The Jezebel Spirit and the Single Woman in the Church

**this page deals exclusively about incorrectly identifying who in the church has the Jezebel spirit. The spirit is demonic, so an error here could lead to much distress, and lack of success in stopping it. There are other pages on this site that discusses the Jezebel further.

In the Bible, Ahab was a wicked, but passive, king over Israel. He had an aggressive, hateful, hot tempered, controlling, witch of a wife named Jezebel, who was more  wicked than he was.

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Jezebel, as queen, derived her power and authority from her relationship with her husband, the king. If she had not been married to the king, she would have had very little authority, or influence.

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If she had been a single woman, or a widow, she would have had no authority whatsoever. In a male dominated culture, the woman derives her strength and influence from how important her husband, or father, is.

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Little has changed in 4000 years. Even now in the secular world, women cannot succeed very well, unless they have the support of husband and family, or they are single, and have no obligations, like conflicting child care issues.

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But in the process somewhere, they have the support of men who control everything, or the support of women, who originally had to have the support of men.

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Modern churches allow women to minister to some extent, but there are restrictions which are in practice, but maybe not in writing.

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Many churches do not see women as ministry material, because they consider women to be in a submissive, and supportive, role to men only. It is the husband who is the minister, and the wife just supports him.

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In some cases, we see women ministers, who have the support of their husbands, and therefore support of the church.

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Sometimes, we may see elderly women as ministers, who have been widowed, who had a successful marriage, before their husband passed away.
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Usually, women’s roles are confined to cleaning the church, child care during services, the choir, musician, or office work.

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What you will rarely, or never, see is a divorced woman, or a single mother with children, being allowed to minister in any fashion, especially in a leadership role.

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They are not considered ministry material, but instead, are considered in need of being ministered to themselves.

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They are spiritually deficient, and incomplete. They are not qualified. They are many times portrayed as women who have failed spiritually, or who are on the prowl for other women’s husbands.

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Most churches are designed to accept intact families, young people, and the elderly.

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Divorced women are outcasts, and many times stereotyped as sinful women, unable to keep a man, despite any evidence to that effect.

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At best, they are treated as pathetic creatures, not leaders. They are women of lesser value than the married women.

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They are usually shunned by married women, or ignored, and not invited to any gathering of a more personal nature.

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They are held responsible for their failed marriage, even if it was the ex-husband who was at fault.

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Married women are considered more pure.

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A divorced man will be accepted more quickly than a divorced woman, even if he was the one to commit adultery, and ruin the marriage. He is somehow forgiven. He can even remarry, and go into ministry.

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But the victimized wife basically becomes a fallen woman.

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The pastor will avoid her too, and not talk to her, unless his wife or another “more respectable” woman is present.

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Divorced women are to be prayed for; they are not to minister.

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This is not to assert that all divorces are due to the man, but to just describe treatment of the woman who was not at fault in her failed marriage.

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Divorced women are lepers.

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They are seen as women who sex drives must be unsatisfied, and therefore out of control. (When did a wedding ring guarantee that people behave themselves?)

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It never occurs to the church that such woman may actually be leading a very pure, and holy life. The stereotype is that married women are pure, and divorced women are not, or not likely.

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This happens to be very traumatic and demeaning for the decent woman who may either have leadership ability, wonderful thoughts to share, or who is just someone who would like some friendship.

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If her children are small, or still with her, then she is nothing, and may not get much kind treatment, unless it is Christmas time, and people want to be “charitable.”

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Maybe she can redeem herself if she remarries, or becomes successful in the secular world.

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If she remarries, then maybe her sex drives are more under control, and then maybe she can be treated as respectable. She is now more pure.

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This would add status to her position in the church if she pays tithes, but it will not change the opinion of the married women about her as a person, as long as she is single.

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If she gives large offerings, it might be seen as trying to gain the pastor’s affection or attention, and be viewed secretly with resentment.

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There is a lot of personal testimony to back this statement up.
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Somehow, sex and holiness are linked in a twisted way. Sex in marriage does not make one holy.

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And someone who is not married, is not necessarily leading an unholy life.
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Someone who is married can be a very nasty person. The same is true for the unmarried.

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People should not be stereotyped, and should be considered on their individual merits or limitations.

In this current church social structure, therefore, divorced women do not do well, and have no opportunity to contribute their talents, authority, or influence over what goes on the in the typical church. If they are welcomed there at all, they are just “there.”

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Their money offerings are always welcome. In the church, as with any social group, there can be administrative problems.

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One complaint some churches have is that there is a tendency for some individuals to want to control the pastor.

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In recent times, it has been popular to coin the term, “the Jezebel spirit.”

The Jezebel is usually thought to be a woman who is out to destroy the church with rebellion.

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The divorced woman is seen as a rebellious Jezebel, who has refused to submit, or cannot submit, to a man, which is why no man “wants her.”

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It is disregarded that she may have been betrayed, mistreated, or abandoned, victimized and abused, by her ex-husband.

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She is seen as one who would rebel against male authority.

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It may not be relevant to anyone that the reason that men don’t want her now, is because they do not want her 4 kids, or because she has lived too many years raising her own children by herself, and now she is old, and tired.

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She just does not look that good anymore.

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A life, without the support of others, has worn her down. If she gets old enough, or ugly enough, then the church might accept her back, because she will not be a sexual threat anymore.

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But will she still be a “rebellious woman.” and a threat to the pastor?

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This assignment to the powerless individual as a scapegoat is unfair.

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Usually, the accuser is actually the Jezebel, but is too “holy” to be suspected.

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We must recall that Jezebel had gotten her authority as queen, from her husband the king, who passively let her do whatever she wanted.

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Jezebel was a rebellious witch against God, yet she was properly married.

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How can one reconcile the role of Jezebel spirit in the church, and the powerless, and many times despised, divorced woman.

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This woman is shunned.

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How could an outcast influence anyone in the church?

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While it might be true that the divorced, both men and women, may not act properly, and could be rebellious, it also has to be admitted that these people usually do not even attend church.

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If they do, they do not have the ability to overturn the pastor’s authority, or hold a position of influence. And who is to legitimately claim that married people cannot be equally rebellious?

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People need to get past the misconception that marriage guarantees holiness, and that the unmarried are automatically sinful.

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Holiness is closeness to God, and walking in obedience to His ways, with a loving heart. Holiness is available to all people who devote themselves to God in depth and sincerity.

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The church must not pick out the powerless and make them scapegoats for problems they feel they are having in the church.

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Their marriage status should not be important.

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Each person’s commitment and faithfulness to God should be viewed fairly.

It is wrong to put artificial labels on people anyhow.

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It is worse to use God’s Holy Word to justify unfair accusations.

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The divorce rate in modern society is somewhere around 50% of couples.

Many people will become lost, and leave church, if they are not loved, and accepted, in the church as equals.

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Most divorced people do not even attend church. People need to be more kind.

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If the church does not treat them properly, these people will seek provision and support elsewhere.

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Usually, they look to the government, and any political party which will offer them financial and social benefits, even if it compromises their morals.

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There is no support or acceptance in the church for these emotional outcasts. They are not secure.

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Even though both political parties in America support civil rights and aid to the poor, the outcasts are looking for more: acceptance and security.

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They then look to their political party or the government as their God and provider, and feel compelled to turn their back on moral issues like abortion, homosexuality, pornography, and all the anti-Christian, anti-American, and godless legislation that many current politicians represent, just to gain acceptance and financial help.

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So they vote for whomever may give them favor.

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They are also prey to secular thinking, and false religious theories and doctrines.

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The outcasts react, and look for a solution to their rejection by the church. The church should not have pushed them in this direction.

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God will hold all believers responsible for the plight of these “fallen angels.”
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***the point : the Jezebel Spirit is real….She can be single or married…….but be careful, and responsible, about identifying who has this spirit. It would be very destructive if an accusing finger was pointed at the wrong person. An innocent person would be hurt, and alienated, and the guilty party would still be free.

Click here to see how to identify and remove the Jezebel spirit.
Click here to see how to deal with the Jezebel spirit in the workplace.

Click here to see how the Jezebel spirit creates a carnal Christianity in the church.

Click here to see how to real about the root causes of Jezebel.

Click here to see how to real about the sneaky charming Jezebel.

Click here to see how to heal a fallen Jezebel.