The Spirit of Babylon - Pastor Daniel Batarseh

With everything that's going on in the world right now, I believe it demands necessary attention in the word of God to be able to filter everything through the truth of God's word. Because the reality is you and I are being tempted and bombarded with different perspectives, and we are being pulled into that. And if we're not careful, we'll be able to now think the way the world thinks and analyze situations and circumstances the way the world does. And it should be our conviction that during these times that we anchor ourselves in the truth of God's word, lest we'll be swept away by different ideologies. When you and I become born again, we receive new priorities in life.

But not only do we receive new priorities, we receive new perspectives. We view everything through the word of God. And the more we train ourselves in the word of God, the more we will view things almost naturally through the word of God. This is important for us to comprehend because as we look out here in our generation, we look into this nation and we realize that the the core conclusion of what we are witnessing is the manifestation of a culture that refuses to submit to God. Now I know that that's been said from this pulpit for the past few weeks over and over again, and I don't wanna be redundant here.

I don't wanna repeat myself. But I wanna look at this whole situation from a different biblical perspective, and it's a very simple one. What you and I are experiencing is nothing new. K? This attitude and the atmosphere that we are in is nothing new.

It has been there from the origins of time, and and listen very carefully, it will remain here until the end of time. You're saying, how is that? Because behind all of this is a spiritual influence. How nations are interacting, how nations are reacting and acting to certain things, there is a spiritual influence behind our governments, our our our platforms of influence. There is something behind it all and I wanna prove that from the word of God.

I want us to see that from the scriptures because there is a thread from beginning to end that shows us how this is the case. And you might call call it what you wanna call it. I'm gonna be very specific on what I believe we can call it. And I would say that it is the spirit of Babylon. The spirit of Babylon.

You might be wondering, what do you mean? When you hear Babylon, you understand that it's a it's a physical location historically. It was the the capital city of what? Of one of the greatest empires in history. But the Bible doesn't just identify it as a historical place.

It goes beyond that. The scripture shows us that Babylon is actually a term used to symbolize an attitude of defiance and rebellion against God. Because Babylon, although it was a historical place, carried a certain reputation. And listen, although the empire has ceased to exist, the influence behind it is still thriving today, and it will continue to thrive until Jesus comes back. So as we open up God's word, let's pray and ask him for wisdom and clarity on this.

Well, we pray that as we study this together this morning that it would it would cause us to just worship you because of your wisdom. You've shown us how this is already written in your word. You've given us a perspective that the world does not possess, and therefore, we have answers that the world does not have. Help us, Lord, comprehend your truth and be changed by it. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen. Let's go to Genesis chapter 11 together in our in our bibles, and let's go to the origins of of Babel. This is a very familiar passage, and it's not just a historical record of what happened near the beginning of time, it is the beginning of something that we are still experiencing today. Now let's read from verse one. Now the whole earth had one language and the same words.

Pause. Can you imagine a world like that? Now we're living in a world where there are different nationalities and different races and different verbiage. Right? Because this is not just the same language.

We're talking about the same vocabulary. Everybody understood everybody on every level of communication. Just place yourself in this in this verse for a moment. A world of no differentiation between races or backgrounds or ethnicities. Everybody came from the same people.

Everybody spoke the same. There was no division in this area. So there was no chance necessarily for discrimination or any type of, hate towards one another on the physical level. Everybody was the same, so to speak. Interesting.

Right? And we look at that and and we read on in verse two, and as people migrated from the East, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, come let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly. We think this is innocent. This is wonderful.

Here's a here's the world in collaboration together and they are now just thriving as a people and we think that this is beautiful. And if anything, we think we want the world to be like this now, where there's a sense of unity and allegiance and partnership, where we don't see each other differently. But I wanna argue something, that although this seems like a utopia, although this seems like something that we should strive for, what we're about to find out is that if there is any pursuit of unity or partnership or agreement on a human level, apart from God being in the mix, it is a recipe for disaster. Because everything about this, the world and how it was at this point, is about to prove that if you get a bunch of humans together and you try to eliminate all the differences as much as you want, evil is still residing in the heart. And if they are not unified under the banner of the gospel and who God is, they're gonna find something.

They're gonna find some evil to manifest in. And that is true today. Any attempt to pursue peace on a human level, apart from God's wisdom and God's word and God's law, is only a recipe for self destruction, guaranteed. In fact, do you see how this world was one? One not just in language, not one just in vocabulary, but one in pursuit and purpose.

They are now going to have this worldwide building project. And everything seems so in harmony. But I wanna make the case that what we're seeing here is exactly what the devil wants. You think, I thought that's what God wants. No.

This, this type of unity apart from God is what Satan is striving for and will accomplish to some degree in the end times. Read Revelation chapter seventeen and eighteen, and you will notice that at one point in our day, in a future day, the enemy will strive to create a one world government and religious system to try to unify the world, to try to eliminate differences, to try to bring it together. Why? Because it's so much easier to work with the people in that way to fulfill an agenda if they're all in agreement. And it's an antichrist concept that Satan is trying to attempt to create.

Ultimately, to turn against God just like how they did here. We're not against unity, but it's unity under the gospel that we're striving for. Clearly, Jesus prayed for that in John 17. But what we're seeing here is a unity apart from God, which only creates a concentration of evil and wickedness to blow up as we're about to find out. So what do they do?

They say, come, let us build together. Let us create something together. This is innocent. Right? They wanna use their evolving skills and their modern technology to create something.

And what do they wanna create? Let's find out in verse four. Then they said, come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth. So they want a city and they want a tower. Now, again, we read this and we think this is this is fine.

This is what society does. They evolve. They they advance. And maybe this tower in our in our minds is just for the sake of creating some kind of defense system so that they can they can look out to the horizon and and be alerted if an enemy is coming and a neighboring nation to to attack. But hold on, that doesn't make sense.

Why? Because there isn't neighboring nations. Who are they gonna go to war with? They are one world. They are one people.

So maybe they're they're ambitious in the sense that they wanna just fulfill creativity with this, design of a tower. That doesn't make sense either because we see in the in the verses following why they wanna build this tower, and they wanna build this tower to make a statement. A statement to who? To God himself. This tower being built to the heavens is a declaration of independence.

In their knowledge, God and his command center is from heaven, and he issues his decrees from above. And so in in order to build this tower to the heavens, they they want to, in essence, either join God or dethrone him completely and say, we don't want you to determine what is good and evil for us. We will come to the heavens ourselves, and we will usher what we believe is right and what we believe is wrong. And so the very fact that this is going up to the heavens is to declare that, God, we are not going to be on the receiving end of who you are. We are going to give and receive from ourselves, and we want nothing to do with you.

That is what the spirit of Babylon that's the essence of the spirit of Babylon, pride, independence, a removal of God's influence. An I am statement, we are self sufficient, and we don't need God to influence or to give us any direction. And and the fact that this this statue, this this this thing being created is going to the heavens is a familiar type of physical declaration of an inward reality, a loftiness. In fact, God condemns another people group known as the Edomites and Obadiah. And look look at what this verse says in verse three of Obadiah one.

The pride of your heart, God says, has deceived you. You who live in the clefts of the rock, in your lofty dwelling, who say in your heart, who will bring me down to the ground? The Edomites lived in an area where naturally there was fortification in the mountains, so they placed themselves up there. But that that height was a reflection of their loftiness, their hearts being lifted up. And they were making a statement even in where they were residing saying, Look how high we are.

Nobody can attack us. Nobody can bring us down. And God says, I'm gonna bring you down. I'm gonna bring you down. And so even the this project, it wasn't an innocent project.

God's not against design. God's not against creativity. God's not against advancement. But it was a statement of the heart, we are coming up. And there is no sense of fear that God would bring them down.

Pride. That's what's behind the spirit of Babylon. And then we go on to say here the mission statement. Let us make a name for ourselves. Let us make a name for ourselves.

This is how we know that they were possessed with a perverted purpose behind this tower. We want to create our own identity. We don't want God to tell us who we are. We don't want God to identify us. We want to do that for ourselves, and we will.

And here's this pursuit of fame, this pursuit of strength, of prosperity, of purpose apart from God, and you can see here that there is no hint of exalting God, glorifying God. It's all about us, and we wanna keep it that way. And here's what's happening. They're planning, they're building, they're creating, they're use of technology for the sake of their own reputation, and their own praise is behind what Babylon represents. God is out of the picture completely, and we're fine with that.

And the temptation of that mentality is not just for society, it's for an individual as well. And when you have a bunch of individuals that think like that, this is what you have. An entire culture that celebrates and praises that kind of outlook on life. Here's an example. Jesus gave a parable in Luke chapter 12.

You can turn there if you want. He goes on to describe a man who was rich, who had no name, but was a fool. If God had any identity for this man, it was, you're a fool. And then this is the interesting part. You look at the description of this man's thoughts as Jesus unfolds it in this parable.

And listen carefully. It says in Luke twelve seventeen, and he thought to himself, this rich man thought to himself, what shall I do? For I have nowhere to store my crops. And he said, I will do this. I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.

And I will say to my soul, soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years. Relax, eat, drink, be merry. Read on and realize that if we stopped here, you know what men would say perhaps in their natural understanding? This guy is wise. This guy is planning for his future.

This guy is smart. This guy is in investments. This is wonderful. God has a different definition for this man and it's in one word. Just read on.

He says, you fool. This night your soul is required of you. Isn't it amazing that what man praises and what man is striving to be like, God has a different commentary on altogether? It's incredible. Now why is he a fool?

Because aren't we called to be wise with what we have? Absolutely. Aren't we called to plan for the future? Absolutely. But revisit the man's thoughts.

And what do you notice? Nothing mentioned of God. The only things that litter his thoughts are I and my. I and my. I will do this.

I will plan this. I will build this. My soul, my soul, my good, my future, my pleasure. It's the same mentality. A dismissal of the sovereignty and the rule of God, and a consuming passion to gratify self.

Again, let me say this, what this man lived for is what the West strives for and praises. And it's not too foreign to what we're reading of in Genesis 11 here. Let us make a name for ourselves. Life is about me. Life is about us.

Now what's amazing is when you go back to Genesis 11, that was the mantra of the people of Babel. Go to Genesis 12, and what are you gonna notice? We're introduced to a man named Abram. And look what God says to Abram in verse one. Now the Lord said to Abram, go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.

Now look at verse two. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great. I will make your name great so that you will be a blessing. Do you see? In Genesis 11 you have a people that say, We want to make a name for ourselves.

You go to Genesis 12, you say, you see God speaking to men saying, I will make a name for you. You obey me, Abram. You follow me, Abram. You submit to me, Abram. And I will bless you, and I will take care of your reputation.

I will take care of your purpose. I'll take care of your influence because you are obeying me. And Abram, as we know, changed his name to Abraham, and then we are still understanding and studying this man for who he is. God's word came to pass. See, lasting purpose is found in obedience to God.

A praise that will actually matter comes from the lips of God, not the lips of clay. See, what happens when you and I adopt this Babylonian mindset that is very much true in our day? Let us make a name for ourselves. All you have to do is continue in Genesis 11 and see that that will only lead to nothing but confusion and frustration in your life. God will not tolerate that kind of a mentality too long before he intervenes, and he does.

And what happened to the people of Babel will happen to the individual or society that chooses to live by that mission statement. God will cause frustration and confusion. Let us make a name for ourselves. But there's a third part. There's a third beating motive behind this project.

It says lest What does it say? Lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth. Now if we weren't convinced that let us make a name for ourselves is bad enough, it gets worse. It gets worse with this Babylonian mindset. They are now revealing the ugliness of this mega project, and it is anti God written all over it.

What's the purpose? We don't wanna be dispersed. We've come to the land of Shinar so that we can be parked right here, and we wanna stay right here as long as possible. And And again, we we then go, what's the big deal? Why is that such a problem?

Because it goes in direct contradiction to what God had said early on in the book of Genesis. See, this project was resistance to the threat of God's word in their lives. This was a pushback and they wanted to build a new civilization, but in their way, not in God's way. All you have to do is look back and see what God told Noah to understand what this means. So go back to Genesis nine seven.

What did God tell Noah after the flood? Says, and you be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it. Fill the earth, disperse, explore, consume, inhabit. And Noah as a preacher of righteousness, that would have been included in his message. He preached God's word as it was revealed to him.

And I'm sure at one point in his message it was we have to obey God, be fruitful, multiply. And here you have a people that say, no. We're gonna stay right here and we're gonna plant ourselves and dig our roots so deep so that God would not even have a chance of dispersing us. So this spirit of Babylon is very rebellious to any command that God gives. If it's repent and follow Christ, no.

If it's this is the standard of marriage, no. If this is the sanctity of life, no. If this is how the family should be built, no. Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth.

No. It's evil at its core and it despises every hint of righteousness that comes from God. It was true then, and it's growing more and more today. Believe it. And if you don't, we're gonna see how it's only manifesting more throughout history.

What makes this story so sad in Genesis 11, what makes it even more tragic than what it already is, is that this people were found after the flood. This is a post flood story. This is not a pre flood story. And we know the purpose behind the flood. Right?

Yes, it was an act of judgment, but it was also done in a way to clean this world up and to start fresh again. And the world was such in a place that God could only find one man in his family to be a righteous remnant with the hopes, though God knew what was gonna happen. It's a message to us, if anything, That through this one righteous family, after cleaning this world up, would produce God fearing descendants and we can start all over again. And once he does, once God presses the restart button and the floods come and wipe away everything, within a matter of years, you have a new population in the world. And they look at God in the face and say, no.

You know what that tells you and me? That a worldwide flood isn't gonna fix our problem. That pressing the restart button on society, on politics, on culture will not solve this problem. Reform this, reform that, restart this, replan that, relaw this, relaw that. Do whatever you want.

No flood will clean up anything because it's external. The only flood that will clean is the internal one that comes from the crimson flow of Jesus Christ. That's the only flood that's gonna work, an internal one. When you plunge your hardened heart in the fountain that flows from Emmanuel's veins, there is the solution. And that's what this flood story teaches us.

Clean it all up all you want. Submerge it all you want. Revolutionize, revive, call it what you wanna call it, it's all external. And as much as you wanna clean it up, it's gonna manifest itself in one way or another. It's gonna come back again.

It's It's gonna rear its ugly head again. You need an internal redoing. And that's what this story shows us, that there is no other means to restoring or reviving or realigning apart from Christ himself. So what happens? The language of these people, come let us, come let us, come let us.

So what does god say? Come, let us. Speaking within the triune godhead. Verse five, and the Lord came down to see the city and the tower where the children of men had built, and the Lord said, behold, they are one people and they have one language and this is only the beginning of what they will do and nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down, playing on their words in a sarcastic way.

So God hears from heaven and the language of these people is, let's do this, let's do that. And then there are pride moving forward and trying to advance to dethrone God. So God on his throne says, come, let us. The fact that he has to come down, not that he didn't know what was going on, not that he needs to come down, is a statement that as much as they were trying to build, it wasn't reaching high enough. God has to come down to look at it.

And as he comes down, he makes an interesting observation that the Holy Spirit records for us. These people are one, they have one language, and what? This is only the beginning of what they will do. Nothing will be impossible for them. You know what the temptation is to take a verse like that and say that's an awesome verse for unity.

If we unify, nothing will be impossible for us. Actually, this is a terrifying commentary on the nature of man. Because these people were one, because they were concentrated together, because they were collaborating, what God was saying is, this whole thing as horrific as it is, as blasphemous as it is, is only the beginning. Leave man to themselves long enough and this will just be the baby steps of what they have the potential to do. The wickedness and the darkness that they can plunge themselves into.

And so the unity of of a people that are unregenerate coming together, God is saying it's a terrifying thing. And so he says, in his act of mercy, we are going to intervene. And so what we see here is a judgment, but in fact it's an act of mercy as well. He touches their lips so to speak and changes their languages so that when they woke up the next day to come and to build together, here's one person speaking one language, another person speaking another language, and they're confused. And they are frustrated.

And you can just imagine the scene of people running around trying to find others who are speaking the same language, and God did this. And the place was called Babel, which means confusion. That's what it brought him down to, pure confusion. And God did this. And then it says, and the Lord dispersed them.

I love that. You know why? Because they were so convinced that God wasn't gonna have his way, that they're gonna stay where they want, but the purposes of the Lord always prevail, don't they? You don't wanna disperse? Then I'm gonna disperse you.

And he flicks some here, and he flicks some there, and he move the others over here, and they disperse whether they wanted to or not. See, no matter how much we advance in technology, just like they were advancing in technology, and no matter how much there is a unified purpose and plan and people to come against God, all God needs to do by the snap of his finger is make one choice and all of that crumbles. All of that crumbles. And so now what you have is a dispersion of people all across the land, which is a great text to prove why we have different backgrounds and all these different ethnicities, and this is where it started. And now all these people have these different languages, and the fact that there's these different languages is actually a sign pointing back to God intervening in judgment for the people who came together to try to defy him.

Now here's the beautiful thing. You go to Acts chapter two, the birth of the church, God sends the Holy Spirit to fill his people and to indwell them, and what happens? Flames that look like tongues of fire were appearing above their heads, and what you had was a 120 people speaking different languages, but of now who have come together. It's a reversal of what happened here in Genesis 11. They have now come together under the banner of the gospel showing that God is for unity but under one purpose and one mission and one king, him.

And so even though this was the result of of God's intervention and displeasure towards his people, what the gospel does is it reverses this. And it brings those of different backgrounds and races and skin colors and and traditions under one roof, but from one binding factor and that is the blood and the indwelling work of the Holy Spirit. The real flood that we need. The influence of who he is indwelling us and possessing us. So here, languages spread out.

Acts chapter two, the languages come back together and the people are unified under a new and the only solution, and that's him and him alone. It's It's a beautiful picture. You would think, Yes, Genesis 11. We're finished with the spirit of Babel or Babylon. Not so.

We can find traces here and there, but it really shows up on the scene again, and I encourage you to turn there in Daniel chapter one. So you go to Daniel chapter one and what do you see there? The maturing of Babel, the resurfacing of Babel known as Babylon. And as we go there, we're gonna see some familiar things from Genesis 11. Because again, what the spirit of Babylon wants to do is continue to resurface in every generation.

No matter what point in history, no matter what generation you study, you will always find this kind of mentality trying to influence and dominate the culture of its time. So we look at Daniel chapter one in verse one. In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand with some of the vessels of of the house of God, and he brought them to the land of Shinar. Sound familiar?

Genesis 11. That's where the people planted themselves. That's where Babel started, in the land of Shinar. And here we are again revisiting the land of Shinar. And we have a king with a ruling empire known as Babylon.

And this is what's interesting about Babylon. The king brings Jerusalem into exile, and surely he destroyed many people's lives, but he does something unique. Instead of completely liquidating them and eradicating them, he takes teenagers from the royal line and preserves them and keeps them. You think for what purpose? Well, he enrolls them in his university.

And for a few years now, he has this plan to recondition and reprogram their thinking so that the young people would be used for his purpose and his agenda and further advance the mentality that is behind this system. And so we read of Daniel and his friends, and these Jewish young men who came from Arroyo are now living in a culture and system that was doing everything in its power to strip away their testimony and allegiance to Yahweh. Nebuchadnezzar had a long term plan, did he not? It was to take advantage of the skills, the looks, the smarts, the bendable minds of these young people, and to place them in a system, in a curriculum that would rewire them. And we read here that it was so intense and so serious that it went to the point where they were renamed from their Hebrew names to Babylonian names.

So look at verse seven of Daniel chapter one. And the chief of the eunuchs gave them names. Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego. We think, what's the big deal? It's a big deal.

Because each of their names in the Hebrew refers to an aspect of who God is. Daniel means God is my judge. No wonder the man lived without wavering. He lived up to his name. God is my judge.

King, you can't judge me. Babylon, you can't judge me. At the end of it all, I'm gonna stand before the king of kings. So I'm gonna live according to that revelation no matter what. God is my judge.

He's the final judge. Judge over you, judge over me, judge over us. So my convictions are gonna be laid out by him, not by Babylon. Hananiah, Yahweh is gracious. Mishael, who is what God is.

Azariah, Yahweh has helped or will help. Everything to do with the true and living God. And then you look at their Babylonian names, and it has to do with association with false gods. Why change their names? What's the purpose?

Well, it's There's a spirit behind it. Go back to Genesis 11, you don't have to turn there. And what did they say in verse four? Let us make a what? A name for ourselves.

We don't want God to tell us who we are. This society, Babylon, hundreds of years later from Genesis 11, is still founded on the same principles to know an identity apart from what God had inscribed from all eternity past. Get out of our system, God. To the point where our names will not even have identity with you. You think that's far fetched.

No, it's not. You have celebrities and politicians that can't even say God from a microphone. This Babylonian mindset is alive and well today and the strategy is no different. I find it quite amusing that the same strategy that Babylon had in Daniel chapter one is the same strategy that our culture has. That the main pump of influence is in our school systems.

And the main target for Nebuchadnezzar is the same target today, our young people. Get them while they're young. Get them while their their minds are sponges. Get them while they're still developing and trying to figure out what life is and developing their own understanding of of their identity. The quicker the better, the younger the better.

So let's touch Disney Channel, let's touch our TV shows and our entertainment and our music, and let's flood our young people. And here's where the church is at fault at in the most part, that we've reduced our youth programs to simply having fun and games, not against fun and games, just a disclaimer. No. It's not sinful. Don't worry.

Okay? But when you reduce it simply to pizza parties and Xbox games, and you do not give attention to dissecting and expounding the word of God, I can tell you this much, the world out there is framing their convictions and is framing their identity. If the church does not help the young people identify who they are in God's eyes, the world will gladly do it. Everything from how this world came to be and everything from the fluidity apparently of sexuality. The world will gladly take your children and change their identity.

And this Babylonian mindset is not even intimidated at taking the young people who grew up like Daniel and his friends in a godly heritage. They will be glad to take those of a godly heritage from godly homes and godly parents and recondition them. And it's happening. It is happening. The church cannot afford to be light on true and profound biblical teaching.

We need to invest in it more. I mean, just think about it. Most churches have once a week meetings. Once a week. And they are in school how many hours a week?

And they're on social media how many times a week? We cannot play the fool and think that that is not affecting them somehow. And so the church has a instrumental role in investing in the minds of young people or else Babylon will do it gladly. I'm not one to say that we should run away from Babylon, run away from the world, run away from secular things. I'm not one to say that.

You know why? Because if we do it right, we can change Babylon. See, what I love about Daniel and his friends, they're teenagers, scholars would believe between 14 and 17 years old. What's beautiful about this part of history concerning Babylon is that when Daniel and his friends were parked right there, talking about new culture away from home, new holidays, new way of thinking, new way of eating, everything. Can you feel the pressure for them?

They're away from everything, including their homes. And yet, he stands firm with his friends. So much so that the king of Babylon, some would say, was converted by their influence. And God gave Nebuchadnezzar a place as a pagan king to write in holy writ, Daniel chapter four, praising God. So we should not be fearful or intimidated.

We just make the investment. Whoever their parents were did a wonderful job. Because even at the expense of them being exiled, they stood firm. And it's not just parents, we have to make our own individual decisions. See, if we're not careful, this mindset, this attitude, this spirit can destroy a generation.

And call it what you wanna call it. You go to Daniel chapter one, and you see it's education, you see it's investment, you see it's a university, there's probably even a degree, there's probably celebration at the end of these years. But go to Isaiah 47, and look at the commentary that God gives about Babylon in this era during Daniel's time, and see that God sees things differently. I want you to see how God identifies this spirit, though it was a sophisticated system. He says in Isaiah forty seven ten, look what God says to Babylon, you felt secure in your wickedness.

You said, no one sees me. Now look at this. Your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray, and you said in your heart, I am. Who said I am? God said I am.

I am, God says. But Babylon says, I am, and there is no one besides me. God says there is no one besides me. But this culture was so engulfed with themselves that they had the audacity to use verbiage that belongs to God alone to identify themselves. And look what he says, your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray.

What what wisdom and knowledge? Their spiritual understanding, as Nebuchadnezzar depended on enchanters and magicians, and their political understandings. In those realms, because they refused to draw it from who God was and what his word says, it led to them being astray. And that outlook on life is what Nebuchadnezzar was trying to instill in these young Hebrew boys. And that outlook on life is the same thing that many nations, including our own, are trying to deposit in the young people today.

Believe it. But we are not intimidated. We had prayer week this past week, and on the last night, we talked about a wonderful verse in Jeremiah 29. Listen to this verse. It was Jeremiah's letter to those who would go to Babylon, and here's one of his instructions to the people that would be in exile in a foreign land.

He says in Jeremiah twenty nine seven, but seek the welfare of the city where I've sent you into exile and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in it, its welfare, you will find your welfare. Do you understand what he's saying? You're being shipped to Babylon, you're gonna be influenced, you're gonna be oppressed. But I'm telling you, pray for the welfare of Babylon because their welfare will be yours. See, it's easy for us to sit back and condemn and and post and we just slash this spirit that is operating in our age, but God says pray.

Pray for them. That's amazing because God allowed Babylon to be his instrument of judgment and still God says pray for them. Because in your prayers is the power to bless them and when they are blessed, I will bless you. It's a crazy thought, isn't it? But it's an invitation for us to come in with light and to make sure that as long as we are grounded in the word and we are not pushed to and fro by what this world offers, we'll be just fine, more than fine, we'll be influential.

Unfortunately though, as much as we can in different times of history including our own influence this Babylonian mindset that pervades in our generation, like they did in Daniel's time. Babylon eventually crashed, taken over by Persia. And you think there it is, Babylon is done. We're done with her. That mentality will never rear its ugly head again.

That spirit will never have influence upon a people again. Wrong. Because you follow the thread and you go to the last book of the Bible, and there she is again, Babylon. Go to Revelation 18 as we close in a moment. Now think about this.

We saw Babel in Genesis 11. We saw Babylon in Daniel chapter one. And now we come to Revelation, and there she is again, Babylon. Now scholars debate, is this a actual physical location? That's debated, but one thing is not debated, that Babylon in the book of Revelation signifies a political and religious and even commercial system that will be very much obvious and influential during the tribulation period.

I mean, so influential and powerful is Babylon, that spirit of Babylon, that it will affect the whole world. It will affect the whole world to come together to come together just like in Genesis 11, a false sense of unity, an antichrist motivation, and there will be a worldwide system that will offer a sense of hope and peace, which is totally counterfeit and false. Now what happens is that Babylon from Genesis 11, Daniel, intensifies in Revelation. I mean, there's gonna be full gas, no brakes on how this thing is gonna permeate the world, but it's gonna fall. It's going to fall.

Look what it says here, Verse two of Revelation 18, and he called out with a mighty voice, fallen, fallen is Babylon The Great. She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast. Do you see what Babylon will become? It will become literally a host. Though it is operating, listen, in the political realm, in the religious realm, and even in the business realm, it will be nothing short of demonic.

Nothing short. If you and I think that what's our governments and our media, if you think that these things don't have spiritual influences, we're fooling ourselves. And the bible is telling us, it will be at this point in history energized by hell itself, full throttle. And you have the antichrist as the puppet for Satan to trying to receive worship from the world because that's what the devil's been after from day one. But what happens is Babylon will fall totally at one point.

Sure, Babylon in different parts of history can be influenced by a remnant, but its total destruction can only come when Jesus Christ returns. That's the only time it's gonna be eradicated once and for all. And it will fall and it will remain fallen. It will never get back up again. He will judge this diabolical man centered society that had been around since the fall of man itself.

And the grip and influence upon mankind at this point will be so intense, so intense. If you think it's intense now, it will be so intense that all you have to do is scroll to verse four and see that god god actually has to call his own people to come out of her. Look at verse four. Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, come out of her, my people. My people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues for her sins are heaped high as heaven.

Oh, in Genesis 11, it was a tower. Revelation 18, it's their sins. Heaping as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. There is a call in Revelation 18, even during the tribulation period, for God's people to shake off the influences of Babylon from their own mindset because it's going to be popular. It's going to be powerful.

It's going to affect every aspect of life, and it can even influence the elect. Now do you think the call is just for Revelation 18 in a future sense, or is it for today as well? It's for today as well. It's for today as well. This Babylonian mindset that is fueled by pride, a false sense of unity apart from the gospel.

This idea of an autonomous government apart from God's influence. This pursuit of living apart from accountability from God and redefining identity as God has labeled it in every aspect, from marriage to sexuality to the sanctity of life, like they renamed Daniel and his friends. That can influence professing Christians. And if you're not like Daniel and his friends who refused see, Babylon can name them what they wanted to name him, but they knew who they were internally. They knew who they represented.

They knew who they lived for, and they lived up to their names, especially Daniel. If you do not allow the word of God to continually saturate your mind, because the church is not solely responsible, you and I as individuals, Daniel says I he resolved in himself that he would not be defiled. You have to make that choice. You will be corrupted because this thing is powerful. This thing is powerful, and just like them, as they looked around, they were surrounded by images and idols and and all these different things that were antichrist.

It can it can influence you. And I'm scared that many professing Christians today are adopting, solutions and mindsets that are apart from the wisdom of God's word. And listen, any wisdom apart from God's word, just like he said in Isaiah 47, will lead people astray. Might not immediately, but just look down the road and see where it's gonna lead them. Babylon is something that you and I are facing today.

It will come to an end one day, but we have a responsibility and that's to remain strong, and not just strong, but remain influential. What I love about Daniel is that him and his friends stood firm and didn't know the outcome of it, and we don't know the outcome of our own convictions either. But in their case, they want some. And in our case, it could be the same. We might be thrown into the lion's den, but not be delivered, and that's okay.

Because God is still worthy of our allegiance whether we are praised for it or not. And we have to have that mentality as those friends. God is able to deliver us, but even if he doesn't, we're not bowing down. Oh, that god would raise up a remnant like that, and he's able. So I say this this morning to say what we're seeing today is nothing new.

It's only gonna intensify. The political chaos, the running around trying to find salute. Oh, the world is gonna come to such a place of distraught and distress. And there's gonna be such a lack of answers for what's going on in the world. Listen, it's gonna be the perfect platform for the antichrist to come, and people will be so desperate they will throw themselves at his feet.

Believe this. This is just a dress rehearsal. It's nothing. Are you disturbed now? Just wait.

Just wait. We believe God will take us before then, and it's gonna be a very difficult thing to be a Christian during that time. But there's nothing that says that it won't get even more intense before Jesus comes back and takes us home. There's nothing that says that it's gonna come, surely. But we're not afraid.

We're not afraid of the spirit of Babylon because there's a greater spirit in us. And God is gonna take care of us as long as we hold on to him. Amen? Let's pray and believe God for it. Father, by your word, you have identified the very thing behind what we are experiencing in our day, and we thank you for your wisdom.

This has been around since the beginning and it will be here till the end. But Lord, we know that you will have ultimate victory and we know that you can give us victory to withstand the pressures of the spirit of Babylon in our day. May we be saturated by the word of God. May we be convinced of the convictions that are written in the word. May we not be led astray by the wisdom and the knowledge of this world that chose to make a name for themselves apart from you.

Lord, we look to you and we obey your command throughout the scriptures that tells us to pray for our leaders and to pray for our nation. Bring peace, bring order, bring revelation like you did to Nebuchadnezzar that you are the true and living God. And help your church remain strong and not swept away by ideologies and philosophies that have no power in them. That might sound like a good idea, but have no true substance for change and lasting peace. Lord, we know that the only flood that will work is the flood of your blood in the hearts of men.

So flood this nation with your blood and let people turn to you again. Lord, we love you because we just heard from you in your wisdom of how to make sense of all of this. And so we praise you in song even in Babylon. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.