In the sixth century before Christ, the exiles from Israel were marched through the mountains, valleys and deserts into a life of cruel slavery. They had rebelled against their God, and He permitted the Babylonian empire to conquer their homeland in punishment. Proud Jerusalem had been brought under the tyrant’s heel, not to be free again for generations.
Is it any wonder the people who were dragged there in chains sang a heartbreaking song of mourning? In Psalm 137:1, they sang, “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion” (NKJV).
Without a doubt, they considered the folly of disobedience and how they had turned away from the God of their fathers. How they regretted the consequences of their poor decisions! They sang, “We hung our harps Upon the willows in the midst of it. For there those who carried us away captive asked of us a song, And those who plundered us requested mirth, Saying, ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion!’ How shall we sing the Lord’s song In a foreign land?” (Psalm 137:2-4). The phrase, “plundered us,” in the Hebrew, tells us this was the wild cry of intense, inner pain. The longing for what was lost is declared in the next two verses. “If I forget you, O Jerusalem, Let my right hand forget its skill! If I do not remember you, Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth — If I do not exalt Jerusalem Above my chief joy.”
The heathen may think of these songs as entertainment, but the singers refused to desecrate the songs by forgetting the promises of God. In Obadiah 1:10-12, the prophet made the best observation of the torment the exiles had in longing for justice.
For violence against your brother Jacob, Shame shall cover you, And you shall be cut off forever. In the day that you stood on the other side — In the day that strangers carried captive his forces, When foreigners entered his gates And cast lots for Jerusalem — Even you were as one of them. But you should not have gazed on the day of your brother In the day of his captivity; Nor should you have rejoiced over the children of Judah In the day of their destruction; Nor should you have spoken proudly In the day of distress.
In Psalm 137:7-9, we read the remembrance of what their neighbors did to them. “Remember, O Lord, against the sons of Edom The day of Jerusalem, Who said, ‘Raze it, raze it, To its very foundation!’ O daughter of Babylon, who are to be destroyed, Happy the one who repays you as you have served us! Happy the one who takes and dashes Your little ones against the rock!”
These verses are strong condemnation of the enemies of God’s people. The inhabitants of Jerusalem had seen their beautiful Temple destroyed, their families massacred in front of them and their capital city in ruins. Their oppressors delighted in causing suffering in a most wicked manner. We need only to read 2 Kings 25:7 to understand the cruelty of this nation. In that verse we read of the killing of the young princes of Judah. “Then they killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, put out the eyes of Zedekiah, bound him with bronze fetters, and took him to Babylon.” The blessings of Babylon were cruel indeed.
It may be hard to find any blessings in the exile in Babylon; indeed, it’s hard to find blessings in our own sufferings, but these can be teaching moments. We learn to rely on God’s Word to avoid the mistakes that lead to such calamity. It is a fact that, after the return from exile, as described in the books of Nehemiah and Ezra, the Jewish people never worshiped idols again. The blessing of making mistakes is being able to recognize them and avoid repeating them.
Some years ago, my driving instructor told me of a time when he ran a stop sign. Unfortunately for him, there was a police car right behind him. The policeman wrote him a ticket and spoke to him three words that he will never forget: “Stop means stop!” How easily we can apply this to our own lives. God means what He says. He told Israel that judgment was coming, and they ignored his prophets, right up until the Babylonians laid siege to Jerusalem. They had every opportunity to listen and to obey, just as we do today.
Jesus said, in Matthew 24:37, “But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” We are in the Christian age, in that period of grace when safety may be sought. It is also very clear from Scripture that the period of grace in which we live will end. Judgment could have been avoided for Israel if it had listened to the call of the prophets and preachers of old. As it was, then, even so is it now.
The exile from Zion lasted seventy years, and repentance brought about restoration. We can avoid the sorrow of the exiles by turning to God for salvation. Acts 17:30 says, “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent.” The heavenly Zion awaits the repentant sinner, and it will be a home like no other. Let us remember the blessings of Babylon – to repent of our past sins, to obey the gospel and to look to the heavenly Jerusalem, where only songs of joy are sung (Revelation 15:3-4).
