I have always thought of Israel’s exile as being a 70-year thing. I struggled to figure out how to count those 70 years (is it 605 to 536 or 586 to 516?), but the exile ended when the Israelites came back from Babylon and rebuilt their temple.
I’ve changed my mind in the last few years as I understood Isaiah better. The exile certainly included a physical deportation from the land, but it was much more than that. The exile continued even until Jesus’s day. Though Jesus was born in the land of Israel, the people were still in a state of exile by virtue of (1) their lack of national sovereignty; (2) their estrangement from God; (3) the non-fulfillment of prophecies that describe the end of the exile.
To give but one example, Jesus fulfilled Isaiah 7:14-25 by being the child born in a land in impoverished conditions. Instead of growing up in a Judean palace eating royal fare, he was raised in a rural agricultural village in Galilee.
But the exile did not end with Jesus’s arrival, because the people did not return to the Lord. This is reflected, among other places, in Jesus’s lament over Jerusalem:
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” (Matt 23:37-39).
The exile is not over today. Though millions of Jews have returned to their homeland over the last one hundred years, they continue to be in exile. This is reflected not only in their continued rejection of their God (and even the religious would acknowledge this, though we would disagree on who all is guilty in that rejection), but also in Israel’s lack of peace. It’s true that Israel has “sovereignty” over its land, but it’s a limited sovereignty, limited by the nations around them still at war with them, and limited by the Arabs within that still are at war with them. They don’t have true sovereignty because their decisions aren’t truly free. As much as they don’t like it, in many ways they are subject to the U.S., the U.N., and the E.U.
Anyway, my recent thoughts about these matters was stirred by a very interesting interview with Israel’s Minister of Strategic Affairs. He said this last week:
This is an existential struggle – the War of Independence has not ended. From a historical perspective, all the wars we fought, from 1948 and even before the establishment of the state, up until now, are part of a War of Independence for the existence of a national home for the Jewish people after 2,000 years of exile.
The people of Israel are still waiting for their independence, for their peace, for rest. Israelis may populate large portions of the Promised Land, but Israel is still in exile.
If you ‘re interested in an insider’s perspective on the current state of the Arab-Israeli conflict, I recommend reading that interview.
Maybe Israel is in some ways still in exile, but the 70 years–I belive–refers to a literal 70 year period of time. That seems to be what Daniel thought (Dan 9:1-2).
It’s hard to spiritualize that number.
Benj – good point. I’m still working through this issue, and will as I get to the prophets who lie ahead of me (including both Jeremiah and Daniel), but I suspect that Jeremiah’s 70-year exile was only part of a larger exile. Isaiah’s exile began with the deportation of the northern kingdom and extended beyond 516. Perhaps the 70-year exile was a “minimum” and it did “end” with people back in the land and the rebuilding of the temple, but the larger spiritual exile did not, though it always had the potential (the people never knew the timing of the end but were waiting).
Indeed, Todd, you are right – Israel is still in exile! The times of the Gentiles (Lk 21.24)during which Israel remains under Gentile rule will continue until the end of the tribulation when Christ returns bodily, returns all true Israel to the Land and brings them to salvation. This present time (church age) is not in view in the OT, nor is it included in God’s timeline for Israel. It is like a parenthesis – God is not dealing with national Israel at this time. The Israel clock will start ticking again when the Church is raptured out and the trib begins. The trib marks the last of the 7 years of Daniel’s seventy weeks (Dan 9.24). If one tries to force this church age into OT prophecies about Israel, it never fits. In this age all who believe receive eternal salvation, Jew or Greek, male or female, etc. But among these believing ones are a few of true Israel (physical descendants of Abr, Isaac, Jacob)and one day they will be part of all that true Israel will be in the Millennium and beyond – in the Land, nation of priests, a chosen race, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession. Peter speaks to these Jewish believers. The writer of Hebrews explains to Jewish believers why the physical on-earth kingdom is not here yet, since Messiah has come. God’s promises to Israel are coming! Soon, I hope.
Thanks, Todd, for addressing a much-needed issue.
The 70 years in Babylonia were chastisement for Israel’s covenant unfaithfulness, but in Lev 26.18,24,28 God promised that if the nation continued covenant unfaithfulness after 70 years exile, He would multiply their punishment seven times more. 70 times 7 is 490 years. Israel received 69 weeks of years (483 yrs)up to the time Messiah entered Jerusalem (Palm Sunday) when the crowd proclaimed Him King. The next week they crucified Him (Dan 9.26- He was cut off from the Kingship). The last week of years will be the 7-yr tribulation (Dan 9.27), which will end Israel’s transgression b/c Messiah will then return and bring her to salvation. Daniel (and all OT prophets) had no knowledge of this Church Age – it is not a part of God’s timeline for national Israel.
Karan – thanks for the pointer to Leviticus 26. I don’t remember seeing that before. Of course, I don’t think it would mean much without the 70 weeks, but when that was revealed, you can go back and think more about it.
One small problem, it seems to me. God punishes the nation for 490 years, but after 483, an extra 2000+ years is added during which they are also being punished. In other words, the “seven times” is not literal, or at least it’s not the final word (or, perhaps “it’s the minimum”).
That problem can be remedied with the understanding that nowhere in the OT is a revelation of the Church or the Church Age. It is a mystery, an unknown until Paul reveals it. And because in this present age the Lord is not dealing with NATIONAL Israel, rather He is calling individuals from every tribe, tongue,…, it has no significance to God ‘s plan for His nation. OT is silent about the time beyond Christ ‘s death up to the time of the trib. God will again deal with national Israel when the church is removed and the trib begins. This age is separate from God’s timeline for His chosen nation, which makes sense because His plan for Israel and His plan for the Church are separate and distinct. In the Kingdom Israel will be preeminent over all (Gentile) nations.
Rom 11.25-32 explains that in this age God has hardened much of Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles is complete, which will be at the end of the trib when Gentile rule over Israel ceases forever and Christ takes His Davidic throne in Jerusalem. Zech 1.21 points to Messiah as the final craftsman to destroy Gentile powers that scatter Israel (none in this age). At that time all Israel will be saved and He will purify the nation. That will put into force the New Covenant with Israel, “when I take away their sins.” The OT ignores the extra 2000+ years because Israel as a nation is not in God’s view. They remain “not My people and I am not their God.”