“And I looked, and lo a Lamb stood on Mount Zion and with Him an hundred and forty and four thousand having His Father’s name written in their foreheads….These are they which were not DEFILED WITH WOMEN; for they are virgins…,” Rev. 14:1-5.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE DEFILED?

The Greek word used here for ‘defiled’ means – ‘to soil.’ In other words, the 144,000 did not have their character in the light of God’s Word in them soiled by women. Now, what women are we talking about?

Spiritually speaking, in the Bible, women speaks of “Churches.” That is why we read of “MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT – THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS… Sitted upon many waters” (Rev. 17:5, 1, 15) which is the spirit of religious confusion controlling all mankind outside of Christ.

Now, ‘Babylon’ which means ‘confusion’ is prophetically used in the Bible. In the book of Revelations, we have two Babylons which are: religious – Ecclesiastical Babylon – the apostate Christendom and Political Babylon. Religious Babylon actually embodies all forms of religious organizations without the leadership of the Christ Spirit, the man made religious system.

Her sitting upon many waters (Rev. 17:15) means ‘she is in control of many people.’ But the point I am driving at is that this is not a literal being, yet she is defiling thousands of people by her religious systems(from the simplicity that is in Christ) through forms, rituals, titles, etc.

Again, in Rev. 2 we read of another woman called JEZEBEL, a self styled prophetess who was teaching and seducing the saints in the Church in Thyatira to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed unto idols (v. 20-23). Speaking of ‘her children’ in verse 23 means those who followed her teachings.

She is so named Jezebel, even as the wife of Ahab, through her wickedness brought idolatry into Israel (1Kgs. 16:31; 2Kgs. 9:22, 30) indicating to us that the spirit of Jezebel surfaces in a system of worship that reduces the glory and worship of God to that of forms and rituals – idolatry, which actually is the spirit of a false prophet.

We are told the power of this system (Jezebel) was “to teach and seduce my servants (Christians)” (v. 20) which actually is the medium Balaam employed in his effort to corrupt the Children of Israel so that the wrath of God would come upon them when he could not curse them.

He knew what God hates, so he taught Balak to corrupt (defile) the people who could not be cursed (Num. 31:15-16; 22:5; 23:8) by tempting them to marry the women of Moab, thereby defiling their separation – consecration – unto God as a holy nation. And with that, they can abandon their perfect character and holy walk with God.

So the true meaning of defilement is the union of the Church with the world. Therefore, when we begin to bring in pagan ceremonies and belief systems into the Church, we should be reassured that the spirit of Jezebel and the doctrine of Balaam have already taken root in our Churches.

And, of course, what we see today in our so-called Pentecostal Churches is not far from this, with all the ceremonies, numerous titles and dance steps that have no foundation in Christ.

SPIRITUAL DEFILEMENT

In the Old Testament, marital infidelity is spoken of metaphorically as idolatry (Hos. 1:2+). And when God was describing Israel’s defilement in this regard He said;

“…How dare you say ‘I am not defiled, I have not run after the Baals?’ Look at your footprints in the valley and acknowledge what you have done. A frantic she-camel running in all directions bolts for the desert sniffing the breeze in desire; who can control her when she is on heat? Whoever looks for her will have no trouble, he will find her with her mate. Beware! Your own foot may soon go unshod, your own throat may grow dry. But ‘who cares?’ you said, for I am in love with STRANGERS and they are the ones I FOLLOW,” Jer. 2:23-25 JB.

Is the Church of today still pure or defiled? You are free to speak for yourself. Mind you to be defiled is to shift away from true allegiance to the Christ of God. Once you start interjecting extra Biblical themes into your belief and practices, you are already defiled, no matter who so much as introduced it.

To be continued…