What can we learn from Jezebel's actions about the dangers of pride? A Snapshot of Jezebel’s Final Scene • 2 Kings 9:30 – “When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard about it. She painted her eyes and adorned her head and looked down from a window.” • This is the last recorded act of the notorious queen. Instead of humbling herself, she chooses cosmetics, ceremony, and a dramatic display from an elevated window. • Her posture sums up a life steeped in pride—trusting self-promotion, outward beauty, and mocking defiance rather than repentance. Pride Masks the Need for Repentance • Jezebel decorates her face while divine judgment is literally at the city gate. • Proverbs 16:18: “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” • Pride convinces the heart that image management is more urgent than soul management. Pride Relies on Outward Appearance, Not Inward Reality • 1 Samuel 16:7 reminds that “man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” • Jezebel’s cosmetics are a last-ditch effort to retain control; yet the LORD’s assessment pierces the makeup. • 1 Peter 3:3-4 contrasts external adornment with “the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit,” underscoring the emptiness of surface solutions. Pride Elevates Self and Looks Down on Others • Jezebel “looked down from a window.” The literal vantage point mirrors her lifelong spiritual posture—looking down on God’s people and God’s word. • Obadiah 1:3 warns, “The pride of your heart has deceived you, O dweller in the clefts of the rock… who say in your heart, ‘Who can bring me down?’” • Pride breeds contempt, blinding a person to imminent danger. Pride Hardens the Heart Against God’s Warnings • Jezebel had witnessed unstoppable prophetic words against Baal, the drought, fire from heaven, and the deaths of the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18-19). • Rather than repent, she doubled down, threatening Elijah and perpetuating idolatry. • Hebrews 3:13 cautions that sin’s deceitfulness hardens the heart; Jezebel epitomizes that hardening. Pride Invites Sudden and Severe Judgment • 2 Kings 9:33-37 records her violent demise, exactly as Elijah foretold (1 Kings 21:23). • God’s word proves literally true; pride cannot overturn divine decrees. • Psalm 18:27: “You save an afflicted people, but You humble those with haughty eyes.” Pride Spreads Corruption to Others • Jezebel’s pride was contagious—leading her husband Ahab, her children, and an entire nation into rebellion (1 Kings 21:25-26). • 1 Corinthians 15:33: “Bad company corrupts good morals.” • The proud heart rarely sins alone; it drafts others into its orbit. Pride Resists Grace, Humility Receives It • James 4:6: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” • Jezebel stands opposed and receives wrath; Jehu, though imperfect, becomes an instrument of judgment because he aligns with God’s word. • The stark contrast highlights the safety found in humility. Living Lessons for Today • Beware the impulse to manage appearances when God is calling for repentance. • Evaluate whether any “high window” of superiority or disdain has formed in the heart. • Cultivate inner beauty—humility, repentance, reverence—over external impression. • Remember that every prophetic word of Scripture is certain; pride cannot nullify it. • Encourage one another toward humility, knowing that grace flows freely to the lowly and judgment awaits the unrepentant proud. |
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