I have come to the clear understanding that when God sets something in order—it is set in order. He taught me about the reality of the Jubilee Year and how that worked out in my own faith walk with him (as I have shared in detail in a much earlier Snack). What God has determined will come to pass—DO NOT DOUBT THAT!

When God declared that the people of Israel were going into exile in Babylon, and only those who went along with that would be spared; he wasn’t kidding! We read about this in 2 Chronicles 36.20-21: 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.

Why would this happen to them? Had God abandoned his people? No! It was just his declared principle being worked out. The Chronicler continues: 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.

God had said that the land had to be allowed to rest every seven years in order for it to be restored to his level of health. The people rarely if ever allowed for that to happen during those nearly five hundred years, so God shut it all down for seventy years! It is much easier just to follow God’s directives—much less pain! FOLLOW YOUR GOD!