Shining in Exile

Welcome back listeners, today is Wednesday, November the 9th. I'm Ryan Hill. I'm John Galantis. You're listening to Clearview Today with Dr. Abaddon Shah, the daily show that engages mind and heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

That's right. You can find us online at ClearviewTodayShow.com, or if you have a question for Dr. Shah, anything you'd like for us to talk about or suggest that we discuss on the show, you can send us a text at 252-582-5028, or you can also email us at contact at ClearviewTodayShow.com. You can follow Dr. Shah on his website, AbaddonShah.com, and you can support us here at the Clearview Today Show by visiting that website. There's a link to donate right there on ClearviewTodayShow.com. Every donation that you make goes to that partnership for spreading the gospel to as many people as possible. You are an extension of us here at Clearview Today. You are helping us further the message of the gospel, the message of hope for the world, and we value your partnership. We're thankful for the gifts that we've already received. Please continue to support us as we seek to reach as many people as possible. Amen. You guys can help us keep this conversation in the airwaves by liking the show on iTunes.

You can like it. I don't know if Spotify has liking and rating shows. If it does, please do it there as well. I don't actually know.

That's a good point. I've never tried to. I think because Spotify is... I mean, iTunes is free.

You don't have to pay for podcasts, but I probably should have figured that out before I started to say it, but definitely on iTunes, leave us a five-star rating and a very well worded review. I like to read all the nice stuff that you guys have to say about it, and I don't like the criticism, and it's very mean to me. Positive feedback only. A positive feedback only. Let's go positive feedback only this round. In all actuality, those reviews and ratings do help the podcast stay visible. Very much.

That's how iTunes pushes podcasts is by where the conversation is, kind of like what we're doing here, we're keeping the conversation alive. Those ratings and those reviews really help us do that as well. Thank you for all of you who've already done that. Yes, absolutely. John, you got any updates for us in your life today?

How's everything going? Oh, man. I've been banned from Jersey Mikes because of you. Hold on. Wait, banned from Jersey Mikes? They won't let me come back in there and order sandwiches no more. Why?

That's not true, but I was scolded. It's because of you, and I think you know what you did. I think you know what you did. Do you want to share that story with everybody? Now that you've already opened that can of worms? Yeah, I've been stewing on it privately for a while.

So basically, here's the thing. I get the number 11. I should have waited until after lunch so I could eat it on air and people could listen to me eat it. Then you're smacking in people's ears. Probably not. Yeah, better not.

So I like the number 11. It's a very simple sandwich. It's ham and salami, and then whatever vegetables you want.

I don't get the vegetables, but I said, you know what? There's very few things in the world I detest more than ham. I'm going to get rid of the ham and put pepperoni on. I think I've done that for the last minute. Absolutely.

Absolutely. I don't want the ham. So Ryan, when he was, maybe you can tell this part, but he would, for some reason, I don't know what was going on in his mind, but he was like, hey, in the special notice where it was like, hey, do you have anything special you want in the sandwich? I would always just put, hey, take off the ham, add pepperoni. For some reason, I don't know why this entered his mind, but Ryan was like, hey, we got a ham allergy. Take the ham off.

Do you have any reason why you did that? Here's my thinking. I've worked in restaurants before, and typically when people give special instructions, it's like, okay, we'll do our best to accommodate that. But when the word allergy is attached to it, it's like flags are going off like, okay, we got to really pay attention to this because someone's health is on the line. When my friend, John Galantis says, I do not want ham on this sub. If there's ham on this sub, so help me, I will cast it as far as the east is from the west, and I will come for you, and I will come for your family. I'm like, all right, we'll solve this problem. You're saying the hissy that would follow that is not worth, it's worth lying to these people and saying, hey, there's a ham allergy, so I don't have to hear this mouth over here. Exactly. I guess I get that. I put ham allergy, substitute pepperoni.

Right, right. So I go in there, this goes on for like a week, because we're getting Jersey Mike's a lot. We've been in our town fairly recently, so we're eating there a lot. We're eating there pretty frequently. Which I love. I love, by the way.

I eat it every day. So I go in one day to pick it up, and he finds me, he sees me, the owner of the restaurant, mind you. He sees me and he's like, hey, are you the guy with the ham allergy? And I'm like, huh?

He's like, yeah, he's like, you're the guy that does. I just want to let you know, like I'm 100% fine subbing out pepperoni for ham, but just so you know, pepperoni is like a form of ham. Like if you're allergic to ham, you're also allergic to pepperoni. I actually did not know that. I didn't either.

I didn't even know. So I was like, uh, what are you talking about? And then I think I started piecing it together. Like I think Ryan's been putting it in. So I was like, I don't want to sell Ryan out. So I was like, yeah, I put that.

I wrote that. He was like, okay. I appreciate you covering for me.

Yeah. He was like, I just want to let you know. We take that kind of stuff really seriously here. So if you don't see restaurant, he was like, we took that stuff really seriously.

So like I'm happy to put whatever you want on your sandwich, but if you don't have an allergy, like, please don't say that. And I was like, I was like, few me. I was like, I'm sorry, sir. I don't know what came over me.

So I was like, I was like, okay. So that I came back, I was like, Hey, just so you know, I don't have a ham allergy. I just don't like ham. He was like, I kind of figured because anyone with a ham allergy cannot eat salami.

They cannot eat pepperoni. So I went back and I was like, did you tell, did you tell Jersey Mike's have a ham allergy era? I was like, yeah, I did that. I was like, well, I got scolded for it. If the owner of Jersey Mike's is listening to this, I know you are. I will public. I publicly apologize for putting the job that John had a ham allergy because he does not.

He just doesn't know. I just don't want the hand. I apologize for lying, but I appreciate that you guys always put the, you, you make that concession for me and give me a pepperoni instead. Very much. That's good customer service. That's right. That's right. Absolutely.

Well, on today's episode, we're talking about a concept that might not be familiar to people who have not been listening to clear view stuff for a while. Right. We're talking about this concept of shining in exile, much like I've been exiled from Jersey Mike's. Hopefully you'll still find ways to shine. That's right.

Without ham. We're talking about this idea of shining in exile, not only being in a state or a spirit of exile and enduring, but what does it take to, what does it take to thrive in exile? What does it take to not just be successful, but to, to flourish. And so we're going to talk about that today. We're going to bring Dr. Shah in the studio in just a few minutes. This is something we've been talking about kind of off and on over the course of the past couple of years with everything going on in the world, this concept of shining in exile.

We'll tell you more about what that means. But if you have questions or suggestions for new topics, feel free to text us at 252-582-5028. Just a reminder that we are saving those questions for Friday's episode, the lightning round, and we're going to pose those to Dr. Shah on Friday. We're keeping a bank of the questions. So if you don't hear your questions on Friday, don't fret. Not this Friday, though. We've got to interview this Friday. That's right.

You're right. This Friday is different, but we are saving those questions. So please keep sending them in. Thank you to those of you who have sent them in already, or you can visit us online, submit those questions through, through the email contact at clearviewtodayshow.com.

We're going to go with Dr. Shah and we'll be right back. Are you looking for some new worship music to go along with all these amazing shows here on the Truth Network? But today's your lucky day because Dr. Shah and myself and a lot of the rest of the Clearview staff have been hard at work writing for the last few months, and we're very excited to share Clearview's new EP with you, Together Forward. Not only do these songs sound great, but each and every single one of them were born from a place of genuine worship and prayerfully written by our team right here at Clearview Church.

It's available right now on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, anywhere digital music is sold. So make sure to pick up your copy today and let us know how these songs are helping you, whether they're helping your worship band in your church or just in the car or around in your everyday life, email us at info at clearviewbc.org. You can also support the ministry here at Clearview Church by visiting us online.

That's clearviewbc.org forward slash give. Thanks for listening. Now back to the show. Welcome back to Clearview Today with Dr. Abaddon Shah, the daily show that engages mind and heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ. You can visit us online at clearviewtodayshow.com or send us a text at 252-582-5028, a reminder that those questions are going to become a very important part of our episodes on Friday, not this Friday, but our Friday episodes for the lighting around questions. So make sure you're sending those questions in. If you don't hear them on a specific week, remember that we keep them and we group them based on category.

So be sending those questions in and thank you to those who have already sent in those questions. We do not have like a little shredder that says user submitted questions on it and we don't call it our idea box and we don't take turns putting it in there and then putting the videos on the screen. It's an oddly specific example. Well, that's because we don't, that's what we don't do. Sorry. I shouldn't, I should not have raised my voice, but we don't do that.

We definitely don't do that, but it's a Wednesday. Dr. Shah is in the studio with us today. Dr. Shah, how are you this Wednesday? I'm doing very well. It's a day after elections here, man, and we are here excited to see what God is going to do. That's right.

Absolutely. If you guys are joining us for the first time, you've never seen the show before. You've never listened to an episode. You're unfamiliar with Dr. Shah's work. He's a PhD in New Testament textual criticism. He's a professor at Carolina university.

He's an author, full-time pastor, and the host of today's show. That's right. That's right. And on today's show, we're talking about something that we referenced yesterday in yesterday's episode, but it's something that's been a topic of conversation for us for a while here at Clearview.

Almost two years. Well, and even, I mean, in related to the sermon that we're going to talk about, even before that, talking about what it means to live the exile life and not just live the exile life, but to shine in exile. Right. And I'm going to dive into this. Dr. Shah, tell us what we mean when we're talking about the exile life. What does that mean? Yeah. We're trying to draw a comparison with the Jewish people who were taken into exile under Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and it was all part of God's plan.

This was not random. This is because just like the northern kingdom of Israel, the southern kingdom of Judah had also gone the way of idol worship and disobedience to God. And so God warned them and warned them and warned them. And until finally they went over the limit and God sent Nebuchadnezzar against them several times and he came, destroyed the city, destroyed the temple and took people away. And some of them who were taken away in the earlier periods where people like Daniel and Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego.

And then finally, when he came finally, when the king, you know, rebelled so much that he came and of course this time he finished the work he started, completely raising it to the ground and then taking the Jewish people with him. Yeah, of course he left some there to kind of take care of the land or whatever, but they were not part of the nobleman type people. They were not rulers.

They were not creators or entrepreneurs. They were just people. He left there really to keep the wild animals out. You know, that's how it came down to. Wow.

Keep from things getting overgrown. So now the people, the cream of the crop, the ones who would have propelled the Jewish people into the next era or whatever are now sitting in Babylon. And they are really depressed because their last view of Jerusalem, which is their holy city was that Jerusalem is on fire, things are destroyed, the temple is destroyed, which means it's over. It's done.

And, you know, it's very hard for us to imagine that, but that's, I mean, I can't even begin to explain the sense of hopelessness that was in them. It's done. You're not going back. It's over.

You as a people are finished. But if they had remembered the promises that God had made to them through the various prophets, that yes, this will be a time of discipline, but at the end of that period, I will bring you back now at the moment, the people of Israel, people of Judah did not believe that. But the promise, for example, Jeremiah 29, it's a famous passage. You find that, uh, uh, used as a life verse, but if they really understood the context, it's not. It's not a very good life. You know, it's got a kind of got some, uh, some dark words behind it. Yeah, they are.

They are. So is Jennifer Jeremiah 29, 10 through 14, uh, for that says the Lord after 70 years are completed at Babylon means an entire generation and more are going to be in Babylon and die there. I will visit you and perform my good work towards you and cause you to return to this place, which place Jerusalem.

Mm-hmm. You are coming back, but not before the 70 years are over. Not before that generation dies in a foreign land. But then it says in verse 11, and we know this one really well. For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and go and pray to me and I will listen to you and you will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. We often talk about that passage as man, that's my life first.

Yeah. But think about it for a moment. Who was that passage given to? Who was that promise given to? It was given to a people who were sitting in exile and had lost all the hopes of ever going back and they had no desire to press on.

They had no desire to do anything. In fact, Psalm 137 captures their sentiment. It says, by the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea we wept when we remembered Zion. We hung our harps upon the willows in the midst of it. So imagine these willow trees and these people who are now refugees in Babylon are hanging their harps up there, they don't want to sing, and the people around them, the ones who brought them are trying to cheer them up.

That's not ironic. He's like, hey sing for us, sing us a song. It'll make you feel better. Yeah. And they're like, how shall we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land? Yeah.

Wow. Like no, we're not going to sing that. Yeah. That's in the singing mood.

It's a temple song, that's a song we sang after our festivals and our celebrations and you want us to sing it while we're sitting here in your country and you literally drove us here, destroyed everything back home and you want us now to be cheerful? I don't think so. It's like there's a loss of identity almost.

Oh yes. It's like they no longer can even identify, I don't know whether it's out of guilt or just sorrow or what, but it's like there's no way that we can even identify as God's people anymore. Like guilt, sorrow, shame, hopelessness, discouragement, you name it, bitterness. Do you kind of see that? I mean, I kind of see that mirrored for us today, like this loss of American identity almost. I was just about to say that. Like these things that we're describing sound very similar. Yeah.

Sound familiar. Like it's something that we're almost going through now. Yeah. And it's tragic because when you lose hope, you lose any desire to press forward. Yeah.

Why should I? Yeah. I don't care anymore. Well, I think we've seen that with you over the past couple of years. We've been talking about this, you know, people keep saying, I just can't wait for things to return to normal.

And it got, and it kind of got to the point where we were like, Hey, that, that might not happen. Yeah. You know, we are living in a new normal. It may not be whatever one is saying like, Hey guys, this is the new normal, get used to it.

You know, because this is a good thing, right? It may not be that, but there is also this, this sense of this is what life is now. Right. And coming to grips with that, uh, has been really hard for some people.

And yet at the same time, it's something that, you know, the people of Israel had to contend with. They had to, they had to kind of bloom where they were planted. That's right. Yeah. That's right. And in fact, that's exactly what God tells them in verse four, this is Jeremiah 29, uh, God told them, you know, in verse five, build houses and dwell in them.

Means they were, they were still living in tents. Oh no. We're waiting. We're going to go back. We're going to unpack. Yeah.

Yeah. I went out and packing it because we're not going to be here long. You're not going to buy any land.

We're not going to buy any bricks and mortar and try to build a house. No, that's not happening. You know, the, what's interesting here is that now research is coming out regarding the exile life, the life in Babylon, the life in Persia. And there's, there's what they're finding is that even though it was very painful to have left their old country, and even though it was very hopeless that they saw the last vision of Jerusalem was the temple destroyed, the walls destroyed and the city on fire yet now researchers are finding and how to find this is by looking at records, letters, documents, receipts, that's what they look at that the life in exile was not as bad as we think it to be. I mean, look at this. God is telling them build houses, which means this, Nebuchadnezzar did not bring them to Babylon and put them in prison. Right.

Yeah. That's true. They weren't like slaves working in the mines and stuff like that. They could buy homes. They could build homes.

That doesn't sound like just an average refugee population. Right. Well, in them plant gardens and eat their fruit, plant gardens means they were allowed to make their own vegetables. Right.

Yeah. And eat them. On their own land. On their own land. Means this is not something prisoners do take wives and begets sons and daughters, which means you can have a wedding.

You can have a celebration and, and give your daughters to husbands so that they may bear sons and daughters that you may increase, maybe increase there and not diminished means work on growing as a population now. Right. Yeah.

So how do you apply that today? I would say in America, that's how we need to see ourselves. How can we now proceed forward, not get discouraged, not get disheartened, but bloom where we're planted? As you said.

Yeah. Build houses, plant gardens, eat the fruits, marry and give in marriage and increase in number. Well, that's something you've said to me. I mean, even over the years, like I've always heard that advice from you that where God plants you, he plants you for a reason and attended. I think we tend to think that if life isn't going my way here, I'll go somewhere else. I'll go where the grass is greener.

I'll go where the land is more fertile. But even these guys like, like in, in exile, like where are you going to go? No matter where you go, you're still in Babylon. Right. And if you go back, the temple's gone. Like Jerusalem's destroyed. Like there's, there's nothing, and if you try to rebuild it, the Babylonian soldiers will come out. Right.

And stomp you to the ground and whatever else you're trying to do. Right. But instead, listen to verse seven and seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive. Number one, God's behind this. But number two, you have to make the place where you are captive a better place. Right.

And pray to the Lord for it, not Jerusalem, but Babylon. That's so, it's so backwards from our thinking. Yeah.

It's very counter to the ideas that are, you know, in place now. It's just like, if this doesn't work, then you got to find what, where, where works for you. What works for you.

Find where works for you. Yeah. But this is saying where you are, be there and thrive there. Yeah. Not just exist.

Not just make it, make it another day, but make a life for yourself and make that place a better place. Right. Because that's, I mean, that's, that's the thing is like these people were your enemies, right? But they're your captain. They won. That's what I'm saying.

I've caused them to win. Right. So now you pray for their peace. Now you pray for, for them. And the last line is very, very, very, uh, I don't know how, how to say it, but, uh, it's one that American needs to hear for in its peace, you will have peace. Wow. So your piece, cause you know, right now they don't have any peace, right? What is peace?

By the way, a piece is the ability to lay your head down at night and know that everything is fine. Mm hmm. They couldn't do that.

Yeah. One is their homes are gone. Their heritage is gone. Their traditions are gone. Now they're in a foreign land with foreign people with different food, different culture, different language.

Everything is different. And they're not enjoying this one bit. And even though their captors are nice and friendly now and telling them, Hey, sing, uh, or you can buy homes. I'll sell you a home. You have money. Let's do it.

Let's make a deal. Uh, they have no desire for any of that and they don't like them. And yet God says them, says to them in its peace, is in this piece of Babylon, you will have peace. Yeah. So work towards making this a better place in every way possible and you will be at peace. Wow. It's like the perfect cure for victim mentality. Oh, it's like the perfect cure for being a perpetual victim.

Cause I mean, who better than the Jewish people at this point, uh, victims victims, bona fide. Yeah. And God is telling them that you being a victim solves nothing at you lamenting and singing these songs of woe and despair. Like it's good that you recognize the gravity of your situation at the same time, you know, your piece is going to come from their piece. Yeah.

So you may as well start getting comfortable where you are and start thriving and flourishing. Well, this is also not like nameless faceless Israelites. These are some big names from scripture that we recognize.

Right. What, I mean, what, who are some of the men and women that we can look to for those stories in exile. People who are shining in exile. I mean, Daniel, of course, you know, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, these are, these are some of those people from that time period. Of course, Esther, Nehemiah actually obeyed the command and they began to shine. Yeah. Right. Nehemiah became a cup bearer to the King of Persia. So several generations after this command was given and even after the people went back and he is definitely shining in exile.

So they obeyed and they became very powerful. Wow. It's a, it's a matches of hope really, because I think here in America today, anybody on either side of the fence can play the victim. If it's almost like if my side loses or I don't get my way or things don't turn out the way that I want, then I'm in despair for the next four years until we get to try again. But either side of the argument or either side of the fence, you, there's this understanding that we're still Americans. We're still doing this together.

We're still doing life together. And I should be praying for the country as a whole. I should be doing everything that I can to make this nation better. No matter how things have played out for me. We know, like you said in the last episode yesterday, God is still in control. He's still the King. And so the King has commanded us to pray for this nation, make this nation a better place.

And then, and I guess trust that the, there is a future and a hope still left for America. Yeah. Yeah. This, this conversation has been going on here at Clearview for several years. It's something that we've been talking about as something that we've been engaged in something that you've said, Dr. Shaw, in fact, just our conversations was what led us to this as a theme for our mission trip back in 2021. I remember that's true.

Yeah. When it was, it was the, it was those conversations that we'd had and the messages that you'd preach Dr. Shaw about, you know, this is where you are. You need to be where you are. Be where God has called you to be, be where God has planted you. And like you said, John Bloom, where God has planted you shine in exile. There's a calling that you have.

It's not just a matter of sitting back and being a victim or sitting back. I mean, speaking on a teenage level, sitting back and letting your, that'd be something your parents worry about, but make your faith your own. Go and live out your faith and make a difference in the world around you. It's something I appreciate from you because it's not something that pastors are going to say. They're not ever going to say that it's going to be, listen, the world is your enemy.

They're going to always be your enemy. Only Jesus is King. Just obey him and suffer through this.

Greet your teeth, get through it. That's what people are going to preach from the pulpit. It's very rare, at least I've never heard it. Maybe someone else out there is saying it, but I think it's very rare that someone is saying, listen, yes, the world is in some ways going to put down Christian values. That being said, you can still thrive. You can still shine. You can still shine the light of Jesus because if not, then what hope is there? Why am I going to grit my teeth and just get through it?

What's the point of that? I want to be, and I think this is your heart as well. I want to be impacting the world. If we're not building something, it's just like God says, if we're not building and creating something, no matter what, we don't wait for the conditions to be right before we start obeying.

Yeah. Well, one of my mentors loves to say it this way, capture the flag for Jesus Christ. And he always asked me that question, are you capturing the flag? At first when he said that, I was like, oh, you mean like the game, capture the flag means in the area that God has placed you.

You need to move with such a determination and passion and a vision that you are trying to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ as passionately, as widely, as clearly, as impactfully as you can so that every person in your area of influence is changed radically by the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's what you're supposed to do. So my challenge to everybody who's listening is it doesn't matter if it's day after election, your task is the same, which is to capture the flag for Jesus Christ. Amen. That's right. Whatever the situation, wherever you are, capture the flag for Jesus Christ.

That's right. Absolutely. You've got an opportunity to do that right here through this show through Clearview Today. On our website, clearveetodayshow.com, there's a button there for you to kind of pledge to sponsor us and we really appreciate you joining us in that partnership, that that's something we want to stress.

It is a partnership. It's a team effort in you partnering with us to get the message of hope out to the world, to the nations. We believe that this is a message that people need to hear and you have an opportunity to partner with us in order to make that happen. Not everybody is called to be on the radio. Not everybody's called to create shows. Not everybody wants to create shows, but every Christian should want to spread the gospel however they can.

And every Christian should want and desire to partner with people who are doing that. So we appreciate everybody's donations. We appreciate your gifts. We appreciate the time and your prayers and all the comments that you guys are leaving and the texts that you guys are sending in.

It encourages us because it reminds us that God is not just working through the three of us. He's working through all of His people together. That's right.

Absolutely. If you have any questions about things we talked about today, the ability to shine in exile, what the exiled life looks like, send us a text at 252-582-5028, or you can always email us at contact at clearveetodayshow.com. Let's send them off with some practical, Ryan, do you have any last minute advice for us? I do actually have some last minute advice. So I was scared you wouldn't. I've got it.

No, I've got it. So if you are in the kitchen, sometimes when you're doing dishes or if you, if you've been cooking for a while, there's like some food residue and stuff, your sink just starts to smell. And if you don't have a garbage disposal, your sink just starts to have this odor.

What is really good, especially if you have a garbage disposal, you can do this. Put some, put some lemon down in the garbage disposal, that fresh citrus scent. Like an actual lemon?

No, no. I mean, like, not a whole lemon, but just like, like a couple of pieces of the lemon rind or just like some, some small pieces of lemon and blend that up in the garbage disposal. If you don't have a garbage disposal, lemon juice works just as well. For a stinky sink. For a stinky sink, that citrus smell is nice and fresh, nice and clean.

Another one that's really good, especially as we're heading toward Christmas, is peppermint if you have peppermint oil. Okay. Well, okay. All right. I like it.

Hey, you guys, if y'all try it and you'll sink, start smelling better for Christmas, let us know. Text us at what number? 252-582-5028. You've got it memorized. I do have it memorized.

You didn't even look at the notes. I know. Very cool. Very cool. We love you guys. We'll see you tomorrow. Bye-bye.