Jews in Babylon / Christians in the World

The Jews being exiled in Babylon was a punishment. It was also what saved them. God didn't send all of the Jews into exile. Some stayed behind in the promised land. That didn't benefit them. Whether they moved to Egypt or stayed and intermarried with the pagans around them, they suffered and struggled in the promised land. Because God promised to protect them in Babylon. Babylon was a place to keep them while He purged and cleansed the land.

The Jews in Babylon were given instructions. They were told to be productive and multiply. To work in the communities and to pray for the leaders there. They obeyed the Lord in this. And the Lord worked a mighty miracle in Babylon. For seventy years they were kept pure and holy. They prospered, surrounded by unbelievers and far from home. When they were called to go home 42,360 Jews left Babylon. Only 652 people (1.54%) could not tell their father's house and their ancestry. As opposed to the Jews who never left, who so intermingled with the surrounding peoples that their children became the Samaritans!

This is an example of how Christians should live in this current world. We are strangers in a strange land. We must be in it, but not of it. We are commanded to be productive and to pray for the leaders here. We are called to multiply - to make more Christians - and to be ready for when God calls us home. We are not to isolate, but to be a shining example of what the world needs in this present darkness: Jesus Christ.