Revelation 18:4 - Exposition

And I heard another voice from heaven, saying. Probably the voice of another angel in succession to the one mentioned in Revelation 18:1 . Another angel takes up the theme, because the message is now directly addressed to Christians. Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. The angel says, "my people," because he is representing God. These words, resembling Isaiah 48:20 ; Isaiah 52:1-15 :l; Jeremiah 1:8 ; and especially Jeremiah 51:6 (cf. also Jeremiah 51:8 ), 45, recall also the warning of our Lord in Matthew 24:16 (cf. also Genesis 19:22 , "I cannot do anything till thou be come thither"). Since the harlot, who is identical with Babylon, is representative of the faithless part of the Church of God, these words form a direct warning to Christians. The departure which is commanded is not necessarily a literal, visible one; but the command implies a dissociation from, and condemnation of, the works of Babylon. Lot's wife literally departed from Sodom, but was overtaken with punishment, because her heart was not dissevered from the wickedness of the city.