In 538 B. C. Cyrus marched into Babylonia, defeated the Babylonian army, and seized the city, thus fulfilling in a very striking way the second part of Jeremiah’s prophecy.[150] Soon after, the Judean captives received permission to return to Palestine. They were also allowed to carry with them the sacred vessels which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from the temple in Jerusalem.[151] The prophecy of restoration was thus triumphantly fulfilled. One company of exiles went at once, and others followed them later. The people of Jehovah in this way began life afresh after the great national punishment of the Captivity. They had thoroughly learned one lesson at least, namely, this, that _Jehovah spoke through His prophets_. So in their new system, while they retained the old ritual of the temple, they made careful provision for the preservation of the writings of the prophets and for the instruction of the people in the Mosaic Law. We need trace the history no farther; for it was this post-exilic Judaism, with its great care for the Scriptures, and its energetic attempts to instil them into the minds of the people, that formed the environment of Jesus and His work. But we must now return to the great prophet who spoke consolation to the exiles in Babylon, and study his ideas. His conception of God is very lofty. He illustrates in many ways His holiness, His faithfulness, His tender sympathy, His omnipotence, His absolute sway among nations, and His power of foretelling future events by the mouth of His prophets. On the other hand, the prophet’s conception of the duty and destiny of the people of Jehovah is correspondingly high. Israel has been created and chosen by Jehovah, and therefore is precious in His sight; but He did not choose them out of favouritism, nor was it His purpose to heap blessings on them merely for their pleasure and aggrandizement. Israel is _the Servant of Jehovah_. The service they have to render is to reveal God’s character and purposes to all the nations of the earth. This is the end of their election and of their long training. But, as in the past the nation has fallen far short of Jehovah’s ideal, so now in Babylon the people as a whole is very far from fit for the work which God has for them to do: “Who is blind but my servant? or deaf as my messenger that I send?”[152]