Babylon in Revelation: Why God Says “Come Out of Her”

“We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” C.S. Lewis, the author of The Chronicles of Narnia, wrote those words in his 1941 sermon “The Weight of Glory.”

The Bible has a name for the world system that keeps us busy with mud pies: Babylon. Babylon in Revelation is not a city you can find on a map. It is a picture of everything that promises joy apart from God and leaves people empty. And in Revelation 18, heaven gives God's people a four-word invitation: “Come out of her.”

This post walks through “Come Out of Her,” a message from our series The King Is Coming, a journey through the book of Revelation at illuminate church.

The Trap We Walk Into on Purpose

The world is full of traps people walk into willingly. Nobody drags us. We ask for the chains ourselves. The apostle Paul put it plainly:

“Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey, whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?” (Romans 6:16)

As this message puts it, Satan's greatest trap is getting us to willingly ask for our own chains. As the story of Revelation nears its end, God has a message for anyone caught in that trap: come out.

A Tale of Two Cities

The last chapters of Revelation set two cities side by side. In Revelation 17 and 18 we meet Babylon. In Revelation 21 and 22 we meet the New Jerusalem, the city where God lives with His people forever.

In this message, Revelation lays that choice in front of us, hoping we will worship the one true God and live in His city. The point is holiness, being set apart for God, instead of belonging to a system opposed to Him.

Revelation 17 opens with vivid imagery. One of the seven angels shows the apostle John “the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits by many waters” (Revelation 17:1). John sees a woman sitting on a scarlet beast with seven heads and ten horns. She is dressed in purple and scarlet, glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls, and holding a golden cup full of “abominable things.” The name on her forehead reads: “Babylon the great, the mother of prostitutes and of the abominations of the earth” (Revelation 17:5).

Who Is Babylon in Revelation?

The word “prostitute” is chosen on purpose. In Greek it comes from the word pornē, the root of our word “pornography.” A prostitute breaks faithfulness in a relationship. In this message, the prostitute comes to break the marriage bond between Jesus and His bride, the church, by luring people into idolatry, which means giving our worship and trust to anything other than God.

In this message, Babylon is not literal. Over the centuries she has been represented by the city of Babylon, then by Rome, and by many corrupt cities and empires since. Babylon is the godless ecosystem we breathe every day. It is the source of false economies, governments and religions, fed by idolatry, pride, self-sufficiency and the denial of God's grace and truth. That is why she rides on the beast, which this message identifies as the Antichrist, the final enemy of God, evil in human form.

The fingerprints of Babylon

Death. Revelation 17:6 says the woman was “drunk with the blood of God's holy people, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus.” Wherever Babylon rules, human life is treated as cheap, and most of all, believers are killed for their faith. That is called martyrdom.

Persistence. The beast “once was, now is not, and yet will come” (Revelation 17:8). Compare that to Jesus, who “is, and who was, and who is to come” (Revelation 1:8). Jesus is eternal. Satan is not eternal, but he is persistent. Because people keep giving themselves to what Babylon offers, history repeats itself. From Nero to Genghis Khan to Hitler and Stalin and beyond, evil rises, gets beaten down, and rises again.

Seven kings and a revolving door

Verses 9 and 10 say the seven heads are seven hills and also seven kings: “Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come.” In this message, the five fallen kingdoms are Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia and Greece. The one that “is” was Rome, the empire of John's day, famously built on seven hills. The one still to come is the empire of the Antichrist, who is both the seventh and the eighth king.

The enemy is incredibly persistent, but he is completely unoriginal. His tactic is always seduction that leads to death. In Revelation, God steps in and says: enough. The revolving door of evil has made its last turn.

The Lamb Wins: Lord of Lords and King of Kings

The beast is on a suicide mission. Babylon and all her kings pick the wrong opponent:

“They will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph over them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.” (Revelation 17:14)

“Lord of lords” and “King of kings” are titles with deep roots in the Old Testament. Moses wrote that “the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome” (Deuteronomy 10:17). Even a pagan king, Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, confessed to the prophet Daniel, “Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings” (Daniel 2:47).

Called, chosen and faithful

Jesus is not alone in the battle. The army of the Lord stands with Him, as Revelation shows later: “The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean” (Revelation 19:14).

Look at the three words in Revelation 17:14. In this message, the first two, called and chosen, are God's part. The last word, faithful, is our part. In the end, God's sovereignty and human responsibility come together to defeat the enemy. God doing His part is never the question. Us doing our part is always the question.

Before chapter 17 ends, there is a twist. In verses 15 to 18, the beast and the ten kings turn on the woman, bring her to ruin, and hand all their power to the beast. In this message, that means one world power and one economy, with the Antichrist as king of what is left of the world.

“Come Out of Her, My People”

Revelation 18 is an invitation to believers and a lament from unbelievers over the fall of Babylon. The invitation comes first:

“Then I heard another voice from heaven say: ‘Come out of her, my people,’ so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues; for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes.” (Revelation 18:4-5)

This is not a new call. Centuries earlier, the prophet Jeremiah spoke the same words about ancient Babylon: “Come out of her, my people! Run for your lives! Run from the fierce anger of the Lord” (Jeremiah 51:45). Babylon boasts, “I sit enthroned as queen... I will never mourn” (Revelation 18:7). But “in one day her plagues will overtake her” (Revelation 18:8).

The Fall of Babylon: “Is That It?”

Then comes the lament, as Babylon is destroyed. The kings who shared her luxury stand far off and cry:

“Woe! Woe to you, great city, you mighty city of Babylon! In one hour your doom has come!” (Revelation 18:10)

The merchants mourn that “in one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin” (Revelation 18:17). The sea captains throw dust on their heads and cry the same thing (Revelation 18:19). Three times, the refrain is “in one hour.”

Their grief comes down to one question: “Is that it?” We trusted you, and all we have left are empty pockets, empty hearts and empty dreams. In the end, music, lamplight and the voices of bride and groom will never be found in her again (Revelation 18:22-23). She will be forgotten.

Why waste a single dime in her stores?

If all of this is true, why spend anything on Babylon? This message uses the Iraqi dinar as a picture. For years, promoters have told people that Iraq's currency is about to be “revalued” and will suddenly be worth far more in U.S. dollars, and federal prosecutors have charged sellers with defrauding investors through those claims. People who bought in were left holding money that never paid off.

That is Babylon. Don't waste your life, your time or your finances on what produces nothing good and nothing holy.

Baptism: A Picture of Coming Out

Instead, come out of her. Do away with the unholy once and for all, and be set apart to the Lord. The Sunday this message was shared, illuminate church celebrated baptisms, and baptism is a great picture of coming out.

Baptism is a public step where a follower of Jesus goes under the water, buried as Christ was buried in the grave, and comes up raised to new life. Out of the water means out of Babylon, out of the misery and shame of the unholy, and into the joy of a life set apart to Jesus.

Babylon in Revelation promises everything and ends in one hour. Jesus offers a city that lasts forever. Ready to take a step toward Him? Find out what it means to follow Jesus. If you would like someone to pray with you, reach out to our prayer and care team. And if you live in or are visiting the Kissimmee area, plan your visit and join us on a Sunday. To catch up on the series, read The Seven Bowls of Revelation and The Battle for Faith in Revelation 12 and 13.

Come Out of Her

Frequently Asked Questions About Babylon in Revelation