Jezebel: The promoter of Idolatry

Certain women in Biblical history are seen as evil, manipulative and wicked. Their presence gave birth to more wickedness and evil and their evil ways of life led the nation astray. One of such women is Jezebel. The lifestyle of Jezebel and the influence she had over her husband and the nation cannot be overemphasized. Who is Jezebel and why is she relevant in Biblical history? Jezebel was a Sidonian Princess who later became the wife of king Ahab. Sidon was a pagan nation and they did not worship the Lord. Jezebel grew up serving Baal, Asherah and the many gods of the Sidonians. Ahab brought her to Samaria, the capital of Israel (Northern Kingdom). There, Jezebel established herself and used her authourity to promote idolatry in Israel.  No wonder God warned the Israelites against marrying foreign women so their hearts are not drawn to follow foreign gods. 

He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him. (1 Kings 16:31)

Ahab was not any other king. He followed the evil ways of all the evil kings that had come before him. According to 1 Kings 16:31, Ahab not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him (1 Kings 16:31). In other words, Jezebel was not the only one who worshipped her gods, Ahab was also led astray and he promoted the worship of Baal and Asherah: “He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to arouse the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than did all the kings of Israel before him” (1 Kings 16:32‭-‬33). Jezebel’s evil influence on Israel led the prophet Elijah to prophecy against Israel. Elijah said, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word” (1 Kings 17:1). The whole nation lived in famine for three years because of Jezebel’s evil influence.  When Elijah returned to Samaria after three years, he won the “Power contest” against the prophet of Baal (1 Kings 18:16-40). 

Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done in the Power Contest and how Elijah had killed all the prophets of Baal with the sword (1 Kings 19:1), Jezebel was angry and sent this message to Elijah: “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them” (1 Kings 19:2). The prophet fled for his life. Elijah had killed 450 prophets of Baal, but he feared one woman and took to his heels. Thus, even the prophet of God knew how influential and manipulative Jezebel was. God Himself had to send his angel to encourage Elijah and to send the prophet food to eat (1 Kings 19:5-9). Jezebel’s idolatry was so pungent that she is seen as an image of Idolatry even in the book of Revelation (Revelation 2:20). Jezebel represents the relationship with strange women that led to the turning of the hearts of the people of God to follow foreign gods. She was resolute and her corrupting influence led the whole nation away from God. Her husband became her biggest sponsor and he built altars for Baal and Asherah all across his kingdom. 

Jezebel was not repentant even when the prophet Elijah miraculously prayed for fire and destroyed the prophets of Baal. She rather became poised for more evil. She would rather kill Elijah than serve God. Even when her husband Ahab fasted and prayed and God forgave him (1 Kings 21:27-29), Jezebel refused to change. In the New Testament, Jezebel is the spirit of idolatry. In the letter to the church of Thyatira, Jesus Himself accused the church for tolerating that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet and who through her teaching misleads God’s servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols (Revelation 2:20).

Jezebel reminds us that whoever you marry can make or unmake you. An unbelieving, evil, manipulative, idolater, wicked spouse can make you a partner in evil. Ahab’s partnership with Jezebel led to all the evil he committed. He was schooled, trained, nurtured and ultimately graduated into idolatry. Before you say “I do”, say “I don’t” to any lifestyle that is contrary to the word of God. You cannot marry someone to change them. Are you God?

Micah’s mother: When a good intention is evil

During the time the judges ruled Israel, law and order was left in the hands of people and as scripture records, in those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit (Judges 17:6; Judges 21:25). Different people were raised by God to lead the Israelites and others were self-made rulers like Abimelek. Today we shall consider a mother’s seemingly good intention which was evil and led the people to worship other gods. Scripture doesn’t mention the name of this woman. The name of her son is mentioned and so we will refer to her as Micah’s mother. This woman seemed rich and had enough shekels of silver. This is how their story begins: “Now a man named Micah from the hill country of Ephraim said to his mother, “The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from you and about which I heard you utter a curse—I have that silver with me; I took it.” Then his mother said, “The Lord bless you, my son!” (Judges 17:1‭-‬2). The Bible doesn’t state that Micah stole the silver but he had in his possession the same silver his mother was looking for. In fact, the woman even uttered a curse because her silver was missing. The details of the curse are not given. Surprisingly, the woman seemed just content when Micah confessed that he had the silver. She even blessed Micah for that. What were they going to do with the silver? The value of that silver in 2023 would be over 10,000 USD. So that would have been a lot of investment then. 

So after he returned the silver to his mother, she took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to a silversmith, who used them to make the idol. And it was put in Micah’s house. (Judges 17:4)

However Micah’s mother had a different plan. The woman’s intention was to give the silver back to God. That seemed like a good plan but her implementation of the plan went wrong. “When [Micah] returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, she said, “I solemnly consecrate my silver to the Lord for my son to make an image overlaid with silver. I will give it back to you.” So after he returned the silver to his mother, she took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to a silversmith, who used them to make the idol. And it was put in Micah’s house.” (Judges 17:3‭-‬4). Anytime I read this scripture, I am amazed that a dedication to God was actually something God had sternly warned the people not to do. God’s command against idolatry has and would not change. In both Exodus 20:4 and Deuteronomy 5:8, the command against idolatry is clearly spelt out. 
“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. (Exodus 20:4)
“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. (Deuteronomy 5:8)
Subsequently, the idols Micah’s mother commissioned were never to God. The spiritual perversion caused by these idols was so great. 

The woman’s son took the idolatry a step further. Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household gods and installed one of his sons as his priest (Judges 17:5). Later, he installed a young Levite as priest over the idols. Some time later, the Danites (the tribe of Dan, son of Jacob) had envoys in search of land and the envoys came across the Levite priest and the idols. Subsequently, the Danites carried both the priest and the idols to their new home. To the Danites, it was better that the Levite serve a tribe and clan in Israel as a priest rather than just one man’s household (Judges 18:19). So a whole clan prostituted themselves with the idols Micah’s mother commissioned. The idolatry was no more a household sin but a territorial sin. They forsook God and turned to idols made with silver. In so doing, the people activated all the curses concerning idolatry. Deuteronomy 28:15-68 lists these curses. The poignant idolatry initiated by Micah’s mother was established and when the Danites finally moved to their own land, they set up for themselves the idol, and Jonathan son of Gershom, the son of Moses, and his sons were priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the captivity of the land. They continued to use the idol Micah had made, all the time the house of God was in Shiloh (Judges 18:30‭-‬31). So for generations, a woman’s good intent became a snare for a whole people group. 

Like Micah’s mother, sometimes we set out to do something good but the result could be man gratifying rather than serving God’s purpose. Don’t be in a hurry to raise idols in the name of serving God. If care is not taken, the same gift you received from God will become an idol serving your interests rather than serving God. Search your heart before you make any commitment. It is better to worship God in your little corner than to commission a territorial idol. God hates idolatry!