Jezebel is back, she’s been here for decades and I wouldn’t be surprised if she becomes the next president, another Hillary Clinton.
Six percent of the population in the Mediterranean communities descends from the ancient civilization of Phoenicians, according to a new study. During the third Punic War (149-146 BC), the Phoenician capital of Carthage (meaning “The New City”), was destroyed by the Romans, and a massive systematic execution process ensued. The people whose lives were spared were sold as slaves.
This greatly influenced the spreading of the Phoenician people through the ages.
Just like Jezebel manipulated King Ahab, Hillary did the same with Bill. Bill was voted as president, but she was the president.
Now I want to close Babylonian Captivity series with…
Ezekiel 32
The Lament for Pharaoh
1 And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
The sixth oracle against Egypt.
“Twelfth year…twelfth month…first day of the month” – March 3, 585 B.C.; the tenth date in Ezekiel.
2 Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say unto him, Thou art like a young lion of the nations, and thou art as a whale in the seas: and thou camest forth with thy rivers, and troubledst the waters with thy feet, and fouledst their rivers.
3 Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will therefore spread out my net over thee with a company of many people; and they shall bring thee up in my net.
4 Then will I leave thee upon the land, I will cast thee forth upon the open field, and will cause all the fowls of the heaven to remain upon thee, and I will fill the beasts of the whole earth with thee.
The Phoenicians were the direct descendents of the Canaanites of the south Syrian and Lebanese coast who, at the end of the second millennium B.C., became isolated by population and political changes in the regions surrounding them.
The name derives from the Greek, Phoinikes, referring to the purple colored dye which the Phoenicians extracted from the murex shell, and with which they produced highly prized textiles.
The major Phoenician cities were Tyre, Sidon, Byblos and Arwad.
5 And I will lay thy flesh upon the mountains, and fill the valleys with thy height.
6 I will also water with thy blood the land wherein thou swimmest, even to the mountains; and the rivers shall be full of thee.
7 And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light.
“I will cover the heaven” – the first of seven clauses threatening the darkness associated with the day of the Lord (see Joel 2:2,
10, 31, 3:15; Amos 5:18-20; Zeph 1:15). Similar things are mentioned in Rev6:13, 8:10, 9:1.
8 All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord GOD.
9 I will also vex the hearts of many people, when I shall bring thy destruction among the nations, into the countries which thou hast not known.
“Vex the hearts” – this and the net verse reflect the fear brought about whenever great world powers fall, reminding lesser nations that they are even more vulnerable. Cf. similar feelings aroused by Tyre’s fall.
10 Yea, I will make many people amazed at thee, and their kings shall be horribly afraid for thee, when I shall brandish my sword before them; and they shall tremble at every moment, every man for his own life, in the day of thy fall.
11 For thus saith the Lord GOD; The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon thee.
When Alexander the Great captured the east coast of the Mediterranean — including all the original Phoenician cities — Carthage and its colonies were left on their own. This happened in 332 BC. A hundred years later a great leader named Hannibal Barca arose to lead Carthage against the young but ambitious city of Rome.
12 By the swords of the mighty will I cause thy multitude to fall, the terrible of the nations, all of them: and they shall spoil the pomp of Egypt, and all the multitude thereof shall be destroyed.
“The terrible of the nations” – Babylon.
13 I will destroy also all the beasts thereof from beside the great waters; neither shall the foot of man trouble them anymore, nor the hoofs of beasts trouble them.
14 Then will I make their waters deep, and cause their rivers to run like oil, saith the Lord GOD.
15 When I shall make the land of Egypt desolate, and the country shall be destitute of that whereof it was full, when I shall smite all them that dwell therein, then shall they know that I am the LORD.
16 This is the lamentation wherewith they shall lament her: the daughters of the nations shall lament her: they shall lament for her, even for Egypt, and for all her multitude, saith the Lord GOD.
17 It came to pass also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
The seventh and last oracle against Egypt.
“Twelfth year…fifteenth day of the month” – no month is given. The whole year dates from April 13, 586 to April 1, 585 B.C.
Obelisks punctuate a temple in Byblos, Lebanon, that was likely dedicated to the god Reshef about 1800 b.c By that time Egypt had already been trading with the cities of the eastern Mediterranean for at least a thousand years, importing luxuries such as wine, olive oil, and cedar timbers.
In return the Phoenicians acquired Egyptian articles such as gold, scarabs, and stone vases, which have survived as votive articles buried at temples. Egyptian papyrus, on which the Phoenicians kept their records, crumbled to dust long ago.
18 Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, even her, and the daughters of the famous nations, unto the nether parts of the earth, with them that go down into the pit.
19 Whom dost thou pass in beauty? go down, and be thou laid with the uncircumcised.
20 They shall fall in the midst of them that are slain by the sword: she is delivered to the sword: draw her and all her multitudes.
21 The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of hell with them that help him: they are gone down, they lie uncircumcised, slain by the sword.
22 Asshur is there and all her company: his graves are about him: all of them slain, fallen by the sword:
23 Whose graves are set in the sides of the pit, and her company is round about her grave: all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which caused terror in the land of the living.
24 There is Elam and all her multitude round about her grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which are gone down uncircumcised into the nether parts of the earth, which caused their terror in the land of the living; yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the pit.
“Elam” – a country east of the Assyria, in present-day Iran.
25 They have set her a bed in the midst of the slain with all her multitude: her graves are round about him: all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword: though their terror was caused in the land of the living, yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the pit: he is put in the midst of them that be slain.
Some think this symbolizes Jezebel before she was thrown over the balcony to the dogs. Phoenician carved ivory panel from Nimrud, northern Iraq, dated to 9th-8th century B.C., and depicting a woman at a window.
26 There is Meshech, Tubal, and all her multitude: her graves are round about him: all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword, though they caused their terror in the land of the living.
“Meshech, Tubal” – peoples and territories in Asia Minor.
27 And they shall not lie with the mighty that are fallen of the uncircumcised, which are gone down to hell with their weapons of war: and they have laid their swords under their heads, but their iniquities shall be upon their bones, though they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.
28 Yea, thou shalt be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised, and shalt lie with them that are slain with the sword.
29 There is Edom, her kings, and all her princes, which with their might are laid by them that were slain by the sword: they shall lie with the uncircumcised, and with them that go down to the pit.
30 There be the princes of the north, all of them, and all the Zidonians, which are gone down with the slain; with their terror they are ashamed of their might; and they lie uncircumcised with them that be slain by the sword, and bear their shame with them that go down to the pit.
31 Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be comforted over all his multitude, even Pharaoh and all his army slain by the sword, saith the Lord GOD.
32 For I have caused my terror in the land of the living: and he shall be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that are slain with the sword, even Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord GOD.
“Zidonians” – Sidonians.
Jezebel The queen whose name became synonymous with all things lewd & wicked.
In 922 B.C., the nation of Israel was torn into two nations, Israel to the north and Judah to the south. Israel was racked by internal tribal differences and, subsequently, became susceptible to frequent invasions.
Jezebel’s story is told in 1st and 2nd Kings. She was a Phoenician princess, the daughter of Ethbaal, king of Tyre. 1 Kgs 16:31 says she was “Sidonian”, which is a biblical term for Phoenicians in general.
According to genealogies given in Josephus and other classical sources, she was the great-aunt of Dido, Queen of Carthage.
It was, however, solidly following the beliefs of Yahweh, the “one and true” God, according to the Bible. Phoenicia (now known as Lebanon) was located to Israel’s north, and on the whole, was just the opposite – cosmopolitan, populous and religiously diverse.
At the beginning of the 9th century, a Phoenician princess named Jezebel was born, the daughter of King Ethball. The Bible does not describe her childhood, but from deductive reasoning, it is assumed that she lived in a fine home and was educated by the best tutors.
Her family worshipped many gods, the most important being Baal, a nature god. While Jezebel was growing into a woman, Israel crowned a new king. To create an alliance with Israel, the king arranged for his son Ahab to wed Jezebel.
Their marriage cemented a political alliance, but it was a dramatic event for the young woman. After enjoying a life of luxury, she was suddenly taken into a conservative society and made to oversee it.
Jezebel eventually became Israel’s Queen. She continued to worship the god Baal, and in doing so, earned many enemies. Her citizens’ displeasure came to a critical point when, at their expense, she brought 800 Baal prophets to Israel and ordered the murder of several prophets.
At this major moment, Elijah, a Christian prophet, appeared. According to the biblical book of Kings, Elijah gave a prophecy: That terrible draught would come upon Israel. Amazingly, famine spread across Jezebel’s land, according to the story.
Final Years
The story of Naboth is perhaps the best-known story of Jezebel’s life. Naboth, a common landowner who lived close to the King’s residence, was asked to give his land to King Ahab as a gift. Incredibly, Naboth refused.
Jezebel, the queen whose name became synonymous with all things lewd and wicked, probably wielded a fair bit of power in ancient Israel, suggests a stone document seal newly traced to the Biblical “bad girl.”
Originally discovered in Israel in 1964, the intricate seal was suspected all along to belong to Queen Jezebel, but confusion over the letters engraved on the stone left some uncertainty. Recently, closer scrutiny of the seal’s engraving revealed markings characteristic of royal objects.
“The lion-sphinx with female head and female Isis-Hathor crown, which is unique, this clearly points to a queen.”
Incited by Naboth’s refusal, Jezebel falsely charged him with blaspheming “God and the king,” and had him condemned to death by stoning. She then took his plot of land.
At this point, Elijah arrived and confronted King Ahab, and then predicted that Ahab and all of his heirs would be killed and that dogs will eat Jezebel (2 Kgs 9:10).
Several years later, Ahab died in a battle against the Syrians, and a man named Jehu was promised the crown if he killed Jezebel’s son, thus taking Jezebel’s power.
Jehu made his way to Jezebel’s palace to murder her, and she, expecting him, applied make-up and dressed herself in finery.
Her actions have been interpreted in a variety of ways – some people believe she was simply dressing for a dignified death. Others believe she was “painting” herself in hopes of seducing Jehu and becoming his mistress.
In the end, she was thrown out of her bedroom window, trampled by horses and eaten by dogs (2 Kgs 10:30-36).
The World Today
The world has always stood against God, and really despise Jesus and hate people that love Him.
The temple of Baal Shamen is in Palmyra, Syria. About 150 miles northeast of Damascus lies Palmyra, Syria, a small town with an airfield and a pipeline pumping station. Nearby are ruins that testify to the glory of ancient Palmyra. A quadruple colonnade flanks the main street for nearly 1 mile.
If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
“If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
He that hateth me hateth my Father also”(Jn 15:18-19, 23).
The hatefulness towards Jesus and us that believe in Him is greater than it’s ever been, but it will get worse.
The citizens of Jezebel’s kingdom hated her, but…
If Jezebel strolled into a boardroom today, she’d be hired in a heartbeat. Intelligent, courageous, and assertive, she was a born leader with considerable influence who boldly took on the competition and got things done.
This pushy Phoenician princess worshiped Baal, a fertility god. She manipulated King Ahab to kill for her. Temple prostitution and child sacrifice were the order of the day. Murdering the prophets of Israel was business as usual. No wonder she’s the Lady Macbeth of the Bible.
Jezebel is back, she’s been here for decades and I wouldn’t be surprised if she becomes the next president, another Hillary Clinton. 
