WHO WERE THE EXILES?

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And a proclamation was made throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the returned exiles that they should assemble at Jerusalem, and that if anyone did not come within three days, by order of the officials and the elders all his property should be forfeited, and he himself banned from the congregation of the exiles.
Ezra 10:7‭-‬8 ESV

¶Who were the exiles? They were back in the land now, but who were they? They were the taken ones, ripped from the land of promise and transported to Babylonian captivity, ripped not only of their possessions and Temple furnishings, but of their identity. The demolished Temple could be rebuilt and its furnishings restored, but who were they unless God returned there to be with them? The gathering together in Jerusalem was not only physical, but spiritual, gathered for the purpose of reconstituting God's people into a congregation. In his first letter, Peter calls us to rebuild a Temple of living stones. He addresses us as exiles, but calls us to be a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of His own calling, that we may proclaim "hallel Yahweh", the excellencies of Him who called us. That's who we are.

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