The Jews Mourning in Exile

Eleazar was in tears.

Eleazar was only one when his family was ripped out of their home by King Nebuchadnezzar’s forces. He and his siblings, parents, cousins and neighbors who lived with him in Jerusalem were chained together and led on the 900-mile march from Jerusalem to Babylon.

Life in Babylon was surprisingly … satisfactory. Eleazar was able to grow up, learn, work and socialize. Life seemed rather normal. But he never forgot that he and the rest of his people were strangers in a strange land. Though they weren’t in chains or in prison, they were still captives to their foreign invaders.

They were captives for 70 years.

Then came the stunning announcement from King Cyrus of the Persian Empire, which had conquered the Babylonian Empire. In the first year of his reign, the Lord moved Cyrus to proclaim:

The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem, and may their God be with them.

Ezra 1:2-3

Eleazer volunteered to return home with Ezra, the priest. Though he was now 71, walking with a cane and struggling to hold a hammer with his arthritis, he worked alongside much younger men to rebuild the temple and the walls of Jerusalem. Those in their seventies and younger had never seen the splendor of Solomon’s temple or experienced the safety of living within Jerusalem’s walls. They had all grown up in captivity.

But now they were free.

As Ezra read from the book of the Lord, Eleazar joined with the rest of his people who been freed from their captivity by lifting up their hands and kneeling on the ground. Eleazar was crying. His family and friends were crying. They were tears sorrow because they had not heard God’s words like this in 70 years. Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites, who helped the people understand, said to all the people, “Today is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or cry! Do not grieve, because the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:9-10).

Eleazar really was one of the leaders who returned to Jerusalem with Ezra after the Babylonian Captivity (Ezra 8:33). I embellished the account to give you a flavor of what men like Eleazar, Ezra and Nehemiah must have felt when they were finally released from their captivity. Their tears of sorrow were turned to tears of rejoicing.

I imagine Eleazar as the infant son in Eduard Bendemann’s painting of The Jews Mourning in Exile.

Eduard Bendemann was born in Berlin, Germany in 1811. His father was a Jewish banker. His mother was the daughter of a Jewish banker. Eduard’s parents obviously wanted their son to carry on the family tradition, or at least have some sort of technical occupation. However, as Eduard grew older, his artistic ability also grew. After elementary school, Eduard embarked on a career in art.

Eduard Bendemann’s talents were truly noticed with his work The Jews Mourning in Exile, which was displayed in 1832 in the Berlin art exhibition. People considered the work the masterpiece of the Berlin Academy, and at once elevated the young artist to notoriety, putting him on the level of other great painters of the day. People enjoyed the depth of emotions portrayed in the five figures of the painting.

In The Mourning Jews in Exile, a young child has his head buried in his father’s lap, probably crying. The father holds a lyre in his right hand. To the right of the young child is a young woman, holding an instrument, with her face resting in her other hand. On the left, a mother holds an infant child. The entire family is resting under the tree with a city in the background.

This could be any family sitting together under a tree. The subtle, but very poignant image, is the shackle on the father’s right hand. This is no ordinary family. They are captives.

We, too, have been captives.

You know what this captivity is like. So often on a Sunday morning, we put on our Christian clothes, we turn on the Christian radio station, and we put on our Christian face. So, when anyone at church asks us how we are doing, we automatically reply, “I’m fine.”

We are anything but fine!

On the outside we appear good, faithful, maybe even almost holy. On the inside we know there is nothing good that lives within us.

Prisoners are not always confined by concrete walls and barred doors. Sometimes our prison cells are of our own design – cages we don’t even know we are in.

• We are captives to our materialism. We are always trying to make comfort and recreation and ‘stuff’ the goal of life.

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• We are convicts to our tongues. We keep gossiping, lying, and slandering.

• We are hostages to our tempers. We know the right words to diffuse the situation and the right steps to walk away from an argument, but we refuse to say or take them.

• We are con men. We talk a good game. We have everyone fooled. They have no idea what we are really like in our homes with our spouse and children.

• We are willing pawns. The devil is a grand chess master. He knows exactly what he needs to do to separate us from God’s Word, worship and prayers. And we don’t put up a fight.

We are all prisoners to some degree.

Like Eleazar in Babylon, life as a prisoner is surprisingly … satisfactory. Without the words and works of the Holy Spirit, we would neither recognize the state of our captivity nor find a way to escape. But God has come to our aid. He opens our eyes to our status as sinners and he breaks the unseen chains that bind us.

Four hundred and fifty years after Eleazar, Ezra and Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem from their Babylonian Captivity, Jesus stands in the Nazareth synagogue to preach. Jesus came to fulfill these words from Isaiah’s scroll:

The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

Luke 4:18-19

Jesus has come to save the Jews of Nehemiah and Ezra’s time who had returned from their captivity. He has come to save His hometown friends who were trapped in the captivity of thinking of Jesus as only being Joseph the carpenter’s son. He has come to save us who are trapped in the captivity of our various and sundry sins.

“He has sent me to proclaim freedom to the captives.”

The Jews had been exiles held captive by another nation. But God set them free. We were captives in a prison house more inescapable than Alcatraz.  We were captives of Satan through sin. We keep going back to the same old sin. The alcohol; the anger; the doubt; the fear; the sex; the internet images; the bank account – they all surround us. We can’t break free. We are trapped.

But Jesus brings freedom from our captivity. He went into battle against Satan. The Lamb of God went toe-to-toe with the great dragon. The Lamb was slain but the dragon was crushed. Jesus defeated our captor and slammed shut the gates of hell so that we might be rescued and be granted a new home in heaven.  Jesus shed His blood on Calvary’s hill so that we might be set free from the sin that binds us. Jesus rose from the dead so we might be released from the grave that claims us. It is also important to note that the Greek word used here by Luke for “freedom” or “release” is the same word for “forgiveness” – literally, a “sending away” of sin – out of God’s sight forever.

“To proclaim recovery of sight for the blind.”

Some of the Babylonian exiles were no doubt lying bound as captives in a deep, dark dungeon. They were returned to once again see the light of day. Ours is not a physical blindness, but rather a spiritual blindness. We can’t see clearly because we are trapped by old habits, addictions and illusions of happiness. We are oppressed by our own choices and situations. But Jesus has come to open our eyes to our sin, but even more than that, to open our eyes to our Savior. The light of Christ shines in the darkness that is all around us. God’s Word is a lamp for our feet and a light for our path (Psalm 119:105).

“To set free those who are oppressed.”

The Jewish exiles were not only strangers in a strange land, under the oppressive rule of heathen kings. They were also crushed in spirit. What joy surged through their hearts when they were released and they could return to their own beloved country and their venerated Holy City of Jerusalem. The same is true for us sinners whose souls have been aching and groaning under the burden of our sin and its evil consequences. Our guilt is removed. Our conscience is calmed. Our joy has returned. The peace of forgiveness that Jesus brings is indescribable.

“To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Every 50 years the Jews would celebrate the Year of Jubilee. In that year all lands would return to their original owners; every person who had sold himself into indentured servanthood would be released; and the farmlands would lay unused and rest for the entire year. This Year of Jubilee is meant also for us. Through our baptism we have been returned to the Lord. Adam and Eve had sold their children into indentured servanthood to the devil, but Jesus released us. We are now God’s blood-bought children. We enjoy rest for our souls through the anointed Messiah’s atoning work.

Sin put you in prison. Sin locked you behind the bars of guilt and shame and deception and fear. Sin did nothing but shackle you to the wall of misery. We were imprisoned by sin, Satan and death. It was the worst kind of imprisonment because, on our own, there was never a chance of escape.

Even though we were helpless, the Lord did not forget His people. The only way to be set free from the prison of sin is to serve its penalty. Someone must die – either you or a heaven-sent substitute. You cannot leave prison unless there is death. But that death has occurred – at Calvary! And when Jesus died, you died to sin’s claim on your life.

“So if the Son sets you free, you are free indeed” (John 8:36)!

Don’t return to your captivity.

Live in this freedom.

Whenever Satan tries pulling you back into your self-made prison, just shout at him, “I’m FREE!”