The Jezebel Spirit
The Spirit of Jezebel has been around since before God set man in the garden of Eden. Satan used the spirit when he tricked Adam and Eve to eat fruit forbidden to them. Adam and Eve wore robes of righteousness and God’s glory. They lived naked and innocent like the rest of the animals in the garden. But once they ate the forbidden fruit, they lost their righteousness. Without their robes of God’s glory, the Jezebel spirit opened their eyes and showed them the sin of nakedness. It destroyed their innocence.
Again, Satan tried to use the Jezebel spirit to trick Jesus to “turn these stones into bread.” This would be wrong for Jesus to do because He must rely on God to supply His needs. He could supply bread for Himself, as many of us do. How many hours do you work a week to supply those “things?”
Yes, the Jezebel spirit is alive and well today, as we will learn.
The Corrupt Church
Revelation 2:28-29
18 “And to the angel of the church of Thyatira write,
“These things says the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet like fine brass: 19 I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience; and as for your works, the last are more than the first. 20 Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. 21 And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent. 22 Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds. 23 I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works.
24 “Now to you I say, and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not have this doctrine, who have not known the depths of Satan, as they say, I will put on you no other burden. 25 But hold fast what you have till I come. 26 And he who overcomes, and keeps my works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations–
27 ‘He shall rule them with a rod of iron; they shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels’–
as I also have received from My Father; 28 and I will give him the morning star.
29 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches’”
The smallest of the seven cities, Thyatira existed as not much more than a frontier garrison of the Roman empire and an important crossroad on the Roman road system. Also an industrial city, many active trade guilds, the roots of modern Labor Unions, existed in Thyatira. Manufacturing included dye and garments, pottery, and brass works.
The guilds made it hard for Christians to find work in the city. To find work, one must belong to a trade guild. Often the initiation rituals of the guilds required initiates to eat foods dedicated to the group’s favorite pagan idol.
To become a 32nd degree Mason today an initiate must “drink the cup of blood to Lucifer.”
Key: The key to Thyatira is in verses 18 and 23. “… eyes like fire… feet of brass….”
Fire was used in the refining of brass, a procedure common in Thyatira. The process burns off the dross, as in gold, and leaves behind a pure product. As we learned in chapter one, eyes are symbolic of all-seeing omniscience, and fire, a symbol of purification. Nothing can be hidden from the all-seeing eyes of Jesus, even things shrouded in mystery and secrecy.
Many pagan trade guild rituals used the all-seeing eye, and still do today. For example, in Masonic rituals. Many of America’s founding fathers were Masons. The eye can be found all over our capital, Washington DC.
Check out the back of a dollar bill. There it is.
19 “I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience …”
Jesus sees all these things. Nothing done in love and the name of Jesus will go unrecognized and unrewarded. Matthew 10:42, Hebrews 6:10
“… the last are more than the first.” The NASB reads: “Your deeds of late are greater than at first.” This is a more accurate translation.
20 “Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.”
Jesus used the name Jezebel to address the prophetess who headed the cult of the Nicholaitans in Thyatira. It is unclear whether this was her actual name, or if Jesus was addressing the demonic spirit. Apparently she taught her satanic doctrines within the church.
We are familiar with many of the teachings; sexual immorality, and eating foods dedicated to idols.
Some manuscripts use the phrase, “your wife Jezebel.” Did the angel, the head of the church of Thyatira, secretly promote the teachings of Jezebel? This would fit the idea of “things done in secret.” Or, could his wife be teaching behind his back, and he either didn’t realize it, or refused to acknowledge it to keep marital peace?
The Judgement of Jezebel
Who was Jezebel? The best instance of this demonic spirit in scripture is 1 Kings 16:31-33. Jezebel, the daughter of the king of the Sidonians (Tyre), became the wife of Ahab, king of Israel. She was a Baal worshiper; an acolyte and temple priestess. As priestess, she encouraged and committed adultery with the Baal worshipers.
After she became Ahab’s queen, the king allowed her to continue to worship Baal, and encouraged Israel to do the same. At her urging, Ahab built altars to Baal. She was a domineering woman with a powerful spirit presence; a woman accustomed to getting her own way. As Ahab’s wife, she usurped her husband’s authority by sending letters of royal decree and using the king’s seal. 1 Kings 21:28
1 Kings 18:18 tells us she fed eight-hundred prophets of Baal and Asherah at the king’s table, an honored position. At the same time she set out to kill all the prophets of the Lord Jehovah.
After Ahab’s death, Jezebel ruled in his place for ten years until her death, prophesied by Elijah in 1 Kings 21:23, and fulfilled in 2 Kings 9:30-37. God’s punishment for Jezebel was horrific. According to 2 Kings 9:36, her body was eaten by dogs. God does not tolerate those in charge leading His people into sin.
The demonic influence did not end with the death of Jezebel. The spirit is still alive and active today.
21 ‘And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent. 22 Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds. 23 I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts.”
This is a display of the judgement of those who follow the teachings of Jezebel and the Nicholaitans even today. (Note: this is not the tribulation shown later in Revelation. It is a separate judgement.) The wages of sin, is death. Those caught up in immorality, whether saved or unsaved, pay the wages in the flesh. Jesus burns the dross out of His church. His church will be spotless and able to survive persecution soon to come before the Great Tribulation.
23b “… And I will give to each one of you according to your works.
24 “Now to you I say, and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not have this doctrine, who have not known the depths of Satan, as they say, I will put on you no other burden.”
Jeremiah 17:10 says; “I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruits of his doings.”
Try your best; you can’t hide your sin from the Lord.
There are two problems listed in this passage. “… this doctrine …” refers to the doctrine of the Nicholaitans. Many Christians welcomed this teaching as it allowed them to participate in trade-guild rituals, giving them the ability to find work. These who believed themselves immune to sin because of their salvation, looked down on their “inferior” brethren. To sin-free Christians, He lays no other burden, other than “do not eat food offered to idols, and shun immorality.”