We all know how Jezebel, the wife of Israeli King Ahab, lived her life. She lived a life full of idol worship and hatred toward the prophets of God—hatred to the point of even killing the prophets. Some scholars also describe her—a worshiper of the pagan god of fertility Baal—as an adulteress, whore, and seducer of prophets or men of God.
In 2 Kings 9:22, she is mentioned as a harlot and a person involved in witchcraft. Revelation 2:20-22 clearly describe her as sexually immoral, idolater, fornicator, adulteress, and someone who leads God’s servants to become sexually immoral.
Jezebel planned to destroy David long ago when Judah married a Canaanite
The spirit of Jezebel attacked the house of King David right from the beginning. Even before he was born, it showed presence in his forefather Judah’s life. King David belongs to the tribe of Judah. According to Genesis 38:2, Judah married the daughter of Shua, a Canaanite man. Historically, Sidonians have their origins in Canaan. Some historians also say they were Canaanites at least until the Iron Age.
Furthermore, Canaan, the ancestor of the people of Canaan, was one of the sons of Ham. He was cursed by his grandfather Noah. His firstborn was Sidon, the ancestor of Sidonians—one of them was Jezebel. As studied, Judah’s wife and Jezebel were from the same region.
As mentioned in 1 Chronicles 3:5, Bathshua is the kindred or alternate name for David’s wife Bathsheba and means ‘daughter of Shua,’ besides ‘daughter of opulence.’ It is also translated as ‘daughter of error,’ as mentioned by Seattle Pacific University’s associate professor of biblical studies Sara Koenig in her book ‘Isn’t This Bathsheba? A Study in Characterization.’
This does not imply that Judah’s wife and Bathsheba were the same woman. However, it shows the trend of the spirit of Jezebel working through people connected to the name Bathsheba or Sheba in the Bible. It also strikingly shows the return of the Jezebel spirit from the life of Judah to that of David with a woman carrying the same name. The name of Judah’s wife the daughter of Shua is literally the meaning of the name of David’s wife Bathsheba.
Bathsheba was one of the most prominent wives of David. I personally believe the spirit of Jezebel was actively working through her. There are some solid connections in the Bible that link Bathsheba with the Jezebel spirit.
In a future sermon, I will thoroughly explain how the spirit of Jezebel used Bathsheba to make David fall into grave sin and tamper with God’s plan for him. Jezebel’s evil plan to attack the tribe of Judah and the house of David makes me wonder if the spirit of Jezebel was targeting the Seed Jesus Christ, who would be born in the same tribe and the same house. And the answer is probably yes.
Jezebel used incest to try to control the tribe of Judah and house of David
The first two sons born to Judah through the daughter of Shua were wicked in the sight of God, and therefore, He killed them (Genesis 38:6,10). Even David and Bathsheba’s firstborn child was killed by God (2 Samuel 12:18). Furthermore, Judah unknowingly had sex with his first son Er’s wife Tamar (Genesis 38:18).
This happened after Er had died. Contrastingly, Tamar knew she was having sex with her father-in-law. The spirit of incest also attacked David’s house after he married Bathsheba. Guess what? The daughter of David whom one of his sons forced into sex had the same name—Tamar (2 Samuel 13:14).
Coming back to Judah’s family, Tamar’s mother-in-law, the daughter of Shua died after a long time, according Genesis 38:12. So the spirit of Jezebel that influenced Judah’s wife might have transferred to Tamar after she died. Another possibility is that it may have strongly influenced Tamar when Judah’s wife was alive since the two women probably lived under the same roof as Judah’s family, and for a long time.
Tamar’s behavior was similar to that of an immoral woman. Firstly, she made herself available to her father-in-law. Secondly, she sat at the roadside portraying herself as a prostitute and deceiving Judah by disguising herself with a veil. She reflects the immoral woman in the streets decked up in the attire of a harlot as described in Proverbs 7:8-12.
Thirdly, Tamar was seeking authority over the house of Judah as she demanded his seal, cord, and staff as a pledge for the payment for sex. The things that she demanded signify authority both in the natural and spiritual realm. She wanted to stay connected to the tribe of Judah and perceived that Judah was not going to give her to his third son Shelah, even after he grew up.
Other weapons used by Jezebel: Betrayal, rebellion, and conspiracy
Ahithophel, one of David’s wise men and counselors, was the grandfather of Bathsheba. In 2 Samuel 11:3, Eliam is mentioned as the father of Bathsheba, and in 2 Samuel 23:34, Eliam is mentioned as a son of Ahithophel. The name Ahithophel means ‘brother of folly, ruin, or foolishness.’ Ahithophel betrayed David by probably giving the worst advice to Absalom, the son of David and Maacah. The advice was to sleep with David’s concubines as a move to claim the throne.
We once again see the spirit of incest working in David’s family. Absalom sleeping with David’s concubines was another instance where the Jezebel spirit attacked the house of David with incest. It was also an attack on David’s rulership because sleeping with a king’s wife or concubine meant treason or a claim to his throne during the time. Furthermore, it was a result of David’s relationship with Bathsheba that caused God’s curse to come upon him (2 Samuel 12:11-12).
Rebellion against authority is another spirit controlled by Jezebel. In 2 Samuel 20, we see a rebel named Sheba, son of Bichri, conspiring and revolting against David while taking advantage of the disharmony between Israel and Judah (2 Samuel 19). Sheba had tried to take away the kingdom of Israel from David, but failed to do so. Once again there is a ‘Sheba’ reflecting the spirit of Jezebel and attacking the house of David.
The Jezebel spirit not only operates using women but also men. Besides rebelling against the authority, it is deeply involved in conspiring against chosen men or prophets of God. Ahithophel and Sheba, son of Bichri are good examples to study from the Bible. These men were used by the spirit of Jezebel to steal David’s rulership over Israel and disrupt God’s plan for Israelites.
I believe David managed to defeat the spirit of Jezebel to a greater extent than Solomon because God was in his heart. In fact, 1 Samuel 13:14 and Acts 13:22 mention him as a man after God’s own heart. Ahithophel hanged himself (2 Samuel 17:23) and Sheba, son of Bichri, was beheaded (2 Samuel 20:22).
David also lived longer than Solomon despite the fact that he had to fight wars all his life unlike Solomon (1 Kings 5:3-4). Historians say he lived for roughly 70 years whereas Solomon’s age was around 60 years at the time of death.
In a future blog post, I will show (even numerically) how the Queen of Sheba from the South Arabian kingdom of Saba deceptively robbed the years of Solomon’s life under the influence of the Jezebel spirit.