Page 41 - The Road from Babylon to Zion

Chapter 5 - A Snare for the Unaware

Satan is not content to simply make one run at the saint who would set their heart
toward Zion. He makes repeated attempts, and he attacks on different fronts and
tries to deceive the saint on various issues. Ezra gave this wonderful testimony which
is recorded in Ezra 8:31, “ and the hand of our God was over us, and He delivered us
from the hand of the enemy and the ambushes by the way.” Note that the word
ambushes is plural, yet God delivered them from them all.

The encounter I wrote of in the chapter “Ambushed Outside the Gates of Babylon”,
occurred a mere few weeks after I was removed from the place of ministry I had
known among the children of God. Having survived the first ambush, it wasn’t long
before Satan launched his next assault. Satan’s next offensive was much more subtle
in nature, and I have seen untold numbers of saints become ensnared by this
particular deceit.

At this time I had been writing some articles, relating to others the revelations the
Spirit had been giving me as I walked a road of faith. I had written a couple of articles
that spoke of how the Father uses delays in our lives to test our faith. The articles
“Waiting, the Ultimate Test”, and “The Untimeliness of God” had been posted on a
well trafficked Internet site that posts prophetic words and teachings, and I received
an outpouring of response to these articles.

One response came from a brother who had also been waiting on God on some
matters, and he was encouraged by the writings. He shared with me that he had
some writings of his own and he invited me to read them. They were written with a
great amount of skill and lucidity. I came to understand some things I had not
previously discerned as I read what he had to say.

He had a writing on “food sacrificed to idols” that was very enlightening, and I came
to understand that saints feeding on the doctrines of demons is the antitype, or
fulfillment, of this expression. The key to unlocking this understanding is the
following verse in Hebrews.

Hebrews 13:9
Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is
good that the heart be established by grace, not with foods which have
not profited those who have been occupied with them

Note that the words “doctrines” and “foods” are both used to refer to the same thing
in this scripture. Often the saints occupy themselves with foods (doctrines) that are
not profitable to them. These teachings are often referred to as “doctrines of