When Jan and I lived in Berlin, Germany, we would occasionally visit museums. One museum display was especially interesting. It was the Ishtar Gate of the ancient city of Babylon displayed at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.

As I stood before the display, I couldn’t help but recall the many times in Scripture that Babylon was mentioned. It was a strong kingdom out to control its part of the world. The motivating presence behind the visible strength of Babylon was a spirit aligned with Babylon. While the gates of that actual city have become a museum display, its influence is still at work in the world seeking to gain power and greater levels of control. That spirit works to redirect the way people think so it can use willing people to carry out its evil plans.

The Babylonian spirit is a system, an anti-Christ system. We should not be shocked or surprised by its demonstrations of evil. The most obvious demonstrations are not what we should focus on because they are displayed to deflect our attention away from something deeper. That deeper influence lies beneath the representations of this spirit and remains undetected until it has accomplished its ultimate goal – death. The Church is called to confront and expose that goal.

Greed and self-indulgence are what cause people to align with this spirit and participate in its dark exploits. The Babylonian spirit is not dressed like a cartoonish devil with horns and a tail. It wears tailored suits and sits on the military and industrial complex boards. It controls much of what we are allowed to see on social media. It occupies positions of power in the pharmaceutical industry. None of us are immune from the well-crafted tactics of this spirit. We must remain aware and become vigilant as its influence increases yet remains largely ignored.

When the spirit of Babylon is finished using an individual or a nation, it will discard its adherents and move on to seek other victims. When its work is finished it will leave behind the ruins of what it once controlled resembling the museum display I saw in Berlin.

At the end of time, it will be announced that “Babylon has fallen!” (Revelation 18:2), but until that time, we must be aware of what influence is wanting to gain our attention and affect our life decisions. Not being aware of what is happening in our world will cause us to become pawns of the Babylonian spirit using our allegiance to satisfy its lust for power and greater control.