The Holy Scriptures are very clear regarding the Captivity in Babylon, where God through his prophets He constantly warned of the consequences of turning away from the Lord and going after idolatry and the worship of other gods.
As a consequence of the terrible apostasy of Israel, the Lord punished his people by sending them captive to another nation, so if you want to know what is the captivity of Israel in Babylon?, keep reading this article.
The Babylonian captivity or Babylonian exile is a reference to the time in which the Hebrew people of the kingdom of Judah were exiled under the domination of the Babylonian Empire for a period of 70 years and which took place in the sixth century BC. c.
How long was the Babylonian captivity?
This issue is the subject of debate among experts. Jeremiah clearly prophesied that the Babylonian exile would last 70 years (Jeremiah 25:11,12; 29:10-14).
However, when considering the date from the fall of Jerusalem to the permission to return given by Cyrus, then we have approximately 50 years.
But if one considers the date of King Nebuchadnezzar’s first invasion of Judah in 605 BC, for which Daniel was taken captive, until the decree of Cyrus, then the estimated period is very close to 70 years. This was the interpretation of the writer of Chronicles and the prophet Zechariah (2 Chronicles 36:20-23; Zecchariah 1:12).
For those who argue that the dates do not fit exactly, it is necessary to understand that the number 70 has a very large symbolic charge, that is, it should not be interpreted only as a simple chronology.
This beginning can be seen in Daniel’s 70-week prophecy (Daniel 9), where this initial 70-year prophecy was extended seven times due to the unrepentant people in exile.
Why were the people of Israel taken captive to Babylon?
The exile of the people of Israel was the consequence of their rebellion and apostasy against the commandments of God. The Jews moved away and forgot about God, also ignoring the prophets who announced repentance, and they went after pagan gods.
Thus, the Lord had prophesied by prophets like jeremiah that if the people did not repent of their sins, the King of Babylon would come and take the people captive into servitude and slavery (Jeremiah 25:11-12).
The prophetically announced tragedy occurred, because the people completely separated from God and did not listen to the voice of the prophets, causing the destruction of Jerusalem and three large deportations to Babylon.
How was the captivity of Israel in Babylon?
Basically, the captivity consisted of the fact that Babylon selected men and women from among thousands of inhabitants of Israel to submit them as slaves or as wives and concubines.
Usually, when a nation was defeated, its territory was destroyed and most of its inhabitants killed. And this was believed to mean that the deity of that nation had also been defeated (Isaiah 52:2-5; Jeremiah 50:29).
✅ Important fact: It was the Assyrians who began to use deportation as the main way to treat the citizens of the subjugated nations. By dominating a certain kingdom, they captured its inhabitants and transferred them to another part of the empire. Like the Assyrians, the Babylonians also used the same technique.
Israel’s captivity
In the history of the people of Israel, there are several occasions in which the Hebrews were far from their land. If we consider the period that they remained in Egypt as a type of captivity, since they were not allowed to leave, then since before they settled in Palestine the Israelites have already experienced this reality.
Thus, we can understand that the Bible mentions three great captivities that the people of Israel had to face: the captivity in Egypt (slavery of 430 years), the captivity in Assyria (of the Northern kingdom) and the captivity in Babylon (the kingdom of the North). South).
Regarding the captivity in Assyria, it happened in the year 722 BC when the city of Samaria fell under the Assyrian rule of Sargon II. We must remember that at that time the kingdom of Israel had already divided into the northern kingdom, Israel, and the southern kingdom, Judah.
Samaria was the capital of the northern kingdom, so its fall represented a total defeat for Israel. Assyrian documents indicate that at least 27,290 Israelites were deported to other cities (2 Kings 17:6; 18:11).
How many deportations did the people of Israel suffer to Babylon?
After some 135 years of the fall of Samaria (northern kingdom) and the exile imposed on the inhabitants of the northern kingdom, in the year 586 BC it was the turn of the southern kingdom to be defeated, and Jerusalem to fall under the rule of Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon (2 Kings 25:1-7).
Before that, some small groups had already been captured and exiled, but the great deportation actually took place beginning in 587 BC. In fact, there were three significant deportations from Judah by the Babylonians.
First deportation from Israel
The first deportation occurred in 605 BC, when Nebuchadnezzar advanced against Jehoiachin (2 Kings 24:1-24; 2 Chronicles 36:5-7). It was during this invasion that the prophet Daniel and his friends Ananias, Misael, and Azariah were taken captive to Babylon.
Second and third deportation from Israel
The second deportation occurred in the year 597 BC (2 Kings 24:10-14) and the third and largest of all, occurred in the year 586 BC.
It is interesting to know that of the last five kings that Judah had, three were taken captive: King Jehoahaz, to Egypt; King Jehoiakim and king zedekiah to Babylon.
The end of the captivity in Babylon
Captivity in Babylon was not easy for the Jews. However, as time passed, the people ended up getting used to the Babylonian culture and when the 70 years of exile were over, many never returned to Jerusalem.
Babylon was destroyed by the Medes and Persians and King Cyrus decreed that the exiled Jews could return to the land of Judah, in particular Jerusalem, to rebuild the Temple.
Unfortunately, many did not want to return to Jerusalem, however, the Lord raised up men like Zerubbabel, Ezra and nehemiahwho had the burden of returning to Jerusalem and rebuilding the walls of the city and the Temple.
The Babylonian captivity and the return of the Jewish people to the land of Judah are a sample of the beautiful relationship of faithfulness and mercy between the God of Israel and his repentant people and are a figure in the actuality of coming out of Babylon (Revelation 18:4 ), that is, all religious structures and return to Jerusalem, that is, the primitive church.
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