9.2. Her Sins

Jezebel is perhaps the most evil female personage appearing within the Old Testament. She promoted Baal worship (1K. 1K. 18:19) and practiced spiritual harlotry and witchcraft (2K. 2K. 9:22). She actively sought to exterminate the prophets of God (1K. 1K. 18:4, 1K. 18:13) while supporting 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of the goddess Asherah at her royal table (1K. 1K. 18:19). Upon hearing of her husband’s desire for Naboth’s vineyard, she wrote a warrant in Ahab’s name to have Naboth unjustly accused and killed so that Ahab could take the vacant property (1K. 1K. 21:1-16). Eventually, her sins caught up with her and she was consumed by dogs as Elijah had prophesied (1K. 1K. 21:23; 2K. 2K. 9:30-37). Jezebel’s sin of promoting the worship of other gods was particularly noteworthy:

Idolatry in the Northern Kingdom began with Jeroboam I, the first king. But there was a difference between the sin of Jeroboam and the sin of Baal worship introduced by Jezebel. The sin of Jeroboam was a corruption of the true religion. Jeroboam set up a golden calf in Dan and Bethel, but these golden calves represented the God that brought them out of the land of Egypt. This was idolatry, but it was a corruption of the true Jehovah worship (1K. 1K. 12:25-33). Furthermore, Jeroboam could cite a precedent in the worship of the golden calf built by Aaron. His words concerning the golden calf in 1 Kings 1K. 12:28 are a quotation of Aaron’s words in Exodus Ex. 32:4. With Jezebel, it was not merely a corruption of the true religion; a whole new god and system of worship were introduced in Israel (1K. 1K. 16:29-33). Through Jezebel, Baal worship came into the Land, resulting in more idolatry than ever before. Involved in the worship of Baal was sexual immorality. In the corruption of Jehovah worship morality was still present, but in the worship of Baal there was complete immorality.¹

Throughout the Scriptural record concerning Jezebel, one sees an overbearing woman who constantly exerted her strong will over the weak will of her husband, a role reversal common in our day.

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Notes

¹ Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, The Footsteps of Messiah, rev ed. (Tustin, CA: Ariel Ministries, 2003), 59.