Jeremiah warns his readers to “flee from the midst of Babylon” in Jeremiah 50:8 and 51:6. In chapter 50:15 he calls God’s destruction of Babylon “the vengeance of the LORD.” Then, at the very end of the Bible, John warns us concerning Babylon saying,
“Come out of her, my people,
lest you take part in her sins,
lest you share in her plagues;
5 for her sins are heaped high as heaven,
and God has remembered her iniquities.
6 Pay her back as she herself has paid back others,
and repay her double for her deeds;
mix a double portion for her in the cup she mixed.
7 As she glorified herself and lived in luxury,
so give her a like measure of torment and mourning,
since in her heart she says,
‘I sit as a queen,
I am no widow,
and mourning I shall never see.’
8 For this reason her plagues will come in a single day,
death and mourning and famine,
and she will be burned up with fire;
for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her.” (Revelation 18:4-8 ESV)
For many years I have been preaching that Christians need to “come out of Babylon.” Now it is almost too late. I believe that by September 23 of this year 2015 it will be too late. By then our fate, so far as our natural life goes, will be sealed. But how does one come out of Babylon. Is Babylon simply a physical place that we move away from? To “come out Babylon” do we need to leave the United States, ancient Babylon in Iraq, or some other place? Well, yes and no.
First we need to understand that the Biblical term “Babylon” primarily represents the spiritual place of rebellion against God and his Law. This rebellion is particularly represented by mankind’s rebellion en mass during the time of Noah and after that at the Tower of Babel about 4,000 years ago. About three hundred years after destroying the Tower of Babel God commanded Abram to leave the land of Chaldea (Babylon) and go to a land that He would show him, the ancient land of Canaan. Through Abram, whom he re-named Abraham, God created a peculiar people to be his own whom he named Israel and who eventually gave their name to land of Canaan. But even Israel, the nation that he led by the hand, turned against Him and fornicated with false gods named Baal, among others, and wholly turned away from his revealed law. First God judged the northern Kingdom of Israel for their sin by the nation of Assyria in about 720 BC. Over one hundred years later He judged the idolatrous nation of Judah by the people of Babylon itself.
The prophetic book of Jeremiah deals almost exclusively with Judah’s impending judgment at the hands of Babylon. At one point Jeremiah issues the following divine sentence of judgment,
For the sons of Judah have done evil in my sight, declares the Lord. They have set their detestable things in the house that is called by my name, to defile it. 31 And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into my mind. 32 Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when it will no more be called Topheth, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter; for they will bury in Topheth, because there is no room elsewhere. 33 And the dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the air, and for the beasts of the earth, and none will frighten them away. 34 And I will silence in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, for the land shall become a waste. (Jeremiah 7:30-34 ESV)
Notice verse 34 above in particular. Jeremiah’s language parallels verses 22 and 23 of God’s judgment against Babylon in Revelation 18.
21 Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying,
“So will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence,
and will be found no more;
22 and the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters,
will be heard in you no more,
and a craftsman of any craft
will be found in you no more,
and the sound of the mill
will be heard in you no more,
23 and the light of a lamp
will shine in you no more,
and the voice of bridegroom and bride
will be heard in you no more,
for your merchants were the great ones of the earth,
and all nations were deceived by your sorcery.
24 And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints,
and of all who have been slain on earth.” (Revelation 18:21-24)
Notice that Revelation 18:21 calls Babylon “the great city.” Now remember “the great city” in which the beast from the bottomless pit conquers and kills the two witnesses in Revelation 11.
7 And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit[a] will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, 8 and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically[b] is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. (Revelation 11:7-8)
Where was “their Lord” Jesus crucified? In Jerusalem of course. This leads some people to believe that Mystery Babylon the Great speaks of the ancient city of Jerusalem. I believe, however, that Babylon the Great involves more of a “mystery” than that. We need to compare two verses quoted above to really see this. First we are told in Revelation 11 that the Lord Jesus was crucified in this city. Second we see that this great city is called both Sodom and Egypt. Third, in Revelation 18, we find that in this great city “was found the blood of prophets and of saints,
and of all who have been slain on earth.” Clearly, not every person who has been murdered or slain in war on the earth was slain or murdered in the ancient city of Jerusalem. The natural city of Jerusalem, then, cannot be that thing which God calls “Babylon the Great.” Instead, Babylon the Great speaks of that great spiritual city which seduces the people of God by false gods, fornication, and idolatry. Babylon the Great is a spiritual city, not a physical one.
Therefore, God’s command to come out of Babylon commands us all to leave false religion, to leave false spirituality, to leave all sin, fornication, and idolatry.
On the other hand Babylon the Great IS represented by certain physical places on the earth, not the least of which is the ancient city of Jerusalem. I also believe that in these last days the United States of America displays the wicked spiritual characteristics of Babylon the Great more than any other place on earth. Jeremiah 51-52 and Revelation 17-18 both specifically state that the time will come when God judges Babylon the Great. That judgment will certainly include a spiritual judgment, but I think it will also bring great natural destruction to the physical states that promote the wickedness which Babylon represents. Some prophets see all of Jerusalem and all of America destroyed. I do not. I believe that God will raise up spiritual mountains when he judges Babylon. Those mountains are the glorified overcomers of God who will establish cities of refuge around the world. I believe that judgment is nigh. Now is the time to flee from Babylon and flee to the mountains. If you do not believe that you yourself are one of God’s overcomers, then you need to find someone who is and make your way to his or her location. Time is of the essence.
