O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, and Ransom Captive Israel
It might probably come as a shock after we first hear that Israel’s exile by no means actually ended within the Outdated Testomony. I do know I used to be shocked the primary time I thought-about the concept. I guess Daniel was equally shocked when he first heard it from the angel, Gabriel, in Daniel 9:20–24. But it surely is smart after we pause to contemplate that Israel’s exile (which you’ll be able to examine in 2 Kings 17 and a pair of Kings 24) was not merely the expertise of pressured relocation but additionally introduced with it the lack of the Davidic dynasty and the destruction of the Jerusalem temple. Thus, exile is a theological situation of God’s those that started with the deportation. Positive, whereas some folks did come dwelling with Ezra, the prophets of Israel forecasted a day when the exile would finish with a brand new Davidic king (Isa. 9:1–7; Mic. 5:1–4) and a wonderful new temple (Isa. 2:1–5; Mic. 4:1‒13). Equally, there might be an important end-times atonement on the finish of exile (Isa. 40:1‒2; 52:13‒53:12) and a resurrection (Isa. 25:6‒8; Isa. 26:19; Ezek. 37:1‒14). Thus, the OT prophetic imaginative and prescient for the tip of the exile is (at the least) a regathering of Israel’s scattered folks, the re-enthronement of the home of David, a brand new superb, world-wide temple, an end-all atonement, and a bodily resurrection. All of this quantities to “an important gentle [for] those that dwelt in a land of deep darkness” (Isa. 9:2).
With that background the opening chapters of Matthew merely leap off the web page! Jesus is the son of David (Matt. 1:1) “after the deportation” (Matt. 1:12). He’s the king of the Jews (Matt. 2:2). His ministry is known as “an important gentle” for “the folks dwelling in darkness” (Matt. 4:16). He gathers up his folks (Matt. 4:18‒22, 25; cf. additionally Matt. 14:19‒20), and his demise is a brand new covenant atoning sacrifice (Matt. 26:26‒28). John even calls him “the temple” (John 2:21), and Paul says that Jesus’s followers—by union with him—are the brand new temple spreading all through the world (Eph. 2:17‒22). All this stacks as much as current Jesus’s life, demise and resurrection, and ongoing lifetime of the church because the true finish of exile! Let’s take a deeper look into every of these actions: Jesus’s life; Jesus’s demise and resurrection; Jesus’s folks.
Focusing totally on the journeys of Abraham, Joseph, and Jesus, Nicholas G. Piotrowski examines exile tales all through Scripture, exhibiting how they illustrate humanity’s final want for a Savior.
Jesus’s Life because the Daybreak of Return of the Exile
Within the guide of Isaiah, the prophet describes at size what the tip of the exile might be like. He says that on the finish of the exile, “the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame man will leap” (Isa. 35:5‒6), the “useless shall stay; their our bodies shall rise” (Isa. 26:19), the sick might be healed (Isa. 57:18), and “excellent news” might be preached “to the poor” (Isa. 61:1). When John the Baptist wonders if Jesus is the one to come back, Jesus factors to his miracles and teachings as indicators that certainly he’s. And he factors out the precise miracles and teachings that Isaiah mentioned would mark the tip of the exile. He says, “Go and inform John what you hear and see: the blind obtain their sight and the lame stroll, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the useless are raised up, and the poor have excellent news preached to them” (Matt 11:4‒5). Certainly, Jesus is the one to come back. And particularly, he’s the one to come back on the finish of the exile. Thus, with Jesus’s ministry the daybreak of return-from-exile gentle is breaking over the horizon!
Cursed and exiled from God due to our personal sin, we’re introduced again into his presence by Christ’s righteousness!
Jesus’s Loss of life & Resurrection because the Second of Return from Exile
But, the quintessential second of launch from exile comes at Jesus’s demise and resurrection. Moses himself had predicted the exile and referred to as it a “curse” (see Deut 27:9‒26; 28:15‒68). Paul, in Galatians 3:10, says that disobedience to the regulation leads to a “curse” (citing Deut. 27:26), however then exults that “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the regulation by turning into a curse for us” (Gal. 3:13). Thus, Jesus’s demise is his personal private exile that he endured on behalf of his folks. Additional, Hebrews 8:1‒2 tells us that in Jesus’s resurrection, he has gone into the true sanctuary of God. Thus, by the resurrection (and ascension) Jesus now ministers within the true sanctuary of God on behalf of his folks. By means of Jesus, subsequently, Christians can say that their exile is over! We “have been crucified with Christ” (Gal. 2:20) and “raised up with him and seated . . . within the heavenly locations” (Eph. 2:6). Cursed and exiled from God due to our personal sin, we’re introduced again into his presence by Christ’s righteousness!
Jesus’s Folks because the Ongoing Return from Exile Group
Lastly, it’s extremely vital that Jesus’s ministry just isn’t solely previously, however by his Spirit, he’s regularly reaching the world. In Romans 6:4 we’re informed that “simply as Christ was raised from the useless by the glory of the Father, we too . . . stroll within the newness of life.” Which means to be born once more is to expertise the identical energy that raised Jesus from the useless! Peter places it like this: “he has prompted us to be born once more to a residing hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the useless” (1 Pet. 1:3). Thus, Jesus’s return-from-exile resurrection continues to be felt all around the world each time a sinner repents, follows Jesus, and walks within the newness of life.
We will say, subsequently, that by Jesus, Christians have come out of exile (Jesus’s completed work within the cross and resurrection) and are coming out of exile (experiencing Jesus’s resurrection energy in our lives in union with him). However we will additionally go a step additional. Christians additionally will come out of exile lastly and totally when Jesus returns. Then, “the dwelling place of God [will be] with man. He’ll dwell with them, and they are going to be his folks, and God himself might be with them as their God” (Rev. 21:3). Amen! Come Lord Jesus!
Nicholas G. Piotrowski is the creator of Return from Exile and the Renewal of God’s People.
