Jesus commended Thyatira’s faith and perseverance,
the greatest of these was love. Now, let’s take a look at someone who exhibited
the opposite of love by their active rebellion against the Lord, which some in
Thyatira were guilty of doing.
However, Thyatira
tolerated the deeds of Jezebel, who taught His servants to be
sexually immoral and to eat food sacrificed to idols. Now, Jesus described the
acts of sin taking place in the Body of Christ and were being allowed to
persist. Few stood against the sinful acts they had seen. Instead, they turned
a blind eye to be what many today would deem as being politically correct.
“It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and
of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate: A man is sleeping with his father’s
wife. And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have gone into mourning and have
put out of your fellowship the man who has been doing this? (1 Corinthians
5:1-3, 9). In other words, Paul was saying that when sin is in the Body
of Christ, do not stand by and go along with it. You must speak out and condemn
the evil practice. Now, let’s go into more details regarding the sins of
Jezebel—past, present, and future.
Jezebel is the most notorious female narcissist and false prophetess of
the Bible. King Ahab, her husband, displayed ungodly, narcissistic traits and
was a co-dependent and enabler of her evil ways. Jezebel was the daughter of
the king of Tyre and Phoenicia, Ethbaal of Sidon, also known as Ithobaal I, not
to be confused with the king of Tyre who was rebuked in Ezekiel 28. Therefore,
she was a princess before becoming queen and was known as a priestess of the
heathen god, Baal, whom her father worshiped and served as a priest, according
to the Jewish historian Josephus.
She enticed King Ahab to turn from the God of Israel and to worship her foreign
gods, Baal and Asherah instead, in which she had 450 priests dedicated to Baal
and 400 to Asherah. This is why the Lord had instructed His people not to
intermarry with the foreign nations surrounding them because they would turn their
hearts away from Him, which took place with Solomon, other kings, leaders, priests,
and the people. The Bible says: “When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and
drives out before you many nations—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites,
Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations larger and
stronger than you— and when the Lord your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them,
then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no
mercy. Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your
daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, for
they will turn your children away from following me to serve other gods, and
the Lord’s anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you. This
is what you are to do to them: Break down their altars, smash their sacred
stones, cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols in the fire”
(Deuteronomy 7:1-5). Unfortunately, Israel failed to honor the
Lord’s commands, so when Ahab married Jezebel, he disobeyed the Lord’s decrees
and brought sin into the camp, thus a curse upon the land.
Jezebel was a very evil woman in that she had many of the prophets of God
killed, and she orchestrated the death of an innocent man, Naboth, to take what
did not belong to her. She took no responsibility for her evil deeds, and her
pride remained unfailing till the very end when she met an untimely death.
Jesus so despised her wickedness that He rebuked the churches for allowing her
spirit to enter their midst during John’s time on the Isle of Patmos. Let’s
break down this wicked woman's traits so that you can discern the Jezebel
spirit.
Let’s
go over the definition of a narcissist and how it relates to the Jezebel spirit
within the church.
Narcissist
– A narcissist (Narc) is a person who has a grandiose view of themselves and
their abilities. They are very self-centered and often camouflage their
insecurities with the need to receive attention and admiration from others.
They do not empathize with the feelings and needs of other people but use
deceptive acts of kindness for selfish gain, manipulation, power, control, and
in so doing get their narcissistic supply. They never see themselves as having harmed
anyone but will often play the victim by shaming the real victim into guilt for
the mere mention of their bad behavior, as a result, causing narcissistic
injury.
People within
the body of Christ can display this type of behavior when they disregard the
laws of God. They act as if their ways are higher than God’s ways and exhibit traits
of self-centeredness instead of allowing the Lord to be the center of their
life. They camouflage their sins with the misuse and abuse of the grace message
and encourage others to do the same. Pride is their god, and their deeds of kindness
through ministry, good works, acts of service, and seemingly self-sacrifice are
often used as manipulative tactics to obtain money, recognition, followers, and
status. Yet, the Word warns of being around such people. The Bible says: “But
understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For
people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive,
disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable,
slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous,
reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people”
(2 Timothy 3:1-5). The Word perfectly describes the narcissistic
mindset of one with the Jezebel spirit, so let's break down these traits to
understand Jesus’ disgust with those within the church who operated in such a manner.
Overview of the Narcissist Jezebel
a.)
Jezebel had an over-inflated ego. She had a grandiose view of
herself and her abilities; she desired to be worshiped, just as she worshiped Baal,
the Canaanite-Phoenician god of fertility and weather, and Asheroth, the
Canaanite goddess of fertility, love, and war. Even though Baal nor Asheroth could
produce rain, create life, or grant prosperity, she led her followers to
believe that these false gods could, and this is why there was a showdown
between the priests of Baal and Asheroth and the prophet Elijah. This is
similar to Lucifer, who dared to think that he could be God even though he did
not and still can never be omnipresent nor create anything but misery and
chaos. Isaiah 14:13-14 “For you said to yourself, ‘I will ascend
to heaven and set my throne above God’s stars. I will preside on the mountain
of the gods far away in the north. I will climb to the highest heavens and be
like the Most High.’ ” (NLT) Narcs’ grandiose view of themselves and
their abilities are wrapped up in a package of deceit, which is of the worst
kind when they deceive not only others but themselves. Jesus did not want the
church to have this mindset, for He is the only One to be worshiped, and there
are to be no other gods before Him (Exodus 20:3).
b.)
Jezebel desired to have followers, and anyone who did not grant
her the attention she wanted was put to the sword. Thus, she, along with her
Baal worship, was in direct contrast to the things of God. Therefore, those who
chose to remain loyal to God and free of her idolatry were considered a threat.
The Bible says: “While Jezebel was killing off the LORD's prophets,
Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them in two caves, fifty in
each, and had supplied them with food and water” (1 Kings 18:4). Jezebel
did not want to submit herself to the one true God, so she preferred to kill
the prophets rather than obey God’s word given through them. This type of
narcissistic behavior is found in a lot of churches and often causes spiritual
harm to the body of Christ. Many Jezebel spirits in the church want to have
positions of authority not to serve God, but to rule over others and do things
their way instead of God’s way. The Bible says: “Care for the flock that
God has entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly—not for what
you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God. Don’t lord it
over the people assigned to your care, but lead them by your own good example”
(1 Peter 5:2-3). Furthermore, some in authority misuse and abuse it by
making others feel as if they have a monopoly on God. Therefore, you may hear
such things as, “If you leave my church, you will not be blessed,” or “You need
to stop church hopping and put your name on this row.” Nevertheless, take note
that we are all one body in Christ. For this reason, we do not belong to any
earthly man but the One True Holy God.
c.)
Jezebel did not empathize with the needs of others or respect
their boundaries. Rules did not apply to her – or so she thought. Therefore, to
tell her to obey God's commandments was considered treachery in her mind’s
view. Once again, when she killed the prophets and threatened Elijah with
death, she showed disdain for God’s anointed and His laws. Yet, the Bible says:
“If one turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an
abomination” (Psalm 28:9). Jezebel Spirits do not like rules and
boundaries. Many self-professed Christians behave this way where they look to find
seeker-friendly churches that teach a compromised message rather than the
unadulterated Word of God. They think and act as if God’s regulations apply to
everyone else but them; after all, they are under grace. When people
finally have had enough of the Narc’s nonsense and decide to establish rules of
engagement for the Narc to follow, in accordance with the Word of God, these
Jezebel spirits will buck against them in defiance in an attempt to make the
victim or co-dependent cave in with their spirit of compromise. They will even
accuse those adhering to the laws of God as being legalistic and unloving. Yet,
what does the Word of God say? The Bible says: “But Samuel replied, “What
is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt
offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is
better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams” (1
Samuel 15:22).
d.)
Jezebel never took responsibility for her wrongs because she had
a heart full of pride, arrogance, greed, idolatry, vengefulness, and
wickedness. “Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a
fall. Better to live humbly with the poor than to share plunder with the proud”
(Proverbs 16:18-19). Jezebel spirits never take responsibility for
anything. They will always find someone else to blame for either their problems
or what they do to someone else. They often cause harm to other people in
various ways, but when confronted, they will have the recipient of the abuse
feel as if they are the one doing the abuse. The Jezebel Narc plays the victim
well. They are able to fool many people with their ability to portray the
innocent, loving, giving, and admirable traits that most people have grown to
love and respect. Unfortunately, with a Narc, what you see is only an illusion.
The Bible says: “But I am not surprised! Even Satan disguises himself as
an angel of light. So it is no wonder that his servants also disguise
themselves as servants of righteousness. In the end they will get the
punishment their wicked deeds deserve” (2 Corinthians 11:14-15).
CONT...next week.
