The stories of exile in the Bible are really about our separation from God. It is good to remember that these separations are caused by us. God never abandons us. 

In this Sunday's lesson, Nebuchadrezzar's Babylonian army destroys Jerusalem and captures Judah. Its people are carried away in exile to Babylon, the capital of Babylonia.

The people have abandoned God by worshiping other idols, by failing to keep God's commandments or by doing injustice to the poor. Israel and Judah were guilty of infidelities to God so numerous and terrible that destruction was the only fit punishment, yet God still calls them to return. 

It is the role of the prophet to confront the people who have wandered away from God and to bring them back to God's ways. We often stray from faithful living-not always "loving God with all our hearts" or "loving our neighbor as ourselves." We often let other values or things get in the way of our relationship with God. But God still waits for us and still seeks us.