22 indicates that a number in the community did so. But the subsequent mention of her “lovers” and children in v. When it is said, “you tolerate that woman Jezebel,” the implication is that the church in general did not accept her teaching nor adopt her lifestyle. The complaint of the Lord lies in the unhealthy degree of toleration granted this woman. But what did she advocate that led to her being labeled with this horrid name? It’s likely she had exploited the commercial prosperity of Thyatira to justify and subsidize her immorality and that of her followers. She may even have been the leader or hostess of a house-church in the city. (4) Although the first Jezebel had been dead for over 1,000 years, her spirit had, as it were, found new life in this woman of Thyatira. This isn’t to say she didn’t have a supernatural power, but the latter need not always be from God (see Matt. Some contend she was a born-again believer who had simply gone astray, but I suggest that her behavior and beliefs are an indication that whatever claims she made to being saved and prophetically gifted were spurious.
I can’t imagine Jesus using this language if her prophetic gift was of the Holy Spirit. (3) Note also that she “calls herself a prophetess” (v. “When they came back and told him, he said, ‘This is the word of the Lord, which he spoke by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, “In the territory of Jezreel the dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel, and the corpse of Jezebel shall be as dung on the face of the field in the territory of Jezreel, so that no one can say, This is Jezebel.”’” According to 2 Kings 9:36-37, dogs had eaten her flesh, in fulfillment of a prophetic word from Elijah: When an attempt was made to recover her body for burial, it was discovered that the only thing left was her skull, her feet, and the palms of her hands. Her death came as a result of being thrown from a window where she was then trampled by a horse. She sought the death of all the prophets of Israel (1 Kings 18:4 2 Kings 9) and even came close to killing Elijah (1 Kings 19:1-3). Jezebel was responsible for the killing of Naboth and confiscation of his vineyard for her husband (1 Kings 21:1-6). Largely because of her influence in seeking to combine the worship of Yahweh with the worship of Baal, it is said of her husband that he “did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him” (1 Kings 16:33).
(2) According to 1 Kings 16:31, Jezebel was the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians, who married Ahab, king of Israel. Thus, what is meant is that this disreputable, so-called “prophetess” was as wicked and dangerous an influence in Thyatira as ‘Jezebel’ had been to Israel in the OT. The name “Jezebel” had, in fact, become proverbial for wickedness. She was a real person, but the name “Jezebel” is probably symbolic (it’s hard to imagine anyone deliberately naming their daughter “Jezebel”!). (1) Jezebel was a female member of the church at Thyatira who was promoting destructive heresies and leading many into moral compromise. Here are ten things we should all be aware of with regard to the so-called “Jezebel spirit.” And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you as your works deserve” (Rev. Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, and I will strike her children dead. I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. “But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. Is there any such thing as the “Jezebel spirit”? If so, what is it, or who is it? And what relationship does it sustain to the spiritual gift of prophecy? To answer this we must turn our attention to the letter of Jesus to the church in Thyatira.
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