The narrative:

On August 14^th that year, which was the19th year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard and an official of the Babylonian king, arrived in Jerusalem. He burned down the Temple of the LORD, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem. He destroyed all the important buildings in the city. Then he supervised the entire Babylonian army as they tore down the walls of Jerusalem on every side.

Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took as exiles the rest of the people who remained in the city, the defectors who had declared their allegiance to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the population. But the captain of the guard allowed some of the poorest people to stay behind to care for the vineyards and the fields. 2 Kings 25:8-12.

Observations:

• It’s Nebuzaradan (“Nebo has given seed”), not King Nebuchadnezzar (“may Nebo protect the crown”), who is present in person to carry this out. Nebuzaradan is a high ranking field captain.
• The Temple and Solomon’s palace, each of which would to this day have been world marvels, were burned to the ground.
• All of the important buildings were razed.
• All of the houses in Jerusalem were destroyed.
• All of the walls surrounding Jerusalem, on every side, were torn down.
• The city was not merely captured or rendered uninhabitable, but was utterly decimated.
• There were living in the city defectors who were loyal to Babylon.
• Nearly all of the people were deported, loyal or not. Defection did not help.
• Only the poorest were allowed to stay. Here is an instance where poverty was an advantage. These poor represented the seed, the remnant, to whom the exiles would return.
• The impressive city that had taken generations and vast wealth to build was obliterated overnight. The glory of humans is vulnerable, and does not last.
• What does last is the vineyards and the fields, and the people to care for them. Life.

Applications:

• Distinguish between wood, hay and stubble that will burn, from gold, silver and precious stones that will not. Humanity’s best is the flammable former, especially when God judges it. Only people last for eternity. Only investments in people and the Kingdom will last.
• The best we can do in the world economy is subject to being wiped out in a moment. How wise were Jesus’ words, when He said to store up treasure that will last for eternity, rather than that which is subject to decay, theft and destruction.
• The exile was a reverse exodus:

The exodus delivered from slavery, instituted worship and civic structure, led to the building of a stunning tabernacle and later a breathtaking Temple, the establishment of a nation, and the creation of an identity of a people that continues to this day.

The exile delivered people into slavery, ended Temple worship, obliterated civil governance, destroyed iconic structures, and ended, at least for a season, the existence of a separate nation state.

But, the identity of the people created in the exodus continued and survived the exile. God was not finished with this people He loved and created. The exile was not the end. It was a severe punishment, to be sure, but not to its own end, rather to a grander purpose – restoration.

No discipline seems pleasant at the time. But afterwards there is a harvest of peace and righteousness.

God builds up. In His building up He sometimes punishes, but always lovingly, and always proportional, and always for a redemptive, loving purpose.

What God is always after is the heart. He seeks the one whose heart is truly after His own heart. The weave of God’s interaction and intervention with humanity, corporately and individually, is always for this purpose. Temporal things may be lost in the process, because there is something much more important at stake.

The exile was the nadir of Israel’s existence. But it was not the end. It was toward a good and loving purpose. It was toward God restoring His people unto Himself. This is a restoration that began 70 years later in the Cyrus/Ezra/Nehemiah period, just as God promised, and is still continuing even now.

We all experience seasons of blessings and seasons of difficulty, more or less. In every season, our response is not to be governed by season or the circumstances. Nor should we conclude every bad event is God’s discipline. There could be lots of explanations, or even no explanation. But in any event (literally), our response is to respond to God’s perineal call on us to Him. In the wise words of one of my heroes, Lonnie Barker, our job is to live each day with eternity in view. Even the most cataclysmic disaster – or seeming grand success – is dwarfed when scaled against God’s eternal view.

The agent of the sacking of Jerusalem was Nebuzaradan, whose name means “Nebo [Babylonian deity] has given seed.” A seed is tiny but holds promise of great life. In Jerusalem a seed, a remnant remained, the poor, the seemingly unimportant, the marginalized. Their presence and role was vital, to care for the life source of vineyards and fields, to preserve a place of return and restoration.

Look for the day of return, of restoration. Look for the seeds intended for future restoration, purpose, and life itself, especially following disaster. Sow them. Care for them. For eternal, Kingdom purposes of restoring many to God Himself. Even after being visited by disaster, sowing for the Kingdom is promised to yield a harvest of life.

Lord, in the midst of life’s circumstances, help me see Your purposes.  Help me know how to invest wisely in ways that will bring people into restoration of relationship with You. 

~~~