Fallen

The Chaldeans burned the king's house and the house of the people, and broke down the walls of Jerusalem.

Jeremiah 39:8

In this stark, short sentence is the curse of God fulfilled upon the sins of His people. All that Jeremiah had warned would happen to Judah if they continued in their willful rejection of God did indeed come to pass. The fires burned through the palace, the temple, and the districts of Jerusalem for days on end, reducing the city to uninhabitable rubble. The Chaldean army systematically tore down the city walls and fortifications, making it clear they did not want to occupy the city. They were razing it in order to carry away captives as trophies to Babylon.

And in this pain and tragic loss the Jews were led away to Babylon. All was ruined. All their lives were changed. The familiar was gone. The final consequence of their rejection of God had come. They were torn from all that was familiar and ripped away from any roots. And now they would have only one bit of their original identity as they were marched off as captives: they were they people whose God is Yahweh.

For the next 70 years as exiles in Babylon, they would recommit to their God and reform their faith around family and synagogues. They would long for Zion and pray to their Lord again. They would weep over their loss and long for restoration. They would find faith and hope in God again in the midst of their cruel exile. And God would restore them in His time, a humbled and trusting people again.