Bad Guys of the Bible: Jezebel, An Evil and Malicious Woman
by David Chadwick
Today’s bad guy of the Bible is actually a bad gal. She was a really evil woman. Her tentacles are still in the world today. Jezebel. A queen on a mission to manipulate and destroy. This story is found from 1 Kings 16 through 2 Kings 9.
Jezebel was married to Ahab. He was the 7th king in the northern kingdom of Israel. If you know your biblical history, this was the kingdom that was ultimately taken over by the Assyrians in 722 BC. Ten tribes of Israel were dispersed all over the world.
Jezebel’s marriage to Ahab was largely for political purposes. It was a strategic partnership to achieve more power. She brought all of her pagan practices into the marriage and nation, including the worship of Phoenician gods and goddesses, commonly called the Baal gods. She found the worship of the one true God to be intolerable. An abomination to her practices. Therefore, she he instituted Baal worship.
Jezebel was a controlling, dominant woman who ran the home over her weak-willed, passive husband Ahab. She was full of flattery with an illusion of beauty and charm. But under the surface she was calculated, malicious and full of plots and agendas to steal, kill, and destroy. In fact, one time, Jezebel framed and executed Naboth to get his vineyard when her pouting husband couldn’t acquire it and get his way.
She was vile to the core. A symbol of gross sexuality and paganism at every level. She introduced intermarriage between the Jews and Gentiles, which was something God expressly forbade. Everything she stood for walked in direct contradiction to God’s holy worship. Known for persecuting the prophets, Jezebel had an intense disgust and special hatred for the prophet Elijah.
Eventually, Jezebel was killed by Jehu, a fervent man who desired God’s holiness more than anything else. He carried the anointing and the courage to put an end to her ways.
The demonic spirit that drove Jezebel back then is still running rampant in the earth today. Strong men like Jehu are needed now more than ever to remain firmly planted in the truth of God’s Word and the power of the Holy Spirit. The world also needs to resist the seductive, compromising, and deceptive agenda of the enemy that works through both men and women to wreak havoc just as Jezebel did.
Jezebel has come to be known through the ages as a symbol of rebellion against God. She emphasized control and arrogance–everything God doesn’t want a woman to be! Make someone like Esther, Ruth, Mary, or another godly woman in the Bible your example for how to live! And resist the spirit of Jezebel from ever entering your heart.