation.

I think it’s because the kings were politically astute men. As we saw in the case of David, a weak king would soon find the people in rebellion. There are always plenty of claimants to the throne willing to challenge a king without popular support. The reformer kings tore down the “high places” and altars to the false gods, but they failed to capture the hearts of the people. Had the people preferred God to Baal, the kings would have been true to God. But the kings wanted to gain popular support to keep their power, wealth, and wives.

Here’s a typical passage —

(2Ki 15:1-4 ESV) In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Azariah the son of Amaziah, king of Judah, began to reign. 2 He was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. 3 And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. 4 Nevertheless, the high places were not taken away. The people still sacrificed and made offerings on the high places.

(2Ki 15:35 ESV) 35 Nevertheless, the high places were not removed. The people still sacrificed and made offerings on the high places. He built the upper gate of the house of the LORD.

The government cannot force people to love God. Not even an absolute monarch can do that. It’s not the altars that make the people sacrifice to Baal. Ultimately, Judah didn’t have a high-places problem, but a heart problem.

But the problem wasn’t just idolatry in the sense of worshiping idols. The prophets make clear that the nation also failed to honor God’s commands regarding the poor and vulnerable —

(Isa 1:9-20 ESV) 9 If the LORD of hosts had not left us a few survivors, we should have been like Sodom, and become like Gomorrah.  10 Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom! Give ear to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah!

11 “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the LORD; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats.

12 “When you come to appear before me, who has required of you this trampling of my courts?  13 Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations– I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.  14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them.  15 When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.  16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil,  17 learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.

18 “Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.  19 If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land;  20 but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

Verses 9 – 10 compare the Israelites to Sodom and Gomorrah! What was their sin? Sodomy? No, it was a failure to “seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause”! Failing to correct the oppression or provide justice is a sin comparable to the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah — with the implication being that the same fate will result!

Thus, v. 18 promises forgiveness if they repent, but that, in v. 19, they will be “eaten by the sword” if they continue in rebellion. Yes, idolatry is one reason Judah was sent into the Exile, but so is a lack of concern for the poor and needy — not just a failure to give alms, but a failure to provide a just society.

They did not repent, and so God chose to send Judah into Babylonian exile (Exile). And the Exile is a much bigger deal than we Christians tend to think. You see, Exile meant the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, the departure of the Glory of God from Jerusalem, the loss of Judah’s inheritance — the Promised Land, and the apparent failure of God to honor his many promises to Abraham. How would Abraham have countless descendants if Judah is destroyed? How would God bless the nations through a people removed from the Promised Land and once again in need of redemption?

God dealt with these important questions in a vast outpouring of prophecy. I’ll focus primarily on Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. Isaiah wrote before the Exile. Jeremiah wrote from Judah during the time Nebuchadnezzar was marching on Jerusalem. Ezekiel wrote from Babylon, having been among the first captives taken there. All three make for fascinating, page-turning reading.

Now here’s the deal. This outpouring of prophecy is not just a bunch of Messianic proof texts. Rather, they are part of God’s progressive revelation of himself and his redemptive plan. Therefore, they necessarily speak of the Messiah, but they speak of much, much more. Indeed, there’s hardly a paragraph of the New Testament that doesn’t refer back to the prophets. Much of the new covenant is explained in the prophets — and the New Testament often assumes that we already know those parts. But we don’t.

I’ll only be able to hit some highlights here and there, just enough to give a flavor of how the Old Testament prophets anticipate the new covenant. But perhaps it will be enough to show the flow of the Story. You see, the Exile leads to the new covenant, because the Exile demonstrates the inadequacy of the Law of Moses. More precisely, the Exile shows the inadequacy of the Jews’ efforts to circumcise their own hearts.

Man cannot be redeemed by law, even if there’s an absolute monarch placed in charge of imposing the law on God’s people. Mere human power will not get the job done. That is, God’s law, enforced by men, does not lead to redemption. It leads to exile.