The name Jezebel became famous throughout the generations, not because the queen with that name was good to humanity but because of the wickedness and abominations that she had committed. The name Jezebel thus became synonymous with evil.

The characteristics of this evil queen are noted in the Church and have become stumbling blocks to many unbelievers. Identifying and eradicating this spirit is very crucial and so we need to be on guard.

The Jezebel spirit is the second in the series of the spiritual stumbling blocks in the church. The first one that we looked at was the religious spirit which you can read about here. These stumbling blocks are preventing the growth of the Church and are driving away our children from the Church and even destroying them daily.

To understand the Jezebel spirit, you need to know the story of the woman behind the name. The Bible recorded in 1 Kings 16 that Ahab took over the throne of Israel after his father King Omri died. Omri was a very corrupt king during his reign, and unfortunately, his son continued in his evil footsteps.

King Ahab reigned in Samaria for twenty-two years, and his sinful rule surpassed that of his father to the extent where he married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians. They were pagan worshippers who bowed to the god Baal. Note that this idol was the same as Beelzebub, who is also Satan.

Jesus was accused of casting out demons by Beelzebub, ruler of the demons, but He told them that if Satan is divided against himself, he will fall (Luke 11:14-23).

Thus, Jezebel was a worshipper of Satan and her husband Ahab followed her in this idolatrous lifestyle. He even built a temple for Baal and placed an altar in it to make sacrifices. Ahab also carved an image of Baal so that the people would worship it. King Ahab’s abominable behaviour kindled the wrath of God against him.

Jezebel hated the true prophets of God, and she slaughtered them in the land of Israel except for 100 which Obediah, the caretaker of the king’s household, hid in two caves and fed them with bread and water (1 Kings 18).

Jezebel ate and drank with her pagan prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18:19).

After Elijah’s victory on Mount Carmel against these heathen prophets, Elijah executed all of them. Jezebel became angry and swore that she would kill Elijah, but God protected him.

In spite of Ahab iniquity against God, the Lord gave him victory over his enemy to prove to them that He was not only God of the mountain but also the valley (1 Kings 20). However, King Ahab continued to disobey God until finally the Lord pronounced judgment upon him and his household.

There was a vinedresser whose name was Naboth. He had a vineyard close to King Ahab’s palace. The king coveted the vineyard and wanted it for a vegetable garden. So he asked Naboth to sell it to him or trade it for another vineyard. Naboth refused the king’s request because the vineyard was in his family for generations and he did not want to lose it.

The king was upset about Naboth’s decision and refused to eat. His wife saw his sad disposition and wanted to know the reason. He told her about the incident, and she decided to deal with the situation.

Jezebel wrote a letter and signed her husband’s name to it and stamped it with his seal. She sent the letter to the elders and nobles telling them that they should organize a meeting and set up two worthless men to accuse Naboth of blasphemy against God and the King. Then they should take him outside and stone him to death.

After the murder of Naboth, Jezebel told her husband to get up and take over Naboth’s vineyard. King Ahab obeyed his wife without inquiring how Naboth had died.

No man of integrity will succumb to his wive’s evil desires but will stand up as king over his household.

As a result, the Lord pronounced judgment upon Ahab and his wife.

The dogs would lick up Ahab’s blood in the same place where they licked Naboth’s blood. The Lord declared trouble upon his entire household. Every male in Israel free or slave who were related to Ahab would be cut off and his house was doom similar to King Jeroboam and Baasha.

The Lord also pronounced a horrible death sentence upon Jezebel. Dogs would eat her flesh, and whoever belonged to Ahab would also die in the field, and the birds of the air would eat their flesh.

The Characteristics of the Jezebel spirit.

1. Worshipper of Satan. Note that a person does not have to pledge allegiance to Satan or join a satanic society to be classified as Satan worshippers. If you are disobedient to God’s word it means that you are obedient to Satan. Likewise, if you spend more time on your business or secular job and less time in the presence of the Lord, you are followers of Satan. If you love money, cars, house and other material possessions or if you love yourself, children and spouse more than you love God it means you are more devoted to the things of the world than God. Everything that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye and the pride of life, and they are not of the Father but the devil.
2. The Jezebel spirit cannot stand in the presence of the true prophets of God. Every demonic spirit must bow in the presence of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, they keep company with others who have similar demonic spirits. As the Proverbs said, “Birds of a feather flock together.”
3. The spirit of Jezebel is revengeful and will try to persecute the people of God.
4. The spirit of Jezebel is attracted to men who are weak emotionally and spiritually. Hence, these ladies usually rule their husband, which is the opposite of God’s structure in the home. The husbands of these women will also possess their destructive traits.
5. The Jezebel spirit is lying, deceitful and slanderous that set up traps for the people of God.
6. This spirit placed more emphasis on the outward appearance than on the heart. They like to dress in beautiful clothing and makeup to make an impression on the world. They adore attention, the media, and camera. Even when they are dying on the inside, they prefer to pretend to be beautiful and compose on the outside than to repent and allow God to forgive them.
7. They are defiant in the face of their impending doom.

Judgment upon the Jezebel Spirit

1. The same evil that this spirit does to others will be done to them also.
2. Misfortune will always be in the household of those with this spirit, and their children will also suffer the consequences.
3. The Lord will not provide husbands for single women with the Jezebel spirit, and if they do find a man on their own, the marriage will not last.
4. Whoever associate with the people who have the jezebel’s spirit will also share in her judgment. The birds of the air which is symbolic for Satan’s demons will torment their lives.

As soon as Ahab heard about his judgment he quickly humbled himself and repented. The Lord is always ready to show mercy in the presence of repentance, so He suspended Ahab’s sentence until after his death and brought it to pass in days of his son.

However, Ahab died in battle, and the blood from his wound drained in his chariot. After his body was buried, they washed the blood from the chariot in the pool of Samaria and dogs came and licked his blood.

Jezebel, on the other hand, did not repent of her sins. During the reign of Jehu king of Israel the prophet told him that he should avenge the death of God’s prophets by destroying the entire household of Ahab.

When Jezebel heard about her impending demise and that Jehu was on his way to kill her she did not hide or repent but did something extraordinary. (2 Kings 9:6-13; 30-37)

Jezebel adorned herself in lovely apparel, fixed her hair and put on makeup on her eyes and then sat on the window sill looking out for Jehu, her killer. When she saw Jehu approaching the palace, instead of begging him for mercy, she cursed him and accused him of murder.

Jehu did not bother to go inside the palace to kill her, but instead he told her officials to threw her downstairs. Of course, these officials wanted their wicked queen killed so they immediately pushed her out the window and her blood splashed on the walls, and Jehu ran his chariots over her body.

By the time the burial group arrived to collect her body for burial they only found her skull, legs and hands because the dogs had already eaten her body. Why were those three parts left behind?

The skull represents dry bones. After the evil spirits of Satan devoured the flesh, this is the only part that will remain. Hence, many people who persistently sin are like dry bones walking around with a dead spirit.

The hands and feet will remain as evidence of the Jezebel’s spirit unclean works and their pathway of evil. Thus, it will pass on to their predecessors. Therefore, we need to eradicate it totally from the body of Christ.

Note that if you are guilty of one of the characteristics of the Jezebel’s spirit, it has taken possession of you, and it will only be a matter of time before all the features consume your entire life.

It is better to repent now before it is too late and the Lord will cleanse and forgive you.