Paul Vieira

Every other ‘prophetic’ voice in Jerusalem in the days of Jeremiah proclaimed that Jerusalem and the Temple would be safe from attack by the Babylonians. They even had a Bible verse to reassure the people that what they were saying was true. However, that particular verse of prophecy spoken by Isaiah was for another season and situation. The people of Jerusalem were led astray because they made the Bible fit into their own delusions. They created their own truth and their own reality. Only one voice spoke the truth for that season. For every season there is a corresponding truth that sheds light and reveals the beauty of that season. Only Jeremiah saw that light. He tried to warn the people but no one wanted to listen. They didn`t want to believe that God would allow their beloved Temple to be destroyed, nor could they fathom that God would raise up a godless King to bring discipline on His people. This is exactly what Jeremiah told them and it is exactly what happened.

Over a period of about 20 years, the King of Babylon came down on Jerusalem in three separate occasions, each time taking more people away to Babylon. Finally, the third attack happened in 586 B.C., completely leveling Solomon`s temple and killing many of the city`s inhabitants. All who survived were dragged away to Babylon. The city was left desolate.

It was after attach number two, when 10,000 people were taken to Babylon, that Jeremiah sent this message to the exiles from his home in Jerusalem. This is what he had written (Jeremiah 29):

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.’

‘You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised and I will bring you home again. For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the LORD. ‘They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,’ says the LORD. ‘I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.’

This passage is the most meaningful source of truth for me right now because I believe that I have been sent into exile, into our very own modern day Babylon. Many of you feel the same. God is doing what some thought He would never do. He is emptying the organized church (Jerusalem) and bringing His people out into society (Babylon). He is doing this to reshape what His people look like and to restore His reputation in the earth. He is using Babylon to do this and we will also have a role to play in Babylon. Like Daniel, who was sent to Babylon, we will help our world by interpreting the signs and bring God`s message in times of great trial and uncertainty. However, we must first be prepared by embracing this season of exile. This passage in Jeremiah 29 gives us our mandate for this season. I will talk more about this in the days ahead, but for now I will simply state some of these important truths to embrace:

– It`s a time to focus on our home life.
– It`s a time to raise our kids and see them become well established in their life.
– It`s a time to find and enjoy the simple pleasures of life.
– It`s a time of waiting. What the church is going to look like is going to take time. We can`t be in a hurry. We must learn how to live again. How to do ‘church’ is not the agenda. The agenda is learning how to do ‘life.’
– It`s a time of peace and prosperity as we thrive in Babylon.
– It`s a time to pursue the everyday joys and responsibilities of natural living and not to give ourselves to extended, sacrificial times of praying for change. We are going to be in this season of exile for a while, trying to pray ourselves out of it will waste our time and cause us to miss the beauty of this season.
– The season will change again. When it does God will call us to extended prayer and fasting. Then He will hear us and be found by us. But now, in this season, His word to us is to live life and learn how to see the beauty in working hard, loving our spouse, raising our kids, enjoying hobbies and living life to the full. God is destroying the wall we`ve erected between sacred and secular, spiritual and natural. We are becoming more holistic. We are learning to see God in life and not just in church.

Okay, that`s enough for now. Let`s unravel the truth of this season over the next little while. Let`s help each other thrive in the place where God has brought us.