When God’s people are sent into exile, God calls them to be faithful to Him regardless of whether they experience favor or persecution from the surrounding culture. Although God’s people did eventually return to their homeland, the Old Testament ends with God’s people still in a spiritual exile, longing for God’s kingdom promises to come to fruition.
Babylon was a nation in ancient Mesopotamia, which the Bible also uses to represent the kingdom of man that has rejected God and worships created things rather than the Creator.
The physical or spiritual experience of displacement.
On the cross, Jesus went into exile on our behalf in order to bring us home to God (Hebrews 13:12).
Take an in-depth look at this narrative, its themes, and how it relates to the story of God’s kingdom.
Watch/ListenIn the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god. Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility, youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king’s palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. The king assigned them a daily portion of the food that the king ate, and of the wine that he drank. They were to be educated for three years, and at the end of that time they were to stand before the king. Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah. And the chief of the eunuchs gave them names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego.
But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs, and the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who assigned your food and your drink; for why should he see that you were in worse condition than the youths who are of your own age? So you would endanger my head with the king.” Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, “Test your servants for ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king’s food be observed by you, and deal with your servants according to what you see.” So he listened to them in this matter, and tested them for ten days. At the end of ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king’s food. So the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink, and gave them vegetables.
As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. At the end of the time, when the king had commanded that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. And the king spoke with them, and among all of them none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore they stood before the king. And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom. And Daniel was there until the first year of King Cyrus.
The kingdom of Israel falls because of their unfaithfulness, but hope for the kingdom of God still soars because of His faithfulness. The prophet Isaiah reveals that the victory of the kingdom will come through the suffering of a servant.
Atonement refers to the reconciliation (literally the “at-one-ment”) between sinners and God, which is accomplished through a sacrifice that removes sin.
In Scripture, peace refers not merely to the absence of war, but primarily to the presence of God’s abundant blessing. Shalom – the Hebrew word for peace – refers to the harmony of God’s creation as He intended it to be.
A prophet acts as a spokesperson for God, primarily revealing God’s words of judgment and mercy, and sometimes foretelling future aspects of God’s plan of redemption.
Jesus is the suffering servant who brings the victory of God’s kingdom through His sacrificial death on the cross (Colossians 1:19-20).
Take an in-depth look at this narrative, its themes, and how it relates to the story of God’s kingdom.
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After being redeemed from Egypt, God’s people wander in the wilderness for forty years and then enter into the promised land. David’s success as a ruler is a model of a good king, but his failures as a ruler lead to the longing for a greater king: the Messiah.
The Messiah is the promised king of Israel who will save God’s people.
The temple is the dwelling place of God and the place of atonement for sin.
Jesus is the promised son of David who will rule forever over God’s kingdom (2 Samuel 7:11-16).
Take an in-depth look at this narrative, its themes, and how it relates to the story of God’s kingdom.
Watch/ListenNow when the king lived in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent.” And Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.”
But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, “Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: Would you build me a house to dwell in? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling. In all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”’ Now, therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel. And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’” In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.
God displays His sovereign glory by redeeming His people from bondage in Egypt, setting them on the road to the promised land.
To be redeemed is to be set free.
The law is what God commands (while grace is what God gives). Having redeemed His people, God gives the law to show what a redeemed life looks like: a life devoted to loving God and others.
Jesus is the Passover lamb who redeems us from the slavery of sin and brings us into the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 5:7).
Take an in-depth look at this narrative, its themes, and how it relates to the story of God’s kingdom.
Watch/ListenGod spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself known to them. I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord.’” Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery.