Daily Meditation

Living in Exile

“The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the capital, that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah” (Neh. 1:1–2a).

- Nehemiah 1:1-3

Ligonier Ministries

After the Babylonian empire fell to the Persians, the new world power was left in charge of all the lands over which Babylon once reigned. To help maintain peace in its territories, Persia often allowed exiled peoples to return to their homelands, including the Jews following Cyrus’ proclamation in 538 BC (2 Chron. 36:22–23). Since the restoration did not get off to a very good start, God sent prophets and leaders to encourage the people to rebuild the temple and prepare for the Messiah. Nehemiah was one of these leaders, and so we will spend this week looking at his ministry with the help of Dr. R.C. Sproul’s teaching series Book of Nehemiah.

Even though the book of Nehemiah is probably not one of the more familiar portions of Scripture, Dr. Sproul believes that it has a special relevance for Western Christians today, especially those who live in the United States. This is on account of the “culture war” that has been raging for over five decades. Undeniably, American society is greatly divided today over several moral issues. A large majority is committed to the sanctity of life and opposes abortion on demand, while a great number of people want to preserve the legality of abortion because of their commitment to personal autonomy over the well-being of the defenseless. In large swaths of the country, homosexual “marriage” is regarded as a moral imperative, while elsewhere the idea that marriage can be anything other than the union of one man and one woman is anathema. The roots of these conflicts, at least in their current form, go back to the “sexual revolution” of the 1960s. Prior to that decade, there was a degree of shame attached to promiscuity, though it is not as if the decadence of that era was unknown before then. Yet the 1960s marked a turning point in that what was once done shamefully in secret emerged as good and normal. Since that day, secular society has grown increasingly hostile to the biblical ethic that undergirds much of Western civilization.

Nehemiah, a Jew serving in the Persian court, lived in a similar situation. He was facing the loss of his traditions as Jerusalem lay in ruins and the people of God were held in reproach (Neh. 1:1–4). He had to learn how to be faithful to the Lord while under the rule of a king who did not know the God of Israel. Like us, Nehemiah had to learn to preserve the sanctity of the covenant community in a foreign land.

Coram Deo

When it comes to the “culture war,” American evangelicals often embrace one of two extremes. On the one hand, they can give up trying to influence society altogether. On the other, they might believe the nation will be saved if we elect the right people and pass the right laws. A more biblical approach would be to affirm the legitimacy of Christians serving the common good in the public square while recognizing that the gospel saves, not moralism.

Passages for Further Study

Deuteronomy 8
Proverbs 3:1–2
Daniel 1
2 Thessalonians 2:15

Daily Meditation

Living in Exile

Ligonier Ministries

We look to Nehemiah for clues to guide our own pilgrimage in difficult times. Nehemiah was grief-stricken by the news of the condition of Jerusalem. The walls were broken down and the gates burned with fire. His first emotion over the sad loss of his heritage was grief. It was not bitterness or anger. Nehemiah wept and mourned as Jesus would later weep over the same city.

In his grief, Nehemiah moved to the next step, prayer and fasting. His prayer was first of all a prayer of adoration for the majestic awe of God and for His faithfulness to His people: “Oh great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love You and observe Your commandments” (Neh. 1:5).

Even in exile, Nehemiah praised God for His covenant faithfulness. Then the focus of his prayer turned to repentance, as he pleaded with God to forgive the sins of his own people, acknowledging that they had brought exile upon themselves.

Coram Deo

Think about some of the ways God has proven faithful to you in the past, then thank Him!

Passages for Further Study

Nehemiah 1:3–6

Douglas Wilson's Letter From Moscow (About Babylonian Exiles)

The R2K Crucifix Problem

Douglas Wilson

Blog & Mablog

August 14, 2014

 

Carl Trueman recently wrote A Church for Exiles for First Things, which you may read here. If you would like, a good response from Joel McDurmon can be found here. But my response to Carl will be a tad shorter than Joel’s — just enough to register a few basic concerns.

First, it is undeniable that exile is a strong biblical motif, and it is one that Christians do need to draw on. But in Scripture, it is always a paired motif — like salt and pepper, or ham and eggs. We find, all through the Bible, the patterns of death and resurrection, exile and return, cliffhanger and helicopter.

There is both a cross and a crown. Triumphalists are those who just want the crown. Defeatists are those who just want the cross. Trueman is a defeatist — for all his Reformed credentials, his faith is a crucifix faith. Note that both the defeatist and the triumphalist are partly right, but in such a way that their partial truths undo the point of the whole thing. “Jesus died” is true, but is not gospel apart from resurrection. And “Jesus rose” is meaningless nonsense if there had been no death.

Carl says this: the Reformed tradition “possesses the intellectual rigor necessary for teaching and defending the faith in a hostile environment.” I believe this is quite true. In fact, I agreed with many of the points that he made throughout the article — but he left out one crucial thing. Let me insert that missing element. “The Reformed tradition possesses the intellectual rigor necessary for teaching and defending the faith in a hostile environment, while preparing for our inevitable comeback.” Why? It is not just exile. It is exile and return. Nehemiah rhymes with Jeremiah after all.

The Return of the Exile

Get Out of Town

The ancient classical world had a punishment in its judicial menu which has long since been discarded and until recently had become part of a long discarded past.  The rise of nation states put paid to it.  We are thinking of the punishment of exile.  When nuisance-causing citizens, or citizens causing embarrassment to rulers, or general miscreants came before the courts in the ancient world, exile was often the sentence of choice (not for slaves, or non-citizens, of course, who usually lacked legal standing of any sort). 

In these days, exiling would mean delivering the miscreant to another nation state, which usually has its own strict border controls and which would refuse to admit the exile.  Hence, the punishment being no longer feasible.  However, given half a chance, it returns.  Most recently we have seen a variant of it with respect to Australia and New Zealand.  Citizens of the latter country who have chosen to live in Australia (often for many years) and who fall foul of the law are finding themselves being exiled back to New Zealand. Understandably, we in New Zealand are not amused.

Another modern manifestation of the punishment of exile has surfaced in the state and city of New York.