You Jezebel!
The latest in a series about strong women in the Bible
“Ahab, the son of Omri, did more evil in the sight of the Lord than any of those who preceded him. As if it were not enough that he committed the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, he also married Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, the king of the Sidonians, and he went after and served Baal and worshiped him. He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he had built in Samaria. Ahab also set up an Asherah, and Ahab did more to provoke the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than all of the kings of Israel who preceded him.” (1Kings 16:30-33)
For a period of time, the kings of Israel were up to no good. They did a lot of stuff that went against what God wanted. Ahab was said to be one of the worst kings, going beyond the evil of some of his predecessors, including Jeroboam.
Jeroboam was the first king of the northern kingdom of Israel, according to the Bible. Even though God promised him great things if he followed Him, Jeroboam was more concerned with what the people in his kingdom would think about him. He allowed the worship of idols and appointed priests who didn’t follow the commandments.
The “sins of Jeroboam” were continued by some kings who followed him, including Ahab. What made Ahab even worse than Jeroboam? He married Jezebel, an idol-worshiper and the daughter of a Phoenician king. The Phoenicians were polytheistic, and each of their regions had their own gods.
At the urging of Jezebel, Ahab set up several areas to worship these gods. Not only that, he worshiped these gods himself, which went against the first commandment that God gave to Moses:
“I am the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of that place of slavery. You shall not have other gods instead of me. You shall not make idols or any image of things that are in the heavens above or that are upon the earth or that are in the waters under the earth. You shall not bow before them nor shall you serve them. I, the Lord, am your God, a jealous God, who punishes the sins of fathers upon their sons until the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, but I will show my favor for a thousand generations of those who love me and observe my commandments.”
Even worse, Jezebel appears to have been given the green light to kill off most of God’s prophets. She also clashed with the beloved prophet Elijah. Her deeds were so nasty that Yahweh Himself declared, “[t]he dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel” As you can imagine, it did not end well for Jezebel. She was thrown out of a window by some of her servants, and her body was trampled by horses.
Why include Jezebel in a book about strong women in the Bible? For starters, Jezebel was a strong woman. She believed in her persuasive powers and used them to get what she wanted. She didn’t take “no” for an answer from a man. She stuck to her beliefs.
The story of Jezebel shows that feminism, like any other quality, can have negative effects if improperly used. Jezebel worshiped multiple gods because that was part of her culture, and you can argue it was her right to continue to do so once she married Ahab. She assumed, however, that coercing others to do the same and unleashing her wrath against the prophets of the prevailing monotheistic culture was also her duty. Her drive and her arrogance took over. If Jezebel had an empathetic side, we don’t see it in the Bible.
Ahab, of course, is no angel in this story. He could have stopped Jezebel many times but didn’t. In the end, Ahab is responsible for his own fate, as is Jezebel. She was not one to cave to any being, including the Creator, and it cost her her life.
Looking at the negative and positive aspects of feminists in the Bible, we see that being strong is only part of the battle. Moral fortitude and humility are also important traits if true feminism is to have altruistic results.