A Glimmer of Hope

Exile• He carried into exile to Babylon the

remnant, who escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and his sons until the kingdom of Persia came to power.

• The land enjoyed its Sabbath rests; all the time of its desolation it rested, until the seventy years were completed in fulfillment of the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah. 2 Chronicles 36:20-21

Settle in

• This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: "Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper." Jeremiah 29:4-8

Daniel

• Diplomatic Counsel

• Lion Tamer

• Prophet

The Duration Prophesied

• This is what the Lord says: "When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord , "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the Lord , "and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the Lord , "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile." Jeremiah 29:10-14

Return • In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to

fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and to put it in writing:

• "This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:• "'The Lord , the God of heaven, has given me all

the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Anyone of his people among you — may the Lord his God be with him, and let him go up.'“

2 Chronicles 36:22-23

Restoration of Israel

• 538 Judea, a province of Persia

• 328, conquered by Alexander the Great

• 300-200 under Greek Ptolemaic rule

• 200-165 under Greek Seleucid rule

• 165-63 Jewish Hasmonean rule

• 63 becomes a Roman province

The Hope of Israel

• The coming of God’s anointed, Messiah

• Defeat of and expulsion of the Romans

• Re-gathering of all Jews to Judea

• Exaltation of Israel to international prominence under God’s Messiah

Hear the Word of the Lord

Isaiah 40:1-2Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin

has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord 's hand

double for all her sins.

Jeremiah 29:10-11This is what the Lord says: "When

seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my

gracious promise to bring you back to this place.

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord , "plans to prosper

you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Zephaniah 3:15-17The Lord has taken away your punishment, he has turned back

your enemy. The Lord , the King of Israel, is with you; never again will

you fear any harm. The Lord your God is with you, he is

mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with

his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."

Jeremiah 29:12-14Then you will call upon me and come and pray

to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all

your heart. I will be found by you," declares the Lord , "and will bring you back from

captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places

where I have banished you," declares the Lord , "and will bring you back to the place

from which I carried you into exile."

Ezekiel 36:24-29"'For I will take you out of the nations; I

will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own

land. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols.

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you

a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow

my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people,

and I will be your God.

Isaiah 40:3-5A voice of one calling: "In the desert prepare the way for the

Lord ; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.

Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low;

the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.

And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind

together will see it. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken."

Ezekiel 37:26-28I will make a covenant of peace with

them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put my sanctuary among them

forever. My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and

they will be my people. Then the nations will know that I the

Lord make Israel holy, when my sanctuary is among them forever.'"

Daniel 2:44-45"In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left

to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.

This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands — a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver

and the gold statue to pieces.

Joel 3:16-17

The Lord will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem; the

earth and the sky will tremble. But the Lord will be a refuge

for his people, a stronghold for the people of Israel.

Then you will know that I, the Lord, your God, dwell in Zion, my holy hill. Jerusalem will be

holy; never again will foreigners invade her.

Micah 4:1-2In the last days the mountain of the

Lord 's temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and

peoples will stream to it. Many nations will come and say,

"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord , to the

house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.“ The law will go out from Zion, the word of

the Lord from Jerusalem.

Jeremiah 31:31-33"The time is coming," declares the Lord ,

"when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of

Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,"

declares the Lord . "This is the covenant I will make with the

house of Israel after that time," declares the Lord . "I will put my law in their

minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my

people.

Joel 2:27-31'And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old

men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I

will pour out my Spirit in those days.

I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire

and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon

to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord .

Isaiah 61:1-2The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has

anointed me to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim

freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the

prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord 's favor and the day

of vengeance of our God,