Charles Ellicott Commentary Revelation 18:4

"And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come forth, my people, out of her, that ye have no fellowship with her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues:" — Revelation 18:4 (ASV)

Voice from heaven . . .—Read: Voice out of heaven, saying, Come forth out of her, my people, that you do not partake in her sins, and that you do not receive of her plagues.

The voice is not said to be that of another angel. It is not necessary to say whose voice it is; that it is a voice of divine love giving warning is enough.

The “coming forth” is not to be understood as a bodily exodus from Rome. It is, rather, the warning, which is so necessary in every corrupt state of society, to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness; to practice that separation from the spirit of the world that is essential, lest we be entangled in the meshes of its sinful habits.

This duty of separation may sometimes lead to a literal exodus and even, under the pressure of overwhelming necessity, to secession from a world-corrupted church; but the jeopardy lies in attachment to the world-spirit (1 John 2:15). The parallel warnings in Jeremiah 51:6, Jeremiah 51:45, and Zechariah 2:6-7 should be read. The story of Lot in Sodom, however, best illustrates the spirit of the passage (Genesis 19:0), for it is participation in sin that must be primarily guarded against.

On verses 4-20:

The voice out of heaven warns the faithful to leave her, and describes her fall.