Christians in Exile

Introduction

Jeremiah 29:1-14.

Jeremiah 29:1–14 ESV

1 These are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders of the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. 2 This was after King Jeconiah and the queen mother, the eunuchs, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metal workers had departed from Jerusalem. 3 The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. It said: 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; plant gardens and eat their produce. 6 Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. 7 But 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 find your welfare. 8 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, 9 for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, declares the Lord. 10 “For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

In this context, God is giving the Israelites instructions on how to live while in Babylonian exile. This is something that was needed by the Israelites because their lives changed drastically overnight.

One night, they were sleeping safely behind the walls of Jerusalem as God’s people – and then the walls were breached, the people were taken captive, and they were sleeping in a foreign nation with foreign people who serve foreign gods. Their entire world was turned upside down.

We see this in the book of Lamentations. Lamentations 1:1-4.

Lamentations 1:1–4 ESV

1 How lonely sits the city that was full of people! How like a widow has she become, she who was great among the nations! She who was a princess among the provinces has become a slave. 2 She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks; among all her lovers she has none to comfort her; all her friends have dealt treacherously with her; they have become her enemies. 3 Judah has gone into exile because of affliction and hard servitude; she dwells now among the nations, but finds no resting place; her pursuers have all overtaken her in the midst of her distress. 4 The roads to Zion mourn, for none come to the festival; all her gates are desolate; her priests groan; her virgins have been afflicted, and she herself suffers bitterly.

This is just a small sample of the grief that is expressed because of Israel’s captivity.

Again, their lives were turned upside down, so they needed God to instruct them on how to live. This is what we see in Jeremiah 29.

What God says in this context is relevant to us. Someone might say, “How is this relevant to us? We haven’t been taken into captivity.” But this is relevant to us.

We are in exile.

This is not something that we typically think about, but as Christians, we are in exile. This idea goes back to the first three pages of the Bible.

In Genesis 2, God and man were dwelling together in the garden that was filled with life, but what happens? Because of sin, man is exile from the garden. Genesis 3:22-24.

Genesis 3:22–24 ESV

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.

The exile in Genesis 3 is a like a foreshadowing of Israel’s exile from the land, the exile that we see in Jeremiah 29.

Think about it. When Israel was in the land, who were they dwelling with? God… Just like the garden.

How was the land of Israel described? It was described as the land flowing with milk and honey. Israel was a land filled with life, just like a garden.

Think about the temple for just a second. 1 Kings 6:23-30.

1 Kings 6:23–30 ESV

23 In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim of olivewood, each ten cubits high. 24 Five cubits was the length of one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the length of the other wing of the cherub; it was ten cubits from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other. 25 The other cherub also measured ten cubits; both cherubim had the same measure and the same form. 26 The height of one cherub was ten cubits, and so was that of the other cherub. 27 He put the cherubim in the innermost part of the house. And the wings of the cherubim were spread out so that a wing of one touched the one wall, and a wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; their other wings touched each other in the middle of the house. 28 And he overlaid the cherubim with gold. 29 Around all the walls of the house he carved engraved figures of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, in the inner and outer rooms. 30 The floor of the house he overlaid with gold in the inner and outer rooms.

So, the temple is like the garden.

Here’s my point: The exile of the Jews is like a carbon copy of man’s exile from the garden. Well, we are a part of man’s exile from the garden, aren’t we?

Peter picks up on this. 1 Peter 1:1, 17; 2:11.

1 Peter 1:1 ESV

1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

1 Peter 1:17 ESV

17 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile,

1 Peter 2:11 ESV

11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.

So, Peter picks up on this idea of Christians being in exile. Since Christians are not in the garden, we are still in exile. Remember, man’s exile from the garden is like a foreshadowing of Israel’s exile from the land.

2. Peter also hints at this. 1 Peter 5:13.

1 Peter 5:13 ESV

13 She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son.

This woman is not in Babylon. The idea is that this woman is in exile just like Israel was in exile while in Babylon.

So, Israel’s exile from the land into Babylon is a carbon copy of our exile from the garden. Why do I bring this up?

I bring this up to show that there are lessons that we can learn from Israel’s exile.

We may look at Jeremiah 29, and think that it doesn’t apply to us, but it does because we are also in exile.

So, for the rest of the lesson, we are going to look at some things that we need to understand if we are going to live as Christians in exile.

We are still God’s people.

Jeremiah 29:4-7.

Jeremiah 29:4–7 ESV

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; plant gardens and eat their produce. 6 Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. 7 But 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 find your welfare.

In this context, God instructs the Israelites on how they should live in exile, and he essentially tells them that they are still to live as God’s people.

We see this in verse 5 where God tells them to dwell in that land and multiply there. That command is important. The command to multiply is like a hyperlink that takes us to so many passages in the OT.

Genesis 1:28.

Genesis 1:28 ESV

28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

While in the garden, God tells Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply.

Exodus 1:7.

Exodus 1:7 ESV

7 But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.

When God’s people were living in Egypt, the text says that they were fruitful and multiplied.

Deuteronomy 30:16.

Deuteronomy 30:16 ESV

16 If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.

As God’s people are about to go into the land, God tells them that if they are faithful, they will be blessed and will multiply.

So, throughout the OT, we see that God’s people multiply. As a matter of fact, it’s described as a blessing for being faithful to God. So, God is telling them that they are still his people. Just like God’s people multiplied while in Egyptian bondage, they are to multiply as well.

This was something that they needed to hear. They needed to be reassured that they were still God’s people… Where were they?

They were in slavery. They were taken away from God’s temple. They couldn’t worship God properly. They likely thought that God had rejected them.

But God reassures them that they are still his people, and they have to live the right way.

So, what does God tell them? How are they supposed to live?

He tells them that they need to live their lives there. Jeremiah 29:6.

Jeremiah 29:6 ESV

6 Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease.

They don’t need to go home. They don’t need to get back to the temple. They need to live as exiles.

This is the first lesson for us. Just like God’s people needed to live in Babylon, we need to live in the world. We don’t need to live as hermits.

We need to make sure that we aren’t conformed to the world, but we’ve got to live in the world so that we can be lights to them.

We must do good while in exile. Jeremiah 29:7.

Jeremiah 29:7 ESV

7 But 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 find your welfare.

While they were there, they were supposed to be good citizens of the city that they were living in. Think about how difficult this would have been for them.

Babylon was the wicked city that destroyed Jerusalem.

It would be easy for the Israelites to revolt, fight back, and try to go back home, but they were told not to. They were told to seek the good/peace of their city.

This is the lesson for us. We must seek the good/peace of our society.

This means that we work in our communities to make it a better place.

This means that we teach the lost about the truth of God.

This means that we love our neighbor.

BTW… Notice that their worship had to change. Sometimes our worship might have to change, but we still seek to be God’s people

We look forward to the return.

Jeremiah 29:10-14.

Jeremiah 29:10–14 ESV

10 “For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

In this context, we see that the Israelites should look forward to their return to the promised land. This is another theme that we see throughout the Bible story, and it’s actually a Sabbath theme.

In the beginning, the seventh day is described as a time when God dwelt with man in the garden.

During each of the days of creation there is an evening and morning that marks the beginning and end of each day. But, on the seventh day, there is no evening and morning.

The idea is that the Sabbath rest in the beginning did not end until Adam and Eve sinned and were exiled from the garden. From a biblical perspective, the true Sabbath rest is when God dwells with his people.

This is why the entrance into the land of Canaan is called rest for the Israelites. Joshua 1:13.

Joshua 1:13 ESV

13 “Remember the word that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, saying, ‘The Lord your God is providing you a place of rest and will give you this land.’

The idea is that when God dwells with his people, it is a sabbath rest.

That’s what we see in Jeremiah 29:10-14.

Jeremiah 29:10–14 ESV

10 “For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

Jeremiah tells them that after 70 years they will go back to the land of rest. So, just like in Genesis, the number 7 is tied to rest… To God dwelling with his people, and Jeremiah was encouraging them to look forward to their return to rest.

That’s the lesson for us. Since we are also living in exile, we need to be looking forward to our return to sabbath rest, and our journey towards sabbath rest is a big theme of the NT.

Think about it. On what day was Jesus raised? He was raised on the first day. On what day did God begin creation? The first day. So, Jesus death and resurrection was like the start of a new creation with day one.

Since Jesus started a new creation on day one, we are marching to the seventh day. We are journeying to our sabbath rest. Hebrews 4:8-11.

Hebrews 4:8–11 ESV

8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. 9 So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10 for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. 11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.

So, the author of Hebrews tells us that we, as Christians, are journeying towards a sabbath rest.

This is something that needs to be foremost in our minds.

We live in crazy times.

We live in times where people lose sleep over COVID.

We live in times where people lose sleep over the election numbers.

We live in times where people lose sleep over the immorality of our culture.

In times like this, it can be easy to forget that we have rest in front of us. It can be easy to forget that are journeying towards the seventh day. Let’s not forget this.

We need to live as Christians in exile because we have rest waiting for us.

Conclusion

But if we are not a part of God’s people, then we are going to miss out on that rest.

Are you a part of God’s sabbath rest?