By Ife J. Ibitayo
For the first article on “Missing the Presence”, click here. For the second article on “A Dying Baby, a Dead Baby, and a Living Hope”, click here.
The fall of Jerusalem and the subsequent exile of the Jewish people was unequivocally the greatest tragedy recorded in the Old Testament. It’s recorded in 2 Kings 24-25, 2 Chronicles 36, Jeremiah 39, and Jeremiah 52. The Bible uses the literary tool of repetition for the purpose of emphasis, like a flashing neon sign screaming, “THIS IS IMPORTANT!” Of the events recounted in the Bible in detail, none is repeated more times than the fall of Jerusalem. (The only other event recounted four times in the Bible is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.)
The destruction of Jerusalem and the temple of God within it was the LORD’s final judgment on the Israelite people for generations of rebellion. They disregarded thousands of prophetic warnings, hundreds of miraculous wonders, and several close calls. Finally, the LORD called the mighty Babylonian empire against them. They captured the Israelites’ capital city in little over a month’s time, and scattered them abroad.
COVID-19 has caused a comparable, metaphysical uprooting for billions around the world. Weekdays among colleagues and weekends with friends have morphed into months at home alone. This pandemic has collectively exiled us all.
Know God is Still in Control
In the book of Ecclesiastes, King Solomon said, “When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other.” (Ecclesiastes 7:14a NIV). It can be easy to accept a simplistic worldview that says God causes all good things, and the Devil causes all bad things. But we must wrestle with the fact that God is sovereign over both good and evil.
God’s sovereignty over evil is far more than an exoteric concept debated by stuffy theologians. It means that God is not reacting to a horrible pandemic that ruined His majestic plan. It means this pandemic was part of His plan all along. He has a meaningful purpose for this pandemic just as He had for the Israelite’s extradition from their homeland.
Know God’s Refuge Goes with You
God told the exiles through the prophet Ezekiel, “‘Although I have scattered you in the countries of the world, I will be a sanctuary to you during your time in exile'” (Ezekiel 11:16 NLT). This pandemic has sent us adrift from the bay of normality. We are now being tossed about in the wild sea of the unknown, but we don’t have to tread water forever. Just as God “sanctuaried-in-place” with the exiles when their sanctuary in Jerusalem was destroyed, He offers Himself to us as our God-sized lifeboat. He will keep us afloat until we reach the shore.
Know This Will Last a While
The LORD prophesied that the Israelites would not be exiled for one month or two but for seventy long years. Similarly, these past several months have demonstrated that COVID-19 will not vanish overnight. We too are in for the long haul.
The LORD told the exiled Israelites to “‘build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce…increase in number there; do not decrease'” (Jeremiah 29:5-6 NIV). We are not to merely white-knuckle our way through this pandemic, hanging on for dear life. We also must learn how to thrive in our new normal, expanding our connections, churches, and businesses.
Conclusion
The LORD left the exiles with this message of hope: “‘You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again. For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord. ‘They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope'” (Jeremiah 29:10-11 NLT). This promise was always intended for outcasts, those in a time and place like ours. God has a good plan for this pandemic, will sustain us through this season, and will bring us home from exile. In the meantime, let us build, grow, and sow.
“Now there was a famine in the land…The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, ‘Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live. Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you’…Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the Lord blessed him.”
(Genesis 26:1-3a, 12 NIV)
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