I would like to hear more about the lady in 1 Peter 5.13.
She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings.
She lives in Babylon. A nice place to visit, perhaps, but I wouldn’t want to live there. And she was chosen, so she was obviously a Calvinist! Maybe she liked the TULIPS there.
We understand that not all the Jews had returned to the homeland with Ezra, Nehemiah, and Zerubbabel, 500 years prior. So I assume this sister was sixth or seventh generation of one of those hauled away by Nebuchadnezzar.
But the fact that she has already heard the Gospel by Paul’s time, that is fantastic! Babylon was far away. Who was the Jesus-follower who actually didn’t think the Great Commission was for someone else to do, but instead put on their sandals and trekked off across the desert so that those who had stayed behind would not miss out on the Good News and be left behind once again?
Good news is only good to those who hear it.