Theological Commentary: Click Here
At the end
of this chapter, we hear about how many people were dragged into exile by
Nebuchadnezzar. Of course, Nebuchadnezzar
didn’t take the whole of the Hebrew people into exile. He left the poor and destitute in the land. Instead, he took the people of note, importance,
and skill.
They
numbered 4,600 people. That’s it. At the end of the Babylonian conquest, at the
end of the siege, and at the end of the freedom of the Hebrew people there are
4,600 people whom Nebuchadnezzar deems worthy of being brought to Babylon.
That is a
far cry from the hundreds of thousands who came out of Egypt several centuries
earlier. I find this amazing. God rescues everyone in Egypt. He finds value in everyone. By the time of Nebuchadnezzar, the numbers
have dwindled substantially, and Nebuchadnezzar finds a small amount of value
among the Hebrew people.
It’s
interesting what the effects of generational sin can have upon a nation. How far the people have fallen! They have drifted away from God, and in doing
so their lives have become squandered on pursuits that are less than
significant.
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