A Letter For Exiles (Jeremiah 29:1-14)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.480 --> 00:00:07.040 A scripture eating for this evening is Jeremiah twenty nine. I'll read the first 2 00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:17.469 fourteen verses. Listen, for this is the word of the Lord. These 3 00:00:17.510 --> 00:00:22.260 are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophets, sent from Jerusalem to 4 00:00:22.300 --> 00:00:26.899 the surviving elders of the exiles and to the priests, the prophets and all 5 00:00:26.940 --> 00:00:33.539 the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. This was 6 00:00:33.619 --> 00:00:38.210 after King Ja Jaconia and the Queen Mother, the EUNUCHS, the officials of 7 00:00:38.250 --> 00:00:42.770 Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, the metal workers, had departed from Jerusalem. 8 00:00:43.570 --> 00:00:49.969 The letter was sent by the hand of Alassa, the son of Schafen, 9 00:00:50.320 --> 00:00:54.520 and Gomaria, the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah, King of Judas, 10 00:00:54.600 --> 00:01:00.359 sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon. It said, thus 11 00:01:00.399 --> 00:01:03.950 says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles 12 00:01:04.349 --> 00:01:12.030 whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. Build houses and live 13 00:01:12.150 --> 00:01:18.859 in them, plant gardens and eat their produce, take wives and have sons 14 00:01:18.900 --> 00:01:23.620 and daughters. Take wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage that 15 00:01:23.739 --> 00:01:27.819 they may bear sons and daughters. Multiply there, and do not decrease, 16 00:01:29.739 --> 00:01:33.209 but seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, 17 00:01:33.810 --> 00:01:38.609 and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will 18 00:01:38.650 --> 00:01:42.290 find your welfare. But, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God 19 00:01:42.329 --> 00:01:46.290 of Israel, do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you 20 00:01:46.409 --> 00:01:49.920 deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams that they dream, for it 21 00:01:49.120 --> 00:01:53.560 is a lie that they are prophesying to you in the name that in my 22 00:01:53.640 --> 00:01:59.159 name, I did not send them, declares the Lord. For thus says 23 00:01:59.159 --> 00:02:02.790 the Lord, when seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you 24 00:02:04.469 --> 00:02:07.989 and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place, 25 00:02:07.909 --> 00:02:10.710 for I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. 26 00:02:10.949 --> 00:02:15.500 Plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a 27 00:02:15.659 --> 00:02:20.099 hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, 28 00:02:20.419 --> 00:02:23.900 and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me. When 29 00:02:23.939 --> 00:02:25.659 you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you. 30 00:02:25.900 --> 00:02:30.210 Declares the Lord. And I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all 31 00:02:30.250 --> 00:02:32.530 the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, 32 00:02:32.849 --> 00:02:36.689 and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you 33 00:02:37.169 --> 00:02:42.449 into exile. Thus far, the reading of God's word me he blessed to 34 00:02:42.530 --> 00:02:53.400 us. Well, it's actually in the New Testament that the apostle peter gives 35 00:02:53.439 --> 00:02:59.710 to you as the Urch of Christ. Peter gives to you a profound title. 36 00:03:00.909 --> 00:03:07.750 In his letter, Peter Calls you the church exiles. He refers to 37 00:03:07.830 --> 00:03:14.300 you as sojourners, he calls you to the life of a pilgrim, one 38 00:03:14.340 --> 00:03:20.340 who is living apart from their true heavenly home. And therefore, by returning 39 00:03:20.460 --> 00:03:25.020 to this letter this evening here in Jeremiah, as the Lord himself addresses his 40 00:03:25.219 --> 00:03:32.530 own exiled people in this letter, we too find hope in this letter, 41 00:03:32.610 --> 00:03:38.849 we too find comfort in our own pilgrimage. And now the context for this 42 00:03:39.050 --> 00:03:47.840 letter is Judas exile to Babylon. This exile to Babylon, this destruction of 43 00:03:49.000 --> 00:03:54.319 Jerusalem, is one of the most significant events in human history. Now, 44 00:03:54.400 --> 00:03:59.990 throughout human history there have been bigger cities which have fallen to greater enemies. 45 00:04:01.310 --> 00:04:08.469 But what makes the exile of Israel so severe is not the scale, but 46 00:04:08.629 --> 00:04:14.620 the theological significance. As we know, Israel is not just one nation among 47 00:04:15.060 --> 00:04:20.819 many. This people of God are entirely unique. The Lord himself called them 48 00:04:20.899 --> 00:04:27.050 to be his chosen people and the Lord had given them a Holy Land. 49 00:04:28.089 --> 00:04:33.610 The Lord defended them from all their enemies. The Lord governed and ruled over 50 00:04:33.810 --> 00:04:40.639 Israel in a in a special way. The Lord himself was present in the 51 00:04:40.759 --> 00:04:46.600 land in a unique way. Israel was a theocracy. So what does it 52 00:04:46.680 --> 00:04:51.240 mean that they have now been defeated by the Babylonians? What does it mean 53 00:04:51.319 --> 00:04:58.750 that that her people have been carried off into exile? Jeremiah's twenty nine chapter 54 00:04:58.829 --> 00:05:03.189 gives us gives us much insight into this crucial event. Here we have a 55 00:05:03.230 --> 00:05:11.779 letter written to those captives carried off into Babylon, and the chapter begins by 56 00:05:11.819 --> 00:05:15.699 giving us a lot of the details. It's kind of like the outside of 57 00:05:15.740 --> 00:05:18.459 an envelope, isn't it? Here we're told who the letter is from, 58 00:05:18.620 --> 00:05:23.730 who it's to, it's it's given a time stamp telling us when it was 59 00:05:23.810 --> 00:05:28.569 written and instead of a postage stamp, we have the name of the person 60 00:05:28.610 --> 00:05:32.649 who delivered this letter. These are the words of the letter that Jeremiah, 61 00:05:32.689 --> 00:05:36.879 the Prophet sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders, to the exiles, to 62 00:05:36.920 --> 00:05:41.040 the priest, to the prophets and to the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into 63 00:05:41.120 --> 00:05:46.720 exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. This letter is from WHO, the Prophet Jeremiah, 64 00:05:47.000 --> 00:05:50.990 to WHO, all the people taken in to exile? When was it 65 00:05:51.069 --> 00:05:56.990 written? After Jaconia and the Queen Mother, the EUNUCHS, the officials of 66 00:05:56.990 --> 00:06:02.389 Judah and Jerusalem, craftsmen and metal workers had departed from Jerusalem. And this 67 00:06:02.550 --> 00:06:06.540 is helpful because, even though we often talk about the the exile of Judah 68 00:06:06.579 --> 00:06:12.740 as as one event culminating in this destruction of the city, Judah was defeated 69 00:06:13.019 --> 00:06:19.370 twice by Nebuchadnezzar before he destroyed the city. The first defeat was under King 70 00:06:19.410 --> 00:06:24.449 Jehoah Kim, and Whenebu Kannezzar one he didn't destroy the city and said he 71 00:06:24.490 --> 00:06:27.449 made it a vassal, he made a a servant city and he took some 72 00:06:27.529 --> 00:06:30.370 of the nobles to serve him in his court. This is when Daniel and 73 00:06:30.490 --> 00:06:36.360 his friends were were exiled during that first wave. Jeremiah Twenty nine here describes 74 00:06:36.399 --> 00:06:42.759 a second wave under the reign of Jehoyah, Kim's son. In this second 75 00:06:42.800 --> 00:06:47.029 wave, even the king is taken into exile. Now, King Zetechaiah will 76 00:06:47.069 --> 00:06:50.949 be the final king, and it's during his reign that the Babylonians finally demolished 77 00:06:51.029 --> 00:06:56.230 the city. So this letter is written between this, this second wave, 78 00:06:57.310 --> 00:07:02.540 and the final destruction of the city. Did yousease possible that Daniel would have 79 00:07:02.620 --> 00:07:06.379 been one of the elders to have received this letter? He was already in 80 00:07:06.379 --> 00:07:12.379 Babylon when it was sent. And then, much like the outside of the 81 00:07:12.540 --> 00:07:15.850 envelope telling us who it's from who it's to, the first line of this 82 00:07:15.970 --> 00:07:23.810 letter also includes a from line and a tow line. But did you notice 83 00:07:25.050 --> 00:07:28.370 that here it's it's a little bit different inside the envelope than on the outside 84 00:07:28.410 --> 00:07:31.399 of the envelope. Their verse one says these are the words of the letter 85 00:07:31.480 --> 00:07:38.319 that Jeremiah the prophet sent. And yet here in verse four we read thus 86 00:07:38.439 --> 00:07:44.000 says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles 87 00:07:44.040 --> 00:07:48.709 whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. I love this as 88 00:07:48.790 --> 00:07:53.269 just a just a little example of what it means that the Bible is inspired 89 00:07:53.310 --> 00:07:59.100 by God. Here we have God speaking by the Prophets. Who wrote the 90 00:07:59.100 --> 00:08:05.300 letter, Jeremiah the Prophet. But who really wrote this letter? It's the 91 00:08:05.379 --> 00:08:09.819 word of the Lord. And who is he addressing? Again, there's a 92 00:08:09.860 --> 00:08:13.250 slight difference from what's on the outside of the envelope and what's on the inside. 93 00:08:13.170 --> 00:08:16.009 In verse two, the exiles are described as those who were taken, 94 00:08:16.730 --> 00:08:22.889 taken by Nebuchadnezzar. It here, in verse four, there's no reference to 95 00:08:22.529 --> 00:08:28.560 the Babylonian King. The exiles are instead addressed as those whom I have sent 96 00:08:28.800 --> 00:08:37.279 into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon and immediately were brought to a point that is 97 00:08:37.320 --> 00:08:46.710 so significant about this, this theological exile. Who are these exiles? They 98 00:08:46.750 --> 00:08:52.669 are people under God's curse. For Generations, the Lord had been sending prophets 99 00:08:52.870 --> 00:08:58.259 warning of the coming destruction of Jerusalem, and the Lord had been very clear 100 00:08:58.379 --> 00:09:05.019 on why this judgment was coming. I was coming upon their unrighteousness. She 101 00:09:05.139 --> 00:09:07.779 was called to be a holy nation and after so much wickedness, she was 102 00:09:07.860 --> 00:09:13.730 finally being cast out. It's because of God's judgment that his people are being 103 00:09:13.850 --> 00:09:18.570 taken captive. They are prisoners of war, not because of Babylon's superior might, 104 00:09:20.529 --> 00:09:24.919 not because they were so great and powerful. They are merely instruments in 105 00:09:24.960 --> 00:09:31.440 the hands of God. It's the Lord who's ultimately responsible for this exile. 106 00:09:33.080 --> 00:09:39.149 It's easy to gloss over how how difficult this is to be exiled from your 107 00:09:39.190 --> 00:09:43.909 land. They aren't just moving away may perhaps the words sending is a little 108 00:09:45.590 --> 00:09:46.830 soft, because we send things all the time, right. We send our 109 00:09:46.830 --> 00:09:50.870 kids to school, we send our kids to piano practice, but sending into 110 00:09:50.870 --> 00:09:56.779 exile is is of a very different category. It's it's more like a banishment, 111 00:09:56.980 --> 00:10:01.299 right. What does it mean for the Lord to send his people into 112 00:10:01.299 --> 00:10:05.500 exile? I mean, people move all the time. We're used to that 113 00:10:05.580 --> 00:10:09.970 kind of thing, perhaps, but the exile of God's people, it came 114 00:10:09.009 --> 00:10:13.850 as a result of a military defeat. Again and again, the people were 115 00:10:13.929 --> 00:10:20.610 conquered by the Babylonians. So they're not just relocating, they're losing everything. 116 00:10:20.919 --> 00:10:26.000 They weren't asked to leave their being forced out. They were forced to leave 117 00:10:26.039 --> 00:10:30.360 all that they knew, forced to leave the land that had been theirs for 118 00:10:30.480 --> 00:10:39.509 generations. Banishment gets at how how brutal this exile was. And remember, 119 00:10:39.509 --> 00:10:41.990 what makes this exile so so harsh is that the land meant more to them 120 00:10:43.029 --> 00:10:48.230 than simply their possessions. The land is tied to their identity. The only 121 00:10:48.309 --> 00:10:52.259 reason they were in the land is because the Lord himself gave it to them. 122 00:10:52.620 --> 00:10:58.659 And as the land was wholly the people were to be holly. And 123 00:10:58.820 --> 00:11:01.580 the same Lord who had then given the land was now taking it away. 124 00:11:03.809 --> 00:11:09.769 This is the Lord's doing, this is the Lord's judgment. He's removing his 125 00:11:09.850 --> 00:11:15.049 hand of protection, removing his shield from the people. And so this letter 126 00:11:15.129 --> 00:11:20.120 begins with a reminder of this harsh reality. Right off the map bat. 127 00:11:20.240 --> 00:11:26.480 The Lord's message to these exiles is, I did this to you. He 128 00:11:26.559 --> 00:11:30.720 doesn't mince words, he's unapologetic. This is who you are, this is 129 00:11:30.799 --> 00:11:33.789 what you deserved, and this is who I am. I'm the one who 130 00:11:33.309 --> 00:11:39.669 who banished. And yet already, do you see the the blessed things in 131 00:11:39.710 --> 00:11:48.659 these words to these exiles? The people have undergone this, this deserved punishment. 132 00:11:48.100 --> 00:11:52.820 They've been taken captive by foreign oppressors, headed off into a life of 133 00:11:52.980 --> 00:12:00.419 captivity. And yet, even though they are under this severe curse. What 134 00:12:00.580 --> 00:12:07.490 else is God sending? He's sending this letter. Isn't he God's word still 135 00:12:07.970 --> 00:12:16.559 follows them into exile. Here the Lord is writing a letter to those under 136 00:12:16.919 --> 00:12:24.279 his curse. This is what makes this letter so wonderful, because what the 137 00:12:24.360 --> 00:12:31.509 Lord is saying is that he is still their God. Even though they are 138 00:12:31.590 --> 00:12:37.470 in exile, they are not abandoned. Though they're living in a difficult situation, 139 00:12:39.029 --> 00:12:45.019 the Lord has not forsaken them. They may be exiles, but they're 140 00:12:45.059 --> 00:12:52.899 still his exiles, not. The fact that the Lord writes to those under 141 00:12:52.940 --> 00:12:56.779 his curse may be surprising, but it's not nearly as shocking as what the 142 00:12:56.899 --> 00:13:01.690 Lord actually says to them. What is God's message to his exiles living in 143 00:13:01.809 --> 00:13:09.009 Babylon? Well, what would you write to someone who'd been taken captive? 144 00:13:09.009 --> 00:13:13.919 What kind of letter would you address to a prisoner of war? What kind 145 00:13:13.919 --> 00:13:20.039 of statements would you expect to hear from such a letter? Maybe some kinds 146 00:13:20.080 --> 00:13:22.320 of encouragement, some kinds of platitudes right, keep fighting the good fight, 147 00:13:24.039 --> 00:13:26.149 perhaps, or or word we're doing all we can to get you out of 148 00:13:26.230 --> 00:13:31.029 there, or something like stay strong, don't give up, keep resisting, 149 00:13:33.590 --> 00:13:39.230 aren't those the kinds of encouragements you just expect from a letter written to those 150 00:13:39.269 --> 00:13:46.659 who've been taken captive? And yet what does the Lord tell his exiled people? 151 00:13:48.179 --> 00:13:54.419 Build houses and live in them, plant gardens and eat their produce. 152 00:13:56.370 --> 00:14:00.649 Take wives and have sons and daughters. Take wives for your sons and give 153 00:14:00.649 --> 00:14:03.649 daughters in marriage that they may bear sons and daughters. Multiply there and do 154 00:14:03.769 --> 00:14:13.639 not decrease. Can you imagine sending this message to POW's? The Lord's message 155 00:14:13.679 --> 00:14:18.200 is not I'm coming for you really soon, don't give up. Instead, 156 00:14:18.399 --> 00:14:30.509 he says get comfortable, have a fruitful and productive life. What, and 157 00:14:30.629 --> 00:14:33.230 that's not the biggest bombshell of this letter. The Lord goes on to say 158 00:14:33.629 --> 00:14:37.509 in verse seven, seek the welfare of the city where I've sent you into 159 00:14:37.509 --> 00:14:41.779 exile. Pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you 160 00:14:41.820 --> 00:14:48.580 will find your welfare. This versus is so startling because it seems so contrary 161 00:14:48.659 --> 00:14:54.889 to the life they were living in the land of Israel. The mosaic law 162 00:14:54.889 --> 00:15:01.090 uses almost the exact opposite language to teach Israel how to deal with foreigners within 163 00:15:01.169 --> 00:15:05.889 the land. In Deuteronomy Ten and Deuteronomy Twenty three, sorry, verse six, 164 00:15:07.440 --> 00:15:11.960 as he's placing Israel into the Holy Land, he tells them what to 165 00:15:11.039 --> 00:15:16.600 do with their neighbors. He says, you shall not seek their peace or 166 00:15:16.720 --> 00:15:22.870 their prosperity all your days forever, as they're dwelling in the midst of Pagans, 167 00:15:22.909 --> 00:15:28.509 in a Holy Land. In fact, the Lord is likely referencing this 168 00:15:28.629 --> 00:15:33.110 very statement in Deuteronomy in order to show how life in the exile is going 169 00:15:33.190 --> 00:15:37.580 to be very different from their life in the land. The Lord is not 170 00:15:37.820 --> 00:15:45.740 calling his people to establish a replica of the Promised Land. They were not 171 00:15:45.860 --> 00:15:50.850 to pursue their livelihoods as being entirely separate from the Pagan nation that they're now 172 00:15:50.889 --> 00:15:58.970 dwelling it. Their lives were to be intertwined with those of unbelievers, and 173 00:15:58.129 --> 00:16:03.370 notice they would prosper or suffer based not on their progress in the law, 174 00:16:04.039 --> 00:16:08.080 but based on the prop the prosperity or the failure of the city wherein they 175 00:16:08.080 --> 00:16:15.720 dwelt. And the reason they need to hear this message is because of what 176 00:16:15.799 --> 00:16:21.309 the false prophets were telling them. Do Not let your prophets and your diviners 177 00:16:21.350 --> 00:16:23.470 who are among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams that they 178 00:16:23.509 --> 00:16:26.950 dream, for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my 179 00:16:26.029 --> 00:16:30.909 name. I did not send them, declares the Lord. Well, what's 180 00:16:30.950 --> 00:16:37.259 the lie? That they are false prophets are declaring. Well, one example 181 00:16:37.340 --> 00:16:41.139 comes from the previous chapter. Hand and I, the Prophet declares that Judah's 182 00:16:41.179 --> 00:16:45.500 exile will breathe extremely short. Two years and you'll be back in the land, 183 00:16:45.539 --> 00:16:52.809 he says. The false prophets message not only contradicts the Lord's message of 184 00:16:53.009 --> 00:16:59.649 how long the exile will be, but notice what kind of life it advocates 185 00:16:59.889 --> 00:17:04.720 in that exile. Here the Lord says, to build houses and Plant Gardens, 186 00:17:04.759 --> 00:17:10.640 get married and have kids. Would you do any of that if you 187 00:17:10.720 --> 00:17:15.200 thought you'd only had to be there for two years? Why bother seeking the 188 00:17:15.319 --> 00:17:18.069 welfare of the city if you weren't even going to be around to be blessed 189 00:17:18.069 --> 00:17:22.670 by it? The false prophets, with their false message of hope, we're 190 00:17:22.710 --> 00:17:29.829 advocating a very segregated kind of lifestyle. And where the false prophets spoke of 191 00:17:29.950 --> 00:17:36.500 a short to exile, the Lord responds with his own timeline. For thus 192 00:17:36.500 --> 00:17:41.099 says the Lord, when seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit 193 00:17:41.180 --> 00:17:45.410 you and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this 194 00:17:45.569 --> 00:17:53.289 place. Seventy years. It implies a lifetime in exile, maybe a couple 195 00:17:53.329 --> 00:17:59.079 of lifetimes, and the message to the exiles is that this is your life 196 00:17:59.680 --> 00:18:07.559 now. You're going to live in Babylon until you die. So get comfortable, 197 00:18:07.119 --> 00:18:11.160 build houses, Plant Gardens, have kids, have a life and seek 198 00:18:11.200 --> 00:18:18.269 the peace of the city in which you dwell. For there's a commonality to 199 00:18:18.349 --> 00:18:22.509 the tasks that the Lord outlines here. Israel isn't unique in these things, 200 00:18:22.589 --> 00:18:27.660 that she's called to living, eating, marrying, future, tasks that everyone 201 00:18:27.740 --> 00:18:33.660 performs. Believers and unbelievers alike engage in these things, and yet, even 202 00:18:33.700 --> 00:18:41.099 though there's a commonality on the cultural level of of what daily life might look 203 00:18:41.099 --> 00:18:47.609 like, Israel is still unique, for this commonality is is temporary. Seventy 204 00:18:47.650 --> 00:18:52.170 years and the Lord will bring you back for his verse. Eleven says. 205 00:18:52.170 --> 00:18:56.599 I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans for 206 00:18:56.720 --> 00:19:00.160 wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 207 00:19:02.880 --> 00:19:04.680 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I 208 00:19:04.759 --> 00:19:11.069 will hear you first. Levin is one of these famous verses that are that 209 00:19:11.190 --> 00:19:14.109 are very easy to take out of context. I mean, it's a very 210 00:19:14.589 --> 00:19:19.470 beautiful verse and it Does Look Great on a pillowcase or on a plaque on 211 00:19:19.589 --> 00:19:23.460 the wall, and yet it's even more beautiful when we understand it here in 212 00:19:23.579 --> 00:19:29.940 this context. God is not addressing graduates on their last day of class, 213 00:19:30.140 --> 00:19:34.619 saying think of all the wonderful plans God has in store for you. Who 214 00:19:34.700 --> 00:19:42.329 is he addressing? Exiles? He's addressing those who have come under his covenant. 215 00:19:42.410 --> 00:19:48.410 Curses those who don't deserve to be called by people, my chosen ones. 216 00:19:48.849 --> 00:19:53.119 And yet even though he sends them into exile, he sends them with 217 00:19:53.359 --> 00:20:00.240 these amazing words, with this amazing promise that, though you deserve judgment, 218 00:20:00.319 --> 00:20:07.079 I will give you peace, that, though you deserve death, I will 219 00:20:07.119 --> 00:20:14.710 give you a future and to hope. And look at what this future includes. 220 00:20:15.869 --> 00:20:21.700 Seventy years of captivity at the hands of a pagan nation. Yet this 221 00:20:21.819 --> 00:20:26.460 is not seventy years of abandonment for your captive it he will come to an 222 00:20:26.460 --> 00:20:33.099 end. On the heels of devastating judgments, we have a message of devastating 223 00:20:33.619 --> 00:20:41.410 hope. Notice that, while the life of a sojourner is is probably a 224 00:20:41.490 --> 00:20:45.890 new experience for these Israelites being carried off into exile, it is not unique 225 00:20:45.930 --> 00:20:51.240 in the history of God's redemption that God's people are sojourners and exiles. Is 226 00:20:51.480 --> 00:20:56.440 is not a deviation from the norm. It's actually a return to the norm 227 00:20:56.880 --> 00:21:00.559 in a sense, for this is exactly how Abraham was called to live, 228 00:21:00.079 --> 00:21:03.869 who'd been promised to the very promised land, even though he never possessed it. 229 00:21:04.549 --> 00:21:07.549 He lived in Canaan, in the very borders of that land, but 230 00:21:07.630 --> 00:21:11.990 he lived there as a foreigner, for he himself was called out of his 231 00:21:12.190 --> 00:21:17.990 homeland to live in a new place. And how could we talk about the 232 00:21:18.029 --> 00:21:23.259 existence of exiles and not call to mind that very first exile, Adam? 233 00:21:25.819 --> 00:21:30.700 As Adam and Eve were exiled from the garden due to their sin, they 234 00:21:30.859 --> 00:21:36.769 too were sent away from God's most Holy Land. And, when viewed in 235 00:21:36.809 --> 00:21:41.529 these larger categories, isn't this our experience as well? This letter is not 236 00:21:41.609 --> 00:21:45.609 just a historical document for us to hang on a wall of a museum. 237 00:21:48.240 --> 00:21:53.759 This is a message of hope for you today. As descendants of Adam, 238 00:21:53.839 --> 00:22:00.240 we are all by nature exiles, born under the guilt and curse of our 239 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:04.910 first parents. The law testifies to us what we deserve at the hands of 240 00:22:04.990 --> 00:22:10.869 a holy God, that we deserve his just judgment, his just punishment, 241 00:22:11.990 --> 00:22:19.420 because the law still requires perfection. God is still holy and like Israel and 242 00:22:19.539 --> 00:22:26.180 like Adam, we too fail. This is why we need this word from 243 00:22:26.339 --> 00:22:30.289 God. We Need God to address us as who we are, that we 244 00:22:30.369 --> 00:22:36.730 are sinners deserving of his justice. And yet God sends his word to us. 245 00:22:37.130 --> 00:22:40.849 God speaks to us in the midst of our exile, in the midst 246 00:22:40.849 --> 00:22:47.319 of our sin, and delivers an amazing promise that he would send one to 247 00:22:47.400 --> 00:22:56.119 suffer our exile in our place, because Christ was exiled, sent to suffer 248 00:22:56.200 --> 00:23:00.789 at the hand of Jewis and Jewish and gentile oppressors and, more than that, 249 00:23:00.869 --> 00:23:06.430 to suffer the very justice of God, not because he deserved it, 250 00:23:06.549 --> 00:23:11.980 but because you did. He paid the penalty for your sin and his righteousness 251 00:23:12.019 --> 00:23:18.220 has become your righteousness, so that when you approach God, you can approach 252 00:23:18.259 --> 00:23:25.940 him not as exiles, but as sons and as daughters, not so journeys 253 00:23:26.019 --> 00:23:33.730 from his presence, but as airs of his Eternal Kingdom. And yet our 254 00:23:33.849 --> 00:23:41.039 life in this world largely models the life of Abraham in his sojourning. Models 255 00:23:41.079 --> 00:23:47.880 the life of Israel exiled from the Promised Land. For though we've been made 256 00:23:48.000 --> 00:23:55.279 heirs of an everlasting city, a heavenly Jerusalem, we don't dwell there yet. 257 00:23:55.319 --> 00:24:00.470 Rather, we live in light of an amazing promise that he will come, 258 00:24:00.309 --> 00:24:03.509 that he will gather us from all across this earth, that he will 259 00:24:03.589 --> 00:24:08.630 bring us home. And how do we live in light of this amazing promise? 260 00:24:11.259 --> 00:24:17.500 Well, with these same exhortations. The fact that the Israelites were citizens 261 00:24:17.539 --> 00:24:25.250 of Babylon and Jerusalem made them better citizens of Babylon. Their true citizenship was 262 00:24:25.369 --> 00:24:30.529 not to produce apathy and resignation. Rather, their true citizenship was to produce 263 00:24:30.730 --> 00:24:37.369 peace. We find the same exhortations in the New Testament. I love the 264 00:24:37.799 --> 00:24:45.720 transition that we see in the Apostle Peter. This very same Peter who, 265 00:24:45.880 --> 00:24:49.640 at the arrest of Jesus, was willing to take up a sword and chop 266 00:24:49.799 --> 00:24:55.589 off the ear of a Roman soldier, is the same one who later addresses 267 00:24:55.710 --> 00:25:00.829 the church as sojourners, as exile, saying but loved. I urge you, 268 00:25:00.950 --> 00:25:03.829 as sojourners and exiles, abstain from the passions of the flesh which wage 269 00:25:03.910 --> 00:25:11.859 war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the gentiles honorable. Be Subject, 270 00:25:11.660 --> 00:25:15.339 for the Lord's sake, to every human institution, whether it's to the 271 00:25:15.460 --> 00:25:19.660 emperor as supreme or to governors, as sent by him to punish those who 272 00:25:19.660 --> 00:25:26.569 do evil to praise those who do good. There's a connection between being in 273 00:25:26.730 --> 00:25:33.130 exile and being a good citizen and a good neighbor, because our identity is 274 00:25:33.170 --> 00:25:37.079 found elsewhere. That identity is to influence who we are and how we live 275 00:25:37.480 --> 00:25:41.799 in this world, and so let us take comfort in our heavenly citizenship, 276 00:25:41.799 --> 00:25:48.400 let us take comfort in who we truly are. When this world is hostile, 277 00:25:48.720 --> 00:25:55.150 when this world doesn't make sense to us, let us respond with the 278 00:25:55.269 --> 00:26:00.230 joy that this hope. This world is not our home, and let us 279 00:26:00.230 --> 00:26:04.259 use our strength to seek the peace of the city where we dwell, and 280 00:26:04.380 --> 00:26:10.259 let us pray for this city and this nation, while at the same time 281 00:26:10.339 --> 00:26:15.099 praying for the arrival of Christ's heavenly kingdom. Amen,