The Big Story: God Sends His People into Exile


One of the many things I love about the book of Psalms is that it expresses a wide range of emotions.  We find psalms of joy, sorrow, worry, worship, and aspiration.  For me, many of the most compelling psalms are those that express unvarnished feelings.  They show that the people God used to write the Bible had the same feelings we do!

One of the most sorrowful and bitter psalms is Psalm 137.  It expresses the feelings of the Israelites when they were in exile in Babylon.  They sat and wept by the rivers of that place, feeling the pain of their loss, and the words and actions of their tormentors.  They comfort themselves with the thought of someone taking the infants of their enemies and dashing them against rocks!  

The exile was a critical part of God's mission to save the world because during it the Israelites wrestled with questions that would prepare the way for the coming of Christ.  

A first question was, "Has our God been defeated?"  Many ancient people believed that their defeat was a defeat for their gods.  But passages like 2 Kings 17:17:7-8 showed that God showed his sovereignty by delivering them into the hands of their enemies.  God had a special covenant relationship with Israel and worked through relationship, but the scope of his power and love extended to the whole world.

A second question was, "Can we worship God?"  The center of Israelite worship had been the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem.  It had been destroyed.  The law didn't permit them to sacrifice anywhere else!  But the exile taught the Israelites that they could worship God anywhere.  His presence and power weren't limited to Jerusalem and its vicinity.  Their sacrifices became more spiritual than physical.

A third question was, "Do we have a future?"  Some thought God was done with them.  He had tossed them aside and abandoned them.  But God sent them prophets (see Isaiah 40:1ff) to tell them that God wasn't finished with them.  Eventually, God sent them something (actually, someone!) greater than he had sent before: His Unique Son, Jesus Christ.

The exile teaches us that God is with us wherever we are, and that he never gives up on us.  It teaches us that we have a future even when we've failed, and that God is working out his purposes in and through us!

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