Behold Thy God, Oh Jerusalem: Judah’s Journey from Exile to Redemption
In the days following the death of King Solomon (around 920 B.C.), Israel’s golden era ended and its people divided into two groups: The Northern Kingdom, also called Israel or the Kingdom of Ephraim (because that was the dominant tribe of those residing within its borders), and the Southern Kingdom, known as Judah.
In 722 B.C. the Northern Kingdom of Israel fell to the Assyrians and the Ten Tribes of Israel (of which Ephraim was one) were scattered during this conquest and have remained, for the most part, lost to our knowledge.
From 722 B.C., while the Southern Kingdom remained independent, the remnants of Levi and most of Benjamin fled south as refugees and assimilated with the Tribe of Judah. When the Kingdom of Judah eventually fell in 587 B.C. these minor tribes were either killed or taken captives along with the others into Babylon.
The Old Testament picks up the stories of the survivors of the Kingdom of Judah, starting in Lamentations 1:1. “How doth the city sit solitary that was full of people! How is she become as a widow! she that was great among the nations and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary!”
Psalm 137
1By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
2 We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.
3 For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.
4 How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?
5 If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.
6 If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.
7 Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Raise it, raise it, even to the foundation thereof.
8 O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.
9 Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.
In the classic opera Nabucco, composed by Giuseppe Verdi, the words of the chorus of the Hebrew slaves captures the lament as follows (translated from the original):
Fly, though on wings of gold. Go settle upon the slopes and the hills,
Where soft and mild the sweet airs of our native soil smelt soft and mild.
Greet the banks of the River Jordon and Zion’s toppled towers
Oh my country, so lovely and beautiful and lost.
Oh, remembrance so dear and unhappy.
Golden harp of the prophetic seers,
Why dost thou hang so silently upon the willows?
Rekindle the memories of our hearts and speak to us of times gone by.
Remembering the fate of Jerusalem, play us a sad lament
Or may the Lord inspire you with a harmony of voices
To fortify us to endure our suffering.
Little did theIsraelites know how the Lord had already prepared for their return, using the good graces of King Cyrus of Persia, who would take over the Babylonian Empire.
In Isaiah Chapter 45: 1 & 4, the Lord speaks of Cyrus who has not even come to power yet.
Thus saith the Lord to his anointed Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden to subdue nations before him and I will loose the Loins of Kings to open before him the two leaved gates and the gates shall not be shut.
For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.
Cyrus was surprised, flattered and moved to assist the captives from Jerusalem. He financed a contingent of righteous Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple (See Ezra 1: 1-5). His successor, Darius was made aware of Cyrus’ decree and sent further assistance to the faltering project. The Jews remained there, and the temple walls and interior were rebuilt despite the coming of the Greeks under Alexander the Great, the Maccabean revolt when they lost their bid to retain their religion and after they became part of the Roman Empire. They remained in Jerusalem and Palestine until after the birth and the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ, about 70 AD.
At this time a sect of Jews known as Zealots rebelled against Roman rule. This was the final impetus for Roman to stamp out the remainder of the Jews, resulting in the destruction of the temple at Jerusalem, the siege at Masada and the scattering of Judah once again.
The Jews remained a scattered and homeless people for about 2000 years or until they were granted the right to return to their homeland in 1947 by the United Nations.
Since her ancient scattering throughout all the nations of the earth and her present regathering, we have been witnessing the miracle that is Israel. It would be an incomplete story of the hand of God restoring his ancient Church from apostasy in the latter days if we did not also tell the story of what his other hand has been doing for his chosen people, the Jews.
Here are some of the many ancient prophecies regarding his redeeming love that show He will not and has not forsaken the covenant He made with Israel on Mount Zion:
Deuteronomy 4: 27-31 (Bible: Old Testament)
27 And the Lord shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the Lord shall lead you.
28 And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
29 But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.
30 When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice;
31 (For the Lord thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.
Isaiah 11: 11-12 (Bible: Old Testament)
11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.
12 And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
Ezekiel 34: 11-16 (Bible: Old Testament)
11 For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.
12 As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.
13 And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country.
14 I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel.
15 I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God.
16 I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.
2 Nephi 29: 13-14 (Book of Mormon)
13 And it shall come to pass that the Jews shall have the words of the Nephites, and the Nephites shall have the words of the Jews; and the Nephites and the Jews shall have the words of the lost tribes of Israel; and the lost tribes of Israel shall have the words of the Nephites and the Jews.
14 And it shall come to pass that my people, which are of the house of Israel, shall be gathered home unto the lands of their possessions; and my word also shall be gathered in one. And I will show unto them that fight against my word and against my people, who are of the house of Israel, that I am God, and that I covenanted with Abraham that I would remember his seed forever.
Articles of Faith (Joseph Smith)
10 We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.
All of these prophecies are being fulfilled, even as you read them upon these pages.