Not So Little Women: Week 3
Jezebel

We are doing a series, called Not So Little Women, where we look at the stories of different women in the Bible. Today we look at an evil woman named Jezebel.

• Who was Jezebel? – She was the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians. She worshiped false gods and led Ahab in the same direction.

• What is her story? – She was raised in a cult and then offered in marriage to King Ahab in Israel. As soon as she became queen, she persuaded her husband to promote the worship of various false gods—including Baal and Asherah—among the people of Israel. She orchestrated the murder of the priests of God and conspired to rule Israel through her offspring.

What do we learn from Jezebel?

1. Everything that was in Jezebel’s heart has the potential of being in our hearts.

We tend to look at evil people with judgment because we haven’t done what they have done, but we can easily become the thing we think we despise. Jezebel worshiped a lie. Many people who claim to be Christians are not worshiping Jesus; they are worshiping themselves…that is idolatry and the result of lies.

2. We cannot judge what God is doing based on the actions of fallen humanity.

There are those today who look at the evil actions of people and complain that God doesn’t care or God is powerless to act…and from what we know in the Bible, neither of those are true. We ask, “God, why do you put up with injustice? How can you bring salvation out of injustice if you are holy?” God says, “On the cross, that’s finally explained.”

3. Do not blindly accept something as truth simply because someone says “God.”

Jezebel used the name of Israel’s God to kill people. We cannot blindly accept and trust someone simply because they claim the name of Christ.

What we need to understand is that the objective evidence of God’s love and care for us is shown in the cross of Jesus Christ. The Jezebels don’t win in the scheme of eternity. They may triumph for a time, but if you look at history, God always prevails (even if its 900 years after Jezebel). How does sin lose its power in, or over, our lives? It happens by marveling at the gift of mercy and grace of the cross of Jesus.