“I know your record and what you are doing, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your recent works are more numerous and greater than your first ones. But I have this against you: that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess [claiming to be inspired], and who is teaching and leading astray my servants and beguiling them into practicing sexual vice and eating food sacrificed to idols. [I Kings 16:31; II Kings 9:22, 30.] I gave her time to repent, but she has no desire to repent of her immorality [symbolic of idolatry] and refuses to do so. Take note: I will throw her on a bed [[a]of anguish], and those who commit adultery with her [her paramours] I will bring down to [b]pressing distress and severe affliction, unless they turn away their minds from conduct [such as] hers and repent of [c]their doings,” Revelation 2:19-22, AMP.
How sad it is to see many homes, churches, and relationships out of the order ordained by God. It is in essence expected to see blatant acts of disobedience from the unsaved, those who deny God before others and openly voice their disregard for Him and His commandments. But it is even more disturbing when the disorder, disobedience, and distraction come from those who profess to be saved by the grace and mercy of our Savior Jesus Christ.
Just as quoted in the scripture above, God knows what we all are doing and He knows our faith, our service, our patience, and steadfast endurance. But also He knows our heart and the genuineness of being sold out to Him. There is a distinct difference between knowing the wrong someone is doing and telling them about it to be corrected and knowing the wrong someone is doing and going along with it. I believe the law calls the later person in such a situation “an accessory.” How many of us are accessories to various happenings?
This particular text speaks specifically about an immoral woman; a woman who calls herself a prophetess (claiming to be inspired by God), teaching and leading servants of God astray. The Bible specifically states in the King James Version that this is a woman who calls herself a prophetess “to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication…” This is a woman who defies authority, relentlessly pursuing her own agenda regardless of what God has ordained.
Let us remember that God is a forgiving God. When Peter asked how many times must we forgive our brothers, God said in His word, “…seventy times seven,” (Matthew 18:22). In essence, this means as many times as they ask. But when dealing with a Jezebel spirit, God said in Revelation 2:21, “And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.” This is a prime example of the free will extended to us. He gives us the ability to choose. And when it is in the heart of a person to do whatever they want to do carelessly, indulging in all sorts of sinful nature, they have made their choice. “Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds,” Revelation 2:22.
Repent. God reminds us that there is always a way out (1 Corinthians 10:13), but we must be willing to use it. We must be willing to repent. Whether we’ve been an accessory “going with the flow” by remaining silent to a Jezebel who wants to take over, taking on the role of a man, taking on the role of God by replacing His ordinance with her own or a person who has committed the sin along with her by signing off on what she may be doing, repentance is the key. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matthew 4:17)
2 comments:
You are so correct we see this throughout society in our businesses, schools and especially in our churches. Neither men nor women will repent today of the evil that they are doing. They continue to sin directly against God and His word yet they refuse to change. There is another element to this. People in authority that are not handling their responsibility they refuse to speak against those who are out of order. They will ultimately be held responsible because God gave them the authority and the platform to speak against this wrong doing yet they do nothing. They refuse to speak out when they know that things are not being done according to the word of God. These are people especially men that refuse to speak out against injustice and civil disobedience everyday. Poor leadership is the reason for so many failures in our society specifically our churches. God will surely punish them both the evil doer and the weak leader that did not correct this improper behavior. This is a great post I hope someone will read it and make the necessary corrections in their life.
Gervase, you are absolutely correct about those who remain silent, knowing the wrong being done...those "accessories" to the crime. It brings to mind a quote by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., "We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people.” We must not go along with the wrong or evil of others. The sad part is that some people in these positions have been told, but "repent not." God already knew, but He still had to provide that opportunity for them to ask for forgiveness.
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