In the last article, we learned how Balaam, in his greed for power and money, became one of the most infamous stumbling blocks in the Bible.  In this article, we will learn of someone else who was worse than Balaam, namely Jezebel.  Jezebel was married to King Ahab, so she was the Queen of Israel. 

As part of the royal family, her responsibilities included shepherding her people from doing evil.  King David, prior to his departure, summarized the duties of the King to his son Solomon saying, “And keep the charge of the Lord your God: to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His judgments, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses…” (1 Kings 2:3).  Sadly, Jezebel didn’t uphold the commandments of God; in fact, she did quite the opposite.  Jezebel relentlessly pursued and murdered the prophets of God while promoting the worship of Baal and encouraging Ahab to commit sin.  The Bible tells us that there “was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do wickedness in the sight of the Lord, because Jezebel his wife stirred him up” (1 Kings 21:25). It is also written that “Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him” (1 Kings 16:33).

Another story which highlights the evil of Jezebel is the story of Naboth.  Ahab was unhappy because Naboth refused to sell to him his vineyard.  Jezebel, seeing her husband troubled, bribed false witnesses to testify against Naboth and say that he has “blasphemed God and the king” (1 Kings 21:13).  After the trial, Naboth was stoned, and Jezebel gloated to her husband saying, “Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth…” (1 Kings 21:15).

Jezebel’s cold and heartless actions did not go unforgotten.  The prophet Elijah condemned their actions, and Ahab repented of his wrongdoing.  However, nothing is ever written about Jezebel repenting.  For this reason, Jezebel, like Balaam, is remembered in the New Testament roughly 1,000 years later by our Lord Jesus Christ as a stumbling block.  In the book of Revelation, our Lord speaks to the Church in Thyatira and condemns them because they “allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols” (Rev. 2:20).  In the proceeding verse, “that woman Jezebel” refers to the sinful women in the church of Thyatira.  Just as Jezebel caused the nation of Israel to fall into sin, these women were “seduc[ing]” our Lord’s servants to commit sexual immorality and other heinous acts.

Queen Jezebel was supposed to use her God-given position of authority to promote righteousness, but, unfortunately, she used her power to influence others to do evil. The question we should ask ourselves is: Do we use our God-given talents to encourage righteousness, or do we use our talents to become stumbling blocks?  Regrettably, sometimes the people who are in the best position or those who are the most qualified to make a positive impact become like Jezebel.  For instance, many youth have high levels of charisma and leadership skills, but unfortunately, they use their God-given talents to become stumbling blocks and lead other youth to commit sin. My prayer is that these people heed the admonition of our Savior when he said, “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea” (Matt. 18:6).

In the next articles in this series, I, with the grace of God, hope to discuss common types of stumbling blocks with which the devil plagues all mankind.