Satanic Discouragement

Robert Wurtz II

 

“Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” And he said, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts; because the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.” Then the LORD said to him: “Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive, anoint Hazael as king over Syria.” (1 Kings 19:13–15 NKJV)

 

Elijah had reached a point where he was tired of dealing with that usurper Jezebel, who threatened to kill him. Understand that she seemed to get by with whatever evil she wanted to do, and it seemed that God was allowing it. Elijah knew God would destroy her and even prophesied her demise; instead of repenting, she and Ahab tried to kill every legitimate prophet in Israel. Finally, like the poison of an Asp, her demonically inspired words oppressed and depressed Elijah until he nearly gave up. In English idiom, we would say he almost “threw in the towel.”

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Although Jezebel painted her face to assert her power and project both seduction and authority, it didn’t work in the end. The wold methods of manipulation were worn out and people were immune to them. If she were a man today, he would wear a sharp suit and a confident smile, wielding his seductive charm and insidious flattery like a viper to manipulate those around him. As the people became ensnared by his web of deceit, their trusting manner would have disarmed them and left them blissfully unaware of his destructive intentions until it was too late and they were destroyed with him (2 Kings 10:11). Knowing how Jezebel ended up goes a long way towards peace of mind that in the end God always has the last word, whether it be the historic Jezebel or any other figure, male or female, who copy her ways.

 

Battling Satanic Influences

 

Reading the stories of Elijah’s victories and then seeing him run from Jezebel doesn’t make sense to most people. It’s easy to forget that he was a man of like passions as we are (James 5:17). This is a Greek word homoiopathes used only twice in the New Testament and means “of the same nature.” In Acts 14, the people thought Paul and Barnabas were gods like Jupiter and Mercurius, but they responded we are men of like passions (homoiopathes). 

 

Elijah was a man so powerfully anointed that he slew the prophets of Baal and many other great things. Yet he ran from Jezebel and hid in a cave. How could this happen to the great prophet Elijah? He was a man of like passions, and without the power of the Holy Spirit, he was helpless against Jezebel and her father, the Devil. Moreover, Elijah lost sight of his own prophesies regarding her destruction. Simply put, Jezebel had an expiration date, but under duress it is sometimes hard to remember that God is a God of vengeance (Ezekiel 7:9). 

 

God could have spoken the word and instantly destroyed Jezebel, but that’s not typically how God does things. He is long-suffering and will sometimes tolerate much evil to give time for repentance. Elijah was not fighting with flesh and blood but with principalities, powers, and spiritual wickedness in the heavenly realms. Satan was using Jezebel to stall God’s plan to use Elijah to bring repentance to the land. This was a battle being waged in the heavenly realms.

 

Satanic Attacks

 

Satan hates repentance-type preachers, especially those who can stop the heavens for three and a half years. So when John the Baptist came preaching repentance in the power and spirit of Elijah, Satan used Herodias and her daughter to destroy him. John challenged her adulterous ways, and it was as if Elijah had killed the prophets of Baal in the days of Jezebel. So naturally, Herodias was furious, hated John, and savagely had him beheaded. John committed himself to God who judges righteously rather than using his influence to start a riot or taking revenge himself as some of the Galileans, Sacarii and Zealots did.

 

In the book of Revelation, we encounter a person called “that woman Jezebel.” We read in Revelation 2:20-22 concerning the church at Thyatira, “Nevertheless I have a few things against you because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent. Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds.”

 

Dangerous People

I believe the most dangerous people in the world are those who think they are saved and hearing from God but are still of a carnal mind and a child of the Devil. The fruit of their life is destruction and division. They are self-deceived but mingle in the church and cause havoc. Jesus had a controversy with the church at Thyatira because they allowed this “Jezebel-like” woman or person to operate in that church. Jesus expected them to stop the person from continuing their destructive ways, but the leaders did not, so Jesus took matters into His own hands. 

 

Why didn’t they deal with “her”? Was she powerful? Was she popular? Did she have a lot of family in the church? Did she support the church financially? Or did the evil spirit she was moving in wear down the dissenting voices? We may be surprised to know that Satan himself might be operating through some of these people. Not a demon or a principality, but Lucifer.

 

Judgment on Jezebel

 

Notice that Jesus chose to judge her with sickness. There had been an opportunity to repent — but that time was now over. The sick bed, among other things, was God’s judgment on her and the people involved with her. Paul warned the Corinthians that God uses weakness, sickness, and death to judge His people (1 Cor. 11:20-32). He does it because they refuse to police themselves and repent of their evil deeds.

 

 

The Jezebels of the world work to wear out and discourage the saints. So before you quit God’s call, think about how He dealt with Elijah. Think about how He judged Jezebel in Jezreel and cast her into a sickbed in Revelation. So, what else did God do? He got Elijah back to doing what he was called to do and sent him to anoint a whole list of people. 

 

When the Jezebels of the world go undealt with, like Elijah, we may end up in our own “cave” of sorts. It’s then that we must listen to His still small voice. What did God say to Elijah? In a nutshell, Get busy doing what I called you to do, and I’ll deal with “Jezebel.” The Jezebels of the world may bring us very low, but we must never quit. Like Elijah, turn your face to the LORD and hear Him speaking… He’s probably giving you your next assignment.