The Idols Must Fall: A Call to Come Out
Introduction: Every Age Has Its Babylon
The Word of God is not a collection of disconnected stories or moralistic fables for children. It is one story, the story of God's triumphant kingdom, and it speaks to every generation with unflinching authority. The names on the map change, but the spiritual realities do not. What God says to ancient Babylon, He says to every proud, man-centered, idolatrous system that sets itself up against Him. Every age has its Babylon. Babylon is more than a historical city on the Euphrates; it is a worldview. It is the glittering, arrogant city of man, built on the proud foundation of "we will not have this man to reign over us."
Jeremiah has been prophesying the downfall of this world superpower for two chapters. God had used Babylon as His chastening rod against a faithless Judah, but the rod had become arrogant. The hammer of the nations thought its strength was its own. And so, the hammer itself must be broken. This is always the way of it. God is the sovereign historian, and He raises up empires and He casts them down. They are all pieces on His board, and when they have served their purpose, He removes them.
But in the midst of this grand, geopolitical prophecy of collapsing empires, God speaks a tender and urgent word to His own people. He calls them out. This is not merely a practical warning to evacuate a doomed city. It is a spiritual principle that echoes down through the corridors of Scripture, from Lot fleeing Sodom to the final, thunderous call in the book of Revelation: "Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues" (Rev. 18:4). God's people are always called to be a distinct people, a separate people. We are in the world, but we are not to be of the world. We are exiles and pilgrims, and our citizenship is in another place. This passage is a divine summons to remember who we are, where we are going, and to whom we belong, right in the middle of a collapsing civilization.
The Text
"Come forth from her midst, My people, And each of you escape with his life From the burning anger of Yahweh. Now lest your heart grow faint, And you fear the report that will be heard in the land, For the report will come one year, And after that another report in another year, And violence will be in the land With ruler against ruler, Therefore behold, days are coming When I will punish the graven images of Babylon; And her whole land will be put to shame, And all her slain will fall in her midst. Then heaven and earth and all that is in them Will shout for joy over Babylon, For the destroyers will come to her from the north,” Declares Yahweh. Indeed Babylon is to fall for the slain of Israel, As also for Babylon the slain of all the earth have fallen. You who have escaped the sword, Go! Do not stand around! Remember Yahweh from afar, And let Jerusalem come upon your heart. We are ashamed because we have heard reproach; Dishonor has covered our faces, For strangers have entered The holy places of the house of Yahweh. “Therefore behold, the days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “When I will punish her graven images, And the mortally wounded will groan throughout her land. Though Babylon should ascend to the heavens, And though she should fortify her lofty stronghold, From Me destroyers will come to her,” declares Yahweh.
(Jeremiah 51:45-53 LSB)
Flee the Wrath, Not the Rumors (vv. 45-46)
The first word from God to His people is a command, a grace-filled imperative.
"Come forth from her midst, My people, And each of you escape with his life From the burning anger of Yahweh. Now lest your heart grow faint, And you fear the report that will be heard in the land, For the report will come one year, And after that another report in another year, And violence will be in the land With ruler against ruler, " (Jeremiah 51:45-46)
Notice what they are to flee. They are to escape "from the burning anger of Yahweh." They are not, fundamentally, fleeing the Medes and the Persians. They are fleeing the wrath of God that is about to be poured out on Babylon. This is a crucial distinction. The danger is not first the violence of men, but the settled, holy judgment of God against sin. To be entangled with Babylon is to be a partaker of her sins, and therefore a recipient of her plagues.
This call to "come out" is a call to spiritual, cultural, and ethical separation. It means refusing to assimilate. It means rejecting the values, the worship, and the worldview of the pagan culture in which you are immersed. You cannot love God and love Babylon. You cannot serve both. You must choose. This is a call to define yourselves not by your geography, but by your theology; not by your passport, but by your baptism.
But God, in His mercy, knows our frame. He knows we are dust. He anticipates their fear. The fall of an empire is not a quiet affair. It is loud, chaotic, and terrifying. There will be "reports," rumors, fake news, and propaganda. One year it will be this crisis, the next year another. There will be violence, political instability, "ruler against ruler." Sound familiar? God is telling His people not to be governed by the headlines. Do not let your heart grow faint because of the political turmoil. Why? Because God is the one orchestrating it. He is sovereign over the chaos. The clash of rulers is simply the sound of God's judgment falling. Christians are to be the most stable people in a collapsing society, not because we are naive, but because we know who is in charge. Our hope is not in the stability of Babylon, but in the sovereignty of God.
The Reason for Judgment and Rejoicing (vv. 47-49)
God then gives the reason for this great upheaval. It is not random. It is theological.
"Therefore behold, days are coming When I will punish the graven images of Babylon; And her whole land will be put to shame, And all her slain will fall in her midst. Then heaven and earth and all that is in them Will shout for joy over Babylon, For the destroyers will come to her from the north,” Declares Yahweh. Indeed Babylon is to fall for the slain of Israel, As also for Babylon the slain of all the earth have fallen." (Jeremiah 51:47-49)
Look at the heart of the issue. What is God's primary target? "I will punish the graven images of Babylon." This is not first about economics or military overreach. It is about idolatry. God brings empires to ruin because they worship false gods. They worship themselves, their power, their wealth, their technology, their ideologies. And God will not tolerate rivals. He is a jealous God, which is a good thing. He is jealous for the truth, for reality, for His own glory. The punishment of the idols is the humiliation of the entire system built upon them. When the gods of a nation are exposed as frauds, "her whole land will be put to shame."
And what is the proper response to this judgment? Mourning? No. Shouting for joy. "Then heaven and earth and all that is in them will shout for joy over Babylon." This is hard for our sentimental age to swallow. But the saints in heaven and the saints on earth are to rejoice when God's justice falls. Why? Because it is justice. It is the vindication of God's righteousness. It is the answer to the martyrs' prayer, "How long, O Lord?" The fall of evil is a cause for celebration. It is a sign that God is on His throne and He is setting the world to rights.
And this judgment is specific. Babylon falls "for the slain of Israel." God does not forget the injustices done to His people. He is their avenger. But the scope is also universal. Babylon is also judged because "the slain of all the earth have fallen" for her sake. Babylon represents every bloody, rapacious empire that builds its glory on the corpses of the innocent. And God is the judge of all the earth.
A Call to Remember and Reorient (vv. 50-51)
For those who have been delivered, the command is not to relax, but to refocus.
"You who have escaped the sword, Go! Do not stand around! Remember Yahweh from afar, And let Jerusalem come upon your heart. We are ashamed because we have heard reproach; Dishonor has covered our faces, For strangers have entered The holy places of the house of Yahweh." (Jeremiah 51:50-51)
There is an urgency here. "Go! Do not stand around!" Don't linger in the ruins of a condemned world. Don't be nostalgic for the fleshpots of Egypt or the creature comforts of Babylon. Your deliverance is for a purpose. And that purpose is twofold: remember and reorient. "Remember Yahweh from afar." Even in exile, even when you are far from the temple and the visible signs of God's covenant, remember Him. Your relationship with God is not tied to a building. Remember His character, His promises, His law.
And as you remember Him, "let Jerusalem come upon your heart." This is more than just homesickness. Jerusalem represents the city of God, the place of His dwelling, the center of true worship, the seat of His kingdom. To let Jerusalem come upon your heart is to re-center your entire life, your hopes, your dreams, and your identity around the kingdom of God. It is to long for the City that has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
The people respond with their lament. They are ashamed. They have been reproached and dishonored because the pagans have desecrated God's house. This is a righteous shame. It is the grief that comes from seeing God's name profaned. And God's judgment on Babylon is the answer to this reproach. He will vindicate His own name by tearing down the very people who profaned it.
The Futility of Pride (vv. 52-53)
The prophecy concludes with a final declaration of God's absolute sovereignty over the proudest human endeavors.
“Therefore behold, the days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “When I will punish her graven images, And the mortally wounded will groan throughout her land. Though Babylon should ascend to the heavens, And though she should fortify her lofty stronghold, From Me destroyers will come to her,” declares Yahweh." (Jeremiah 51:52-53)
God repeats His central charge: He is coming to punish the idols. This is the foundation of the entire judgment. The groaning of the wounded is the inevitable result of a culture built on lies.
And then we have this magnificent image of Babylon's pride. "Though Babylon should ascend to the heavens, and though she should fortify her lofty stronghold..." This is the spirit of the Tower of Babel all over again. It is the spirit of secular humanism. Man, through his technology, his military might, his economic power, believes he can build a fortress so high that he is safe from God. He thinks he can create a secular paradise, a stronghold against mortality, against judgment, against the claims of his Creator.
But it is all a pathetic illusion. The security systems, the armies, the wealth, the skyscrapers that scrape the heavens, none of it matters. Why? Because the threat is not external. God says, "From Me destroyers will come to her." God does not have to break into the fortress. He owns it. He can cause it to collapse from within. He can turn its own strengths into weaknesses. He can send the destroyers, and no wall, no matter how high, can stop them. The declaration is repeated twice for emphasis: "declares Yahweh." This is not a possibility. It is a certainty. The Lord has spoken it.
Conclusion: Where Is Your Jerusalem?
The message for us is the same as it was for the exiles in Babylon. We live in a world that is, in many ways, Babylon. It is a culture that worships idols, the idols of self, sex, money, and power. It is a culture that is building its own tower to the heavens, confident in its own technology and wisdom, convinced it has outgrown the need for God.
And the command to us is the same: "Come out of her, My people." Do not love her values. Do not adopt her worldview. Do not fear her threats. Do not be dismayed by the political chaos and the rumors of wars. The shaking of the nations is simply the prelude to the triumph of the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ.
We are to be those who have escaped the sword of judgment through the blood of Jesus Christ. And because we are saved, we are commanded, "Go! Do not stand around!" We have work to do. We are to remember the Lord in this far country, and we are to let Jerusalem come upon our hearts. Our Jerusalem is not a spot on a map in the Middle East. Our Jerusalem is the New Jerusalem, the bride of Christ, the Church. It is the kingdom of God that is now, and is to come. We are to pour our lives, our energy, our resources, and our love into building that city, knowing that every other city, every other empire, every other lofty stronghold of human pride, is destined for the dust. Babylon will fall. It is falling. But the kingdom of our God will stand forever.