Elijah
Finds the Hiding Place. He has heard Jezebel speak about him and he fears her by
running to a Cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the Lord came to
him, & He said to him, 'What are you doing here,
Elijah?' He said, 'I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For
the people of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, thrown down Your altars, and
killed Your prophets with the sword, &
I, even I only, am left, & they seek my
life, to take it away.' And He said, "Go out and stand on the mount
before the Lord." And behold, the Lord passed by, & a great and strong
wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the
Lord was not in the wind. & after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was
not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in
the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. And when Elijah heard
it, he wrapped his face in his cloak & went out and stood at the entrance
of the cave.
And behold, there came a voice to him
and said, 'What are you doing here, Elijah?' He said, 'I have been
very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have
forsaken Your covenant, thrown down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with
the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it
away.' And the Lord said to him, 'Go, return on your way to the wilderness of
Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria.
And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha
the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your
place.'" 1 Kings 19:9-16 ESV
1. Elijah was lost & low in
depression: Lord's questions were not an indication that He was clueless about
Elijah's geographical location for surely He knew exactly where Elijah was,
but, the Lord's questions were unequivocally an attempt to speak into Elijah's
misplaced identity. Taking place on Mount Horeb, or more popularly
known as Mount Sinai, the very mountain where the Lord encountered Moses in another
dramatic theophany, complete with
pyrotechnics & violent shaking of the mountain, & gave Moses the 10
Commandments
2. Surely, in spite of his
depressed state, Elijah was aware of the history of the event & the power
of God that descended on that mountain. Elijah
was experiencing the power of God on the same mountain. The point of God's demonstration of the
forces of nature is presumably that Elijah would answer the same question
differently on the 2nd occasion. Alas, his answer the same..”I have
been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have
forsaken Your covenant, thrown down Your altars, & killed Your prophets
with the sword, & I, even I only, am left, & they seek my life, to take
it away."1 Kings 19:14
Elijah was
floundering in fear to a woman! What happened to his faith? He was out giving
her false prophets a whipping when coming to knowing God and that He answers.
In that case, it was by fire.
1 Kings
19:13 And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. And when Elijah heard it,
he wrapped his face in his cloak & went out and stood at the entrance of
the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and
said, 'What are you doing here, Elijah?' He said, 'I have been very
jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken
Your covenant, thrown down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the
sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.'
And the Lord said to him, 'Go, return on your way to the wilderness of
Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria.
And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha
the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your
place.'" 1 Kings 19:9-16 ESV
1. When asked by God why he Elijah was
in this cave, he replies as before: 'I have been very jealous for the Lord, the
God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, thrown down
Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am
left, and they seek my life, to take it away.
2. But God spoke: 'Go, return on your
way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael
to be king over Syria. And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king
over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to
be prophet in your place.
3. Do we hear anything of Elisha the
son Shaphat of Abel-meholah?
4. Do we hear anything about Jehu the
son of Nimshi? Or how about Hazael when becoming king over Syria?
Elijah the
fearful wraps his face in his cloak as he step to the entrance of the cave. He
hears God speak and his answer ready: , 'I have been very jealous for the Lord,
the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, thrown
down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only,
am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.
Instructions
come to Elijah: , 'Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And
when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. And Jehu the
son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of
Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place.
We are told
that when Hazael comes to be king of Syria: he shall make bloody work among the
people (2 Kings 8:12) and so correct them for their idolatry."
Hazael anointed king of Syrian by Elijah 1 Kings
19:15-17
The strong
wind may be a figure of the work of judgment which Hazael of Syria would
perform in Israel (2 Kings. 8:12 and 10:32-36).
The Solution: King Jehu and His
Warrior Anointing……….Insight
from 2 Kings 9:7-10: "'You [Jehu]
shall strike the house of Ahab your 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. For the whole house of Ahab shall perish, and I will cut off
from Ahab every male person both bond and free in Israel. I will make the house
of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of
Baasha the son of Ahijah. The dogs shall eat Jezebel in the territory of Jezreel,
and none shall bury her.' Then he opened the door and fled." (emphasis
mine)
1. Jezebel is
empowered by Ahab's passivity. But in the midst of this, the Lord always has a
solution. In the heat of the battle, Jehu, who is anointed as one of the three
successors of Elijah, is called to strike down Jezebel and Ahab's entire
lineage, legacy and household.
Insight
from 2 Kings 9:22: "When Joram saw Jehu, he said, 'Is it peace, Jehu?' And
he answered, 'What peace, so long as the harlotries of your mother Jezebel and
her witchcrafts are so many?'"
1. Jehu, whose
name means, "Yahweh is God," discerns the roots: witchcraft and
idolatry. Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and arrogance (stubbornness,
insubordination) is as iniquity and idolatry (see 1 Samuel 15:23).
2. Jehu not
only discerns the roots, he does not partake of the false appeasement by which
Jezebel operated.
Insight
from 2 Kings 9:30-31: "When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it, and
she painted her eyes and adorned her head and looked out the window. As Jehu
entered the gate, she said, 'Is it well, Zimri, your master's murderer?'"
1. Jezebel
uses seduction and sexual manipulation and payoffs to control men. When that
does not work, she uses shame, scorn and arrogance. Insight from 2 Kings 9:32-33: "Then he
lifted up his face to the window and said, 'Who is on my side? Who?' And two or
three officials looked down at him. 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 trampled her under foot."
2. Jehu
confronts without fear, as he knows his sphere of authority. Jezebel was not
conquered by Elijah but by the kingly anointing of the next generation under
Jehu.
Insight
from 2 Kings 9:34-37: "Remember, every mess is an opportunity for God's
next miracle."
"When
he came in, he ate and drank; and he said, 'See now to this cursed woman and
bury her, for she is a king's daughter.' They went to bury her, but they found
nothing more of her than the skull and the feet and the palms of her hands.
Therefore they returned and told him. And he said, 'This is the word of the
LORD, which He spoke by His servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, "In the
property of Jezreel the dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel; and the corpse of
Jezebel will be as dung on the face of the field in the property of Jezreel, so
they cannot say, 'This is Jezebel.'"'"
1. Jehu
operates under a fierce warrior anointing. Jezebel's destruction was so
complete that she was unrecognizable.
For Elisha
the sword of the Spirit of God: Jeremiah 48:44, He that
flees from the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that gets up out of the pit
shall be taken in the snare. Elisha, with the sword of the Spirit, shall
terrify and wound the consciences of those who escape Hazael's sword of war and
Jehu's sword of justice. With the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked, Isa 11:4; 2 Thessalonians 2:8;
2. He would also terrify those who
escaped Jehu’s sword of justice.
3. These would continue the work Elijah
was to do!
When Elisha
was called: 1
Kings 19: 19 So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who
was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him and he was with the twelve. Then
Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle on him. 20 and he left the oxen and
ran after Elijah, and said, “Please let me kiss my father and my mother,
and then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have
I done to you?” 21 So Elisha turned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen and
slaughtered them and boiled their flesh , using the oxen’s equipment and gave
it to the people and they ate. Then he arose and followed Elijah, and became
his servant.
Elisha
prophesying Hazael taking the throne: 2
Kings: 8: 7-15
Hazael Oppresses
Israel found in 2 Kings 8:28-29, 2 Kings 10: 32-36; 2 Kings 12:17-18; 2 Kings
13:3-7, 22
The
earthquake may be a figure of judgment and revolution under Jehu that would
destroy the house of Ahab (2 Kings. 9:1-10).
The fire, a
picture of the work of judgment completed by Elisha, Elijah’s successor (1 Kings.
19:17).
Elijah
thought it beneficial to challenge the Baal prophets. He felt the great display
of his God’s might and the silence of Baal would touch and lead the people into
repenting and forgoing the idol worship. He was doing the will of God. The
people were indeed impressed by the show and force exhibited by God, but they quickly
returned to idol worship thereafter.
This quick
return to idolatry greatly saddened Elijah who retreated to the wilderness
under a juniper tree. Elijah now in a pity part of his own was told by the Lord: 1 Kings 19:11: “Go out and stand on the mountain in the
presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Then, scripture tells
us, “a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks
before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an
earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.”
Following
these and other physical acts, the Lord spoke to Elijah in a “still small
voice” which instructed Elijah to return on the way to Damascus and anoint
Hazael to be king over Syria and to "Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king
over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you
as prophet." (1 Kings 19:15-16)
God still
speaks in a “small still voice.” To hear God’s voice, we have to be still with
a clear mind.
1. 2 Peter 2:1, “But there were also
false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among
you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the
sovereign Lord who brought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. ”
2. He continues in 2 Peter 2:2 with, “Many will
follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.”
3. Jezebel had a detrimental effect on
every institution of which she was involved. She ruined both the personal and
political life of her husband king Ahab and led the spiritual downfall of the
Israeli people.
4. Similarly, the spirit of Jezebel
that is evidenced today seeks to defile the believer spiritually and
physically. A Jezebel spirit endorses the lusts of the flesh and neglects the
worship of our Lord in spirit and in truth. Her ways are false and fraudulent,
yet cunning and believable for those who are susceptible. Staying vigilant in
your commitment to, knowledge of, and pursuit of God’s sovereignty over your
life, work, family, and society can help protect you from a ‘Jezebel’
influence.
Jezebel in
her abominable acts: 1 Kings 18:4, 13 , 1 Kings 19: 1-2; 1 Kings 21: 1-16 Her
death prophesied and fulfilled: 1 Kings 21:23 and 2 Kings 9:7, 30-37
Staying
vigilant in your commitment to, knowledge of, and pursuit of God’s sovereignty
over your life, work, family, and society can help protect you from a ‘Jezebel’
influence.
The
following is a brief review of 10 significant characteristics of the Jezebel
spirit to lay a foundation on which to build. In this primary historical
account found in Scripture, 1 Kings 17-19 is the setting of Queen Jezebel's
reign in Israel and her demonic schemes to control everyone in her sphere of
influence.
1. With
demonic control, she: Jezebel's ultimate goal is always control unto herself!
2. The
Jezebel spirit attacks others, dominates or manipulates those in authority.
3. The
Jezebel influence always causes fear, causes men to flight and gives discouragement as we saw with
Elijah!
4. People
under Jezebel's influence tend to be natural leaders, although often operating
covertly or stealth!
5. People
under Jezebel's influence are often the insecure and the wounded. These also would be what is called the orphan. They are not raised by fathers, but most likely mothers only!
6. The
Jezebel Spirit functions subtlety and deceptively: promotes pride, independence
and rebellion. She the spirit is in alignment with a religious type spirit.
7. The
abdication of an Ahab empowers a Jezebel spirit to operate.
8. The
families of people under Jezebel's influence are often dysfunctional and out of
order. Know any?
The lessons
learned from 1 Kings 19:1-2: "The
spirit of Elijah brings restoration where evil has temporarily spread division
and strife."
The lessons
learned from 1 Kings 21:8-10: "So
she wrote letters in Ahab's name and sealed them with his seal, and sent
letters to the elders and to the nobles who were living with Naboth in his
city. Now she wrote in the letters, saying, 'Proclaim a fast and seat Naboth at
the head of the people; and seat two worthless men before him, and let them
testify against him, saying, "You cursed God and the king." Then take
him out and stone him to death.'"
1. Her orders were to bring worthless
men forward to curse a man of God.
2. She wanted others to testify
against him and then take him out to be stoned to death.
3. Jezebel herself wanted prophetic
leadership and stopped at nothing to gain it. In 1 Kings 18, we learn that she
went about murdering the prophets of the Lord.
She wanted
to silence their voices. True prophets of the Lord would have exposed her sin
and prophesied her downfall, as Elijah did. Jezebel also craved that prophetic
anointing for herself. She raised up her own large group of false prophets, who
prophesied according to her own agenda. She provided for them and fed them at
her table (1 Kings 18:19).
1. The enduring nature of this spirit
(which is demonic, and not related to a gender) is confirmed when Jesus warns
the Church concerning "Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess" (Rev.
2:20).
2. As Jezebel did, the "Jezebelic
spirit" seeks to shut down the Lord's prophets and the true prophetic. It
raises itself up, masquerading as prophetic. Its motivator is jealousy and
control. It is a spirit of witchcraft (2 Kings 9:22, Gal. 5:20). But our God is
greater! Jesus has already overcome it!
3. "The weapons we fight with are
not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to
demolish strongholds." (2 Cor. 10:4 NIV)
4. The Lord is giving us courage to
rise up and refuse to "play the games" and "dance the
steps" of Jezebelic control. He is enabling us to move in the opposite
Spirit, in His fruit and His wisdom (Gal. 5:22-23, Jas. 3:17-18). Those Jezebelic powers are being revealed for
what they are and broken in Jesus' name. Come to the Father! So, if you have felt as though you have been
wounded; if you realize you have been dented by envy or jealousy, receive His
grace today. Unhindered, you can embrace your uniqueness, receive your
inheritance, and celebrate the gifts and callings of others. The past is
falling away! You are stepping out into the fullness of all God has for you,
free from the stain of envy once and for all.
"So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." (Jhn.
8:36 NIV) (To
The Solution: King Jehu and His Warrior
Anointing….. from 2
Kings 9:7-10: "'You [Jehu] shall
strike the house of Ahab your 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. For the whole house of Ahab shall perish, and I will cut off
from Ahab every male person both bond and free in Israel. I will make the house
of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of
Baasha the son of Ahijah. The dogs shall eat Jezebel in the territory of
Jezreel, and none shall bury her.' Then he opened the door and fled."
(emphasis mine)
1. Jezebel is empowered by Ahab's
passivity. But in the midst of this, the Lord always has a solution.
2. In the heat of the battle, Jehu, who is
anointed as one of the three successors of Elijah, is called to strike down
Jezebel and Ahab's entire lineage, legacy and household.
Insight
from 2 Kings 9:22: "When Joram saw Jehu, he said, 'Is it peace, Jehu?' And
he answered, 'What peace, so long as the harlotries of your mother Jezebel and
her witchcrafts are so many?'"
Insight
from 2 Kings 9:30-31: "When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it, and
she painted her eyes and adorned her head and looked out the window. As Jehu
entered the gate, she said, 'Is it well, Zimri, your master's murderer?'" Jezebel uses
seduction and sexual manipulation and payoffs to control men. When that does not
work, she uses shame, scorn and arrogance.
Insight from 2 Kings 9:32-33: "Then he lifted up his face to the
window and said, 'Who is on my side? Who?' And two or three officials looked
down at him. 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 trampled her under
foot."
Jehu
confronts without fear, as he knows his sphere of authority. Jezebel was not
conquered by Elijah but by the kingly anointing of the next generation under
Jehu.
Insight
from 2 Kings 9:34-37: "Remember, every mess is an opportunity for God's
next miracle." "When he came
in, he ate and drank; and he said, 'See now to this cursed woman and bury her,
for she is a king's daughter.' They went to bury her, but they found nothing
more of her than the skull and the feet and the palms of her hands. Therefore
they returned and told him. And he said, 'This is the word of the LORD, which
He spoke by His servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, "In the property of
Jezreel the dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel; and the corpse of Jezebel will
be as dung on the face of the field in the property of Jezreel, so they cannot
say, 'This is Jezebel.'"'"
Jehu
operates under a fierce warrior anointing. Jezebel's destruction was so
complete that she was unrecognizable.
Insight
from Revelation 2:24-28: "But I say
to you, the rest who are in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have
not known the deep things of satan, as they call them – I place no other
burden on you. Nevertheless what you have, hold fast until I come. He who
overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, TO HIM I WILL GIVE
AUTHORITY OVER THE NATIONS; AND HE SHALL RULE THEM WITH A ROD OF IRON, AS THE
VESSELS OF THE POTTER ARE BROKEN TO PIECES, as I also have received authority
from My Father; and I will give him the morning star." What is ultimately
at stake is the authority and ruler-ship of the nations in God's stead.
Overthrowing Jezebel aids in spreading the Gospel of the Kingdom of our Lord
Jesus Christ into the entire world. There is a lavish reward waiting for those
who partake in this Kingdom advancement.
The Key
of the Kingly Anointing. "The LORD
said to him, 'Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and when
you have arrived, you shall anoint Hazael king over Aram; & Jehu the son of
Nimshi you shall anoint king over Israel; and Elisha the son of Shaphat of
Abel-meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place. It shall come about,
the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall put to death, and the
one who escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall put to death.'" (1
Kings 19:15-17)
Not only
did Elisha receive a double portion of the mantle that rested upon Elijah, but
by careful observation we find there were three who were chosen to follow in
the footsteps of their father Elijah: Hazael, Jehu & Elisha. Note that two
of the three were anointed to be kings & only one was set apart as a
prophet. Jehu, king over Israel, was the one appointed to overthrow Jezebel's palatial
reign. A key is revealed here concerning the kingly anointing of ruling and
reigning in Christ Jesus.
The Key of
the Joining of the Generations. "Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the
prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD. He will
restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the
children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a
curse." (Malachi 4:5-6) We must
call forth the truths of Malachi 4:5-6 to win this end time battle of the ages.
The spirit of Elijah results in joining the generations – where hearts are
turned to the Lord and to one another in cooperation. The spirit of Elijah
brings restoration where evil has temporarily spread division and strife. But this,
too, is subject to change!
In breaking
the Chains of Bondage it is vital to remember that we do not wrestle against
flesh and blood but against powers of darkness. "The Spirit of the Lord is
on me, because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has
sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the
blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's
favor." (Luke 4:18-19 NIV)
Clothed in
the Spirit of Christ, we become part of the solution, declaring that the
favorable year of the Lord has come bringing freedom for the prisoners and all
who are oppressed.
We declare
this freedom, in the name of Jesus, this spiritual reality is revealed to us. We
repent of tolerating the spirit of Jezebel and letting ourselves be controlled by
a stronghold other than God's Holy Spirit. We ask You our Lord empower believers with the anointing like Jehu to displace this
destructive entity( of demonic activity). Heaven’s hope solution for this demonic dilemma is revealed
and received in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen and amen!
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