Have you ever heard of Jezebel? She was a woman who opposed God, and used intimidation, control, etc to try to carry out her ungodly agenda. There are people (both male and female) in society today that use the same type of tactics as Jezebel to try to accomplish their agenda. Today’s blog entry deals with being aware of the Jezebel mentality.
Jezebel was a corrupt woman who married Ahab, The King of Israel (1 Kings 16:31). She worshipped a false god named Baal and supported his false prophets. She was in opposition of worshiping The True and Living God. Jezebel had a strong influence in Israel.
King Ahab’s marriage to Jezebel was in direct violation of God’s law due to the fact that she was a pagan (see Deuteronomy 7:1-5). Ahab’s disobedience allowed Jezebel an entry point to establish her influence. It’s important that we are very careful about who/what we allow to influence us. The Word of God lays out the way we should live our lives. If people are trying to get us to do things contrary to the Word of God, that’s a definite red flag. This applies to being influenced by both non- Christians, and professing Christians as well. Sometimes people may love God, and mean well, yet still be operating contrary to His Word unknowingly (see Hosea 4:6).
There came a time when Elijah, a true prophet of God spoke to King Ahab letting him know there would be a drought (1 Kings 17:1). The drought that Elijah spoke of came to pass, and God sent Elijah back to Ahab after a period of time (1 Kings 18:1, 18:17-18). Elijah then had Ahab gather 450 false prophets of Baal. Elijah’s reasoning behind this was to show the people of Israel that Baal was a false god, and that The True and living God of The Bible was real.
Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal to call on the name of their false gods, and he called on the name of True God (1 Kings 18:24). Elijah basically said, if your god is real, let him light the fire of your sacrifice by calling on his name. The false prophets called on the name of Baal, but the fire was not lit (1 Kings 18:26). However when Elijah called upon The True God, “Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.” -1 Kings 18:38…. All of the false prophets were put to death (1 Kings 18:40), and the drought ended (1 Kings 18:45).
After Jezebel heard what Elijah had done, here’s how she responded:
“Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of them by tomorrow about this time. – 1 Kings 19:2
In essence, she sent Elijah a message threatening his life. She used fear as a tactic to attack Elijah mentally (God had just used Elijah in a mighty way, yet Jezebel still came against him). It’s important that we do not let the fear of people take us off of the course that God has placed us on. We should always stay focused on fulfilling the will of God in our lives; When God provides us with victories/successes in situations, we should be thankful, and give Him praise. We should also be mindful of the fact that the devil still continues to use tactics to try to get Christians out of the Will of God. Jezebel is just one example of a person who yielded herself to the devil; there are many more examples throughout the Bible. With that being said, I admonish you to be on alert when you see people trying to gain authority in areas that God did not give them access to.
“Let all things be done decently and in order.” – 1 Corinthians 14:40
Jezebel was a corrupt woman who married Ahab, The King of Israel (1 Kings 16:31). She worshipped a false god named Baal and supported his false prophets. She was in opposition of worshiping The True and Living God. Jezebel had a strong influence in Israel.
King Ahab’s marriage to Jezebel was in direct violation of God’s law due to the fact that she was a pagan (see Deuteronomy 7:1-5). Ahab’s disobedience allowed Jezebel an entry point to establish her influence. It’s important that we are very careful about who/what we allow to influence us. The Word of God lays out the way we should live our lives. If people are trying to get us to do things contrary to the Word of God, that’s a definite red flag. This applies to being influenced by both non- Christians, and professing Christians as well. Sometimes people may love God, and mean well, yet still be operating contrary to His Word unknowingly (see Hosea 4:6).
There came a time when Elijah, a true prophet of God spoke to King Ahab letting him know there would be a drought (1 Kings 17:1). The drought that Elijah spoke of came to pass, and God sent Elijah back to Ahab after a period of time (1 Kings 18:1, 18:17-18). Elijah then had Ahab gather 450 false prophets of Baal. Elijah’s reasoning behind this was to show the people of Israel that Baal was a false god, and that The True and living God of The Bible was real.
Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal to call on the name of their false gods, and he called on the name of True God (1 Kings 18:24). Elijah basically said, if your god is real, let him light the fire of your sacrifice by calling on his name. The false prophets called on the name of Baal, but the fire was not lit (1 Kings 18:26). However when Elijah called upon The True God, “Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.” -1 Kings 18:38…. All of the false prophets were put to death (1 Kings 18:40), and the drought ended (1 Kings 18:45).
After Jezebel heard what Elijah had done, here’s how she responded:
“Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of them by tomorrow about this time. – 1 Kings 19:2
In essence, she sent Elijah a message threatening his life. She used fear as a tactic to attack Elijah mentally (God had just used Elijah in a mighty way, yet Jezebel still came against him). It’s important that we do not let the fear of people take us off of the course that God has placed us on. We should always stay focused on fulfilling the will of God in our lives; When God provides us with victories/successes in situations, we should be thankful, and give Him praise. We should also be mindful of the fact that the devil still continues to use tactics to try to get Christians out of the Will of God. Jezebel is just one example of a person who yielded herself to the devil; there are many more examples throughout the Bible. With that being said, I admonish you to be on alert when you see people trying to gain authority in areas that God did not give them access to.
“Let all things be done decently and in order.” – 1 Corinthians 14:40