Harlot: Babylon is depicted as a harlot (17:1) in stark contrast to the bride of the Lamb (19:7). The bride prepares herself for her groom, in fine linen, bright and clean, with the righteous acts of the saints (19:8). The harlot has only patrons and she is decked out with glitter of external beauty with no virtue beneath, the proverbial gold ring on a swine (Prov. 11:22). As a harlot, she sells intimacy without marriage. She offers to satisfy men with pleasure, wealth, and intoxication (18:3). The last of these enables the nations to indulge in her goods guilt-free. Her wine—the blood of the saints (17:6)—dulls their senses, muting all moral qualms. By killing those who follow the Lamb,^[1] she gags the last voice of conscience on earth. Babylon is a devious harlot—nothing new under the sun—only the ultimate expression of Satan’s perennial lie.

Come out: Heaven calls the redeemed on earth, “Come out of her, my people.” They are not to participate in Babylon’s sins and suffer her plagues (18:4). This message resounds throughout the Bible,^[2] showing us that this is the finale to the many calls for separation from the world. Jesus prayed that we be kept from the evil one, not that we exit the world (John 17:15); yet in the tribulation the saints must literally flee the wicked city to escape her doom. As for the principle, it holds true today: we separate from the world (2 Cor. 6:17), shun the darkness (Eph. 5:11), and reject conformity to this age (Rom. 12:2). Babylon will crumble, all her patrons left to mourn;^[3] but we press on, seeking the lasting city which is to come (Heb. 13:14)—the new Jerusalem (Rev. 21:2).

^[1] They resist the economic pressure of the beast (13:17) and remain chaste (14:1-4), free from immorality.

^[2] Cf. Lev. 18:1-5; 20:22-24; Deut. 7:1-5; Isaiah 48:20; 52:11; Jere. 50:8; 51:6, 45, 50.

^[3] Babylon will fade with the world (1 Cor. 7:30-31; 1 John 2:15-17); her patrons will mourn (18:9, 11, 15, 19).