The Jezebel Principality—Arise & Defeat This Demonic Altar
In his book Unmasking the Jezebel Spirit, the late John Paul Jackson wrote, “Tolerance becomes the cultural buzzword meant to disarm anyone who embraces biblical absolutes.”
And in another quote, he wrote, “People who are deceived by lawlessness do not understand that by rejecting God’s laws they are led into even greater licentiousness and enslavement to sin. When lawlessness is practiced, it becomes easier to do it again. Thus, lawlessness leads to more lawlessness.”
Here are two more fruits of Jezebel—the deception of tolerating evil for the sake of appearing good. Tolerance itself leads to lawlessness. Tolerance has become a worldly virtue and, as such, is paraded around in self-righteousness by those who unknowingly embrace the teachings of Jezebel. Sadly, far too many of the world’s inhabitants have been stung by this ideology, and what’s even more tragic is that we within the Body of Christ have a great number of fellow brothers and sisters who are voicing these poisonous and treacherous lies.
In Revelation, Jesus writes to the seven churches, each representing Christ’s Church as it stands today. His letter to Thyatira in particular is compelling as it speaks into the issues we are indeed facing on a global scale today and also within the Church. He writes in Revelation 2:18-29 (NIV):
To the angel of the church in Thyatira write:
These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze. I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.
Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.
Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets, “I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.”
To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations—that one “will rule them with an iron scepter and will dash them to pieces like pottery”—just as I have received authority from my Father. I will also give that one the morning star. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
The name of the church, Thyatira, means “a castle, a perfume, and a sacrifice of labor.” Jesus acknowledged the work of the Church; however, His words are striking and fearsome when you consider how many within the Bride have compromised their stand for Him by tolerating Jezebel. The word Jesus used for tolerate in this text is the Greek word aphiémi. It means “to send away, to leave alone, to permit” (Strong’s Greek 863). It comes from the two Greek words: apó, which literally means “away from,” and hiēmi—“to send.” Interestingly, the NAS Exhaustive Concordance uses these additional definitions to describe this word, aphiémi: “abandon, allow, divorce, forgive, give permission to, leave, neglected, permit, yield.”
Jesus has strong words to those of us who permit and allow the works of Jezebel. Wouldn’t “forgiving” sins be a good thing, though? It’s interesting that one of the definitions is also “divorce,” which speaks of a complete separation—not in the sense of separating oneself in consecration, but in the sense of separating oneself from the awareness of Jezebel’s evil works. This paints the picture of a Christian burying their head in the sand like an ostrich and utterly ignoring her works of darkness. What does this do? Gives her voice and gives permission to her to continue in the evils she commits.
When Roe v. Wade fell, I was utterly dismayed at the response of many church leaders who quickly buried their heads in the sand, abandoned the conversation, and allowed the permission of evil ideologies to continue by refusing to outwardly oppose abortion and celebrate the severing of this death decree over the nation. In fact, I had pastors write to me privately and tell me that my celebration of the end of this abominable death decree that has sacrificed millions of babies upon the altars of Jezebel was, in their view, “unloving and unkind.” Listen, there is nothing loving and kind about neglecting the truth, for it is the truth that sets people free. “So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, ‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free’” (John 8:31-32 ESV). We must put an end to this mindset in which we are complicit with evil for the sake of keeping up appearances. Do we love truth more? Or do we have a higher value and regard for our appearance and how people perceive us? We can love those in darkness without agreeing with their works. Deborah did not comply with evil; she fiercely and aggressively opposed it. Something that would have been considered as unloving and unkind in our world today, but she was not concerned with how she appeared to man. She was a woman after God’s heart anointed to take down the giants of her day.
Daughter, we overcome the principality of Jezebel and every other demonic force by the Blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. “They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death” (Revelation 12:11 NIV). Notice that this verse highlights how they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. They weren’t intimidated by what man says or what man may threaten. They continued to march forth in truth and in righteousness. A remnant is rising in this hour—a remnant of daughters, unafraid of the mighty battle, fierce in their resolve, with eyes unflinching. Their gaze is fixed on Jesus, the Author and the Finisher of their faith. Here they come—daughters marching down against the mighty.
Then down marched the remnant of the noble; the people of the Lord marched down for me against the mighty (Judges 5:13 ESV).
The Lion Is Roaring: “My Daughters Are Rising!”
The Holy Spirit has been burning this phrase into my spirit, “My daughters are rising.” These words have been consuming my heart like a battle cry and I can feel the fiery passion of a loving and protective Father calling out to His daughters, “It is your time to arise.” I can sense the compassion in His tone for those who have endured much, but I can also sense the urgency in His decree, “It is time to arise, mighty daughters. I am picking you up out of the ashes; it is time to shake off the dust.” The Holy Spirit led me these verses in Zechariah 9 that spoke deeply to me:
Then I will camp around My house [as a guard] because of an army, because of him who passes by and returns; and no oppressor will again overrun them (Israel), for now My eyes are upon them [providentially protecting them] (Zechariah 9:8 AMP).
As I read this verse, I saw in a vision a picture of one like a disfigured lion with no teeth chasing the daughters of God in relentless pursuit. I saw the King’s daughters being chased by this mangled and toothless lion into a desert wasteland. He was seeking to devour them and they were running in fear of him, though he had no ability to bite. They had been running a long time and were exhausted and weary as they dragged their feet across the hot desert sands. Tired with no fight left in them, they were seeking shelter in hidden caves. I could see that there were vast numbers of the King’s daughters in this desert, but they had been separated and isolated, each to their own cave, shivering in corners and huddled up in fetal positions. They looked battle-weary with mud and blood covering their faces from their long pursuit. I saw again the one that appeared like a disfigured lion and he was now pacing back and forth out in front of their caves, roaring fiercely as he patrolled the entrances where they hid. I saw the King’s daughters cowering in intimidation as they peered outside their caves in fear of this enemy. Within the vision, I became indignantly angry; a righteous anger arose within me as I watched this unjust scene unfolding. I cried out, “God arise! Let His enemies be scattered!”
The True Lion Emerges
At that moment, a mighty rushing wind picked up from within the desert, and there within the wind I saw the true Lion emerge. His eyes were blazing like hot coals of fire and His very presence commanded a shift in the atmosphere with unspoken authority. He began to walk toward the caves where His daughters were hiding, and as each powerful paw hit the ground, a quaking could be felt across the desert sands. I watched as the one like a disfigured lion began to growl and grow nervous as the true Lion approached. The wind continued to surround the true Lion, and it began to spread to every cave where the daughters were dwelling. Within the wind, a voice came to each daughter in hiding: “This is not who you are. Arise.” At that moment, the true Lion lifted up His head and released a mighty, thunderous roar that split the air in two. I saw the sky itself split into two, and suddenly it was as though the daughters’ eyes were opened. Before, they could only see a mutilated but intimidating lion chasing and surrounding them, but the roar of the true Lion revealed the scene for what it really was. As the sky split, his identity was revealed as a defeated and cowering foe, and they could now see clearly that he was toothless and much smaller than he at first appeared. The daughters arose as the wind rushed over them and released within them a renewed strength and fight. One by one, they began to emerge from their caves, looking upon the horizon where their King Lion stood. With His glorious mane flowing majestically in the wind, He called out to them, “Come, daughters, arise. Take the swords before you and defeat this notorious counterfeit lion, for today I have given you the victory.”
As the King’s daughters looked down, they realized at the foot of their caves lay a weapon—a sword. They picked up the sword and began to shout in triumph as they ran out of their caves in vast numbers and pursued the enemy until he could no longer be seen.
As this incredible vision ended, I began to read with tears streaming down my face what follows on from Zechariah 9:8:
Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O Daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King (Messianic King) is coming to you; He is righteous and endowed with salvation, humble and unassuming [in submission to the will of the Father] and riding on a donkey, upon a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will cut off the [war] chariot from Ephraim and the [war] horse from Jerusalem, and the bow of war will be cut off. And He will speak [words of] peace to the nations, and His dominion shall be from sea to sea [absolutely endless], and from the River [Euphrates] to the ends of the earth. As for you also, because of the blood of My covenant with you [My chosen people, the covenant that was sealed with blood] I have freed your prisoners from the waterless pit. Return to the stronghold [of security and prosperity], O prisoners who have the hope; even today I am declaring that I will restore double [your former prosperity] to you [as firstborn among nations]. For I will bend Judah as My bow, I will fit the bow with Ephraim [as My arrow]. And I will stir up your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece, And will make you [Israel] like the sword of a warrior (Zechariah 9:9-13 AMP).
