Exile (Part 7)

After David’s Death, His Son Solomon Took the Throne

After Solomon’s Death, His Son Rehoboam Took the Throne

He was Foolish and Wicked

This Led to the Kingdom Being Divided

Northern Israel and Southern Judah

Then We Read a Prophecy in 1 Kings 14:15

1 Kings 14:15 (NASB95)

15 “For the Lord will strike Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water; and He will uproot Israel from this good land which He gave to their fathers, and will scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, because they have made their Asherim, provoking the Lord to anger.

We Learn Early on that the People of Northern Israel are Going to Be Exiled

2 Kings 17:6 (NASB95)

6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried Israel away into exile to Assyria, and settled them in Halah and Habor, on the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

2 Kings 17:20–23 (NASB95)

20 The Lord rejected all the descendants of Israel and afflicted them and gave them into the hand of plunderers, until He had cast them out of His sight. 21 When He had torn Israel from the house of David, they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. Then Jeroboam drove Israel away from following the Lord and made them commit a great sin. 22 The sons of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they did not depart from them 23 until the Lord removed Israel from His sight, as He spoke through all His servants the prophets. So Israel was carried away into exile from their own land to Assyria until this day.

Assyria Exiled and Scattered the People of Northern Israel…

And Then Brought Several Other Exiled People Groups…

To Samaria (Northern Israel) to Live as Exiles There

Now There’s a Conglomeration of People Groups Living in Northern Israel

2 Kings 17:27–28 (NASB95)

27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, “Take there one of the priests whom you carried away into exile and let him go and live there; and let him teach them the custom of the god of the land.” 28 So one of the priests whom they had carried away into exile from Samaria came and lived at Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the Lord.

Then They Began Worshiping God Along with All Their Other False Gods

It Wouldn’t Be Long Before Assyria Came Knocking on Judah’s Door

2 Kings 18:13 (NASB95)

13 Now in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and seized them.

Then They Threatened Jerusalem…

But, in One Night, God Killed 185,000 Assyrian Soldiers

So They Left Jerusalem Alone and Went Back to Assyria

But, it Wouldn’t Be Long Until Another Empire Arises

Babylon has Overtaken Assyria and They Eventually Come to Overtake Jerusalem

A Prophet Named Jeremiah Warned Judah About this…

But They Refused to Listen to Him and Persecuted Him Instead

But His Prophesies Eventually Came True

2 Kings 24:10–16 (NASB95)

10 At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon went up to Jerusalem, and the city came under siege. 11 And Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came to the city, while his servants were besieging it.

12 Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he and his mother and his servants and his captains and his officials. So the king of Babylon took him captive in the eighth year of his reign.

13 He carried out from there all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the Lord, just as the Lord had said.

14 Then he led away into exile all Jerusalem and all the captains and all the mighty men of valor, ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths. None remained except the poorest people of the land.

15 So he led Jehoiachin away into exile to Babylon; also the king’s mother and the king’s wives and his officials and the leading men of the land, he led away into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. 16 All the men of valor, seven thousand, and the craftsmen and the smiths, one thousand, all strong and fit for war, and these the king of Babylon brought into exile to Babylon.

The King of Babylon Took the Best and the Brightest as Exiles Back to Babylon

He Then Replaces King Jehoiachin with His Uncle, Renamed Zedekiah

Jeremiah Tells Zedekiah and the People of Jerusalem…

If They will Surrender to Babylon and Willingly Go as Captives to Become Exiles…

They will Be Saved

But Zedekiah would Rebel Against Nebuchadnezzar…

Which Brought About Jerusalem’s Destruction…

Just as Jeremiah had Told Him

2 Kings 25:9–12 (NASB95)

9 He burned the house of the Lord, the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; even every great house he burned with fire. 10 So all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard broke down the walls around Jerusalem. 11 Then the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon and the rest of the people, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away into exile. 12 But the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and plowmen.

Jerusalem has Been Destroyed and Most of God’s People are Now Exiled in Foreign Lands

After 70 Years of Exile (As Jeremiah Prophesied)…

Persia will Overtake Babylon and Allow the Jewish People to Return Home

Fast Forward a Few Hundred Years and Jesus Enters the Picture

We Wrap Up this Series on Exile Next Week…

With Looking at What it Means to Be Exiles as Christians Today

And We’ll Especially Focus on Jesus (the Perfect Exile)…

And How He has Shown Us to Live as Exiles…

Until His Return and the Arrival of Our Home

But for the Rest of Our Time this Morning…

I Want to Focus on a Letter that Jeremiah Sent to the Exiles in Babylon

There Were False Prophets Amongst the Exiles…

That Were Saying that the Exile Would Be Very Short

“Don’t Get Too Comfortable Over Here, God is About to Bring Us Back Home”

But Here’s What Jeremiah Wrote to Them

Jeremiah 29:4–14 (NASB95)

4 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, 5 ‘Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their produce. 6 ‘Take wives and become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there and do not decrease.

He Tells Them to Build Houses & Live in Them

Get Married and Raise a Family

Consider Babylon as Your Permanent Home

Live Here as You Would Back Home

This was Written to a Specific People…

In a Specific Circumstance…

At a Specific Time in History

But I Believe We can Still Learn From the Principles We See Here

We, as Disciples of Jesus, are Exiles in this Present Age

We are Longing and Waiting for Our True Home to Come

But While We are in Exile, We Ought to Make Ourselves at Home

Live Our Lives in this Age, as God has Always Intended

When You Break Down God’s Commands of Adam and Eve…

They Look Like this:

Represent God By Bearing His Image

Be Fruitful and Multiply

Subdue and Rule Over the Earth and its Animals

Get Married and Raise a Family

Use the Earth’s Resources to Create, Build, and Make the World a Better Place

And Do All of Those Things in Such a Way…

That People will Come to Know God Through You

That’s What Life is All About

That Commission has Not Changed

The Exiles in Babylon Were to Live Their Lives in Such a Way…

Regardless of Where They Found Themselves

And We are to Live Our Lives in that Way…

Even Though We Know Our Eternal Home has Not Yet Come

7 ‘Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf; for in its welfare you will have welfare.’

They Were to Seek the “shalom” of Babylon

“shalom” = Peace, Safety, Security, Welfare, and Prosperity

This was and Still is a Bizarre Way to Respond to One’s Captors/Enemies

They Were Told to Desire, Work Toward, and Pray for…

Their Captor’s/Enemy’s Peace, Safety, Security, Welfare, and Prosperity

Some would Consider this Treason

But Jeremiah Said it was for Their Own Benefit

When Babylon had “shalom”, Israel would have “shalom”

We See Paul Express the Same Idea to Timothy

1 Timothy 2:1–2 (ESV)

1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.

As Long as We are Exiles in the Kingdoms of Men…

As We Await the Full Arrival of and Our Full Acceptance in the Kingdom of God…

We are to Work and Pray for the…

Peace, Safety, Security, Welfare, and Prosperity…

Of the Kingdoms/Nations We Find Exiled in

With Their “shalom” Comes Our “shalom”

But, Even if We Get Nothing Out of it…

It is Still Our Mission, Given to Us By King Jesus…

To Love, Work, and Pray for the “shalom” of Our Enemies

Luke 6:27–36 (NASB95)

27 “But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 “Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either. 30 “Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back. 31 “Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.

32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 “If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 “If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount.

35 “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. 36 “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

This Does Not Mean We Condone Evil

This Does Not Mean We are Treasonous or Traitors Against God’s Kingdom

This is the Life of a Genuine Citizen of the Kingdom of God

This is Full Commitment and Loyalty to God

Go Back to Jeremiah’s Letter

8 “For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Do not let your prophets who are in your midst and your diviners deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams which they dream. 9 ‘For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them,’ declares the Lord. 10 “For thus says the Lord, ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place.

11 ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. 12 ‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. 14 ‘I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’

They Were Told By God How Long They would Be in Exile

And God Encouraged Them By Making Known to Them Through Jeremiah…

That He had Plans for Their “shalom”

He was Going to Bring Them Back Home…

And Their Relationship with Him would Be Reconciled

Lots of People Use These Verses as if They are Promises for Us Today

They Aren’t

But the Principle Does Still Apply Because…

Though We Don’t Know When…

God Does Still have Plans for His People’s “shalom”

He Does have Plans to Fully Reconcile and Restore Us Back to Him

We have this Hope in Jesus

He is the Provider of Our Present and Future “shalom”

We May Be Exiles Now, But Jesus is Going to Return

He is Going to Give Us an Everlasting Home in an Everlasting City

One of the difficult parts of living as an exile is having to live differently than those around us

“Being in the world but not of the world”

Talk about some of the beliefs/standards of our culture and how we must react to these things:

Relationships in a culture where 50% of marriages end in divorce

Fornication & Adultery

LGBTQ

Abortion

Pornography

Are there some things that we have turned into major issues that aren’t?

Dancing

Jesus was the Greatest Exile

He Left His Home in Heaven to Become Human and Live in a World that Hated Him

Look at His Life as an Exile and Copy it

We are Even Exiles in Our Own Body

2 Cor 5:1-10

We Currently Live in a Tent (Temporary Housing)

We Look Forward to Living in a Building (Permanent Home)

When Jesus Returns, We will Inherit a Home Prepared for Us that has Been Stored Up in Heaven

Joshua 24:13 (NASB95)

13 ‘I gave you a land on which you had not labored, and cities which you had not built, and you have lived in them; you are eating of vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.’