In the Bible, Israelites living in exile was often a result of their disobedience and their lack of trust in Yahweh. Instead of repenting of their sins, they grumbled against God without understanding His purpose for their lives even during their state of exile. This passage reminds us how we can be like Israelites, but also shows us the remedy to live a purposeful life.
Jesus Christ commissioned His Apostles to go around the world to preach the gospel and make disciples. It is not just for the Apostles to do this job (obviously because they’re not here), but every Christian is called to witness for Christ and be a disciple maker in some capacity. In this passage, we learn what kind of attitude and motives we are all called to have, in order to stand for Christ and serve His people.
Jesus commanded his people to make disciples of all nations. The prerequisite for making disciples is sharing and preaching the gospel wherever they are, that’s the starting point. God doesn’t require His followers to have great eloquence in their speech, they just need to share the gospel – that Christ died as substitute for sinners on the cross and therefore offered the forgiveness for their sins. This is a simple message of hope we’re asked to share and allow God the Holy Spirit to work wonders, because the gospel is the power of God. In this message, we learn how the gospel proclamation is a community project and not one man’s show from the pulpit. Sharing the gospel unashamedly is the only way to see the nations and cultures redeemed for a life of hope.