Before this world was created, there was a time when satan was called “Lucifer”, the carrier of Light. He was a beautiful creature, he was the worship leader of heaven. Even his body was some sort of instrument to worship God with (Ezekiel 28:13). Back then he was the only anointed cherub, covering the throne of God (Ezekiel 28:14). No other creature was ever so close to God then he was at that time. If there is someone who knows what worship, anointing and wisdom of God are, then it is satan. He also was very familiar with the FIRE of God. After all, he served God in the midst of all those things for a long long time. Until he was banned from Gods holy mountain, because of his pride. But make no mistake. He still knows very well what all those things are. Even better then most Christians. Satan is an expert in knowledge and experience with:

• The Light of God (he was the carrier of it)
• The worship of God (he was the worship leader of heaven)
• The anointing of God (before his fall he was the only anointed cherub)
• The wisdom of God (he lived in the midst of Gods holy mountain)
• The fire of God (he walked in the midst of the fiery stones)

That was all he was, and he lost it all when he was banned from Gods holy mountain. But no wonder that he does such a good job in faking all those things. Everywhere where God starts a new work on this earth, satan produces a copy that looks just like it, containing his reproductions of all of the things above. Of course he cannot produce the real Light, but still many leaders are falling for it, because they think it is the Light of God. Satan also doesn’t have a problem with people worshiping God, as long as God is not the number one to worship. And o yes, he is an expert in making people feel good, by faking the anointing of God. After all, he knows what that anointing really is like. He hates the fact that we now can have all those things he once had, but never can have again. He is always pictured as a black/red dark figure, but in fact he knows how to present himself as an angel of light. Fake light, but still good enough to fool a lot of people.

The thing I’m trying to say here, is that satan is not stupid. If he was, he wouldn’t have been able to seduce so much Christians. If he would present himself as darkness, we would all recognize him immediately. But because he presents himself as an angel of light, many fall for it. Thankfully God didn’t leave us with empty hands. We have Jesus Christ, living in us and through us, and we have the Holy Spirit, living in us as the Royal Seal of King Jesus. It is very possible to still recognize the works of satan, despite of his attempts to fool us, when we take the time to listen to the Holy Spirit and to TEST everything. But the big question is, can a Church produce good works when satan or his helpers are infiltrated? The answer is yes. 

“And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write, ‘These things says the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet like fine brass: “I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience; and as for your works, the last are more than the first. Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you 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. And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent. Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds. I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works. “Now to you I say, and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not have this doctrine, who have not known the depths of Satan, as they say, I will put on you no other burden. But hold fast what you have till I come. And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations—‘ He shall rule them with a rod of iron; They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels’— as I also have received from My Father; and I will give him the morning star. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’
Revelation 2:18-29

It is remarkable to see that this Church was able to produce so much good works, even though Jezebel was in it, doing her evil works as well. So from the outside, this looked like the perfect Church. Maybe even an attractive Church. After all, it showed all the fruits of works, service, faith and patience, even more then before. The majority of the Christians of today would love to be a part of a Church like this. In fact, a lot of Christians may even be a part of Church like this. At first glance, all is well, powerful, full of faith etc. When Jezebel is infiltrated, it doesn’t mean that is becomes a chaos. All still appears to be very well. After all, satan knows how to fake a lot of Gods works, by creating replica’s of it. It looks real. It feels real. But it is fake. As long as you cooperate, Jezebel or Ahab will not manifest, and everything seems to be peaceful, while they do their evil works secretly. 

Many leaders of these days are talking about the spirit of Jezebel and how to deal with that spirit. Ironic enough, many of these preachers are being demonized by this same spirit or are being influenced by it. The sad part is that they don’t see it because the first thing this spirit does is making them spiritual deaf and blind for her presence. Besides that there are also dozens of self pronounced prophets, who’re claiming to be a prophet of the Lord but who are in fact nothing more then false prophets. At the moment that the spirit of Jezebel has ANY form of influence in a church or ministry, it will cause not only damage, it will destroy the anointing and because of that the church or ministry will die at some point. Not only because of what Jezebel is doing, God has a role in that as well. He will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds. The beautiful thing here is that God gives the people, who are demonized by this spirit, the chance to repent. He also gives all the people, who are involved with her works, the chance to repent. Even here God shows His great mercy for everyone.

The way to the top

As soon as Jezebel infiltrates, she starts to work her way to top. Jezebel will always appoint herself in some sort of position. She will call herself an apostle, evangelist, teacher, pastor or prophet, and she demands respect for her and her position. She will receive words and visions, and will claim that they come from God. However, those words and visions always contain instructions for the leaders, to make them move in a particular direction or to make them do things. Bit by bit she will go further and further in gaining more authority and control. Her aim is to destroy the worship in spirit and in truth, and by doing that she destroys the anointing as well. Remember, all it takes to do that is to get the focus off of Jesus and to make people focus on herself or her works. It is a total lack of humility, or a false form of humility. As soon as Jesus is no longer the number one, the anointing will go away. When your life, Church or ministry has a lack of anointing, that is always because something else took the first place and is worshiped. You have to find out what it is that took that first place, and you have to submit it to Jesus and to Him alone. Like I told you before, there are many ways to “worship”, it isn’t just honoring something with songs. It goes much further then that. It is the structure of the heart. 

Through the years I’ve learned another lesson. Not only what you worship is your god, but also what you fear is your god. Not everybody is able to “get” that immediately, but look at the fruits of fear. Look at what fear does in a life. Fear has the power to influence your choices. That means that fear can make you move in a particular direction, where you might “feel” safe again. Fear also comes from the heart, and is a part of the structure of the heart. In fact, fear and worship are connected to each other. That is why the word God tells us to fear only God, because when God is all you fear, God is the only One who directs you. 2 Chronicles 19:7 tells us to let the fear of the Lord guide and guard us. The biggest safety you can get, is in the fear of the Lord. 

You who fear the Lord, praise Him!
Psalm 22:23

The spirit of Jezebel hates the anointing and has the aim to kill it. She wants the worship for herself. She wants to be in the center of all worship. And guess what tool she uses to do that? Right. It is fear. I can tell you that there are leaders who are aware of the presence of Jezebel, but who do not take action because of fear. When that happens, they are already in her power. Fear nothing, but God alone. But besides the leaders who do see it, there are even more leaders who are blinded for it and who fell in her trap. 

How can such things happen? In the first place because many people are neglecting the Lords requirements. One of the most important requirements that God gave us is to test everything (1 Thessalonians 5:21). If there is someone who knows what’s going on, who knows what’s good and what’s wrong, then it is God Himself. That’s why He gave us the Holy Spirit, the author of the Bible. It’s an attitude of pride to think that you don’t need the Holy Spirit for every decision you make. It’s also the desire to be independent, which is included in our carnal nature. However, we were called to put on the new man (Ephesians 4:17-24) and to be dependent on God, not on our own insights. When we are not testing everything, then there will be areas in our life where we will be blinded for truth. That’s where spirits like Jezebel can start doing what they do best: destroy the body of Christ. Pride is one of the fruits of Jezebel and an open door for her to enter.