Human Trafficking in the Church — Part 13
Recognizing the Six Characteristics of the Religious Spirit of Babylon
The six characteristics of the religious spirit of Babylon are the same today as they were when they were first recorded in Scripture in Genesis 11.
3. Building an Empire (continued)
“Then they said, ‘Come, let’s build a great city for ourselves’—Genesis 11:4 (NLT)
“Have you ever stood and stared at it? Marveled at it beauty? Its genius? Billions of people just living out their lives … oblivious … the peak of your civilization! And I say your civilization because as soon as we started thinking for you it really became our civilization, which of course is what this is all about.”—Agent Smith to Morpheus as he looked out over the vast city that was built by those who served the Matrix
Spiritual Human Trafficking causes devastating harm to God’s Church and to the lives of individual believers who trusted in Christian leaders to help them become the men and women of God that the Lord intended for them to be. Spiritual Human Trafficking is betrayal on a massive scale as Christian leaders who have been entrusted with responsibilities to nurture, protect, and guide God’s people instead use believers to enrich themselves and to benefit their organizations.
“Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.”—Jeremiah 12:10 (KJV)
Scripture details the devastating consequences of trafficking God’s people.
The Sheep Are Hungry and Malnourished
When Christian leaders choose to feed themselves and their organizations, God’s people are left hungry and malnourished.
“the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock”—Ezekiel 34:8 (AMP)
“Thus says the Lord God, ‘Woe (judgment is coming) to the [spiritual] shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock? You eat the fat [the choicest of meat], and clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the best of the livestock, but you do not feed the flock.’”—Ezekiel 34:2-3 (AMP)
The Sheep are Left Weak, Sick, and Crippled
“You have not strengthened those who are weak, you have not healed the sick, you have not bandaged the crippled”—Ezekiel 34:4 (AMP)
Individual Destinies are Lost
“This is what the Lord my God says: ‘Go and care for the flock that is intended for slaughter. The buyers slaughter their sheep without remorse. The sellers say, ‘Praise the Lord! Now I’m rich!’ Even the shepherds have no compassion for them.’”—Zechariah 11:4-5 (NLT)
Many of God’s People Have Left the Organized Church
“Anyone who is not with me is against me. Anyone who does not gather sheep with me scatters them.”—Matthew 12:30 (NIRV)
“you have not brought back those gone astray, you have not looked for the lost; but you have ruled them with force and violence.”—Ezekiel 34:4 (AMP)
“My flock wandered through all the mountains and on every high hill; My flock was scattered over all the face of the earth and no one searched or sought them.”—Ezekiel 34:6 (AMP)
“My shepherds did not search for My flock”—Ezekiel 34:8 (AMP)
“My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray; They have turned them away on the mountains. They have gone from mountain to hill; They have forgotten their resting place.”— Jeremiah 50:6 (NKJV)
“So the people are like sheep wandering here and there crying for help, but there is no shepherd to lead them.”— Zechariah 10:2 (ERV)
God’s People are Left Vulnerable to Destructive Influences
“They were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the predators of the field.”—Ezekiel 34:5 (AMP)
“My flock has become prey, My flock has even become food for every predator of the field for lack of a shepherd”—Ezekiel 34:8 (AMP)
“They were attacked by all who saw them. And their attackers said, ‘We were not wrong to attack them because they sinned against the Lord. They should have stayed close to him, their true resting place. The Lord is the one their fathers trusted in.’”— Jeremiah 50:7 (ERV)
**“**They are afflicted and suffer because there is no shepherd.”— Zechariah 10:2 (AMP)
“When He saw the throngs, He was moved with pity and sympathy for them, because they were bewildered (harassed and distressed and dejected and helpless), like sheep without a shepherd.”—Matthew 9:36 (AMPC)
Christian Leaders Will Be Held Accountable
“Obey your [spiritual] leaders and submit to them [recognizing their authority over you], for they are keeping watch over your souls and continually guarding your spiritual welfare as those who will give an account [of their stewardship of you]. Let them do this with joy and not with grief and groans, for this would be of no benefit to you.”—Hebrews 13:17 (AMP)
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you swallow up widows’ houses, and to cover it up you make long prayers; therefore you will receive the greater condemnation.”—Matthew 23:14 (AMP)
The Lord answered, “Suppose a master puts one of his servants in charge of his other servants. The servant’s job is to give them the food they are to receive at the right time. The master wants a faithful and wise manager for this. It will be good for the servant if the master finds him doing his job when the master returns. What I’m about to tell you is true. The master will put that servant in charge of everything he owns.
“But suppose the servant says to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time to come back.’ Suppose that servant begins to beat the other servants, both men and women. Suppose he feeds himself. And suppose he drinks until he gets drunk. The master of that servant will come back on a day the servant doesn’t expect him. The master will return at an hour the servant doesn’t know. Then the master will cut him to pieces. He will send the servant to the place where unbelievers go.”—Luke 12:42-46 (NIRV)
“I will destroy the fat and the strong [who have become hard-hearted and perverse]. I will feed them with judgment and punishment.”—Ezekiel 34:16 (AMP)
The Lord says, “I am very angry with the shepherds. I made them responsible for what happens to my sheep.”— Zechariah 10:3 (ERV)
Empire Builders Lose Their Empires
Spiritual human traffickers will not be blessed in the end. Many of them will live to see their churches and ministries taken from them. Many of their members and followers will leave. The organizations may eventually close their doors or be turned over to other leaders. In some cases, traffickers may lose their lives prematurely.
“Their inward thought is that their houses will continue forever, And their dwelling places to all generations; They have named their lands after their own names [ignoring God]. But man, with all his [self] honor and pomp, will not endure; He is like the beasts that perish. This is the fate of those who are foolishly confident, And of those after them who approve [and are influenced by] their words. Selah. Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead); Death will be their shepherd; And the upright shall rule over them in the morning, And their form and beauty shall be for Sheol to consume, So that they have no dwelling [on earth].”— Psalm 49:11-14 (AMP)
“therefore, you [spiritual] shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will demand My flock from them and make them stop tending the flock, so that the shepherds cannot feed themselves anymore. I will rescue My flock from their mouth, so that they will not be food for them.”’”—Ezekiel 34:9-10 (AMP)
In the end, every knee will bow to the Lord Jesus Christ.
“Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”—Philippians 2:9-11 (NKJV)
And every empire of man will be swallowed up by the one true Kingdom of God.
“And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.”—Daniel 2:44 (NKJV)
“Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!’”—Revelation 11:15 (NKJV)
The Good Shepherd Will Rescue His Sheep
These trafficked believers are still God’s children. They are still God’s sheep, and He will not stand by and see their destinies destroyed by the selfishness of ambitious empire builders posing as Christian leaders.
“Thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will demand My flock from them and make them stop tending the flock, so that the shepherds cannot feed themselves anymore. I will rescue My flock from their mouth, so that they will not be food for them.’
“For thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I Myself will search for My flock and seek them out. As a shepherd cares for his sheep on the day that he is among his scattered flock, so I will care for My sheep; and I will rescue them from all the places to which they were scattered on a cloudy and gloomy day. I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries and bring them to their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the streams, and in all the inhabited places of the land. I will feed them in a good pasture, and their grazing ground will be on the mountain heights of Israel. There they will lie down on good grazing ground and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I will feed My flock and I will let them lie down [to rest],’ says the Lord God. ‘I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bandage the crippled, and strengthen the weak and the sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong [who have become hard-hearted and perverse]. I will feed them with judgment and punishment.
“And as for you, My flock, thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I judge between one sheep and another, between the rams and the male goats [between the righteous and the unrighteous]. Is it too little a thing for you that you [unrighteous ones who are well-fed] feed in the best pasture, yet you must trample down with your feet [of wickedness] the rest of your pastures? Or that you drink clear [still] water, yet you must muddy with your feet [of wickedness] the rest [of the water]? As for My flock (the righteous), they must feed on what you trample with your feet and drink what you muddy with your feet!’
“Therefore thus says the Lord God to them, ‘Behold, I Myself will judge between the [well-fed] fat sheep and the lean sheep. Because you push with side and shoulder, and gore with your horns all those that have become weak and sick until you have scattered them away, therefore, I will rescue My flock, and they shall no longer be prey; and I will judge between one sheep [ungodly] and another [godly].’”—Ezekiel 34:10-22 (AMP)
Saul Will Be Replaced with David
Christian leaders who choose to pattern themselves after King Saul and use God’s people to benefit themselves and build their organizations don’t realize that they are setting themselves up to suffer the same kinds of consequences that Saul suffered.
Even though he had a glorious reign in the prime of his life, Saul was ultimately rejected by God because of his choices. (See 1 Samuel 15:23-26.) His empire was taken from him and given to someone else. (See 1 Samuel 15:28.) The Spirit of God left Saul, and God no longer communicated with Saul as He had in the past. Instead, Saul’s choices gave access to dark spirits that tormented him. (See 1 Samuel 16:14.) Eventually, Saul died prematurely, along with his sons who would have been the heirs to his empire. (See 1 Samuel 31.)
God will replace those leaders who have built their churches and Christian ministries on spiritual human trafficking. The Good Shepherd will provide leaders who will feed the sheep and care for them, rather than using them for their own purposes.
“Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the Lord.
“Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the Lord.
“And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.
“And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the Lord.
“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.”— Jeremiah 23:1-5 (KJV)
“Then I will appoint over them one shepherd and he will feed them, [a ruler like] My servant David; he will feed them and be their shepherd. And I the Lord will be their God, and My servant David will be a prince among them; I the Lord have spoken.”— Ezekiel 34:23-24 (AMP)
**God Will Bring Freedom, Safety, Provision, Healing, and Restoration **
“I will make a covenant of peace with them and will eliminate the predatory animals from the land so that they may live securely in the wilderness and sleep [safely] in the woods. I will make them and the places around My hill (Jerusalem, Zion) a blessing. And I will make showers come down in their season; there will be [abundant] showers of blessing (divine favor). Also the tree of the field will yield its fruit and the earth will yield its produce; and My people will be secure on their land. **Then they will know [with confidence] that I am the Lord, when I have broken the bars of their yoke and have rescued them from the hand of those who made them slaves. **They will no longer be prey to the nations, and the predators of the earth will not devour them; but they will live safely, and no one will make them afraid [in the day of the Messiah’s reign]. I will prepare for them a place renowned for planting [crops], and they will not again be victims of famine in the land, and they will not endure the insults of the nations any longer. Then they will know [with assurance] that I the Lord their God, am with them and that they, the house of Israel, are My people,” says the Lord God. ‘As for you, My flock, the flock of My pasture, you are men, and I am your God,’ says the Lord God.”—Ezekiel 34:25-31 (AMP)
“For the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has arrived to look after Judah, his flock. He will make them strong and glorious, like a proud warhorse in battle.”—Zechariah 10:3 (NLT)
