You'll Shoot an Eye Out!

Anthony Tyler lost his eye in an accident. Please help him by donating toward his surgery: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/take-his-aaaaye-patch/x/885353

Okay, we have all seen the movie, and we all laugh when little Ralphie _thought_ that he really shot his eye out. Personally, having watched the movie as a kid and then ran out into the woods to play with my BBGun, I have also always been a bit worried about losing an eye (thanks a lot Hollywood for putting the fear into me!). What would it be like to lose an eye? What about both?

Zedekiah was the last king of Judah, and he had both of his eyes put out by the Babylonians. I can't imagine how this must have been. Read this: "And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him in fetters, and carried him to Babylon" (2 Kgs 25:7).

Recently a very close friend "shot his eye out." Well, he didn't really shoot it out, he was actually doing everything correctly, but as he was approaching the firing line at a shooting range (in the process of putting his eye protection on), a casing from another person's gun flew back and hit his eyelid - causing the retina to detach. He is now facing a $15,000 surgery that his insurance won't pay for. He is attempting to raise only $5,000, but I have confidence in the G+ community that we can get him all the way to $15,000 ... this is what we do; we network and work together. (So please donate and share the link. I donated $40 this morning, and I am an extremely poor PhD student with a family of 7 who has Chronic Fatigue Syndrome from the war ... you have no excuse, lol!) Okay, at a minimum, donate $20 and get a free online backup account for one year. http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/take-his-aaaaye-patch/x/885353

Back to Zedekiah, what brought on the eye gauging event? He revolted and allied himself with Egypt. According to the Babylonian Chronicles (Chronicle 5), "The seventh year: In the month Kislev the king of Akkad mustered his army and marched to Hattu. He encamped against the city of Judah and on the second day of the month Adar he captured the city (and) seized (its) king. A king of his own choice he appointed in the city (and) taking the vast tribute he brought it into Babylon." So, the question is raised ... why on earth would anyone revolt against this powerful empire?!?!?!?

We really need to put this into perspective. There were three (possibly four) deportations by the Babylonians: 605BC, 598BC, and 586BC (the possible fourth was a smaller deportation not mentioned in the scriptures and occurring after the destruction of the temple). This places about seven years between the first two and twelve years between the last two. ... That's a long time between the second and third deportations ... plenty of time for Zedekiah to start feeling strong.

Yeah, but why rebel? Why not just pay the tribute? That's a silly question to ask a bunch of Americans! They rebelled because they wanted to! But we also need to understand a little about the Babylonians.

The Babylonians were different than the Assyrians (the previous great threat). The Assyrians were mean, and the Babylonians were mean. The Assyrians were powerful, and the Babylonians were powerful. The Assyrians ran a well oiled governmental, administrative machine ... but the Babylonians were just, well, pirates. (Look I'm bringing the eye patch back into it! Oh yeah!)

What do I mean? When the Babylonians conquered the Assyrians, they just took over the Assyrians' administrative system, but they didn't really run it ... they didn't want to. To the Babylonians, there is only one great place on Earth - Babylon. This is the oldest and therefore greatest place on the planet (Nebi-K actually stamped some bricks in an archaic script just to make the buildings look older!), and the Babylonians wanted nothing more than to seize wealth and bring it back to Babylon (they weren't interested in what happened elsewhere - so long as the money kept flowing in).

So here are the Judahites sitting scared in Judah. "Don't mess with us or we'll be back!" the Babylonians say, but then ... nothing but crickets. The Babylonians were smart enough to set up a puppet king, but beyond that, they were eating, drinking, and making merry back home. After the first victory, eventually the Judahites rebelled, and they were squashed. Now, Jeremiah keeps saying their coming back, but where are they? Welllllll, I don't see them on the horizon. What if we link ourselves with Egypt? That'll help, right?

Of course we know the story. The Babylonians eventually did come back and swept the land clean, destroying the temple in the process. I can hear Zedekiah's mother right now, "Zedi! Don't you rebel; you'll shoot an eye out!' ... He should have listened.

_Hey, all, please help out my good friend and fellow brother in Christ. I believe in the power of prayer, and I am praying that you all will reach deep into your pockets and help this very worthy cause - a brother in need. You don't have to give much if you don't have it, and you can give via PayPal for security. Check out the perks (I ordered a T-Shirt). I highly recommend the online backup service for $20. That is unlimited data and an unlimited number of computers ... very awesome deal._ http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/take-his-aaaaye-patch/x/885353