|
In the reading from the New Testament today, we heard St. Paul chastising the church in Corinth over the divisions that had arisen among them. Sadly, here in this very part of the Body of Christ, divisions are separating friends and family members alike. This is not a new occurrence in the church. Instead, it is the same spirit of rebellion known as the Spirit of Jezebel that attacked the early church that continues to attack the believers in Christ today. This spirit of darkness uses rebellion against the levels of authority in the church in order to destroy the unity of the Body of Christ.
To better understand this assault against the unity of believers, we need to look at the story of Jezebel and Elijah. The story begins when Ahab, King of Israel took Jezebel as his wife and queen. In the first book of Kings, we read, the following:
“In the thirty-eighth year of King Asa of Judah, Ahab son of Omri began to reign over Israel; Ahab son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria for twenty-two years. 30Ahab son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord more than all who were before him.
31 And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, he took as his wife Jezebel daughter of King Ethbaal of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him. 32He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. 33Ahab also made a sacred pole.* Ahab did more to provoke the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than had all the kings of Israel who were before him.”
By marrying a worshipper of the idol Baal, King Ahab brought down God’s judgment upon the entire nation of Israel. A severe drought plagued the land, not for just a few months, but for years. As it is written in I Kings 17:1: “Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe* in Gilead, said to Ahab, ‘As the Lord the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.’”
During this severe drought, God provided Elijah the prophet with food and water. The scripture tells us, “The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the wadi. But after a while the wadi dried up, because there was no rain in the land. Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ‘Go now to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there; for I have commanded a widow there to feed you.’ So he set out and went to Zarephath.”
The scripture tells us that the drought lasted for three years in which King Ahab refused to repent. Instead, Ahab gave his wife, Queen Jezebel, permission to kill all the prophets of God. She would have succeeded had not Obadiah, who was in charge of the king’s palace, hid a hundred of the Lord’s prophets in caves where he fed them bread and water. As for the prophet, Elijah, it is ironic that the Lord hid him in Jezebel’s homeland, Sidon. Right where no one would expect Elijah to be, he was safe from Jezebel’s murderous deeds.
Jezebel is known in the scriptures as the killer of God’s prophets. When Elijah returns to Israel and slays the prophets of Baal, then it is Jezebel who puts Elijah at the top of her hit list. The scriptures read, “Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, ‘So may the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.’”
However, that is not what happened. Elijah lived and Jezebel had a most horrific death. In fulfillment of Elijah’s prophesy concerning Jezebel, the wicked queen was thrown out of one of the palace windows by the orders of King Jehu. When servants were sent to bury Jezebel’s body, nothing was left of her but the skull, the feet and the palms of her hands. The rest of Jezebel’s corpse had been eaten by the dogs. As for Elijah, he never experienced death. Instead, God took him into heaven in a chariot of fire.
Although Jezebel’s physical body was utterly destroyed, the evilness of her spirit continues to seek the destruction of the prophets of God. The Spirit of Jezebel deceives those who follow her by making them think that they are doing the right thing by undermining the levels of authority in the Church. She is clothed in deceitfulness and her mouth is full of lies against those who are in authority. She manipulates others to believe her lies by twisting the truth and speaking evil against the very prophets of God. Jezebel’s rebellious spirit breeds anger, strife and division among the body of believers. Broken relationships strew her pathway of destruction.
The only hope for those who are controlled and manipulated by the Spirit of Jezebel is true repentance. Without the confession of their sins, those who continue following the Spirit of Jezebel will like the first Jezebel come to a bitter end. The lives of those who follow this wicked queen often end in bitterness and loneliness. For Jezebel is a jealous spirit and demands complete allegiance from her followers. It is the soul of her follower that Jezebel seeks to own.
Churches that are infected with this evil presence can be healed, but only if they are willing to submit to the God given levels of authority that have been placed within the Body of Christ. Members of congregations that seek to disrupt and divide the Body of Christ must repent of their activity and their support of schemes to overthrow the leaders in the church. Healing will come after repentance.
In the story of Jezebel, Ahab, her most devoted follower, saw the evilness of his ways and repented. The scripture states, “He tore his clothes and put sackcloth over his bare flesh; he fasted, lay in the sackcloth, and went about dejectedly. Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite: 29‘Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster in his days; but in his son’s days I will bring the disaster on his house.’” Because of Ahab’s repentance, the Lord showed mercy on Ahab. Ahab did not have to live to see his wife eaten by dogs or his sons annihilated.
For those of us who follow the Christ, forgiveness is but a prayer of repentance away. Only in Christ can we be united. May we shun the Spirit of Jezebel here at St. Raphael’s; knowing that it is only under the leadership of Christ, through the levels of authority that Christ has placed within the Church; and through obedience in the faith that we can enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.
| 
