The exile left God’s people without a home or a temple and wondering if their God had abandoned his promises to them. The exile fulfilled centuries of prophetic warnings, as hundreds of years of tradition, culture, and history was destroyed in just one year.

The book of Lamentations provides a raw and honest reflection of what it felt like to live through the tragedy of exile and the destruction of Jerusalem.

After spending decades in a foreign land under foreign rule, the Israelites were allowed to return home under Persian rule. But despite their return, the people's hearts were just as hard. Will they ever be able to be faithful to the covenant?

The Hebrew Bible ends with God’s people struggling to remember their identity in God’s covenant family. They can’t seem to stay faithful to God despite experiencing the tragedy of exile. But Jesus saw himself as continuing the story of the Hebrew Bible and doing what the Israelites could not.

He is the temple that cannot be destroyed. He is God’s presence among his people once again. He invites all people into God’s covenant family no matter where they are.

When we understand the significance of the exile and how this important historical event would have influenced Jesus and his teaching, we can see clearly how Jesus came to heal and restore a broken, suffering people.