The Exiled Elect

 In the 6th century B.C., the Jewish people were conquered and displaced in an exile of national proportions and theological implications.  The exile was not and should not be thought of as merely one nation conquering another. Instead, the exile is rife with theology and relevance.  moreover, throughout the Scriptures, the language of the exile is sobering and prevalent.

In the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, the Mosaic Law was given and came to be the governing authority and religious framework for all of Israel.  This law was part of a conditional covenant between God and Israel, known as the Mosaic Covenant.  The stipulations and conditions of this covenant are clearly laid out and defined in Deuteronomy.  The striking feature of this covenant is that there are distinct requirements of obedience and devotion.  Plainly stated, if the Israelites were obedient then they would be blessed; however, if they were disobedient to the covenant's requirements, then they would be cursed and exiled in judgment.

Unfortunately, the Israelites fell into continued covenant infidelity and centuries of disobedience.  Because of their disobedience the Israelites were sent into exile, first the ten northern tribes of Israel by the Assyrians followed by the southern Judeans by the Babylonians (by this time the Simeonites had been assimilated into the Judean tribe).  As a result of the exile(s), Israel spent some 70 years displaced from their Promised Land.

It is important to remember that the exile is just about the physical dispersion of Israel out of the Promised Land but, much more so, it is a theological construct, a framework for understanding the nature of God's people in the world, displaced from their Promised Land.  The exile is thus a way to explain the dislocation of believers from the promises of God.

The apostle Peter, in his first epistle, uses the language of exile and dispersion in relation to Christians living in the world (1 Pet. 1:1).  In this, the exile is not just a past event in Israel's history but it is a object lesson for understanding how believers live in the world today.  The exile refers to how believers are separated from the whole fulfillment of God's promises.

As believers, we have been blessed with a right relationship with the Lord.  All this is true, however, the status of our right relationship is only in part while we are still leashed to this fleshly mortal coil.  The reality is that we will not receive the completeness of God's promises until our final rest in death.  In a very real sense, Christians live this life in exile, awaiting our return to the promises of God and our restorations to the wholeness of His grace.  Throughout this, it is vital that we are patient in our waiting,  that we would hold fast to the fulfillment of God's promises and our release from the exile of this world.