© Matthew Tuel — 2025
Psalm 34:14 (NET, 2nd Ed.)
14 Turn away from evil and do what is right.
Strive for peace and promote it.
Jeremiah 29:4-7 (NET, 2nd Ed.)
4 “The LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says to all those he sent into exile to Babylon from Jerusalem, 5 ‘Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6 Marry and have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons and allow your daughters to get married so that they too can have sons and daughters. Grow in number; do not dwindle away. 7 Work to see that the city where I sent you as exiles enjoys peace and prosperity. Pray to the LORD for it. For as it prospers you will prosper.’
2nd Corinthians 3:17 (NET, 2nd Ed.)
17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is present, there is freedom.
Isaiah 53:1-6 (NET, 2nd Ed.)
1 Who would have believed what we just heard?
When was the LORD’s power revealed through him?
2 He sprouted up like a twig before God,
like a root out of parched soil;
he had no stately form or majesty that might catch our attention,
no special appearance that we should want to follow him.
3 He was despised and rejected by people,
one who experienced pain and was acquainted with illness;
people hid their faces from him;
he was despised, and we considered him insignificant.
4 But he lifted up our illnesses,
he carried our pain;
even though we thought he was being punished,
attacked by God, and afflicted for something he had done.
5 He was wounded because of our rebellious deeds,
crushed because of our sins;
he endured punishment that made us well;
because of his wounds we have been healed.
6 All of us had wandered off like sheep;
each of us had strayed off on his own path,
but the LORD caused the sin of all of us to attack him.
With Calvin, we see that even in exile the Israelites were commanded to continue living, marrying, having children, etc. We as Christians are exiles in this world, and the expectation is the same for us.
With Spurgeon, we see an outline of the "substitutionary atonement" of Jesus. How he took our place, bore our sin, and died in our place.