Bible Chronology (42): From the Temple to Artaxerxes (17)

We study the ministry of Ezekiel and his visions, as he warns Israel about the soon-coming Judgment of Desolations coming on Jerusalem and the Land, as a result of their idolatry. Ezekiel 4:1-8 reveals the 430 years of sin, which led up to the final Siege of Jerusalem in 588 BC, which marked the start of these Desolations, which were prophesied to last 70 years in Jeremiah 25:11. These 430 years of sin consist of 390 years followed by 40 years. The nature of the sin which initiated the 430 years of sin is revealed in 1Kings 9:1-9 and 2 Chronicles 7:11-22, as the sin against the Presence of God in their midst in the Temple, by the idolatry and worship of other gods. We show that these 430 years of sin began with the Dedication of Solomon's Temple in 1018 BC. After the first 390 years were completed in 628 BC, a judgment was inevitable, as Josiah discovered when he enquired of the Lord - this was the 70 years Servitude to Babylon, which Israel would experience along with all the other nations in the region (Jeremiah 25:1-14), which started in 609 BC with the end of the Assyrian Empire, when it fell to Babylon, and ended in 539 BC, with the end of the Babylonian Empire, when it fell to Cyrus, king of Persia. 628 BC marks the end of the 390 years of sin and the start of the 40 years of sin, which coincide with the 40 years of Jeremiah's ministry (628 - 588 BC), in which he warned Israel to repent and to submit to God's discipline through Babylon, otherwise they would also suffer the greater judgments of Captivity in Babylon, and finally the Desolations of Jerusalem and the Land. Because Israel continued in sin, in 607 BC, she started to come under the Judgment of Captivity in Babylon, which was again measured by God as a 70-year period from 607 - 537 BC (Jeremiah 29:1-14). Because Israel still did not repent, the number of people going into Captivity continually increased in stages, until the whole nation went into Captivity in Babylon in 586 BC. These 70 years ended in 537 BC with the Cyrus Decree releasing the Jews to return to Israel. Once the allotted 40 years of final warnings had ended in 588 BC, with Israel still unrepentant, God consigned her to the even greater judgement of the Desolations of Jerusalem and the Land, which included her total expulsion from the Land. This Judgement of Desolation was also measured out by God to last 70 years, from 588 - 518 BC (Jeremiah 25:11, 2 Chronicles 36:14-21, Daniel 9:2). Ezekiel saw God's Glory leaving the Temple because of the idols, and this took place at the end of the 40 years, in 588 BC (Ezekiel 10-11), coinciding with the start of the final Siege, which resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple soon after, and the whole nation going into Captivity in Babylon in 586 BC. Thus we can distinguish 3 distinct (but related) 70-year periods of escalating judgement on Israel: (1) the Servitude, (2) the Captivity, and (3) the Desolations, which were prophesied over Israel, and which were perfectly fulfilled on time. Because Israel did not repent, God kept increasing the severity of His discipline of His people. In addition, we note a 4th period of 70 years from the Destruction of the first Temple in 586 BC until the Dedication of the 2nd Temple in 516 BC, which we could call the Desolations of the Temple.