Living with Hope in Babylon

God has promised a heavenly home.

What does it mean to live as an exile in today’s world? Over the next few weeks, we’ll explore lessons from Daniel, Esther, and the Psalms to discover how we can stay faithful, hopeful, and joy-filled while we wait for the heavenly home God has promised.

When the Israelites had lived in the Promised Land for about 400 years, God sent prophets to warn them about their disobedience. Sadly, they didn’t listen. Eventually, they were taken into captivity and spent 70 years as exiles in Babylon.

That may feel like a distant story, but it’s actually close to home. In many ways, we too live as exiles in Babylon. Not the ancient empire, of course, but in a culture that often pulls us away from God’s path, and in which we experience the pain of living in a fallen world. The good news is that this is part of God’s bigger story of redemption—and it’s a story in which we get to take part.

From the very beginning, God placed Adam and Eve in a “good” place. There was no pain, no disease, no death—only joy and unbroken fellowship with Him. But when sin entered the world through Adam, humanity was exiled from the garden. Since then, we’ve all felt the ache of living outside of that perfect home with God.

But here’s the good news: Jesus came to restore what was lost. Through Him, our relationship with the Father is renewed! Even though we’re still living in a broken world, we don’t walk through it without hope. We are “in” the world, but not “of” it, looking forward to the day when Christ will return and make everything new.

Hebrews 11:13-16, speaking of God's faithful people, says this:

“All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen and welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. . For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed if they had been thinking of that country which they left, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.”

Isn’t that encouraging? We’re not wandering aimlessly—God has prepared a heavenly city for us!

"...He has prepared a city for them."

Over the next few posts, we’ll take a closer look at two people who lived as exiles in Babylon: Daniel and Esther. How did they stay faithful in the middle of a culture that didn’t honor God? How did they keep their identity as His people? And how did they keep hope alive?

We’ll also spend time in the Psalms, learning how God’s people prayed and worshiped during exile. Their songs of faith can encourage us today as we walk with God in a world that often feels like “Babylon.”

I hope you’ll join me on this journey. Let’s walk together as exiles with hope in our hearts, eyes fixed on the “better country” that God has promised.

Jump into a study through the Psalms, The Psalms of the Bible, Volume 1, by author Nancy Gemaehlich!