He Gave Us Prophets: Historical Analysis of ProphecyMuestra

Events of the Babylonian Judgment: Isaiah 39:5-7

In many ways the prophet Isaiah forms a hinge between the period of Assyrian judgment and Babylonian judgment. We’ve already seen that Isaiah ministered to Hezekiah during the days of the Sennacherib invasion. Well, after this invasion was over, Hezekiah tried to make an alliance with the Babylonians to protect themselves from further attacks. In chapter 39 of Isaiah, the prophet discovers what Hezekiah had done. And so he says these words in 39:5-7:

Hear the word of the Lord Almighty: The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your fathers have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon… Some of your descendants … will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.

Once again we’ll divide our discussion into two concerns: first, what were the major events of the Babylonian judgment, and second, how did the prophets minister during this time? Let’s look first at the major events that comprised the Babylonian judgment.

To understand this period, we must identify three major events: the first Babylonian incursion of 605 B.C., the second incursion of 597 B.C., and the third incursion of 586 B.C.

First, in 605 B.C., there was the first incursion and deportation of Judaite leaders to Babylon. The king Jehoiakim was unfaithful to his Babylonian suzerain, Nebuchadnezzar, so Nebuchadnezzar invaded Judah and removed many of the leaders in Jerusalem. The prophet Daniel and his friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were among those deported at this time.

The second major event of this period occurred in 597 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar responded to continuing rebellion in Judah with a second incursion and deportation. At this time, he destroyed much of Judah and took a good number of the population into exile into Babylon. The prophet Ezekiel was taken away in this deportation. This second incursion hurt the nation of Judah in many ways, but the nation still did not repent of its evil ways.

The third major event of the Babylonian period occurred 586 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar had enough of continuing rebellion in Judah and he made a third and final incursion and deportation. This time, the Babylonians utterly destroyed Jerusalem and its holy temple. The vast majority of people in Judah were taken into exile, the land was left desolate, and a great exile of Judah was under way.

When we think about these three major events during the Babylonian judgment, we must remember that this was a time of utter destruction for the people of God. The son of David was taken off into exile, and the temple of Jerusalem was destroyed. It was a terrible time in the history of God’s people.