Come Out

 

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.”

            This verse is a direct allusion if not a quote of Isaiah 52:11:

Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean [thing]; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD. (Isaiah 52:11)

 

Also 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.

 

And in Isaiah 26:20 we see the irresistible call of the Lamb:

Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.

 

It is reminiscent of the call of the Shepherd Lover of the Song of Solomon 2:10-13:

My beloved spoke and said unto me, ‘Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.  For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land.  The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grapes give a good smell.  Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.

 

            Isaiah 66:5-6 seems to have been significant for the people who were besieged in Jerusalem in its final destruction:

5  Hear the word of the LORD, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name’s sake, said, Let the LORD be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed. 6 A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of the LORD that rendereth recompence to his enemies.

 

Josephus probably refers to this “midnight cry” (Wars 6.5.3):

Moreover, at that feast which we call Pentecost, as the priests were going by night into the inner [court of the] temple, as their custom was, to perform their sacred ministrations, they said that, in the first place, they felt a quaking, and heard a great noise, and after that they heard a sound as of a great multitude, saying ‘Let us remove hence.’

 

Flight to Pella

 

Revelation 18:4:  “Come out of her.”

 

            Eusebius says that an ‘oracle’ called the Christians out of Jerusalem before its final destruction in AD 70:

The members of the Jerusalem church, by means of an oracle given by revelation to acceptable persons there, were ordered to leave the City before the war began and settle in a town in Perea called Pella.  To Pella those who believed in Christ migrated from Jerusalem; and as if holy men had utterly abandoned the royal metropolis of the Jews and the entire Jewish land, the judgement of God at last overtook them for their abominable crimes against Christ and His apostles, completely blotting out that wicked generation from among men (3.5.4).

 

      The word ‘oracle’ simply means ‘an utterance of God’, or prophecy.[1]  The book of Revelation is a ‘prophecy’, (1:3), and could therefore be called an ‘oracle’.  It contains a call to “Come out“, (18:4) and may have been written in AD 68 when the Christians did in fact come out.  At this time also the signs for departure which Jesus had foretold were evident: (1) Jerusalem was compassed with armies, Luke 21:20-24; (2), the abomination of desolation stood in the Holy Place, Matthew 24:15; Mark 13:14; and (3) there were designated ‘signs in the heavens’, Luke 21:25-28.

 

The Call to Come Out:

            In Revelation 18:4 we see the call to the Saints in Mystery Babylon to come out, just as she was about to be destroyed.  This call may have been both to come out of Jerusalem before her destruction and later to the saints in the dispersion to come out of the synagogues.

 

Coinciding Events in the Roman Empire: the Sixth Emperor:

            Cary and Scullard say that the Christians had escaped to Pella by the year AD 68 (p. 417).[2]  If Beast 1 is interpreted as the Roman Empire, then the events of the summer of AD 68 correlate with the prophecy of Revelation 17:10:

And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. (Underlines mine).

            If the book of Revelation were written during the reign of the sixth Emperor, it would have been written in AD 68.  It was in the summer of AD 68 that Nero, with a little help, committed suicide (ibid., p. 403).  This ended the “five are fallen” Emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty: i.e.: 

                        Augustus: Emperor 27 BC – AD 14

                        Tiberius:         14-     37

                        Caligula:         37-     41

                        Claudius:         41-     54

                        Nero:               54-     68.

            Galba was made the sixth Emperor by the Senate upon Nero‘s death.  He reigned only for about six months, until January 69.  If the sixth Emperor of Revelation 17:10, described as “One is“, was Galba, then the book was written in AD 68 soon after Nero’s death.

            The Revelator goes on to say that “One is not yet come, (i.e. the seventh); and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.”  On January 1, 69, the legions in Upper Germany rebelled against Galba and the household troops at Rome lynched him and made Otho Emperor on January 15.  But Otho’s reign was very short, for on January 3, the troops in lower Germany proclaimed Vitellius Emperor.  That is, before Otho was ever made Emperor in Rome, (January 15), the troops had already rebelled and named Vitellius Emperor.[3]  The Senate confirmed Vitellius in April of 69 after defeating Otho in battle.[4]  We therefore find that in the summer of AD 68 the sixth Emperor reigned in Rome and the seventh, when he came, continued only “a short space.”

Meanwhile Back in Judea:

Luke 21:20-24:  And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. 21  Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. 22 For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. 23 But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. 24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.  (Underlines mine).

            From the time of Herod the Great, both the offices of High Priest and King had become pawns in the Roman power structure.  In Judea governing forces broke down and anarchy reigned.  Robber gangs prevailed unchecked by the law, and so they grew into actual armies.  They looted and burned whole cities and the country round about them.  Truly there was “great distress”.

            The most valuable prize of all for the robbers was the Temple treasury and that was to be gained only by being appointed High Priest.  Rome typically awarded the Priesthood to the one with the most powerful army.  Therefore, the priests raised themselves armies in order both to defend themselves and to qualify for appointment to the High Priesthood.  Thus, while courting Rome‘s favor in hopes of gaining the Priesthood, they often rebelled if they were not appointed and fought one another, resulting in the civil wars that ultimately destroyed the nation.

            It was in response to these rebellions that Nero had sent Vespasian and his son, Titus, to subdue Judea.[5]  Josephus himself was the general of an army that fought Vespasian in Galilee but was defeated and taken captive.  After subduing Gamala in Galilee on 23 Tishri, (Sept.-Oct.)[6] AD 67, Vespasian sent Titus to besiege the small city of Gischala, where the robber, John son of Levi had taken control.  Titus attempted to make peace at Gischala but John ben Levi tricked him by asking permission to observe the Sabbath.  John with some of his followers used this ruse to escape to Jerusalem.  With John out of the way, the people of Gischala opened the gates for Titus.

            Vespasian saw that Jerusalem would be the most hotly defended area in Palestine, therefore his strategy had been to first subdue the outlying areas, then take Jerusalem.  Those who had escaped from the other conquered cities had run to Jerusalem, and so were the most desperate.  As this war had progressed, the Jews had won some minor victories, inflating their pride and causing them to believe that God was on their side and they could not lose.  Vespasian, therefore, sent the tenth legion to Scythopolis and took two legions with him to Caesarea for rest and recuperation before the battle for Jerusalem.  Thus we see that Vespasian had at least three legions in Judea at this time.  Jerusalem was compassed with armies.