The Babylonian
Captivity
First century Jewish
converts came into the Christian
church with a particular mindset that
we must comprehend today if we are
going to understand Paul’s
writings. This mindset began forming
after the Babylonian captivity ended
(605-536 B.C.). There were various
sins that devout Jews avoided at all
costs since they did not want to
provoke the Lord’s anger again.
One such sin was that of worshiping
graven images and eating food that
had been offered to idols. (It is
important to note that as a nation,
Israel never returned to worshiping
graven images after the Babylonian
captivity.) After their captivity,
devout Jews also did not want to
neglect performing ceremonial
rituals. The Jews became very intense
about obeying the Ten Commandments,
and also the laws of Moses, which
included numerous rituals like
circumcision, hand washing, the
observance of feats, etc. The
avoidance of sin (that is, perfect
obedience) became particularly
important to the Pharisees, who
developed as a conservative sect
within Judaism after captivity. The
Pharisees concluded that God had
raised up King Nebuchadnezzar to
destroy Jerusalem and the temple
because Israel failed to keep His
commandments. (Jeremiah 25: 7-12)
Therefore, they believed that keeping
God’s laws should receive the
greatest attention.
Actually,
Israel’s offense toward God
prior to the Babylonian captivity and
Israel’s offense toward God
after the Babylonian captivity
remained the same, although
Israel’s behavior shifted 180
degrees, from that of lawlessness to
legalism. Israel’s offense
toward God can be summarized in one
sentence. Most of the Jews never
experienced rebirth or experienced
the inner transformation that God
offers and requires.
Jesus said that the
kingdom of God would only consist of
people who have been born again,
because attitude is everything to
God. (John 3:3) I believe the first
sermon of Jesus (Matthew 5-7)
centered on attitude because the
“be-attitudes” (as they are
called) are more important to God
than all religious doctrine. It was
Israel’s uncircumcised heart
(carnal heart) that caused them to
reject Jesus as the messiah after
their captivity (Acts 7:51).
Religious ritual means nothing to God
unless there is a genuine love for
God and man in the heart, sorrow for
sin and a willingness to humbly walk
in His righteous ways.
While in Babylon, the
Lord spoke to Ezekiel many times
about Israel’s hard heart. On
one occasion, “The Lord said
to me: ‘Son of man, will you
judge [arrest these two
prostitutes] Oholah [who
represents Samaria, the capital city
for the ten tribes of the north] and
Oholibah [who represents
Jerusalem, the capital city for the
two tribes in the south]. Then
confront them with their detestable
practices, for they have committed
adultery and blood is on their hands.
They committed adultery with their
idols; they even sacrificed their
children, whom they bore to me, as
food for them. They have also done
this to me: At that time they defiled
my sanctuary and desecrated my
Sabbaths. On that very day they
sacrificed their children to their
idols, they entered my sanctuary and
desecrated it. That is what they did
in my house.’” (Ezekiel
23: 36-39, insertion mine)
“Say to the
rebellious house of Israel,
‘This is what the Sovereign Lord
says: Enough of your detestable
practices, O house of Israel! In
addition to all your other detestable
practices, you brought foreigners
uncircumcised in heart and flesh into
my sanctuary, desecrating my temple
while you offered me food, fat and
blood, and you broke my covenant.
Instead of carrying out your duty in
regard to my holy things, you put
others in charge of my
sanctuary.’ ‘This is what
the Sovereign Lord says: No foreigner
uncircumcised in heart and flesh is
to enter my sanctuary, not even the
foreigners who live among the
Israelites. The Levites who went far
from me when Israel went astray and
who wandered from me after their
idols must bear the consequences of
their sin.’” (Ezekiel
44: 6-10)
Food Offered to Idols
Many Christians do not
understand how ancient Israel (or any
nation) could even think of
worshiping graven images or offering
food to idols, not to mention
offering children as human
sacrifices. If we had lived in those
days; however, there would be no
mystery to this behavior. In ancient
times, the nations of the world
believed that good fortune and
misfortune were not random events,
but divine acts (Acts of God). For
example, when a nation won a war that
was not coincidence; it was an act of
God.
Sennacherib became
king of Assyria about 705 B.C. and
soon began to consolidate his power
and expand his kingdom. He prepared
to attack Jerusalem during the reign
of King Hezekiah and sent a military
commander down to Israel
“inviting” them to become
subjects of Sennacherib or perish.
Study this taunt spoken to Israel by
Sennacherib’s commander:
“[The commander said to
Israel’s elders:] Do not let [King]
Hezekiah mislead you when he says,
‘The Lord will deliver us.’
Has the god of any nation ever
delivered his land from the hand of [Sennacherib]
the king of Assyria? Where are the
gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where
are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have
[these gods of the Samaritans] they
rescued Samaria from my hand? Who of
all gods of these countries has been
able to save his land from me? [Since
the god of the Assyrians is greater
than your God] How then can the
Lord deliver Jerusalem from my
hand?” (Isaiah 36:18-20,
insertions mine)
Now, look at this
text: “Hezekiah trusted in
the Lord, the God of Israel. There
was no one like him among all the
kings of Judah, either before him or
after him. He held fast to the Lord
and did not cease to follow him; he
kept the commands the Lord had given
Moses. And the Lord was
with him; he was successful in
whatever he undertook. He rebelled
against the king of Assyria and did
not serve him.” (2 Kings 18:
5-7, emphasis mine) On the surface,
this text could be interpreted to
mean that God blessed King Hezekiah
with victory over Sennacherib because
Hezekiah obeyed the laws of Moses.
What do you think? Did God bless King
Hezekiah with victory over
Sennacherib because he obeyed the
laws of Moses or did God bless
Hezekiah because he loved the Lord
with all his heart, mind and soul,
and obedience was the result? Bible
history reveals a simple, but
profound truth: God loves everyone
who sincerely loves Him and
man’s love for God is shown by
submission to His commands. People
who sincerely love God are humble
people. They are not self-righteous.
They love their neighbor, they
confess their sins and make
restitution when needed, and they are
concerned about the welfare of the
poor. God is not fooled by religious
people who like to show off, nor is
He impressed with rituals or
flattering lip service. God sees
within our hearts and He understands
our motives and our carnal nature.
Religious externals do not
necessarily mean anything to God.
(Isaiah 1: 13-17)
There was a great deal
of ignorance about God in Bible
times. (Even in the 21st
century, this has not changed much.)
In Bible days, polytheism (worship of
many gods) was widespread. People
believed in hundreds of gods and each
nation worshiped several. If a person
was blessed with a good harvest, he
might think he had been blessed by a
rain god or a harvest god (for
example, Baal). If a person was,
blesses with prolific herds or a
large number of children, he might
think he was blessed by one of the
goddesses of fertility: Ashtoreth,
Artimes, or Venus. Of course, these
“gods” were nothing, but
how do you displace powerful
religious concepts that coincidence
and superstition produce?
The last thing any
person wants is misfortune.
Therefore, to avoid misfortune, the
ancients appeased their gods through
sacrificial offerings (a distorted
form of tithing). The ancients
offered food because food was as
precious as gold. There were no
supermarkets, truck farms,
refrigerators or freezers. There was
very little minted money. Food was
often the currency of that day.
Therefore, you remember that Esau
sold his birthright for a single
meal. (Hebrews 12:16) Do you remember
that Solomon used food to pay Hiram,
king of Tyre, for materials to build
the temple in Jerusalem? (1 Kings
5:11) Food (usually, the meat from
choice animals) was set before an
idol for the purpose of keeping that
particular god happy (in times of
good fortune) or for the purpose of
appeasing that god in times of
misfortune. Either way, the priests
of that particular god received the
food and they ate it. Naturally, the
priests did everything possible to
keep the choice cuts coming.
If people were
threatened by a disastrous event,
they might resort to desperate means
to avoid destruction. Situations like
a terrible plague that could kill
many animals or people, a small
tribal nation facing destruction from
a huge multi-nation army, or a severe
famine could cause desperate people
to even sacrifice their children as
food offerings to the idols. They
hoped to appease their god’s
wrath through the most expensive
gifts they could provide. On March
20, 2006, Reuters News Service
published an article by Tim Gaynor
titles “Mayan Underworld Proves
Researchers’ Dream.” This
article summarizes research that is
currently underway in Mexico on a
large number of sinkholes. Keep in
mind as you read this excerpt that is
far removed from the customs and
cultures of the Middle East. The
ancient Maya once believed that
Mexico’s jungle sinkholes
containing crystalline waters were
the gateway to the underworld and the
lair of a surly rain god who had to
be appeased with human
sacrifices…. The regions’
7,000 to 8,000 cenotes were formed
when caves collapsed in on
themselves. The resulting sinkholes
became a vital water source and a
focus for Mayan sacrifices to honor
Chac, the volatile, crocodile-like
rain deity.” Isn’t it
interesting to discover that
civilizations the world over adopted
the idea of human sacrifices
necessary to appease the wrath of
God? I believe this phenomenon exists
because the devil distorted the
promise of God. Instead of God
generously providing His Son to atone
for our sins, parents had to offer up
their own children to atone for their
sins. How horrible!
Now that we have
reviewed a little background on the
importance of food and the worship of
idols, let us return to the mind-set
of the Jews after the Babylonian
captivity. Devout Jews avoided the
worship of graven images at all
costs. They were anxious to avoid
sinning or offending God. They also
believed that when clean meat
was offered to idols, the meat became
unclean or polluted. (Acts 15:20; 1
Corinthians 8:7)
When we understand
something of the mind-set of Jewish
and Gentile converts, we better
understand why food offered to idols
was a recurring point of controversy
in the early church. The apostle Paul
spent considerable effort trying to
get Gentile converts in Rome and Asia
Minor to terminate their past
beliefs. He wanted them to give up
their superstitions about their
former gods and to put their faith in
Jesus. On the other hand, Jewish
converts (who insisted on maintaining
their traditions) found it difficult,
if not impossible, to associate with
disgusting Gentiles who drank animal
blood and ate food offered to idols.
(Gentiles often drank animal blood
thinking it would give them the
strength of that animal.)
These background
matters are important if you want to
understand Paul’s writings. In
his writings, Paul typically focused
on three problems that afflicted the
early church:
1.
The foolishness of trying to earn
salvation through obedience
2.
The primacy of being born again and
the role of faith and love
3.
Disputable conflicts between Jewish
believers and Gentile converts
If you understand how
eating food offered to idols,
circumcision, observance of rituals
and Levitical feasts were frequent
points of contention within the early
church, then the writings of Paul on
these matters will make a lot of
sense just as they read.
Otherwise. they will become very
confusing. Think about this: Gentile
converts came into the Christian
church with superstitious beliefs and
religious baggage. Jewish converts
came to the Christian church with
superstitions and a thousand
traditions. Furthermore, each group
had a long history of dislike for
each other. Is it any surprise that
within twenty years of Christ’s
ascension, conflicts within the
Christian movement became so tense
that the apostle James called for a
meeting of the apostles and elders?
James knew that if the Christian
church did not deal with these
controversies, it would fall apart.
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