Have you every felt or found yourself homeless? There are different kinds of homelessness. Most often when we think of the homeless, our hearts break for those surviving on the streets and living under bridges. But just as real–if not as visible–are the spiritually homeless, the relational homeless, and the emotionally homeless. After years of slavery, wondering in the wilderness, and fighting for it’s life, the nation of Israel had found a home. But that refuge was ripped from them like a rug on which someone was standing.
Israel was lost.
That experience was is called “The Exile.” The emotion of exile is expressed by the poet in Psalm 137: Beside the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept as we thought of Jerusalem. We hung our harps upon the willows. Those who carried us away captive asked of us a song. Our captors demanded a song. They demanded a joyful hymn: “Sing us one of those songs of Jerusalem.” But we asked, “How can we sing the songs of Jerusalem? How can we sing the songs of the Lord in a strange land?”
We are going to look at one of the most important episodes of the master Story. This strange land produced great spiritual fruit, Daniel, Ezekiel, Jeremiah and a host of other prophets, poets, and powerful lessons about how to know God deeply even in a dry land.
In those places it is easy to become bitter and even wonder if God is who He says he is. This is big stuff.
Let’s seek to learn that God is who He says He is, no matter where we find ourselves.
Podcast: Download (Duration: 45:13 — 31.6MB)