Introduction:

It is not easy for anyone to live far away from their homeland, to live as an alien, a stranger, a foreigner in another country. It is more difficult to live as a stranger in a different country than yours if it comes as a result of war or persecution or as a banishment in which people are uprooted from their land and taken as captives to labor in the land of their enemies.

For sure, anyone who lives in a different country than their own, as an exile, then they will always think and dream about their homeland, and the hope of returning becomes the very source of their endurance and existence.

Jeremiah's Letter to the exiles in Jeremiah 29 deals exactly with this kind of situation. In this chapter we find the people of Israel living in Babylon. The Israelites did not choose to live in exile, rather it was a banishment, a judgement from the Lord because of their sins and in order to discipline them.

In the year 597 BC, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, defeated the Israelites and took thousands of them into exile in Babylon. Among the exiled were a number of priests and prophets along with the royal household of the southern kingdom of Judah. Some of the Jews remained in the land, and Jeremiah was one of those who remained.

Now some false prophets in the exile were predicting an early fall of Babylon and an early restoration of the exiles to Judah. In Jerusalem, Jeremiah heard about this, and in his letter he warned the exiles against this deception and urged them to wait patiently for the Lord's time.

Now let us read Jeremiah's letter to the exiles:

Jeremiah 29:4-14

This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: "Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper." Yes, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: "Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them," declares the Lord.

This is what the Lord says: "When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the Lord, "and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you, "declares the Lord, "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile."

We notice here that the Lord, through Jeremiah, gave the exiles a plan of 4 steps to follow during their captivity. I will call this plan a Strategy for Existence. These 4 steps or principles are:

1. vs. 5a - Build houses and settle down

2. vs. 5b - Plant gardens and eat what they produce

3. vs. 6 - Marry and increase in number

4. vs. 7 - Seek the peace and prosperity of the city "Babylon"

Pray to the Lord for it.

If the people were to follow these steps, then in vs. 14 God will restore them back to their land.

Let's go over these 4 principles and see what the Lord might tell us today, in our situation, from them.

1. Build houses and settle down: If the people would remain for only just two years, as the false prophet Hananiah predicted in Jer. 28:3, then they wouldn't need to build houses and settle down. Building means planning to settle for a long time, it means at least one generation will use the house. In many countries, like the United States of America, people are always on the move, but it is not the case for instance in my country, the Holy Land. And for sure it was not the case during the Old Testament times when building meant settlement for an extended time.

To the Israelites, the difficult part was to build and settle down in a foreign land, in the land of the enemies. We, the Church, the Christians, are living these days in a very similar situation. Our home is not England, America, Israel, Russia, Palestine, Egypt or Argentina. Our homeland is in heaven. The earth is not our home, our home is in heaven where our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is preparing houses for us. We are living here only for a while, but we will spend eternity in the heavenly Jerusalem with the Lord.

When Adam fell into sin, God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken (Gen. 3:23). Today, we, the descendants of Adam, are still living on this earth, but we have to keep in mind that one day we are going back to our original home in heaven.

Christians are to live normal lives, to work hard, to be faithful citizens. Their life must be a living example, a testimony in the eyes of their neighbors, that through our example others might seek the Lord who gives us the standards by which we live.

In Ezekiel 8:1 we read that Ezekiel had a house in the exile, and we know how God used him and used his house for God's purposes. My Christian brothers and sisters, be like Ezekiel and work for the glory of God.

2. Plant gardens and eat what they produce: If you plant today, you have to wait for a while till the harvest season comes. Planting requires settlement. No one plants a field of grain or corn then moves to another state, but rather waits for the harvest.

To the Israelites, planting in Babylon also meant settlement and peaceful living. I believe with all my heart that the main mission of the Church today is planting. In Matthew 13 Jesus taught the Parable of the Sower and when He interpreted the parable He said that the seed which was planted was the Word of God. The Church is commanded by its Lord to plant His word. It is commanded to go. Notice here that it is not a choice, but a command. Jesus said go and preach. Here in Jeremiah 29:9 the Lord said plant, and I wonder how many of us are following the Word of God and planting in this word by sharing the good news of Jesus' death and resurrection with others. My Brothers and Sisters, we have to sow, we have to preach to the world that Jesus is living and is ready to redeem them. It is true that many will not listen, but on the other hand, there will be those who will listen and accept the Lord and get saved.

3. Marry and increase in number: It was the first command from God to humanity, and I think it is the only one that people have followeod through history. It is true that some men and women do not marry or choose not to marry for different reasons, but the majority choose to get married and thus, the human race continues on earth.

Again, marriage means settlement and also means responsibility towards the spouse and the children. Marriage helps in spreading the Kingdom of God and the growth of the Church. It is sad to see that some Churches grow only through marriage and children. They only follow this step and neglect the others, especially the step of planting. God wants the Church to multiply, He has further use for it, so it must not be exterminated.

4. Seek the peace and prosperity of the city. Pray to the Lord for it: This step was to the Israelites during the time of Jeremiah the most difficult and radical one, and it is still the least one that the Church today practices. God wanted the Israelites to pray for the peace and prosperity of the city of their enemies. In Matthew 5:43-44, Jesus wants us also to love our enemies and care about them, and everyone of us knows how difficult it is to pray for the peace of one's enemies. We need God's grace and power to do that.

The world needs the peace of God and we have to pray for that. The history of humanity is full of wars and hostility, and the only way for peace and reconciliation is through Jesus who is our peace. The Church must pray for the salvation of our friends as well as our enemies. And by this, and this only, we will experience peace with God and with other people.

My Friends, God gave His people four basic principles for victorious living: build, plant, increase and pray. It is a perfect strategy for life and existence. These principles challenge us as a church.

I invite all of us to examine ourselves in light of the Word of God, to ask ourselves: "What am I doing in my Christian life?"

Do I build in the Kingdom of God?

Do I plant His Word by sharing it with others?

Do I help the Church in its ministry to reach out to the lost?

Do I work for the welfare and prosperity of my society as well as other societies?

Do I pray? Yes, ask yourself whether you pray for all those who do not know God, whether they are friends or enemies. And while we are doing that, let us remember always that our home is in heaven from where we expect the coming of our Lord.

Finally, when the exile came to its end, many who claimed to be from the people of God did not return. They chose the world and never returned back.

Ask yourself, "When the Lord comes, will you return back with Him or will you stay on this earth?" You can decide.