Jezebel & God’s People
Pastors Leslie & Adeline Chua
“Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD…”
“Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”
Elijah confronting the prophets of Baal and Asherah and calling down fire from heaven is perhaps one of the greatest miracles recorded in the bible. It was a remarkable and huge victory. Through the bold acts of Elijah, the LORD’s name was vindicated. The Israelites came to realise that the LORD was God, and there were no gods like Him.
Following the stunning victory, Elijah seized the opportunity. Together with the Israelites, he put all these false prophets to the sword. However, the victory and Elijah’s jubilation were short-lived.
On hearing the carnage, Jezebel vowed to kill Elijah. Her threat struck immense fear in the prophet, and he fled for his life.
This was a strange turn of event. Elijah was extraordinarily bold during his confrontation with King Ahab and the false prophets. There were eight hundred and fifty of them. However, that extraordinary courage melted at the threat of a woman. Elijah became so depressed that he cried out to God to take his life. It just does not make sense.
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This spirit is not confined to working
in the ancient days in Israel.
Jesus warns that this spirit of Jezebel
would be active in the last days,
and it will affect the church. ____________________________________________
The Spirit of Jezebel
Jezebel was the queen of Ahab. She was the most wicked woman in the bible. She single handedly brought the nation of Israel to an unprecedented level of idolatrous worship and apostasy. But that still cannot account for the irrational fear that gripped Elijah. You must peek behind the curtain into the spiritual realm to understand what was really happening. A powerful demonic spirit was at work in and through Jezebel.
This spirit is not confined to working in the ancient days in Israel. Jesus warns that this spirit of Jezebel would be active in the last days, and it will affect the church.
Jesus cautioned the church, “But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works…” (Revelation 2:20-22 - ESV)
Jesus is speaking both literally and in figures of speech here.
In the Old Testament, Jezebel was accused of whoring and sorceries (2 Kings 9:22), and this demonic spirit is doing the same thing today. Sexual immorality in this passage is also a metaphor of God’s people engaging in spiritual adultery.
Eating food offered to idols can also be understood literally and figuratively. In metaphorical terms, it is a figure of speech for compromise. The person does not worship the idols, but he participates in the table of the demons.
Taken together, these two metaphors mean that God’s people have adulterated themselves. One of the ways is by accepting fringe beliefs and deeds that contradict the Word of God.
The Evils of Jezebel
In an interview, Dr Michael Brown said, “In 21st-century America, Jezebel is not a person, but it’s as if her spirit is alive again. The influence of the same demonic force is being felt in the massive increase of pornography and sexual temptation, the militant spirit of abortion, the rise of radical feminism, and most importantly, in the attempt to silence prophetic voices. Just as Jezebel clashed with strong men almost 3,000 years ago, the demonic spirit of Jezebel is powerful in America, and it is going after the church.”
The spirit of Jezebel works in the same way as it did in Elijah’s time. The similarities are hard to miss.
Radical Feminism
We are not talking about a healthy appreciation for women, women fighting for equal pay for the same kind of jobs or treating women with respect and honour.
Radical feminism is destructive. It undermines and emasculates male authority. Ahab was the king of Israel, but it was Jezebel who called the shots.
In his book, Jezebel’s War with America, Dr Michael Brown wrote: There is a radical feminism that is destructive. It sees marriage as an outdated, slavish institution; regards motherhood as a lesser calling; and views children as an intrusion. It is not merely pro-woman; it is anti-man and anti-family, virulently so.
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Radical feminism is destructive.
It undermines and emasculates male authority. ____________________________________________
Sexual immorality
In both the Old Testament and New Testament, Jezebel was accused of whoring (2 Kings9:22; Revelation 2:20).
No one can deny the extent of sexual immorality that is taking place in our modern culture. It is so prevalent, and its tentacles reach wide and deep. Traditional family values have eroded. Pornography, fornication, and adultery are quietly accepted as the new normal.
Gender Redefinition & Homosexuality
The war on gender distinction is an extension of sexual immorality and radical feminism taken to the extreme. The sudden wide spread acceptance of gender redefinition, homosexuality, transgenderism, and same-sex marriage is alarming.
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We must be careful
not to be seduced or intimidated
by the spirit of Jezebel.
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This phenomenon is not just out there in the fallen culture. It has crept into the church in a big way. This is what Jesus is pointing to when He warns against compromising and prostituting ourselves with the perverse aspects of our culture. We must be careful not to be seduced or intimidated by the spirit of Jezebel.
Abortion
Just as Baal worship required baby sacrifice 3,000 years ago, this same bloodthirsty spirit of Jezebel demands the same worship today. In the five decades since abortion has been legalised in many countries, millions upon millions of unborn babies have been gruesomely sacrificed at the altar of Jezebel. Abortion doctors serve as her high priests and priestesses and medical clinics her temples.
Witchcraft and sorcery
Counting among Jezebel’s sins and corrupt deeds are witchcraft and sorceries (2 Kings 9:22). With these dark arts, she seduced people, including God’s people.
Social justice with its attendant woke culture is a new religion that is doing battle with society and Christianity.
Look at the way it has seized the imagination of so many young people and cultivated followers across the globe within such a short period of time. Even Christians and Christians organisations have bowed their hearts and bent their knees in worship with many serving as woke apologists. This is no small feat. This is a spiritual movement. It is demonic at its core. The spirit leading the charge is Jezebel. With her seductive powers of witchcraft and sorceries, she mesmerises many unsuspecting souls.
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Social justice
with its attendant woke culture
is a new religion
that is doing battle
with society and Christianity. ____________________________________________
The toxic environment of lawlessness is a fertile ground for the spirit of Jezebel to operate. A soul untethered from the Word of God and insensitive to the Holy Spirit is prone to falling into Jezebel’s deceptions.
Silencing of prophetic voices
Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD (1 Kings 18:4). Many prophets of Yahweh died at her hands. She tried to go after Elijah. The spirit behind her was so powerful that even the great prophet was intimidated, and he cowered in fear.
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Jezebel cows and intimidates people.
Anyone who dares to speak against
those corrupt cultural issues
will be pushed back viciously. ____________________________________________
The spirit of Jezebel operates in the same way today.
Jezebel cows and intimidates people. Anyone who dares to speak against those corrupt cultural issues will be pushed back viciously. Pastors and leaders fear the reaction of their flock who do not want to listen to such controversial topics. People vote with their feet. They criticise and push back. Some leave the church.
As a result, pastors dutifully refrain from addressing these hot potato but critical issues. There is hardly any confrontational preaching, which is the hallmark of Jesus, the apostles, and the prophets. Bit by bit, the pulpit bows to the itching ears of the masses.
This is a legitimate threat and I am not belittling the difficulty in managing with the issue. But leaders must stand for the truth with conviction and not give in to the intimidation of Jezebel. Leaders are accountable to God. Fidelity to the Word of God cannot be compromised.
The same applies to all believers. We must have the boldness to stand on biblical truths and speak up against perverse cultural encroachments into biblical Christianity. We cannot ignore these issues. Neither can we sit on the fence and be ambivalent about it. This is the posture of compromise.
False Worship & Apostasy
Prophetically, I am seeing the spirit of Jezebel as the preparer of the way for the rise of the Anti-Christ just as John the Baptist is the preparer of the way for Christ in His first coming.
The goal of Jezebel is to seduce the masses, including God’s people, and lead them to false worship and apostasy. The way she goes about doing it is aggressive but subtle. She appeals to biblical values such as love, grace, compassion, mercy, and justice. However, her end goals are to confuse and deceive and finally draw people away from God through whom is the only way to eternal salvation.
With the abortion and LGBT issues, the biblical position is clear. There are no grey areas for even the slightest compromise. Yet, we see Christians who sit on the fence appealing to love, grace, and compassion.
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The goal of Jezebel
is to seduce the masses,
including God’s people,
and lead them to false worship and apostasy. ____________________________________________
As for the social justice issue, I urge you to pray and take a deeper look at the ‘dogmas’ of this new religion. You will see its incompatibility with the Word and ways of God.
All these issues have a way of pulling you into a pattern of thinking that puts you at odds with thinking biblically. This is the seductive power of the spirit of Jezebel. So, beware!
Do Not Tolerate Jezebel
Jezebel is well and alive!
Jesus warns “those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works…” (Revelation 2:22 - ESV).
Be careful and do not compromise your Christian beliefs. Do not tolerate the works of this manipulative and intimidating spirit.
Despite the astounding miracle of the consuming fire from heaven, the Israelites did not repent. Their faith was stirred only momentarily. They continued in their way of apostasy. Ultimately, there were only 7.000 remnants who followed the LORD faithfully without wavering.
Many have compromised. Many will fall as Jezebel dishes up more deceptions. Only those who love the truth and are willing to pay the price for standing for the truth will endure to the end. Be determined to be counted among the remnants like the 7,000 who did not bow their knees to Baal but kept their devotion to the LORD God pure and holy.