This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” Jeremiah 29:4-7
The Israelites are in exile. Their path there was complicated and that’s another story, but it was a result of both national sin and personal obedience. God said He carried them there. He was in fact, preserving them. But they found themselves in a place not of their choosing and not of their liking. It was different culturally and they were surrounded with people who didn’t share their beliefs or values.
God gives the Israelites very specific instruction of what to do there. Instructions that I think we can take note of when we find ourselves in our own Babylon, that place we wouldn’t choose to be but God has led us there.
Marry and have children. Don’t put life on hold. Continue the normal patterns of living that you would have pursued previously. Family is a blessing and brings health and stability even in turbulent times.
Build and settle. You’re going to be here a while, so go ahead and unpack and make a home. Besides creating value and stability, it’s an investment into the whole community even if you may leave it behind when you go.
Plant and harvest. Enjoy its produce. This may be how God provides for you in this place. Planting might not be literal in the ground, in our day and age, but could be our work that we hope will improve and provide in future days. “Planting” of any type is one of the strongest signs (aside from having children) of optimism in the future. It declares that I’m expecting to enjoy the fruit of my labor at a later time.
Seek peace. Do good where you are. Extending common grace reflects God in loving our neighbor and is good for our own welfare as well.
Another thing I notice is that the captivity was multi-generational. There were those that lived their final days there and also those that were born there. God worked in the history of His people as a whole but each individual also may have arrived and departed Babylon differently. We, too, arrive at our Babylons in a variety of ways. Some are carried there to stay and some pass through.
Our world is in chaos because of sin. It is not how it should be. But while God is preserving us, His people, I will likely find myself at some point in a Babylon – not where I want and not by my choice. I don’t get to see God’s big picture. I want things to be set right in my time – to have my “little slice of heaven” here and now. But God has the whole view in sight and if I’m obedient, I will grow where I’m planted and prosper all those around me. He may choose to call me out of my particular Babylon, (and I need to be listening for His voice) or this may be where I will live my life. God says wherever He has placed us, dwell there. It’s ok to unpack. Do good. And seek to bless the community around no matter how foreign it seems.
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