Why Did God Send The Jews To Babylon?
Answer: The people of Judah (the Jews) didn’t listen to the prophets. They turned away from God, worshiped idols, and mistreated the poor.
So God allowed a wicked nation, Babylon, and a wicked king, Nebuchadnezzar, to capture their cities and take many of the people to Babylon.
The Babylonians often did this to the people they conquered; they removed the best young people from their own country and trained them in Babylonian ways.
Prophets like Jeremiah predicted that this would happen, and they were very sad about it. The Jews spent seventy years in Babylon, just as God said they would.
God’s warnings are for our good. When we ignore them again and again, we end up being hurt, just like the people of Judah did.
Key verse: King Nebuchadnezzar took 10,000 captives from Jerusalem. This included all the princes. It also included the best of the soldiers, craftsmen, and smiths.
So only the poorest and least skilled people were left in the land. (2 Kings 24:14)
Related verses: 2 Kings 20:17; 24: 1-25:24; Jeremiah 34:1-22; Ezekiel 7:1-4; 8:17-18; 14:22
Related questions: Why did God get a wicked king to take over Jerusalem and capture the people? Why did Jeremiah write a sad book?
Note to parents: The Babylonian captivity came as a result of Israel’s failure to heed the prophets. It shows God’s willingness to discipline his people for their own good.
In Judah’s case, the time in Babylon taught them not to worship idols anymore.
Whose Hand Made The Writing On The Wall?
Answer: It was a miracle of God, performed to announce judgment on the king of Babylon for his pride. Belshazzar was holding a great feast and serving a lot of wine.
During the eating and drinking, he sent for the gold and silver cups that had been taken from the temple in Jerusalem many years before by a king who ruled before him, King Nebuchadnezzar.
As he was using these cups to drink a toast to idols of wood and stone, fingers of a man’s hand appeared and began writing on the wall.
The king was shocked and frightened, and he called for Daniel (one of God’s prophets) to interpret the writing.
It contained a message for the king: He had been evil and proud, and soon his enemies would defeat him (which they did).
God used the hand and the writing to get the king’s attention, and it certainly worked!
Key verses: They were drinking from these cups when suddenly they saw the fingers of a man’s hand. The hand was writing on the plaster of the wall across from the lampstand. The king himself saw the fingers as they wrote. He was so afraid that his knees knocked together. His legs began to give way under him. (Daniel 5:5-6)
Related verses: Proverbs 18:12; Daniel 5:1-31
Related question: Why did God write on the wall?