Revelation 18:4
A few years ago, I had the life-changing opportunity to visit Israel. When we were there, we had the chance to walk through the ruins of Qumran, the desert community by the Dead Sea, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. The people who lived there were separatists. These were people who had moved out of Jerusalem and built their own enclave in the wilderness, convinced that the city and temple were too corrupt. The remains of their city are filled with pools that were used for ceremonial washing, showing their desire to remain pure before God. Their solution to the corruption in Jerusalem was isolation. They wanted to escape the world, live apart, and wait for God to judge.
So when we read in Revelation 18:4, “Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins,” it’s natural to wonder if that’s the kind of life the angel has in mind. Should we start our own Christian commune somewhere and pull away from the world? Should we buy land, live off the grid, make our own butter, and wait for God to judge? I find there to be tension between that way of living and what Jesus prayed for his disciples. He said, “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one… As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world” (vv. 15–18).
The call to “come out” isn’t about geography; it’s about allegiance. It’s not isolation, it’s distinction. The word church is translated from the Greek word ekklesia, which means the “called-out ones.” We are people who live right in the middle of the world but refuse to be owned by its values. That’s what makes the angel’s command in Revelation both hard and hopeful. It’s hard because Babylon’s culture is seductive. At times, it feels as normal as the air we breathe. And yet it’s hopeful because we are given power through Scripture and God’s Spirit to resist.
The real danger isn’t that you’ll live in Babylon; the danger is that Babylon will live in you. And it happens subtly. Slowly. Quietly. Like fish who don’t realize they’re in water, we can swim in a culture of pride, consumerism, and indulgence until it feels normal. Revelation interrupts our drift and says, “Come out. Don’t take part in her sins. Don’t fall with her fall.” Instead, let God’s truth form you. Let worship replace idolatry, generosity replace greed, purity replace indulgence, and humility replace pride. The great truth is that we can live now as citizens of the city that never falls… the New Jerusalem!
So today, maybe you pray something like this: Jesus, keep me in the world but free from its grip. Let your truth shape me today, that I might live as your called-out one, even here in Babylon. Amen.
Pastor Ryan Paulson