Worship in exile

Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents

Dancing In the Kingdom – Part 1 – Shadows of the Kingdom – Chapter 9 – The Prophets and writings

Worship in exile

[Bible references: Jeremiah 29:1-23; Daniel; Esther; Ezekiel]

During this exile, the Jews, as they would now be called, had to become more deliberate if they were going to preserve their culture. It was during this time that the Jews would begin to collect all their writings in order to begin to determine what would be their scripture. They had the writings of Moses, but they had to determine what else should be included.[1]

During this time, they focused more seriously on worshipping Yahweh. Before this time, the biblical and archeological records indicate that Israel had a habit of adopting the worship of any idols of the culture they were in contact with.[2] But now they had to preserve their culture while living amid a dominant foreign culture.

The books of Daniel, Esther and Ezekiel give examples of how the Jews were able to thrive, even while experiencing opposition while the nation was in exile: Daniel as an exceptional administrator, Esther as queen to the emperor and Ezekiel as a prophet.

From this time forward, most Jews have remained outside their homeland with no access to the one temple in Jerusalem. It was during this time that local synagogues were created, with worship now being focused either in the home or at the synagogue.[3]

[1] Waltke, Bruce. “How We Got Our Old Testament” Christianity Today, Christian History www.christianitytoday.com/history/issues/issue-43/how-we-got-our-old-testament.html; Hirsch, Emil G. Blau L, Kohler, Kaufmann. Schmidt, Nathaniel “Bible Canon” My Jewish Encyclopedia, www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/3259-bible-canon

[2] Gayle, Damien. “How idolatry continued in the Kingdom of Judah: Israeli dig uncovers temple and icons dating back to Old Testament era” Dailymail.com 27 Dec 2012 www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2253695/How-idolatry-continued-Kingdom-Judah-Israeli-dig-uncovers-temple-icons-dating-Old-Testament-era.html

[3] Bacher, Wilhelm and Dembitz, Lewis N. “Synagogue” Jewish Encyclopedia www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/14160-synagogue

Observe

Read Jeremiah 29:1-23. What did Jeremiah say that the exiles were to do while they were in exile?

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Author: transcendenttouched

I have been teaching the Bible to children and adults for over twenty years. I have also been involved in various church leadership roles for many of those years. I've written an anthology of my first 40 years of writing poetry in my book, Growing.

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