Living In Exile

Introduction

Personal

Good morning.

Its good to be here with you today

If you are like me, in light of the restrictions in place of the virus, gathering for church seems a bit more special these days.

Seeing that it was thanksgiving last week, I am especially thankful for those serving in our church who have dealt with the stress of navigating service planning, and technological logistics.

Our head A/V guy Jason Hildebrant has been working tirelessly to ensure our online services are running smoothly.

I checked out your church’s website and saw that you as well have been putting up services online

Lets give the Audio/Visual guys a hand. They do a lot of work that goes unnoticed unless there are problems.

Theme

Today I would like to speak a bit about the topic of exile

And I want to look at it from a biblical perspective

The word itself not archaic in terms of modern unfamiliarity with the word

If I were to ask you for your own snap definition of the word what would you say?

(Allow response. Repeat definitions for video. Affirm common definitions)

This is the common understanding we, as modern western people of have of the word exile, which is correct

Our word exile actually transfers from the Latin exilium, which when it is used either refers to banishment from native lands for political or social reasons, or self-exile for similar reasons

But today I would like to look at the idea of exile in the scriptures, and find out

What is the scriptural view or definition of Exile

how that theme affects and guides us today

Genesis 3:

We actually find the idea in the first few pages of the Bible

Genesis 3:22-24

English Standard Version Chapter 3

22 Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” 23 therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

Again we find it in the next chapter, Gen 4:10-

English Standard Version Chapter 4

And the LORD said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground. 11 And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.”

English Standard Version Chapter 4

16 Then Cain went away from the presence of the LORD and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden

First obsevation I would like to make about these two passages

We don’t start off with exile, but in the Garden

This is not a garden of our planting, but of the Lord’s

My grandma in Texas has a garden. Every year it is beautiful.

Just the other day she had a swarm of humming birds in the garden

She also got a visit from a falcon

Just perched on the bench on her porch and stared at her through the window.

It was absolutely beautiful.

And the thing is creatures don’t just show up for no reason. The hummingbirds had food. The rabbits have food until she shoots at them. I don’t know why the hawk showed up, but it makes sense, its just the perfect place to be.

They don’t have to do any work for the food, they just show up and its ready for them.

Of course the birds and the bees help pollinate, and every animal just adds to the wonder and beauty of it. But they just come, and its ready for them.

And I imagine this is what the garden of the Lord looked like for Adam and Eve

The fruit was ready. The work was pleasant. The worries small and unnoticeable.

There was a harmony between man, animals, plant, water, earth, and air.

They had community, sustanance and communion with God.

If any place could feel like home, I bet that place did.

So we can say that to be exiled in the first place, we have to have a home from which to be exiled.

Second observation,

Exile is associated with death.

Adam and Eve were informed by God that to eat from the tree was to invite certain death

Cain himself, doesn’t seem as worried about the prospect of leaving the community as with the terror that someone very well could bring a sudden and untimely death to him.

And we can see from both these examples that death is involved in exile and plays itself out on many levels

Adam and Eve don’t die right away. But they are shut out from their home in Eden as well as the opportunity to escape death, and do eventually die.

Cain isn’t killed, but his relationship with his community is destroyed, and when he rebuilds his community, it becomes one where revenge and murder is celebrated.

English Standard Version Chapter 4

23 Lamech said to his wives:

“Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;

you wives of Lamech, listen to what I say:

I have killed a man for wounding me,

a young man for striking me.

24  If Cain’s revenge is sevenfold,

then Lamech’s is seventy-sevenfold.”

And maybe the relationship between death and exile isn’t always clear to us when we haven’t experience either, but they both seem to remove people from the homes and communities they love, the land they love, and the people they love.

And why were they exiled?

Rebellion against God

They wanted God’s authority to determine good and evil

Cain, why was he exiled? Because he broke faith with his community.

And this is the story of humanity in the first chapters of Genesis

They want God’s authority for themselves,

so they are exiled

They want to live without respect for the their communities,

so they are exiled.

And if we were to just read the first 11 chapters in Genesis, I think we’d be pretty discouraged

Because it’s not just their story.

Its not just Israel’s story

Its our story.

I’m pretty sure there is not a one of us who doesn’t feel like God is far away at times

We’ve all felt that at times our community with those around us has been broken.

We feel the strain of life and work on our bodies and minds as we live

We lose those we love. And not always to death, but to sickness, and strife

And its in these times that we worry that God might have forgotten us completely

Genesis 1-11 leaves humans looking like rebels, exiles, and failures

And if we are honest we often feel like outcasts, amateurs, and failures

Abraham

We all know that the Bible doesn’t end at Genesis 11.

In Genesis 12 we find another exile.

Maybe exile isn’t the right word

We don’t know the circumstances were around Abraham’s departure from Babylon

He seemed wealthy upon his departure and throughout his life.

We just know that the Lord told him to go and he obeyed

Its interesting to note the place to which both Adam and Eve and Cain were banished was simply “the East” and the place were humans attempted a corporate rebellion against God was in “the East”

To an Israelite mind, east means Babylon. Babylon is a kingdom that lives in defiance of God

And so when we transition from Genesis 11 where humanity migrated and rebelled against God, to Genesis 12 where God calls one man out of Babylon, I hope we see the trajectory that Scripture is starting to take

God begins relationship with mankind

Mankind rejects God

And God moves to bring mankind back to himself

Back into right relationship with each other

Back to a garden

The land of milk and honey, right?

English Standard Version Chapter 12

12 Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

And this is a strange exile that Abraham is experiencing

It does seem like an exile in a sense

It is the Lord speaking to him. He is being taken from a place where he is, in my mind, comfortable, and going out to an unfamiliar place.

And what better proof that Abraham is out of his depth than that he immediately tries to pawn off his wife?

He thinks they will kill him for his beautiful wife Sarah.

And you know he could’ve only thought this for two reasons

These people are different than the ones back home. They must be barbarians.

These people must be just like the ones back home. They must be barbarians.

Either way, he judges the authorities of Egypt poorly, and appears to offend the locals with his actions

And he doesn’t just do this once, he does it twice!

So its safe to say that Abraham was a stranger in the land

But this exile is strange, not because the man exiled is strange, but because it is supposed to be a good thing for Abraham himself.

English Standard Version Chapter 12

And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

He will become a great nation

I will bless you (think longevity and success)

I will make you famous

So famous that just being associated with you will be a blessing

So famous in fact that if people don’t like you they will be exiled

And the whole world will appreciate what you’ve done.

To most people this sounds more like winning the lottery, an all expense paid vacation, and writing a best selling self-help novel rather than exile

And I would like to call this exile in reverse. Humans have gone to live in the kingdom that opposes God’s rule, and rather than leaving them there, he goes in and starts trying to bring them back.

But in many ways, its still like exile for Abraham.

He never actually owns any land in Canaan, other than a plot to bury his beloved Sarah.

His children eventually end up as slaves in the land

He refuses to go back to his homeland

Abraham is an immigrant. An alien. A foreigner.

His children eventually take the land their father was promised

But they are commanded to remember their heritage as immigrants and foreigners

They are told in their law to treat immigrants and foreigners with respect

They are told in their law to once a year celebrate the life of immigration by living in “booths”

This idea of exile is very strong in the mind of the Israelite.

Post Exilic Period

And no doubt we can see why.

When they stopped caring about returning to God

When they stopped treating their neighbors and immigrants with care and respect

When they forgot that they themselves were former immigrants and exiles

They went into exile once again.

They returned to Babylon.

English Standard Version Chapter 36

11 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. 12 He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD his God. He did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the LORD. 13 He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. He stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD, the God of Israel. 14 All the officers of the priests and the people likewise were exceedingly unfaithful, following all the abominations of the nations. And they polluted the house of the LORD that he had made holy in Jerusalem.

following the abominations of the nations

Even though God had brought the nation of Israel back to himself out of humanity’s exile, there should’ve still been a sense of exile

Israel should’ve seemed, appeared, been viewed as an alien, an immigrant people among the nations

Because their life and practice was different than that of the nations.

Instead of taking, and cheating, and worshiping vanity, they were to have a relationship with the living God, who gives generously of the garden to everyone.

Instead of trusting in military might to make right, they were to look to the Lord for the judgment of good and evil.

But Israel became like the other nations. Living in antagonism to the Lord, and with each other.

So into exile they went.

English Standard Version Chapter 36

15 The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. 16 But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD rose against his people, until there was no remedy.

No remedy

The foot was down.

(Inside Out story)

most of us have had fathers

and fortunately or unfortunately have experienced the “foot being put down”

for me the foot being put down looked like an oak 1x4 about 20 inches long with a handle cut into one end

my dad even put my name on it.

When I wasn’t getting paddled with it I was playing with it pretending it was a sword.

No remedy

God put his foot down

His people were back in exile

His people were again part of Babylon

English Standard Version Chapter 64

64 Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down,

that the mountains might quake at your presence—

2  as when fire kindles brushwood

and the fire causes water to boil—

to make your name known to your adversaries,

and that the nations might tremble at your presence!

3 When you did awesome things that we did not look for,

you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.

4 From of old no one has heard

or perceived by the ear,

no eye has seen a God besides you,

who acts for those who wait for him.

5 You meet him who joyfully works righteousness,

those who remember you in your ways.

Behold, you were angry, and we sinned;

in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?

6 We have all become like one who is unclean,

and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.

We all fade like a leaf,

and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

7 There is no one who calls upon your name,

who rouses himself to take hold of you;

for you have hidden your face from us,

and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities.

8 But now, O LORD, you are our Father;

we are the clay, and you are our potter;

we are all the work of your hand.

9 Be not so terribly angry, O LORD,

and remember not iniquity forever.

Behold, please look, we are all your people.

How do you think God responds to this prayer?

If we read the first chapter in Ezekiel, we find an image of the Lord, being carried by the “living creatures” to Babylon

It says he was coming down from the north

(explain the geography of the exiles travel)

God is following the same route as his people took

God follows his people in Babylon

We have a God who pursues a relationship with his people

He does not leave his people in exile, but comes personally to see their return.

The fact that Yahweh, God of Israel, would follow us into Babylon should remind us of someone else in scripture.

English Standard Version Chapter 9

9 And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city. 2 And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” 3 And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” 4 But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? 5 For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? 6 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” 7 And he rose and went home. 8 When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

Jesus here refers to himself as Son of Man.

The people would remember the book of Ezekiel, where the Lord came to Babylon to encourage his people. The Lord constantly addressed Ezekiel as a Son of Man, reminding him that he was a mortal.

They also would of thought of the book of Daniel where someone “like the Son of Man” came before the Ancient of Days and finally destroys the power of Babylon.

Jesus is hinting at the people that he is mortal, and has come to destroy Babylon once and for all.

Jesus weeps over Jerusalem, because they did not recognize him, and rejected him, and remained subject to Babylon’s destructive power.

This is our God

This is the God of the Scriptures

He continually engages with his people, seeking their redemption

He continually meets them where they are at.

He even suffers with them through the greatest exile of all - death

and overcomes it.

This should excite us!

Listen to what Jesus tells his disciples

Challenge

So I have a question for you

Are you in Exile right now?

To a certain extent I think the whole world is in exile right now

The whole world is experiencing a little Babylon right now

Isolation from their communities, quite possibly from people they love.

We’ve got protests, and counter-protesters.

We’ve got people in high places trading insults with each other

I don’t think this is the city of God we are living in, is it?

This isn’t the garden

I’ve got good news though. We have a God who stays with us in Babylon

This is good news

This is how God rescues people from Babylon!

Do you want to catch people’s attention?

When I go fishing, I usually use one lure and one lure only

5 of diamonds spoon.

I don’t know what it is about a little yellow and silver piece of metal with black diamonds on it

But jacks love it. Any spoon actually. Any thing that flashes and moves

Listen, do you want to catch people’s eye and give them a shot at looking up out of the ocean of chaos that is this world and see the kingdom of God?

Remain calm in all the yelling and arguing

Half the world is screaming, HEY, be worried about this!

The other half is yelling, NO, your wrong, worry about that!

When they see someone at peace because they know their God is with them in Babylon, believe me, they’ll pay attention.

Don’t rush, fret, try to out-maneuver others.

We don’t have to fight because our God has promised to take care of Babylon!

Sometimes we feel like we’re in Exile - not physically, but spiritually.

Maybe God feels far away, and we know deep down inside that it is our fault.

And I think the purpose of Scripture is to remind us constantly of the readiness of God to join his children where they are, and begin the journey back from Babylon.

I encourage each one of you, remember your journey with God from Babylon.

Show tenderness to those who are still on that journey.

We may be exiles in this world, but with this gathering, we should be at home, we should feel the tenderness and care of the Lord himself present in each other.

English Standard Version Chapter 2

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.