Tag: Exile

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Exile – Esther

Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, … And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”

Esther 4:13-14

The Book of Esther is another tale from the Exile. Esther is Jewish woman born in the kingdom of Persia where her parents ended up after the fall of Jerusalem. The first half of the book is kind of like Cinderella. The Persian king and queen have a falling out, so the King goes shopping for a new Queen. Esther, an orphan Jewish girl, goes through a year-long makeover process. She is eventually chosen as the new queen, but she keeps her identity as a Jew a secret because her uncle Mordecai, who works for the king, tells her to.

One day a plot is revealed that a new law would destroy the life of every Jew in the kingdom. Mordecai sends word to Esther that she has the opportunity to save her people by appearing before the king and asking him to change the law. Esther is terrified of upsetting the king. Lots of people had lost their heads – literally – by appearing before the king without an invitation.

It’s clear that Esther has never thought of herself as having any power. She’s spent her whole life at the bottom of society because she was a woman, a minority, and young. But now that she’s queen, Esther has the opportunity to use her power to help others. Mordecai hints that God might have made her queen for just this reason. She can be the heroine of this story, but if she is too scared to act,  then God would have to find someone else.

Every day, the Holy Spirit offers us opportunities to participate in God’s work in the world. It is a privilege and a responsibility to be servants in the Kingdom of God. Ephesians 2:10 reminds us that we are created in Christ Jesus to do good works, and Esther 4:14 reminds us that if we refuse God’s purpose will still be done. You have the power to change things for the better, so in what parts of your life are you tempted to remain silent?

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Exile – The Fiery Furnace

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him…the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” Daniel 3:16-18

It was a custom of Babylon when they conquered a place to take some of the young people and make them servants in the court of the king. This is what happened to three guys named Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These guys served the Babylonian king faithfully but still practiced their own religion. After a while, King Nebuchadnezzar decided he needed to double down, and make these Jews into real, idol-worshiping Babylonians. He built a massive statue, brought all his officials, and told them all to worship it. But Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused. They were thrown into a furnace as punishment, but they were rescued by a mysterious human-like figure.

It’s unclear if it was Jesus or an angel, but God showed up in a monumental way to save these boys who stood up for their faith. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego believed that God was able to deliver them. They believed that their faith in God was worth more than anything else in this world. They believed that no fear would get in the way of what God had planned for them.

God saving them from the fire is indeed remarkable, BUT the real miracle of this story is not just that they were saved from the fire. The REAL MIRACLE is that these three young men had the courage, the fullness of heart, the assurance of God’s love for them, and their love for God that they would be willing to walk into that fire. The real miracle, the real Courage in this story, is not just in what God did, but in what these young men said: “…we do not need to defend ourselves … the God we serve can deliver us … but even if he does not….” May we all have courageous faith just like the young men in this story.

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Exile – The Letter to the Exiles

This is what the Lord says… seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile.…When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Jeremiah 29:7, 10-11

BibleGateway.com looked at data gathered from people looking up passages on its website to determine the most popular Bible verses and put together a list of the top 100. Number one was, somewhat predictably, John 3:16, “For God so loved the world…” Number two was Jeremiah 29:11.  It’s a very popular Bible verse to put on greeting cards and picture frames, but it is important to know where in the story of Scripture that this verse appears.

This verse appears in a letter that God tells the Prophet Jeremiah to write to the people living in Exile. The letter tells the people that God has issued judgement. The sentence has been handed down from on high, and Israel has received seventy years in exile as punishment for their sins. Jeremiah explains that everything is happening according to God’s plan. They are being punished, and they should settle down and make the best of things. God will bring them prosperity, eventually, but right now they are going to be in Babylon for a good, long while.

The challenging thing God tells them to do is to “seek the peace and prosperity of the city” of Babylon. They are not supposed to sulk or act out with violence. They are supposed to settle down and live a normal life: build houses, have children, plant farms, establish careers. They will flourish in Babylon if they take time to look at the good things available all around them.

God has a plan for everyone’s life, but we might be tempted to think that God’s plan is somewhere in a far-off place, or we haven’t gotten to it yet. Mostly, God’s will is for us to flourish and live worshipful lives regardless of our circumstances. May we not be so distracted by God’s promises for the future that we lose sight of the good things provided for us today.

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Exile – By the Rivers of on Babylon

By the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. There on the poplars we hung our harps for…our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land? Psalm 137:1-4

When the people of Israel arrived in Babylon, they were utterly traumatized. They had endured years of siege warfare, meaning they had spent months hungry and terrified at the army which waited outside their city gates. When the invading army finally made its way in, many people were killed. Those who survived the siege and the war now found themselves in the heart of the enemy’s country. Their captors mocked them, adding insult to injury, by asking them to sing a song of joy.

The people could not imagine singing a joyful song during such a terrible time, so instead they sing songs of lament. In fact, the Book of the Bible known as Lamentations contains song after song written about the trauma of the Exile.

Lament is the process of expressing one’s sadness or frustration to God. It is a holy practice that is cherished in the Bible but is sometimes missing from the church today. People are hesitant to share their sadness with God fearing it makes them look faithless. Often, we rather brush our trauma under the rug rather than process through it.

This passage has a special place in the modern world. In 1970, a Jamaican musical group called The Melodians released a reggae version of this Psalm. It was originally banned because of its Rastafarian background, but, eventually, it became a number one hit and a favorite song in gospel worship. Today, the lament of Israel takes on new meaning when churches sing these words as a call for social justice and Black liberation.

When you face trials or tragedy, you might be tempted to bottle up your pain or dismiss your suffering as lack of faith. However, God wants us to engage with our pain and the tradition of lament helps us do just that. Search your heart. What kind of pain is weighing on your heart? Take it to God through the practice of lament.

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Exile – The Fall of Jerusalem

An official of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. He set fire to the temple of the Lord, the royal palace and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every important building, he burned down… he carried into exile the people who remained in the city. 2 Kings 25:9, 11

A few years ago, archaeologists in Israel discovered 2000-year-old date palm seeds in the Masada fortress on the edge of the Dead Sea. The seeds were preserved in the hot and dry conditions of the desert and had likely been there since the time of Jesus. A researcher decided to plant these seeds on a whim to see if they’d grow. Several of the seeds sprouted up from the pot, making them the oldest seeds in the world to do so. The plant began to grow so big they had to move it to a bigger pot.

In 586 BC, roughly 2500 years ago, the Babylonian army broke through the walls of Jerusalem. They ransacked the beautiful temple dedicated to the Lord, and most of the city was burned to the ground. Anyone watching would have assumed that was the end of the story of God. The temple was destroyed, the city was conquered, and the people were gone. God promised Abraham a nation with land. God promised David a King on the throne. Now there was nothing.

However, unlike their northern neighbors, the story of the people of Judah does not end in total destruction. The Babylonians kidnapped many of the inhabitants of Jerusalem and took them away to serve in Babylon. Thankfully, the people of Judah retained much of their identity while living in a foreign land. When they left Jerusalem, the people took with them their holy books, their traditions, in their dedication to the living God.

Like the 2000-year-old date palm seed, the people of God began to bide their time. Their nation was preserved in the hot dry climate of the Babylonian empire. Israel’s family tree was once like a mighty oak, but the people leaving in exile were just a small seed. Sometimes, God allows us to experience exile so that we may come back stronger than ever.

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Division and Decline – The fall of Israel

The king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the Israelites to Assyria…All this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of Egypt from under the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshiped other gods and followed the practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before them. 2 Kings 17:6-8         

On 14 April, 1912, Frederick Fleet was serving as lookout when he spotted an iceberg immediately ahead of Titanic during her first trip across the ocean. He quickly raised the alarm, and the first mate ordered the ship to change course. But it was too late. The Titanic struck the iceberg, and it soon became clear that the ship was doomed. No one on board was prepared for such an emergency. In accordance with safety practices at that time, ships were thought to be unsinkable.The Titanic only had enough lifeboats to carry about half of those on board. Nearly 1,500 lives were lost.

In a lot of ways, the fall of the Northern Kingdom was a lot like the sinking of the Titanic. For generations, the prophets had warned the people in Israel that God was unhappy with their faithlessness. They continued to worship other gods and turn away from the Lord. Eventually,  the prophets’ message shifted. They stopped asking Israel to change and started warning Israel that God’s punishment was coming. There was an iceberg on the horizon and not everyone would escape.

In 722 BC the northern kingdom was destroyed by their neighbors the Assyrians. The Assyrians broke through the walls of the capital city Samaria and killed many of its inhabitants. Then they kidnapped anyone who might be useful and took them away to work on building the Assyrian empire.

The fall of the Northern Kingdom reminds us how seriously God treats unrepentant sin. Periodically, we all should pause and take stock of our own lives. Bad decisions can lead us to a point of no return, and we will suffer the consequences of our sinfulness. Today, spend time searching your heart for any sin that could sink your faith, and ask the Lord to make you whole again.