Exile and Return: Judgment and Grace
December 9, 2012 | Allan Klassen | Ezra 1:1-4, Nehemiah 2:1-8

597 BCE was a year of terror for the people of Israel as large numbers of Jews were taken captive by the Chaldeans under Nebuchadnezzar, their beautiful Temple in Jerusalem was totally destroyed, and the first of several deportations to Babylon took place. (A second deportation occurred in 586 BCE.) However, neither was a wholesale capture and exile and some Jews remained in their homeland.

The Jews were finally released from exile when Babylon was conquered by the Persians and the “decree of Cyrus” in 538 BCE allowed the Jews to go back to Jerusalem and rebuild their temple. During their captivity, lasting almost 60 years for some of them (3 generations), some assimilation into the surrounding culture had inevitably taken place. It is always impossible to maintain everything exactly as it was earlier when you are immersed, forcibly or otherwise, in a different culture. During their exile many Jews apparently rose to become powerful and wealthy in Babylon – and indeed, many did not want to return to Jerusalem when they were finally allowed to do so. Perhaps they had become comfortable in their surroundings. Perhaps they had lost the vision of what it meant to be a people of God.

The narratives of Ezra and Nehemiah focus primarily on those Jews who were exiled, and their accounts of the return from exile and the rebuilding of the Temple largely ignore the contributions of those who had not been taken into exile and who had maintained community life and worship back home. (Jer. 41:5; Zech. 7:5) But even more than focusing on the exiles, the focus in these biblical narratives is on the providential hand of God, the same God who had apparently earlier been the power behind Israel’s captors and who now was gracious in their return home.

Because the Temple had been destroyed and because they were far from their homeland, the Jewish people were forced to develop new forms of religion and community. A difficult situation poignantly recorded in Psalm 137. “By the rivers of Babylon – there we sat down and there we wept when we remembered Zion. On the willows there we hung our harps. For there our captors asked us for songs, and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying, sing for us one of the songs of Zion! How could we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?” The old familiar words and practices of worship did not fit in this unfamiliar place. A church building and corporate worship are important parts of most faith communities. Generally following emigrations, be they voluntary or otherwise, as soon as the basic needs of resettlement have been provided, there is agreement that a familiar house of worship is essential and the group freely provides funds and labour for its construction. For the Jews, with no Temple as the center of worship, the synagogues which were established in exile would eventually become the primary focus of Jewish religion and spirituality.

During the exile period some basic concepts of Zoroastrianism, the primary religion of Babylon, entered into Jewish thought. The Torah reached its present form and was written down during the exile. Some argue that pretty much everything which is currently associated with Judaism developed during the time of the Babylonian exile.

A new theology of God was needed to fit or explain their circumstances. Previously, their victories over others had always been attributed to the belief that their god was more powerful than other nations and also more powerful than the gods which these nations worshipped. So, they now needed to reconcile the question of whether their capture and exile meant that their god was no longer all powerful, or even still on their side. If God had deserted them or at least allowed them to be taken captive, then obviously the fault had to lie with them. Acknowledging that they had been sinful and had failed to keep their covenant with God, the Jewish people concluded that their God had decided not to keep his part of the bargain because of them. And having removed his divine protection from them, they had fallen victim to the machinations of other empires. This reasoning led to the prophetic writings coming to play such a key role in the Jewish canon. Indeed, various prophets had been warning the people of Israel and Judah repeatedly about their poor behavior and the consequences which would befall them if they continued in their ways. And more then once the prophets had been right, and should have been heeded.

The writings of Ezra and Nehemiah document the release of the Babylonian exiles, their return to their homeland and the rebuilding of the Temple, the central focus of Jewish worship. The narratives cite the beneficence of their Persian masters and the hiccups in the reestablishment of their community back home. Several emphases might be gleaned from the writings.

As mentioned, exile caused the Jewish people to reconsider God’s role in their life as a chosen people. Their conclusion was that God had allowed them to be taken into exile (had in fact punished them) because of sin and negligent religious behavior on their part. And now finally God had worked through the Persian kings to allow their return home. Captivity and release had both come at the hand of the same God. For them the same God was both an agent of judgment in first allowing them to be taken captive, and a God of grace in allowing them to return home.

Nehemiah speaks of God as the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, whose power had been experienced in the awful judgment of exile. But this God is also the one who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love god and keep the commandments. No banishment, no exile, no sin is too great for the God whose unique characteristic is to trump wrath and judgment with forgiveness and grace!

Patrick earlier in his reflections on the book of Joshua commented on God using the foreigner, Rahab, as an agent of hospitality and protection for the Jews. Anita commented in a similar vein regarding the story of Ruth.

In Ezra and Nehemiah we again have God working through foreigners to accomplish restoration, using Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes to allow the Jews to leave Babylon. And not only did these foreigners allow them to return home, they also provided them assurance of safe passage and considerable gifts to assist in the rebuilding of the Temple. God extended grace to those who returned from exile by means of the kings of Persia.

The Temple and worship were crucial to the life and identity of the Jewish community. Indeed, worship is the center of any thriving community of believers. It connects people with each other and with God, and it connects them with preceding generations. While the form and substance of worship must change to meet the challenges of each new generation, worship needs also to continue and maintain the heritage of forbears. The community set up the altar on its old foundation, but the community that returned from exile was not the same as before they were taken captive. And the new Temple (the Temple of Zerubbabel) was not as extravagant or imposing as its predecessor – and maybe not even as interesting to rubber-necking tourists. Worship must always be a blend of innovation and tradition.

Ezra describes the feverish emotions of the people during the restoration of the Temple (3:10-13). Sounds of trumpets and cymbals, priests in vestments leading worship, and the people responding with shouts of praise and thanksgiving are all joined together when the foundation of the house of the Lord is laid. All are excited to see their center of worship restored. However the text also notes, “But many of the priests and Levites and heads of families, old people who had seen the first house on its foundations, wept with a loud voice when they saw this house.” Perhaps their tears are tears of joy. Perhaps their tears are a response to the realization that once the old is gone, no matter how fervent the attempts, it cannot be entirely recreated, a response to reality that change is inevitable.

The legitimacy of the clergy and the worship site, the continuity of the community with its pre-exilic forbears, and a deep need to have a sense of belonging are frequent themes in Ezra and Nehemiah. Identity issues are important. People in antiquity kept lists and remembered genealogies because they wanted to know who they were and how they related to one another and to previous generations, as well as to people outside their families. And Ezra and Nehemiah also have numerous lists and genealogies.

The displacement of the Jewish people had caused them to place greater emphasis on certain aspects of their traditions, particularly on those characteristics which set them apart from other peoples. These distinctives gained importance because the Jews were aliens in a foreign land, and influences of the dominant culture tested their teachings and practices. Genealogy and family connections, while important in preserving identity, can also lead to feelings of familial superiority and hence risk becoming isolationist and exclusionary. Our own identity and our relationship to others are perhaps also two of the biggest religious questions we have today. Connections to our families of origin are important.

However, too much emphasis on genealogy may also severely limit and crimp our identity. How do we relate to people outside our families? Genealogical lists are an important part of a people’s identity and they were an important part of attempts to ensure that Israel remained “pure”. Exclusion of foreign wives and children acquired by some of the Jews during the exile fits into this scenario, but is theologically problematic. One can only speculate what became of the Babylonian wives and their children after mixed marriages were condemned.

But before we become too critical of them, we do well to examine our own attitudes toward other cultural groups, other faiths, and even other denominations. Certainly, the biblical canon seen as a whole is more welcoming to outsiders than this particular section of the text. Consider, for example, the references to prohibiting oppression of resident aliens with the reminder that Israel, too, had been a resident alien nation in the land of Egypt earlier in their history.

Indeed, return to Jerusalem from Babylon was a symbolic repeat of the trip out of Egypt taken by their forbears – two life-shaping events for the people. And again the prophetic word of God remained true and reliable. In both judgment and grace they experienced the God who had been faithful in exile and was now faithful in their return. The completion of the Temple is directly linked to the memory of the exodus in the celebration of Passover soon after its rededication. (Ezra 6:19-22)

These events providing safe passage for an entire community are reminders that God’s redemptive activities are never just for individuals and individual salvation. Public confession in the texts regarding lapses in religious observance and sinful behavior were also corporate. And their confession included and acknowledged not only the sins of the present generation but also those of their parents.

Arising from both the dislocation of those taken into exile and disruption in the lives of those not sent to Babylon, teaching of Jewish law had been neglected and adherence to it had become less strictly observed. Thus an important emphasis in Ezra and Nehemiah is to correct this lack of observance and return to earlier knowledge and fervor of observance. And interestingly, it is the Persian Artaxerxes who instructs Ezra to appoint magistrates and judges to determine compliance with Jewish law among those who already knew it, and then also to teach the law to those who had never learned it. (Ezra 7:25-26) Ezra read the law to the people, who upon hearing it, resolved to also study it. Among corrections implemented were the prohibition of charging interest on loans, and proper observance of the Sabbath. And these corporate acts were then celebrated in the Feast of Tabernacles.

While God’s providence is foremost in the lives of this biblical community, as in ours, it requires human response. Without a vision of the importance of community life and worship, perhaps none of the exiles would have left what may have become comfortable lives to uproot families once again and make the trek home.

Rebuilding did not happen without opposition. The narrative describes people working with building tools in one hand and with defensive weapons in the other to guard against those seeking to thwart the rebuilding. But in spite of opposition, the building project was accomplished, for as the narrative states, “the people had a mind to work”. (Neh. 4:6)

There are similarities between the Jewish story and parts of the history of Mennonite peoples. Both stories speak of dislocation and relocation resulting in changes and accommodations and varying degrees of assimilation. And, as already noted, it is never possible to recreate and maintain a new community that is identical to the way it was previously in “the old country”. But significantly, God is recognized and praised as the one who preserves the people and sees them safely into and through new circumstances. (This in spite of the reality that many lives were not protected and preserved.)

The Jewish people waited in Babylonian exile for up to 3 generations before release and return to their homeland became a reality. They had earlier waited in limbo for 40 years before finally entering the land promised to them. Waiting is hard. Waiting means that we are not in complete control of our circumstances. Displaced persons in some present-day refugee camps have been waiting for years, either to return home or to find a new home elsewhere. Advent is a time of waiting for us, a time of waiting to celebrate God coming among us in the person of Jesus. We wait for the miracle of God coming to dwell intimately with us, walking with us in human reality. Let us give thanks that our God’s generosity and grace knows no bounds!