20. The Exile and Return

What the Story Says

1. What nation did God send to destroy the kingdom of Israel?

   God sent the Assyrians to destroy the kingdom of Israel. The Assyrians were very cruel. They killed many of the Israelites and took the rest of them to Assyria (#20-02), (#20-03).

2. Who did the Assyrians bring to live in the land of Israel?

   The Assyrians brought foreigners to live in the land of Israel. These foreigners married the Israelites who were left in the land. Their descendants were called Samaritans (#20-04).

3. What did the people in the kingdom of Judah do when they saw how God had punished the kingdom of Israel?

   The people in the kingdom of Judah continued to worship idols, including the gods of the Canaanites. They refused to believe the prophets whom God sent to warn them (#20-05).

4. What nation did God send to attach the kingdom of Judah?

   God sent the Babylonians to attack the kingdom of Judah. As a result, the king of Judah promised to pay a lot of money each year to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of the Babylonians (#20-06).

5. What did Nebuchadnezzar do to the kingdom of Judah when they rebelled against him?

   Nebuchadnezzar sent his army to destroy Jerusalem and the temple. They took away all the treasures of the city. They also killed the king’s sons and made him blind. Then they led him away to Babylon (#20-07), (#20-08).

6. Who remained in the land of Judah during the Exile?

   The Exile is the time when many of the people of Judah were forced to go away to Babylon. During this time, Nebuchadnezzar left only the poorest people in the land (#20-09).

7. Did God forget his people after he punished them by sending them into exile?

   God did not forget his people as they were away from the land. He continued to send his prophets to speak to them for him. He promised that they would return to the land after seventy years in Babylon (#20-10).

8. How did the Jews return to the land of Judah?

   God caused the Persians to defeat the Babylonians. Cyrus, the Persian king, allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem. He gave them money to rebuild the Temple. Many of the Jews returned to Jerusalem. They also rebuilt the walls of the city (#20-12), (#20-13).

What the Story Means to Us

1. Does it seem right that God would send the cruel, evil Assyrians to destroy his people?

   God warned the kingdom of Israel that he would punish them, but they would not repent. Therefore, God sent the Assyrians to destroy them. Even though the Assyrians were a cruel nation, God allowed them to defeat Israel in order to punish Israel. Later, however, he punished the Assyrians by allowing the Babylonians to defeat them.

2. Why do you think the people in the kingdom of Judah refused to repent after the Assyrians destroyed the kingdom of Israel?

   People normally think they are not as bad as other people. Perhaps the people of the kingdom of Judah thought they were better than the people in the kingdom of Israel. They thought God would not punish them in the same way. But they were wrong. God sent his prophets to tell them that he would punish them if they did not repent. And he punished them just as he said that he would.

3. Why do you think the Babylonians were able to destroy the Temple in Jerusalem?

   The Temple was the place where God stayed with the Israelites. However, God did not stay with them because they sinned against him and worshiped other gods. Therefore, God left the temple and allowed the Babylonians to destroy it.

4. Why did the prophets say that the Israelites would only be in exile for seventy years?

   God decided to allow the Jews to return to Judah after seventy years in exile in Babylon. He also decided to cause Cyrus and the Persians to defeat Babylon in order to let the Jews leave and go home to Judah. Since God knew before that he was going to do this, he sent his prophets to tell the Jews that he would do these things.

5. How were the Jews able to rebuild the Temple?

   God provided everything the Jews needed to rebuild the Temple. He even caused Cyrus, the king of the Persians, to give them the money they needed to repair the Temple. God wanted to live with his people there again. So he made it possible for them to rebuild the Temple where he would live with them.

Summary

The people in both of the kingdoms refused to believe that God would punish them. Even after God sent the Assyrians to destroy the kingdom of Israel, the people in the kingdom of Judah refuse to repent and obey God. Therefore, God send the Babylonians to destroy them as well. They were in exile in Babylon for seventy years before God caused a new king to allow them to return to Jerusalem. God made it possible for them to rebuild the Temple and the city of Jerusalem and to worship him there again.