When God’s people were carried into exile, their first cry was the same one that often rises in our hearts: “Why me?”They had lost their land, their freedom, their temple, and their sense of identity. Everything familiar was gone. Babylon was foreign, hostile, and full of idols. If there was ever a moment to give up or to long for escape, it was then.
Yet into that pain, God sent a letter through the prophet Jeremiah. His words did not promise a quick rescue or a short trial. He did not say, “Hold on, I’ll bring you home soon.” Instead, He said something that must have shocked them:
“Build houses and live in them. Plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters. Multiply there and do not decrease.”
In other words, get busy in Babylon.
God’s Purpose in a Hard Place
The exile was not a mistake. It was not proof that God had abandoned His people. It was the very means through which He would restore them. They had turned away from Him for generations. Now, through the long years of discipline, God would turn their hearts back. He was not wasting their suffering. He was working through it.
That is the lesson we need to recover.God does not only meet us in the moments when life feels smooth and secure. He forms us in the long seasons of waiting, in the fields of disappointment, in the very places we would never have chosen.Wherever He has placed you right now—your workplace, your home, your school, your neighborhood—that is your Babylon. And His command to the exiles is His call to you: settle in and be faithful.
Faithfulness is not Passivity
“Get busy” does not mean frantic busyness or distraction. It means obedience. It means trusting that God’s plan includes your current situation and acting like you believe it. Build something that lasts. Plant something that bears fruit. Strengthen your family. Serve your community. Seek the good of the people around you, even if they do not share your faith.
The Israelites could have spent seventy years complaining or waiting for change. God told them to get to work.He was teaching them that faithfulness is not about escape but endurance. It is about bringing life to places that feel lifeless.
That is still our calling as followers of Christ. When the world feels foreign and the culture drifts far from God, our task is not to retreat or despair. Our task is to bring light, to sow peace, to live in such a way that others see the goodness of our God.
A Foretaste of the Kingdom
Jeremiah told the exiles to “seek the welfare of the city.” The Hebrew word for welfare is "shalom" a word that means peace, wholeness, and harmony under God’s reign. God was sending His people on mission, even in captivity. They were to live as a preview of His coming kingdom. Their obedience and faithfulness in Babylon would become a testimony to the world of what it looks like when people belong to the living God.
That is our calling too. We are not home yet. The Apostle Peter calls believers “sojourners and exiles,” reminding us that our true citizenship is in heaven. But while we live here, God calls us to bring the aroma of His kingdom to every place we touch. When we build with integrity, when we plant acts of kindness, when we raise children who love the Lord, when we pray for our city instead of cursing it we are displaying the peace of the kingdom that is coming.
The Long View
The hardest part about obedience in exile is the timeline. God told His people it would be seventy years before He brought them home. That meant most of the original exiles would not see the end of the story. But God’s promise was not just for their comfort. It was for their children and grandchildren.
Faith often works that way. We obey today not because we will see every result tomorrow, but because we trust the One who writes the story. Every house built, every garden planted, every act of faithfulness is a seed that points forward to the day when Christ will return and make all things new.
The people of Judah were told to build, plant, marry, and multiply—not because Babylon was home, but because God was still at work in it. The same is true for us. The promise of restoration is certain, but the path runs through faithfulness in the present.
The Call
So let us get busy in Babylon. Do not despise the season you are in. Do not wait for life to feel easier before you begin to obey. Ask the Lord what He wants to grow through you right now. Build something that glorifies Him. Plant peace where there is tension. Multiply grace where there is division.
God’s plan for His people has always been to form them through the fire, not to spare them from it. The promise is not to rescue you out of exile early. It is to restore you through it.
And when He does, you will find that even Babylon can become fertile ground in the hands of a faithful God.