Repost: Book Review ~ Evicting Jezebel

Pastor White briefly mentioned Jezebel during his Bible study on Wednesday night.  I was reminded of this post, originally posted on September 6, 2013.

I downloaded a free book for my Kindle the other day ~ "Evicting Jezebel: The Rising Trend of Aggressive Women."  The book description says this:

Jezebel may float like a butterfly but she stings like a bee!

Case studies are starting to emerge that women and teen girls are becoming more assertive, aggressive and violent. In biblical history, these were all of the tactics and techniques of the queen Jezebel. The contrast of the new creation of the butterfly, Jezebel stings anyone who threatens her ability to control and manipulate others.

Evicting Jezebel sheds light on the alarming trend in aggressive women in our families, communities and churches and searches the Bible for answers by comparing the traits and technique of boxing to the traits and techniques of Jezebel. It also gets to the root so that you can serve her with an eviction notice.

It's only 70 pages, so this was a very quick read, but gave me much to think about. I'm sure I'll be going back and re-reading much of it. Just a few of the highlights:

Chapter 1: Our Decay by the Decade
This is a review of how our society, especially women, has changed since the Sexual Revolution. Television programming has introduced a new breed of women - those who became the head of household while dads stayed home. The women were dominant and assertive. Thirty years after the sexual revolution, Sex & the City made airwaves. Four women who regularly met at bars and talked endlessly about men. The women were successful in their careers, but broken in their personal lives. Of course there are also Desperate Housewives and cougars, women who prey on younger men.

Chapter 2: Who Was She? The Ancient Jezebel
Jezebel's name translated in Hebrew is "without cohabitation; an island" which literally means that she will not live in one accord with anyone. She was a master manipulator who surrounded herself with enablers. She despised men of strength and anointing, they weren't easily manipulated or intimidated.

Chapter 3: Who is She? The Modern Jezebel
The modern day Jezebel is the exact same spirit of the ancient queen of Israel, using the same tactics. This is a comparison of the two Jezebels:



Chapter 4: She Floats like a Butterfly, Stings like a Bee
This chapter is devoted to different types of boxing techniques that Jezebel uses to manipulate those around her. The Jab, the Cross, the Hook, and the Uppercut.  Of course her hits are usually verbal, not physical. She also uses False Innocence, the Blame Game, Victim Mentality, Deflection and Escape. 

Chapter 7: Jezebel in Men.
The goal of the spirit of Jezebel is control, which is found in men when they use strength and violence to obtain control and domination. This is most often seen in domestic violence, rape, and human trafficking.

The Jezebel spirit is found in relationships, friendships, and in the workplace. It is dangerous and destructive.  Jezebel is all about herself.  A godly woman will build up and nurture those around her.  The Biblical example of the contrast of the Jezebel spirit is Ruth:



The Jezebel spirit is found in the home, in the community and even in the church. The only answer is to evict that spirit. Jesus said, "No man can serve two masters," so if the Jezebel spirit is found in someone's heart, His Spirit is not.

The fruit of the Jezebel spirit is found in Proverbs 6:16-19: "These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren."

In contrast, the Fruit of His Spirit is found in Galatians 5:22-23: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."

I didn't mean to write such a lengthy review, but I do highly recommend this book (currently $2.99 on Amazon for Kindle.)  There were more than the usual amount of grammatical errors (missing commas, sentences that didn't make sense, etc.) but it was worth it to keep reading. 

The Heart of It All

It's February so you know what that means - time to start working on taxes!  Not what you were thinking, right?  I'm the accountant of our family, I'm good at it and don't mind, but I still dread tax time.  I'm always a little concerned that I'm going to mess up.  We've been audited more than once due to charitable contributions (hello, IRS, ever heard of Malachi chapter 3?)  I use TurboTax and the first thing I do is enter income.  Then I see a GIANT "taxes due" number and start praying!  By the time I get all our deductions entered, we're back to a refund and I can breathe again!

I finished my first take yesterday.  Les was working, but when he had a free moment I told him what it looked like we would get back.  He said, "Okay," and went back to work.  Not much of a response, but this little phrase popped into my mind:

The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her...

I've read many blogs about trying to be the Proverbs 31 Woman.  Women who think they can never measure up to her example of virtue.  But yesterday afternoon I came to the conclusion that I AM that virtuous woman because the heart of my husband trusts me!  Do you know how good that made me feel?

Those verses go on: "he shall have no need of spoil. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life."  The rest of the verses are wonderful, but this is the heart of the virtuous woman.  Gourmet meals, fine clothing, a spotless house, all of that is meaningless if our husbands can't trust us.

There is nobody harder on a woman than herself.  I know all my shortcomings and you know all yours.  But the next time you're feeling defeated by the dust bunny army or the mound of laundry, just ask yourself, "does my husband trust me?"  If the answer is yes, rest assured that everything else pales.  You ARE a virtuous woman!