Throughout world religious history and Scripture, there is a consistent theme: when a place becomes so corrupt and sinful, it reaches a point where the godly must flee to avoid sharing in its punishment.
1. Fleeing Sodom and Gomorrah
Sodom and Gomorrah were so wicked that God decreed their destruction. Lot, a righteous man, was warned to flee urgently to avoid being swept away in their judgment.
- Genesis 19:15-17 – "With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, ‘Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished.’"
2. Fleeing Egypt
Egypt had enslaved the Hebrews, and its oppression provoked God’s judgment. Through Moses, God inflicted plagues upon Egypt, forcing Pharaoh to release the Israelites.
- Exodus 12:31-33 – "During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, ‘Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the Lord as you have requested. ... The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country. ‘For otherwise,’ they said, ‘we will all die!’"
3. Fleeing Babylon
The people of ancient Judah were exiled in Babylon as a punishment for their sins. However, Babylon itself was wicked, and prophecies urged the exiles to leave—not just to return to Judah, but to escape Babylon’s impending judgment.
- Jeremiah 51:6 – "Flee from Babylon! Run for your lives! Do not be destroyed because of her sins. It is time for the Lord’s vengeance; he will repay her what she deserves."
- Isaiah 48:20 – "Leave Babylon, flee from the Babylonians! Announce this with shouts of joy and proclaim it. Send it out to the ends of the earth; say, ‘The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob.’"
- Jeremiah 50:8 – "Flee out of Babylon, leave the land of the Babylonians, and be like the goats that lead the flock."
The danger of staying in Babylon was not just cultural assimilation but also the risk of sharing in its sins and divine punishment (Jeremiah 51:6).
4. The Apostolic Church and “Babylon” as Rome
Centuries later, the apostle Peter wrote from a place he referred to as "Babylon":
- 1 Peter 5:13 – "She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you her greetings, and so does my son Mark."
Many believe "Babylon" here is a coded reference to Rome, which had become a center of worldliness and persecution of Christians, just as ancient Babylon had oppressed Israel.
5. The Call to Leave Spiritual Babylon (Revelation)
Revelation expands the theme, presenting Babylon the Great as the ultimate wicked world system. God commands His people to flee, echoing Jeremiah’s warning:
- Revelation 18:4-5 – "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.’"
This warning is not about literal Babylon but about any world system that opposes God, persecutes His people, and stands under divine judgment.
6. The Heavenly Homeland: The Final Escape
The book of Hebrews builds on this theme, portraying believers as pilgrims who seek a better homeland—the Kingdom of God:
- Hebrews 11:13-16 – "All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. ... Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one."
Paul echoes the call to separation from the corruption of the world:
- 2 Corinthians 6:17 (quoting Isaiah 52:11) – "Therefore, ‘Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.’"
7. The Final Reversal: Jerusalem as a Place to Flee From
The theme comes full circle in Revelation 11, where Jerusalem itself—the former holy city—is described as a place of such apostasy that it is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt:
- Revelation 11:8 – "And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which is called spiritually Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified."
This dramatic reversal shows that even Jerusalem, when corrupt, can become a place of judgment rather than refuge.
Jesus had already warned of Jerusalem’s impending destruction:
- Luke 21:20-21 – "When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains."
And Hebrews 13:12-14 reminds believers that they must go “outside the city” to Jesus, rejecting earthly attachments for a heavenly inheritance:
- Hebrews 13:12-14 – "Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come."
8. The Ongoing Call to Escape the Corrupt World
The theme in Scripture is clear: when a place becomes so corrupt that it is under divine judgment, the godly must flee—not only physically but spiritually.
One day, perhaps in our own time or in the future, it will become vitally important for saintly believers to flee certain cities and their spheres of influence, just as God’s people had to flee:
- Sodom before its destruction
- Egypt before its plagues
- Babylon before its downfall
- Jerusalem before its devastation in AD 70
- Rome (Babylon the Great) before its final judgment
The ultimate escape is not merely from earthly cities but from sin and judgment itself—seeking instead the New Jerusalem, the eternal city of God.
