Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Revelation 18:5
For her sins have reached unto heaven - So in Jeremiah 51:9, speaking of Babylon, it is said, “For her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.” The meaning is not that the sins of this mystical Babylon were like a mass or pile so high as to reach to heaven, but that it had become so prominent as to attract the attention of God. Compare Genesis 4:10, “The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.” See also Genesis 18:20.And God hath remembered her... read more
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Revelation 18:4
And I heard another voice from heaven - He does not say whether this was the voice of an angel, but the idea seems rather to be that it is the voice of God.Come out of her, my people - The reasons for this, as immediately stated, are two:(a)That they might not participate in her sins; and,(b)That they might not be involved in the ruin that would come upon her.The language seems to be derived from such passages in the Old Testament as the following: “Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the... read more