Iraqi Christians Flee Mosul Violence

This was the headline today at abcnews.com above an article describing attacks by al Qaeda militants against local Iraqi Christian families in Mosul. According to the article, 11 Christians have been killed and at least five homes destroyed since the targeted violence began about two weeks ago.

About 1,700 families have now fled their homes, after text messages, leaflets and e-mails were sent to Christian families, ordering them to leave under penalty of death.

Jeremiah the prophet warned the people of God to flee from the coming violence in Babylon: "Come forth from her midst, My people, and each of you save yourselves from the fierce anger of the LORD..." (Jeremiah 51:45). While Jeremiah was speaking directly to fellow Jews, who had already heeded this warning between 1948 and 1953 following the farhud of 1941, Christians also consider themselves, by extension of their distant faith roots in Judaism and the declarations of the apostles in the New Testament (Romans 9:23-26), as "people of God."