Country Living: Preparing Away from Babylon’s Influence

In the closing scenes of earth’s history, God’s people are called to separate from the corrupting influence of Babylon — the spiritual system of deception, false worship, moral decay, economic control, and worldly dependence that dominates the nations.

The call of Revelation 18:4 is solemn and urgent:

“Come out of her, My people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.”

This call is not merely about leaving false religion at the last moment. It is also a practical and spiritual call to separate from Babylon’s influence before the final crisis fully develops. Babylon is not only a religious system; it also shapes the culture, education, entertainment, economy, values, ambitions, and daily habits of the world.

Therefore, coming out of Babylon must involve more than a change of doctrine. It must include a change of life.

One of the most important ways God prepares His people is by leading them away from the corrupting influence of the cities and into simpler country living, where families can be trained, strengthened, and made less dependent upon the systems that will soon be used to pressure the conscience.

Country living is not an escape from mission. It is preparation for mission.


🌾 Why Country Living Matters

Throughout Scripture, God has often led His people away from crowded, corrupt, and worldly environments into quieter places where they could hear His voice more clearly.

Noah prepared outside the spirit of the world before the flood came. Abraham was called out from his former surroundings to walk by faith. Moses was trained in the wilderness before he led Israel. Elijah was hidden by the brook Cherith before he stood boldly on Mount Carmel. John the Baptist was trained in the wilderness before he prepared the way of the Lord.

Again and again, God’s pattern is clear: separation, training, dependence, then witness.

The countryside provides an environment where families can be shielded from many of the constant temptations and distractions of city life. The noise, entertainment, artificial excitement, commercial pressure, and moral corruption of the cities often make spiritual growth far more difficult. In contrast, the quietness of nature helps the mind become calmer, the heart more thoughtful, and the soul more sensitive to the voice of God.

Country living gives children space to grow, work, learn, and observe the lessons of creation. A garden, a few fruit trees, animals, flowers, soil, rain, and sunshine can teach simplicity, patience, responsibility, gratitude, and trust in the Creator. These lessons are often more lasting than abstract instruction alone.

It is not God’s ideal that families be crowded together in environments where every influence pulls the mind toward money, pleasure, display, competition, and sin. From the beginning, God placed man in a garden. The closer we return to His original plan, the better it is for the health of body, mind, and soul.


🏡 The Home as a Training Ground

Country living is especially important for families with children.

Parents should not think only about convenience, income, schooling, shopping, or comfort. The greater question is: What environment will best help my children know God, build character, and prepare for eternity?

Many parents remain in the cities because it seems easier to make a living there. But while they seek temporal advantages, their children may be exposed daily to influences that weaken faith, excite the imagination, encourage worldliness, and make obedience harder. The souls of our children are worth more than ease, comfort, career advancement, or financial gain.

A small home in the country with a little land can be a great blessing. It does not need to be grand or luxurious. Even a simple dwelling with space for a garden can provide spiritual and practical advantages that city life often cannot offer.

In such a home, children can learn:

• To work with their hands.
• To grow food and understand where food comes from.
• To appreciate God’s creation.
• To develop patience through gardening and outdoor duties.
• To enjoy useful labour instead of constant entertainment.
• To see lessons of faith in nature.
• To grow in health through fresh air, sunlight, movement, and simplicity.
• To be protected from many corrupting influences found in crowded cities.

The goal is not merely to raise children who can survive a crisis, but children who can think clearly, work faithfully, pray sincerely, obey God, and stand for truth.


⚠️ The Spiritual Perils of the Cities

The cities are becoming centres of increasing danger — morally, spiritually, physically, and socially.

They are often filled with artificial living, constant noise, unhealthy competition, display, entertainment, sensuality, crime, corruption, greed, and the pursuit of pleasure. The mind is constantly stimulated but rarely quieted. People may be surrounded by crowds yet spiritually isolated. Children and youth are especially vulnerable because the attractions of the city can have a powerful influence upon their imagination and desires.

City life often encourages:

• Love of pleasure.
• Desire for display and luxury.
• Dependence on money and systems.
• Constant distraction.
• Exposure to corrupt associations.
• Artificial habits of living.
• Weakness in practical skills.
• Loss of quiet communion with God.
• Greater difficulty in training children for heaven.

Of course, sincere believers may still live in cities for a time, especially when circumstances have not yet opened the way for them to move. God understands every situation. But when He opens the way, families should seriously consider whether remaining in the city is truly helping or harming their spiritual life.

We should not expect God to work a miracle to protect us from influences we deliberately choose to remain under when He has already given us light to move away from them.


🌱 The Blessings of a Piece of Land

A piece of land, even a small one, can become a great blessing when used wisely.

Land gives opportunity for cultivation, food production, outdoor work, and practical training. Gardens, orchards, herbs, vegetables, and small fruits can help families become less dependent on commercial food systems. These things will become increasingly important as the problem of buying and selling becomes more serious in the future.

Country living encourages families to return to simpler methods:

• Growing vegetables.
• Planting fruit trees.
• Preserving food.
• Collecting rainwater.
• Learning to repair and reuse.
• Cooking from simple ingredients.
• Spending more time outdoors.
• Training children through useful work.
• Depending more directly upon God’s blessing.

The earth, when properly and intelligently cultivated, can yield rich blessings for the faithful worker. The work may be slow. There may be failures. There may be seasons of delay. But we should not become discouraged. With cheerful, hopeful, and grateful labour, the land can help provide for real needs.

This does not mean that land itself is our security. God alone is our security. But land can be one of the tools He uses to teach faith, simplicity, diligence, and practical preparation.


⚠️ Preparing Before the Crisis Forces the Change

Revelation 13 warns that the time will come when no one will be able to buy or sell unless they submit to the mark of the beast. This means the final crisis will not be merely religious in theory; it will touch daily life, money, food, employment, trade, and survival.

For this reason, moving to the country should not be delayed until the crisis breaks. It takes time to learn how to grow food. It takes time to build soil. It takes time to plant fruit trees. It takes time to learn how to live simply. It takes time to train children in a different way of life. It takes time to reduce dependence upon Babylon’s systems.

Those who wait until necessity forces them to move may find the transition much harder.

God does not ask everyone to move in the same way, at the same time, or under the same circumstances. Some may need to wait until He opens the way. Some may need to sell property, reduce debt, change employment, or make careful family arrangements. But the direction should be clear: as God opens the way, His people should prepare to leave the large cities and establish homes in more rural places.

This should be done prayerfully, wisely, and without panic.


📢 Country Living as Mission, Not Isolation

Country living does not mean hiding from the world in selfish isolation.

God’s people are still called to give the final warning message. The cities must be warned. The three angels’ messages must be proclaimed. Souls trapped in Babylon must be called out before it is too late.

But there is an important difference between living in the cities and working the cities from outposts.

The better pattern is for God’s people to have their homes in quieter country places, while entering the cities at appointed times for purposeful mission. They may visit to preach, teach, distribute literature, hold meetings, help souls, give Bible studies, and call people to repentance. But their permanent home should be where their families can be preserved from the constant corrupting influence of city life.

Elijah’s life shows this balance. He was hidden away and sustained by God, yet at the appointed time he stood before the nation and called Israel back to the true God. He did not live in the centre of apostasy in order to prove his courage. He lived where God placed him, and came forward when God called him.

So it will be with God’s people. Country living prepares them to give a clearer, stronger, and more Spirit-filled witness.


⛓️ Breaking Babylon’s Grip

Leaving the city is only one part of coming out of Babylon. A person may move to the country and still carry Babylon in the heart.

True separation means breaking free from Babylon’s spirit of pride, luxury, competition, debt, display, pleasure-seeking, dependence, compromise, and self-exaltation.

Country living should help us break free from:

• Babylon’s entertainment.
• Babylon’s food systems.
• Babylon’s financial control.
• Babylon’s false education.
• Babylon’s artificial lifestyle.
• Babylon’s love of luxury.
• Babylon’s restless spirit.
• Babylon’s dependence upon human systems.

But if we move to the country and simply recreate the same worldly life there — the same entertainment, the same pride, the same luxury, the same selfishness, the same spiritual laziness — then the outward move has not accomplished its purpose.

The real goal is not merely to change our address. The real goal is to change our habits, our values, our dependencies, and our spiritual condition.


🕊️ The Spiritual Benefit of Nature

Nature is one of God’s great lesson books.

In the quiet of the country, the heart is more easily drawn to prayer. The mind is not constantly bombarded by noise, advertising, traffic, crowds, and worldly excitement. The beauty of creation points the soul back to the Creator.

The garden teaches patience. Seeds teach faith. Seasons teach dependence. Fruit trees teach perseverance. Flowers teach purity and beauty. The soil teaches humility. The rain teaches God’s care. The birds teach trust. The heavens declare His glory.

Children who grow up surrounded by God’s creation can receive impressions that remain with them for life. Nature connects spiritual truth with things they see every day. This makes the lessons of God more real, simple, and memorable.

Country living can strengthen:

• Physical health.
• Mental clarity.
• Family unity.
• Spiritual reflection.
• Practical discipline.
• Love for simplicity.
• Gratitude to God.
• Readiness for the final crisis.

Such a life helps prepare the heart for deeper communion with God and for the outpouring of the latter rain.


🌧️ Country Living and the Latter Rain

The latter rain will not be poured out on people who are still clinging to Babylon in spirit.

God is preparing a people who are separate from the world, surrendered to Christ, obedient to His commandments, and ready to receive the fullness of His Spirit. Country living, when entered into by faith, can help remove many obstacles that hinder this preparation.

But the country itself does not make anyone holy. A person can live among trees and still have a worldly heart. A person can grow food and still be proud, selfish, or unbelieving. A person can leave the city and still not leave Babylon.

Therefore, country living must be joined with:

• Daily prayer.
• Study of the Word.
• Family worship.
• Simplicity of life.
• Obedience to known truth.
• Victory over sin through Christ.
• Practical service to others.
• Mission for those still in darkness.

The purpose of country living is to create a better environment for spiritual growth, not to replace spiritual growth.


⚖️ A Balanced Warning

Country living must not be approached with fanaticism, fear, or presumption.

Some people may rush without prayer, sell unwisely, move without preparation, isolate themselves from believers, neglect mission, or place their confidence in land and supplies. This is not true preparation.

Others may delay indefinitely because they love convenience, income, comfort, or the attractions of the city. This is also dangerous.

The right path is faith-filled obedience.

We should move as God opens the way, not in panic, but also not in careless delay. We should prepare practically, but never trust in our preparations. We should seek a place where our families can grow spiritually, but still maintain a burden for souls. We should reduce dependence on Babylon’s systems, but never become harsh, fearful, or self-sufficient in spirit.

For many families, country living may seem impossible at first. The cost of land, employment concerns, debt, family responsibilities, schooling, or uncertainty may make the move appear far beyond reach. But we should not measure God’s counsel only by our present circumstances. If it is God’s will for a family to move toward country living, then nothing is impossible with Him.

The first step may not be buying a country property immediately. The first step may simply be prayer. It may be fasting. It may be asking God to open the way, change our desires, give wisdom, remove obstacles, and prepare our hearts. As the mind becomes more prayerfully focused on country living, practical steps will usually begin to follow.

A family may begin by researching rural areas, learning about land, reducing debt, saving money, growing food in small spaces, visiting country properties, speaking with like-minded believers, learning useful skills, or simplifying their lifestyle. These baby steps may seem small, but small steps taken in faith can gradually lead to open doors.

Faith does not sit still and say, “If God wants it, He will do everything while I do nothing.” True faith prays, watches, studies, prepares, and moves forward as God opens the way. Many things that seem impossible at the beginning may become possible when God leads and we cooperate with Him.

Therefore, the question is not only, “Can I afford to move right now?”

The deeper questions are:

• Do I believe God’s counsel enough to begin moving in that direction?
• Am I willing to pray, fast, research, simplify, and take practical steps?
• Am I asking God to make a way, while also preparing myself to walk through the door when He opens it?

If the Lord wants a family in the country, He can provide the timing, the place, the means, the wisdom, and the opportunity. But we must be willing to believe, surrender our excuses, and move forward step by step. What begins as a burden in prayer may eventually become the reality of owning or living permanently in a country property where the family can grow, prepare, and serve.

The question is not merely, “Can I afford to move?”

The deeper question is, “Where can my family best prepare for the coming of Christ?”


✨ Conclusion

Country living is not merely a survival tactic. It is part of God’s practical and spiritual preparation for the final crisis.

The call to come out of Babylon is not only a call to leave false worship, but to leave the corrupting influences, dependencies, habits, and values that bind the soul to the world.

God desires His people to establish homes where their children can be trained for heaven, where the family can live simply, where the mind can be clearer, where the body can be healthier, where practical skills can be developed, and where dependence upon Babylon’s systems can be reduced.

Like Elijah, God’s people may be called to step away for a time, to be trained, hidden, strengthened, and sustained by Him. Yet they are not to forget the mission. At the appointed time, they must give a clear and fearless witness, calling others to worship the true God and come out of Babylon before it is too late.

The sooner we respond to God’s counsel, the better prepared we will be — not only to stand in the crisis ourselves, but to help others escape Babylon’s grip and find safety in Christ.

Country living is not the final answer.

Christ is the final answer.

But country living can be one of the means God uses to prepare a people who know Him, trust Him, obey Him, and are ready to stand when every earthly support is removed.

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Country Living: A Call to Leave the Cities
The question "Is it time to leave the cities?" weighs heavily on the hearts of many believers today. As the world moves rapidly into moral decline, and as prophetic signs become more frequent and visible, God’s people are prompted to seek divine direction on this very matter.


📖 A Clear Prophetic Signal

Ellen G. White offers a foundational guide for understanding the timing and purpose of country living:

"As the siege of Jerusalem by the Roman armies was the signal for flight to the Judean Christians, so the assumption of power on the part of our nation, in the decree enforcing the papal Sabbath, will be a warning to us. It will then be time to leave the large cities, preparatory to leaving the smaller ones for retired homes in secluded places among the mountains."
—Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, pp. 464–465

The national enforcement of Sunday observance in the United States—identified in prophecy as the earth beast of Book of Revelation 13—will be a decisive signal. God's faithful will be prompted to leave first the large cities, and later the smaller towns, ultimately relocating to rural and secluded areas.


⏳ Is It Wise to Wait?

While some have pointed to the 1888 Blair Bill as the beginning of this warning, later prophetic instruction makes it clear that the call to leave the cities is a progressive one:

"More and more, as time advances, our people will have to leave the cities... families with children should plan to leave the cities as the way opens before them."
—Review and Herald, Sept. 27, 1906

This emphasizes wise preparation rather than panic. It also affirms that many will leave before any formal Sunday law is passed. Other statements strengthen this point:

"The cities are to be worked from outposts... not by God’s people living in them, but by their visiting them."
—Country Living, p. 30

"Get out of the cities as soon as possible and purchase a little piece of land..."
—Selected Messages, vol. 2, p. 356

"Out of the cities is my message at this time."
—Manuscript Release 1518, May 10, 1906

The cities are described as spiritually perilous, especially for children. Remaining without a divine reason is considered dangerous.


🙏 A Call to Thoughtful Action

This message is not a call to fear or frenzy but to thoughtful, Spirit-led action. God calls His people to be deliberate, praying for guidance, trusting in His providence, and moving forward as the way opens.

Country life promotes spiritual clarity, physical health, and a closer walk with God. The simplicity and quietness of rural living prepare hearts to hear the Spirit’s voice and cultivate families in the fear of the Lord.


⚠️ Prophetic Warnings and Practical Dangers

There are not only spiritual reasons but practical ones:

• Cities are densely populated and structurally vulnerable.
• Many cities have limited exit routes and will be difficult to flee in times of emergency.
• Natural disasters, pandemics, and civil unrest expose the fragility of urban systems.

"The cities are increasing in wickedness... those who remain in them unnecessarily do so at the peril of their souls."
—Country Living, p. 9


🌍 Cities to Be Visited by God's Judgments

Ellen White warns repeatedly of divine judgments to come:

"In a little while, these cities will be terribly shaken... Let God touch these buildings, and in a few minutes or a few hours they are in ruins..."
—Testimonies for the Church, vol. 7, pp. 82–83 (1902)

"Cities full of transgression... will be destroyed by earthquakes, by fire, by flood... Calamities will come—calamities most awful, most unexpected; and these destructions will follow one after another..."
—Evangelism, p. 27 (1906)

God’s judgments are not arbitrary. They are warnings, expressions of mercy designed to awaken the conscience before total destruction falls.

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Families should move out of the cities
The time has come, when, as God opens the way, families should move out of the cities." The Adventist Home, p. 139

"Out of the cities, is my message at this time. Be assured that the call is for our people to locate miles away from the large cities." Last Day Events, p. 95

The cities are to be worked from outposts. Said the messenger of God, “Shall not the cities be warned? Yes; not by God's people living in them, but by their visiting them, to warn them of what is coming upon the earth.” Mar 184.5

"'Out of the cities; out of the cities!' -- this is the message the Lord has been giving me. The earthquakes will come; the floods will come; and we are not to establish ourselves in the wicked cities, where the enemy is served in every way, and where God is so often forgotten." Review and Herald, July 5, 1906

Advantages of the Country:

With a Piece of Land and a Comfortable Home—Whenever possible, it is the duty of parents to make homes in the country for their children.1 AH 141.1

Fathers and mothers who possess a piece of land and a comfortable home are kings and queens.2 AH 141.2

Do not consider it a privation when you are called to leave the cities and move out into the country places. Here there await rich blessings for those who will grasp them.3 AH 141.3

Contributes to Economic Security—Again and again the Lord has instructed that our people are to take their families away from the cities, into the country, where they can raise their own provisions; for in the future the problem of buying and selling will be a very serious one. We should now begin to heed the instruction given us over and over again: Get out of the cities into rural districts, where the houses are not crowded closely together, and where you will be free from the interference of enemies. (AH P141)

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Benefits of Active Out-of-Door Life

If we place ourselves under objectionable influences, can we expect God to work a miracle to undo the results of our wrong course?—No, indeed. Get out of the cities as soon as possible, and purchase a little piece of land, where you can have a garden, where your children can watch the flowers growing, and learn from them lessons of simplicity and purity.—The General Conference Bulletin, March 30, 1903.

To live in the country would be very beneficial to them; an active, out-of-door life would develop health of both mind and body. They should have a garden to cultivate, where they might find both amusement and useful employment. The training of plants and flowers tends to the improvement of taste and judgment, while an acquaintance with God's useful and beautiful creations has a refining and ennobling influence upon the mind, referring it to the Maker and Master of all.—Testimonies for the Church 4:136 (1876).

If the land is cultivated, it will, with the blessing of God, supply our necessities. We are not to be discouraged about temporal things because of apparent failures, nor should we be disheartened by delay. We should work the soil cheerfully, hopefully, gratefully, believing that the earth holds in her bosom rich stores for the faithful worker to garner, stores richer than gold or silver. The niggardliness laid to her charge is false witness. With proper, intelligent cultivation the earth will yield its treasures for the benefit of man. The mountains and hills are changing; the earth is waxing old like a garment; but the blessing of God, which spreads a table for His people in the wilderness, will never cease.

A return to simpler methods will be appreciated by the children and youth. Work in the garden and field will be an agreeable change from the wearisome routine of abstract lessons, to which their young minds should never be confined. To the nervous child, who finds lessons from books exhausting and hard to remember, it will be especially valuable. There is health and happiness for him in the study of nature; and the impressions made will not fade out of his mind, for they will be associated with objects that are continually before his eyes.—Testimonies for the Church 6:178, 179 (1900).

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Souls of Children Versus Ease and Comfort

The time has come, when, as God opens the way, families should move out of the cities. The children should be taken into the country. The parents should get as suitable a place as their means will allow. Though the dwelling may be small, yet there should be land in connection with it, that may be cultivated.—Manuscript 50, 1903.

Let children no longer be exposed to the temptations of the cities that are ripe for destruction. The Lord has sent us warning and counsel to get out of the cities. Then let us make no more investments in the cities. Fathers and mothers, how do you regard the souls of your children? Are you preparing the members of your families for translation into the heavenly courts? Are you preparing them to become members of the royal family? children of the heavenly King? “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” How will ease, comfort, convenience, compare with the value of the souls of your children?—Manuscript 76, 1905.

Let no temporal advantages tempt parents to neglect the training of their children. Whenever possible, it is the duty of parents to make homes in the country for their children. The children and youth should be carefully guarded. They should be kept away from the hotbeds of iniquity that are to be found in our cities. Let them be surrounded by the influences of a true Christian home—a home where Christ abides.—Letter 268, 1906.

There is not one family in a hundred who will be improved physically, mentally, or spiritually, by residing in the city. Faith, hope, love, happiness, can far better be gained in retired places, where there are fields and hills and trees. Take your children away from the sights and sounds of the city, away from the rattle and din of streetcars and teams, and their minds will become more healthy. It will be found easier to bring home to their hearts the truth of the Word of God.—Manuscript 76, 1905.

Send the children to schools located in the city, where every phase of temptation is waiting to attract and demoralize them, and the work of character building is tenfold harder for both parents and children.—Fundamentals of Christian Education, 326 (1894).

Parents can secure small homes in the country, with land for cultivation, where they can have orchards and where they can raise vegetables and small fruits to take the place of flesh meat, which is so corrupting to the life blood coursing through the veins. On such places the children will not be surrounded with the corrupting influences of city life. God will help His people to find such homes outside the cities.—Medical Ministry, 310 (1902).
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The Perils of the Cities

Few realize the importance of shunning, so far as possible, all associations unfriendly to religious life. In choosing their surroundings, few make their spiritual prosperity the first consideration.

Parents flock with their families to the cities, because they fancy it easier to obtain a livelihood there than in the country. The children, having nothing to do when not in school, obtain a street education. From evil associates, they acquire habits of vice and dissipation. The parents see all this, but it will require a sacrifice to correct their error, and they stay where they are, until Satan gains full control of their children.

Better sacrifice any and every worldly consideration than to imperil the precious souls committed to your care. They will be assailed by temptations, and should be taught to meet them; but it is your duty to cut off every influence, to break up every habit, to sunder every tie, that keeps you from the most free, open, and hearty committal of yourselves and your family to God.

Instead of the crowded city, seek some retired situation where your children will be, so far as possible, shielded from temptation, and there train and educate them for usefulness. The prophet Ezekiel thus enumerates the causes that led to Sodom's sin and destruction: “Pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters; neither did she strengthen the hands of the poor and needy.” All who would escape the doom of Sodom, must shun the course that brought God's judgments upon that wicked city.—Testimonies for the Church 5:232, 233 (1882).

The world over, cities are becoming hotbeds of vice. On every hand are the sights and sounds of evil. Everywhere are enticements to sensuality and dissipation. The tide of corruption and crime is continually swelling. Every day brings the record of violence,—robberies, murders, suicides, and crimes unnamable.

Life in the cities is false and artificial. The intense passion for money getting, the whirl of excitement and pleasure seeking, the thirst for display, the luxury and extravagance, all are forces that, with the great masses of mankind, are turning the mind from life's true purpose. They are opening the door to a thousand evils. Upon the youth they have almost irresistible power.

One of the most subtle and dangerous temptations that assails the children and youth in the cities is the love of pleasure. Holidays are numerous; games and horse racing draw thousands, and the whirl of excitement and pleasure attracts them away from the sober duties of life. Money that should have been saved for better uses is frittered away for amusements.

The physical surroundings in the cities are often a peril to health. The constant liability to contact with disease, the prevalence of foul air, impure water, impure food, the crowded, dark, unhealthful dwellings, are some of the many evils to be met.

It was not God's purpose that people should be crowded into cities, huddled together in terraces and tenements. In the beginning He placed our first parents amidst the beautiful sights and sounds He desires us to rejoice in today. The more nearly we come into harmony with God's original plan, the more favorable will be our position to secure health of body, and mind, and soul.—The Ministry of Healing, 363-365 (1905).