An Advent Journey - 11th December

Read: Daniel 6 vs 1-10

The theme of ‘living in exile’ is a big theme in the Old Testament part of the Bible. Exile is a place far from home, exile is where you don’t want to be. For a believer ‘exile’ is a place where God is the people around you, and the people in power, do not believe in nor worship your God.

It reminds me of the person who stopped on a country road asking directions to a certain place. The person they asked looked blankly at them and said ‘If I was going there I wouldn’t start from here!’

Many of the stories in the Bible start from where you wouldn’t want to be. Exile. The book of Daniel tells the story of a group of young men who found themselves far from him, not only living in Babylon, but being re-educated and absorbed into Babylonian culture and finding themselves working at the heart of the Babylonian regime. 

Daniel asks the question: ‘Can faith in God and in His promises remain alive, over the long haul, in a culture that has no place for faith?’ In Daniel 6 we gain a fascinating insight into how Daniel went about his daily life. Three times each day he prayed. When he prayed (vs 10) he opened his windows towards Jerusalem, a place he could easily have forgotten. Praying is about remembering, remembering who we are, whose we are, and where we ultimately belong, Daniel is in Babylon, but Daniel knows he belongs in the city of God, even if he would never actually return there. But there’s more in here. We’re told Daniel he ‘gave thanks to God’ and he asked God ‘for help’.

It’s as if Daniel is living in two places. He’s living in the here and now, going to work in Babylon, asking for help today. But he’s also living in a future promised by God, when exile would end and God would bring His people home. 

When Jesus was born He was born far from home, a borrowed stable, a cattle trough. Christmas reminds us of a God who has come to find us in our place of exile. Right here, right now, today. He is with us.

Prayer: Father thank you that the Lord Jesus is with me today. Please help me in all I do today. Amen.