Witchcraft and the Church

Part 2 – Jezebel and Ahab

Jezebel – The Queen of Witchcraft and her Pawn

“And he answered, ‘What peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?’ “ (2 Kings 9:22)

               Historically, Jezebel was an actual person, the daughter of a Zidonian king, the queen of Israel, and an avid worshipper of Ba’al (1 Kings 16:31). It is not the historical aspect that I am interested in so much as the spiritual aspect. Jezebel, spirit of witchcraft, is so common in the Church in this day and age, that we must learn how it operates, who it is operating through, and how to stop its’ operations.

               God knew that Jezebel would be a problem in the Church. In Rev. 2:20, He tells us: “Notwithstanding, I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce My servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.”

                God was so adamant that Jezebel should not be allowed to operate in the Church that He even goes so far as to promise a special reward to those who use their authority in Him to overcome her. Rev. 2:26-28 says, “and he that overcometh and keepeth My works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations. And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of My Father. And I will give him the Morning Star.”

               But what are the works of Jezebel? How do we spot her in operation? How do we overcome her? What happens if we just sit idly by instead of confronting her?

               The works of Jezebel, and her partner Ahab, are outlined in 1 Kings 16-22, and in 2 Kings chap. 9. There is more Biblical material about this particular pair than any other adversary of God and man. God gave us an incredible amount of information about her so that we would be able to spot and to stop her in her tracks.

               When it comes to stopping Jezebel, the only option is confrontation. An anointed man or woman of God who is in authority in the Church must confront her. That is the only way. Why? Because one of her main operations is the illegal assumption of power within the Body. How does she pull that off? Let’s take a look at the Biblical evidence, shall we?

               The book of 1 Kings details the lives of Jezebel and Ahab, king and queen of the nation of Israel. The spirits of Jezebel and Ahab have taken the names of these two evil individuals because their operations are the same. We also need to remember that the nation of Israel WAS the Church of their day. Anything which happened to them can also happen to us. She assumed illegal authority in Israel, and has also assumed illegal authority in many churches. How does she do that?

               First, she finds a man in authority. Through manipulation, she bends that man to her will, and begins to assume power that is not hers. We must remember that if there is a Jezebel, there will always be an Ahab. The two work together. Always. No exceptions.

               1 Kings 16:31-33 tells of the coupling of Jezebel and Ahab: And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel, the daughter of Ethba’al (meaning “with Ba’al”) king of the Zidonians (Phoenicians), and went and served Ba’al, and worshipped him. 32 And he reared up an altar for Ba’al in the house of Ba’al which he had built in Samaria. 33 And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.

               So first off, we notice that Ahab’s first mistake was looking outside the Body (the nation of Israel) for a partner. Why was this such a massive mistake? 2 Cor. 6:14-15 tells us:  Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers; for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial (satan)? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? Rule number one in avoiding Jezebel: seek a mate from among the people of God.

How many Christians do the same thing today? How many of us are willing to accept spouses that are not part of the Body? Or better yet, how many of us yoke ourselves to partners who may come to church but are not serious about God? What happens when we do that? Well, let’s take a look at what happened to Ahab.

               Notice from reading 1 Kings 16:31, that it is only after Ahab couples himself to this wicked woman that he builds a temple and plants a grove for the worship of Ba’al. Now, to be truthful, the worship of Ba’al was common all throughout Canaan during this time. In fact, it was common all throughout the known world, and still is. When we get to the article on Ba’al and Ashteroth, we’ll discuss this more in depth.

               So Ahab makes the mistake of taking a wife from among the heathen. Then he makes the biggest blunder a man can make: he allows her to convince him to worship a false god. Like most new husbands, he was probably willing to do whatever it took to please his new bride, and she took full advantage of it.

               Even as the king of Israel, Ahab did not have the fortitude to stand up to her and say “no, I only worship Jehovah, the one true God.” We see this a lot in this pairing. Ahab never has the strength to stand up to Jezebel. She always gets what she desires from him through manipulation.

               Manipulation can take many forms. It may be sexual favors, as Ahab always struggles with some kind of lust (see the text in 1 Kings 21, where Ahab lusts for the vineyard), and sexual lust is nearly always present. It could have been bouts of tears or displays of temper, or even just persistent nagging. Whatever the type(s) of manipulation used, he will never stand up to her, at least not for long.

               This is one reason why Jezebel is so adept at running the church from behind the scenes. She manipulates her husband to carry out her will, or gets on the board herself and manipulates the pastor or other board members. However she chooses to work, she will always be running things from behind the scenes while it appears to most of those in the area that Ahab is actually in charge.

               I want to stop right here to make a point. The reason that church boards are so vulnerable to Jezebel and Ahab is because they are not a Biblical form of Church government. I know, I just made many of you so angry that you are now red in the face, hurriedly searching for any key that will make this article go away.

               Those of you that have a more even temper, or just a sense of curiosity are saying, “wait a minute! Didn’t the church in Jerusalem have a board of 11 apostles, plus James as the Pastor?” The answer is definitely “yes”, however that particular council of 12 anointed apostles of God does not even come close to resembling most church boards. The council in Jerusalem contained 12 anointed men of God who had all proven their allegiance to Christ, and were called to minister to the nations.

               What do most modern church boards look like? Let’s just think about a few examples. Many church boards are popularity contests. The people with the most friends get elected by the congregation.

My favorite example is the guy who puts the most in the offering plate gets placed on the board by the Pastor. Got to keep those tithe checks coming!

               Or how about this one? The Pastor’s best friend is reserved a seat, regardless of whether he has a call on his life, or not. Or the woman who won’t quit hounding the pastor for a seat is given one just to shut her up.

Every example from above, regardless of how ridiculous it sounds, is taking place in churches all over the nation. And every example from above is an example of Jezebel and Ahab at work. Let’s examine the evidence.

Nowhere in the Word does it give an indication that church board members should be elected by general election of the congregation. Even the 11 apostles in Jerusalem asked for the voice of the Lord before numbering Matthias as one of the 12 (see Acts 1:15-26). The board should be agreed upon by those presently in leadership because of the voice of the Lord on the issue. The Council in Jerusalem was appointed by Jesus Himself, and that is the way it should be today. Jezebel is likely to always be very popular, especially with the women. Women whom do not know what to look for will see her as strong and confident; a woman who runs her household well and gets the desired results. Popularity contests need to be avoided at all costs.

Jezebel and Ahab are likely to be very prosperous, and will almost nearly always be good givers when the offering plate is passed. Although Ahab is a very passive personality type (which he will try to hide with false bravado, see 1 Kings 20:11), Jezebel is driven to have the good life, and will drive him to provide her with the very best. As a result, they will most likely have plenty of money, and giving in large amounts gets her noticed, feeding her vanity (2 Kings 9:31). And giving in large amounts also gives her negotiating room to enforce her will on the pastor (Ouch! Just lost a few more of my readers!)

Board membership because of friendship with those in charge is an invitation for disaster! It has been estimated that 9 out of 10 Pastors deal with the Jezebel and Ahab syndrome in their own homes. As a result, a Pastor with an Ahab issue will always surround himself with Jezebels and Ahabs, and a board of “yes-men”. I can just about guarantee that the guy who is always the pastor’s right hand man (in the instance of a pastor with an Ahab issue) is probably either a Jezebel or Ahab. Satan excels at manipulation, and will try his best to place a Jezebel or Ahab next to any pastor. For safety’s sake, close friends of other board members should not be given any special considerations. And if you are asked to join a board full of “yes-men”, run as hard and as fast as you can!

The person who won’t quit hounding the pastor for a seat on the board, whether for her or her husband, is nearly always a Jezebel. She has a drive for power, and will acquire it at any cost. Conversely, the man that keeps humbly approaching the pastor offering to serve in a position of leadership should be carefully considered in prayer, as Ahab may well be pulling the strings.

Church governmental leaders need to be chosen by the Holy Spirit. The pastor should seek members of the five fold ministry from within his church. If an apostle is not within his own assembly, then the Pastor needs to bring his church under the umbrella of an apostle nearby. Regardless, an apostle should always be present on any board because it is the apostles which are given the responsibility for governing the church (I cite the entire New Testament as a reference). It is also the apostles which build the Church as a body.

A Prophet/prophetess should always be present on any board. It is the prophets which build foundations in people. It is also the prophet that has the necessary gifting to determine whether others are truly hearing from God or just speaking out of their flesh. And the prophet also has the gifting to determine if a false prophecy has been spoken.  Jezebel flows in false prophecy and will endorse, promote and elevate false prophets at every turn (Rev. 2:20; 1 Kings 18:19). 

It is also the prophet/prophetess that is the number one enemy of Jezebel and Ahab because it is the prophet that has the gifting to reveal the unholy operations of this pair in action. Notice the wording of 1 Kings 21:20: “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’ “. Nowhere else in the text does Ahab call anyone else an enemy. Even when he goes to war against neighboring kingdoms, he never calls them HIS enemy. And notice his question: “Hast thou found me?” It doesn’t seem like it would be difficult to find a king! What Ahab was asking, is if the man of God had found him out. It is the prophets of God that are equipped to find and root out Jezebel and Ahab, and to not have a prophet on any church board is just like sending them an invitation to have their way and destroy the assembly.

Evangelists are always an important part of any church government. The evangelist is equipped to minister forgiveness, restoration, and healing to anyone oppressed by this pair and should always be included.

The importance of Teachers in church government is largely under-rated in most assemblies. It is the teacher that builds godly foundations in our people so that they will have the inner strength and wisdom not to become a victim of witchcraft in the first place.

One of the primary goals of any spirit of witchcraft is the breaking of covenant relationship. We see this twice displayed in the story of Jezebel and Ahab. First, she convinces him to break covenant with God by  building a temple and an altar to Ba’al, then she convinces him to break his covenant with the children of Israel by allowing her to assume his rightful authority in order to satisfy his lust (1 Kings 21).

And then there is the inevitable lust for power, which is ALWAYS present in Jezebel, even though it may not be so easily seen. In the text of 1 Kings 21 she assumes Ahab’s rightful authority and has one of his subjects killed. In Rev. chap 2, she assumes the teacher’s position, and teaches the Church unrighteousness and prophesies falsely. Either way, it is always her goal to acquire a position of authority in the Body. It is of paramount importance that any Pastor or member of church leadership only delegate their authority after prayerful consideration. Any authority delegated to Jezebel will cause no end of problems within the Body.  

So how do we deal with Jezebel and Ahab once they have taken power in a Body? They must be dethroned by a man or woman of God with the anointing and the authority and the will to do so. If you are a pastor of a body that is struggling against Jezebel and Ahab in the ranks, I would suggest that the first thing you do is to prayerfully check your own household. Sorry, no offence meant. Then I would suggest that you sincerely ask the Lord to send in the anointed man or woman of God that He has chosen to use to orchestrate deliverance in your assembly. This must be someone that is not afraid to deal with deliverance on a large scale. He or she should also have the anointing, experience, and will to do so!  And you must be willing to step down from the Pastor’s position for long enough to receive deliverance and restoration counseling. It is a big commitment, but the health of the entire Body is at stake!