Revelation 18:4; Come Out of Her (2)

Revelation 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. 

A call of a different kind came to Abraham (Genesis 12:1), but Lot received a similar one (Genesis 19:12) (Swete). The calls in Isaiah were invitations to a joyful exit, but this is a cautionary call and more closely approximates the ones in Genesis 19:15-22; Numbers 16:23-26; Matthew 24:16.

Genesis 19:15-22  And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city. And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city. And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed. And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord: Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die: Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live. And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken. Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. 

Numbers 16:23-26  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the congregation, saying, Get you up from about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. And Moses rose up and went unto Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him. And he spake unto the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest ye be consumed in all their sins. 

Matthew 24:16  Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:

This allusion is probably to Jeremiah 50:8; 51:6-9, 45 (Alford).

Jeremiah 50:8  Remove out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he goats before the flocks. 

Jeremiah 51:6-9  Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this isthe time of the LORD’S vengeance; he will render unto her a recompence. Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD’S hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad. Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed. We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies. 

Jeremiah 51:45  My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the LORD. 

This is a call to leave a literal city (Mounce), but beyond that it is also a call to shun the enticements represented by the system of which that city is the embodiment (Beasley-Murray). It is a call to leave the enticements of idolatry, self-sufficiency, reliance on luxury, and violence against human life (Johnson).

Robert L. Thomas, Revelation 8-22 – An Exegetical Commentary, Moody, 1995, 320]