This is one of those verses that comes off as all sunshine and lollipops, but let's think about it from a critical point of view. SCENARIO: Your buddy is driving you down a major freeway at 70 plus miles per hour when the brakes go out. You're starting to freak out, but your buddy says, “I have a plan!” When you ask what it is, he responds, “Trust me. I know what I'm doing!” Your buddy is about to do something that will give you which of the following immediate responses:
(A) “This is a very reliable and well thought out plan. I feel completely safe. Perhaps I will take a nap.”
(B) “What are you doing! I'm gonna die! Good thing I didn't bother putting on clean underwear this morning!”
If you said (A), either all of your friends are highly experienced stuntmen and special ops commandos or the concept of fear has eluded you. When you're in a stressful situation and someone says “Trust me,” that usually translates to “You're not gonna like what's about to happen.”
In this verse, God is saying “Trust me” to the Jews that have been recently exiled from Jerusalem into captivity in Babylon. Here's how the exile process worked. After being defeated, the victors would destroy the city's defenses and religious icons while taking anything of value. In most cases, captives are treated extremely cruelly. The best and brightest of the Jews were deported to the Babylonian capital where they could be closely monitored and controlled. Only the poorest and weakest Jews were left behind. Other Babylonian citizens would then resettle in the area to ensure that the heritage of the Jews is effectively squashed. After all this, the faithful Jews are asking God what to do and he says, “Trust me. I sent those guys to take you away into exile. Don't bother trying to go back to Israel just yet. Set up shop in Babylon, work hard, and pray for your conquerors to be successful and prosperous.” Now does God's planning make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside?
While your immediate response to God's big plans may be negative, the long term effects will be beneficial if you are faithful. Exile turned out to be not so bad for some of the Jews (see Daniel, Ester, Nehemiah, and more) and their success convinced their captors to allow the Jews to properly return home within a few generations.
If you get in the car with a thrill seeking stuntman and expect a peaceful ride:
If you get in the car with a thrill seeking stuntman and expect a peaceful ride:
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