Enemies of Revival Terminology

Prophetic Vision has been influenced by the Babylonian structure which has infiltrated the Church.  This structure holds back Prophetic Vision and attacks anything that tries to move forward within its system, and outside of its sphere of influence.  For this reason, we are presenting a condensed study guide on terminology to the Enemies of Revival.  We will look at Babylon, Jezebel, Assyrian, Baal, Ahab.  I have included Elijah, who was not an enemy of God, but a revivalist that brought God’s message of repentance and revival. 

This short guide to terminology is not inclusive, but is meant to be used as a stepping stone for you to dig deeper into God’s Word

Terms:

 Babylonian Structure

Ancient Architecture of Babylon is Modern Iraq. The legendary city of Babylon is the most famous ancient city in the whole world. It was the capital of ten Mesopotamian dynasties starting with the dynasty of King Hammurabi (1792-1750 BC,) and reaching prominence as the capital city of the great kingdom of Babylonia’1

 Two Babylon’s

In Revelation 17 and 18 respectively, the Apostle John mentions two Babylon’s that will rise to prominence shortly before the advent of Christ. The one is mystical Babylon, referring to an evil ideology, or false system of religious worship, and the other one a commercial city with all kinds of worldly pleasure and immoral practices in it.

 The origin of the false world religion of the end-time can, according to Revelation 17, can be traced back to Babylon. The ancient Babylonian Empire which was founded by Nimrod functioned in close association with the pagan religion of that time. The marriage between politics and religion was so intimate that this empire was controlled by a priest-king. He made use of occult powers and astrology to reign. The king was also the personification of the sun-god who was regarded as the giver of light and life. From this superstition the cult of the sun-pillars arose, from which the later obelisks and peace-poles of modern times developed. These two chapters give to us a description of a new Babylonian government, religion and economy that will be established before the Second Coming of Christ.

 Revelations 18:1-14:  The Fall of Babylon the great

The number one enemy of revival is Babylon.  Historically, the capital city of the ancient Chaldean Empire was known for its ruthless kings.  It captured the tribe of Judah (see notes on Ps. 137) and it is personified with feminine traits.  John the apostle describes the mother of all prostitutes, seducers, and adulterers as a satanic power structure or network responsible for the seduction and spiritual fornication of the Church.  Babylon targets three levels of church and society: the nation, all leaders and authority in church and government, and the economy.  As an economic network, it merchandises everything it can, including the spices used in the anointing oil and the incense (Ex. 30:25-38).  It even markets the souls of men.  Babylon seeks to steal away and counterfeit anything that could produce intimacy with God or man.  If possible, it will attempt to capture revival by gradually seducing God’s people into the experience of revival but taking their focus off their relationship with Jesus.  God does not call the unsaved or the world to come out of Babylon.  He calls the Church to come out of her influence. 2   

Assyrian

 Assyria was a kingdom located between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers that dominated the ancient world from the ninth century to the seventh century B. C. Its capital was Nineveh.

The early inhabitants of Assyria were ancient tribesmen who probably migrated from Babylonia. They grew powerful enough around 1300 B. C. to conquer Babylonia. For the next 700 years they were the leading power in the ancient world, with their leading rival nation, Babylon, constantly challenging them for this position.

It was the Assyrians that destroyed the northern kingdom Israel under Shalmaneser IV who besieged Samaria and then died during the siege leaving Sargon II to finish the task and drag Israel into captivity. After defeating the northern kingdom of Israel in 722 B. C., the Assyrians carried away thousands of Israelites and resettled them in other parts of the Assyrian Empire. This was a blow from which the nation of Israel never recovered. The ten tribes that were taken to Assyria became the ten lost tribes, for they have never again emerged in world history.

Assyrian policy was to deport conquered peoples to other lands within the empire, to destroy their sense of nationalism, and break any pride or hope of rebellion and replace them with strangers from far away. Assyrians were great warriors. Most nations at that time period were looters, building their state by robbing other nations. Assyria was the most ferocious of them all. Their very name became a byword for cruelty and atrocity. They skinned their prisoners alive, and cut off various body parts to inspire terror in their enemies. There are records of Assyrian officials pulling out tongues and displaying mounds of human skulls all to bring about stark horror and wealthy tribute from surrounding nations. Nowhere are the pages of history bloodier than in the records of their wars.

Assyria was a world empire for about 300 years under several warrior kings some of which wielded Assyria into the best fighting machine of the ancient world. Finally the brutal empire fell in 607 B.C. giving way to the Babylonians.’ 3

Ahab

 King Ahab was the son of King Omri, a military commander who had by force risen to the throne.  He was one of Israel's most powerful rulers. He reigned over the Northern Ten Tribes of Israel from 874 to 853 B.C. Many consider him the worst ruler that ancient Israel ever had. Thus, Ahab was raised in this environment of evil and ungodliness. 

Ahab married a foreign woman who was the princess of Phoenicia, Israel’s neighboring kingdom.  When Ahab married Jezebel, he became the first Israelite king in the Bible who allied himself to heathenism through marriage. Jezebel was a pagan princess of a man from Tyre named Ethbaal, who was a priest of the god Astarte (also called by the name Eastre).

Persuaded by his wife, Ahab built an altar in Samaria (capital city of the northern ten tribes of Israel) dedicated to the false god Baal (1Kings 16:30 - 33). Jezebel was a pagan, but Ahab was apostate.  He had succumbed to the influence of the pagan culture. 

What Ahab wanted, he got, especially with the help of his evil wife Queen Jezebel. One day he offered his neighbor, Naboth, a choice of either a better vineyard somewhere else or money for the land he owned.  Naboth refused. When he could not buy Naboth's land from him he went home and pouted like a little child! When Jezebel found out what happened to the king she "arranged" for him to own the land by having the land owner killed (1Kings 21:7 - 10, 15).

Jezebel

The princess was raised in a pagan culture and was hostile to the worship of God.  She served the god of the Phoenicians.  In the Phoenician religion, there were other gods to be worshipped.  Foremost among them was the goddess Astate, or Ashtart, wife of Baal.  The Hebrews called her Ashtoreth, a name that communicated shame.  If Baal was the supreme male god of the Phoenician pantheon, Astarte, or Ashtoreth, was the supreme goddess. 

Jezebel had a special connection to this particular deity.  Astarte was the goddess of whom Jezebel’s father was high priest.  Jezebel would have grown up entrenched in the worship of this particular deity. 

1 Kings 18 speaks of 400 prophets of Asherah whom Jezebel kept in her royal court.  We know that the worship of Astarte involved sexual licentiousness, temple prostitution and all form of debauchery, and indulgence, including conjuring up of familiar spirits, and talking to the dead.

Jezebel brought Baal and Astarte into the marriage with Ahab.  Unlike his wife, Ahab came from a culture that had known God.  His wife Jezebel was so evil that she has come to symbolize revengeful, malicious, immoral and cruel women throughout history.

 Baal

The Canaanite god of fertility and material prosperity.  His worship was sensual and vulgar.  Baal was the name of the supreme god worshiped in ancient Canaan and Phoenicia. The practice of Baal worship infiltrated Jewish religious life during the time of the Judges (Judges 3:7), became widespread in Israel during the reign of Ahab (1 Kings 16:31-33) and also affected Judah (2 Chronicles 28:1-2). The word Baal means “lord”; the plural is Balaam. In general, Baal was a fertility god who was believed to enable the earth to produce crops and people to produce children.  Different regions worshiped Baal in different ways, and Baal proved to be a highly adaptable god. Various locales emphasized one or another of his attributes and developed special “denominations” of Baalism. Baal of Peor (Numbers 25:3) and Baal-Berith (Judges 8:33) are two examples of such localized deities.  The worship of Baal was included perverted and gruesome practices like child sacrifice, fertility rites, prostitution and all forms of sexual deviations. 

Elijah

Elijah’s name means ‘My God is Jehovah’.  The name Jehovah is used for God especially in relation to His chosen people.  In the Old Testament his name is mentioned about 68 times.  In the New Testament he is called Elias 30 times which is the Greek form of the name Elijah.  His life and ministry is portrayed in vivid descriptions of spiritual power and zeal for Jehovah. 

 Elijah was a prophet raised up under Samuel though his schools of prophets.  Elijah came on the scene during a time of great apostasy.  Elijah was sent by God to beseech the people to turn from their wicked ways, and trust and obey the true and living God.  As a prophet, he was seen as God’s mouth piece.  He was an uncompromising prophet with a clear message from God to man (1 Kings 19:10). 

It was Elijah that confronted the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18 and repaired the altar of the Lord.  His action turned the hearts of the nation back to the Word and worship of the true God at a time of the most degraded apostasy. 

God ordered Elijah to anoint his successor, Elisha, whom he found plowing with 12 yoke of oxen. Elisha killed the animals for a sacrifice and followed his master. Elijah went on to prophesy the deaths of Ahab, King Ahaziah, and Jezebel.

He was so strongly distinguished by the power and grace of the living God, that he is seen as a type of the body of Christ.  His strengths and weaknesses were made perfect in the Holy One of Israel that perfected him.  So we too, are perfected in Christ (Colossians 1:28). 

Elijah is referred to as one of the two anointed men who now stand before the God the earth symbolized by two olive trees and two candle-sticks (Revelations 11:3-4).  .

Like Enoch, Elijah did not die. God sent chariots and horses of fire and took Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, while Elisha stood watching ( 2 Kings 2:11).

Notes

1    www.allpics4u.com/places/ancient-architecture-of-babylon...

2  Winslow, Tamara. “The fall of Babylon the great.” The Revival Study Bible.  Eds. Winkle Pratney, Steve Hill and Tamara Winslow. (Singapore:Genesis Books, 2010), 1775-1756.

3 www.bible-history.com/old-testament/the_assyrians.html 

© 2017 Pamela Tattershall