By the Rivers of Babylon

I really couldn't imagine it.  I couldn't imagine seeing my friends and family killed, the house I loved torn down, and the shop or farm I owned being destroyed.  Unfortunately, for the Israelites, they didn't just imagine it, they lived it.

Because of the highways that ran through it, the world longed to have control of the Israel's land so that they could trade and transport goods safely.  Throughout history you find many battles fought among a number of nations trying to gain control of that land.  And as Babylon expanded and the kingdom of Judah continued to rebel (Israel split into two different kingdoms after the death of King Solomon; Judah was the southern kingdom), the fall of Judah was inevitable.  After years of conflict with Babylon,the infamous Nebuchadnezzar who would become one of the greatest kings of Babylon, sieged Jerusalem.  His siege was successful and Jerusalem was ransacked in 597 B.C..  Nebuchadnezzar left Jerusalem with a large number of Israelites who would become their slaves and many articles from the Temple, the House of God.  The exile of Judah had begun.

Being in exile is apparently bad for many reasons.  Those who are in exile are no longer free but are slaves to the nation who defeated them.  They are separated from their families which they loved.  They are taken to a land where there names may be changed and where they are forced to follow customs that are not theirs and eat food they may not like.  This is the case for the kingdom of Judah.  But, in addition to all that they lost, they lost their greatest joy, the Temple of God.

In Psalm 137 we read, "By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.  There on the poplars we hung our harps, for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, 'Sing us one of the songs of Zion.'  How can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a foreign land?  If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill.  May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy" (Psalm 137:1-6).

After reading that Psalm, you may be asking yourself, "What is the deal with Jerusalem and the Temple of God?  Why were they so important?"  The answer is this: that was the dwelling place of God.  That is where the glory of God rested.  Now, God is and always has been omnipresent (fancy word for everywhere), but until the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost (Acts 2), God did not dwell in the hearts of men.  The Holy Spirit did not guide and lead people personally.  Followers of Yahweh, the one true God, met God in the Temple.  The Temple was the prescribed place the people were to worship God.  Therefore, when the people were carried away from Jerusalem , the city of God, and the Temple, the house of God, they were being taken away from the actual presence of God.

Could you imagine it?  Could you imagine sitting by the rivers of Babylon being forced to sing of Jerusalem and the Temple of God, the place you once called home, the place where God dwelt.  I can't.  But my prayer is that of the writer of the Psalm.  My prayer is that I would long for the presence of God.  My prayer is that the only place where I find joy is being in the presence of God.  And if I am ever at a place in my life where Jesus Christ is not my highest joy, "may my right hand forget its skill."  May my fingers not be able to type.