Revelation 2:20 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.

 

In the letter to the church in Thyatira, Jesus praises them for their works. I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience; (Revelation 2:19) But then He scolds them harshly for the Jezebel spirit that they allowed to minister to their people. Although Jezebel was a real person, Jesus is not speaking of the woman Jezebel, He is referring to the spirit of Jezebel as He did when He wrote to the church in Pergamos for their following of the Doctrine of Balaam. We discussed that at length last week.

 

The church in Thyatira was the start of the Catholic Church. It is founded on works and controlled by the spirit of Jezebel. What is the spirit of Jezebel? To define the spirit of Jezebel we must look at the woman, Jezebel, who was the daughter of Ethbaal. He was the king of Tyre/Sidon and a priest in the cult of Baal. Baal was a cruel false god whose worship involved all forms of sexual immorality and child sacrifice. Jezebel was raised in this environment and it became her way of life. She was a powerful, controlling woman who led people into the cult she was raised in.

 

The King of Israel, Ahab, married Jezebel who led him and the nation of Israel into Baal worship. The twenty-two years they reigned over Israel was one of the worst times in the history of the nation. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him. (1 Kings 16:33) Ahab was evil himself but teamed with Jezebel made them the worst to reign over God’s people.

 

Jezebel was a controlling and manipulative woman who would go to any lengths to get her way. She wanted to totally control the people and lead the entire nation of Israel into sexual immorality and idol worship so she had many of God’s Prophets killed. Remember, in those days God spoke to His people through His Prophets. It was only the Prophets who heard the Voice of the Lord. The people did not have the Holy Spirit as we do today. Jezebel’s intent was to hush the Prophets and turn the people of God to sexual immorality and idol worship. The only way to hush the Prophets was to kill them and so she did. Jezebel would stop at nothing to have her own way.

 

The definition of the spirit of Jezebel is the characteristics of the woman Jezebel which are: immorality, idolatry, false teaching, manipulation, control, and unrepentant sin. This is what the church in Thyatira was dealing with when Jesus dictated the letter to John on the Island of Patmos. We don’t know if there was actually a woman like Jezebel in the church or if Jesus was referring to their actions. Nonetheless, the church was headed into sexual immorality and idol worship and Jesus strongly scolded them for their actions.

 

As I noted above, the Church in Thyatira was the foundation for the Catholic Church where we find idol worship (prayer to statues and Mary) and sexual immorality (homosexuality and pedophilia) to be prevalent today. The spirit of Jezebel is at the heart of it all. God is exposing this demonic spirit and God’s people are turning from it by the millions. The time to repent is now because………..

 

 

God is about to…....….turn the tide

 

Thank you Lord for your Mercy,         Doreen

 

www.bettsministries.org