Jezebel Hates Revival
“New levels, new devils” is a familiar but very accurate statement.
It is my belief and experience that many do not sustain revival due to the continued barrage of demonic attacks against a revival culture. The goal of revival is the sustained presence and power of God that results in transformation. This presence and power that we’re contending for isn’t nominal, it is fullness, all that God has and nothing less. The devil will let you remain nominal but begin to reach for fullness and he’ll send out the troops and Jezebel is usually leading them.
Jezebel Hates Revival
Jezebel hates revival. Many have suffered defeat at the hands of this wicked spirit. The Welsh Revival which heavily influenced the Azusa Street Revival was brought to a halt by the spirit of Jezebel. This wicked principality hates the prophetic voice, miracles and any manifestations of revival. It is an anti-Christ, anti-anointing spirit that devises division and deceives sincere people who are seeking after the more of God.
“…I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel (Revelation 2:19 NASB). That which you tolerate will eventually dominate you and this is what we saw repeatedly over our years as pastors pressing into revival. It seemed we would gain three steps forward only to be knocked back four or five. It became clearer than ever before that this wicked spirit was out to not only stop our ministry but to stop revival. What we couldn’t see in the early days was ever more obvious in the year of 2017 - what I call “The year of authority.”
You see, it’s all about the authority because the one with authority is the one with control, and with the devil, it’s all about control. Before Jezebel was a woman in the Bible, it was and is an ancient demonic prince seeking to overthrow God’s authority. This spirit is evident in Satan himself who was the original usurper in heaven, trying to get authority that wasn’t rightfully his. It didn’t work with God, so he’s been trying ever since to steal godly authority and he starts with you and me.
Jezebel is a demonic spirit, specifically a celestial power with worldwide influence that works in conjunction with the ruling principality over a specific territory. It influences territories, regions and nations, and of course, the people within. They issue assignments of evil in the earth which are carried out by demonic spirits (earthbound). Principalities are administrators of evil – the bosses under Satan – and they cannot be cast out they must be displaced. The more that you study this, the more you realize that most all, if not every operation of evil in our world, emanates from this spirit – Jezebel.
The Lost Spiritual Element of Contending
A church of revival must be a contending church. There must be a high level of spiritual intensity. A contending church eventually moves into heavenly governing and legislation which embraces the God-given authority to take dominion in the city, region and nation in which you have influence. This is where principalities and ranks of the devil are awakened and alerted to you like never before. You begin to impede on their territory using a greater power and an authority from God that is a blatant threat to them.
Many times, pastors and believers are not aware that their cry for more of God comes with more warfare. Their cry for more awakens a principality they’ve not met before. The devil doesn’t come announcing himself. It will be in ways or through people we never dreamed, but he will weave his way into your minds, lives and churches for one purpose…he wants your authority! It is said that the devil comes to steal and the only reason you steal something is because you don’t have it. The progression is to steal your authority in order to kill your spiritual reputation in order to destroy your spiritual influence. Influence is control, and remember, he’s after control in the earth.
Spiritual authority is the right to use God’s power to enforce spiritual law or the Word of God. It is a powerful weapon and the devil craves that kind of power and influence.
His authority was stripped from him by Jesus Christ so his only hope is to keep us from realizing the weapon of spiritual authority that we possess in Jesus Christ.
Our authority in Christ Jesus is the right to exercise His power in the earth and come against demonic forces. When we come into aggressive agreement with the Word and will of God, it releases a tangible assault against the devil and his schemes. However, if Satan can get you to compromise your authority, he can manipulate your life and church, your ministry and your mantle because it’s all about the authority. His end game is to gain as much control as he can in the earth through deception, seduction and manipulation in order to control lives, governments, churches and secure territories.
Just like Daniel, there comes a point in your praying and your revival pursuit where you cross a threshold of authority that threatens the demonic and awakens a principality. However, at the same time, that same praying and revival pursuit releases angelic assistance and armies who begin to move according to the Word of God that your authority is decreeing in the earthly realm. Our prayers, like Daniel’s, release archangels and begin to invade, dismantle and displace enemy-held territory. It launches spiritual arrows accurately to where a principality over a territory is moved and portals of heaven are opened and glory and the Holy Spirit is released over that territory making it easier for souls to come to Jesus. It breaks strongholds from cities. It frees regions and nations to hear the gospel and respond.
So, if I were the devil, I would do everything I could to rob people of their understanding of spiritual authority, keep them from realizing who they are in Christ because where there is no revelation of spiritual authority there will be no territory taken. Where there is no territory taken, the principality stays in place and in control.
What You Tolerate Will Dominate
In our early years of pursuit, before we officially began our turn into revival, we didn’t understand what we were wrestling against. This was mostly our fault due to a lack of understanding and knowledge. I am aggressively opposed to those who withhold teaching from people about their spiritual authority and about demonic warfare. I do not believe that it should be our only message, but I do believe it cannot be ignored. Victory and open heavens over cities are directly connected to our understanding of spiritual authority and dominion and also to sustaining revival.
We fought for years, the unrelenting personal, mental, emotional and corporate attacks which manifested most of the time in personal pain or church division. As stated earlier in our story, we were at the end of our pastoral rope. But here in this chapter I’d like to say it this way, we were at a crucial threshold. Yes, it was a demonic attack, but it was also another chance to step up in our authority and cross that threshold into a greater capacity for tenacity. With every threshold crossing it may seem as if hell is on your heels, but what we have learned is that there’s an entirely new army of angels that outnumber the demonic ranks that are waiting on your threshold crossover. They are there to annihilate the demons behind you and release God’s purpose into your life, church and region. The Bible clearly tells us that we’ve been raised with Christ. The Bible also tells us that the devil is fallen. So if we’re raised, and he is fallen, who has the upper hand in this war?
Like myself, most readers know the answer to that question, however, there is such a barrage of warfare as a revivalist that you must come to an undeniable revelation that you have complete authority over every attack of Jezebel. Don’t tolerate it. Don’t negotiate with it. Don’t give it a platform or a voice. Throw it down! Because what you tolerate will dominate. Specifically, the spirit of Jezebel wants to silence the prophetic, weaken the apostolic and seduce the kingly authority. The prophetic voice is what dismantles it, the apostolic overrules it and the kingly authority is what ultimately kills it. If Jezebel can take out that three-fold function in your life or your church, the keys of authority have been kidnapped and that spirit has control.
I Found the Keys
I close this chapter with a personal story about spiritual authority. On Sunday, June 11, 2017 I had an undeniable prophetic sign given to me as we were at a very strategic threshold crossing in sustained revival. As early as 2014, I had lost a set of keys that opened every door to every building on our property at our church. I remember thinking that it was just odd that I had misplaced them. In other words, I could recall no reason that I should have lost them. It seemed inordinate, not like any other random time that you lose keys. I looked everywhere for them and never found them.
On Sunday, June 11, 2017 I wore a pair of shoes to church that day that I had not worn in quite some time. The shoebox was toward the back of the closet. I grabbed the shoes from the box, put them on and went off to church. Let me remind you, we were at a strategic threshold crossing in our journey of sustained revival. The warfare with Jezebel had been brutal. We were learning and growing, but still had not come into full understanding of our spiritual authority in Christ.
The number 11 has been described as the number of transition. To cross a threshold, you must make a transition. The children of Israel were brought out of bondage in Egypt and the Bible says it was an 11-day journey to the Promised Land, or across the threshold. This means that on day 12 they would have crossed over. The number 12 represents governmental authority.
The particular day of this prophetic sign was June 11, or we could say, transition day. Day 12 was next, and if we crossed, it would take us into greater governmental authority. Between days 11 and 12, the children of Israel came to a place called Kadesh, or a threshold. There were decisions that had to be made at this place of transition. Spies were sent out to check out “day 12”. Ten of them were intimidated and voiced their fear, two of them were mantled and ready to walk into greater authority and they too voiced their faith. Unfortunately, ten voices of fear sent one million people into 40 years of desert wandering because they didn’t understand their authority.
That morning at church, my husband preached a message and part of it dealt with our spiritual authority. During the message he used his voice to speak against and serve notice to the principality Jezebel that had repeatedly attacked us. I believe this authoritative decree opened up something in the spirit realm over our church and over me personally. When we arrived home, I took off my shoes to place them back in the shoebox and as I look down, there in the box were the set of keys that I had lost years earlier! I did not see them that morning and there is really no reason that I should not have missed them. I believe the Lord hid them until after the service, after the declaration, after the crossing over of the threshold. I knew it was a prophetic sign and that God was showing me something spiritual with a natural event. I thought to myself, “I got the keys back”!
You’ve Got the Keys, Use Them and Don’t Lose Them
I believe the Lord showed me the keys of spiritual authority in the spirit for our church and for revival and that they had been kidnapped by the enemy, specifically the principality of Jezebel. While we had attained a measure of spiritual authority, something was blocking the forward progression because some things were still under the control of this spirit. It needed to be confronted apostolically because it was trying to silence the prophetic and both are needed for a strong foundation of a revival church.
I fully believe at this point in the realm of spiritual warfare, the spiritual keys had been kidnapped. However, when confronted apostolically, it broke the control and the Lord used the natural set of lost keys, hidden in a shoebox for as many as three years, to show me, YOU’VE GOT THE KEYS BACK, NOW USE THEM AND DON’T LOSE THEM AGAIN! The inference of this statement meant that I had lost the keys at some point. I can’t explain it except, many times we lose our keys of authority due to the fear of man. Sometimes it can be a process to get us to recognize this, but this day it was in plain sight!
You cannot forget the crucial part that the keys were in a shoebox. I felt the Lord say, “I put them in the shoes to let you know that where you walk you carry My authority and I will give you that territory!” God wants to grant us more authority. There are levels; even the demons recognize levels of authority. What I often say in the context of sustaining revival and raising revivalists is you’d better know your level of spiritual authority because the devil does.“ Jesus I know, Paul I know, but who are you?”
The principality of Jezebel craves authority and will do anything possible to gain it illegally. This demonic entity understands that territories hang in the balance on the pivot of authority. It was at the threshold in the year 2017 that we stood with years of warfare behind us and yet the Lord graciously showed us that, we had HIS KEYS of authority. What we had lost through the fear of man, we had gained again through our spiritual pursuit, unrelenting prayer and priority on the presence of God.
It was after this point that God began to lead our church into a greater influence over the nation and even the nations. But it all started with the decision at the transition point into governmental authority. Day 11 will take you into day 12, keep walking!
If you are to sustain revival, you must grow in your spiritual authority. Spiritual authority is best perceived and not explained. It’s very difficult to put into words, but the way to obtain it is not a secret. The way to greater spiritual authority is the Secret Place. Much authority is given in the Place called Secret. God is the One with the authority, but the transfer happens only in one place, the Secret Place. To be much for God, you must be much with God. Revival demands a constant growth in authority, which demands a constant crossing of thresholds which demands a greater denying of flesh. I know it doesn’t sound easy, and I promise you, it is not. This is not to discourage you; this is to prepare you. But if you are prepared, you will take territory, in Jesus name. You’ve got the KEYS! Use them!
