Jezebel. No other name can evoke such images of wickedness and evil manipulations than the name “Jezebel”. It is synonymous with despicable, reprehensible and contemptible, just to name a few. Her name has echoed through 3,000 years of history as a byword for anything that is vile, polluted and idolatrous. So why do we want to know anything about her?

That we may Beware!

From accounts in the Old Testament we find that Jezebel was the wife of King Ahab of Israel (874-853 B.C) of whom God said, “and Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him” 1 Kings 16:33 A Baal worshipper, she was an evil, evil woman who ordered the prophets of the Lord to be slain. She enticed her husband to commit idolatry against his God by forcing him and his people to worship Baal also. Baal worship and the worship of false gods in general was prevalent at various times in Hebrew history under certain weak or evil kings. Unger’s Bible Dictionary describes Baal worship this way: “The inhabitants of Canaan were addicted to Baal worship… The gaiety and licentious character of Baal worship always had a subtle attraction for the austere Hebrews bound to serve a holy God under a rigorous moral code.“

Elijah proved Baal to be a false god when he challenged his false prophets to a test of faith on Mt. Carmel. When Baal failed to send down fire from heaven to consume a sacrifice, Elijah’s Lord lived up to the challenge and readily consumed the sacrifice that Elijah had prepared. Infuriated, Jezebel ordered the death of Elijah.

In another instance of treachery, Jezebel plotted against a man named Naboth who owned a vineyard next to King Ahab’s palace. Ahab, for some reason, decided he wanted the vineyard and offered Naboth money or another vineyard for it. When Naboth refused to give it to him citing that the Lord forbade it because it was an inheritance, Jezebel conspired against him. By forging the king’s name she sent letters to the elders of the city to have Naboth brought before them for blaspheming God and the king. He was subsequently stoned to death.

When news of this wicked offense reached Elijah, the Lord moved him to prophesy of both Ahab’s and Jezebel’s demise. “Thus saith the Lord, in the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine… And of Jezebel also spake the Lord, saying, the dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.” Just as Elijah had foretold, Ahab was killed in battle with dogs licking up his blood which had spilled on his chariot. As we see from the account in II Kings, Jezebel’s demise was even more gruesome.

“And he said, throw her down. So they threw her down: and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he rode her under foot.
   And when he was come in, he did eat and drink, and said, Go, see now this cursed woman, and bury her: for she is a king’s daughter.
   And they went to bury her: but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands.” 2 Kings 9:33-35

Jezebel is mentioned only once in the New Testament. It is in Revelation chapter 2 where Jesus commands the apostle John to write to the church at Thyatira concerning her: “Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.” Rev.2:20-23

Jezebel, in the New Testament, represents the marriage of false doctrine with true Christian doctrine, as exemplified in the Roman church. The church at Thyatira, which represents under the papal church established around 450 A.D. at the fall of the Roman Empire, was commended by the Lord for their many, many works and charitable service. However, He had a big bone to pick with them in the person of Jezebel, as we see in Revelation 2:20. She is given a chance to repent but refuses. Rev 2:21  Likewise, the Thyatirans are advised to repent or be thrown into great tribulation with her.

Though current Evangelical teaching is trying to sweep this knowledge under the rug it was not very long ago that every Bible-believing Christian understood about the whore of Babylon and the Jezebel spirit. The spirit of idolatry in the Christian church was given birth by the spirit of Jezebel (the Papacy) during this era of church history and has continued to flourish to this day. It has laid the groundwork for the disdainful ways of the Laodicean lukewarm commitment to truth and the arrogance of spiritual pride. The many false practices and idolatries of the Roman system are too numerous to go into detail here, but to name a few: statue worship (graven images), Mary and “saint” worship, salvation by infant water baptism, and transubstantiation (the mystery of turning bread and wine into the so-called “actual” body and blood of Christ – a feeble attempt to make oneself holy) and purgatory, lead many away by modernizing and ‘Christianizing’ the fabulously false mysteries of Babylon’s anti-christ religion. The spirit of Jezebel is a prime mover in this false religion that rooted itself in Christianity over the course of this age, starting with the believers at Thyatira in the first century C.E. The advances the Church at large made against these polluted teachings of the Dark Ages were hard won. Countless men and women gave up their lives resisting the whore’s persecutions. The depths of Satan were felt in that dark period of church history with the atrocities of the inquisition and the martyrdom of faithful servants of Christ who refused to deny his name. It is sad, indeed, to see so many Christian’s cash in these doctrinal victories won by the blood of the saints for a false peace and ecumenism that will come to naught in the end. 

So then, why does “Jezebel” have so many devotees? How can so many people be wrong? An answer may be found in the story of Noah and his family, who were eight people out of the whole world who were found righteous before God and obeyed His voice. That is why we must take serious the voice of God speaking through Paul when He says:

“And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
   Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.” 2 Cor. 6:16-17

God would not have chronicled Jezebel’s demise so graphically had he not meant to make a specific point. Does not God want us to slay the wicked woman with fervor whenever she tries to perpitrate her sorceries? Let us beware of her seductress idolatries and strive to come out from among them and be separate. Heed the warning of the woman Jezebel! 

“I will give unto every one of you according to your works.”

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NOTE: Gordon Lindsey wrote in the 1960’s in his Revelation Series: “The Seven Churches of Revelation”, has this to say about her: “Jezebel is the Papal Church which arose during the Dark Ages. While the name doubtless referred to someone in the local church of Thyatira, prophetically it symbolizes the rise of the Papacy of which Jezebel is a type. This is the accepted interpretation of all evangelical interpreters, and there can be no doubt but that it is the true interpretation. The aptness of the symbology is obvious and striking….The horrors of the inquisition, the burning of `heretics’ at the stake, immorality among the Popes, a decadent priesthood forbidden to marry, doctrines of the harlot Babylon, image worship in its grossest forms, Mariolatry – all these evil things appeared in the Church of Thyatira. It was a time of gross darkness.”

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FURTHER: The many false practices and idolatries of the Roman system are too numerous to go into in detail here, but to name a few: statue worship (graven images), Mary and “saint” worship, salvation by infant water baptism, and transubstantiation (the mystery of turning bread and wine into the so-called “actual” body and blood of Christ – a feeble attempt to make oneself holy) and the outrageous invention of purgatory, lead many away by Christianizing the fabulously false mysteries of Babylon and her anti-christ religion. All of these foster a faith in the things of this world and a hope in carnal riches. The spirit of Jezebel is a prime mover in this false religion that rooted itself in Christianity over the course of this age, starting with the believers at Thyatira in the first century C.E.