The Lord’s command was given through Jeremiah: Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every person his soul. To the day of its death the nation never returned to Chaldea or regretted the fleshpots of Egypt or its strong-smelling meats. Accompanied by its virgin bands, it became a fellow citizen of the Savior; and now that it has ascended from its little Bethlehem to the heavenly realms it can say to the true Naomi: Your people shall be my people and your God my God.^[1]

Turn back also to Jeremiah and pay heed to what he has written of like import: Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver everyone his soul. For Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen and is become the habitation of devils and the hold of every foul spirit.^[1] It is true that Rome has a holy church, trophies of apostles and martyrs, a true confession of Christ. The faith has been preached there by an apostle, heathenism has been trodden down, the name of Christ is daily exalted higher and higher.

Indeed, since the sum total of all God’s bounty and the soul of all virtues are given with this ineffable gift, all other gifts are granted us to enable the yearning of the faithful soul to strive effectively after perfect charity. As this is not only from God but is God, it makes steadfast, persevering and unconquerable all those whom it floods with its delight. But people who do not know the sweetness of these waters and still drink of the torrents of this world, people who even after touching with the lips and tasting of the fountain of life still like to get drunk with the golden cup of Babylon, are completely deceived by their own judgment and fall through their own fault. If they persist in this slothfulness, they themselves throw off what they had received. For without charity it is easy to lose all gifts, which same gifts are useless without charity.

Church people are truly rustic and simple people, but all the heretics are Aristotelian and Platonic. Briefly, that you may know that gold is the usual simile for worldly eloquence, that the heretic’s tongue, for example, is as brilliant as gold, hear the words of the prophet: Babylon was a golden cup in the hand of the Lord. Note how he describes the Babylon of confusion. This world, therefore, is that golden cup. All nations drink from that cup of gold.

Strangers with the inhabitants of Tyre. Where we have alienigenae [foreigners], the Hebrew text has Philistim, which is interpreted, a cup of poison, for heretics are all drunk from the cup of Babylon, of which Jeremiah says, The golden cup of Babylon that made the whole earth drunk. Note: the golden cup of Babylon. Babylon connotes confusion: a cup truly golden, the teachings of philosophers and the eloquence of orators. Who, indeed, has not been misled by the philosophers? Who has not been seduced by the orators of this world? Theirs is a golden cup, the splendor of eloquence on the outside but within full of poison that they could never conceal except under the gleam of gold. You taste the sweetness of their eloquence, to be sure, and do not suspect the fatal poison. Strangers with the inhabitants of Tyre. Tyre stands for narrowness. Truly, there is no room there, not the wide open heart of Christ, as the apostle says to the Corinthians: In us there is no lack of room for you, but in your heart there is no room for us.^[1]

Jerusalem here is called Babylon, noted among the surrounding countries as the one who worked the hardest at imitating Babylon, and in no way lagging behind these other countries. Indeed, having arrived at almost a state of perfection in this regard, it tolerated no respect for the law or benefit from prophetic instruction.

For this is proved by Jeremiah when he says, God has made the earth by his power; he has established the world by his wisdom and has stretched out the heavens by his understanding. These are the energies by the exercise of which he made this universe.^[1] His glory is greater if he labored. At length on the seventh day he rested from his works. Both one and the other were after his manner.

His lightnings illumine the world, Jeremiah says. The Lord who established the world by his wisdom and brings up clouds from the end of the earth; he makes the lightning flash in the rain. His lightnings illumine the world. The philosophers, who are always discoursing on the nature of things, say that unless the winds cause a collision among the clouds, fire cannot escape from them; but when they have been aroused to a kind of rivalry in thundering, lightning flashes forth. We can observe a similar phenomenon in producing fire from stones. We have called attention to this to note more easily a similar marvel in the mystery of the Savior. We have our clouds, prophets and apostles, as another psalm says: Your truth, to the clouds. If to the clouds of this sky he transmits his truth, what does the prophet mean in still another psalm when he says, Truth shall spring out of the earth? Now, your truth, to the clouds is certainly a figure of the prophets and the apostles.

He calls Babylon a mountain because of the preeminence of its power. He calls it corrupt because of its ungodliness and wickedness. ^[1] THE ARIANS ARE LIKE BABYLON. THEODORE OF TABENNESI (VIA AMMON): Theodore to the beloved brothers in Mount Nitria: priests, deacons and monks, greetings in the Lord. I want you to know that the pride of the Arians has gone up to God and that God has visited his people and seeing the afflictions that they endure he has had mercy on them. He has promised to have mercy on his church and to deliver it from these afflictions. The time has come, therefore, when the church will be delivered from these persecutions. Indeed, God said of the Arians, I will punish Babylon and will take from its mouth what its has swallowed. And of the church, Who is there among you that saw this house in its former glory? For the last glory of this house is going to surpass the first. Therefore, brothers, since we have these promises, comfort those who are suffering from the Arians in those parts, that no one’s faith may be turned aside, for the sins of the Arians have not yet ended. ^[1]

Therefore, Paul also urged us to this and said, Expel the wicked man from your midst and so that he who has done this deed might be put away from your midst. Indeed, bad companionship is a terrible thing, a terrible thing! A pestilence does not infect and scabies corrupt those tainted as quickly as the wickedness of evil people does those affected by this malady. For evil companionships corrupt good morals. The prophet also said, Go out of the midst of them, and separate yourselves from them.^[1]

AND WITH REGARD TO BABYLON Jeremiah said, Babylon shall fall and shall not rise. And behold! To this day it continues in desolation and will do so forever.

The Lord ordered these things to happen to comfort the Judean captives so that, when they had learned about Babylon’s capture and their own freedom, they might have as their consolation the hope of these good things.