Elijah versus Jezebel

We would suppose that, at this point, Elijah would have gone into Jezreel and asked God to finish off Jezebel, but he did not. In fact—and this may surprise you—Elijah came under spiritual warfare. When Jezebel heard what had happened to her servants, in a fit of rage she released a flood of witchcraft and demonic power against Elijah that put fear into his heart, and Elijah fled.

You may ask, How could such a mighty prophet turn and run? The answer is not simple. In fact, the situation worsened. We then see Elijah sitting under a juniper tree, bewailing that he is no better than his fathers—actually praying that he might die! (see 1 Kings 19:4) What pressure overwhelmed this great man of God that he would fall prey to fear and discouragement? He succumbed to the witchcraft of Jezebel.

And now, let the reader understand: When you stand against the principality of Jezebel, even though you resist her lusts and witchcrafts, you must guard against the power-demons of fear and discouragement, for these she will send against you to distract you from your warfare and your victory!

With this concept in mind, we can better accept how the spirit of Elijah was sent to minister through the person of John the Baptist. Just as the spirit of Elijah was ministering through Elisha, so too the spirit of Elijah was ministering, activating, inspiring and creating in John the Baptist that same kind of intensity that dwelt in Elijah himself. John was to go “as a forerunner before [the Lord] in the spirit and power of Elijah” (Luke 1:17).

Jesus said of the Baptist, “John himself is Elijah who was to come” (Matt. 11:14, see also 17:11-13). John even looked like Elijah. The spiritual influence of Elijah had returned to the world in the person of John the Baptist. Like Elijah, John proclaimed the need for repentance wherever he saw sin. One such area was in the adulterous lives of King Herod and his wife Herodias. When John confronted them, Herodias had him imprisoned (Mark 6:17-18).

But who was manipulating and working through the dark, psychic side of Herodias? As Elijah’s spirit ministered through John, so Jezebel had resurfaced through the rebellion of the seductress, Herodias. Remember, through Jezebel’s many witchcrafts (see 2 Kings 9:22), she attacked Elijah, causing fear and discouragement, which led to Elijah’s time of self-doubt and confusion. Now Herodias had come forcibly against the Baptist. This is the prophet who had visibly seen the Spirit descend upon Christ; he heard the Father’s audible voice announcing His beloved Son; he gazed with awe upon the purity of Israel’s Messiah. Now, fear and discouragement are weighing upon the prophet’s shoulders. Doubt floods his soul about Christ: “Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?” (Matt. 11:3).

“A strategic day came when Herod . . . gave a banquet” (Mark 6:21). “Strategic” is the perfect word to describe the timing of this event. For in this war between the spirits of Elijah and Jezebel, Herodias had her daughter dance before Herod, enticing out of him a promise to give whatever she asked. At her mother’s request – more precisely, at Jezebel’s request – she demanded and received the head of the Baptist … on a platter. And temporarily, the confrontation between the spirits of these two eternal enemies subsided.

Let it also be known that if Elijah is coming before Jesus returns, so also is Jezebel. Indeed, do you not see her in our land in the abundance of witchcraft and harlotries? Do you not hear her brazen voice rejecting God’s authority and exalting her rebellion in radical feminism? Have you not, with shame, beheld her as she caused God’s “bond-servants” to “commit acts of immorality” (Rev. 2:20)? Seeing Jezebel so blatantly manifest herself only confirms that the spirit of Elijah is also here bringing repentance and raising up warring prophets throughout our land. In fact, if you are going to serve God during the reign of a “Jezebel,” the warfare itself will thrust you into a prophetic anointing simply that you may survive!

In the Old Testament we see how God destroyed Jezebel. Jehu, the newly crowned king of Israel, was sent by the word of the Lord through Elijah’s successor, Elisha, to fulfill God’s promise. As Jehu and his men furiously drove their chariots toward Jezreel, the kings of Israel and Judah came out to meet him. They asked, “Is it peace, Jehu?” And he answered, “What peace, so long as the harlotries of your mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?” (2 Kings 9:21-22) And Jehu slew the two kings. Immediately afterward, he rode into Jezreel to confront Jezebel.

The Word tells us that when she saw him, “She put paint on her eyes and adorned her head” and looking out an upper window, she called to him, “”Is it peace, Zimri, murderer of your master?’ And he looked up at the window and said, “Who is on my side? Who?’ So two or three eunuchs looked out at him. Then he said, “Throw her down.’ So they threw her down, and some of her blood splattered on the wall and on the horses; and he trampled her underfoot” (2 Kings 9:30–33 NKJV).

There was something in Jehu’s spirit that we must possess today. While we must be compassionate toward those captured by her influence (see Rev. 2:21), we must show no mercy to the Jezebel spirit itself. Jehu offered Jezebel no hope for reform, no compromise whatsoever. So we must offer this demon no opportunity to probe our soul and unlock vulnerabilities to her “many witchcrafts.” She must be cast down from her high place of influence. Indeed, as she lay bleeding and near death, Jehu “trampled her underfoot!” Likewise, we must follow Christ and fearlessly walk upon this serpent, crushing it under our feet (see Luke 10:19; Rom. 16:20).

So also with us, we must have no tolerance whatsoever for this spirit. There can be no peace, no relaxing under our “fig tree” until the spirit of Jezebel is conquered! We must stop living for comfort as long as her harlotries and witchcrafts are so many in our land. We must refuse to settle for a false peace based on compromise and fear, especially when the Spirit of God is calling for war!

It is significant that the eunuchs cast her down. Some of you who are reading this have been made eunuchs, slaves to this evil spirit. Today, right now, God is giving you the privilege of participating in the eternal judgment against Jezebel. You cast her down! Side with God, and let the judgments of God come forth.