In 586 B.C., the unthinkable happened to the citizens of the kingdom of Judah. The city of Jerusalem, the one which God appointed for Him to dwell with His people, was utterly destroyed by the pagan nation of Babylon. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob sent the Babylonians to desecrate his temple and to devastate his people. He did that to his people because they forgot God, the God of heaven and earth, the Most High, the God over Jew and Gentile, in order to worship other false and dead gods. Instead of living according to the Law, and being a light to the Gentiles, a glory to Israel and an example to the nations, they became just like the nations.

God sent the Israelite nation into Babylonian captivity and exile that year. They were forced to travel far away from their homeland and dwell along the river Chebar. They were shocked and dismayed over what happened. They wondered why God would allow such death and destruction to take place among the Israelite people. In short, God used this seemingly unexpected and terrible event to capture Israel’s attention and draw their attention back to Him.

The exile event effectively purged idolatry from the hearts of God’s people. They never forgot the penalty of turning away from Yahweh to follow other gods. They were more faithful to God in Babylon than in Jerusalem. But in order for that to happen, God had to send them into the wilderness of Babylon and into confusion.

This week, we will examine Jeremiah 29 and other passages to find out how God disciplined yet never abandoned His people – both during the Babylonian exile and also in today’s world. God also uses terrible events in our lives not only to create a longing in our hearts for a Savior and Lord but also to draw our attention back to God.