There is something about being home, where everything is just right.
We are surrounded by people we love and trust.
There's a feeling of stability and safety.
While some people get to experience this kind of home, many do not.
Others might even be forced to leave their home and go live in a foreign land.
We call this "going into exile".
Yeah, in exile, everything is disoriented.
You are in the unknown.
In the story of the Bible, this is where the ancient Israelites found themselves,
conquered by Babylon; living in exile far from their homeland.
So they had to ask themselves,
"How did we end up here?" and "Is there any hope of going home?"
The whole story of the Bible is designed to address those very questions.
The whole story? Really?
Yeah, go back to the first pages of the Bible.
Where does humanity live?
Okay, they live in this really sweet garden, their home.
They are there on one condition: that they trust and follow God's one command.
They don't.
So the consequence is banishment from the garden.
Ah, they are sent into exile.
Exactly. So, this story has been designed to set you up for Israel's story,
how they were given the gift of the promised land and were able to stay there on one condition:
that they be faithful to the terms of their covenant relationship with God.
They didn't and they were sent into exile.
If you still don't see the parallel between exile from the garden and exile from Israel think about this.
In Genesis, humanity's exile led up to the story about the building of what city?
Oh yeah, Babel.
The same place the Israelites are sent.
But that is not the end of either story.
In the first Babylon, God called Abraham to leave and travel to the promised land.
That story was designed to give hope to the Israelites currently living in the later Babylon.
Eventually, they do get to leave and travel back to their promised homeland.
When they did, it wasn't "home, sweet home".
Oppressive empires were still ruling over them
and the people kept acting in the same corrupt ways as their ancestors
So the biblical prophets said that exile wasn't actually over.
How could they think they were still in exile when they are at home?
Yeah, this is really important.
In the Hebrew Scriptures, Israel's Babylonian exile became an image of something more universal.
It is that feeling of alienation and longing for something more, no matter where you live.
Yeah, I can relate to this.
I have a great home, but it's situated in a world scarred with pain and broken relationships,
death, tragedy done by others, but also done by me.
In the Bible, exile is the human condition.
We all keep repeating this pattern of human corruption leading to a Babylon that we can't escape.
It doesn't matter where you live.
We are all longing for a better home.
Israel's scriptures held out hope that one day God would send a king
who would rescue the world from all of the Babylons we have created.
After many generations pass, we meet this Israelite named Jesus of Nazareth.
He wandered about with no home, announcing the great restoration,
that reality of home that Israel and all humanity has been looking for.
Yeah, Jesus really cared about people who didn't have homes.
He welcomed in the stranger.
He said God's love is shown when you invite in the outcast and throw parties for people who don't have a place to belong.
Jesus also claimed that Israel and all humanity had lost its way,
that our self-centeredness drives us to create false homes based on status and power.
These inevitably exclude others.
We live in an exile of our own making.
But Jesus said the true way home is one of weakness, of service, and of forgiveness.
Then Jesus went into exile alongside us to show us the true way home.
Which is...?
Well, Jesus said he is the way.
His life and self giving love proved more powerful than humanity's failure
He opened up a pathway to our real home.
As Jesus' followers committed themselves to him, they discovered this new way of being human.
They believed that the real return from exile had begun.
So they would call themselves sojourners or wanderers.
Oh, right, they would say things like, "The world isn't our home," and, "We are citizens of heaven."
So Jesus' followers remain exiles as they wait for that day when Jesus returns
to transform this world into a true home.
Hey, there everybody! Thank you for watching this video
about the exile, it's one of our theme videos that we make in the bible project.
We make a lot more of videos you can check things out at thebibleproject.com
This whole project is crowdfunded, because of people like you
we can make more videos. Check out every thing we got at the bibleproject.com