Tag Archives: puffed up

THE BABYLONIAN ASPIRATION

January 28, 2021Bible Studyarrogant, greedy, puffed upLuella Campbell

THE BABYLONIAN ASPIRATION

See, the enemy is puffed up; his desires are not upright – indeed, wine betrays him; he is arrogant and never at rest. Because he is as greedy as the grave and like death is never satisfied, he gathers to himself all the nations and takes captive all the peoples (Hab. 2: 4a; 5).

What was the aspiration of Babylon’s ruler? He wanted to own and rule the world. The Babylonian army was raised up and trained to fulfil his dream. King followed king with the same ambition – to be the ruler of the greatest empire on earth. They were accurate representatives of the god they worshipped – Satan – the deceiver of men and usurper of God’s throne.

What is the spirit of Babylon? Greed! Babylon represents the drive to possess – in this case not only things but people. Death and the grave are perfect pictures of the spirit of Babylon – never satisfied; always wanting more. Hitler, Stalin, and even some of the modern religious sects and cults are Babylonian at heart – and so is every individual who has the insatiable desire to control and to possess.

Satan spawned Babylon because, through Babylon, he aspired to rule the world and to hold every human being captive to his ambition to take the throne from God and to be Lord. Babylon is symbolic of every person and everything that is anti-God and anti-Christ – every person who wants to control and, in the end, every individual who dominates others by intimidation or manipulation. The spirit of Babylon is the spirit of witchcraft.

But Babylon not only symbolises the spirit of the world; it also symbolises the counterfeit church – the great prostitute of John’s visions in the book of Revelation. Babylon, the city and the false religious system, was the source of every false religion which still infests and infects the world today.

Nimrod and his evil wife, Semiramis, set out to defy the living God by establishing cities to keep the people together and a tower to rescue the population from destruction by any further flood and to get nearer to heaven by their own efforts. It was a fist shaken in the face of God. It was the spirit of Frank Sinatra’s song, “I did it my way.”

However, God was always in charge, now as then. He had instructed them to fill the earth with people, not to stick together in cities. Confusion drove them apart and sent them out to populate the earth.

They went, taking their false religion with them. Instead of obeying God’s instruction to manage their earth for Him, they went out as representatives of Satan to sow disobedience and destruction wherever they went. Every nation in the Old Testament had its own form of the Babylonian mystery religion, symbolised by the mother and child cult – and all over the world today the same ancient religion is practised under many names.

What is the fate of Babylon?

“Woe! Woe to you, great city, you mighty city of Babylon! In one hour, your doom has come!” (Rev. 18: 10).

What is God’s prescription for His church?

Then I heard another voice from heaven say, “‘Come out of her, my people,’ so that you may not share her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues, for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes (Rev. 18: 4-5).

Yes, God raised up the Babylonians in history just as He revealed to Habakkuk. What they did to God’s people was no happenstance. He intended to be a wake-up call to His people to separate themselves from the spirit of the world. God has raised up today’s “Babylons” to awaken and purify His church. His word to us today is still the same:

Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? . . . Therefore, “Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” And, “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” (2 Cor. 6: 14; 17-18).

Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God (2 Cor. 7: 1).

The Babylonian Aspiration

May 8, 2015Bible Studyarrogant, enemy, greedy, puffed upLuella Campbell

THE BABYLONIAN ASPIRATION

Satan spawned Babylon because, through Babylon, he aspired to rule the world and to hold every human being captive to his ambition to take the throne from God and to be Lord. Babylon is symbolic of every person and everything that is anti-God and anti-Christ – every person who wants to control and, in the end every individual who dominates others by intimidation or manipulation. The spirit of Babylon is the spirit of witchcraft.

What is the fate of Babylon?

“Woe! Woe to you, great city, you mighty city of Babylon! In one hour your doom has come!” (Rev. 18: 10).

What is God’s prescription for His church?

Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God (2 Cor. 7: 1).

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A Surprising Revelation

May 5, 2015Bible Studyappointed time, end, plain, puffed up, revelation, righteousLuella Campbell

A SURPRISING REVELATION

Then the Lord replied, ‘Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and not delay. “See, the enemy is puffed up; his desires are not upright – but the righteous person will live by his faithfulness -” ‘ (Hab. 2: 2-4).

God’s reply to Habakkuk’s dilemma was not only for him and for his time but also for us and for all time. Perhaps the prophet was expecting something more precise than the answer God gave him. But what could be more specific than the eternal principle He uttered?

When God speaks, He need not give long explanations. A few words are sufficient to awaken the heart to a world of meaning. But God does not often communicate with words. He speaks by impressions that are difficult to express in words but convey to the heart everything one needs to know. How many times God has spoken to me a wordless message with a world of meaning!

Before His revelation came an instruction: Wait for it and when it comes, write it down. This message is not only for you; it is also for the whole world, and especially for those who fall into the same category as the godless Babylonians. This message is not for now; it will happen at the end of time; when the books are opened and the time for judgment comes.

This is God’s answer for the “why do you do nothing?” question when the wicked seem to prosper and the godly suffer. There is an answer but it is not for now. This is the difficult part for us because we demand justice, and we want it now. We are forced to view each situation from God’s perspective. No, He is not indifferent. No, He has not forgotten us. He has a different timetable for a different reason from our “I want you to do something now” mentality.

In this prophecy, God divides the whole world into two categories: Those who are “puffed up” and those who are “righteous”. What does it mean to be puffed up? It means to be full of “wind”. The Hebrew word ruach can be translated “wind” or “spirit”. Jesus compared the Holy Spirit – pneuma, the Greek equivalent – to the wind in John 3. When ruach is used of God, it means “spirit”. When it is used of man, it refers to his pride. A proud person is full of “hot air” or wind.

The Babylonians were a proud people. They relied on themselves for their accomplishments. They had no time or place for God. Their greatest king, Nebuchadnezzar, epitomised the attitude of the nation. He forgot his dream and the warning that came with it (Dan. 4: 4; 24-27; 28-37) and went insane. For seven years he lived like an animal until he came to his senses and acknowledged that, after all, he was not God!

But the prophecy was even more personal than that. In a nutshell, every single person will have to face God and give an account of his life. This is not about nations. This is about individuals. God is inescapable and in the white light of His holiness, every heart will be exposed. This is about every person’s eternal destiny. This is about who will live and who will die.

The righteous person, by comparison, will not only navigate this life by his trust in God but will also enter the next and continue to live forever through the everlasting life God gives to those who trust in Him. God reckons those righteous who rely on Him for forgiveness which takes care of their sin, and grace which provides help for their weakness. They are filled with God’s Spirit, not the hot air of their own self-sufficiency.

Each Babylonian soldier who took part in the campaigns to capture and destroy nations would have to account for his actions and his motives. Each person who ever lives and who has ever lived with stand before God and give an account of his life. On the Day of Judgment the books will be opened.

Then I saw a great white throne and Him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from His presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and the books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. . . . Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire (Rev. 20: 11-12; 15).

God’s response goes way beyond the Babylonian issue. God’s answer to Habakkuk embraces His rule over the whole world. He will come, and He will judge the earth in righteousness. All those who have not entrusted themselves to His mercy will perish. No contest!