LIFE THROWS US CURVEBALLS. Situations arise that take us off our desired course, leading us down treacherous paths or veering us through muddy avenues. As we make our way through these trials, our trust in God is sure to be tested. The Enemy often seizes these opportunities to whisper one of two questions in our ear: 1) Does God really have your best in mind? and, 2) Is God actually in control of your journey? Questioning God’s goodness and sovereignty has been the devil’s tactic from the very beginning. Since the Garden, he has been luring God’s image-bearers into deserts of doubt, where they might reject their Creator’s sovereign goodness.
In 597 B.C. some 3,000 Jews had their lives turned upside down when they were forcibly removed from their homes in Jerusalem and brought into exile in Babylon. Though most of these exiles were not severely mistreated in their new confines, life would never be the same for them. They were now foreigners in the land of their enemies. These exiles spoke a different language, had an exclusive religion, and followed strange customs. Without doubt they would have been treated with disdain by the Babylonian natives. Beyond being outsiders, these Jews had also been stripped of the key physical aspects of God’s covenantal favor toward Israel – the land, the Temple, and the Davidic kingship.
Knowing the exiles’ situation was sure to lead them to question God’s sovereign goodness, the prophet Jeremiah penned a letter to encourage them. Jeremiah opens his letter with these words: “Thus, says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile” (Jeremiah 29:4). The Lord’s first words through his prophet to this beleaguered group were meant to instill a measure of confidence. God declared that he, not Nebuchadnezzar, was ultimately responsible for the exiles’ condition and location. He had been in control the whole time. Nebuchadnezzar was simply a means to bring about Yahweh’s desired end.
As we read the words of verse 4 declaring God’s sovereignty over the Jews’ exile, we might ask, “If God had good intentions for his people, why would he allow this to happen?” This is a not a bad question and, in some respects, demands an answer. First, it is important to note that the Jewish people had been warned time and again that continual disobedience would bring about God’s judgment through captivity in another nation (Deuteronomy 28:15-68; Jeremiah 25:1-14). Second, even though some portion of the exiles’ plight was in connection to God’s punishment, he still cared for his people and had divine purposes for them. The NIV’s translation of Jeremiah 29:4 sheds some light on Yahweh’s concern for the exiles. Instead of rendering the verse, “I have sent you,” the NIV translates it, “I have carried you.” Though both senses are found in the original language, the latter puts the emphasis on the intentional activity of a caring Father. As we consider our own “exile” in this world, it is important for us to see our condition through the same lens – God’s sovereign care of us.
Though we have not been forcibly removed from our homes and brought to some strange city, Christians in the West have increasingly become “foreigners” in a culture that once felt more like home. In this cultural dislocation and loss of influence, many want to pass blame on certain political, cultural, and generational forces. Some blame the Liberals; others blame the Conservatives. Some blame the Millennials; others blame the Boomers. However, it is important to note that our state as Christian exiles is not primarily based on how much we feel separate from the culture, but rather it is a spiritual reality that our true home and identity are in heaven, not on earth. Though this is the case, it is also true that the more hostile a society is toward the Christian faith, the more Christians in that space realize their exilic condition.
As we consider our experience of both spiritual and cultural exile in the West, we would do well to remember that as in the case of the Jewish exile to Babylon, the Lord is using human means to accomplish his divine purposes. We need to accept that God has allowed these cultural circumstances to take place to reset our course so that we may know him more deeply and be more faithful as his representatives in this land. He has not abandoned the American church; he will never do that. Instead of being consumed with how to “return” to a cultural location that feels more like “home,” let us listen to God’s Word for how to be his ambassadors in this time and place.
PRAYER
Father, I trust you; you are in control of my life. Like the shepherd in Psalm 23, you lead me to “green pastures” and “still waters,” but you also lead me through dangerous valleys. You are with me all the way, providing guidance and protection. Help me to trust you in this time and place in which I find myself. May I live in light of your sovereign goodness that has carried me here. Amen.
PONDER
- Does it give you comfort knowing God was the one chiefly responsible for the Jews’ exile to Babylon? Why or why not?
- How have you seen God “carry” you into and through difficult seasons?
- What part of the American experience today makes you most feel like a Christian exile?