“And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities” (Revelation 18:4-5).

“And I heard another voice from heaven,” (vs 4)

This refers to a direct message from God’s throne itself. Such solemn imagery has been conveyed before (10:4, 8; 14:2, 13). Here, it is Christ, because He will address those saints still in Babylon as “my people,” and then in the next verse we will hear God the Father.

“saying, Come out of her, my people,” (vs 4)

Here and 21:3 are the only places that the remnant are addressed as God’s people. What a wonderful divine missive to know that we can be His – in the truest sense of family language.

Since Babylon is about to be destroyed, “get out of it.” The call is an urgent cry to His saints to escape to protect yourselves before it’s too late.

“that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” (vs 4)

Paul had a similar concern for young people (II Timothy 2:22): “Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”

The sins of Babylon lead to God’s wrath and, in a unique chiasm, are drawn together.[1]

     Lest you share

          In her sins

          And her plagues

     Lest you receive

This arrangement heightens the cause and effect relationship between the sin and the plagues.[2]

• If you share in her sins

• You will share in her plagues

Similar language is used for Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:15, 17, 26) and with ancient Babylon (Isaiah 48:20; Jeremiah 50:8-9, 51:6, 9, 45; Zechariah 2:6-7).

All this “summons to escape” echoes Paul’s exhortation to the Corinthians: “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you” (II Corinthians 6:17).

We have heard God’s heralding call to separate from apostate institutions. His merciful plea was explained:

• So you don’t sin like they do

• To avoid their punishment – the  plagues

The nature of that counsel is urgent. One perceives that execution of God’s judicial decisions will quickly happen. The tension of human emotion is heightened with:

“For her sins have reached unto heaven,” (vs 5)

This unique expression means that those sins have judicially touched the court of heaven. A God response is anticipated. It is now an active case before the bar.

• It echoes the apostate people who built the tower of Babel (Genesis 11:4) that reached “to the heavens.”

• Also, God denounced ancient literal Babylon and said that her “judgment” (sins) reaches to the “skies” or, literally, to the “clouds” (Jeremiah 51:9, 53).

Ezra was filled with gratitude at God’s gracious intervention in permitting the Jewish people to return to their native land. But the daring sins of many leaders “overwhelmed” him with “righteous indignation” and “grief at their ingratitude.”[3]

He “unburdened” his heart to God and prayed: “O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens” (Ezra 9:6). The words “unto the heavens” are a metaphor, which emphasizes the magnitude of how great those sins were (cf. Genesis 11:4;
Deuteronomy 1:28, 9:1; II Chronicles 28:9).[4]

“In the OT and later Jewish writings being ‘lifted up’ was an idiom for an extreme degree of corporate sin (Jon. 1:2, Ezra 9:6, 1 Esdras 8:75, 4 Ezra 11:43).”[5]

Babylon’s sins are characterized as having come up to God “glued” together in one big corpus (“chunk”). A coalition of wrong has finally reached a critical mass. God must now execute justice.[6]

The verdict? Plagues.

“and God hath remembered her iniquities.” (vs 5)

This interesting expression usually means He commands everyone to remember their relationship with Him (Revelation 2:5, 3:3). Here, God is recalling Babylon’s sins. Again, it anticipates divine action. It is a reminder, indicating that God doesn’t forget. A line has been crossed. The time has come for Him to respond.

When God remembers His people, He responds (Psalm 105:8-11, 111:5-6; Ezekiel 16:60). When He comments on His perception of wickedness (as in the days of Noah – Genesis 5:5-6), He is going to react judicially (Psalm 109:14; Hosea 8:3, 9:9).

“Thus saith the LORD unto this people, Thus have they loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet, therefore the LORD doth not accept them; he will now remember their iniquity, and visit their sins” (Jeremiah 14:10).

Here in Revelation the final end of Babylon is graphically portrayed: “And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath” (16:19).

• The term for “sin” in 18:5 is adikemata, and refers to rebellion against God.

• It is elsewhere elevated descriptively to crimes in a legal sense (Acts 18:14, 24:20).[7]

God’s anger – wrath – ties to 14:10 (over Sabbath issues) and 16:19 (over organized defiance against His authority).

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