How Jezebel Manipulates God’s Servant

“Was it not reported to my lord what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, how I hid one hundred men of the Lord’s prophets, fifty to a cave, and fed them with bread and water?” (1 Kings 18:13 NKJV).

In this scene in Israel’s history—during King Ahab and Queen Jezebel’s infamously wicked reign—we find a kingdom servant named Obadiah explaining to the prophet Elijah what a good work he had done by protecting the true prophets from Jezebel. He felt like he was saving the lives of these one hundred prophets because Jezebel was on a quest to shut God’s voice out of the land.

I am quite sure Obadiah’s motives were pure. The name Obadiah means “servant of Yahweh.” He seemed sincere in his efforts. Think about it for a minute. He was aiding and abetting Jezebel’s arch enemies in one sense—and at his own peril. Ahab and Jezebel would have considered Obadiah’s protection of the prophets of the Lord a treasonous act.

However, in another sense Obadiah inadvertently aided Jezebel in her wicked plot to cut off the true prophetic voice in the land. Jezebel didn’t care if Jehovah’s prophets lived their lives somewhere outside Jezreel as long as they didn’t get in her way. I’m sure many prophets fled from Israel when she started slaughtering the prophets—and she didn’t chase them down. She let them go. The prophets in the caves were essentially imprisoned. Obadiah was not truly their friend.

Jezebel killed the prophets because she didn’t want them to speak out. She didn’t want God’s voice to be the loudest in Israel. She served Baal and Asherah and had her own prophets at her table. The true prophets were an obstacle to her plans for Israel.

Think about it for a minute. Jezebel didn’t have to go to all the trouble to murder the prophets in order to silence them. If the prophet will willfully go into hiding, that makes Jezebel’s job easier. Remember, Jezebel threatened to kill Elijah but never did. When he went into hiding she dropped it.

Here is the lesson: Don’t let Obadiah put you into hiding. In other words, don’t shrink back in fear and run to what you think is a safe place to avoid spiritual warfare or persecution. God doesn’t have much use for a cowardly prophet.

Prayer

Father, in the name of Jesus, help me not go run and hide in the face of Jezebel’s death threats. Deliver me from the cave I’ve made my home and give me the boldness I need to accomplish my assignment in a culture of compromise, immorality, idolatry, and death. Make me a voice.