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!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

God's Dynamite: The Battle Within

Image
"It was on fire when I lay down on it."  Robert Fulghum wrote about reading this statement in a small town newspaper.   Smoke was billowing from a second story window.  The Fire Department arrived, broke down the front door, ran up a set of stairs, and pulled a man off a burning bed.  Later, when they asked him how he got in that predicament, he said, "It was on fire when I lay down on it." Why on earth did he do that?  We don't know, but his story reveals a human truth.  We often do self-destructive things.  We testify, "People told me not to do it, but I did it anyway."  "I knew it was wrong, but I did it." The apostle Paul wrote about our human propensity to sin and self-destructive behavior in Romans 7:14-25.  Verse 15 sums up his point, "I do not understand what I do.  For what I want to do I do not do and what I hate I do."   He describes an intense inner battle.  On one side is the "flesh," his
Read more

God's Dynamite: More than Conquerors

Image
One person goes through a terrible experience and emerges from it stronger, more mature, and more loving.  Another goes through a similar experience and emerges from it weaker, less mature, and bitter.   What's the difference? I think it has to do with what's in the person's heart.  It has to do with his or her faith and perspective of life.   In Romans 8:35-39, the apostle Paul asked, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?''  Is there any person or place or experience that can remove us from Christ's loving presence?  Trouble? Hardship? Danger?  Sword? Paul could answer this question because he experienced all the above and more.  He said, "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."  We conquer all these things through Christ's love for us. To be sure, we can have times when Christ's love seems far away from us. In the depths of suffering in times like these, we can won
Read more

God's Dynamite: Resurrection Transformation

Image
Easter is about more than you going to heaven.  That's part of it, but not near all!  It's about your death and resurrection. In Romans 6, Paul was answering opponents.  Those opponents said that if salvation is by God's grace through faith, then you have no motivation for righteous living and good works.  Why not sin more to get more grace? Paul answered by using the image of baptism.  He said when the pastor plunged you under water, he symbolized your death in Christ.  Through faith you died on the cross with Jesus.  Your old self was a slave to sin and rebellion against God.   Paul said when the pastor raised you up from the water, he symbolized your resurrection in Christ.  Not just in the future but in the present.  In faith, you identify with Jesus' death and his resurrection.  You're raised to a new life, free from slavery to sin. So Easter is about more than personal salvation.  It's about transformation: dying to an old life and ris
Read more