Exile

I didn't get a chance to write yesterday, so I'll comment on part of August 7th's reading. First, I wanted to clear something up--I mentioned in class on Sunday that the Roman Empire overtook Israel in 63 BC, but I was unclear as to the significance of that date. After 30 seconds of research, I found that Pompeus defeated Jerusalem in that year and annexed all of Palestine to Rome, so THAT'S why my references pointed to 63 BC as the beginning of Roman control over Israel.

Jeremiah 29:4-9 states that God instructed the people of Judah to make themselves comfortable in Babylon. I'll probably discuss this on Sunday, and I'm pretty sure I've mentioned it before, but we're not led to believe that the people of Judah had been carted off to slavery. Granted, I'll admit that I'm at a loss to understand why a people  would be forcibly uprooted from their native land for reasons other than slavery, but in these verses, God is clearly telling them to settle down and get on with their lives.

Verses 10-15 state why, because God has no intention of forgetting the people or leaving them in Babylon forever. Even before this prophecy is completely fulfilled, God is laying out the steps of the next prophecy (their return from exile). In order to be prepared to return to their land in seventy years, they will need to have generated wealth, families and all the other institutions necessary for a stable and successful society. If the people of Judah were to just sit and let themselves atrophy while in Babylonian captivity, they wouldn't be in any shape to reclaim their country. In short, God is telling them to be prepared.

And we always need to be prepared just as well. God was kind enough to put a very specific timeline on Judah's captivity, but we're less sure. What we do know for certain is that our exile WILL end--we just don't know the precise date, but that's no excuse to not be prepared. In fact, as I'm writing this, I think I just found my major theme for next Sunday--be prepared. I've danced around the topic from time to time but have never tied it all together, and it will be a nice lead-in to Christ's exhortations for us to be prepared for his return. In our lives, nothing lasts forever, and we always need to be prepared for changes in our circumstances. God's instructions to the exiles in Babylon are just as valid for us today.

Scott