Being an Israelite in Old Testament times must have had its perks. So long as you obeyed God, you always had Him on your side. As an Israelite, you had an entire history, complete with famous ancestors and important events in which your relatives, or someone you knew, had seen God’s power. You had the history of God in the wilderness and the demonstration of God’s protection and provision. Being an Israelite would probably have felt like you really were chosen and special. When you read the Old Testament, it quickly becomes clear that many of the Israelites felt like they were chosen. They acted chosen like snotty little rich kids who believe they can get away with anything.
It must have really stunk when the Israelite spiritual stronghold of Jerusalem was taken over by the Babylonians. I mean, you’ve got God on your side and then—poof—some foreign dude whose kingdom headquarters is a whole desert away from you and whose god isn’t nearly as benevolent and protecting and, um, true as yours takes over your people and land. It must have been a slap in the face.
It had to sting when that Babylonian army beat the Israelite army and sent them reeling into the desert. It had to hurt when the Babylonians took Jerusalem captive and deported the inhabitants to other cities, including places half a desert away. With their spiritual headquarters under foreign occupation, the Israelites must have felt awful and unhinged. With their families scattered, they must have felt like homeless people.
Letter of Encouragement
It’s amazing to watch God’s hand in this story. I’m sure the Israelites couldn’t see God’s hand in their loss to the Babylonians, and I imagine that’s why God comes and blatantly shows them. He does that through the prophet Jeremiah, who gives us the text of a letter he wrote to the exiled Israelites. This is God’s Word on the subject:
“As soon as Babylon’s seventy years are up and not a day before, I’ll show up and take care of you as I promised and bring you back home. I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans
to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope
for.
“When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I’ll listen.
“When you come looking for me, you’ll find me.
“Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed.’ God’s
Decree.
“I’ll turn things around for you. I’ll bring you back from all the countries into which I drove you” —God’s Decree—“bring
you home to the place from which I sent you off into exile. You can count
on it.”
(Jeremiah 29:10-14, The Message)
Maybe the Israelites knew all the ins and outs of God, and they understood that God could see their situation. Maybe they already understood that God had their future taken care of. But I suspect that if they knew, it was in a head-knowledge way. They knew all about it, but in this one moment, they had to consider more completely the protection of God and the plans of God. They had to face their belief in God’s plans. Did He really have His eye on what was coming next for them? How could God really be a protecting God, especially since they had been taken captive?
Where was God when the Israelites were sent into exile? The letter proves where He was. He was watching, and in that watching He was protecting and ensuring the safety and futures of His children.
A New Home
If God was there when the Israelites went into exile from the land they loved, then He was there when we were sent into exile from the family we loved. God does not miss a thing. He sees the divorce that sent us into captivity. He’s already planning our rescue. He’s already making a new home. He’s present with us in our pain. We feel forgotten, but that’s certainly not what has happened.
If we had a Jeremiah with us today, I imagine God would use him to write a letter like this:
I know this feels awful. I understand that you feel lost and alone. I know this feels like the worst kind of exile. I feel your disappointment. I know you’re sad.
But look—I am in control of this. I have this whole thing assembled. I know you don’t feel like you can trust me in this, but you really can. I’m sure you feel like I’ve turned my back on you, but I haven’t. I really haven’t!
Hang on. We’re going to go through some white-knuckle weeks, but we’re going through this together. I’m going to carry you through your parents’ divorce. I’m going to heal your broken heart. I’ll give you a new community—one that you can rely on and trust, one that won’t break you.
Just stay with me. I love you too much to let go of you. I’m here with you right now. No worries. Stay focused on me. This is a “we” thing. We will make it.
God’s words through Jeremiah are words for us broken people. God has the entire picture in His hand. He knows what’s coming next for us, even when we have no idea. He knows our hearts and the pain we’re feeling. Most of all, He knows we feel nomadic and stuck in a land without the community of our families.
Hold on. God sees, and He hasn’t forgotten you.
Adapted from Broken: Making Sense of Life After Your Parents’ Divorce by Tim Baker. Published by TH1NK, an imprint of NavPress. Copyright 2006. Used with permission.
