Flee from Babylon! Save yourselves! Don’t get trapped in her punishment! It is the LORD’s time for vengeance; he will repay her in full. [Jeremiah 51.6]
If "Israel" generally speaks of God's chosen people, not as a geographic place or race but as a people of faith and trust in God alone, then "Babylon" speaks of everything that is not "Israel." Babylon speaks of the cumulative mindset of man and his arrogant self-sufficiency apart from God.
If we can accept it, God's call, "Flee from Babylon!" is just as profound today as it was before the Advent of Christ when Jeremiah penned these words on behalf of Him.
"Babylon" is everything that is man's systems, solutions and culture without, and in defiance of, God.
FLEE FROM BABYLON!
This call inspires me to make every effort to remove myself from the rat-race that prevents man from genuinely knowing and relating to God. Man's culture of self-awareness and materialism has become the very snare that prevents him from enjoying the fulfillment and blessings of walking in God's grace and mercy.
Because man's systems require man's effort, the task of satisfying man's need requires more time and energy than man possesses. He can never fill the God-shaped void in his life with anything of man's doing. And, for this reason, any attempt to fill that void with his own efforts - his own solutions - will only confound the longing in his soul for more. It is a vicious cycle of self-lust with no hope of genuine satisfaction... apart from God.
For this reason, God's call, "Flee from Babylon!" should strike a note with every soul today who feels, even in the presence of more, that there is still "more." More stuff, more self-improvement, more agendas, more knowledge, etc. cannot substitute for God alone Who meets man's need.
Perhaps the words, "Flee from Babylon!" would be good to keep in mind throughout the day to remind us to seek God first avoiding the trap of self-fulfillment.
Father, may I be found fleeing from Babylon and running to You!
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