Revelation 18:4 - Should we leave Babylon if we are in the "Great Babylon"?
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As you no doubt already understand, the apocalyptic language of Revelation is not meant to be taken literally. It is full of symbols, with events described in metaphors, rather than in literal terms. Just as the beast from the sea with seven heads and ten horns (Revelation 13:1) is not a literal beast, so the harlot who sits on many waters and commits fornication with the kings of the earth (Revelation 17:1-2) is not a literal woman. Revelation 17:15, 18 give clues as to whom or what this harlot, Babylon the Great is.
“Then the angel said to me, ‘The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages.’” And the woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.” (Revelation 17:15, 18).
”In her was found the blood of prophets and of the saints, and of all who have been killed on the earth” (Revelation 18:24).
Is America responsible for the beheading of the saints, those who refuse to denounce Christ Jesus? (Revelation 20:4) Hardly! It’s more likely that Babylon the Great represents all the forces of evil that try to silence God’s people. This is about a spiritual battle that has been going on for centuries and which will reach its climax with the destruction of the Antichrist, who has yet to be revealed. The beast described in Revelation 13:1 is the same beast described in Revelation 17:3, who is understood to refer to the Antichrist, the man of lawlessness (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4; Daniel 9:27).
The who*e of Babylon is an evil world system, controlled by the Antichrist, during the last days before Jesus’ return. Babylon the Great also has religious connotations – spiritual adultery with the beast being the focus of an ungodly, end-times religious system.
Christians are not being urged to leave the country of their birth, whether that is America, the U.K. or any other nation on earth. They are being urged to disassociate themselves from spiritual corruption – to have nothing to do with worldly institutions that persecute God’s people, whether those institutions are political or religious.
Revelation 22:9 succinctly sums up the message about God’s enemies, those persons who worship the beast and the false prophet and who associate with the harlot: “Worship God.” This isn’t about a nation or a country. It’s about false religion.
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