Title: Resist Jezebel's Temptation / Revelation 2:20-23
Contents Resist Jezebel's Temptation / Revelation 2:20-23
Key Verse: “But I have something against you, that you tolerate a woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, who teaches and seduces my servants to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed to idols” (Revelation 2:20).
If Balaam's teaching refers to materialism, Jezebel's temptation refers to ideological heresy. They both have in common: lewdness and idolatry. In a capitalist climate, you should be careful of Balaam's teaching, and in a communist climate, you should resist Jezebel's temptation. Capitalism is a rotten idea and communism is a dead idea. No plausible theory or thought in this world can save man or make this world a paradise (Romans 3:23, Acts 4:12). The decisive sovereignty to change is only the name of Jesus Christ. That name made this man healthy (Acts 4:10), and that name changed AD and BC.
Here, the Lord rebukes harshly. Today, the church and believers in the 21st century should listen carefully. Jezebel is the daughter of Ethbaal, king of Sidon, and the wife of King Ahab of Israel (1 Kings 16:29-33). But Jezebel brought the god Baal and the Ashera pole, and destroyed the altar of the Lord, and made the Israelites worship Baal and bow down to the table.
In this age, political idols abound, economic idols, idols of pleasure through the mass media, idols of regionalism, idols of honor, idols of school diplomas, and idols of unification. Today's churches and believers are absolutely free from the words of Revelation No. The number of churches is increasing, but the number of members does not increase. They carry the Bible, but they do not have the ability. Also, there are many mass gatherings of more than 3,000 people a day, but there is no repentance that strikes the heart. Although we are talking about the book of Acts, it seems that we do not have the resolve to be martyred because of the name of the Lord. We are talking about the book of Revelation, but there seems to be no response or confession to the Word every hour with tension, saying, “Amen, come Lord Jesus” (Rev 22:20).
We need to rebuild the crumbling holy altar (1 Kings 18:30) and find again the prayer of Elijah on Mount Gamel that appeals to him, “Answer me, O LORD, answer me, for he is God.” (1 Kings 18:37) And let's cry out loudly, "Let the prophets of Baal and the followers of Jezebel go down to the brook Kishon and kill them there."
Prayer: Lord, help us, who are accustomed to greed and accustomed to worldly customs, to repent. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.
Lord's Prayer