In Revelation, which refers to the time of the end and the return of Christ as judge of all the world.....
"And I heard another voice out of heaven say: “Get out of her, my people, if you do not want to share with her in her sins, and if you do not want to receive part of her plagues. 5 For her sins have massed together clear up to heaven, and God has called her acts of injustice to mind."
What does Revelation 18:4-5 refer to, and what is this command in reference to? Why is she called "Babylon the great"? What connection does this "city" have to original Babylon?
You see, it matters a great deal who the "weeds" are because of who planted them. The ones who are "weed-like" in their faith would become obvious by their "fruits" (actions)....not in imitation of Christ...but in imitation of the devil whose main MO is violence and bloodshed on a grand scale...throw in immorality on the same scale and you will see a pattern....unless you have been "blinded" (2 Corinthians 4:3-4)
If we are commanded to remove ourselves from "Babylon the great" because of the weight of her sins, then if we fail to do so, we will go down with her....that is the warning. We have to take decisive action.
Since this command is addressed to God's "people", then don't we need to ask how they got into "Babylon the great" to start with?
Just as apostate Judaism held "the lost sheep" captive with nowhere to go until Jesus came to release them and lead them out of that corrupt 'pen' and in to a new clean one, so Christendom held God's anointed ones captive until 'the time of the end'. Only at this time did God reveal who 'Babylon the great' was. Once identified, God's people could get out of that corrupt organization and remove the shackles of her false doctrines. The truth set them free!
Daniel foretold a 'cleansing, whitening and refining' of God's people in "the time of the end". (Daniel 12:9-10) Only in this time period would God reveal abundant knowledge. Those who refused the cleansing and refining would be granted no understanding at all.
Unless people know where their doctrines originated from, they will never see the connection to original Babylon and therefore never see themselves held captive in Babylon the great or the need remove themselves.
By the time Jesus comes as judge.....the separating has already been accomplished.
1 Peter 4:16-18...
"But if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not feel ashamed, but let him keep on glorifying God while bearing this name. 17 For it is the appointed time for the judgment to start with the house of God. Now if it starts first with us, what will the outcome be for those who are not obedient to the good news of God? 18 “And if the righteous man is being saved with difficulty, what will happen to the ungodly man and the sinner?”
'Judgment starts with the house of God'.......professed Christians. (Matthew 7:21-23)