Let the Lord Expose the Principle of Babylon to Judge and Trim Away any Leaven of Evil

Christ as the High Priest is walking among the churches and gets to know the specific condition and concrete situation of every local church (see Rev. 1-3). He then speaks to the churches a word that would both show who He is to the church, what the church’s need is, how to overcome, and what is the reward to the overcomers.

When the Lord speaks to the church in Thyatira, He condemns them for tolerating the woman Jezebel teaching and leading His slaves astray to commit fornication and to eat idol sacrifices (Rev. 2:20).

Just as the church as a woman – in a positive sense – that is chaste, virgin, and pure for Christ, is seen throughout the Bible, so there is yet another woman, “Jezebel” who is a negative one and who deceives God’s people. Jezebel in the Old Testament was the pagan wife of Ahab who influenced him and encouraged him to do all kinds of evil things before Jehovah (see 1 Kings 16:31; 19:1-2; 21:23, 25-26; 2 Kings 9:7).

In the New Testament in Matt. 13 there is a woman who makes bread, and instead of making a loaf of unleavened bread (which the Lord desires) she hides three measures of leaven into the bread – and the whole thing becomes something big, leavened. This woman symbolizes the Roman Catholic church who has many of the truths in the Bible being spoken by its priests, but inside there are many evil things, pagan practices, and demonic matters.

Eventually, this woman consummates in Babylon the Great in Rev. 17, where we see that she is a harlot, guilded with gold and precious stones (having an outward appearance of God-likeness), yet filled with mixture and fornication and compromises.

We need to see how much God hates the principle of Babylon and, under His shining, we need to let Him trim away the leaven of the evil in the apostate church. It is only the Lord’s fresh speaking to the churches today that can unveil us, expose us, and trim any leaven in our being and in the church so that we may be recovered to being a pure virgin engaged to Christ, ready to marry Him, full of love and single toward Him only.

Jezebel in Rev. 2:20 is the Woman in Matt. 13:33 and the Great Harlot in Rev. 17, the Roman Catholic Church

The church in Thyatira is the apostate church, fallen from the Lord, a church that tolerates the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and teaches and leads God’s people astray to commit fornication and to eat idol sacrifices (see Rev. 2:20).

The Lord Jesus Himself also speaks of this evil woman in Matt. 13:33, where He says that the appearance of the kingdom of the heavens (not its reality) is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until the whole was leavened. The church should be a loaf of unleavened bread for the Lord’s satisfaction in resurrection, but the Catholic Church added leaven (evil things, heretical things, and pagan things) into the fine flour (Christ as the meal offering for God’s satisfaction) and made something big, huge even, that is not pleasing to God.

The woman who made the bread should have just made an unleavened bread, but “she knew better” – she added some leaven! The Catholic Church assumed authority (God didn’t give them authority, it was self-assumed) for centuries, and she teaches things. Christ as the Head of the Body is the only One qualified to teach, and the church is listening to Him, but the Catholic Church assumes that she can teach and lead.

When the church assumes this role of teaching, all kinds of heresies are being introduced into the church. Together with the truth in the Bible (which is still being spoken in the Catholic church), there are many evil and pagan practices and things being taught, and when people listen to the “teaching of the church”, they are drugged and drunk, being led away from Christ and to many outward things and forms.

This evil woman in Matt. 13:33, the Jezebel in Rev. 2:20, is also the great harlot in Revelation 17, who mixes abominations with the divine things. The church should be a pure virgin for Christ, chaste and undefiled, and she is sojourning on earth as a widow since Christ, her Husband, is not here.

But the Roman Catholic Church is like a harlot, teaching things apart from the leading of the Holy Spirit, mixing abominations with the divine things, committing fornication with all the leaders of the nations on earth, being dressed luxuriously, partying and doing all kinds of evil things.

Oh Lord Jesus! May we see the leaven, the mixture, and the abominations, and may we return to Christ in a pure way to be a meal offering for His satisfaction and a pure virgin betrothed to Him, loving Him to the uttermost!

Seeing the Principle of Babylon and Letting God’s Light Shine on us and Judge in us Anything that’s Not Absolute Toward Him

God hates the principle of Babylon more than anything else. We must note in His presence how much of our being is still not absolute for Him. Anything which is halfway and not absolute is called Babylon. We need God to enlighten us so that in His light we may judge everything in us which is not absolute toward Him. Only when we judge ourselves in this way can we confess that we too hate the principle of Babylon. By His grace, may the Lord not allow us to seek any glory and honor outside of Christ. (Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 34, pp. 101-102)

We need to see the principle of Babylon (as the consummation of the woman in Matt. 13:33 and the woman Jezebel in Rev. 2:20), which is the principle of the apostate church. Anything in us or in the church that is halfway and is not absolute for God is called Babylon, and we need God’s light to shine on us that we may see and judge everything in us that is not absolute toward Him (Rev. 3:16-19). The principle of Babylon has at least four main aspects:

1. The principle of Babylon is man’s endeavor to build up something from earth to heaven by his human ability (see Gen. 11:1-9; 1 Cor. 3:12). Babel is a city built by the rebelling people on earth, and they used bricks (not stones) to build it.

Bricks are made by burning the earth, which signifies that Satan burns and kills all the elements in man that can grow life. Babel misused man to live and build up a godless and idolatrous life (every stone in the tower of Babel had a name of an idol inscribed on it). Man followed Satan in his rebellion trying to reach God, rejecting God’s name, denying God’s right and authority over man, and he fell into idolatry.

The Lord then came down to judge this situation by confounding their languages. We need to beware of our desire to build something for ourselves and to “be like God”, and we need to be recovered to the proper church life today.

In the proper church life we have one mind, one heart, one opinion and one speaking in oneness and harmony! And when we do things, we need to first consult the Lord, check with Him, and follow the Spirit’s guidance in our spirit – not acting by our human efforts.

2. The principle of Babylon is hypocrisy. As seen in Rev. 17:4, 7, the woman was guilded with gold and precious stones, and she had a cup of gold which was filled with abominations. God hates hypocrisy, which is to pretend you are something in order to receive glory from men. The Roman Catholic Church is guilded with a thin layer of God, but inside there are evil and abominable things.

The Lord Jesus spoke extensively concerning the hypocrites in His time, those who appear to be one way outwardly but they are different inwardly (see Matt. 23:25-32). We need to be the same outwardly as we are inwardly! Inwardly we need to contact the Lord, touch Him, and enjoy Him, and then outwardly we will manifest His transformation and conformation.

To deal with hypocrisy, we need to do things in secret: give in secret, pray in secret, fast in secret, so that our heavenly Father would reward us and not men (Matt. 6:1-6). We need to turn our heart to the Lord all the time so that our heart would be with Him (Matt. 15:7-8).

We need to love more the glory of God and His acceptance than the glory of men (see John 12:42-43). If we seek to receive glory from man, we are participating in the sin of the Babylonian garment and the sin committed by Ananias and Sapphira. False consecration is sin, and false spirituality is also sin.

3. The principle of Babylon is of not considering herself a widow but of glorifying herself and living luxuriously (see Rev. 18:7). We are sojourners and travelers on this earth, and our country is not here. Even more, the church is both like a virgin betrothed to Christ, preparing to be His bride, and like a widow in the present age because Christ, her husband, is absent from us physically (see 1 Cor. 16:22; Rev. 22:20; Luke 12:34; 1 Tim. 6:6-10).

We need to get an education, a job, and take care of our material needs, but to live in luxury and let the soul delight in the worldly things is incompatible with our nature as Christians. We want to be His overcomers, those who live in this world but are not of this world, those who are like a widow – their heart is with the Lord, and their desire is to hasten His return.

We should not be excessive or seek to have things, housing, or food beyond our need, otherwise we will live in the principle of Babylon. If we order our living according to the principle of need, God will bless us.

4. The principle of Babylon is of a harlot, making a name for itself apart from God and denying God’s name. How sad – the woman who put a little leaven in the fine flour in Matt. 13:33 consummated in a great harlot in Rev. 7 who has a name for herself and everyone knows her, yet she denies God’s name!

It all starts with a little mixture, a little compromise, and it ends up in a total separation from God and even being something that God hates.

The church is a pure virgin espoused to Christ, and she has no other name than His name. We as the church today have no other name than our Husband’s name – the church of Christ (see Gen. 11:4; Rev. 3:8; 2 Cor. 11:2; 1 Cor. 1:10). The church of Christ is not an Anglican church, a Protestant church, a Baptist Church, an Apostolic Church, or any other denomination! The church as a pure virgin espoused to Christ takes only Christ’s name, and we hold on to Christ – we love His name! O Lord Jesus!

In Numbers 6:1-9 we see that God desires to have some Nazarites, the consecrated ones, those who are separated from their natural man with its natural affection, from any worldly pleasure, from rebellion, and from any form of death.

These Nazarites, the overcoming ones, are those who live by the spirit, walk by the spirit, and minister the Spirit, and they enjoy Christ as their unique pleasure and enjoyment, enthroning Him as their Lord and King, and being constantly filled with anti-death – the divine life! We need to be such ones, the overcomers of today, those who do not live according to the principle of Babylon!

Lord Jesus, shine on us and expose the principle of Babylon in our being. Save us from any human and natural effort to please You, do things for You, or be someone. Lord, expose the hypocrisy in us. Cause us to see that fake spirituality is a sin. May we be those who do things in secret before You so that we may receive Your reward in secret. Lord, keep our heart always true to You. We desire You, and our heart yearns for Your return. Lord, we are Yours! We have no other name than the wonderful and sweet name of the Lord Jesus Christ! Trim away the leaven of evil and apostasy in us, and make us the overcomers who bring You back!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. Ed Marks’ speaking in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Watchman Nee (vol. 50, ch. 45; vol. 34, ch. 5), as quoted in, the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Mending Ministry of John, week 5 / msg 5, Christ’s Heavenly Priesthood Ministered to the Churches for the Producing of the Overcomers (you can buy this morning revival book here).
• Further reading: recommending the footnotes in the Recovery Version on, Matt. 13:33, Rev. 2:20, and Rev. 18:2.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # In the secret of His presence / How my soul delights to hide! / Oh, how precious are the lessons / Which I learn at Jesus’ side!  (Hymns #553)
  # Take time to behold Him, / The world rushes on; / Spend much time in secret / With Jesus alone. / By looking to Jesus / Like Him thou shalt be; / Thy friends, in thy conduct, / His likeness shall see.  (Hymns #643)
  # To Jerusalem we’ve come, / We are through with Babylon, / We have gathered to be one, / O glory be to God! / Of the teachings we’re bereft, / All opinions we have left, / Spirit from the soul is cleft, / In the local churches now.  (Hymns #1251)
  # We have found the way to live by Christ— / Pray His Word and call His name! / This—the eating, drinking—has sufficed / And its worth we now proclaim. / We have found the local church, our home; / We are home and home indeed! / Nevermore in Babylon we roam; / In the church is all we need. (Hymns #1153)