Summer 2022
Partners In A New Creation The book of Judges documents a dismal pattern of apostasy, oppression, repentance, and restoration in ancient Israel. But these times of crisis were not unique to the period of the judges (about 1373 to 1043 BC). The two greatest crises Israel faced happened centuries later. These were the exile to Assyria in 722 BC and the destruction of Jerusalem and exile at the hands of the Babylonians in 586 BC. Back to the Future The prophet Isaiah lived through the Assyrian crisis, having begun his prophetic ministry in about 740 BC in Jerusalem. He foresaw the coming oppression by Babylon as a time when the land of Israel would be largely emptied of its people (lesson 1). Even so, he offered hope for a future time when “the Lord comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones” (Isaiah 49:13, lesson 2). This […]