Come out of Her, My People! (Pt. 1)

… “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird! ³ For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.” ⁴ And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. (Rev. 18:1-4)

At the end of the bible, God urgently commands His people to come out of “Babylon” in order to escape her sins and the resultant destructive judgments. Therefore it is important for us to understand the identity of “Babylon” in order to obey God and “flee” to safety. The end-time events involving God’s people and Babylon had already been fore-shadowed by Israel’s experience with the Babylon of old. Therefore, we have God’s Word to guide us in identifying this end-time Babylon.

Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground. (Isa 21:9)…Babylon was a golden cup in the Lord’s hand, That made all the earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; Therefore the nations are deranged. ⁸ Babylon has suddenly fallen and been destroyed… (Jer. 51:6-8)

A careful reading of Revelation chapters 17 and 18 will reveal remarkable characteristics of the end-time Babylon. Indeed, it is a politically powerful city in a supremely powerful nation that rules over the kings of the earth as much as the ancient Babylon was (Rev 17:18). It is called a “whore” or “Great Harlot”, most likely for her extreme immoralities and diverse idolatries, and its filthiness corrupts the whole world, as also did Babylon of old (Rev 17:1, 2, 5). Great martyrdoms of God’s people are found in both Babylons (Rev 17:6, 18:24). Just as ancient Babylon was made up of diverse people groups due to her many conquests, so end-time Babylon also is made up of many nations and tongues, probably more to her cultural and financial conquests (Rev 17:15). End-time Babylon is also a similarly hedonistic self-indulging major city port whose trading in luxuries enriches herself and her trading partners. Finally, as Babylon and her king was overthrown in one night (Dan 5:30-31) for her cruelties to Israel, so also end-time Babylon will be destroyed in “one hour” by God to avenge the blood of His martyrs (Rev 18:19-20).

I can probably now make an intelligent identification of this modern city in a modern nation as described with such superlative terms in Rev. 17 and 18. However, this is not the main point that God wants us to take heed. Flee we must if we are in that “Babylon” city and nation, but “Babylon” is more than just a geographical place. Beloved brethren, Babylon is a spirit! Thus, a part of the people of God needs to come out of physical Babylon, but all of God’s people need to come out of spiritual Babylon! It is useless to come out of physical Babylon without dealing with the spirit of Babylon that may be in us. Israel came out of Egypt but the spirit of Egypt in them hindered them from entering the Promised Land. Similarly, many Jews heeded God’s command to come out of Babylon at the end of the 70-year exile. However, Malachi recorded for us that the spirit of Babylon indeed was still in callous Israel even after the exile, and this caused Yahweh to abhor and reject their worship (Mal 1:10). This same antichrist spirit of Babylon caused many to reject Yeshua their Messiah and, finally, even to crucify Him! Similarly, many apostate Christians who are filled with the spirit of Babylon will betray and crucify the Body of Messiah, who are the true church in the end-time (Mt 24:10). They will also be deceived into accepting the anti-Christ as Christ, and rejects the true Christ when He comes (2Thess 2:1-4). Therefore, you must identify the spirit of Babylon!

So, what is the spirit of Babylon? The answer is found in the beginning of Babylon in the book of Genesis, the book of Beginnings. The Word of God tells us that Nimrod, the famed mighty hunter, founded the city of Babel (that is, Babylon) in the land of Shinar.

And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar (Gen 10:8-10).

How did Babel beget its name? It was because God “destroyed” the building of the tower, and thus, the city, by confusing their common language.

And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. (Gen. 11:4-9)

This was probably the beginning of religion, with man being deified as a god and worshipped, with Nimrod as the first human deity. Since then, history tells us that many mighty men and kings had been deified as gods and worshipped through the ages. Religion and idolatry always involve the frenzied acts of building: either a city or a tower (building), or both. The tower, or course, ostensibly serves as a temple that facilitates connection with heaven. Religion hates scattering and glories in gatherings, the bigger the better. Why? Because behind the gathering, behind the building of city and tower, behind every religion and religious spirit is the base carnal desire of man: that they may make a name for themselves. This is the spirit of Babylon: self-glorification, self-gratification or the worship of self! This is the spirit behind every religion and idolatry. This was why Nimrod and every other like him were deified.

Knowing this, it is not surprising that self-glorification was the reason for man’s first sin. What was the temptation given by the tempter that that befell our first parents? It was that they may be like God! To be like God is to receive praise, to receive worship!

…in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat (Gen 3:5-6).

Furthermore, what was the sin that befell the tempter, who was the anointed cherub of the Most High God, the son of the morning? It was self-glorification!

How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. (Isa 14:12-15)

How beautifully consistent is God in His Word! The above passage is in fact speaking of the judgment of the King of Babylon, who was the personification of Lucifer, that is, satan himself! This means that satan is behind the spirit of Babylon and self-glorification!

Therefore, for God to save man, He must seek to destroy not just the worship of self, but the very channel of self-glorification in him, which is self! When the competing idol of self is taken out of the way, then and then only can man truly be set free to worship God in spirit and in truth. Therefore, this is the crux and essence of our Messiah Yeshua’s preaching: the gospel of the Cross!

And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life (Gk. Psuche, ie, soul or self) shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life (Gk. Psuche) for my sake, the same shall save it (Lk 9:23-24).

The beginning and also all of man’s sins have to do with self: man loves to worship, exalt or glorify himself. This also is the true meaning of pride. Israel’s problem was self. They love to worship idols because idolatry allowed them to indulge in self-gratification as well as self-glorification. Our problem is also self. Our love of the world is also self-glorification because it allows us to indulge in the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the pride of life. These were the very three things that Eve was tempted with and could not resist in the forbidden fruit.

And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise…(Gen 3:6)…Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. (1Jn 2:15-16)

God is consistent in presenting the gospel right to the end. The New Testament began with the Messiah calling man to die first before they can truly live. At the end of the bible, God’s command for His beloved people to come out of Babylon is in fact a call to come out of self-glorification by denying self. Once self is dealt with, physical Babylon, wherever or whatever it is, is not an issue anymore. Beloved brethren, have you understood and been convicted by what is discussed above? The spirit of Babylon is the spirit of self-glorification. It is the spirit that has permeated the world. It is the spirit of idolatry, a religious spirit. It is the spirit of antichrist. It is a satanic spirit.

Our eternal God is so good and wise, and beautiful beyond words to describe! When He says that he has declared the end from the beginning (Isa 46:10), it is more than God just prophesying or knowing about what will happen in the end. Beloved, the end has already been accomplished, that is, taken place in Christ in the eternal spirit realm (Eph 3:11)! God had finished all His works from the foundation of the world and has been resting since then (Heb 4:3-4). With this, we can now understand that Christ was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (1Pet 1:20, Heb 13:8)! History is not unfolding towards the end. History is being worked out from the completed end. We are merely entering into the experience of what God had already accomplished. Because the divine wedding celebration of God and His Bride in Revelation 21 and 22 is already an eternal fact, the poignant and dramatic love story of God seeking and calling out His Bride is consistently and repetitively played out throughout the bible. Therefore, it is not surprising that God called our spiritual forefather Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldees, the very place where Babylon was birthed, and so soon after it was birthed!

And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there (Gen 11:31)… Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee. (Gen 12:1)… And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it (Gen 15:7).

Today, most believers are not in physical Babylon, but they nevertheless are in spiritual Babylon, or rather the spirit of Babylon is in them. The way out of Babylon is through the Cross. Abraham took the Cross and entered into the experience of Christ’s death by believing and heeding Yahweh’s call to come out of Babylon. Similarly, you don’t have to crucify yourself anymore but merely to believe and accept as an accomplished fact that your old man (self) was crucified when Christ was crucified (Rom 6:6). More than that, you must also believe that you were resurrected when Christ rose from the dead and that now you are a new creation in Christ (2Cor 5:17). Daily, present your body as a living sacrifice to the Lord (Rom 12:1-2) and confess what Paul confessed until you know this has become a reality in you:

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me (Gal 2:20).

When we go through sufferings because we choose the path of the Cross, remember that Christ had already been tempted in the same three areas by the tempter in the wilderness before He began His ministry (Mt 4:1-10). He overcame all the temptations because He steadfastly denied Himself and chose to believe and keep to the path of God’s Word. Finally at the end of His ministry He was again tempted to avoid the Cross by preserving His own life. Though the struggle was tremendous, yet He prevailed through to deny Himself and chose to do His Father’s will (Mt 26:36-42). Therefore, death was conquered and could not stop His resurrection. My friends, rest assured that through faith and perseverance we not only enter into Christ’s death and sufferings, but also His victorious resurrection as well!

Beloved, God will destroy Babylon soon. If you have heard and understood God’s command, I also plead with you, “COME OUT OF HER, MY PEOPLE!”

The grace and shalom of our Lord Yeshua Messiah be with you.

If you have any comment or query, or if you want to know how you can be saved and have a personal relationship with your Creator God through Yeshua Christ, please write to thekingdompeople@yahoo.com. It will be my pleasure to help you to know God personally. All sincere inquiries will be responded to.