Episode 66: Recognizing Jezebel

No one likes to be around a bossy or manipulating person. They undercut your peace and cause pain and confusion with their words and actions.

There’s a woman in scripture that lived out chaos and control. Her name was Jezebel—and she’s famous for taking charge of things and messing them up.

In 1 Kings 21:1-4 we see a scene where the King of Israel (King Ahab) sees something he wants. It’s a vineyard belonging to a faithful Jew named Naboth. When Naboth refuses to sell the land to King Ahab because of his commitment to Jewish law that honored the sacred rites of landownership (Lev. 25:23), Ahab spirals into a mood of depression and sullen entitlement.

His wife Jezebel enters the scene with a solution. “I will get that field for you…get up and act like a King!”

The events that follow are tragic, and yet all too common unless we recognize the way this Jezebel mindset works.

1. The Jezebel spirit can work within a man or woman. Its main purpose is to manipulate a situation or circumstance for its own benefit or control. It will twist the truth, lie, or coerce someone for its own gain.

2. The Jezebel spirit takes the things of God and manipulates them to cause confusion, threats or pain.

3. The Jezebel spirit will taunt you until you name it and tame it. You must learn to deal with this while still maintaining a heart of love for the people, yet awareness of the Jezebel spirit’s influence.

God brought Jezebel full circle in her evil deeds as Elijah, the prophet who once ran scared from her threats, prophesied she would die a disgraceful death. A few chapters later in the story…sure enough, she was dead.

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