Herodias hated Him with all her heart. Even though he was now in prison, it seemed his voice would never be silenced. However, this would soon be changed. Although her lover was an evil man, he would not order the execution of this prisoner who was esteemed as a prophet. He feared an uprising, so she would have to try another ploy.
As much as she hated to admit it, Herodias knew his real lust was for her daughter, Salome. Patiently, she waited to launch her plan on his birthday, which the powerful and the influential would attend from around the empire.
On his birthday, Herod was in great spirits. After the wine had greatly fueled his spirit of lust, Herodias approached her daughter. “Go, Salome, dance for Herod. He’ll give you anything you ask for and when he does, ask for the head of John the Baptist.”
Dressed in a violet tunic that draped her body, the young girl approached Herod and whispered in his ear. He smiled and then asked her to entertain him. As the beautiful young woman began to dance, her seductive moves enticed everyone in the room, especially Herod. Intoxicated and aroused by passion, he offered to fulfill any wish she might have. As Salome looked secretly to her mother, she smiled and said, “I want the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” Be witched by Herodias’ beautiful daughter, Herod was putty in the girls hands.
The demonic spirit that inspired Herodias to murder John the Baptist (Matthew 14:6-11) was the Jezebel spirit. The spirit of Elijah that rested upon John the Baptist had once again threatened and challenged the spirit of Jezebel. Herod, who had an Ahab spirit, was unable to say no to Herodias’ demands.
Flattery is a primary tool used by someone who is influenced by the Jezebel spirit. Flattery is often used to pry open a door to endorsement by church leadership. Although offering sincere compliments that edify others in the Body of Christ are good, flattery differs in it motive. Flattery seeks to gain approval and recognition from those in authority. Thereby, this spirit only gives to get, stealing authority and favor that would rightfully have been given to someone else.
Mistakenly many pastors believe that a person with a strong prophetic gift automatically has the same level of moral character. However, a person operating with a Jezebel spirit – as well as an immature prophetic individual – can portray a very real and sometimes awesome prophetic gift, but remain extremely weak in moral character as well as theology. In someone guided by a sophisticated Jezebel spirit, flattery will transcend and smooth over any differences between people. Flattery may be employed to portray profound admiration. It may seem to endorse the church’s vision and direction. Such individuals will speak the same language as the pastor and leader, but their motives will be to gain position and control. Stripped down this strategy is “to conquer by joining” in spirit.
When flattery is being given by individuals with a Jezebel spirit. They may tell the pastor about the great things the pastor will accomplish, building up false hopes and false expectations about his or her future. Once this the trap is set the pastor will be told at precise moments of weaknesses that exist and that there is a danger to God’s plans; someone or something is holding the pastor back. It may be the pastors spouse, a church leader or elder, or even another church member. This Jezebel may be heard praying to God to remove a “mystery” person “so the pastor can become all he or she is called to become.” The praying one then guards the identity of the “mystery” person until confident of having a strong base of Church support. Then, the identity of the person who is supposedly a threat will be revealed. This usually results in the mystery person’s removal from a position of influence. These destructive maneuvers can bring incredible pressure upon the pastor, who is provoked to rise and prove his or her worth and anointing to the church.
Flattery can also become a tool for causing division. Usually this ploy is accomplished through creating destructive “relational triangles.” In a triangle, Jezebel will befriend person A and person B. However, Jezebel will slowly convince person A that person B does not like him or her. She will also convince person B that person A does not like him or her. Then Jezebel will appear to be the peace maker who has a deep desire to see each one succeed. By pitting each one’s gifting or wisdom against the other’s, this individual produces jealousy, strife, and contention – even in the strongest relationships.
There is no satisfying the endless demands of a Jezebel spirit, because there is always something or someone standing in the way of them obtaining power. This drives a pastor to discouragement, defeat, and despair. Over the years, I have watched many pastors retreat to another church rather than fight this battle.
Someone with a Jezebel spirit will seek to gain sympathy from many people, especially when confronted. Such individuals will claim they have been spiritually abused. Then may use “buzz words” to disarm arguments against them. If a pastor responds defensively to their statements, he will only reinforce their accusations of being spiritually abused. If a pastor does not have a strong relationship with Church leadership, he or she may become trapped in an illogical, unreasonable, or senseless catch-22 situation. The following illustrates this:
Kevin, who pastored a small congregation of nearly 100 members, began to notice that his worship leader, a man in his late twenties, was taking a lot of liberty during worship. He would often force people to combine various gestures with their praise and worship-dancing or marching around the Church. Kevin became troubled because he felt that such expressions should come as a result of the direction of the Holy Spirit, not in an attempt to coerce the Holy Spirit to come.
Kevin also observed obvious signs of control and manipulation from the worship leader toward various members of the congregation. On Sunday, the worship leader had publicly challenged Kevin’s authority and leadership ability. To complicate the matter, the small church was growing and the worship leader was the only person in the church who could lead praise and worship. Freely, Kevin admitted he couldn’t “carry a tune in a bucket”.
What was Kevin to do? The worship leader’s lawlessness had escalated. Would Kevin have the courage to remove him regardless of the consequences? To do so, Kevin would have to believe in the sovereignty of God. No matter what it would look like initially, the church would become healthier with the worship leader’s removal. Thereby, the church would grow correctly.
An individual with a jezebel spirit strategically affiliates with others in the body that move in spiritual realms. Such individuals realize that those who are spiritual are looked upon favorably. Therefore, an individual with a Jezebel spirit shares favor through strategic affiliation. Thus, this individual mounts his or her campaign to win popular and pastoral endorsement in his or her bid for growing influence.
An example of a strategic affiliation is seen when the apostles Paul and Silas were on their way to prayer and a woman with a Jezebel spirit joined them. Simply by walking beside them, she insinuated that she too was going to prayer, hoping to win the acceptance of Paul and Silas and those who watched. She also began to proclaim they were servants of God (Acts 16:16). Pretending also to be intercessor, she attempted to gain a spiritual foothold in the city. Discerning her motives, Paul ended up delivering the woman of the spirit of divination. By use of strategic affiliation, this demonic spirit sought to acquire and deeper foothold of influence in the region.
Robert was the pastor of a growing charismatic church. A woman who had a strong "prophetic" anointing began attending his church. Within a few months, she rose to leadership over several church wide prayer groups. Unfortunately, the woman began using these groups as a forum to promote her own agenda. Slyly, she began to inject critical venom about Robert. When he discovered what she was saying, he confronted her. But by then, she had widespread support, having spent hours on the telephone with many church members.
The woman blackmailed Robert with the threat of tearing apart the church unless he submitted to her demands. Claiming he was a poor leader, the woman said she was forced "by the Lord" to take the actions she did. In they're meeting; Robert became unusually confused and actually ended up agreeing with the woman. Eight years later when a similar situation occurred, Robert recognized what had happened to him. But by then, it was too late. His church, which had been declining, was now only a handful of people
Since the tactic of dismantling a wall of prayer is so successful, someone with a Jezebel spirit tends to infiltrate intercessory groups. This person will try to control the content and direction of prayer. It is only a matter of time before this person becomes the group's leader. Jezebel spirits usually cause such events by premeditated efforts; the individual is unaware of how their power works. Whether it happens knowingly or unknowingly, however, the driving force is a demonic spirit.
As the individual devises a takeover, it is not unusual for the current prayer leader to experience sudden or prolonged health problems or mental confusion. Eventually, the current leader will resign. The individual with a Jezebel spirit begins to counterfeit true prayer leadership. This takeover will be accomplished in such a manner that seems natural. Eventually, false civility and mock timidity will disappear. The individual will begin to declare rather brazenly that he or she knows the mind of God and how everyone should pray.
When this happens, the energy given to prayer will seem to increase. Unsuspecting and undiscerning individuals will be tempted to think things are getting better. However, this energy will begin to dissipate. Remember, any energy derived from soulish passion will always be short-lived. Only that which is born of the Spirit of God will be maintained by God's Spirit and bear fruit that remains.
If left unchecked, this takeover will bring in an inevitable end to the intercessory group. One by one, individuals will be drained of the desire and the grace to pray. The group will begin to dwindle. Thus, the watchman in God's house will be scattered and the church will be left unprotected. A demonic coupe will have taken place. Too few in leadership will notice the spiritual chill that now blows through the church, though all are affected by it.
When he speaks kindly, do not believe him, for there are seven abominations in his heart-Proverbs 26:25.
Tactics
intended to frustrate the
Therefore behold, I am against
the prophets who steal My words everyone from his neighbor...Behold, I am
against the prophets who prophesy false dreams...And cause My people to err by
their lies and by their recklessness-Jeremiah 23:30-32.
These individuals will carry false burdens from the Lord, hoping to appear spiritual. They may even believe they are speaking God's words, unable to recognize the deception under which they are operating. Once such a person gains an open door to the pastor, it is not uncommon for Jezebel to flood him or her with "revelation" that has supposedly been received from the Lord. Every situation will be subtly manipulated to cast a favorable light on the individual operating with a Jezebel spirit, and thus bringing attention to the schemer rather than to the Lord. As this spirits roots take deeper hold in the person's soul, righteous and redemptive fruit eventually become non-existent.
The first Sunday she visited, Brian noticed her. He watched her carefree way of meeting people. Secretly, Brian hoped she would demonstrate the leadership qualities he desperately needed due to recent church growth. Brian and his wife, Linda, invited the woman to supper to learn more about her. That evening, Brian did not discover as much as he hoped, yet the woman seemed confident and able to hear from God. She shared how God had led her to his church. Brian hoped this was a sign of the Holy Spirit's impending move, the very thing for which he had been praying.
In the church services, the woman began giving prophetic words with seeming humility. Her speech was gentle and gracious, mixed with tears. It made her "prophecies" seem from God. But as she became increasingly vocal, giving words Sunday after Sunday, Brian grew uneasy. He also became uncomfortable that the woman was attracting members who were needy, insecure, and spiritually naïve. When the woman's husband finally came to church, Brian felt somewhat relieved. Her husband always seemed to be away on business trips.
Everything seemed to go smoothly until four months later. Brian began to notice that several leaders uncharacteristically had missed meetings and church services. Not long after that, Brian heard rumors that this couple had started a church. Making matters worse, the woman had telephoned church members and urged them to leave Brian's church. Brian was hurt and upset, but what could he do? Should he address it publicly? Should he go to couple privately, following the procedure outlined in Matthew 18?
When individual with a Jezebel spirit is put in a leadership position, he or she will try to create an impression of walking on my higher spiritual plane than most. Others may feel less spiritual or intimidated, when they are around this person. This ploy creates an emotional dependency in others. Feeling spiritually inferior, they will seek out the Jezebelite for spiritual guidance. Furthermore, if any question the Jezebelite's spirituality, they may experience harassment
New believers are especially prone to this kind of subtle, but nonetheless effective, intimidation. Some may choose to pull away from the person, but those who choose to stay will usually comply with the Jezebelite's demands rather than face being ostracized. Once joined to this spirit, believers who are weak or easily intimidated will find it difficult to remove themselves from the grip of the Jezebelite.
The integrity of the upright will
guide them, but the perversity of the unfaithful will destroy them-Proverbs
11:3.
Once people with a Jezebel spirit receive recognition, they respond initially with humility. This ploy will serve to further in trap you and convince you of their spirituality. However, this misleading meekness will be short-lived. False humility is actually a mask for deeply rooted pride and presumption.
Once this false humility is discarded, this kind of person will proudly offer many "prophetic" promises. The Jezebelite will foretell of a great kingdom coming to the pastor. However, when these soulish predictions fail to materialize, a pastor's faith is deflated as hope deferred makes the heartsick (Proverbs 13: 12). A dark cloud of depression may engulf the pastor, who begins to fight the urged to detach from his or her congregation.
By this time, the Jezebelite will have become entrenched in the church. Evicting this person or curtailing his or her usurped authority would seem to bring about an exodus from the church, although it would save the church. If the pastor knew what to do he or she no longer can summon the strength to fight back. If the pastor were to address the situation, he or she thinks that would risk making his or her leadership look foolish simply because the pastor was the one who placed the Jezebelite in a leadership position
In leaving - or in threatening to leave - the Jezebelite usually discredits the pastor and claims the pastor is not as spiritual as people had thought. The Jezebelite may also maintain, "I am just concern for the people."
At this point, emotional blackmail ensues. Since a Jezebel spirit now holds the key to the emotional balance of the church, the individual will be able to confidently hold the pastor hostage. The pastor then becomes captive to obey directions from a demonic spirit. When this happens, a pastor may sense a sudden "called by God" to leave and shepherd another congregation in another city.
However, this situation will most likely recur until this pastor recognizes and admits to having an Ahab spirit and tolerating a Jezebel spirit. A similar fate awaits him or her at the new church, as long as this area remains unhealed in the pastor's life. Satan will continue to exploit him or her by bringing another Jezebelite. God’s severe Mercy allows this tormentor to continually plague a pastor until he or she acknowledges, repents of, and finds healing from operating with an Ahab spirit.