Jezebel is alive and well in the American Evangelical Church

The Spirits of the Age

There are certain spiritual archetypes at work in the world, and they follow spiritual patterns.  Some of these patterns are divinely revealed in scripture, such as the Tabernacle as a sign of heaven. Others can be perceived by those who attend closely to scripture and the world we live in. Charismatics tend to call these types and patterns “spirits.”  

Charismatics tend to suffer from the sin of excess, so it was not uncommon to hear that there was a spirit behind almost everything; a spirit of laziness that made you oversleep, or a spirit of knowledge that helped you solve your work problems.  The excessive identification of spirits tempts us to dismiss the principle altogether, but I would suggest that is a mistake.  If anything, Evangelicals have fallen into the ditch on the other side of the road and no longer believe that there are real spiritual powers at work in our world, for good or for ill.  

I want to try to recover a basic recognition that the world is ordered according to a divine pattern and that spiritual realities are very much at work in the world and in the church.  Such patterns and spiritual powers are recognizable for those who are looking.  One such pattern, long identified in the Charismatic world, but often denied in the Evangelical world, is the Jezebel spirit.  

Queen Jezebel

1 Kings 16 introduces us to Jezebel.  She is the wife of Ahab, the wicked King of Israel. There we read,

And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him. And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him. He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. (1 Kings 13:30-32)

There are three important details we learn about Jezebel from the text.  First, Jezebel is a force multiplier for sin (1Kings 21:25).  Ahab is already a wicked king who does evil in the sight of the Lord. When Ahab marries Jezebel, she doesn’t corrupt him, rather she is an effective helpmate who incites and amplifies Ahab’s wickedness.  If Eve was created to help Adam in the pursuit of righteousness, Jezebel is the antithesis.   

Secondly, Jezebel is a Sidonian.  The Sidonians were the inhabitants of ancient Sidon, a seaport on the Mediterranean Sea in modern Lebanon. Sidon was an influential, wealthy Phoenician city when the kings of Israel and Judah ruled.  Sidon was also polytheistic.  The presence of wealth and polytheism created the conditions for a culture of egalitarianism, political influence, entitlement, and manipulation.  Sidon produced a ruling class who expected privilege, demanded power, and enjoyed the pleasures of this world. Once accustomed to such a life, the elites of Sidon would do whatever it took to maintain comfort and control.  For example, when Ahab desired Naboth’s vineyard, Jezebel went political and did whatever it took to get the vineyard (1 Kings 21:1-16).  She manipulated people, spread false rumors about Naboth at a dinner party, and eventually had him killed so that Ahab could take possession of the land.  Jezebels want things their way and they’ll do what it takes to get it.     

Finally, Jezebel is an idolator.  Idolatry is not unique to Jezebel, but as 1 Kings describes, she possessed a unique zeal for idolatry that included deception, persecution, and even murder.  But Jezebel’s unique contribution to idolatry was through her campaign to control the narrative.  Not only did Jezebel help promote Baal worship in Israel, but she actively worked to destroy the ministry of Yahweh by cutting off the prophetic word (1Kings 18:4). By cutting off the prophets of God, Jezebel was free to narrate an uncontested version of her truth throughout Israel.  Words build worlds, and with the prophets silenced, the kingdom could now be established by the word of Jezebel, not Yahweh.     

Confrontation is inevitable…and necessary 

Jezebel is a serious problem for the people of God.  Left unchecked, she has the power to upend the kingdom and destroy the covenant community.  But God will not allow Jezebel to wreak havoc upon Israel forever. Jezebel must be stopped, but how?  

In 1 Kings 18, Elijah has his famous showdown with the prophets of Baal.  It is a confrontation through power.  Elijah meets with Ahab and tells him, “I have not troubled Israel, but you have, and your father’s house, because you have abandoned the commandments of the LORD and followed the Baals. Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, and the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table” (1 Kings 18:18–19).    

Elijah plays the man as he represents Yahweh in a cosmic showdown with the idolaters.  Two bulls are offered as sacrifice: one before Yahweh, the other before Baal.  Both Elijah and the prophets of Baal call upon their gods and whoever answers by fire is the one true God.  What follows is some of the most dramatic and at times humorous prose in all Christian scripture.  After hours of limping around, pleading, and adjuring Baal to just show up, there is no response and the prophets ultimately fail.  Now it is Elijah’s turn.  He orders gallons of water poured over the sacrifice so there can be no mistake as to where the fire comes from.  Elijah prays, the fire falls and Elijah is consumed with a zeal for Yahweh.  He orders the people to seize the prophets of Baal, who are then slaughtered at the Kishon brook.

With this miraculous display of power, reformation enters the house of Israel, but not the heart of Jezebel.  Instead, Ahab runs back to Jezreel like a spoiled child to complain to Jezebel and tell her all that Elijah did.  Jezebel is quick to act.  Jezebel responds like any proud Sidonian mother would.  She intends to tilt the table back in her favor, and sends messengers to Elijah to tell him, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow” (1 Kings 19:2).  And with that threat, this mighty man of God, who saw the fire of heaven fall, and who vanquished 950 enemies of Yahweh, now turns in fear and runs for his life.   

Jezebel is no friend to the prophets.  She not only silences the prophets but she destroys them.  She has been very successful at this.  She destroys them not only by the sword but by a more terrifying weapon, her tongue. Her words are no empty threats, she is very effective in her campaign against the prophetic word. And now her word is directed against the man of God.  

Heavenly displays of power will not stop Jezebel, they do not scare her. The way that God stops Jezebel is by confronting her with His prophetic word.  Baal was dealt with through trial by fire; with Jezebel, it is a battle of words.  Whose word will prevail, Jezebel’s or Yahweh’s?  Elijah flees from Jezebel, but the Lord providentially cares for Elijah under the broom tree.  Eventually, God sends Elijah back to confront Ahab and Jezebel with a prophetic word.  We read,

“Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, “Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who is in Samaria; behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone to take possession. And you shall say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Have you killed and also taken possession?”’ And you shall say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD: “In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick your own blood. “Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me, O my enemy?” He answered, “I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the LORD. Behold, I will bring disaster upon you. I will utterly burn you up, and will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, in Israel. And I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the anger to which you have provoked me, and because you have made Israel to sin. And of Jezebel the LORD also said, ‘The dogs shall eat Jezebel within the walls of Jezreel.’ Anyone belonging to Ahab who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone of his who dies in the open country the birds of the heavens shall eat.” (1 Kings 21:17–24).

God speaks and the prophet delivers the word of the Lord to the Ahab and Jezebel.  And then God waits.  It’s important to notice that God waits.  God is gracious and he offers time so that the prophetic word can do its work on wicked hearts.  Amazingly, Ahab repents and God relents the disaster he is about to bring upon him.  Jezebel, however, does not.  She is committed to her own way and she will not stop until she gets what she wants.  

When Jezebel rejects the word, God sends a reformer to deliver Israel from the wicked queen.  God raises up Jehu as king.  He is a strong man, and he is motivated to enact reform in the house of Israel.  Jehu executes justice in the land, according to the word of the Lord.  Jezebel hears news of what is happening and that Jehu has come for her.  We read,

“And she painted her eyes and adorned her head and looked out of the window. And as Jehu entered the gate, she said, “Is it peace, you Zimri, murderer of your master?” And he lifted up his face to the window and said, “Who is on my side? Who?” Two or three eunuchs looked out at him. He said, “Throw her down.” So they threw her down. And some of her blood spattered on the wall and on the horses, and they trampled on her. Then he went in and ate and drank. And he said, “See now to this cursed woman and bury her, for she is a king’s daughter.” But when they went to bury her, they found no more of her than the skull and the feet and the palms of her hands. When they came back and told him, he said, “This is the word of the LORD, which he spoke by his servant Elijah the Tishbite: ‘In the territory of Jezreel the dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel, and the corpse of Jezebel shall be as dung on the face of the field in the territory of Jezreel, so that no one can say, This is Jezebel” (2 Kings 9:30–37).

This is Jezebel.  A rebellious woman who took up residence in the kingdom of God only to multiply sin, deny Yahweh, and reject his word.  In the end, she is thrown to the street, her blood is spattered on the wall, her body trampled by horses, and eaten by dogs.  No one will ever see her again, but her spirit will remain, as a sign of defiant disobedience. 

No one will see her again, but all must look to see what happened to her, lest she reign again.  If there is to be peace in the land, then we must not avoid conflict with Jezebel, nor deny the uncomfortable tensions that arise in her presence, nor the gruesome display of justice when her reign of terror is dealt with.  

A Jezebel Spirit in the Church

A Jezebel spirit is not just a spiritual Karen (Karen being a pejorative slang term for an obnoxious, angry, entitled, and often racist middle-aged white woman who uses her privilege to get her way or police other people’s behaviors.) Her presence in the church is often less obnoxious, but far more pernicious.  Karens react, but Jezebels act. Jezebels plan and execute, have goals for the church and expectations for leadership, especially for men, and they often execute their plans with a degree of competence and skill.  Jezebels will work behind the scenes but are not opposed to stepping out and being vocal.  

There are a few key indicators that help us identify a Jezebel spirit.  First, a Jezebel spirit is not the same as a feminist.  Feminists postulate a vision of the good life in the absence of men.  For a feminist, men are rendered obsolete.  Jezebel, however, thrives in the presence of weak men.  A Jezebel spirit does not want to eliminate men, she wants to “help” them by offering alternatives, to “encourage” them in the way she knows they should go, to “care” for them by showing them a better way. When the strength of men fail, Jezebel enters to provide “support.”

A Jezebel spirit insists on her own way.  And in that way, she is the opposite of love.  She will say that it is love that motivates her, love for the church, love for the children, and love for the pastor.  She loves the ministry.  It is because she cares so much that she must insist that things change or that things remain the same.  Refusal to listen and heed her advice is often met with sharp criticism or worse, accusation. This attribute of Jezebel is brilliantly described in the character of Pam in C.S. Lewis’s The Great Divorce.

Finally, a Jezebel spirit persists.  She will not be refused.  If she is unable to achieve her objective indirectly, then a more direct approach is taken.  Jezebels also work effectively through attrition.  The slow erosion of confidence, momentum, and trust is her stock in trade.  An effective Jezebel is a seasoned Jezebel, one who is part of a church’s legacy and tradition.  Often, she was there at the beginning and she plans to be there, keeping the flame alive, long after you leave.

Today, Jezebel is a protected class within the Evangelical church.  The reason for this is because she presents as such a pious woman.  Jezebel is an idolator, which means she is conversant in pious language and excels in acts of devotion.  Her eyes are always painted with evangelical seduction; she carries the faint fragrance of holiness that comes with modern evangelical worship.  From all outward appearances, she looks pure of heart, but her heart is devoted to the self, and her manner of life is self-expression.  If left unchecked, a Jezebel spirit will ruin your church.

Casting out the Spirit of Jezebel

Today’s Evangelical church needs a reintroduction to the prophetic word.  It is the word of God that calls a sinner to repentance, it is the word of God that sets the captive free, it is the word of God that builds the church and it is the word of God that transforms even the stoniest of hearts.  Elijah confronted Jezebel and she refused to heed the word of God.  In the end, she was eaten by dogs.  But there was another Jezebel in scripture, a spirit of Jezebel.  Jesus confronted her in Mark 7.  In that text, Jesus encounters a woman we know as the Syrophoenician woman.  

Mark writes, “And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth.” (Mark 7:24–26) This woman is a Sidonian from the region of Phoenicia.  She hails from the same hometown as Jezebel.  No doubt her sensibilities and expectations about life were firmly established during her upbringing.

This woman has a need, her daughter is sick, and she needs her to be healed.  “And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter” (Mark 7:26). The Sidonian woman will do whatever it takes to make sure her little girl gets what she needs, and what she as the mother wants.  And what does Jesus do when this Jezebel spirit insists on her own way, he offers her a prophetic word, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs” (Mark 7:27).  Some are troubled over the way Jesus talked to this woman, some have even accused Jesus of racism, if not sexism, over his response to her.  But Jesus knows what he is doing, he knows who he is speaking to, and he knows what this woman truly needs.  Jesus confronts this Jezebel spirit with a prophetic word, and then he waits for a response.  

But unlike the Jezebel of old, years do not pass before the word does its work in the heart of the woman.  She receives the word, humbles herself, and comes under the authority of Christ. “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs” (Mark 7:28).  This Jezebel will not be eaten by the dogs, rather she is willing to eat among the dogs, if it means she can eat at the feet of Jesus.  And in that moment, the woman is healed and her daughter is delivered. “And he said to her, “For this statement, you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.” And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone” (Mark 7:29–30).

Jezebel reigned in the northern Kingdom of Israel, she appeared again before Jesus, and her spirit is active in the church today.  If she is not confronted by the prophetic word, she will run roughshod through the church, and the lives of men, women, and children will all be sorely afflicted.  She must be confronted by men, not by eunuchs who will throw her to the dogs, not by kings who call her to account, but by men who possess a prophetic word and who have the courage to deliver it.  At times, the conflict will be gruesome, and we cannot refuse the blood on the wall.  Other times it will be miraculous, with hearts set free from evil.  Regardless the church will be purified.