Revelation
2:20
“But I have this against you: that you tolerate the
woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess [claiming to be inspired], and
who is teaching and leading astray my servants and beguiling them into
practicing sexual vice and eating food sacrificed to idols.” AMP
There are two characteristics of the Jezebel
Spirit that God wants us to not tolerate in His body.
1-
It
claims to be inspired by the Holy Spirit and tries to imitate the prophets of
God.
2- It
teaches and leads many astray including God’s servants and beguiles them to
practice sexual immorality which in the spirit is translated to the worshipping
of idols and eating food sacrificed to idols. In other words, contaminated doctrines.
This
means that Jezebel, who grew up studying to become a high priestess of Baal and
Ashera, once she became queen of Israel, her main object for that position was
to lead people astray from the worship of God (Yahweh) to the worship of her
gods of water and fertility. In her obscure ways of leading the people of
Israel she did not give the people to choose who they would serve and worship
as Joshua did. Joshua 24:14-15 says,
“14
Now therefore, [reverently] fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and in
truth; put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the
[Euphrates] River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15
And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day
whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served on the other
side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell; but as
for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” AMP
Instead,
the tactics of the spirit of Jezebel are of seeking political power or a
position of authority and deceive them that occupy those positions or that are
appointed to occupy them. Especially during times when the person is due to a
spiritual promotion.This spirit is known for its high level of control and
manipulation, usurping ways, and seeking of religious authority. Those that are
sold out for God in an unwavering way are considered its arch-enemies. A person
under the influence of this spirit also pretends to know the ways of God, but
these ways are perverted with idolatry, it denies responsibility when
confronted and walks around guiltless after sinning.
There
are many degrees of the influence of this spirit in the body of Christ and some
are subtle and some not so subtle where the people who are under its power are
insecure, bitter and resentful especially when they don’t get their way. So in
order to try to get what they want no matter what, they try to gather
information about those they declare war against in order to ambush and steal
from them. They also try to sow confusion by speaking lies about those they
want to eliminate out of their path in an attempt to remove them from their
positions in relentless ways. Also, this spirit is a man-hater that seeks to
strip them of spiritual, physical, emotional, and even financial power—to
make them as nothing and gain the upper hand over them— using sensuality to
deceive and lure them. The influence in men leads them to want to sweet-talk
their way in or out of situations.
In
addition, immorality, promiscuity, and sexual sins were considered part of the
way her gods were worshipped and sexual encounters meant a passage of new
dimensions of power and influence in the demonic. Today this includes
pornography and these sexual sins feed the strength of this spirit as well. The
Jezebel spirit also seeks to lure people, young and old, especially in the body
of Christ to engage in sex outside of marriage and wars against them through
temptation. That is because we were created to worship and have intimate
communion with our Heavenly Father in Spirit and in Truth which are contrary to
the ways of the spirit of Jezebel of perversion and lies. The antidote to this
influence is to call on Jesus and intentionally magnify Him in our daily living
and cry out to the father as it is stated in 2 Chronicles 7:14-16,
14
If My people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves, pray, seek,
crave, and require of necessity My face and turn from their wicked ways, then
will I hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land. 15
Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer offered in this place.
16 For I have chosen
and sanctified (set apart for holy use) this house, that My Name may be here
forever, and My eyes and My heart will be here perpetually. AMP
We
are the house God wants to sanctify and make holy and free from the influence
of this and other spirits that hinder many in His body to become vessels
that can truly be used to glorify His name among the nations. Doing this also
ensures that our prayers will be heard and that we do not pray amiss (James 4:2
AMP)—out of selfish motives or thinking we can also manipulate God and avoid
His process for our lives as we are tried as gold and purified so we can be
presented as His bride, without spot or wrinkle. This is not a one-time deal however. It takes
time and dedication in our pursue of God as the sole object of our worship to
be cleansed from this and other influences that are not of the Spirit of the
Living God. We could go as far as calling this a skill that needs to be
developed.
In
order to make him the sole object of our worship, we need to give him every
part of our hearts, not just some areas of our lives while we try to have full
control of the rest. It could also be surprising for seasoned and strong
Christians to hear that they might have not given every area of their hearts to
God. One reason could be that they may have had harsh circumstances in
their upbringing or ways of living. In addition, there are individuals that
have also been involved hard living such gang activity, the mafia or
prostitution, or other areas that involved them in a lot of sexual
activity or the threat of losing their lives or
taking someone else’s life. These are activities where the Jezebel spirit
has made a deep stronghold in the minds of the people involved.
Moreover,
a person under the influence of this spirit is not emotionally mature nor is
he/she mature in the things of the spirit although they may appear to be. That
is because they tend to apply their unrenewed knowledge, skills, and abilities obtained
from the world to the things of the Spirit. In other words, they use their worldly knowledge
and survival skills to walk with God in justifiable way to them and call
that having a relationship with God. But these cases are not far from God’s
redemptive power and salvation. After identifying our need to renew the spirit
of our mind, we need to make room for our Lord and be totally conformed to
His image and likeness. Our offering and sacrificial giving of ourselves
to God to have full power and authority over our lives will open the door for
freedom from this and other demonic influences. To Him alone be all the glory.●
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