Jezebel of Thyatira...

Jezebel of Thyatira…Are we there?

Mary Ann Wray

“And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: ‘The words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze. “‘I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first. But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works. But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden. Only hold fast what you have until I come. The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. And I will give him the morning star. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”  Revelations 2: 18-29

There’s been a lot of talk in charismatic circles about the Spirit of Jezebel over the past decade or so. Many books and teachings are circulating concerning the same. I and I’m sure most of you, have read quite a few of these books and listened to many teachings on it. But I fear that a very important aspect of how this principality operates is being overlooked. It seems the primary emphasis has been about how this principality comes against modern “prophets” and tries to shut their mouths through sinister attacks against their minds, ministries, families and through church people. There is definitely some truth to this. However, I believe what is more critical to know is how this principality attempts to influence leaders to turn away from fully following Christ and get into compromising situations either through pride or lust. In so doing, if the leader bites the bait, this leads God’s people into trouble. You may not agree with me and that is fine, but first let’s look at what Paul the Apostle stated:

“Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! Therefore, I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful.” 2 Timothy 2: 8-10

According to Paul the Apostle, God’s word cannot be bound no matter who may come against it and who is proclaiming it. Those who speak for Christ must expect opposition and resistance. It seems that in modern western culture, and unfortunately now, in parts of the eastern hemisphere, preaching and boldly proclaiming the “Word of the Lord” has become diluted with mixture and greed. It’s become more of a demonstration of personal charisma, lifting up an anointing of a man or woman and a display of arrogant prowess more than it is about preaching the unadulterated gospel of Jesus Christ. Christ’s gospel is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1: 15-16). His gospel does not depend upon clever words or charismatic gifts. Spiritual gifts are secondary. Again, let’s look at what Apostle Paul said about it:

“And I, when I came to you, brothers, I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 2: 1-5

In my humble opinion, after walking with Jesus for almost 50 years, and witnessing the evolution of preaching and teaching devolve into something different today than it was decades ago, this is what we’ve sadly seen. In many ways, it’s become more of a competition between prophets and teachers. People flock to them in mass arenas, while they can’t wait to witness miracles, and messages that appeal to the soul and predicting future events that usually don't happen the way they say they will if at all. Have we become addicted to adrenaline fixes we get at these gatherings, similar to the rush from a street drug? In many cases it has become a parade of eloquent preachers, using catchy buzz phrases, emphasizing their spiritual gifts and who has the latest, deepest revelation of the “hidden things” of God. I must interject here, that I’m not knocking mass crusades nor the gifts of the Holy Spirit. They have their place. Also, I am a continuist in faith and practice.

As many of you do, I believe in all nine gifts (charisms) of the Holy Spirit Paul described in 1 Corinthians 12 & 14, Christ’s ministry gifts to His Church listed in Ephesians 4 and all same and other ministry/ serving gifts called out in Romans 12. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. That which is perfect has not yet occurred. Therefore, that which is imperfect, us, and how God chooses to use us, still remains. We need The Holy Spirit’s gifts to help equip and mature us. Most of all, we need His wisdom, revelation and understanding to teach us all truth and guide us into living a separated life unto the Lord. But there are no “super stars” in God’s echelon. In fact, Paul degraded himself before the Ephesian church saying that he was “least of all the saints.”

I and my husband got caught up in the Word of Faith movement, then the Prophetic Movement and the Apostolic Movement over the course of almost 5 decades. Each has had some very good attributes. Each had and has its excesses. It has taken us this long to sift through the good, the bad and the excesses while dissecting the meat from the bones. We are still learning and growing in our understandings of the Scriptures. But the problem is babes in Christ and the very young in their walk with the Lord cannot pick dangerous fish-bones from the  filet. Fish-bones are too small and unnoticeable in many varieties of fish, especially shad, that have an extra set of bones. The irony is, they are the tastiest of all varieties. It takes a discerning eye and a lot of patience to separate the meat from the bones. Even still, I witnessed my dad choke on a piece of mackerel because of an undetected fish-bone. My mother quickly grabbed a piece of bread from the breadbasket and shoved it in his mouth to help him swallow the tiny piece of fish shrapnel before choking to death. I never saw the point of eating that type of fish. It was too much trouble to go through just to get a few tasty bites. Unfortunately, I lacked the wisdom and good sense in my early years as a Christian, to detect bony teachings and apply this lesson of a near choking hazard at my family’s kitchen table. We choked more than once or twice on doctrines taught out of context and in error.

Every Christian who loves God and His Word, should definitely be concerned about the shroud of darkness and deception covering the earth and creeping into the church today. However, the method of dealing with it seems over sensationalized. Please let me attempt to explain. We can’t shout Jezebel out of the heavens. I’ve been in prayer meetings where they have commanded principalities and the like to "come down" in the name of Jesus. It made my skin crawl. I saw one ‘prophetic’ act where the head of Jezebel was sitting on top of a wall and a woman leading the prayer meeting, climbed up a ladder, took “the sword of the spirit,” and chopped the head of Jezebel off while everyone shouted in glee. We’ve also been in Apostolic gatherings where they spiritually ‘mapped’ principalities and powers in the area and began to address them in corporate prayer. Again, it gave me an eerie feeling of malaise. It seemed to me all we were doing was stirring the hornets’ nest. We can’t cast it out of its position in the heavenlies. In fact, the heavens belong to the Lord and we have no business engaging in that level of spiritual warfare. I believe that is reserved for God's archangels. We would be wise to ‘stay in our lane’ as good soldiers of Christ and busy ourselves with God's affairs on the earth.

“The highest heavens belong to the Lord,
    but the earth he has given to mankind.” Psalm 115: 16

If you read about Jezebel and Ahab (1 Kings 16-2 Kings 9) we see her, a Queen in authority and a worshpper of Baal, seducing King Ahab, an Israelite, into compromise and eventually succumbing to her idolatrous ways. Jezebel was a master manipulator. She preyed on her husband’s weaknesses, and used his power for her evil purposes to propagate false doctrines of Baal worship and witchcraft while hating Elijah and his prophets. The Jezebel spirit is a principality that seduces spiritual leaders into compromise through their insecurities, covetousness and pride. Despite his wickedness, Ahab's rule was prosperous and he was a great builder. He built a palace at Samaria and decorated it with ivory and was attributed to fortify cities (1 Kgs 22:39). 

Spiritual leaders under the influence of Jezebel, cans produce some good results and visible signs of fruitfulness. However, underneath the leader is being seduced into pride and moral failure through wanting more power and influence. Spiritual weaknesses in leaders such as unconfessed sins, pride, strained marriages, family distress, outbursts of anger and the fear of failure, are tools Jezebel uses to infect and affect the leaders into manipulating God’s people for their own advantage rather than serving the Body of Christ. When a leader finds himself/ herself bitten by the bug of pride, and refusal to be accountable to anyone but God the sinister work of Jezebel begins. First, they teach a culture of ‘honor’ thus cleverly cloaking any possibility of being discovered or uncovered. This is what leads their followers into idolatry: loving the man or woman more than loving God without even realizing it. We are to love God with our whole heart, mind, soul and strength. This is the first commandment. The second is like it but not the same: love your neighbor as yourself. If you love anyone or anything as much as God, it's like placing them equal to Him.

"Who is like the Lord our God,who is seated on high, who looks far down on the heavens and the earth?" Psalm 113: 5-6

We see this same principality at work again in the story of Herodias and Herod in Mark 6:17-28: Herod sent soldiers to arrest John the Baptist and put him in prison, because he said it was wrong for the king to marry his brother’s wife, Herodias. Jesus referred to John the Baptist as the greatest born of woman. Isn’t it interesting that John called out sin? You hardly hear prophets calling out sin today.  Herodias wanted John killed in revenge, but without Herod’s approval this couldn’t happen. Herodias’s opportunity finally came and she used manipulation to get the advantage. During Herod’s Birthday Party Herodias told her daughter to dance for the king. Her daughter's seduction was so alluring and pleasing to Herod and the entire party that he said, “Ask me for anything you like,” the king vowed, “even half of my kingdom, and I will give it to you!” She went out and consulted her mother, who told her, “Ask for John the Baptist’s head!” The rest is history.  Jezebel always needs an “Ahab” to do the work she manipulates into place using people and circumstances.

The Apostle Paul said we don't wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, and spiritual wickedness in high places (Ephesians 6: 12). Paul told us two thousand years ago that for this reason we need to put on the full armor of God and taught us how to wrestle with them. He never said to cast them down with shouts of declarations and direct commands in the Heavenly Realms. He said we disarm these evil forces' influence over people’s minds through preaching the gospel. The gospel has the power of God to deliver and save the vilest of sinner under Satan's grip. The Gospel of Jesus Christ and the efficiency of His death, burial and resurrection are enough to destroy strongholds in people’s minds.Notice the key to effectiveness is "obedience."

“For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.” 2 Corinthians 10: 3-6

So what do we do about the false prophets and teachers under Jezebel’s influence? Do we call fire down on them like Elijah did? Two of the disciples wanted to do just that when Jesus wasn’t received by the Samaritans on His way to Jerusalem. He sent several disciples ahead to prepare the way. He rebuked James and John telling them that they didn’t know what spirit they were of. Evidently their anger was a different spirit than what Jesus expected of them. Jesus told them that he came to save lives, not destroy them (Luke 9: 51-56). These people weren’t false prophets as the two disciples discerned incorrectly. They were unbelievers who needed Christ. However, Jesus did warn them about false prophets and taught them to test the fruit (words, actions, attitudes, and character) of those declaring they were His representatives:

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.” Matthew 7: 15-20

Paul called out and warned the church about false prophets/ teachers in many places in scripture. We need to take these words to heart because they are prevalent in the church today. We are in the later days.

“Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared.” 1 Timothy 4: 1-2

“For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. 2 Timothy 4: 10a

“Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us.” (2 Thes 3:6 ESV)

“Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them” (Rom. 16:17 NKJV)

“You are aware that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes.” (2 Tim. 1:15)

“By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.” (1 Tim. 1:19-20)

“But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some”. (2 Tim 2:16-18)

“Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm...Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message.” (2 Tim 4:14-15)

“But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler--not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge?” (1 Cor 5:11-12 ESV)

“Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.” (1Ti 4:16 NIV)

This begs the question, when did the ministry of discerning of spirits start becoming just about how the devil is attacking God’s “anointed” and that we should rebuke this principality which has been loosed by Satan against their ministries?  When did it stop being about the fact that the devil roams about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour and we need to stand firm against his lies as believers? When did we forget that as a blood bought child of God and follower of Jesus Christ we would suffer persecution, temptations, rejection, betrayal and mistreatment but we are not to fear the devil but fear God?   

"What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell." Matthew 10: 27-28

Did we leave that part of the equation out of modern-day Christianity in exchange for another gospel? Please carefully read the following passage out of 2 Corinthians 11. It is quite eye opening…

“I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough. Indeed, I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles. Even if I am unskilled in speaking, I am not so in knowledge; indeed, in every way we have made this plain to you in all things.

Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached God’s gospel to you free of charge? I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you. And when I was with you and was in need, I did not burden anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my need. So I refrained and will refrain from burdening you in any way. As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia. And why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!

And what I am doing I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.” 2 Corinthians 11: 1-15

I’m afraid the spirit of Jezebel has to do with a type of teaching, leaven, as Jesus called it, that has crept into the modern church. This is the spirit that is behind every false teacher and prophet out there today. There are those who teach about money and getting/ giving it more than loving and serving Jesus as your first love. Putting anything before Christ is an idol. It doesn’t have to be a statue of Buddha or a Golden Calf to be an idol. It’s anything that takes our eyes of the Prize of Christ. The teaching of Jezebel also has to do with sexual immorality. It is rampant in the church today. Christians are living together before marriage and some don't marry at all and live sexually promiscuous lifestyles. Marriage is not regarded as a sacred covenant between a man, woman and God. It is interesting that the name Jezebel means 'without cohabitation' or unmarried. Isn't that an eye opener? Marriage is the only covenant the Lord recognizes today other than the New Covenant that was ratified by the shed blood of Jesus (Ephesians 5:25-33).

Just like the church in Thyatira, Jezebel is a serious threat in the church today. It is a demonic principality that influences compromising leaders to tolerate sin, commit sexual sins themselves and lead a double life. This type of leadership lifestyle trickles down to the flock of God. Jezebel was power hungry, wanted followers (the prophets of Baal) and was violent. When this principality is at work you will notice these characteristics in leadership. Rather than make true disciples of Christ they will create clones of themselves in ministry. They will look, talk, act and behave as the leader does. This spirit will use flattery to gain approval and influence.

Jezebel and King Ahab never had biological children. This spirit cannot reproduce, instead it operates stealthily under the guise of spiritual ‘fatherhood’ and ‘motherhood’. However, this spirit has no natural affection for its spiritual sons and daughters. Rather it will abuse them. It is a pretended spiritual fatherhood used to garner followers for honor to self promote and personal favors. Jezebel and Ahab put on the act like they care but remember they are out for one thing and that is to feed themselves and their insatiable appetites for power, pre-eminence and self-indulgence cleverly guised as the ‘blessing of God' because of their ‘anointing’. They refer to their ‘anointing’ as something that makes them elevated over the flock of God rather than something God empowers all of his followers with to bring healing and deliverance to the lost.

The ultimate goal of the spirit of Jezebel is to create an apostate church that thinks it is “Christian” in practice when in fact, it is anything but that. The first step in creating an apostate church is to get people to resist and fear accountability relationships because it knows if it does, it will be exposed. (Revelations 17: 1-6) This spirit uses a charming or ‘kind’ exterior to eventually seduce people into usury. It seeks to emasculate men and turn them into ‘house slaves’ rather than raise them up to be strong spiritual leaders. This spirit has to be the queen bee, so to speak, and be at the center and helm of all activity. It stands at the top of the ‘pyramid’ and everything flows down from its pinnacle. She loves to be on the mountain high where everyone can see her. She is a narcissist. It elicits dependence upon the one being used because of their ‘anointing’. It seeks to control through manipulation, dependence, guilt and domination. When this doesn’t work it will attempt to rule through intimidation, threats and fear. This is nothing but witchcraft. Pride is its underlying character.

The fruit of a Jezebel spirit is pornography, nepotism, abortion, all forms of idolatry, adultery, whoredom, slavery, persecution of the saints, and an orphan spirit. Since Jezebel and Ahab never reproduced an offspring this spirit preys on those who are wounded, needy, have no ‘family’ or feel like they are ‘misfits’ offering them a sense of belonging which only leads to more entrapment. Remember Guyana? Although that is an extreme and blatant example, the abusive leader, Jim Jones, operated under the influence of the spirit of witchcraft through domination, control and intimidation. He had numerous sexual liaisons with many different women producing children out of wedlock. They all ended up ‘drinking the Kool-Aid” including innocent children. At first it didn’t start this way. He was said to be a great Pentecostal preacher with charisma and gifts but when he started taking the glory for himself, a seed of pride entered his heart. It progressed to the point of utter disaster. This was the path his father the devil took when he was cast out of Heaven for his pride (Isaiah 14: 12-15).

Fierce wolves cloaked as shepherds avoid preaching the gospel and teaching expositorily in context from the Bible as it is written. Instead they will invent or advance doctrines (doctrines of demons) that tickle peoples ears and ultimately lead people away from the cross into careless living and idolatry. They claim to have extra revelation that you don’t have. They may belittle you into believing you are not as enlightened as they. Their teachings rarely if ever mention suffering hardship for Christ. They emphasize giving to their ministry as a means of blessing through “sowing seed.” Jezebel will encourage people to strive for more material goods and money, not God. This is exactly how the western church commits idolatry. All these things eat up your time and are a lie and go completely against the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ and the First Apostles.

“Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears” Acts 20: 28-32

What shall we do then? I would like to conclude with an excerpt taken from “Grassrootstruth.com”. I believe it expresses the heart of God for His people and at the same time how we need to prayerfully and cautiously address those under Jezebel’s spell…

“The practice of calling out false teachers can be (and has been at times) taken too far. People with selfish motives will often rush to label pastors and teachers as heretics in an effort to become or remain popular with their social media followers. Those who constantly focus on looking for any minor point of disagreement to publicly nitpick and label as heresy cause unnecessary division. Some who expose legitimate heresies and false teachers do so boastfully with no appeal for repentance and restoration. These types do not serve the body well or glorify Christ.

However, Scripture is clear that teachers are judged more strictly, and we are to beware of and avoid false teachers. Those who choose to ignore or dismiss them do so at their own peril and possibly the peril of others. Avoiding false teachers does not mean we hate them or wish evil upon them. We should grieve for those who have been deceived and are deceiving others, and pray for their repentance and restoration.”

This dear brothers and sisters, this is a call for maturity and wisdom in the Body of Christ. The time is far passed for us to be complacent and asleep while the enemy is running amuck in many of our church circles. As Paul said in Romans 13: 12-14,

“The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.”

We must pray for our families, ourselves and spiritual leadership to remain true to Christ and true to the gospel. We are in the world, not of it. We are the salt and the light, but if the salt has lost its flavor what good is it? We can’t hide the light of God’s Word and good works under a basket and think we can act, think and behave as we did before we knew Christ and be like the world. Let us heed the Apostle John’s admonition to the church in Thyatira so we will receive the reward!

“Only hold fast what you have until I come. The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. And I will give him the morning star.”