Why Isn't Israel In Captivity Today? - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 1 Chronicles 9:1,

"All Israel was listed in the genealogies recorded in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. They were taken captive to Babylon because of their unfaithfulness."

We read here that all Israel was taken captive to Babylon for a reason. The reason provided this action of the Lord was their unfaithfulness. It was as a nation that Israel was found unfaithful and suffered for it.

As a nation today, Israel is unfaithful in its rejection of Jesus Christ as her Messiah. They reject the notion that Jesus Christ is God's one and only Son. As a nation today, Israel is yet again unfaithful since the time Jesus came and died for the sins of mankind. Why are they allowed to exist today? Why are they not taken captive or destroyed by the Lord as they were before? Better yet, why did the Lord allow Israel to reoccupy Palestine as a nation in 1948?

It is important to understand the reason for the Lord's actions when they were taken captive by Babylon. 

Abraham was a man of faith, a faith the Lord wanted held up to the world for us all to see and recognize as that which would be the basis to grant access into his family. Many hold the mistaken belief that we earn access into God's family by behaving ourselves. The reality is that none of us have ever lived a well-behaved life in the eyes of God. The Lord has determined that all who embrace him in faith will be granted access to heaven following this life. This faith of Abraham is embodied in the gospel handed down to us from the Lord himself.

Due to Abraham's faith, and with God's decision to use a people to bring about his redemption of all of mankind - a people he would use to help the world recognize what he was doing, the Lord chose the offspring of Abraham as his chosen people. That chosen people would not be all of Abraham's offspring but those through the lineage of the patriarchs, Abraham, Issac and Jacob. The twelve sons of Jacob became the twelve tribes of Israel and the people with which God entered into a covenant with.

The purpose of the covenant was to establish within Israel the tools God would use to roll out his program of redemption. However, in the life of the nation, when Israel became unfaithful, they became useless for the progressive roll-out of the Lord's redemption of mankind. He then took the steps necessary to get the nation back on a track to where the Lord could again work through the nation - hence, their captivity in Babylon. Following seventy years of captivity, the Lord arranged for the return of the Jews back to their homeland and set in motion the pieces and parts making up the preparation for the advent of his Son, Jesus Christ.

If we simply dismiss the captivity of Judah as the Lord spanking them because they were not behaving, we will not understand why the Lord did what he did specifically then, and why he is working differently in the nation today.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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