BREAKING JEZEBEL’S HOLD – 1

1. Introduction

Today, I would like to speak to those of you who grew up with parents who were consistently overbearing, with consistently dysfunctional parenting styles, as well as those of you who tend to be hyper-parents. You are either at great risk yourselves, or causing your children to be. The risk is that of reproducing Jezebel’s patterns… even after becoming Christians.

So first, I will talk about overbearing and abusive parents, then I will introduce Jezebel. We will explore her behaviors and the reasons behind the way she functions.

In the second part, we will personally come face to face with Jezebel’s behavioural patterns, and we will conclude by praying, expressing our desire to not — or no longer reproduce them, but instead, to live out genuine freedom and liberation.

2. Overbearing parents

Overbearing parents risk hindering the healthy psychological development of their child.

For this reason we will speak about wounds linked to fathers, and then those linked to mothers.

A. Wounds linked to  fathers

Regular high and unattainable demands placed by a father upon his child, while making it clear that the child rarely meets his expectations, can create a deep need for validation. This can lead to the construction of a false idea of a strong character  to mask the wound.

Conditional love and a lack of paternal recognition can generate wounds in the child that will most likely manifest in adulthood.

The behaviour of an extremely authoritarian father who uses humiliation and various forms of violence (verbal, emotional and/or physical) can lead to buried anger in the child, a rejection of all male authority, and a desire to dominate in adulthood as a form of reversal.

We should also note that paternal absence — whether physical or emotional — or paternal failure — passivity or lack of protection — can also generate feelings of insecurity and a need for control in order not to depend on anyone.

B. Wounds linked to mothers

A controlling or intrusive mother, through emotional fusion, overprotection or emotional manipulation, is very likely to cause difficulties for the child in setting boundaries. This causes confusion between love and control, and can later lead up tothe reproduction of the same relational patterns.

In the same way, the attitudes of a cold, absent or rejecting mother, who offers little tenderness or is emotionally unavailable, may produce a fear of abandonment, a need to keep others under control, and an apparent hyper-independence.

3. About

childhood wounds

In other words, all parental behaviours ranging from constant criticism to overprotection, as well as emotional absence or coldness, undermine and damage the development of a child’s autonomy and self-esteem. They generate stress and anxiety and may become the source of personality disorders in adulthood.

In other words, childhood wounds make up the soil from which adult dysfunctions take root. Some of these adult dysfunctions are embodied in a person described in the Old Testament: Jezebel.

Jezebel is a historical figure through whom God speaks to humanity about our humanity.

She is a female figure, but the influence she embodies can manifest in anyone. This is neither about a strong temperament nor assertive leadership. It is about dominating without loving, leading without serving, and seeking one’s own interests through covert means.

Therefore, it is essential to underline that this has nothing to do with being a woman or a man. It is not a matter of gender. A man can become a Jezebel just as much as a woman can.

4. So, who is Jezebel?

As well as being the name of a butterfly, Jezebel is one of the historical figures through whom God speaks to us about humanity. She appears in the book of Kings (1 Kings 16:30 – 1 Kings 21).

She was a Phoenician queen who became the wife of King Ahab (1 Kings 16:29-34). She understood that true power does not lie on the throne.

She introduced the worship of Baal and Asherah into the kingdom of Samaria. She persecuted the Jews (1 Kings 18:4-19) and sought to have the prophet Elijah put to death because he opposed her (1 Kings 19:1-19). She pushed her husband Ahab into tyranny. She falsely accused Naboth and had him put to death in order to seize his vineyard (1 Kings 21:1–16). After Ahab’s death, Jezebel continued to rule through her sons.  Thus…

5. Jezebel: 

a woman of power

Jezebel is not on the throne. She governs in other ways : through conniving attitudes, pressure, intimidation, fear and manipulation.

Simply having an opinion is not enough for her; she imposes a direction.
She does not debate with God’s prophets; she calls herself a prophetess and silences the others.

She mixes the sacred and the political, “faith” and personal interest. She introduces foreign cults not out of spiritual conviction, but because they serve her agenda. When something doesn’t go her way, she does not retreat: she bypasses it; she crushes it.

6. The spirit of Jezebel: 

more than a name, but an influence

The saying “the spirit of Jezebel” does not appear literally in the Bible. What is referred to as the “spirit of Jezebel” is an influence that operates in the shadows, rarely head-on.

It does not always seek recognition, but rather control and destabilisation.
It prefers pulling strings rather than speaking openly.
It advances masked, using flattering words, seduction, or fear.

Thus,

Jezebel is a symbol,

and the “spirit of Jezebel”

designates a way of being,

a subtle influence,

a mindset.

7. The fruits of Jezebel

Jezebel struggles to accept the gifts or authority of others. She bears the fruit of envy.

In the church, Jezebel may allow you to do certain things, but she harbours a toxic spirit of competition. She identifies your abilities and seeks to diminish you in order eventually to exclude you from a ministry group — perhaps even the one you created through divine inspiration.

This destructive influence knows how to disguise itself. It can appear as tolerance, freedom, or even spirituality. It blurs the lines between truth and falsehood, between what builds up and what destroys.

Jezebel can also provoke fear, anxiety, and even depression in a messenger of God. Re-read the story of Elijah (1 Kings 18 and 19), who she wanted dead. The stress caused by Jezebel prevented this great prophet of God from functioning normally, on several levels: physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual. But God sent His angel to accompany Elijah on his journey; little by little, he allowed himself to be comforted and was able to live out his full potential.

8. Spiritual seduction

In the final book of the Bible, Revelation 2:19-20, Jezebel is mentioned again — not as a historical queen, but as a symbolic figure. The church in Thyatira tolerates an influence that presents itself as spiritual but leads people astray.

This is crucial: the spirit of Jezebel does not always openly reject God. It uses religious language but twists it. It sows doubt, then justifies what should be questioned. It calls good what is comfortable, and evil what is disturbing. It tolerates what God condemns.

Jezebel exposes her accomplishments to prove she has done extraordinary things — solely in order to seduce. Do the people around her see it?

9. Hostility toward truth

Wherever this influence is at work, one thing is for sure: truth becomes threatening.

Prophetic voices — those that call for justice, righteousness and humility — are ridiculed, discredited or silenced. Their words are called into question, it is their character that is attacked. Light is not spread; it is extinguished. Flattery is even used to lull people to sleep. One can appear friendly… then weakend, and stab you in the back.

10. Weaken,

Divide in order to rule

Knowing that divided groups are easier to manipulate than a united counter-power, Jezebel adopts the principle later popularised by Machiavelli: “divide et impera”: divide and conquer.

Church leadership is bypassed; dissension, division and splits are created in order to turn people against one person to have them  removed from the picture. God’s work is destroyed for personal gain: to control and rule at any cost. To achieve this, various tactics are used — outbursts of anger, disputes, flattery, and more.

Jezebel also remembers everything. She can bring up mistakes from years past simply to weaken you, make you doubt the work of the Holy Spirit in you, or the authority God has entrusted to you.

In short, Jezebel does not sow love around her — quite the opposite. She destroys and plays into the hands of God’s enemy.

11.  Theft!

God has asked that we love Him with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength. Moreover, Jesus’ prayer invites us to hallow the name of God, not our own! Yet Jezebel loves herself excessively; she is self-centered and steals what should belong to God.

We remember that Jesus said:

“The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy.” (John 10:10)

Satan does not shy away from any strategy, as long as he reaches his goals: to destroy what God builds, and to obtain power and glory. Jezebel acts in the same way.

 12. Unaware?

Yes, it must be said that Jezebels in our churches are often completely blind to the consequences of their actions. There is no self-questioning, due to a lack of self-awareness. They have often not even noticed that control, manipulation or domination have become survival mechanisms.

13. And me? And you?

At the end of this first part, I invite you not be too hasty to conclude that the spirit of Jezebel does not concern you. Allow yourself to be challenged — especially if your parents displayed behaviours described earlier.

If you have just identified one or more behavioural drifts in your own life, that is a good start!

Will you accept inviting the Lord

to come and bring you His treatment for restoration?

I invite you to read / listen to

the second part of this message,

which will conclude

with a prayer

that you can make your own

and pray regularly,

if you wish to start a process of restoration

under the loving care

of your divine Physician.

Be blessed on this path of healing.

Here is the second part – essential – (click):

https://viametanoia.ch/briser-l-emprise-de-jezabel-2/

Nicole