Contending with Evil Kings

I must admit I have been wanting to write about this topic for some time, but needed to seek God for understanding on why I feel so strongly about this. You see, for the last 15+ years there have been so many revelations, prophetic words, books, and other expressions such as sermons and articles, etc. devoted to the topic of the evil Queen Jezebel from the Bible. Jezebel seems to be the 1st spiritual enemy that many people think about when dealing with spiritual warfare, and with all of the hype from all of the teaching material regarding her, it’s not difficult to understand why. Now, I am not am not in any way attempting to downplay or minimize the terrible spiritual warfare battles that one under this spirit’s attack has to go through in order to get free. Nor am I in any way suggesting that the revelation regarding the spiritual manifestation of Jezebel is not important in order to be able to recognize and dismantle this evil spirit when necessary. What was bothering me, was that Jezebel was an evil queen only because two evil kings groomed her to be able to take that position. King Abel of Israel made a treaty with King Omri (King of the Sidonians), Jezebel’s father that went against the law of God, and installed Jezebel (a Baal Priestess) as queen over Israel. The marriage between Ahab and Jezebel sealed the covenant between Ahab and Omri. It is true that Jezebel had a domineering influence over Ahab, however Ahab acted on his evil schemes out of his own will as well. Ahab as King had the responsibility to God and his people to lead and govern in the ways of God. Instead he acquiesced to Jezebel and her prophets and allowed them to set up idols and lead the people away from God into idolatry. Ahab’s inaction and willful disobedience to God’s command to not put other gods before Him, is what caused the people to go astray, not just Jezebel’s introduction of idolatry to the land. If Ahab would have resisted this open display of disrespect to God, many of the people would have backed this in loyalty to him, just by him being the king.

Another instance when Jezebel is mentioned, is in regard to prophets/pastors/church leaders being intimidated (in most cases) by a woman or worldly person who practices witchcraft and / or rebellion. Most of us know the story of the biblical prophet Elijah having a showdown with 300 prophets of Baal who were Jezebel’s cohorts. Elijah challenged them to call down fire to their altar in front of the people and whoever’s God answered by fire would be proclaimed the true God. Of course, the prophets of Baal were not only defeated, they were later killed by Elijah and an angry mob. The news of so many of Jezebel’s prophets being defeated and killed angered Jezebel greatly and she sent a death threat to Elijah, that for some reason put him to flight. Elijah had just shown so much power and strength in the name of Lord, how could a threat from one person, who’s god had just been debunked cause so much fear in the man of God? There is speculation around this question, maybe some detail was lost in translation that would make the situation more relatable. One theory, which seems to be echoed throughout many sources, is that Jezebel’s threat carried some type of spiritual attack that gripped Elijah to the point of fear. So, we all know what happens after Elijah flees, he has an encounter with God and is instructed to anoint Elisha as prophet and Jehu as King. One detail that a lot of people leave out is that Ahab has a brief moment of clarity and acknowledges his error and sin to God. Because of this, he does not die when Jezebel does and the penalty for his wrong doings was passed on to later generations. Although this recount of the exchange between Jezebel and Elijah is a very action packed and thrilling story, Jezebel is not a main character or person mentioned very much in regard to how many times Ahab is mentioned. The thing that is really amazing is how everyone rejoices over Jezebel being defeated. Yes this is a great victory, however they are forgetting one thing – the evil king that installed Jezebel as Queen was still reigning and ruling from his throne – business as usual. Jezebel was defeated – and the evil king Ahab remained. He didn’t just stop being evil and become a good king like some enchantment had been lifted as in some fairytale. Nope, he continued being evil and acting on his evil schemes, which eventually brought destruction on himself and the kingdom of Israel. So you really can’t say that evil was defeated when Jezebel was killed, because the evil king was still alive and well, still up to no good. Let’s not make the same mistake!

In 1 Kings 16, King Ahab was attributed to be “more evil than all kings before him” and that he “walked in the ways of Jeroboam” because he led the people away from God. So why aren’t there as many, if not more, warnings about his ways, characteristics, and manifestations as there are for Jezebel? The fact that many people are not even aware of how evil he was, is actually very telling. Could it be that many folk do not recognize the evil ways and manifestations of King Ahab because this spirit is hiding in plain sight and is spiritually ruling through the governing systems and atmospheres that we are currently living under? Think about it:

Ahab set up the altar of Baal, in the temple he built for Baal in Samaria

Ahab also set up the Asherah pole

Ahab allowed Jericho to be rebuilt on his watch

Ahab pouts and is deflated when he doesn’t get his way – to take something that does not belong to him

He agrees to the evil schemes that Jezebel concocts to get what he wants

He is happy and contented to received ill gotten gains

He calls the prophets of God troublemakers

He only wants the prophets to prophesy “good news”

He allows idolatry and corruption to run rampant throughout his domain

He makes ungodly treaties that compromise God’s people / kingdom

He puts the prophet of God in jail for prophesying the truth / the word of the Lord

Ahab manipulates Jehosephat into going into a losing war with him in defiance to the word of the Lord

Ahab’s defeat brought destruction and calamity throughout the whole nation of Israel

Ahab set a precedent that many kings after him followed and received the same results

The legacy of Ahab was that he set a precedent for other leaders to be just as corrupt, evil, disobedient, unfaithful, and unconcerned about the will of God for His people. He set the pattern that many other kings followed after him. Even his contemporary King Jehosephat was led astray by aligning with Ahab through marriage. This is not a light matter, the evil kings are not only reckless, and rebellious to God, but they encourage others to do the same, and as we all know too well (especially when you check the news and current events) violence begets violence. I can think of a certain former leader that led a whole political party into gross corruption and violence, unfortunately for him it does not appear that he has repented for any of his evil deeds yet. Unfortunately for those that follow in his pattern, they will cause themselves to meet a similar fate if they also do not repent. Even Ahab had enough since to repent for one moment after realizing the consequences of his sins were going to destroy himself, his wife (Jezebel), his bloodline, and the Kingdom of Israel that he was supposed to be stewarding. Ahab tore his clothes and fasted in repentance after learning that the wrath of God was coming for him. Even for that short period of repentance that he offered to God in sincerity, the Lord was gracious to him and allowed him to not experience the worst of His judgment, but rather deferred it to his bloodline. 

Yes God received Ahab’s repentance and He forgave the king who did, and quite frankly continued to do evil in His sight. But, God is not mocked, Ahab still met a painful, disgraceful, and violent end. When Ahab wanted to go to war against Aram Aram – present day Syrians, he knew that his army alone would not be able to defeat them. So he called in a favor with King Jehosephat and asked him and Judah’s army to go to war with him. Because of Jehosephat’s desire to align with Ahab and also wanting to unify the tribe of Judah back with Israel, he considered it. Before he would commit to go to war, he asked Ahab to seek the word of the Lord concerning the matter. This was no problem for Ahab because he had many false prophets in his court. The request was made to the false prophets and they returned with a “good” and “pleasing” word for Ahab that they should go to war. Jehosephat was not impressed so easily, he asked again this time more specifically for a word from the prophet of God. This frustrated Ahab, his scheme was near being exposed, and so he called in a prophet of God to prophesy. The prophet Macaiah showed up and prophesied a good word to Ahab sarcastically. Ahab detected the sarcasm and ask the man of God what the real/true word of God was concerning the war. Macaiah then blatantly told Ahab that God sent a lying spirit to prophesy through his (Ahab’s) false prophets so that when he went to war, he would violently meet his end. Predictability, this angers Ahab and he ordered Micaiah to be put in jail. He disregarded the word of God and went to war anyway, encouraging Jehoshaphat to join him. Even in his brazeness, Ahab was secretly scared for his life because of the true prophesy that Macaiah gave. So to be on the “safe side” he devised a plan to set one of his top generals up to dress and impersonate him on the battlefield while he fought dressed as a regular soldier. King Ahab was so corrupt that he actually thought that he could trick or out smart God. Needless to say, his plan did not work in his favor and he died in battle as it was prophesied.

This blog was dedicated to exposing the Evil Kings, specifically after the pattern of Ahab, but know that there are many more evil kings that we need to contend against, however many of them that are mentioned in the Bible and in Historical texts all seem have many similar characteristics of Ahab, and the operate in the Ahab and Jezebel dynamic. I want to reiterate again that while there are actual leaders (people) who exhibit and manifest the spirit and ways of Ahab and Jezebel, I am referring to contending with the spirit behind the wicked actions and evil deeds influencing those people. One of the things that I think gets misused a lot, when material like this gets distributed throughout the Body of Christ, is that people start pointing at people, or “dog whistling” in reference to specific people to try and enact some type of label or accusation on that person that they are THE manifestation of said spirit. I personally do not condone this type of behavior or teaching. It is damaging to people who, more than likely would repent if they were prayed for and educated (once again even Ahab repented when he was confronted by a true prophet of God). Also, it confuses young or immature Christians on what spiritual warfare is supposed to be about. Yes, sometimes physical protests and resistance are required to break strongholds. But more can be accomplished in the spiritual realm by recognizing these evil rulers, resisting their influence, collectively and individually casting down strongholds in the name of Jesus and the power of His Blood, and bringing them into the court of God than a whole bunch of mocking, name calling, and acts of defiance against them would ever do. Also, for those that believe it is ok to mock anyone, especially those who are determined to be evil, please revisit Psalm 1. We as the people of God are commanded not to sit in the seat of the scorners, and mockers. Yes comic relief is a thing, and yes it can seem funny to observe an evil person who is unaware of their certain demise, however those that mock are aligning themselves with the very evil they proclaim to detest. Remember Micaiah was mockingly sarcastic with Ahab and was thrown in Jail. Macaiah, a true prophet of God – understandably was triggered by the fore-knowing that Ahab probably would not yield to the word of God, but that did not make it ok for him to mock the king.

Another way to defeat the evil rulers is to repent AND adhere to the word of God. Not only would this impact the culture that supports evil kings, it would also set new Godly precedents that current and future leaders could follow. God honors sincere repentance, while consequences may still find that person for past wrongs, He is merciful to give them more time to live upright before him. A great example of this is another Biblical King – Hezekiah. Hezekiah was on track to be noted as an evil king, similar to Ahab. But when the prophet of God confronted him and prophesied his destruction, Hezekiah also repented. He turned his face to the wall and cried out to God for mercy and forgiveness. Not only did God forgive and show mercy to Hezekiah, He healed him, gave him 15 more years to live, and prospered him while he was still ruling. Who wouldn’t want to serve a God like that! So, what happened to Jehosephat after going to war with Ahab? Jehosephat also repented to some degree. In 2 Chronicles 19:3. He was confronted by Jehu (son of Hanani the Seer) and was told that the wrath of God would be on him for assisting Ahab in a war that God gave the word against. However, once again God had mercy on Jehosephat because he removed the idols and temples down and set his heart on seeking God. In verse 4, we find Jehosephat living righteously and turning the people of Judah back towards God. He restored order by appointing judges in all of the fortified cities of Judah. He would not have been able to do this without sincerely repenting and earnestly seeking God for the direction of his life and for the people.

Just because the evil kings “are going hamm”, it does not give us the right (those of us who know better) to follow their evil examples. The old saying, “two wrongs don’t make a right,” is true and the bible states that we will each have to stand before God and be accountable for our works. The best example to follow is Jesus’ example. Even as a pre-teen, He knew that He had to be about His Father’ business. The same is for us, let’s not lose our morals, our “religion”, and especially not our relationship with God by following evil kings as a default. I did not want to get too political in this blog, because the focus is spiritual warfare against evil kings. However, it is important to point out that “good, God-fearing, church folk,” were manipulated (in some cases) from the pulpit to elect leaders who manifest the characteristics of evil kings and queens into office. I cannot reference anyone else’s experience other than my own regarding this. I fell into that trap as a younger Christian, and voted for a particular candidate, because of the messages that I was hearing from Christian television, radio, articles, etc. (social media wasn’t even that prevalent at the time), that it convinced me that if I did not vote for this particular candidate, that I would be a bad Christian, possibly losing my salvation. I was so conflicted, I actually preferred the other candidate, but I wanted to be aligned with God (so I thought). And sure enough the candidate I voted for won, and did not address many of the needs and concerns of my community. In fact, things got remarkably worse. I didn’t realize until after the candidate won, what a mistake I had made. Now, I cannot expect anyone to disregard the word of a Pastor or Christian leader that they trust and respect to not consider their stance on political issues, however I will say that we need to personally do our homework and evaluate if the candidates’ actions are matching what they say their intentions are. Also, there are people who have been called into the political arena, and are hesitating and running from their call because of the precedent that the evil rulers have set. There are some in hiding like Elijah, because they stepped out and confronted the corruption and felt the intimidation of backlash hit them hard. Can we agree to pray for those who have been called to physically displace the puppets of evil rulers in this generation and generations to come to take their place and be assisted by God to legislate His will? Can we cover the existing politicians with prayer, so that they may repent and start seeking the will of the Lord for our nation? Can we stop ignoring political corruption and laughing at recklessness, and instead smash the thrones of evil kings so they will not bring destruction upon us and the land? All creation is groaning with increased hurricanes, earthquakes, tornados, floods and fires, while the majority of the nation is pacified by political satire and venting off color statements on social media. This should not be! It is time for the people of God to wake up out of slumber, rise up, and take our rightful place as led by the true King of Kings. It is not enough to just vent and talk about how wrong everything is if we are not going to pray, vote righteously, and personally discern what the agendas of politicians really are about. We can not become comfortable with corruption, because corruption always brings destruction. Just challenge yourself to read the book of Chronicles and 1st & 2nd Kings and you will find that God smote evil human rulers and destruction always fell on the people that followed and the land. The excuse of dismissing poor leadership because you want your political party to win, is like saying it’s ok if the star athlete of a sports team dopes up or cheats because he/she is on your favorite team and it is helping them to win. Both scenarios are wrong, both should not be tolerated, but people only seem to care when it’s sports, and not when it is the people guiding the future of the country / world we live in. Humans are not perfect, many of us will fall, make mistakes, and do bad things – but if you will not tolerate bad behavior from people you’re in a personal relationship with, why tolerate it from people who are deciding everything from how you can use your body to how to treat / preserve the environment? They are deciding if you will have funds to retire and when you can retire. They are deciding if it’s ok to have violent uprisings when people do not agree with the government… We need to pray, repent if necessary, and set a new Godly precedent, pronto!

If you want to learn more about contending with evil kings, I suggest 1st and 2nd Chronicles, and 1st and 2nd Kings from the Bible to get started. There are other resources from the Christian leaders that may also be beneficial. Because I have not asked for or been granted permission, I am not listing specific resources, however I believe a search on the internet will return some excellent options for you. Most of my scriptural references for this post come from 2 Chronicles and 1st and 2nd Kings, however you can make a Bible study out of fact checking this for your own verification. If you liked this blog post or know of someone who may find value in it, please feel free to share it. If you are going to pray against spiritual evil kings, I recommend finding prayer partners or other intercessors to pray with you, especially if you are new to intercessory prayer. Ask God to cover you and to guide you on how to pray – please do not jump out there with no spiritual armor. Thank you for reading this, and I hope to fellowship with you again on the next one!

Bonus! Here are some interesting scriptures to check out in regard to the evil kings mentioned in this blog post. Enjoy!

2 Chronicles 18:8

Jeremiah 29:22

Micah 6:16

Blessings Always,

Dionne Renae