COMING OUT OF BABYLON IS BEST DONE IN THE COMPANY OF OTHERS
The most common references to God’s enemies are Egypt, Babylon and the enemy nations that lived in the Promised Land. These enemy nations represent the world of religion in which we live and with whom we engage in a fight for life and death. They also represent the Kingdom of the World which will be overcome by the Kingdom of God in several key prophecies. When reading these prophecies we must avoid common theories that point to a unique “end time” for the entire world. Rather, we must think in terms of the end of the world of religion for us as individuals as we respond to God’s invitation to come out of Babylon.

STUDY TIPS: To get a vision of what it means to come out of Babylon, it is  good to look at the book of Nehemiah where we see a parable of the attitudes, trials and challenges of leaving Old/First Covenant religion on the way of becoming New Covenant disciples.

Also see Time: Hours, Days, Weeks and Ages for understanding of the symbolic use of time in the Bible.

This theme of coming out of Babylon symbolically represents rejection of Old/First Covenant practices in favor of the New Covenant. Thus it could be said that those who leave Babylon have been, or are being spiritually reborn into New Covenant disciples. In our studies, therefore, we should be able to interpret Israel’s repeated struggles (some effective and some not) against religion as their efforts to come out of Babylon.

Borrowing language from end times doctrines, it could also be said that those who have escaped Babylon have already been raptured — but not in the sense that they are physically caught up in the clouds as human doctrines based on literal interpretations of the Bible suggest. What they are in fact caught up in is the spiritual heaven which is where God’s throne is (i.e. their hearts).

It can also be said, however, that many who have left religion have not yet matured into New Covenant disciples. They are free from religion, and may be wandering in the wilderness, but they have not yet entered into the Promised Land of New Covenant discipleship. On the way, they must engage in warfare with their enemies as they work out their salvation with fear and trembling.

The Religion Detox Network exists to give individuals who have been, or are being called out of religion a Biblical framework in which they can interpret and understand their own personal journey and resist going back into religious bondage.  It also exists to inform people who are still in religion that the Bible stories of deliverance and judgment prophetically anticipate God’s historical efforts to move people out of Old/First Covenant religion and transform them into New Covenant disciples.

What we learn from media reports about people leaving religion is that the prophetic Bible stories of judgment, destruction and rebirth/restoration are being played out in thousands, hundreds of thousands, and perhaps millions of individuals in these modern times. For them, the end of the age of religion has already happened or is somewhere in the process of happening even though religion is still very much alive in the world. What Bible readers should want to learn, therefore, is where they are in the journey from Old/First Covenant religion to the New Covenant. But where are they in the journey?

The reality is that most people are still in Egypt/Babylon. They are enslaved to religion and don’t know it. They need to know, however, that they are in bondage and that God is the only one who can deliver them. The deliverance process begins when they confess their sin of practicing religion and cry out for God’s deliverance from the enemy that enslaves and persecutes them.

Of course religion will not teach about this process because doing so would mean the end of religion which is always looking to promote and secure its place in the hearts of people. Furthermore, the end of religion would mean the end of income and status for religious leaders. Therefore, anyone who wants to be delivered from religion should not expect anyone who is still involved with to religion to help them find their way out of religion.

The Religion Detox Network is one resource to help people find their way out of bondage to religion. But it is only a resource. No one should depend entirely on it or the networking connections it offers for instruction on why anyone should want to get out of religion or how to actually make the transition. God is the one who delivers.

But people who might want to leave religion have a big problem. They have been trained/intoxicated with a belief they cannot learn about God on their own. Like the Israelites of old and Jews past and present, they choose to keep their distance from God by listening to a religious leader instead of listening to God themselves. Thus it can be said that it is in the spiritual DNA of Jews and Christians to depend on other religious people (e.g. pastors, priests, rabbis, teachers, etc.) for instruction just like Israel depended on Moses. That is why they typically go to churches, synagogues and conferences to hear teachers, and it is why they purchase religious books, teaching CDs and music. Having chosen to do all these religious things, they remain spiritual infants who nurse on milk from a human teacher instead of eating solid spiritual food directly from God.

In summary, it must be said that Jews and Christians are poorly equipped to study and learn about God by listening to his voice themselves. Worse yet, they like it that way and can’t deliver themselves from this habit. They need God to open their spiritual eyes and ears.

The Religion Detox Network will appeal to people who are no longer satisfied with religion as usual are eager to learn how to hear God’s voice through disciplined Bible study. They are ready to have God deliver them from evil (i.e. religion).

The study tip we are trying to communicate here is that it is very hard to break free from religion all alone. It is a lonely, difficult process that is best done in the company of others who are also trying to gain freedom from their addiction to religion. This is why we encourage Religion Detox Network participants to scan the forums for potential friends with whom they can study and grow together. The benefits of joint study are discussed in some detail in STUDY WITH OTHERS: