Illustration - Jerusalem Exiled to Babylon
Illustration - Jerusalem Exiled to Babylon.
When Babylonian invaders captured Jerusalem in 586 BC, they deported many leading citizens to Babylon in what is now southern Iraq. They did this to keep an eye on them and so the Jews couldn't reconstitute their nation, which Babylon erased from the political map.
Exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon
art by James Tissot
Map painting Jerusalem
Map Bethlehem to Jerusalem
Map Bethlehem to Jerusalem
Map Bethlehem to Jerusalem.
Israel’s new ruler is coming.
He’ll come from Judah’s smallest clan.
And from Bethlehem, called Ephrathah.
His story started long ago,
In very ancient times. Micah 5:2
Jesus was born in Bethlehem, in the province of Judea, when Herod the Great was king of the Jews. Later, a group of wise men known as magi showed up in Jerusalem. They came from a distant land somewhere in the east. 2They started asking around, “Where’s the boy who’s going to become king of the Jews?” We saw the sign of his birth: a rising star. We came to honor him.”
When Herod heard about this, he was not a happy king. The people of Jerusalem got upset too. Herod called a meeting of all the top priests and Jewish religion scholars known as scribes. He asked them where the Messiah was going to be born. They said, “One of the prophets predicted he would be born in Bethlehem, in Judea. Here’s what the prophets wrote:
‘Bethlehem of Judea, you’re no smalltime prince of a town. You’re going to produce a king who will lead my people of Israel like a shepherd.’” Matthew 2:1-6
Map Bethlehem Micah 5
Map Bethlehem Micah 5
Map Bethlehem home of great king
Israel’s new ruler is coming.
He’ll come from Judah’s smallest clan.
And from Bethlehem, called Ephrathah.
His story started long ago,
In very ancient times.
Map of Bethlehem and Jerusalem
Map of Micah 1 towns in trouble
Map of Micah 1 towns in trouble
Map Micah 1
In Dust House Town, They’ll roll in the dust. City of Beauty, They’ll take you away naked and walking in shame. City of Soldiers Will go into hiding. City of Good Neighbors Won’t come to help you. Bittertown hopes for the best But gets the worst: Disaster and pain, With no one to save them. The LORD brings it all the way home, Through the city gates of Jerusalem. Horsetown, hitch your chariots. Rush to the battle. It’s all your fault. You led Jerusalem into sin...Map of Micah’s world
Map of Micah's world
Map of Micah's world of Israel and Judah and surrounding countries in the 700s BC.
Map of Amos’ trip to Samaria
Map of Amos' trip to Samaria
Map of Amos' trip to Samaria in the northern Jewish nation of Israel. He warns them to stop cheating the poor and most vulnerable people, and to stop worshiping at forbidden shrines and temples.
Map of Amos’ world
Video: The Greatest Show of Faith on Earth…the Faith of Habakkuk
Video: The Greatest Show of Faith on Earth...the Faith of Habakkuk
Video: The Greatest Show of Faith on Earth—the faith of Habakkuk.
A contender for the greatest show of faith on earth is a prophet most Christians have probably never heard about, Habakkuk
Aside from Jesus, who expressed his faith by dying on a cross, the faith of Habakkuk, this little-known prophet, showed what he was made of when he found out his Jewish nation was about to get wiped off the map.
Most Christians never read what he said, even though his words lit the spark that produced the Protestant movement.
When he got the news that Jerusalem would fall, he shook with fear, went into isolation, and grew depressed. But when he came up for air, the words he spoke anchored him God. Christians who know the words he spoke remember them, at least well enough to put into their own words and apply them to tough times they face.
Habakkuk 3
Faith of a prophet who lost his country: Habakkuk
Video: The Greatest Show of Faith on Earth
Map Thebes in Egypt
Map Thebes in Egypt
Map Thebes in Egypt
God's warning to Nineveh
What makes you think you’re better than Thebes The city protected by Amon, And, like you, with walls of water? Armies of nations defended Thebes: Egypt and her allies, Ethiopia, Lybia, and Put. None of that mattered at all. Invaders captured Thebes, Smashed babies in the rocks, And arrested survivors for exile. Invaders threw dice for the nobles. Top officials left home in chains. You in Nineveh get a dose of that, too. The enemy will shock you And you’ll stagger like drunks. Then you’ll run for your lives and hide. Nahum 3:8-11Thebes in Egypt