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Jack Jackson
CONSEQUENCES OF SUFFERING THE SPIRIT OF JEZEBEL
We are truly in times which seem to be getting more and more grievous for the people of God. All too often evil is called good and good is called evil. We can be doing almost everything right in God’s eye, and yet lack something which will cost us, our families, and others dearly in the judgments which may be at the door and the consequences of our inaction from now until then. What can we learn from the “Letter to the Church at Thyatira” and other Scripture?
In Revelation 2:18–29 God reveals what He likes about that church and what He dislikes.
First let us look at the “good” they were commended on. God told them He knew their works, charity (love), service, faith, and patience (endurance). These are all good traits; we should ask Him to be empowered by His Holy Spirit to carry out. Please note these brethren were showing love, and patience (endurance) with each other. They exhibited faith and had works and service (fruit) to prove their faith, not just talk about their faith.
They must have thought themselves a “loving congregation” and thought they were properly handling issues which tend to arise in any body; however, they were wrong, deadly wrong!
“Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that women Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.” Rev. 2:20
How could something like this not be seen? Wouldn’t it be like ignoring the “elephant in the room”?
The spirit of Jezebel is real, seductive, and causes death to her children. It is hard to see at work because it “seduces” its victims. It speaks lovely words which at first edifies and flatters its prey to open its foot hold, and then plants seeds of cancer which manifest, conceive, and ultimately bring forth further death to the victim’s children. This is a joyous thing for the adversary, but grieves the heart of God.
The Spirit of Jezebel is understood as a “controlling spirit”, primarily residing in women, which desires to rule over her husband and any others around her. It doesn’t seek to kill her husband, or get rid of him entirely because that would release him from her control. She becomes like cancer which sickens her prey to make them weak and controllable, but doesn’t seek to cast them away, lest she lose the game she plays. She must remain in control through any means necessary. To her, losing control is unacceptable, so in the end, even her children’s death takes a backseat to the higher priority of keeping control of her husband. Children therefore are used as “weapons” and therefore are symbolically offered unto Molech. How does it bring death to her children? The spirit of Jezebel leads to a break down of God’s ways, an orderly household and causes her children to lose their faith. Her hypocrisy and “partiality” to His word can spread like a cancer. It can lead to generational curses where her daughters can develop the same spirit which refuses a “covering” of her future husband and continues the cycle. It can also lead her sons to having the spirit of Ahab, so they are primed to even unknowingly seek a wife that exhibits “controlling” tendencies like his mother. This makes bringing up a Godly seed nearly impossible; although all things are possible with God. Those who are raised to become ungodly will end up in the lake of fire, so the end estate of both is the fire.
Does this seem too strong a summary? I believe it might not go far enough. God sees her actions as akin to “committing adultery”, and causing others to commit fornication and eat things sacrificed to idols. This is because her actions turn people from following God’s ways, and fools them into appeasing her instead; it is to serve and worship at her feet.
So what does it mean to “suffer” Jezebel? The word in Greek is Strong’s 1439, which is “eao” (eh-ah-o), and is defined as: to let be; to permit; or to leave alone. The Strong’s suggest we also see 1436, to see the root. Where do we first see this word or root in the NT? We find Yeshua (Jesus) speaking in the synagogue (church / assembly) when a man with unclean spirits speaks “Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth?(Mark 1:24a). Notice the words translated as ”Let us alone” is the Strong’s word 1436, root of 1439. The unclean spirit asks to not be dealt with, allowing it to continue to reside and do its damage. It is asking Yeshua to “suffer it”, rather than cast it out.
How did Yeshua deal with the person who had the unclean spirit? And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. (Mark 1:25) From the beginning of the NT, Yeshua teaches us unclean spirits are to be: 1) rebuked, 2) told to hold their peace; and 3) and commanded to come out. To suffer the spirit is to “let it alone”, allowing it to further do its deadly tasks. Yeshua didn’t waste time trying to appease it, hoping the behavior would change. Notice, the unclean spirit was right inside the congregation, in one who must have seemed to be “one of the body of believers”.
So we see Yeshua immediately taught them not to “suffer” unclean spirits. So why did the Church of Thyatira suffer the spirit of Jezebel? Were they trying to “love her back to the Lord”? Did they think, because they still stumbled in sin, they couldn’t cast the first stone? Did they think it was a virtue to be long patient and suffering of even an unclean spirit? Maybe they loved the rest of her family too much. Maybe they thought they were needed to minister to her children. These are possible reasons, and maybe they justified their decision to suffer that Jezebel spirit, but, however virtuous they believed they were being, God did not approve. In fact He planned to hold them accountable as a “body” for suffering the woman Jezebel.
Note, Yeshua doesn’t just search our hearts, but also our reins (Rev. 2:23). He won’t just judge the decision of our hearts because many are actually just made by our emotions; but He will search our reins also; the means by which He moves us to act, like the leanings or pressure one would use to steer a horse.
It would seem the Church of Thyatira was seeing some good fruit from its works and therefore ignored, or had a blind spot, to the evidence of death around them. They seemed to be ignorant of the tentacles and seeds of death planted by this Jezebel spirit. Maybe they ignored how she was not submitted to her husband because, at least, she was not keeping her family from “fellowship”. How could the unclean spirit want to keep coming to the house of God if it was so evil? Why? Because that is exactly where she can cause the most death to God’s children! This is where she can secretly tell other wives things like “You really have good things to say, your husband should listen to you.” Or “You should stand up to your husband for what you believe”. She seduces the women into receiving the same controlling spirit. She doesn’t come right out against the victim’s husband, she first likes to “cry on a caring shoulder” about her own husband’s faults. These “faults” are always how her husband seeks to control her wrongly and therefore is an abuser. She likes to tell other women how sometimes she just feels like a prisoner in her own family. She tugs at the heart of her victim to garnish sympathy, while all along is planting seeds and setting her hook to turn the situation around and have her victim begin to question whether she is also in an “abusive relationship”. She wants to tell anyone who will listen how oppressive her husband really is.
The next step will be to have her victim seek the same “knowledge” Jezebel found to justify herself. These will be worldly web sites, books, and chat rooms, where the spirit of Jezebel can be fed and grown strong and supported by teachers and demon possessed people who will tickle the ears, rather than calling out the unclean spirit. Man’s wisdom and psychology replace God’s scripture and the council of the Godly. Sadly, this evil spirit can even turn to the legal system, rather than the Biblical model, allowing “brethren” to judge the matter. It will not allow itself to be brought before the brethren, lest it be exposed. It will rather seek “private council” so in the end it can ignore the council by condemning the “counselors”, thereby justifying not listening to their council. I know a case in which this process has happened over and over and over. The counselors may also be discounted for not first reading the materials it feels must be read in order to be a “qualified counselor”. The Bible becomes insufficient in its eyes in the end analysis.
Many of you may also know of similar situations, or have observed this spirit of Jezebel raise its head. Maybe you know someone who appears to be under its control. Maybe it is within your home or fellowship right now. Maybe you realize you have this spirit. In either of these possibilities, what do you intend to do about it? Will you suffer it any longer?
Conclusion:
We know Yeshua will hold it against us if we “suffer a Jezebel spirit”. We know He will cast her into the great tribulation along with those who suffer her. Most also believe we are nearing the time of great tribulation, so time seems of the essence. What must be done by the children of God to avoid the judgment? Be willing to obey God’s word on this matter and quit suffering the Jezebel spirit immediately!
If you realize this spirit is in you, repent, rebuke it by name, and cast it out in Yeshua’s name. Repent and ask your husband and family for forgiveness. Confess your sin to those you have been in fellowship with and be willing to go and dig up the seeds you have planted. Ask others to hold you accountable to your decision and pray for you to be strengthened in His Holy Spirit. Be usable by God to help others see this spirit as you will be equipped better to see it.
What can a husband do who believes his wife has this spirit? He can rebuke the spirit by name, tell it to hold its peace, and command it to come out in Yeshua’s name. What does he do if this does not work? If this is not successful, he must bring the matter to the “fellowship”, first with a few witnesses, and if that is not successful, seek to bring his wife before the church. Please be aware, the spirit of Jezebel does not want to be exposed for what it is and this step can result in opening the gates of hell against him and others who would try and expose it. Although he needs the support of his brethren in prayer, he needs to recognize he must, at all costs, keep her from reaching out to seduce and try to create any other potential victims. He must therefore love his neighbor as himself by “setting his family outside of the camp” until the uncleanness passes away. I have erred on not making this a strong council in the past. What if his wife insists on going out to fellowships without him, or wants to take the children there? He must strongly insist she not go, restrict the children from leaving, ensure the family has a house study to study the word of God until the uncleanness passes. He may even go as far as communicating to any brethren she might seek out in fellowship and insist they not welcome her, warning them to also not suffer this unclean spirit. He then must pray as to what lengths he must go to in order to break the spirit of Jezebel before it causes the death of his children.
What must the body of believers do? The scripture commands us to not fellowship with those who are disorderly (2 Thess. 3), count them not as enemy; but rather admonish them as a brother. The one with the spirit of Jezebel must be cast out of fellowship and turned over to Satan for the destruction of her flesh, so the soul might be saved. Many may consider this harsh rather than the instructions of Scripture. They might rather “feel” they are needed to minister. They are, in fact, deadly wrong. This attitude is exactly what Yeshua calls “suffering” the spirit of Jezebel, and therefore is sin itself. This sin is so bad in Yeshua’s sight He will cast those in great tribulation along with the one who has the spirit. You become a partaker in her sin, and her reproach of God will come upon your own heads, unless you repent and hold fast, keeping His word to the end.
The problem occurs when the “body” is not acting in unity in this matter. When Jezebel can just find another gathering, she never has to face the shame of being set outside the camp. Even Miriam (Moses’ sister) was made to face the shame of a controlling spirit by being made “unclean” and having to spend 7 days isolated outside the camp. Miriam was made to do this even though she repented. Repentance must always come first, before such a one is allowed back in the camp!
What must you do if the fellowship gathering you are in does not deal with a spirit of Jezebel, and you want to? You must be first a watchman and warn them. They are in sin and need to repent to God and do the right thing; casting out the spirit of Jezebel from being welcomed in the gathering (camp). If they will not heed your warning (which is actually God’s warning from Rev. 2), then you must consider them “disorderly”, and in sin also, and remove yourself from that fellowship. Find a gathering which honors God in truth and spirit, one which will obey God in all matters. This is very, very hard to do, especially where you may love the people very much; yet, you must make a stand for God’s word and ways. If you do not, though you were opposed to Jezebel, I believe you will still be guilty of suffering her. If you know what was good to do, and not do it, God calls it sin in James 4:17.
The quicker the matter is identified, quarantined, and dealt with; the number of casualties can be minimized. If we are the temple of the living God, we are therefore to come out from among them and be separate, and touch not that which is unclean and God will receive us (1 Cor. 6:15-7:1). We cannot have the attitude of continuing to love-on, dance with, hug, and touch the unclean spirit, and not receive all the filthiness of the flesh and that unclean spirit itself. This passage above starts by asking the question of “And what concord (joining) hath Christ with Belial (Baal)?” (verse 15). Jezebel was the leader of the prophets of Baal. How much more should we take heed to not suffer this particular unclean spirit of Baal in these last days?
Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
Yet, if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked ways, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul. Ezk. 3:17-19
Jack Jackson – Bondservant of Yeshua