Jump Start # 270

1 Kings 21:25 “Surely there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do evil in the sight of the Lord, because Jezebel his wife incited him.”

  Jezebel—I’ve been thinking about writing a Jump Start about her for a long time. If there was ever a “wicked witch of the West” it’s Jezebel. Corrupt, dishonest, bad to the bone, and no respect for God. Years ago I preached a series of lessons entitled, “Bad Boys of the Bible.” I had several ask me to do a companion series, “Bad girls of the Bible.” I never did. I think the reason is, after a study of Jezebel, I’d be so discouraged and disgusted, I’d quit the series. She’s that bad.

  Jezebel was married to Ahab the king of Israel. She was not from Israel. She was the daughter of the king of Sidon. She worshipped the false god Baal. Because of her influence, Ahab built idols throughout Israel.

  It was Jezebel who destroyed the prophets of God. It was Jezebel who ordered the death of Elijah. It was Jezebel who plotted and planned the murder of Naboth, so her husband could take his land. Jezebel wrote letters and signed her husband’s name to them. In many ways, Jezebel ran the country. Ahab seems to be weak and Jezebel, power hungry, corrupt and bent on evil. What a sorry arrangement.

  God dealt with her very harshly. She came to an end befitting her wicked and terrible life. She was thrown out of a window and splattered down below. Street dogs carried her body off. All that was found was her skull, feet and palms of her hand. Yech.

  Now, lessons to be learned.

First, all it takes is one person to turn the spirit and atmosphere of place around. We see this in many applications. This happens at work. It happens in the family. It happens on a sports team. It happens in a congregation. The effect can be positive or negative. For instance, a new person is hired at work. Immediately, they are loud, gossipy, complaining and doing very little work. Before long, the whole place has fallen under that influence. Tensions grow. People don’t like each other. That can happen in a family when someone marries into the family. That happens in a congregation. Now, the opposite can happen as well. Someone new comes in, and they roll up their sleeves and get busy doing good things, they have a great attitude and before long everyone seems to be stepping up and doing more. It is that influence of one person.

  Jezebel had that impact, especially on her husband. Marriage can do that. We can help each other get stronger spiritually or we can weaken our mates by our choices and influences. Jezebel incited Ahab to do evil.

  Without realizing this, you have the power to go along with a Jezebel or to throw her out the window, not literally. You do this by your influence. All of us have within us the make up to be both followers and leaders. Some follow more than lead and others lead more than follow. But we do both. When a Jezebel comes upon the scene, whether at work, school, home or church, we can either go along and do nothing, which allows a Jezebel to continue her wicked ways, or we can influence for the good. Ahab should have known better. He should have never married her to start with. But after that, he should have known the 10 commandments—no excuse. That alone would have stopped any worship of Baal. What was Ahab thinking? He probably wasn’t. Wanted to make his wife happy, so he weakens his soul. Never compromise what you believe to anyone. You never help your mate by skipping church services or engaging in things you would never do. That only shows them that you are not serious about your faith. Ahab should have thrown Jezebel out the window—not literally, but by standing up and saying NO to Baal, NO to idols and NO to your wicked ways. Gossip dies if no one listens to it. Wicked talk ends when people say, “let’s not go there,” and then walk away. Complaining is thrown out the window when some responds, “We’ve been blessed so much by God.” Jezebel was the way she was, first because her parents allowed it and then her husband put up with it. But there is one who wouldn’t, and that was God. No where in the Bible do you find the apostles complaining about other members. If there was a problem, they dealt with it in a Biblical fashion. But sitting around and have a gripe session is something they never did. It’s amazing to see a few Christians getting together after services and immediately they roast the teachers, the song leaders and start acting just like ole’ Jezebel. Stop it. Throw it out the window. Don’t let one person, take the good spirit down. They do this because those around them allow it. Throw it out the window! Give it to the dogs!

  Second lesson: Ahab sold himself to do evil. For all that Jezebel was, Ahab sold out. You can’t blame her 100%. Had he not been for sale, this wouldn’t have happened. We call this having conviction. Stand for what you believe and dig your heels in. Paul told the Corinthians to be “steadfast, immovable…” Immovable…unable to be moved. I shall not be moved. Shove my faith and it’s not moving! It’s been said that everyone has a price. I don’t believe that. Jesus didn’t. The early Christians didn’t. Some things are simply not for sale, at any price, to any person. Weak hearts give in. Those lacking convictions will go with the flow, which is generally, downstream. Ahab was evil because he was bought by an evil person. He sold himself.

  This gives us much to think about in our marriages. Are we so set on pleasing our mates and making them happy that we sell out our souls and our convictions? Are we more concerned about pleasing them than we are pleasing God? What did Ahab get for selling out? A disastrous marriage, a weak faith, a wayward nation and a terrible death. Some deal.

  Jezebel…I don’t like her. The thought of her is like sour milk in my mouth. Are you going to let the Jezebel’s dominate your life and ruin your faith or are you going to say ‘enough’ and throw that junk out the window? You can’t stop a Jezebel, but you also can open a window and keep her wicked ways from inciting you to become like her.

Roger