Lessons Learned In Exile

Introduction

Where have y’all been? It’s so good to see, though, as Ralph said, our friend said, our numbers are diminished this morning, and that’s understandable. But it is so good to see in the audience. Uh a good number in the audience, and we’re so thankful for your presence here this morning. If you’re watching us on the live stream, this is the first time in two months than we’ve assembled together in the auditorium such as this. Uh, and it’s a wonderful day. We’ve been looking forward to. I know a day that I’ve longed for uh for a long time. It’s difficult to preach to empty pews. And so it’s good to see. I started to say it’s good to see your faces, but we’re wearing masks this morning, and so it’s good to see part of your faces.

Uh and to see the creativity in some of the masks. Uh some of the homemade masks look good, some of the just the store bought ones are okay too. Uh, to see the differences. Jared’s mask is a mess. Jared, you’re supposed to take that off before you partook of the Lord’s Supper. But anyway, everybody else looks good uh this morning. I know you’ve missed being here. I know we’ve missed being together. Uh, and so we want to say to you, welcome home. Welcome back where you belong. This has been weird, hasn’t it? There’s probably a lot of adjectives we could use to describe the situation that we’ve been in. But weird is just the one that constantly comes to my mind. I understand it’s been difficult.

It’s been stressful. It’s been isolating. But hopefully, they’ve been some lessons that we’ve been able to learn. Do you feel like you’ve been somewhat in exile? Some of us have been able to get out and still go to work and go to our jobs. But for many of us, we’ve been trapped at home. And even those who have been able to conduct some of their normal day-to-day activities, it certainly hasn’t been normal. We have tracked this lockdown for this virus. We’ve been able to track it first by days, and then by weeks, and then by months. But throughout it all, we have been able to track it by the number of times we said back to normal.

And maybe you felt like you were in exile in all of this. Well, I want you to know that you’re not alone. We all felt that way. But you’re also not alone historically. God’s people from time to time have been in exile, haven’t they? They’ve been isolated from one another, and there are some lessons to be learned from that. And so this morning, let’s talk about hopefully some lessons that we can learn in exile. Let’s start in the Old Testament. Will you go with me to the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 26? The children of Israel spent years in exile. Deuteronomy chapter 26. We’ll begin there in just a few moments. God had given the promise to the patriarch Abraham that his descendants would be great. In fact, they would form a great nation, and we would be given a treasured land on which to live.

But after that promise, 400 years have passed. They’re not a nation, and they don’t have a land of their own.

1. Exile Teaches Long Suffering

Deuteronomy 26, begin with me in verse 5, where it says, and you shall answer and say before the Lord God, my father was a Syrian about to perish. And he went down to Egypt and sojourned there, few in number, and there he became a nation, great and mighty and populous. But the Egyptians mistreated us, afflicted us, and laid hard bondage on us. Then we cried out to the Lord God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and looked on our affliction and our labor and our oppression. So the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm, with a great terror and with great signs and wonders, and he brought us to this place, and has given us this land flowing with milk and honey.

They endured, waited. Now we can debate whether they waited patiently or not, but surely one of the lessons they should have learned through that exile, through that bondage in Egypt, is long suffering. We sing the song in his time. Exile should teach us that lesson. In his time, we must learn endurance and patience and long suffering. The greatest challenge of learning patience and long suffering is that it’s not an easy lesson to learn, is it? Because the only way to truly learn long suffering, and it’s implied in the word, isn’t it, is through suffering. We may often be like the Christian who prayed, God give me patience and give it now. We’re kind of that type of people, aren’t we? We want things now. And our society doesn’t help dispel that, does it?

Amazon hasn’t helped me. Two-day shipping was wonderful. Until they came up with same-day shipping. And then two hour shipping. The microwave didn’t help that, did it? I think about my great grandmother, who would have to get up early in the morning before the sun came up and to get wood and build a fire in the stove and to prepare a meal. What she would think, as I get impatient with the microwave, taking three minutes to pop my popcorn. We need long suffering. Look what the New Testament says in the book of Romans, chapter 12. The Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 12 and in verse 12 puts it this way. Rejoicing, among the many admonitions that he gives here, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer.

2. Isolation Is Hard, But Better Days Are Ahead

Do we read past those list of admonitions and fail to look at them? Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, and being steadfast in prayer. Did we learn long suffering? I hope so. Another lesson that we’ve learned from this exile, we can learn from David. You remember the story of David? David was anointed king very early. But he had to wait. In fact, by some calculations, it was fifteen years from the time he was first anointed king before he actually ascended to the throne and began to reign as king. And not only did he have to wait and patiently wait, but Saul made that waiting miserable. The song, Saul has killed his thousands, and David his ten thousands intensified the jealous anger of King Saul. And in his madness he sought to kill David.

And so David had to flee. And David is living in caves and is isolated and not only living in caves, but is in fear for his life and is fleeing. And the lesson of David in exile is that isolation is hard. But better days are ahead. Unless you were the extreme introvert before all of this happened. This has been hard on you. It’s been hard not to go to school and see your friends. It’s been hard not to just go to the store and shop like you normally shop. It has certainly been hard not to come together and to see one another. To greet one another, if not with a holy kiss, then certainly a holy hug, and to assemble together. For most of us, isolation is hard.

It was hard on David. Look with me in Psalm 142. Some of the psalms were penned by David during this time of fleeing for his life. One of those is Psalm 142. Psalm 142, the title above it says, A contemplation of David, a prayer when he was in the cave. Look what he says. I cry out to the Lord with my voice. With my voice to the Lord, I make my supplication. I pour out my complaint before him. I declare before him my trouble. When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then you knew my path in the way in which I walk. They have secretly set a snare for me. Look at my right hand and see, for there is no one who acknowledges me. Refuge has failed me.

No one cares for my soul. I cried out to you, O Lord. I said, You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living. Attend to my cry, for I am brought very low. Deliver me from my persecutors, for they are stronger than I. Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise your name. The righteous shall surround me, for you shall deal bountifully with me. Now I’m not trying to equate this lockdown to David’s experience of fleeing for his life and living in caves. I’m not trying to equate it to the Egyptian bondage. But there are lessons that we can learn from God’s people who have suffered in isolation, who have suffered in exile. Isolation, again, for most of us, is not the normal.

That’s not the way God wired us, and it’s been difficult. But maybe one blessing, in addition to learning the hard way, which is the only truly way to learn long suffering, maybe one other blessing from this is that as true in so many arenas of life, we do not appreciate what we have until we lose it.

We take electricity for granted, don’t we? Until it’s gone. That’s true with our health many times, isn’t it? We don’t appreciate our good health until we’re sick.

3. God Still Sees His People

And so hopefully, this two months of lockdown will come out of this as David did when he came from those caves of isolation. And we’ll never fail to appreciate assembling on the Lord’s day. That will never take it for granted again. Because better days are ahead. We think about the children of Israel and the children of Judah who were in captivity. And the lesson that we can learn from that exile. Because of their continued iniquity and failing to listen to the pleadings of God and the prophets that he sent to him, God sent them away into decades of captivity and exile. And they had to learn.

As a punishment from God. Look with me in the book of Romans, chapter 8, where I think the answer for where this virus came from and so many other problems of life that we have to deal with. In Romans chapter 8, we recognize that this world in which we live is not heaven. It’s not the paradise of Eden, because sin has corrupted this life. And though God may not send viruses and pestilence and famine to judge us as a nation as he did his old covenant people.

That we live on a flawed planet. Look in Romans chapter 8. Look at verse 22. He says, For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pains together until now.

That’s saying the whole planet is groaning because of the marred condition in which it lives. And so though God is not judging us with this virus, there are still lessons that we can learn from a time in which God was judging his people and isolated and exiled them because of it. And that lesson is a positive one, and that is God still sees his people. God was angry with the children of Israel. So angry that he removed them from that promised land and put them again in a place of exile and of judgment and of punishment. He destroyed everything that they knew, including their place of worship. They were miles away from their home. They could not go to the temple to worship God as they had before.

But God still spoke to them through the prophets. And notice what he says. Turn over to the book of Daniel in your Old Testament. Look at Daniel chapter 9. Daniel chapter 9, look at verses 17 and 18. We remind you, as you’re turning there, remind you of what you already know. Daniel was a prophet who spoke during this time of exile. He was one of those captives, one of the first of those captives. And look what Daniel says. Daniel 9, verses 17 and 18 says, Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of your servant and his supplications, and for the Lord’s sake, cause your face to shine on your sanctuary, which is desolate. O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations and the city which is caused by your called by your name.

For we do not present our supplications before you because of our righteous deeds, but because of your great mercies. Daniel says, God see us.

God hear us. Even in this time of exile. Again, very different circumstances. But during this time that we’ve been away, when we haven’t been able to assemble together on the Lord’s day, where we’ve had to just virtually worship through the live stream. Could God see us? Could God hear us? And how did God see us and hear us? Could not God in his omniscience and his omnipresence not just see us separated, but could not the eye of God see us worshiping together. If my feeble mind and weakened eyes could stand up here each Lord’s day during the live stream and look out and see you sitting there. Could not the all-seeing eye do the same? And see us still communing together and worshiping together. God still sees his people.

4. God Can Still Be Glorified in the Darkness

Another one that experienced exile was the Apostle Paul. The Apostle Paul would spend so much of the last part of his life imprisoned and isolated because of his preaching of the gospel. And one lesson that we can learn, joyfully learn from Paul in his imprisonment is that God can still be glorified in the darkness. Turn with me to the book of Philippians, chapter one, a surprising epistle is the book of Philippians. Surprising because of its content, and not just because of its content, but because of the timing of its content. The book of Philippians, you know, is a book that talks about joy and rejoicing. And it was written while Paul was in prison. And not just in prison, but imprisoned under a death sentence. Paul knew.

He says, I want you to know, brethren, he’s pinning these words in prison under the sentence of death. I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel. So that it’s become evident to the whole palace guard and to all the rest that my chains are in Christ. And most of the brethren in the Lord have become confident by me and my chains, and are much more bold to speak without fear. Paul says, I’m in prison.

But look at the bright side. I’ve been able to preach to people in prison. And those of you who aren’t in prison are encouraged and emboldened by my imprisonment. That rather than letting this cause you to cower in fear, you’re actually bolder in preaching the gospel. Paul in the dark, dank prison cell is glorifying God. And so he would say, Philippians 4, verse 4. Rejoice in the Lord always. And again I say, rejoice. This hasn’t been fun. But have you learned some lessons from this lockdown? If not, what a waste it’s been.

5. During Our Exile, God Was Still Speaking

But have you seen some silver lining on these dark clouds? I know I have. Again, I’ve learned long suffering. I’ve learned never ever to take for granted the assembly of the saints. I’ve seen acts of kindness and charity and encouragement in such creative ways. God’s been glorified in the darkness. Another one who experienced exile was the apostle John. Turn with me to the book of Revelation, chapter one. John, the human author, by inspiration surely, penned the book of Revelation and was able to see the visions of God’s judgment while what we believe was in exile and Patmos. Look in Revelation 1, verse 9, where he says, I, John, both your brother and companion in tribulation and in the kingdom and the patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Most scholars interpret that to mean that because he had preached the word of God, just like Paul was in prison, now John was in exile on the Isle of Patmos. And so here he is, if that’s correct, here he is, exiled because he had been giving the testimony of Jesus Christ. Dropped on this island, isolated from his brethren, not able to assemble with them on the Lord’s day, not able to socialize and to be encouraged by their presence. But what happened?

John saw the curtain opened into heaven. And like prophets before him, saw a vision as God communicated his word and his will to him. During our exile, God was still speaking. We saw the lessons of the children of Israel, that God was still listening and still seeing. But the lesson of John on Patmos was that God was still speaking. This did not silence him. Now God didn’t speak to us through some vision that John saw or that Daniel or Ezekiel were able to see under the Old Testament. But God was still speaking to us through his word. As much as we’ve hated this, let’s pause in the midst of this darkness and rejoice for the timing of it. That it happened at a time in which almost all of us have high speed internet at home.

And almost all of us have devices that have allowed us to still study together. And to still, although it’s not the same, to still worship together. I’m going to tell you, I’ve seen more Bible study in the last two months online than I’ve seen 20 years before that. Now it may be awkward. We may not be the prettiest on that video. But God was still speaking to us. And God was still seeing and hearing us. Better days are ahead. And I’ve hope we’ve learned something. I know we have. We’ve learned long suffering and patience and gratitude for the blessings that God can give us. It’s so good to be back with you today. And I look forward to seeing those who aren’t yet here with us as things get better and these days just get brighter and brighter as we’re able to assemble together.

Conclusion

Learn the lessons of exile.

Maybe you’ve learned in this exile that you don’t want to be separated. But more importantly, you don’t want to be separated from God. Why not this very morning? If you’re here in the audience this morning and need to render obedience to the gospel, if you need to, based upon your faith to repent and confess and to be baptized, we can do that today. If you’re watching on the live stream and need further study or assistance in obedience to the gospel, reach out to us and learn the lessons of God’s people in exile. If we can help you right now, why not come as together we stand and as we sing? There’s a fountain free for you as.