For y’all self-acclaimed slay queens, here’s a toast to the original and literal slay queen, QUEEN JEZEBEL. I mentioned in one of the posts of Self love that real Queens are too busy putting their kingdom in order and in place. Real promising queens, like Queen Esther, build legacies, give life and hope to the desolate and are full of God’s Wisdom!
To be a Slay Queen is to literally kill and that was exactly what Jezebel did to keep herself busy. She was a destructive queen at whose reign God’s people buried several prophets.
I bet to say, if Jezebel walked into a boardroom today to interview for a job, she’d be hired in a heartbeat. All heads will turn and admire the confident, Intelligent, courageous, and assertive woman. She was a born leader with considerable influence who boldly took on the competition and got things done without excuses!
When such a woman honours the Lord, great things happen. This pushy Phoenician princess worshipped Baal, a fertility god. Temple prostitution and child sacrifice were the order of the day. Murdering the prophets of Israel was business as usual. No wonder she’s described as the Lady Macbeth of the Bible. Jezebel is a perfect example of misplaced priorities and misused potentials.
King Ahab “did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him” (1 Kings 16:30) and marrying Jezebel was at the top of his evil deeds. Politics, not romance, paired this nefarious couple. Sounds familiar?
Who is JEZEBEL, THE SLAY QUEEN
Growing up in Sunday School, I quite remember how young girls will cringe at the sound of Jezebel. It has been a name associated with witchcraft, manipulation and evil deeds. In short, it is a name no woman wants to be associated with. I am yet to meet a young woman called JEZEBEL.
She’s the daughter of Ethbal; a priest of Baal. Hence the name Jezebel which means married to Baal. Ethbal, the priest-king of Tyre murdered his own brother to take over the throne so it came as no surprise when Jezebel followed in her father’s footsteps to be a power-loving blood-seeking murderess who will stop at nothing to get what she wanted. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree huh?
Anyway, let’s dive into the reason we chose Jezebel for our bible character Study this month.
Jezebel was the wife of Israel’s king at the time; King Ahab. As King Ahab’s wife, she wielded a lot of power. She teaches us how to be doting. She showed so much care for Ahab and was able to detect if there was anything troubling him. She wanted to grant him all his heart desires and went so far to get him whatever he wanted. Regardless of her evil nature, Jezebel exuded a great amount of passion for what and whom she loved. She would not take excuses. Nothing was literally impossible in the eyes of Jezebel. As long she can conceive it mentally, there were no boundaries to get to it. Jezebel was evil and yes there’s no repentance for evil spirits, and I am in no way praising Jezebel or putting her on a pedestal.
Young Christian women tend to be timid. We teach it to our children and they grow up in it. Girls at Sunday school are expected to be “graceful” without grit. They are taught about Eve, which makes them to hate their gender even at that age as they are made to believe that their species got the world to where it is today. I remember distinctively being mad at Eve or at the imagination of Her. I was unhappy that the downfall of mankind was attributed to the woman (discussion for another day, but to read my thoughts on Eve, go to my post on Eve). After Eve, we were probably taught about how charming and adorable and completely innocent Mary was. The picture is painted in our minds to be living in the shadows till the favour of God locates us. We were never taught Deborah, the female Judge, or even Jael, the woman who killed Sisera by stabbing Him with his own spear. We were never taught of Abigail whose intelligence and smartness saved her home from the wrath of David. We were however told that Delilah, a woman was the source of Samson’s downfall. Get where I’m headed? Follow on…
Jezebel possessed confidence that is enviable, intelligence and assertiveness as a woman which is totally admirable. The young Christian woman needs these and must put them to the right use, not to become manipulative blood thirsty women. Our spirituality alone will not set us apart in this word.
Another vital lesson we can learn is our power of influence as women. We can learn from Jezebel never to underestimate our power of influence over our children. Jezebel was good at influencing and teaching her children but she did not give them good lessons. Athaliah(daughter of Jezebel and King Ahab) took Jezebel’s influence and went a step further to evil by killing any possible heirs so that she could be queen. How much focus we put into serving the Lord and the way we treat others will teach our children to do same. The way we lead, love and submit will be seen and imitated by our offspring. Not just our biological children. Whoever is within our circle over whom we have a considerable amount of influence over.
Still on influence, Jezebel knew the great deal of influence and power she had as a wife and queen, therefore she didn’t underrate it. Because of the influence she had as a queen and wife, she was able to acquire Naboths vineyard for her husband, once again, misused potentials.
Imagine, just imagine, Jezebel with all her grit, grace, intelligence, assertiveness, but just with the Spirit of God, not the spirit of Baal. She wouldn’t be the witchcraft caricature we imagine at the sound of her name. In the same vein, many many many young women with amazing qualities and potentials going the wrong way, misdirection all that potentials to the vertical wrong things.
Influence is at the heart of women. God made you to be an influencer. Influence is the undeniable power of a woman, once tapped, opens many doors. Woman, Your power is in your ability to influence. I cannot over emphasize this enough. (Here’s a link to a piece I wrote two years ago on how to be a woman of Good influence, peek a read , https://rubiesworth.com/influence-it-is/)
Influence is a heart thing.
Michelle Mckinney Hammond in her book, the power of being a woman mentioned “the gift of Influence is the invisible power that women overlook”
Proverbs 4:23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
As Christian ladies, we must be able to understand that we have so much influence and if put to good use, will go a long way in helping us to develop ourselves, our community and populate the kingdom of God.
The influence of a woman can make or break a man. In the case of Jezebel, we all know what happened to Ahab.
Jezebel’s life is a story of talent wasted and abuse of power. Should she have channelled her intelligence, courage, enthusiasm and influence to the service of God and Israel, she would have been one of the most revered queens in the history of Israel and would have given Queen Esther a fierce competition in the Bible days.
Dear Phenomenal Woman,
Be a Queen, I mean a real Queen, not a wannabe queen, or a slay queen. Remember your worth is Far Above Rubies and that the crown of Womanhood that rests gracefully on your head is invaluable. Don’t trade your pearls for stones.
“It’s definitely difficult being a woman and growing up a girl. When you’re graceful, people say you lack personality; when you’re serene, people say you’re boring; when you’re confident, people say you’re arrogant; when you’re feminine, people say you’re too girly; and when you climb trees, people say you’re too much of a tomboy! As a woman, you really need to develop a very strong sense of self and the earlier you can do that,the better! You have to be all the things that you are, without allowing other people’s ignorance change you! I realized that they don’t know what grace is, they can’t identify serenity, they have inferiority complexes, they are incapable of being feminine, and they don’t know how to climb trees!” ― C. JoyBell C
Love, Nelia.phenomenalwoman
