Titus 2 Men And Women

Jezebel
By Teddi Neevel

Scripture: 1 Kings 16:31, 1 Kings chapters 18-19, 2 Kings chapter 9

And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him (King Ahab of Israel) to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him.
(1 Kings 16:31)

Jezebel was a queen who lived with her husband King Ahab in an ivory house. (1 Kings 22:39) A house that I’m sure we would call a palace. They had eunuchs to serve them and guards to protect them. They had a whole kingdom of people to respect them. They had sons to carry on their family name and to continue carrying the royal line. So what in the world could possibly be Jezebel’s problem? She was a selfish and greedy individual who was more than willing to lie, cheat, steal and kill to get her own way. Surely, none of us have that problem…so why should we study Jezebel? Jezebel is a warning to us today for many reasons…all of them are found in her bad examples.

First Jezebel chose to worship Baal. While we don’t worship idols in a church or while attending religious retreats Satan is very good at putting idols in our way. Anything or anyone that we allow to come before the Lord in our lives and hearts is in fact an idol to us. They not only worshipped Baal, they actively sought to destroy anyone who disagreed with them.

We believe we are more civilized than they were but in our society today there are constant battles taking place. We don’t see a lot of it in here in the Ozarks but there are people who will kill someone for the color or the brand name of the clothing they wear. Americans are raising a generation of young people many of them pre-teens that refuse to wear clothing unless it has a designer label or came from the "right" store. Our society has people who can not sleep without a television or stereo playing. We are a rich society that is living in excess. Fast food whether from a restaurant or just convenience items from the store have enabled families to short order cook for each individual so no one has to eat something they may not like.

The extremes of the things we may place as gods was shown in the news this week. The woman out west whose personal god is alcohol allowed two of her three children to starve to death while she lay in a drunken stupor, her bed littered with empty beer cans. Oh, I know our culture is willing to justify her conduct by calling her drunkenness a sickness or addiction, but sometime in the past she chose to begin drinking and did not choose to stop before it became an addiction.

God has commanded us to "Have no other gods before Him" and the blessing of God in our life in part relies on our obedience.
"But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it." Luke 11:28
"Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him." James 1:12

"And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams."
1 Samuel 15:22

God will judge those who attack His servants and practice heresy. His holiness demands justice and without repentance there is no remission of sin.

"And he arose, and went into the house; and he poured the oil on his head, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I have anointed thee king over the people of the LORD, even over Israel. And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the LORD, at the hand of Jezebel." 2 Kings 9:6-7

Jezebel actively worshipped idols and practiced witchcraft/sorcery. It would be nice to know that no one we know is involved with witchcraft and sorcery but sadly that is not the case.

50 years ago or more our society began to make witchcraft and the occult a joke. Do you remember the "Topper" series of movies about the friendly ghost that helped solve crimes? What about "Bewitched" that made witchcraft appear to be fun and useful? "I Dream of Genie" came with a bit of glamour, naivete, and laughable spells and goofs. Then we added the cartoon characters like "Casper the Friendly Ghost" and "Scooby-doo" that is often chasing a ghost of some sort. Books have followed by the hundreds that are often written for children but make witchcraft seem fun and harmless. The current children’s books of the "Harry Potter" series are again holding wizardry up as a gift to be prized. There is a new cartoon series that will begin n January on the Disney channel that is about young witches learning to control their powers. There are many other television programs both current and in re-runs that glamorize witchcraft.

We could sit back and say it is just make believe but all of these things are still against the teaching of the Bible. When we add to these horoscopes, magic 8 ball, taro cards, and the never ending group of chanelers who will allow you to commune with the dead, we should be able to see the danger to Christian beliefs.

I have a granddaughter that attended a spring solstice celebration with her school class to celebrate "mother earth". Since the activity was listed as a field trip into the forest her parents had no idea until after the fact that she would be singing, dancing and chanting to "mother earth".

And it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, Is it peace, Jehu? And he answered, What peace, so long as the whoredoms (idolatry) of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts (sorcery and witchcraft) are so many?
(2 Kings 9:22)

"For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king." 1 Samuel 15:23

Ahab wanted the vineyard that belonged to Naboth…Jezebel hired killers to commit murder in order to steal the vineyard.

"And it came to pass after these things, that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, hard by the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. And Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying, Give me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near unto my house: and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than it; or, if it seem good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money.
Verse 3 And Naboth said to Ahab, The LORD forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee. And Ahab came into his house heavy and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him: for he had said, I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers. And he laid him down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread.

Naboth was not being of disloyal or disrespectful to the king, but he remembered God’s divine law, which prohibited the sale of a paternal inheritance [Lev_25:23; Num_36:7]; Naboth (1Ki_21:3) refused to sell the vineyard to the king because he was obeying God. Ahab pouting, sulky and pettish demeanor betrays a spirit of selfishness.

But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said unto him, Why is thy spirit so sad, that thou eatest no bread? And he said unto her, Because I spake unto Naboth the Jezreelite, and said unto him, Give me thy vineyard for money; or else, if it please thee, I will give thee another vineyard for it: and he answered, I will not give thee my vineyard. And Jezebel his wife said unto him, Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? arise, and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry: I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite. So she wrote letters in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters unto the elders and to the nobles that were in his city, dwelling with Naboth. And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people: And set two men, sons of Belial, before him, to bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme God and the king. And then carry him out, and stone him, that he may die. And the men of his city, even the elders and the nobles who were the inhabitants in his city, did as Jezebel had sent unto them, and as it was written in the letters which she had sent unto them. They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people. And there came in two men, children of Belial, and sat before him: and the men of Belial witnessed against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did blaspheme God and the king. Then they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him with stones, that he died. Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth is stoned, and is dead. And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth was stoned, and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give thee for money: for Naboth is not alive, but dead. And it came to pass, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab rose up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it. And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, which is in Samaria: behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, whither he is gone down to possess it. And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the LORD, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine. And Ahab said to Elijah, Hast thou found me, O mine enemy? And he answered, I have found thee: because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the LORD. Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and will take away thy posterity, and will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel, And will make thine house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the provocation wherewith thou hast provoked me to anger, and made Israel to sin. And of Jezebel also spake the LORD, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel. Him that dieth of Ahab in the city the dogs shall eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat. (Verse 25) But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the LORD, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up. And he did very abominably in following idols, according to all things as did the Amorites, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel." 1 Kings 21:1-26

"Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. " Proverbs 18:21

Jezebel had been warned and yet she justified her conduct. She had no shame…she applied her make-up and fixed her hair and then positioned herself so she could see and be seen at a window.
And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her face, and tired (fixed her hair)her head, and looked out at a window. And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, Had Zimri peace, who slew his master? And he lifted up his face to the window, and said, Who is on my side? who? And there looked out to him two or three eunuchs. And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down: and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he trode her under foot. And when he was come in, he did eat and drink, and said, Go, see now this cursed woman, and bury her: for she is a king's daughter. And they went to bury her: but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands. Wherefore they came again, and told him. And he said, This is the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel: And the carcase of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel; so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel.
(2 Kings 9:30-37)

"Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud." Proverbs 16:18-19

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