This 18 part series explores the main moments in the Bible. This is a long story that takes place over thousands of years. It’s the story of all the ways that God has been trying to rescue and bless and love God’s people since the beginning of time. It’s the story that has been passed down and shared with billions of people. It’s a story that was written for everyone to hear, and at the same time it’s a story written specifically just for you. This chapter of the story is about Exile and the Prophet's Hopefulness.
The Assyrians, a powerful army, besieged Jerusalem and defeated Israel. Many of the people of Israel were forced into exile. The fall of Israel and the forced exile of God’s People was a time of great suffering and pain. It was as if the Israelites were back in Egypt once again. In exile, they could not worship God fully. They could not live freely. They were treated as less than human; cut off from their families and their homeland. From their exile in Babylon, the people of God called out– and God heard their cry.
God sent prophets who brought messages of hope to the people in the midst of their suffering. The prophets told not just of God restoring God’s people; not just of celebrations and feasts of rich food; but the prophets even told of God’s ability to defeat death itself. The message of the prophets gave the struggling people of God a reason to look toward the future with hope in their hearts, because the prophet’s words reminded them all of the goodness and the power of God.
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