Who's Pulling The Strings
In the family. The family is the core social unit upon which all of society is built. In a family, the husband is called to be a faithful protector, and the wife is called to be the supportive nurturer. The mutual love and respect between the husband and the wife serves as the model by which to raise up children, who are to be raised up in things of the Lord (Ephesians 5:22-6:4). Men are called to act like men, and women are called to act like women. There is no allowance for swapping roles in God’s economy. Furthermore, there are many relationships within the family that are primary, outside of a person’s relationship to Christ. Jezebel will try to usurp control and tell parents that she wants to parent for them, or she’ll try to redefine the roles of husband and wife in her eyes. Don’t be an Ahab and simply roll over. So, for example, your children are not their school’s ultimate responsibility, nor are they even your church’s ultimate responsibility. The government certainty is not a co-parent with you. Parents, take responsibility for your children, because God has made them your responsibility.
In the world. This point relates to the first. In the West in the last two years, what we have seen is an explosion of the Jezebel spirit: secular authorities have used crises to tell citizens what they should do with their own health and their children’s health, how they should work, and how they should travel, just to give a few examples. Unfortunately, secular authority often grows out of the soil of a Jezebel spirit, because when you give the flesh an opportunity to control others, it will gladly take it. But according to God’s Word, secular authority—just like parental and church authority—is limited in its jurisdiction. Government’s power is defined by a sphere of control, and the government has no authority outside of that sphere: it doesn’t, for example, intrude on either the family or the church. This is an often-missed point of Christ’s words in Luke 20:25. There, the Lord says:
Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.
In other words, there are some things that do not belong to Caesar. It’s no surprise, then, that the language of Luke 20:25 is echoed in Romans 13:6-7, the chapter in the New Testament that gives Christians the clearest instructions on how to interact with the State. The point is that secular authority must be disobeyed when it instructs us to sin or when it seeks to impose its power outside its assigned sphere. When Jezebel tries to call the shots in your home or your church, the answer is a firm, resolute “No!”
In the church. It should not surprise us that in His messages to seven churches in Revelation, Christ specifically mentions the woman Jezebel and all that she has done to lead the people astray. Of course, Jesus is not speaking of a literal woman but of the spirit of Jezebel that also seeks to overrun the Church of God. This is what Jesus says to the church in Thyatira in Revelation 2:19-23:
I know your deeds, and your love and faith, and service and perseverance, and that your deeds of late are greater than at first. But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. I gave her time to repent, and she does not want to repent of her sexual immorality. Behold, I will throw her on a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds. And I will kill her children with plague, and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts; and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds. (italics mine)
The simple lesson here is that because all the Ahabs in the church tolerated Jezebel, she led many to their destruction. Jezebel acts against God and does not want to repent, because hatred of God is in her nature. She draws people in with false doctrine (e.g., that God wants everyone to be prosperous and healthy in this earthly life or that you are saved by your works) and things that superficially seem to be virtuous but in reality go against the gospel (e.g., the social gospel). Jezebel also disguises herself as an angel of light in order to draw many into darkness. Jezebel is dangerous in the world because she can hurt people. She is particularly dangerous in the church because she can hurt people in the name of God. Whenever anyone or anything suggests something that goes against God’s inerrant and infallible Word, the simple response is a firm, resolute “No!” If you choose not to act, consider the consequences that Jesus warns about in Revelation 2.
Anyone with a sense of authority in his life, and who demands responsibility for what is taking place around himself, will never let a Jezebel spirit thrive. It is the job of the upright, mighty man of valor and the upright, virtuous woman to say “No!” to these spirits. The question everyone must ask themselves is simple: Who will you be? Ahab? Jezebel? Or will you be a true prophet who stands for God’s Word, speaks the truth in love, and refuses to compromise with evil when all it requires is for you to keep silent and do nothing?
Dr. C. H. E. Sadaphal
Matthew 7:17-18, 20 NIV
[17] Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. [18] A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.
[20] Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
https://bible.com/bible/111/mat.7.17-20.NIV
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