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No Longer in Exile


Many years ago I wrote a paper on a Hebrew term that means ‘to go into exile’. The Hebrew is ‘galah’. At root it means ‘to depart’ or ‘to exit’. 

Think about the current situation of refugees from Syria and elsewhere. They are also exiles from their homeland.

We experience feelings of alienation in Western society. Pink Floyd made a whole career out of it (starting with ‘Dark Side of the Moon’, then ‘Wish you were here’ with the track ‘Shine on you crazy diamond’). This blog will discuss the two opposites:
  • Exile
  • Reconciliation

Old Testament Teaching on Exile

In the Old Testament, first we read about exile. But then comes the imagination of the prophets:

Do not remember the former things…
See, I am doing a new thing!

Brueggemann calls the year 587 BC the ‘pivot’:

The end of the known world and its relinquishment
> 587 <
The reception of a new world given by God through these poets [the prophets]
The Jews considered (and still consider) themselves to be in exile, most of them. The return from exile only comes with the coming of the Messiah.
Chris Wright writes about God, the people and the land (see above diagram). But what if the people are exiled from the land? How can the covenant work?

New Testament Teaching on Exile

Matthew divides his genealogy into three:
  • Abraham to David
  • David to the exile
  • From the exile to the coming of the Messiah

Notice there is no return from exile. 

James (the brother of Jesus) and Peter wrote letters to those ‘in exile’ (the ‘diaspora’). Peter wrote to some in Asia Minor (Turkey). Even many Jews who were believers in the Messiah lived in exile.

What happens when you have lost contact with the land, and perhaps with your community? Reconciliation, (the antidote to alienation), is only through the Messiah. In his letters to the Ephesians & the Colossians Paul talks about ‘all things’ being reconciled in the person of Christ (the Messiah). Here's a quote:

11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. [1]
Even gentiles, those 'nations' who did not believe in God, have been brought near, and given citizenship in the household of God. 
In one sense we are still exiles, however:
‘Living is death; dying is life. We are not what we appear to be. On this side of the grave we are exiles, on that citizens; on this side orphans, on that children.’  Henry Ward Beecher
Our citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:17-21).
Belonging: there’s a huge emphasis on this at the moment. People talk about the sequence belong – believe – behave. But we need to see this worked out in loving communities. We can have some citizenship on earth, even if limited and temporal.

Conclusion

This will hopefully lead to a paradigm shift in mission. Since we often only understand life from experiencing it the hard way, we often only understand parts of the gospel through unfortunate changes in our lives or the lives of those around us. Exile is a paradigm we need to understand, and we need to be able to express the gospel in terms of exile-reconciliation.


[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2001). (Eph 2:11–22). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

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