Ferociously devoted to her deity, she defied the God of Israel to her grisly final breath.
This series of Bible studies seeks to retell the stories of women who were divinely called and empowered to do great things. Many of them rose to the occasion, and a few very famously did not. Often, the tragedies and triumphs in their lives are missed, and their stories are told from perspectives other than with the honor and dignity they deserve.
After excavating their narratives from millennia of obfuscation, now meet the freshly restored, valiant, vivid (and sometimes villainous) women of the Bible.
Jezebel: Priestess and Queen
Jezebel was a Phoenician princess, born in Tyre during the reign of King Omri of Israel. Among royalty, marriage was seldom a love match. Far more often, royal weddings had to do with brokering political, military, and diplomatic benefits between nations. And, it should not come as a surprise that Jezebel worshipped the premier deity of her people. But Jezebel was more than a nominal adherent. She was the high priestess.
It is hard to know what reception Israel gave their new queen. However, considering the many diatribes prophets delivered against the gods and religion of the Phoenicians, it is highly possible she was not warmly welcomed. It did not take long for Jezebel to make her own feelings known.
This thirty-page book includes the retelling of Jezebel’s story, a fifteen-question Bible study, and link to a twenty-minute multi-media presentation of Jezebel’s account, from her days as a young queen to her gruesome and shocking end. A close reading of the text reveals both her sense of her own dignity and her resolution to defy the God of Israel to the death.
The Jezebel Spirit
Just the word “jezebel” evokes a whole evil, erotic, seductive mystique, doesn’t it? Webster-Merriam defines “jezebel” as: “an impudent, shameless, or morally unrestrained woman.” A jezebel has come to be known as a wicked and scheming female who manipulates her victims into giving her wealth, status, and power. She is often beautiful and knows it, using her looks to her advantage to lure in her prey. She insists on being the center of attention but also doesn’t have many real friends because of how shallow she is. She will do anything and use anyone to get what she wants.
In some Christian circles, having a jezebel spirit means being all of the above with an added spiritual component: disruptive, seductive, insinuating, contriving, dangerous to the Body of Christ. Added to that deeply embedded cultural and religious meme is the Jezebel found in John’s Revelation,
I have this against you: you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet and is teaching and beguiling my servants to practice fornication and to eat food sacrificed to idols.
Revelation 2:20
But is this a fair assessment of the original queen of Israel?
And even if it is, is there room for a measure of sympathy or even compassion for a Phoenician woman who was married into a culture so foreign from her own?
Nearly forty free Bible studies on a woman in the scriptures are available through signing up to the newsletter below. What’s included:
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