You can find a one-year Bible reading plan here.
Who are the true exiles in the history of Babylon’s destruction of Jerusalem? Are they not those who were captured and sent away from the Promised Land to that far country? Among them were Daniel, Ezekiel, and two kings of Judah. Are these the true exiles?
What about those who were left behind in Jerusalem? According to Ezekiel they considered themselves the choice part while those in Babylon were the castaways. But God showed them that they were no choice part and they would not remain in Jerusalem.
“This city will not be a pot for you, nor will you be the meat in it; I will execute judgment on you at the borders of Israel. And you will know that I am the Lord, for you have not followed my decrees or kept my laws but have conformed to the standards of the nations around you.” Ezekiel 11:11-12
Perhaps those left behind were the true exiles. They were certainly exiled from the presence of God and from the city they loved. Lamentations is a detailed and painful account of the suffering the people experienced when God withdrew his presence and his protection. In this reckoning, those left behind were the true exiles, while those carried away from Jerusalem were the fortunate ones who would be gathered up by God and returned to the land. Lamentations closes with a confession of God’s abandonment and honest doubt about whether he will return.
Why do you always forget us? Why do you forsake us so long? Restore us to yourself, Lord, that we may return; renew our days as of old unless you have utterly rejected us and are angry with us beyond measure. Lamentations 5:20-22
But read the heart of lamentations, chapter 3, to see how this doubt is resolved.
There is one more exile in this week’s readings, and it is God himself. Lamentations shows the results of God’s self-imposed exile from Jerusalem, and Ezekiel vividly describes God’s departure as the prophet pulls back the curtain and shows the spiritual reality.
Then the glory of the Lord departed from over the threshold of the temple and stopped above the cherubim. While I watched, the cherubim spread their wings and rose from the ground, and as they went, the wheels went with them. They stopped at the entrance of the east gate of the Lord’s house, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them…The glory of the Lord went up from within the city and stopped above the mountain east of it. Ezekiel 10:18-19, 11:23
Now we and Ezekiel know why the glory of the Lord appeared in the far country of Babylon at the beginning of Ezekiel’s book: God was in exile from his own Promised Land.
About this blog
During 2020 I plan to post weekly writings covering the material you would read during each week as you proceed from Genesis to Revelation in one year. And so for this week I have covered Jeremiah 51 – Ezekiel 15. Next week I will write about Ezekiel 16 – 33. I hope you will continue along with me. You can find daily posts about these chapters archived here on the Bible in a Year blog. For your convenience here are the previous posts covering Jeremiah 51 – Ezekiel 15.
Surrender or Fight? Jeremiah 52
Therefore I have hope: Lamentations 3
The high cost of sin: Lamentations 5
A watchman must warn: Ezekiel 3
Bible in a Year Blog 