Encouragement for a New Kind of Exile

Rather than exiled to a faraway land, we are relegated to the four walls of our homes. It’s a new kind of exile. We’ve been uprooted from what we once knew and are now planted in unfamiliar circumstances. Life looks different, but we are not defeated. There is encouragement in exile, and we find it in God’s Word.

This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the captives he has exiled to Babylon from Jerusalem: “Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food they produce. Marry and have children. Then find spouses for them so that you may have many grandchildren. Multiply! Do not dwindle away! And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare.” Jeremiah 29:4-7

God’s chosen people didn’t have a choice. Not this time. He allowed their captivity so that he could gain back their confidence. In fact, some translations of this passage read that God “carried” his people into exile. Perhaps God has carried us to this place of captivity as well.

This passage precedes one of the most quoted verses in the Bible. Jeremiah 29:11 reads, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”  Read that again! God has a plan and it is good. But so often we focus on his promises without paying attention – in this case to the preceding verses in Jeremiah’s letter to the exiled in Babylon. God’s plan comes with some instructions.

Keep on living.

God’s people may have arrived in Babylon homeless, but not without hope. He wastes no time getting to the point. “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce (Jeremiah 29:5).” In other words, don’t give up. The life they once knew was gone. Though God promised to return them to their homeland, it wouldn’t be for a long, long time (Jeremiah 29:10). There was no going back to what was.

We are living in the middle of our own life-before story. Fill in the blank. Life before the pandemic was ________. It’s a bit unsettling – the uncertainty. God is stirring his people to keep on living by “building houses” and settling down. In the same way, we need to be productive in our new normal. Remember, God has a plan, and it is good. But we might miss out if we don’t keep on living.

Multiply.

“Marry and have sons and daughters… (Jeremiah 29:6).” Whoa, wait a minute. While I expect that there will be a baby-boom after the exiled-at-home time is up, what does this verse have to do with the current situation? There is a pandemic going on. The thought of having children in the middle of this tragedy can be frightening.

God’s perfect plan is carried out through the having of sons and daughters in Babylon (Matthew 1:17). Jesus, the Savior of mankind, was born from God’s people who found themselves exiled and exhausted. We too may be worn out from the chaos, but we must continue to increase in number by spreading the message of Christ. For some, that means having children during this time and raising them to follow Christ. For others, making disciples will look a little different. People need to know the God who loves them, the God who saves. The point is, we are part of his redemption and salvation story – it is still being told.

Make yourself at home.

Seeking “peace and prosperity (Jeremiah 29:7),” inside the four walls of our home is hard. God reminds his people in this passage that it is important to live in peace where you are and with whom you live. For the exiled, that meant living alongside the Babylonians, foreigners that forsake their God. But if the truth be known God’s people had forsaken him too. The point is, we are all in this together and how we live makes a difference in the lives of how our communities and our households live as well.

We need to be praying for the people in the place where God has us planted right now. For many of us, that is right at home, in our neighborhoods and the less-traveled places in our communities. The testimony of our daily life in Christ is more important than where we came from. Yes, we live in a world that has forsaken our God, but if the truth be known, we have forsaken him too. Call on him, he is listening (Jeremiah 29:12).

Bringing us back from captivity.

The story doesn’t end in Babylon. God promises to bring the exiled out of captivity (Jeremiah 29:13-14).  It is my prayer that you will seek him, because you will find him when you seek him with all your heart; and he will bring you out of captivity. Life is going to be different now, but this life is temporary, so I cling to his Word.

“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:18

As we fix our eyes on eternity with Christ, let’s keep on living, multiply and make disciples as we make ourselves at home – rooted in his Word instead of uprooted by our circumstances.