Dates of the Deportations from Jerusalem: Why they matter
Channel: Galen Currah
Date: 2018-08-01

Dates of the Deportations from Jerusalem
Why they matter
Bible quotations from the English Standard Version (2016)
Music by Natrix
http://wordwatchers.currah.us

Invading forces have captured the city Jerusalem, at least 22 times over the past three millennia. https://youtu.be/1baZ4Oslr-0

The deportations from Jerusalem to Babylon help explain the following biblical themes:

● Which are the ten lost tribes of Israel
● The precision of prophetic chronology
● The starting and ending dates of Daniel’s 490-year prediction
● The historical arrival of Israel’s promised Messiah
● Why many believe that Jesus could return sometime soon

In 975 BCE, the nation of Israel split in two, becoming a northern kingdom called Israel, and a southern one called Judah ruled by the House of David. 2 Chronicles 10:19

In 721, because of widespread worship of foreign gods, Yahweh allowed the Assyrian army to invade Israel and deport its population. These ten tribes never returned. 2 Kings 18:9, 11

In the following century, the prophet Jeremiah forewarned Judah and nearby nations that they would serve the king of Babylon for seventy years. Jeremiah 25: 8-9, 11

Thus, In 605, Yahweh allowed the Babylonian army in invade Judah, to confiscate its treasury, and to deport some of its nobility. Daniel 1:1-3

Next, in 597, the Babylonians returned to Judah, collected tribute, took the king captive, and deported many Judeans. Babylonian Chronicles, 293; 2 Kings 24:12; Jeremiah 52:28, 30

Lastly, in 586, the Babylonians destroyed the Jerusalem temple, tore down the city walls, and deported most of its population to Babylon. 2 Kings 25:8-11

Judah served the kings of Babylon for seventy years, until the Medes and the Persians captured Babylon in 539. Daniel 5:30-31

Daniel, a counsellor to the King of Babylonia, was reading the prediction made by Jeremiah. Daniel 9:1-2

Around 539, Yahweh revealed to Daniel that a messiah would come 490 years following a decree to rebuild Jerusalem. Daniel 9:24-25

In 538, Persian king Cyrus the great allowed captive populations to return to their homeland. Jews were allowed to return to Jerusalem, but not to restore the city walls. Ezra 1:1-3

But in 458, Persian king Artaxerxes financed Ezra to return to Jerusalem, where he undertook to rebuild the city walls. Ezra 7:12-20; Nehemiah 6:15

Calculating 70 weeks of years, starting at year 458, one arrives at 33 CE, the latest year in which Jesus Christ could have been crucified and risen back to life. Gaius Cornelius Tacitus, Annals XV.44 

In that same year, Jesus foretold that invading armies would destroy Jerusalem again during the lifetime of his hearers. Luke 21:20

This came to pass in the year 70 CE. BJ Josephus, Jewish Wars, 7:1:1

With the establishment of a state of Israel in 1948, the acquisition of Jerusalem in 1967, the government’s declaration of Jerusalem as the national capital in 1980, and the moving of the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem in 2018, the 70th anniversary of the “Jewish state,” some prophecy buffs feel that Jesus may return soon. 

Perhaps by the year 2033, the 2000th anniversary of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection?