This portion of the Revelation stands somewhat unique from the rest of the Apocalypse, a prophetic word to the church, declaring God’s call for them to “come out of Babylon.” While physically vacating Babylon was not possible in their day, nor ours, rejecting her economic ways is. God cares for justice and here we witness a picture of the doom of Rome, pronounced in the past tense because it is so certain, because of her oppressive economic policies and practices that enriched Rome while using and abusing many other peoples and nations. For Christians today this is a powerful warning and inspiration to live economically according to the values of Jesus and not of the Harlot.
