In 586 B.C., the people of Judah were sacked by the forces of King Nebuchadnezzar and deported to Babylon. There, in exile, a generation of God’s chosen people longed for home. Our text for today’s devotion marks the end of that captivity. The divine attendants of God are instructed to assure the people with the good news that the time has come for them to return. A voice from among the attendants urges the others to build a super highway through the wilderness, from Babylon to Jerusalem, to convey the exiled back to their promised land.
God’s people of every time and every place are familiar with their own wilderness experiences. Who among us has not known times of want and hardship? For many, this time of year is just such a time: grief and isolation are as real as any desert landscape. If you now find yourself in exile, far from the joy and celebration that so many others seem to be experiencing, my prayer for you is two-fold:
• that you may know that God is with you now just as He has been (and will be!) with His people of every time and place – whether they be in exile or home;
• that the first and last of God’s unfading words you hear are the same as the first and last words in our text today: comfort!
by Pastor Greg
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