Life as Exiles

Introduction

Back to our series through the Bible

The previous weeks we’ve spent looking at wisdom literature

Psalms

Proverbs

Job

And how they teach us how to live wisely

Now we are in our last series before we get to the New Testament

The Story of Faithfulness

The last part of the history of the Bible that we haven’t really gotten into is the story of the exile

Israel spent 70 years in Babylon and when the OT ends… they finally are able to return and rebuild

But what is the significance of the exile?

Today we are going to learn why the exile happened

But also how it relates to us as followers of Jesus today

And how we also are exiles—and how we are to live our lives

Scripture Reading

Leviticus 26:3–13 (CSB)

“If you follow my statutes and faithfully observe my commands, I will give you rain at the right time, and the land will yield its produce, and the trees of the field will bear their fruit. Your threshing will continue until grape harvest, and the grape harvest will continue until sowing time; you will have plenty of food to eat and live securely in your land. I will give peace to the land, and you will lie down with nothing to frighten you. I will remove dangerous animals from the land, and no sword will pass through your land. You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall before you by the sword. Five of you will pursue a hundred, and a hundred of you will pursue ten thousand; your enemies will fall before you by the sword.

“I will turn to you, make you fruitful and multiply you, and confirm my covenant with you. You will eat the old grain of the previous year and will clear out the old to make room for the new. I will place my residence among you, and I will not reject you. I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, so that you would no longer be their slaves. I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to live in freedom.

Leviticus 26:14–20 (CSB)

“But if you do not obey me and observe all these commands—if you reject my statutes and despise my ordinances, and do not observe all my commands—and break my covenant, then I will do this to you: I will bring terror on you—wasting disease and fever that will cause your eyes to fail and your life to ebb away. You will sow your seed in vain because your enemies will eat it. I will turn against you, so that you will be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee even though no one is pursuing you.

“But if after these things you will not obey me, I will proceed to discipline you seven times for your sins. I will break down your strong pride. I will make your sky like iron and your land like bronze, and your strength will be used up for nothing. Your land will not yield its produce, and the trees of the land will not bear their fruit.

Why Exile?

As you can see from the Scripture reading—this was a part of the terms of their covenant with God

God had clearly said—If you worship me as your one and only God, I will provide everything you need

You will live in peace

Your enemies will not prevail against you

You will be fruitful

But if you forsake me—there are consequences

It’s like being married to a king—and cheating on them

If you reject me—you can’t enjoy the gifts of a relationship with me

And God’s first choice wasn’t to throw them in exile after their first mistake

God sent prophets—like Isaiah, Jeremiah and others—to warn Israel and bring them back to God

But as we saw in our study of the prophets—Israel did not respond to the call

(SLIDES)

2 Chronicles 36:14–21 (CSB)

All the leaders of the priests and the people multiplied their unfaithful deeds, imitating all the detestable practices of the nations, and they defiled the Lord’s temple that he had consecrated in Jerusalem.

But the Lord, the God of their ancestors sent word against them by the hand of his messengers, sending them time and time again, for he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. But they kept ridiculing God’s messengers, despising his words, and scoffing at his prophets, until the Lord’s wrath was so stirred up against his people that there was no remedy. So he brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their fit young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary. He had no pity on young men or young women, elderly or aged; he handed them all over to him. He took everything to Babylon—all the articles of God’s temple, large and small, the treasures of the Lord’s temple, and the treasures of the king and his officials. Then the Chaldeans burned God’s temple. They tore down Jerusalem’s wall, burned all its palaces, and destroyed all its valuable articles.

He deported those who escaped from the sword to Babylon, and they became servants to him and his sons until the rise of the Persian kingdom. This fulfilled the word of the Lord through Jeremiah, and the land enjoyed its Sabbath rest all the days of the desolation until seventy years were fulfilled.

wow

(SLIDES)

In short this is why Israel was exiled

They continued in sin and rebellion against God and showed no sign of change.

They refused to give the land the rest God commanded them to do.

To show Israel how serious their sin and rebellion was—sin has consequences.

Being Faithful in Exile

But just because Israel was in exile didn’t mean that God was done with them

And it didn’t mean that they didn’t have a purpose either

Despite their exile, God still desired his people to be faithful to him—he still had a mission for them

He has not forsaken them and left them behind

We read this letter in Jeremiah:

And the context of this is that the Israelites have just been ravaged and taken captive—they are brought to Babylon

And some of them were refusing to enter the city, they thought that the exile would be short and they would go home quickly

That it would be a slap on the wrist and then things would go back to normal

But God sends a message through Jeremiah saying:

(SLIDES)

Jeremiah 29:4–14 (CSB)

This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the exiles I deported from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and live in them. Plant gardens and eat their produce. Find wives for yourselves, and have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons and give your daughters to men in marriage so that they may bear sons and daughters. Multiply there; do not decrease. Pursue the well-being of the city I have deported you to. Pray to the Lord on its behalf, for when it thrives, you will thrive.”

For this is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Don’t let your prophets who are among you and your diviners deceive you, and don’t listen to the dreams you elicit from them, for they are prophesying falsely to you in my name. I have not sent them.” This is the Lord’s declaration.

For this is what the Lord says: “When seventy years for Babylon are complete, I will attend to you and will confirm my promise concerning you to restore you to this place. For I know the plans I have for you”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“plans for your well-being, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. You will call to me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. I will be found by you”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and places where I banished you”—this is the Lord’s declaration. “I will restore you to the place from which I deported you.”

You see God’s heart in the exile is that the Israelites would take their sin and rebellion seriously, repent, and live out their lives as a blessing to Babylon

His heart was that the Israelites would be a light and a blessing to Babylon—that God would be glorified through the way they live their lives—and this was God’s plan all along

Remember the promise to Abraham—that his descendants will be a blessing to the nations?

Well Israel failed to do that at home

So God brought them to the nations so that they could make Yahweh known there

And what God is calling Israel to is quite radical…

Imagine their situation

A foreign nation invades your home

They destroy your hometown…they demolish your church

They use violence and murder some of your friends and loved ones

They take you as a captive back to their nation

And these are wicked people—known for evil practices

They force you to live under their rules and customs

You have to learn a new language, find new community

How would you feel about these people?

How would you want to treat them?

God here is saying something radical…

I know these people are wicked and have destroyed your homeland and families

But settle among them

Build houses

Plant gardens

Find wives—give your children in marriage

Pursue the well-being of the city

Pray to God on their behalf

Wow…

And I think when we see this… we can see how the exile applies to us as Christians today

Does any of this sound familiar to you?

Being Faithful Today

How about this?

(SLIDES)

Matthew 5:13–16 (CSB)

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It’s no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.

“You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

or a few verses later…

(SLIDES)

Matthew 5:43–48 (CSB)

“You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven. For he causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what are you doing out of the ordinary? Don’t even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Guys… here is the connection I want us to draw today

As Christians, we live our lives as exiles

And looking at the exile of Israel actually helps us to live in our world today

In first Peter he refers to the Church as

(SLIDES)

1 Peter 1:1 (CSB)

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ:

To those chosen, living as exiles dispersed abroad in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia

Or as Paul says

(SLIDES)

Philippians 3:20 (CSB)

Our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly wait for a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.

We once were of this world—this was our home

But when we give our lives to Jesus and accept him

We are adopted into a new family

We have a new citizenship—like a passport

We are a part of a new kingdom, a new nation

We have a new and better home in heaven

But in the meantime… we live here

Citizens of the kingdom of God—living on Earth

And just like the Israelites were longing to leave exile and not wanting to engage with the Babylonian world—we can also be tempted to do the same

We can think that Heaven is all that matters—and we can adopt an escapist mindset to the world around us

Meanwhile we are being called to be faithful witnesses to God in this broken world

(SLIDES)

2 Temptations:

To condemn the world and isolate ourselves from culture (elaborate)

To forsake God and get absorbed by the culture (elaborate)

(SLIDE)

But we need to find a middle ground

But what does it mean to stand for God in the midst of a broken culture

What does it mean to be the light of the Earth, the city on a hill, the salt of the Earth?

Living as exiles in this world, we have a unique calling

We, collectively and individually, are outposts of heaven in this world

Paul says:

(SLIDES)

2 Corinthians 5:20 (CSB)

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God.”

We know that we will one day come to our home with God

But our purpose here and now is to represent our king and our kingdom

Example: Study Abroad experiences in Japan and Spain

Example: French foreign exchange students

And unfortunately, in todays day and age, we have had a lot of bad ambassadors—a lot of bad examples of what it means to be a follower of Jesus

Which gives us all the more reason to represent Christ well

There is a deep need for a true Christlike representation to the world

Example: Story of me and Le.

And this happens when we find a balance of living in this world—but not becoming like this world

We need both a Christian community to build us up and we also need unbelievers in our life that know us deeply and know how much Jesus means to us

And as we form these communities, I think we best represent Jesus by living questionable lives:

(SLIDES)

1 Peter 3:14–16 (CSB)

But even if you should suffer for righteousness, you are blessed. Do not fear them or be intimidated, but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, ready at any time to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. Yet do this with gentleness and reverence, keeping a clear conscience, so that when you are accused, those who disparage your good conduct in Christ will be put to shame.

This verse is often used as foundation for studying apologetics (defending the faith) but we have to look at what it is saying…

It is not saying that we need to have intellectual answers to be able to successfully debate people who don’t agree with us

What it is saying is that we should be ready to go through hardships and that as we are going through them we should be

“ready at any time to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.”

Stop and think:

When was the last time/or has anyone ever asked you “why do you have so much hope?”

And we aren’t talking about blind optimism—or a disassociation from reality.

People can see right through that and it’s not very convincing…

We’re talking about looking suffering in its face and saying—this sucks, life is rough, but I still have hope (Think of Job)

Suffering is a necessary part of witnessing

It’s one thing to point to Jesus when everything is going well—of course it’s easy to follow God when everything is going right

It’s another thing to walk through very difficult times, while still having faith, peace, and trust that God is for you.

So each time we go through some hardship, each time we suffer—there is an opportunity to suffer well and to witness to those around us

And by doing so—we live questionable lives

Something is different about this person…

They are stable through seasons, they don’t wean back and forth bound by their circumstances

This person’s life is built on a foundation that goes deep and is secure

And people see the insecurities and hopelessness in their lives—and want to know what makes you different

And this is what is happening in the exile…

The Israelites were not the first people that the Babylonians had captured and carried away into captivity

They would expect the Israelites to complain, to resist, to hate them.

But what would’ve happened if God’s people reflected their God?

If instead of complaining—they saw that they worked diligently

Instead of resisting—they submitted

Instead of hating—they loved their oppressors back

And unfortunately Israel didn’t do the best job

There were some faithful to God but not all

But if we look forward we find that this is the story of the Church

Persecuted, despised, and hated

Despite this—the church grew and grew

They were a questionable people

You saw how they responded to suffering and knew something was different about them

And this lead to an interest in them…

Who are these people?

Who is this Jesus they follow?

How are they able to love those who hate them back?

How are they able to maintain hope when everything is against them?

Conclusion

So in conclusion, we find ourselves in the same boat—we have inherited the legacy and mission of the Church

We live in exile

We are away from home—longing to go to our eternal dwelling place with God

But in the meantime we don’t wait idly

We live as witnesses and signposts to Jesus

We are ambassadors of the gospel

We point others to the reality of a relationship with God because of Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection.

And with this… here are a couple of questions I think our helpful for us to reflect on:

Are you comfortable with this world, or do you find yourself longing for more?

What areas of your life are you being called to suffer well? How can this be a witness to others?

What are ways you might be able to live a questionable life?