“COME OUT OF HER, MY PEOPLE!”
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The call to come out of Babylon is more familiar today to students of the book of Revelation (see Revelation 18:4), but Jeremiah sounded it first: “Come out of her, my people!” (Jeremiah 51:45). It was a call that reminded God’s people that their faith, hope, and security were always found in their God, not in their circumstances or surrounding culture. Jeremiah had previously counseled the exiles to make their home in Babylon and to “seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper” (Jeremiah 29:7). But God was now calling the people to recognize that their fortunes would be no longer tied to the fortunes of Babylon.
They were not to be alarmed by rumors of threats, violence, and forces gathering against Babylon. The empires and kingdoms of our world today also have their rumors, threats, and uncertainties. Ultimately, they all fail, weighed down by their quest for perpetual expansion and their own hubris, and defeated by the next kingdom to arise.
The people of God are not to be disconnected or disengaged from their surrounding communities and cultures. They should seek the peace and prosperity of the places in which they live, but their security is not dependent on their circumstances.
Understood this way, “Come out of her, my people” also means “Do not be afraid.” Because of the threats and uncertainties inherent in the structures of empires and kingdoms, placing our ultimate hopes in God and His kingdom gives us an alternative perspective and a firmer footing. Even as our fortunes are less tied to our contexts and cultures, we have renewed courage to serve those around us for the good of the place and culture in which we are exiled.
