BYM ONLINE DESK Blessing Feb 2020 English E-magazine | Page 4

them out of his sight.”
Since Israel did not obey the Lord, He gave
them over to their enemies and they were scattered.
But God in His mercy did not completely abandon
His people. He left a small remnant. And He wanted
to work through them. Though the remnants were
small and insignificant, yet God wanted to fulfil His
plan through them. Let us meditate the exact
situation in which the remnant of Israel were found
during that particular point of time. I believe this
will encourage us, the children of God, to proceed
with God's plan in whatever situation we are.
1. The Remnant were in
Great Distress
The remnant who were left in Israel lived in
much distress. They were looked down by their
neighbours. All their glory was taken away. There
was nothing to be proud of. Most of the young men
and women were killed by the Babylonian king. The
rest of the elite young men were taken captive to
Babylon. All the talented people were taken away.
Note the following Bible verses:
2 Ch 36:17 - “Therefore he brought up against
them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their
young men with the sword in the house of their
sanctuary and had no compassion on young man or
virgin, old man or aged. He gave them all into his
hand.”
Dan 1:3-4 - “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 skilful 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.”
What remained was only a few poor people.
This was how the nation of Israel appeared after the
Babylonian captivity. Besides, the temple at
Jerusalem was demolished. For an Israelite, the
temple was the centre of worship. Much of the
religious life revolved around the temple. But when
Nebuchadnezzar razed the temple to the ground, all
hopes were nullified: Their religious centre was in
ruins. The king and the royals were gone.
Everything was gone. There seemed to be no hope.
Not even a single ray of hope was found.
No wonder the Psalmist who lived during
those times lamented:
Psa 89:38-40 - “But now you have cast off and
rejected; you are full of wrath against your anointed.
You have renounced the covenant with your servant;
you have defiled his crown in the dust. You have
breached all his walls; you have laid his strongholds
in ruins.”
The prophets who lived during those times too
could not comprehend the extent of the damage.
Notice how prophet Jeremiah laments:
Lam 2:5 - “The Lord has become like an enemy;
he has swallowed up Israel; he has swallowed up all
its palaces; he has laid in ruins its strongholds, and
he has multiplied in the daughter of Judah mourning
and lamentation.”
See how Habakkuk complains:
Hab 1:13 “You who are of purer eyes than to
see evil and cannot look at wrong, why do you idly
look at traitors and remain silent when the wicked
swallows up the man more righteous than he?”
The glory departed from Israel. She was a
mighty kingdom once but now the crown has fallen
from her.
Though all these judgements were
because of the sins of Israel, yet no one could
comprehend such a catastrophe. The surviving
remnant would have had a lot of questions Why did
God allow such a disaster? How can evil triumph
over good? (Babylon conquering Jerusalem) What
about the covenant He made to King David? Has the
Lord forgotten to show mercy?
Some of us may pass through such
circumstances in life. The future seems bleak and
all our hopes are dashed into pieces. People around
us may even despise us. But this is when God starts
to work. When everything seems hopeless and lost.
Have you lost your loved one? Have your
hopes for your children crumbled? Has your plans
for the ministry failed? Are you facing a failed
marriage? Is your business plan not working the
way you had imagined? Do not worry. Our God is
the God of new beginning. He works in ways we
February 2020 | www.bymonline.org | Page 04