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Who was Jezebel?

Jezebel was the daughter of Ethbaal, a priest of the cruel, sensuous, false god Baal. 

Ethbaal had been a priest of Astarte, which was the Greek form of the moon goddess Ashtoreth. Astarte is what the Phoenicians called her. According to Easton’s Bible Dictionary, Ashtoreth was “frequently associated with the name of Baal, the sun-god, [the Phoenicians’] chief male deity.”

Ethbaal murdered his own brother to take over the throne and was hardly a good father figure. Jezebel followed in her father’s footsteps and was herself a power-hungry murderess and stopped at nothing to get what she wanted. 

Ethbaal was politically connected to King Ahab in Israel, and this could have been the reason for the marriage between the two. The result of this ungodly marriage was that there was a promotion of false gods among the people of Israel.

Jezebel is characterized as totally evil in the Bible. No two biblical figures are more synonymous with evil than Judas and Jezebel. The name Jezebel has been associated with conniving, evil, or bad reputation. No one wants to be called a Jezebel, and definitely, no one would call their daughter that name.

We are also told in 2 Kings 9:22 that Jezebel was into “witchcraft” and sorcery.

Jezebel thought like a Phoenician princess and believed that the monarch had absolute power and was contemptuous of the limitations that the traditional Hebrew Law put on her. Like other Middle Eastern monarchs of the time, she believed that the ruler of a kingdom made the law.

We are not told how Jezebel the strong-minded idolatrous woman and Ahab the weak and spineless king met, but Ahab, captivated by Jezebel, “took her to wife, and went and served Baal and worshipped him.” All the other sins of Ahab were light in comparison with his marriage with Jezebel and the serving of Baal that followed.

When Jezebel got married to King Ahab, she influenced him to abandon the worship of Yahweh and promote the worship of her idols Asherah and Baal. 

This is one of the main reasons why the Lord did not allow intermarriage of the children of Israel. 

There is only one living God, and all praise and glory belongs to Him. When Jezebel turned against God, she experienced a gruesome death because she sinned against God by worshiping and encouraging others to worship idols.

When a man marries a woman because of her beauty or forceful personality or marries a wicked woman or one opposed to his religion, he usually courts sorrow, heartache and disappointment.

Are you careful about whom you marry? The Bible is very clear about “not being unequally yoked with unbelievers” The Bible asks this question in Amos 3:3 “How can two walk together unless they are agreed?”

Quote: Fix your eyes on Jesus and the plans he has for your life. Look ahead, and run after him with all your heart. Then look around. Whoever has kept up with you, marry that person. - Debra Fileta

Prayer: Lord, I pray that I would worship You alone and not any of the idols the world has to offer. Amen