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There are two Jezebel in the Bible:
The original “Jezebel” (a Phoenician or Canaanites - now Lebanese) was the wife of Ahab, the king of Israel, 1 Kings 16:31. She has embossed her name on history as the ambassador of all that is conniving, malicious, vengeful, and cruel. The Jezebel of Thyatira was similar to the Jezebel of the Old Testament.
Rev 2:20 But_ I have against you that you permit your woman Jezebel, she [who] calls herself a prophetess, to be teaching and to be leading My slaves astray [or, deceiving My slaves] to commit sexual sin and to eat [food] sacrificed to idols.
In the cosmic system, there is a great deal of toleration of satanic ideas and concepts which is categorized as compromise with evil policy. Legitimate toleration is based on the doctrine of impersonal love in which we tolerate the failures of others, but here we have toleration of that which is false and evil.
Jezebel represents that which is dangerous and magnificent, and which lures the believer away from the predesigned plan of God and his personal sense of destiny. She was beautiful, and she was arrogant. The word Jezebel includes “beauty, brains and wiles”. She called herself a prophetess in order to advance her own agenda, gain attention, and satisfy her inordinate ambition. She gave herself this title to which she was not entitled.
Jezebel is not her actual name, but describes what this woman was like, beautiful, witty, and ambitious. She resided in the city of Thyatira as the head of a phallic cult, and used religion to make a name for herself. She represents all the distractions that sex and false religion can cause the destruction of the believers who desire to execute their own personal drama and fulfill their personal sense of destiny. Jezebel is identified as a prophetess, closely attached to the Thyatira church, and powerfully influencing that church for evil. She pretended to be inspired by God and she seduced God’s servants into loose living, fornication, and idol worship.
The beauty and wiles of Jezebel
This Jezebel of Thyatira symbolizes all that the kingdom of darkness uses to lead us astray from our personal sense of destiny in God’s perfect plan. She includes all the idols in our soul, everything in our life to which we give a higher priority than Bible doctrine. She controls many believers, captivating them from the blessing of the predesigned plan of God into the cursing of the cosmic system. Many of them are very much like King Ahab; they were strong in their own field and in the world, but were led astray very easily by others who are weak.
She had succeeded in luring believers away from Bible doctrine and into the phallic cult in a manner similar to the historical Jezebel who dishonored Israel. The worst invasion of Israel came from one woman – Jezebel. The invasion of Assyrian army (180,000 strong) was nothing compare to the damages and troubles she caused for the nation of Israel.
Rev 2:18-21 "And to the angel of the assembly in Thyatira write: 'These [things] says the Son of God, the One having His eyes like a flame of fire and His feet like fine brass [or, burnished bronze]: 'I know your works and love and service and faith, and your patient endurance, and your last works [are] greater [than] the first. '_But_ I have against you that you permit your woman Jezebel, she [who] calls herself a prophetess, to be teaching and to be leading My slaves astray [or, deceiving My slaves] to commit sexual sin and to eat [food] sacrificed to idols. 'And I gave to her time so that she should repent, and she was not willing to repent from her sexual sin.
Rev. 2"22-25 'Listen! I am throwing her on a bed [of sickness], and the ones committing adultery with her into great affliction, unless they repent of her works. 'And I will kill her children with death, and all the assemblies will know that _I_ am the One searching kidneys and hearts [fig., thoughts and inner selves], and I will give to you, to each [one] according to your works. 'Now I say to you, to [the] rest in Thyatira, as many as do not have this teaching, who did not know the depths of Satan, as they say-I will not put on you [any] other burden. 'Nevertheless, what you have, hold fast until I come.
The Thyatira church, individually and corporately tolerated false teaching, especially from the feminine influence called Jezebel, even though they have good deeds, love, faith, service, and perseverance. They had grown qualitatively and quantitatively because “their deeds of late are greater than at first.” And therefore, they were told to hold fast until the Lord comes.
The Greek noun aggelos (transliterated “angel”) can be translated “messenger”; here it refers to communicators or pastors of the church of Thyatira. Established in 290 B.C., as a Macedonian colony, Thyatira became an important station on the Roman road from Pergamum to Laodicea and became a very wealthy city in the Roman province of Asia. It was the world’s center for the worship of the sun god Apollo. Thyatira was also famous for its labor unions, which had tremendous power and influence. The unions also sponsored the phallic cult, and various other cults were also present, which were strongly opposed to Christianity.
One of the most popular cults today is the worship of the “god of self” or human celebrityship which violates the principle of Exodus 20:3, “You shall have no other gods before Me.” Many people spend all their time pursuing their ambitions and they forget their responsibility to God
Ecclesiastes 6:2 A man376 to whom834 God430 hath given5414 riches,6239 wealth,5233 and honor,3519 so that he wanteth2638 nothing369 for his soul5315 of all4480, 3605 that834 he desireth,183 yet God430 giveth him not power7980, 3808 to eat398 thereof,4480 but3588 a stranger376, 5237 eateth398 it: this2088 is vanity,1892 and it1931 is an evil7451 disease.2483
The “stranger” could be a sickness, a domestic conflict, a disaster, a tragedy, or an unexpected calamity. The “foreigners” can ruin our dreams and force us to look back to God. Many believers have idols in their life, and when they serve these other gods it leaves them in the mire of insignificance and futility. This was the condition of many believers in Thyatira, a church threatened with divine punishment through economic disaster.
Apollo, the god of “protection” that was worshipped at Thyatira, was represented with flaming rays and feet of burnished brass, the symbol of military and human power and human resources.
The word “idolatry” has two meanings · The worship of a physical object or objects as god. · The inordinate attachment or extreme devotion to something.
An idol is actually defined as an object of extreme devotion, therefore, it could be almost anything in a person’s life, and idolatry begins in the mind and proceeds to overt practice (Ezekiel 14:7, Judges 2:10 13). For more than two thousand years, Jezebel has been saddled with a reputation as the bad girl of the Bible, the wickedest of women. This ancient queen has been condemned as a murderer, prostitute, enemy of God and enemy of the people. Jezebel was a woman difficult to love and cherish. Jezebel cannot even be compared with the Bible's bad girls like Madam Potiphar or with Ms. Delilah of Samson because she is the worst. Her story is not appealing or enjoyable and most readers will remain disturbed by Jezebel's actions. Her character is darker that what we are accustomed to think. Her wickedness is not always as obvious, undisputed and unrivaled. The story of Jezebel, the princess of Phoenicia (Lebanon), the wife of King Ahab of Israel is recorded in several brief passages scattered throughout the Books of Kings. Her story explained Israel's fate in terms of its apostasy. As the Israelites settle into the Promised Land, establish a monarchy and separate into a northern and a southern kingdom after the reign of Solomon, God's chosen people continually go astray. They sin against God in many ways, the worst of which is by worshiping alien deities. God’s chosen people were attracted to foreign gods and goddesses. When Jezebel enters the scene in the ninth century B.C., she provides a perfect opportunity for the Bible writer to teach a moral lesson about the evil outcomes of idolatry, for she is a foreign idol worshiper who seems to be the power behind her husband. Jezebel embodies everything that must be eliminated from Israel so that the purity of the true worship of the true God will not be further contaminated. As the Books of Kings recount, the princess Jezebel is brought to the northern kingdom of Israel to wed the newly crowned King Ahab, son of Omri (1 Kings 16:31). Her father is Ethbaal of Tyre, king of the Phoenicians. The Phoenicians worship a swarm of gods and goddesses, chief among them Baal, the general term for 'lord' given to the head fertility and agricultural god of the Canaanites. As king of Phoenicia, it is likely that Ethbaal was also a high priest or had other important religious duties. According to Josephus, Ethbaal served as a priest of Astarte, the primary Phoenician goddess. Jezebel, as the king's daughter, may have served as a priestess as she was growing up and was certainly raised to honor the deities of her native land. When Jezebel comes to Israel, she brings her foreign gods and goddesses especially Baal and his consort Asherah (Canaanite Astarte often translated in the Bible as “sacred post”) with her. This seems to have an immediate effect on her husband, for just as soon as the queen is introduced, we are told that Ahab builds a sanctuary for Baal in the very heart of Israel, within his capital city of Samaria: (1 Kings 16:31-33). Jezebel does not accept Ahab's God. Rather, she leads Ahab to tolerate Baal. She symbolizes a view of womanhood that is the opposite of the one distinguished in characters such as Ruth the Moabite. Ruth surrenders her identity and submerges herself in Israelite ways; she adopts the religious and social norms of the Israelites and is universally commended for her conversion to God. Jezebel unfailingly remains true to her own cultic beliefs. Jezebel's marriage to Ahab was a political alliance. The union provided both nations with military protection from powerful enemies as well as valuable trade routes: Israel gained access to the Phoenician ports; Phoenicia gained passage through Israel's central hill country to Transjordan and especially to the King's Highway, the rigorously traveled inland route connecting the Gulf of Aqaba in the south with Damascus in the north. The Bible does not comment on what the young Jezebel thinks about marrying Ahab and moving to Israel. The feeling of daughters given to marriage at that time was ignored by their fathers. Like other highborn a daughter of her time, Jezebel is probably was placed as collateral and packed off to the highest bidder. Israel's topography, customs and religion would certainly be very different from those of Jezebel's native land. Instead of the greenness of the humid seacoast, she would find Israel to be an dry, desert nation. In biblical narratives, foreigners are sometimes undesirable, and prejudice against intermarriage is seen since the day Abraham sought a woman from his own people to marry his son Isaac (Genesis 24:4). In distinction to the familiar gods and goddesses that Jezebel is adapted to petitioning, Israel is home to a state religion featuring a lone, masculine deity. Perhaps Jezebel optimistically believes that she can encourage religious tolerance and give legitimacy to the worship habits of those Baalites who already reside in Israel. Perhaps Jezebel sees herself as an ambassador who could help unite the two lands and bring about cultural pluralism, regional peace and economic prosperity. Jezebel is a bold and irreverent intruder who has to be stopped. From her own point of view, however, she is no apostate. She remains loyal to her religious upbringing and is determined to preserve her cultural identity without the consciousness that she was high caliber advocate of Satan. Jezebel's desire is not merely confined to achieving ethnic or religious equality. She also seems driven to eliminate Israel's faithful servants of God. Evidence of Jezebel's cruel desire to wipe out God’s worship in Israel is reported in 1 Kings 18:4, at the Bible's second mention of her name: Jezebel was already killing off the prophets of the Lord. The threat of Jezebel is so great that later in the same chapter, the prophet Elijah summons the servants of Jezebel to a contest on Mt. Carmel to determine which deity is supreme: God or Baal. Whichever deity is capable of setting a sacrificial bull on fire will be the winner, and declared as the one true God. It is only then that we learn just how many followers of Jezebel's gods and goddesses are near her at court (1 Kings 18:19). Their superior numbers can do nothing to ensure victory; nor can petitions to their god. The prophets of Baal performed a hopping dance about the altar and kept raving (1 Kings 18:26, 29) all day long in a vain attempt to rouse Baal. They even cut themselves with knives and whoop it up in a heightened emotional state, hoping to incite Baal to unleash a great fire. But Baal does not respond to the emotional rapturous of Jezebel’s prophets. At the end of the day, it is Elijah's single plea to God that is answered. Standing alone before Jezebel's host of false prophet, Elijah cries out: 'O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel! Let it be known today that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your bidding. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that You, O Lord, are God; for You have turned their hearts backward' (1 Kings 18:36-37). At once, 'fire from the Lord descended and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones and the earth; When they saw this, all the people flung themselves on their faces and cried out: 'The Lord alone is God, the Lord alone is God!'
Elijah -The Prophet of God
(1 Kings 18:38-39). Elijah's solitary entreaty to God serves as a foil to the hours of appeals made by Baal's followers. Jezebel herself is absent during this all-male event. Jezebel's deities and the huge number of prophets loyal to her are powerless against the omnipotent God, who is proven by the contest to be ruler of all the forces of nature. Elijah initiated the competition based on the premise that God does not recognize cults. Ironically, at the conclusion of the Carmel episode, Elijah proves capable of the same murderous inclinations that have previously characterized Jezebel. After winning the Carmel contest, Elijah immediately orders the assembly to capture all of Jezebel's prophets. Elijah emphatically declares to seize the prophets of Baal, let not a single one of them get away (1 Kings 18:40). Elijah leads the 450 prisoners to the Wadi Kishon, where he slaughters them (1 Kings 18:40). Though they will never meet face to face, Elijah and Jezebel are engaged in a hard-fought struggle for religious supremacy. Here Elijah reveals that he and Jezebel possess a similar religious fervor, though their loyalties differ greatly. They are also equally determined to eliminate one another's followers, even if it means murdering them. Please note, that it was a religious war. The writers of the Scripture decries Jezebel's killing of God's servants (1 Kings 18:4) but sanctioned Elijah's decision to massacre hundreds of Jezebel's prophets. Indeed, once Elijah kills Jezebel's prophets. Why murder seems to be accepted, as long as it is done in the name of the right deity? The answer to this question enfolds three undeniable truths. First, God is the Creator, second, He alone is God, and thirdly, He chose Israel as His own people. Any assumed god has no right or place in Israel. There is no double standard or injustice in God.
Elijah's Chariot of Fire
After Elijah's triumph on Mt. Carmel, King Ahab returns home to give his queen the news that Baal is defeated, Yahweh is the undisputed master of the universe and Jezebel's prophets are dead. Jezebel sends Elijah a menacing message, threatening to slaughter him just as he has slaughtered her prophets: 'Thus and more may the gods do if by this time tomorrow I have not made you like one of them' (1 Kings 19:2). The Septuagint, a third- to second-century B.C. Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, prefaces Jezebel's threat with an additional insult to the prophet. Here Jezebel establishes herself as Elijah's equal: 'If you are Elijah, so I am Jezebel' (3 Kings 19:2). In both versions the queen's meaning is unmistakable: Elijah should fear and run for his life. Unlike the many voiceless biblical wives and concubines whose silent submission to their husbands reminds us of the powerlessness of women in ancient Israel, Jezebel used her tongue. While her verbal competence shows that she is more audacious, witty and free than most women of her time, her contemptuous words also demonstrate her sinfulness. Jezebel transforms the precious instrument of language into an evil device to blaspheme God and defy the prophet. Elijah was very much terrified by Jezebel's threatening words that he fled to Mt. Horeb (now known as Mt. Sinai). Despite what he has witnessed on Carmel, Elijah seems to waver in his faith that the God will protect him. Elijah sojourned at Horeb for the purpose of hiding made him look incredulously that he was afraid of a mere woman.
Elijah Killing the Prophets of Jezebel
Jezebel indeed shows herself as a person to be feared in the next episode. The story of Naboth owns a plot of land adjacent to the royal palace in Jezreel. Jezebel is not only the foe of Israel's God, but an enemy of the government. In 1 Kings 21:2-5, Ahab requests that Naboth give him his vineyard: “Give me your vineyard, so that I may have it as a vegetable garden, since it is right next to my palace.” Ahab promises to pay Naboth for the land or to provide him with an even better vineyard. But Naboth refuses to sell or trade. The king whines and refuses to eat after Naboth's rebuff: “Ahab went home dispirited and sullen because of the answer that Naboth the Jezreelite had given him”. Apparently perturbed by her husband's political impotence and sulking demeanor, Jezebel steps in, proudly asserting: “Now is the time to show yourself king over Israel. Rise and eat something, and be cheerful; I will get the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite for you” (1 Kings 21:7). Naboth is fully within his rights to hold onto his family plot. Israelite law and custom dictate that his family should maintain their land (nachalah) in perpetuity (Numbers 27:5-11). As a Torah-bound king of Israel, Ahab should understand Naboth's legitimate desire to keep his inheritance. Jezebel, on the other hand, hails from Phoenicia, where a monarch's whim is often tantamount to law. Having been raised in a land of absolute autocrats, where few dared to question a ruler's wish or decree, Jezebel might naturally feel annoyance and frustration at Naboth's resistance to his sovereign's proposal. In this context, Jezebel's reaction becomes more understandable, though not admirable, for she only behaves according to her upbringing and expectations regarding royal prerogative. Without Ahab's direct knowledge, Jezebel writes letters to her townsmen, enlisting them in an elaborate ruse to frame the innocent Naboth. To ensure their compliance, she signs Ahab's name and stamps the letters with the king's seal. Jezebel encourages the townsmen to publicly and falsely accuse Naboth of blaspheming God and king. (1 Kings 21:10). So Naboth is murdered, and the vineyard automatically reassigned to the throne, as is customary when a person is found guilty of a serious crime. If Naboth has relatives, they are in no position to protest the passing of their family land to Ahab, but it seems that no was brave enough to face Jezebel. The details of Jezebel’s deceitful plot against Naboth show the results of power when put in the wrong person. The Bible maintains that 'the elders and nobles who lived in town did as Jezebel had instructed them (1 Kings 21:11). If the con artist queen is able to enlist the support of so many people, none of whom betrays her, to kill a man whom they have probably known all their lives and whom they realize is innocent, then she has astonishing power. As a result of this incident, Elijah entered the scenario to bring the 2 messages of curse. “The word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite:
Ashamed of what has happened and fearful of the future, Ahab humbles himself by outward signs of mourning, fasting and donning sackcloth. Ahab raises his penitential voice toward God, but Jezebel did not speak, completely showing her lack of conviction for sins committed. Ahab died as predicted by Elijah. The first born son of Ahab did not follow his father to the throne, but instead the second son –Joram. But while Joram was still ruling, Elisha the servant of the prophet Elijah crowned Jehu, Joram’s military commander as king of Israel. Elisha commissioned Jehu to eradicate the House of Ahab: “I anoint you king over the people of the Lord, over Israel. You shall strike down the House of Ahab your master; thus will I avenge on Jezebel the blood of My servants the prophets, and the blood of the other servants of the Lord” (2 Kings 9:6-7). King Joram and General Jehu meet on the battlefield. Unaware that he is about to be usurped by his military commander, Joram calls out: “Is all well, Jehu?” Jehu responds: “How can all be well as long as your mother Jezebel carries on her countless harlotries and sorceries?” (2 Kings 9:22). Jehu then shoots an arrow through Joram's heart and ordered his men to dump the body in Naboth's land. From these words alone -- uttered by the man who is about to kill Jezebel's son -- stems Jezebel's long-standing reputation as a witch and a whore. Jezebel's harlotry has not been identified as mere idolatry. Rather, she has been considered the slut of Samaria, the lecherous wife of a pouting monarch. However, Jezebel is never an unfaithful to her husband while he is alive or loose in her morals after his death. In fact, she is always shown to be a loyal and helpful spouse, though her brand of assistance is always condemned. Jehu's charge of harlotry is unsubstantiated, but it has stuck anyway and her reputation has been egregiously damaged by the allegation. When Jezebel herself finally appears again in the pages of the Bible, it is for her death scene. Jehu, with the blood of Joram still on his hands, races his chariot into Jezreel to continue the insurrection by assassinating Jezebel. Realizing that Jehu is on his way to kill her, Jezebel does not disguise and flee the city, as a more cowardly person might do. Instead, she calmly prepares for his arrival by performing three acts: 'She painted her eyes with eyeliner and dressed her hair, and she looked out of the window' (2 Kings 9:30). The traditional interpretation is that Jezebel looks out the window in an effort to seduce Jehu that she wishes to win his favor and become part of his harem in order to save her own life, such treachery indicating Jezebel's dastardly betrayal of deceased family members. According to this reading, Jezebel gets rid of ancestral loyalty as easily as a snake sheds its skin in an attempt to ensure her continued pleasure and safety at court. Applying eye makeup and brushing one's hair are often connected to flirting in ancient Hebrew thinking (Isaiah 3:16, Jeremiah 4:30, Ezekiel 23:40, Proverbs 6:24-26) Black kohl is widely incorporated in Bible passages as a symbol of feminine deception and trickery, and its use to paint the area above and below the eyelids is generally considered part of a woman's arsenal of pretense. In Jezebel's case, however, the cosmetic is more than just an attempt to accentuate the eyes. Jezebel is donning the female version of armor as she prepares to do battle. She is a woman warrior, waging war in the only way a woman can. Whatever fear she may have of Jehu is camouflaged by her war paint. Her grooming continues as she dresses her hair, symbol of a woman's seductive power. When she dies, she wants to look her queenly best. She is in control of herself, choosing the manner in which her attacker will last see and remember her. The third action Jezebel takes before Jehu arrives is to sit at her upper window. Jezebel also appearance at her window was deception. There were two disfavored women who sat by their windows. Deborah's victory ode is the story of the unfortunate mother of the enemy general Sisera. Waiting at home, Sisera's unnamed mother looks out the window for her son to return: 'Through the window peered Sisera's mother, behind the lattice she whined' (Judges 5:28). Her ladies-in-waiting express the hope that Sisera is detained because he is raping Israelite women and collecting booty (Judges 5:29-30). In truth, Sisera is already dead, his skull shattered by Jael and her tent peg (Judges 5:24-27). King David's wife Michal also looks through her window, watching her husband dance around the Ark of the Covenant as it is triumphantly brought into Jerusalem, 'and she despised him for it' (2 Samuel 6:16). Michal does not understand the people's jubilation over the arrival of the Ark in David's new capital; she can only feel anger that her husband is dancing about like one of the worthless person (2 Samuel 6:20). The image of the woman at the window also suggests fertility goddesses, abominations to the general public in ancient Israel. Ivory plaques, dating to the Iron Age and depicting a woman peering through a window, have been discovered in Nimrud and Samaria, Jezebel's second home. The connection between idol worship, goddesses and the woman seated at the window is something to consider. Positioned at the balcony window, the queen does not remain silent as Jehu arrives into town. She mocks him by calling him Zimri, the name of the devious predecessor of Omri, Jezebel's father-in-law. Zimri ruled Israel for only seven days after murdering the king (Elah) and usurping the throne. (2 Kings 9:31). Jezebel knows that all is not well, and her sarcastic, sharp-tongued insult of Jehu contradicts any interpretation that she has dressed in her finest to seduce him. She has hatred for Jehu. Unlike many biblical wives, who remain silent, Jezebel has a distinct voice, and she is unafraid to articulate her view of Jehu as a traitor and evil. To demonstrate his authority, Jehu orders Jezebel's eunuchs to throw her out of the window then Jehu went inside and ate and drank (2 Kings 9:33-34). In this highly symbolic political action, the once mighty Jezebel is shoved out of her high station to the ground below. Her ejection from the window represents an eternal demotion from her proper place as one of the Bible's most hasty and powerful women. Jezebel's body is left in the street as Jehu celebrates his victory. Later, perhaps because the new monarch does not wish to begin his reign with such a disrespectful act against a woman, or perhaps because he realizes the danger in setting a precedent for ill treatment of a dead ruler's remains, Jehu orders Jezebel's burial: 'Attend to that cursed woman and bury her, for she was a king's daughter' (2 Kings 9:34). Jezebel is not to be remembered as a queen or even as the wife of a king. She is only the daughter of a foreign dictator. When the king's men come to bury Jezebel, it is too late: all they found of her were the skull, the feet, and the hands (2 Kings 9:35). Jehu's men inform the king that Elijah's prophecies have been fulfilled (2 Kings 9:36-37). Jezebel would understand court politics well enough to realize that Jehu has far more to gain by killing her than by keeping her alive. Alive, the queen could always serve as a rallying point for anyone unhappy with Jehu's reign. The queen harbors no illusions about her chances of surviving Jehu's bloody coup d'état. How bad was Jezebel? There never was anyone like Ahab, who committed himself to doing what was displeasing to the Lord, at the instigation of his wife Jezebel (1 Kings 21:25). Ahab is held responsible for his own actions and decisions enhances by his wife evil’s scheming. Jezebel is help responsible for her own decisions and actions. Jezebel is an outspoken woman in a time when females have little status and few rights; a foreigner in a prejudiced land against women; an idol worshiper in a place where the God Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was worship, a murderer and meddler in political affairs in a nation of strong patriarchs; a traitor in a country where no ruler is above the law; and a foremost deceiver. Jezebel emerges as a fiery and determined person, with an intensity corresponding only to Elijah's. She is true to her native religion and customs. She is even more loyal to her husband. Throughout her reign, she boldly exercises what power she has. And in the end, having lived her life on her own terms, in her own way, Jezebel faces judgment death of an unbeliever with poise and class.
The Apostasy of the Women Pastors There are 5 categories of apostasy (apostasia, falling away) in the Scripture:
The phrase it is impossible to renew them again to repentance bring us to consider several things. The statement is an unclear translation of a Greek philosophical language. The believer cannot lose his salvation. Salvation is based on the essence of God not on men's wavering faith (2 Timothy 2:11-13). Our salvation is the finished Work of God, there is nothing to add and there is nothing to change. The believer in this context decided and resisted the privilege of rebound or chose to change his mind. God respects that decision and executes the divine discipline of sin unto death (Hebrews 10:26, 1 Corinthians 11:28-32). Apostasy will cause the execution of painful sin unto death [2 Peter 2:20-22] against the hardened carnal or reversionist. Sin unto death means the painful preservation of the soul, but the destruction of the body [1 Corinthians 5:5, 1 Timothy 1:20] after a series of warning discipline have failed to awaken the believer.
Apostasy is a deliberate repudiation and abandonment of the faith that one has earlier professed (Heb. 3:12). Apostasy differs in degree from heresy. The heretic denies some aspect of the Christian faith but retains the name Christian. Apostasy is temporary or permanent lapse into unbelief and sin following a spiritual conversion. The four relevant Hebrew words in the Old Testament are variously translated as “backsliding" (Jeremiah 8:5), "apostasy" (Jeremiah 5:6), "turning away" (Hosea 11:7), and "faithlessness" (Hosea 14:4).
The word "backsliding" is not found in the New Testament, but there are numerous examples of believers who draw away from fellowship with the Lord, like the disciples (Matt. 26:56), Peter (Matt. 26:69-75), Demas (2 Tim. 4:10), the Corinthian church (2 Cor. 12:20-21), and churches in Asia (Rev. 2:4, 14-15, 20). The reason that some who are genuinely converted fall back into a life of sin is that the believer yet possesses the old sinful nature that is "corrupt through deceitful lusts" (Eph. 4:22; Rom. 7:13-24; I Cor. 3:1-3). Some specific causes of spiritual backsliding include:
Backsliding displeases the Lord (Heb. 10:38), it grieves the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:30), incurs divine punishment (Lev. 26:18-25), including sorrow of the heart (Lev. 26:16). Although backsliding brings untold pains and miseries, the backslidden believer is not eternally lost. The believer's union with Christ sealed by the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:13-14), God's work of preservation (2 Tim. 1:12), Christ's effectual intercession (Heb. 7:25), and the fact that the life Christ gives is eternal (John 3:16; 10:28) guarantee the final salvation of every blood-bought child of God. The New Testament uses the term carnal, fleshly, the old man and theologically: reversionism refers to prolonged state of carnality.
Backsliding can be prevented by abiding in Christ (John 15:4-7), spiritual alertness (Eph. 6:18), constant prayer (1 Thess. 5:17), and the maintenance of a good conscience (I Tim. 1:19). The promises of God to the backslider are exceedingly gracious: "Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts" (Mal. 3:7).
Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. (2 Thess. 2:3-4)
But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, (1 Tim. 4:1-2)
Falling away is the results of the hardening of the kardia. The hardening of one's heart or the state of hardness of heart is due to persistent but gradual rejection of the Word of God. This involves not simply a refusal to hear the Word but a refusal to respond in submission and obedience. The rejection may also extend to those who convey the Word. The objects of hardening of the heart may be individuals both the unbelievers or believers. The believer who arrogantly refuses correction, rebuke, and reproof from the Word of God will slowly become calloused or spiritually insensitive. God will harden any unbeliever (Exodus 4:210 who has closed his soul to the Word of God (Exodus 8:15). Paul's comment on the incident is that God hardens whom He wills and has mercy on whom He wills (Rom. 9:18). The Scripture warns against hardening of the soul, implying personal volitional responsibility on the part of the hearers (Ps. 95:8; Heb. 3:8, 15; 4:7).
The Hardening process, therefore, is a complex phenomenon involving both divine and human agencies. But instead of being the manifestation of predetermined reprobation, hardening is primarily presented in Scripture as a means of God's accomplishment of his purposes for history. In every case, hardening results in a manifestation of mercy, grace and perfect justice of God. Hardening is lifted only by God (2 Cor.3:15-16; 4:3-6) based on the free will decision of the individual to rebound (if believer) or to change his mind toward the Christ (if unbeliever). God wanted to bless the carnal or apostate believers with blessings beyond human imagination but he has to rebound and then reside and function inside the divine sphere. The blessing is waiting and so with the discipline for the apostate.
Sin Unto death For the Apostate Jezebels
Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? (Rom. 6:16). If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death; I do not say that he should make request for this (1 John 5:16).
The sin unto death refers to the judgment of God for believers who are under the state of prolonged carnality and who has deliberately ignored the warnings and intensive discipline. Prolonged residence in the cosmic system without the volition to rebound could lead to sin unto death
Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have delivered over to Satan, so that they may be taught not to blaspheme (1 Tim. 1:20).
The apostle Paul mentioned Alexander and Hymenaeus who suffered the sin unto death because of their prolonged reversionism as indicated by the term blaspheme, an indication of prolonged rejection of God*s plan, purpose, and will. The believer thus lives in maximum rejection of Bible doctrine and habitual disobedience.
Sin unto death is the final stage of divine discipline for the carnal believer who has lived according to the power of old sin nature or flesh and did not advance to spiritual maturity. The grace of God extends to every believer even those living in the world and for the world (1John 2:15).
Dying discipline (1 Cor. 11:30) or sin unto death (1 John 5:16) is the horrible departure from time into eternity. It is administered after severe jolting the habitually rebellious believer into objectivity but refuse to respond positively. Such Christian has no inner resources for meeting death, no capacity for life and no capacity for death.
Not every Christian who fails in his spiritual life and continues in negative volition is removed immediately from this life. God may keep a carnal believer alive for a long time under the intensive discipline. God employs these eternally saved “enemies of the cross” (Phil. 3:18) as instrument of momentum suffering in the lives of growing believers. The candidates for sin unto death are called cosmic Christians, who are also called:
The only reason God sustains the lives of some negative believers is to use them to train the growing believers. They failed to execute the plan of God but God uses them to build up the strength of others. Their “ministry” is not a Christian’s calling, and there is no reward for such work of persecuting the growing and advancing believers. They are the goats in the sheepfolds that provide the necessary physical exercises for the fattening sheep.
God alone has the prerogative to remove immediately or to allow a sinning believer to stay on earth for a long time. The issue is the degree of rejection of Bible doctrine. The issue is the believer’s mental attitude toward Bible doctrine not the commission of sin.
If God is going to destroy everyone who has committed grave sins against Him, then this planet will be empty of human beings. God has already solved the problem of sins through the spiritual death of Christ on the cross. In the same way, God is not going to punish people in hell because of sins which Christ has already paid with His death. Nobody is going to hell for sins but merely for rejection of Bible doctrine.
These cosmic believers on the verge of maximum intensive discipline may be sincere, sweet, and legalistic who have distorted genuine Christianity into a religion of human good works. They are moral degenerates and negative volition believers in Satan’s system who ambush the positive believers residing in divine system. The believer who is going in the wrong direction (prolonged carnality) unconsciously contributes to the growth of the advancing believer who is in the right direction (Psalm 76:10). The perfect integrity of God manages the administration of sin unto death, which is designed to remove the calloused and rebellious believer from the face of the earth by means of physical death. Sin unto is a reminder that we never get away with negative mental attitude or with any personal sin. The manner of physical death can be swift, natural or even brutal depending on the lifestyle of the carnal believer.
God has never overlooked any member of His royal family and no believer is ever ignored by the grace of God. At the perfect time God will supply the just discipline to remind the believer of what is really important in life. Sin unto death is the exclusive domain of the carnal and immature believers who failed to live under the Plan of Grace. The immature believer will die apart from true peace, inner happiness and tranquility. It will be an extremely painful death. The carnal believer will die with anxiety for loved ones he will leave behind, he has false hope of eternal rewards and falsely assured of blessing in eternity. He will die with too much bitterness and fear, even the fear of death. The only solution for all of these problems is Bible doctrine stored in the soul.
Sin unto death is the opposite of dying grace in which the spiritually mature believer departs from this world in tremendous expression of grace. During the dying moment of such spiritually mature believer, there is no physical pain and agony, there is no fear for facing the Lord Jesus Christ and there is no fear for the future of those he is going to leave behind. He is certain that his heritage impact.
There is no such thing as premature or untimely death because death will come exactly on God's appointed time not even one minute advance late or advance. Medical science cannot prolong the life of a patient; but they can only relieve the patient from some physical pains. The appointment of every person with death is certain and definite (Heb. 9:27) and nobody can delay or advance it.
Though God may allow the manner of death as decided by the volition of a person, the time of death is His exclusive prerogative. The sin unto death may occur in swift and shocking manner or in prolonged and anticipated sickness. A spiritually mature believer and a carnal believer may die in the same viral epidemic or bomb explosion but the difference is in their spiritual status. Both died in the same manner but the spiritually mature believer died in tremendous blessings while the reversionist died in severe pain and fear. The first died in confident anticipation while the latter in absolute hopelessness and anxiety of seeing the Lord Jesus Christ face to face. The life of the believer who is going to die the sin unto death lives continually in all or any of the following:
Every believer has the potential to grow and advance in the spiritual life or become a potential collaborator of the devil though he is a member of the royal family of God. Believers without Bible doctrine can easily become instruments of Satan for inflicting sufferings to advancing believers (Acts 20:29-30).
The devil will use the negative volition of the carnal believers to distract the concentration of those advancing towards maturity. Spiritual maturity is the gateway for glorification of Jesus Christ since it puts the believer in maximum capacity for receiving the blessings of time and eternity. The blessings that we receive because of spiritual maturity glorify Jesus Christ in time.
Revelation 2:20 is speaking about any woman pastor who lead her church into apostasy and will die of sin unto death including her followers who not repent. They will suffer intensive discipline of severe sicknesses leading to sin unto death unless they rebound.
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Copyright ©2003-2007 J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries |
02/11/07