Monday, May 31, 2010

Rescued From Foreign Subjugation (part 5)

We began with a passage from Jeremiah, where we read “’When the time for them to be rescued comes,’ says the Lord Who rules over all, ‘I will deliver you from captivity. Foreigners will no longer subjugate them’.” (30:8) Because this is from Jeremiah, the immediate application for this statement is to the plight of Judah, and a promised exodus to their land from which they had been taken, thus ending their Babylonian exile. Though a remnant of Judah did make a return, they were not free, but still in subjugation to foreign powers, which has been well established. Because of that, it is difficult to make sense of the verses that follow. We read, “But they will be subject to the Lord their God and to the Davidic ruler whom I will raise up as king over them. So I, the Lord, tell you not to be afraid, you descendants of Jacob, My servants. Do not be terrified, people of Israel. For I will rescue you and your descendants from a faraway land where you are captives. The descendants of Jacob will return to their land and enjoy peace. They will be secure and no one will terrify them. For I, the Lord, affirm that I will be with you and will rescue you. I will completely destroy all the nations where I scattered you” (30:9-11a).

Gazing upon the history of the nation of Israel, these words of God appear to be demonstrably untrue. This was most definitely not the situation which Jacob/Israel/Judah could observe about themselves throughout the time period that began with the return from Babylon, and continuing on through the time period of the New Testament. One could venture to say that these words of God could never have been applied to the nation of Israel since that time. This apparent failure of God’s certain promise is the reason for the lengthy examination of the subjects of exile and exodus. It is the situation into, and the subjects about which, God is speaking in these verses, and a clearly held picture of these themes will allow for a proper understanding of that to which God, through Jeremiah, and through His entire Book, is pointing.

So now that we’ve looked at the exodus of Israel from their Egyptian exile, along with an examination of Moses’ personal experience of exile as well as the similar experiences of the Biblical patriarchs while also dealing with the exodus of Judah from Babylonian exile, is that the end of the subject? Is it time to move to a conclusion? Do we here simply wrap things up, turn the focus towards ourselves in a less-than-humble nod to our all-conquering private spirituality, and decide that the Bible was written and that God acted through the coming of Jesus, with Him ending up on a cross, so that each of us could have our own personal exodus to heaven when we die, thereby escaping an eternal exile into the unquenched fires of hell? Is that the point? When God speaks through Jeremiah, and talks about a deliverance from foreign subjugation and captivity, and those that will be subject to the Lord and the reigning Davidic ruler that will be raised up as king, and that His people should not be afraid or terrified because a rescue is coming, and that there will be a return to the land of peace and security, and that the Lord will destroy all the nations, are we to take that as “end of the world” language since it has been well-documented that none of this could be said of Israel as a nation, so therefore this must be talk of what will God will do for His people at the end of time, when He reigns down destruction upon the wicked and evil world. Not hardly.

As should be imagined, God’s work is far, far greater than that. There is an end-game, in a manner of speaking, and it is not simply to create a means by which people can live a certain way on earth and go to heaven when they die. In all honesty, if that was all there was, then one would have to wonder at the reason for all the hoopla of God’s sending and working through of Abraham, Israel, Jesus, and the church. What does that do to Jesus’ Resurrection? What was the point of that? Was He resurrected and ascended into heaven just to prove that He was God? When this occurred, did it happen simply so that we could equate His Resurrection with our going to heaven? It all seems rather extravagant and un-necessary if God, when it all wraps up, will have done nothing more than saved some, condemned others, and destroyed the world. That idea sits at quite a remarkable distance from that which is the primary focus of Scripture, which is exile and exodus and God’s effecting of rescue from foreign subjugation.

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