The Long Exile (Part 2)

From the Patriarchs to the Promised Restoration

By the time we reach Abraham, the story of exile has already taken root. Humanity has been driven east of Eden, scattered at Babel, and shown again and again that it cannot return to God by its own effort. But God does not wait for humanity to find its way back. He calls a man out, not to seize what was lost, but to receive what is promised. What follows is a pattern of partial returns, temporary communions, and repeated failures that stretches from the patriarchs, through the exodus, into the life of Israel, and ultimately to the coming of Christ.

The question that presses forward through all of it is whether these movements are leading to something final or simply repeating what has already been.

Patriarchal

As Genesis moves from Babel to Abram, the direction of the narrative changes. Humanity had repeatedly attempted to seize for itself what belonged to God, but Abram is called out of his land in order to receive what God promised to give. As he journeys, Abram builds altars that signal God’s renewed communion with a people. It should be noted, however, that in Abram, the exile is not yet fully reversed, but only interrupted. Piotrowski describes the patriarchal sojourns as micro-exiles and returns, whose east–west wanderings foreshadow Israel’s later exodus and restoration.[1] This pattern can be seen, for example, when Lot pitches his tents toward the east (Gen. 13:12). The movement of the patriarchal narratives culminates in Jacob’s journey to Egypt. Although this departure from the land of promise might appear to resemble exile, it is not the result of judgment. Rather, it occurs under God’s direction, as He assures Jacob that He will make Israel into a great nation while in Egypt (Gen. 46:3–4).

Mosaic

The exodus from Egypt is one of the primary types of a return from exile, which will find its antitype throughout the New Testament writings. As Jason DeRouchie notes, it is one of the key themes that tie all of the scriptures together.[2] As will become clear, this move will begin to combine for the people, the place of God, and the presence of God. It is in Egypt that the Lord hears the groaning of his people and remembers his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Through the Passover and the crossing of the Red Sea, he enacts an exodus that is at once deliverance and judgment, salvation for Israel and destruction for Egypt. The point is that God is bringing them out of bondage, but He is also leading them back to Himself and to a partial restoration of the communion and presence that was enjoyed in the garden. Just as Abraham had enjoyed a communion with God, so the people would be brought to Sinai, to the presence of God, and would be given the tabernacle to move with them as they journeyed to the land of promise. However, it would be unbelief that would cause them to enter into an exile, of sorts, in the wilderness. Piotrowski notes that the same pattern of their parents before them is found again, as covenant is followed by rebellion.[3]

Prophetic

After Israel enters the land, Joshua warns that faithfulness to the covenant and the God of the covenant is required to remain in the land (Josh. 23:15‑16). The books of Judges and Kings narrate cycles of sin and deliverance that mirror the Eden pattern. Idolatry leads to oppression and God’s judgment; repentance brings deliverance, only for the cycle to repeat. As Roy Ciampa explains, this pattern of sin, exile, and restoration becomes the pattern of the Old Testament, and it continues to intensify throughout the narrative, setting the stage for complete exile from the land and the typological presence of God.[4]

After the kingdom split during the reign of Jeroboam, the northern kingdom’s persistent sins culminated in the Assyrian invasion. Second Kings explains that the Lord “removed them from his presence” (2 Kings 17:18) and exiled them to Assyria.[5] Although God’s patience was longer, the southern kingdom fares no better. Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem and carried the people into Babylonian exile. However, the prophets do not allow the people to believe that this exile will be permanent. Like their first parents, who were driven from the garden yet given the promise of the seed, Israel is expelled from the land and from the typological presence of God, but they are not abandoned. Isaiah speaks comfort to exiles in Babylon, announcing that God has said, “I will even make a way in the wilderness” (Isa. 43:19). Jeremiah reinforces the certainty of return after an exile of 70 years (29:10), and Ezekiel promises a New Covenant will be made with the people (Eze. 36:26–27).

After seventy years, the people return according to the Word of God, as Ezra records the return and rebuilding of the temple; however, the restoration, while real, is still incomplete. They are back in the land, but the presence of God has not returned to the land.

Christological

The event of the Old Testament closes with a temple rebuilt, but the presence of God is absent; the New Testament opens with the answer to that absence. John opens his gospel by stating that the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us, and we beheld his glory (John 1:14).[6] The presence that once filled the tabernacle now tabernacles in a person. This return must be understood against the backdrop of lingering exile. N.T. Wright explains that, though restored to the land, many Jews in the first century perceived themselves as a people still living under the covenant curse and partial exile.[7] The land was occupied, but the pagan nations still ruled it, and the visible glory had not returned. The Gospels, therefore, present Jesus as the embodiment of Israel and its full return from exile. G.K. Beale points out that Matthew explicitly identifies him with Israel, “Out of Egypt I called my son” (Matt. 2:15; Hos. 11:1).[8] Jesus descends into Egypt for preservation, returns, passes through the waters of Jordan, enters the wilderness for forty days, and remains faithful where Israel failed. Beale continues by explaining that in this way, Jesus recapitulates corporate Israel, succeeding as a covenant representative and true son, and in him, the covenant history of exile and restoration is fulfilled.[9]

Yet Jesus does more than replay Israel’s story; He announces its decisive turning point. In Nazareth, he reads Isaiah 61 and declares, “Today as you listen, this Scripture has been fulfilled” (Luke 4:21). The passage he reads belongs to Isaiah’s vision of restoration following Israel’s exile, where the anointed servant proclaims good news to the poor, liberty to the captives, and the year of the Lord’s favor (Isa. 61:1–2). These promises anticipate the renewal of God’s people and the restoration of their relationship with Him, and by applying this text to Himself, Jesus announces that the true restoration has begun. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus’ healings and pronouncements of forgiveness function as signs that the reality of exile is being reversed. To further this, Piotrowski points out that these are signs that not only the exile itself is being reversed, but the powers of exile are being reversed as well.[10]

The climax of this reversal occurs at the cross. Exile, from Eden onward, has meant removal from the presence of God because of covenant-breaking and increment of the covenant curse. To press this climax into view, Paul declares that “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, because it is written, Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” (Gal. 3:13). On the cross, the true Israelite undergoes the ultimate exile, experiencing the judicial removal from the favorable presence of God that covenant breakers deserved. What began with a flaming sword barring reentry into Eden now falls upon the true Adam. In this way, the curse of exile is borne by the one who stands in the place of His people.

In light of this, His resurrection is not merely vindication but the beginning of the true return from exile. If exile is death, as Piotrowski argues, then resurrection signifies restoration to life and renewed access to the presence of God.[11] Jesus thus emerges as the first fruits of the new creation (1 Cor. 15:20; Jas. 1:18), opening the way back to the Father.

Apostolic

After Christ’s ascension, the apostles proclaim that the exile has ended yet emphasize that believers still live as pilgrims (Acts 3:19). Paul does this in multiple texts by connecting Adam’s sin with exile and death (Rom. 5:12). Thomas Schreiner notes that death here includes physical and spiritual dimensions as separation from God constitutes death and thus Jesus’ obedience brings justification and life, reversing the Adamic curse.[12] Peter continues with this understanding as he exhorts believers to abstain from fleshly desires as “sojourners and exiles” (1 Pet. 2:11). The author of Hebrews argues similarly when it is stated that those who journey, by faith, were strangers and exiles on the earth, desiring a better country (Heb. 11:16).

Consummation

The biblical story that started in the garden and in the presence of God finds its consummation with the return of God’s presence to his people in a renewed creation. John sees the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from heaven as a voice announces, “God’s dwelling is with humanity, and he will live with them” (Rev. 21:3). Revelation here presents a reversal of Edenic exile where the curse is removed, the tree of life reappears, and the nations walk by the Lamb’s light. Piotrowski emphasizes that the east–west dynamic is resolved because God’s glory fills the entire earth.[13] Thus, exile ends only when God fully dwells with humanity, and the new creation surpasses Eden in glory.

In Christ, that expectation is met. The exile that began in Eden reaches its decisive turning point, not through another cycle, but through a final and sufficient act, and yet, even then, the story is not finished.

If Christ has truly ended the exile, then why do the apostles continue to call believers exiles?

Why does the language of sojourning remain, even after the cross and resurrection?

The answer is not that the exile remains unchanged, but that it has been transformed. The return has been inaugurated, but it has not yet been consummated. To understand this tension, we must listen carefully to how the New Testament interprets the Old and how the church is taught to live in light of Christ’s finished work.

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[1] Piotrowski, Return from Exile and the Renewal of God’s People, 88.

[2] Jason S. DeRouchie, 40 Questions About Biblical Theology (Grand Rapids: Kregel Academic, 2020), 508.

[3] Piotrowski, Return from Exile and the Renewal of God’s People, 114.

[4] Roy E. Ciampa, “History of Redemption,” in Central Themes in Biblical Theology: Mapping Unity in Diversity, ed. Scott J. Hafemann and Paul R. House (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007), 255.

[5] Unless otherwise specified, all Scripture quotations are from the Christian Standard Bible (CSB) (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017).

[6] John A. Blum, “Genesis,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, vol. 2, ed. John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 273.

[7] N. T. Wright, The New Testament and the People of God (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1992), 284.

[8] G. K. Beale, Handbook on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament: Exegesis and Interpretation (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012), 64.

[9] Ibid., 57.

[10] Piotrowski, Return from Exile and the Renewal of God’s People, 167.

[11] Thomas R. Schreiner, Covenant and God’s Purpose for the World (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2017), 129.

[12] Piotrowski, Return from Exile and the Renewal of God’s People, 192.

[13] Beale, Handbook on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament, 60.