The Politics of Exiles: Purity over politicians or policies - Jeremiah 2:2-13
We are starting a new series called “The Politics of Exiles.” We have been prayerfully preparing for this series for some time. We hope you will find this series helpful as you consider how you will participate in the coming presidential election and how you will conduct yourself after the election. We used the term “exile” because this is how the people of God are described in the Scriptures. The author of Hebrews described the Old Testament saints as “exiles.” Peter called the church “exiles” in his first letter in the New Testament. In both cases, the authors were trying to communicate how God’s followers should view themselves in this world. We are exiles; there is something alien about us. We live on this earth, but our homeland is not of this earth. We await the New Heavens and Earth, where we will dwell with God forever. Our citizenship and identity are wrapped up in our future home, not our present home.
The big idea of this three-part series is “Do good for the land, knowing it's not your homeland.” Followers of Christ live in many different countries, from Nigeria to Canada. We should seek to do what is good for these lands. We have a moral obligation to support policies that lead to human flourishing. We hope that many will experience good things in the lands that we live in. Our ultimate hope is not in the prosperity of our nation but instead in the arrival of Christ's kingdom as it is fully manifested in the New Heavens and Earth.
Today, I would like to address the following question: “What is the greatest good we can offer to our land as followers of Jesus Christ?” To answer this question, we are going to look at a prophet in the Old Testament who spoke of the coming exile of the people of Judah and who told the exiles how they were to live while they were in exile. His warning about the future exile of God’s people into Babylon is where we will find the greatest good we can bring to the land that we are in.
Big Idea: Purity over politicians or policies. The greatest good the people of God can do for any nation is to protect the purity of the Church. Policies are important, as are politicians, but not more than the purity of the Church. The credibility of the Church is more important than any candidate. The Church is the messenger of the gospel, which is the only thing that can change a human heart and make it more loving to God and neighbor. Life change is not brought about by legislation. The gospel is the ultimate source of human flourishing. When the Church loses its purity and, therefore, its credibility to the world, we diminish the persuasive nature of the gospel. When we place politicians and policies over purity, we betray our belief in the gospel's effectiveness, and we lose the credibility of our witness. Losing our loyalty to the Lord is the worst thing in any political cycle. The prophet Jeremiah spoke of how God was relationally wounded by His people when they lost their love for Him. I want you to hear from the prophet how much God longs for us to remain loyal to him.
Jeremiah 2:2-3, “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, Thus says the Lord, “I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed me in the wilderness, in a land not sown. 3 Israel was holy to the Lord, the firstfruits of his harvest. All who ate of it incurred guilt; disaster came upon them, declares the Lord.”
The prophet used very romantic language to describe God’s love for His people. He is not just the king, whom they should serve, but their lover, whom they should be faithful to. God referred to Israel as His “young” “bride,” who experienced a honeymoon in the wilderness. The wedding between God and his people happened at Mount Sinai after they had been delivered from Egyptian slavery. The wilderness seems like an odd place to honeymoon. In verse 6, the prophet described it as a desolate place.
Jeremiah 2:6, “They did not say, ‘Where is the Lord who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us in the wilderness, in a land of deserts and pits, in a land of drought and deep darkness, in a land that none passes through, where no man dwells?’”
The wilderness was a place of “darkness” and “drought.” Still, the Lord's miraculous provision made it a place where His people could experience prosperity. The Lord reminded the people that He had been a faithful lover to them and provided for them in the wilderness.
The prophet also used an agricultural analogy to describe God’s relationship with Israel. This analogy points back to God's promise to Abraham, the father of the people of Israel. God called Israel “the firstfruits of His harvest.” Firstfruits were a concept in the Old Testament that referred to the first portion of a crop at harvest time. This portion was offered as a sacrifice to the Lord, which was given in acknowledgment of His provision and anticipation of the bountiful harvest afterward.
Israel was special to God but was not the only group of people He cared for. God has always had a global love. Israel was supposed to serve as a channel of God’s love to the world. There was supposed to be a harvest of nations that proceeded from Israel, the firstfruits of God’s love. The promise to Abraham reflects this idea.
Genesis 12:2-3, “2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
God was aiming at a world-wide blessing when he blessed Abraham. God committed to protecting His people in this promise, too, which is something the prophet referred to when He wrote about the disaster that would come on those who “ate” or afflicted Israel. God loved His people and wanted to use them as witnesses and vehicles of His love for the world. Sadly, they lost their love for God, compromised their loyalty to Him, and hindered God's plan to bless the nations through them. When we lose our loyalty to God, we lose our ability to love the land we are in. Listen to how injured God was when His people lost their love and loyalty for Him.
Jeremiah 2:4-8, “4 Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the clans of the house of Israel. 5 Thus says the Lord: “What wrong did your fathers find in me that they went far from me, and went after worthlessness, and became worthless? 6 They did not say, ‘Where is the Lord who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us in the wilderness, in a land of deserts and pits, in a land of drought and deep darkness, in a land that none passes through, where no man dwells?’ 7 And I brought you into a plentiful land to enjoy its fruits and its good things. But when you came in, you defiled my land and made my heritage an abomination. 8 The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’ Those who handle the law did not know me; the shepherds transgressed against me; the prophets prophesied by Baal and went after things that do not profit.”
The Lord asked a question He already knew the answer to. He had done no wrong to the previous generations of Israel. He rescued them from oppression and brought them safely into a bountiful land. They betrayed Him. He accused them of defiling the land He brought them into, where He would dwell with them in a special way. We need to understand the emotional weight of this defilement in the context of the romantic language that the prophet has already used. What Israel did was like a wife committing adultery in the bed she shares with her husband. God had been replaced by His people. They went after another lover.
Sadly, the leaders of Israel had participated in this betrayal as well. It wasn’t that the common people were acting out of hand and the leaders were trying to get things under control. The writer of 1 and 2 Kings makes it clear that the leaders, specifically the kings, caused Israel to sin against the Lord. Unfortunately, looking up to our leaders for guidance is not a surefire way to remain faithful to the Lord. The idolatry of His people hurts God, and He takes them to court in the following verses. The Lord will not simply be a scorned lover but will respond as a just judge.
Jeremiah 2:9-13, “Therefore I still contend with you, declares the Lord, and with your children’s children I will contend. 10 For cross to the coasts of Cyprus and see, or send to Kedar and examine with care; see if there has been such a thing. 11 Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit. 12 Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the Lord, 13 for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.”
The word “contend” is a legal term. God was making a case against His people. Exile will be the judgment handed down later by the prophet for the people’s idolatry. The people of Judah will be taken captive to Babylon. The northern tribes of Israel, often referred to as Israel, have already been taken by the Assyrians because of their sins. Judah, the southern sister, didn’t learn from the fall of the Northern kingdom. They repeated their same sin and would suffer the same consequences.
In the courtroom the Lord has called his people into, some interesting witnesses are present: other nations and the heavens. God referred to two different nations and said that they had not committed the egregious sins of His people. Other nations may add to their pantheon of gods, but they seldom replace their gods with new ones. These nations showed more loyalty than Israel, even though it was misplaced. This sin wasn’t unique to one generation but instead spanned multiple generations, which is why God was contending with their “children’s children.” The second witness He calls is “the heavens.” These bodies obey the Lord, whereas His people resist His commands.
Their resistance leads to their ruin. An adulterer pursues an affair because they are enticed by the immediate pleasure that it offers, not being mindful of the devastating poison they are ingesting, which will wreak havoc on them and their loved ones. Israel’s idolatry cut them off from the spring of divine pleasure. Sadly, they settled for a leaking cistern that could not meet their long-term needs. Abandoning their loyalty to God kept them from enjoying communion with Him and being used by Him to bless the nations. When we sin, we hurt God, ourselves, and those around us. We can not do good to the land we are in if we lose our loyalty to God.
We face a similar temptation. If we compromise our loyalty to the Lord, we will diminish our spiritual health and weaken the good we can do for others. During a political cycle, we can compromise our loyalty to the Lord in many ways. Losing our purity diminishes our credibility, which hinders the witness of the gospel, the ultimate good for our land. We hurt our purity by justifying corruptible means that yield good political gains, overlooking horrendous character flaws in candidates whose policies we may find more agreeable, disrespecting and slandering those who disagree with us, and applauding abusive language aimed at our opponents. My biggest concern in any political season is that the Church will lose its purity and jeopardize its witness to the world.
What causes followers of Christ to focus more on politicians and policies than the purity of the Church? I think there are two main reasons: 1. We fear the wrong person, and 2. We place our hope in the wrong thing. Politicians, podcasters, and pundits are skilled in making us afraid. They work up a crazy apocalyptic narrative of the inevitable doom of human civilization if a particular candidate is elected. Sometimes, this propaganda is baptized in Christian language, and we are led to believe that this candidate is going to destroy the Church of God as we know it.
In the 13th chapter of the book of Revelation, Satan, who is called a dragon, animates political powers to destroy God’s people. That sounds scary. Should we fear him? No. He doesn’t win. He can hurt us, but he can’t destroy the Church. We should fear a different character described in the book of Revelation, the Lamb, Jesus Christ. He is the one who warns the seven churches to repent of their sins, or He will remove their lampstand, their witness to the world. Political powers are no real threat to the church. We should support policies that amplify our witness but not in a way that compromises our purity. No political gain can protect us from the judgment of Christ.
We can also lose our focus on maintaining our purity by placing false hope in the transformational power of political policies. One of the central messages of the Scriptures is the inability of law to purify the human heart. Israel had the perfect law, given to them directly by God, yet they failed as a nation. Good laws are a good thing, but they have their limits. Only the gospel can purify the human heart. If the world sees us panic when our policies fail, they will realize our proclamation of the gospel was a charade. They will see that our real hope was getting the right politicians in with the right policies. They will see that our church services are political rallies, not places of worship. We should be proclaimers of the gospel more than political activists. Politics are not evil; a lot of good can come from them, but they can’t outperform the gospel.
The biggest crisis we can face as a nation is the Church losing its credibility. Please join me in praying for the purity of the Church during this political cycle. Each week in this series, we will ask you to pray each day for one thing. This week, I invite you to join us in praying every day for the purity of the Church not to be compromised and for its credibility to be enhanced, amplifying the persuasive nature of the gospel of Christ.
Life-Level Application
Head: Read Romans 13:1-7. How are governments servants of God? What obligations do we have to our government?
Heart: Read Revelation 13. List the things Satan accomplishes through the governing authority mentioned in this chapter. When you think about suffering these things, what emotions do you feel? How does verse 8 give you hope that you can endure these trials?
Hand: What challenges have you faced during election cycles? How do you think political activism has compromised the church’s witness to the world?
Habit: Read 1 Peter 4:11-15. How does Peter want his readers to relate to the governing authorities in their lives? What is the desired reaction of those who witness a Christian’s conduct toward secular authorities?