Quote:
Originally Posted by Drake
ZNP) "Jezebel set up a governing principle that short circuited God out of the equation. In her reign God was not "over all". Jesus was not Lord. If you wanted an entrance into her kingdom you kowtowed to her request to stone Naboth. They did not meet in spirit and in truth, they met in malice and deceit."
ZNP,
Jezebel was Gentile prostitute. You talk about her as though she held some legitimate position in God's administration. Jezebel represents all that is opposed to God. She was Satanic and represents that still today. Don't misapply who she is and what she represents else you will miss the point. The book of Revelation provides that insight.
Drake
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Jezebel refers to a Queen in Israel who had a major influence on her husband, the king of Israel.
We see that she sent letters to have people stoned to death, that people obeyed her, that she seized their land, that she employed 850 "prophets" of Baal and Asharoth, that she sought to have prophets of God cut off and even killed.
In the New Testament we see her exercising an evil influence on the church in Thyatira. There is no Biblical record that she was a prostitute. I have already quoted verses from the OT that show she was a gentile. The closest connection the Bible makes to saying she was a prostitute was that she used make up at a time that this might have been unusual for your average Israelite (I am not familiar with the archaelogical records) but we know that make up was used in Egypt prior to this time.
The allegation that she was a prostitute is based on the association of her name with "evil and adulterous" in the church in Thyatira, however, that expression is very likely allegorical referring to spiritual adultery. There is a parallel that can be made based on the prophet Hosea referring to Jezreel and because of that he is to take a wife of whoredoms. But it is directly tied to Jeroboam, rather than Jezebel. Yes, they are both related to Jezreel, so that can be a very stretched allegorical connection. There is a very clear case made that her behavior was evil and adulterous from a spiritual perspective. That is clear. However, her name means chaste and it is likely that she cloaked herself in the "holier than thou" type rhetoric we have commonly seen in evil and adulterous politicians and religious leaders.
You have a very vague use of this expression "legitimate position in God's administration". The record in both the Old and New Testaments relate her being very much involved in the administration of the church in Thyatira, and the administration of the kingdom of Israel. We do not know anything of her position in the church other than she "called herself a prophetess" while in the OT she clearly had the position of Queen as well as someone who ran a stable of 850 prophets. Any body reading the Bible today would see very clearly that her position was not legitimate, based on the judgement of God and the judgement of Jesus. But during her lifetime you also see there were very few who actually stood up to oppose her. Perhaps Antipas, who was martyred did. Elijah did. But who else? I consider it deceptive to ignore the fact that the vast majority of those affected by her tolerated her, allowed her to operate, or at the very least did not openly oppose her.
The idea is to learn from history so that we don't repeat it. There were elders who did her bidding, there were those like Naboth who suffered her abuse, there were captains who followed her orders, and there was one prophet being fed by ravens who stood up to her.
I have not missed the point that she was Satanic, what people don't realize is that she was "deceitfully wicked". I am more focused on seeing through the deceit. I feel her deceit has permeated all government and all religion. I feel that only someone who has a very clear vision and strong faith, like Elijah or Antipas is going to see through her, expose her, stand up to her, and perhaps live to tell the tale.