And of Jezebel also spake the LORD, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.
The Lord's word concerning Jezebel was a specific sentence of judgment that dogs would eat her by the wall of Jezreel. That doom was delivered through Elijah upon Ahab and all his house after the murder of Naboth and Ahab's seizure of Naboth's vineyard. The sentence on Jezebel formed part of that fearful message of destruction pronounced against Ahab's house and household.
The judgment answered Ahab's evil in leading Israel into sin, specifically the gigantic evil of idolatry supported by Ahab and the heathen Jezebel which had seduced the nation. Jezebel used her position to sway the king and lead Israel into sin, strengthening and sustaining Ahab in wrongdoing and stirring him up. Her evil influence over him was exercised from the first and continued through the later years of his life, bearing fruit in deeds of shame and violence seldom equaled in sacred history.
Ahab, who sold himself to work wickedness, was naturally covetous and followed the dictates of his evil heart until fully controlled by the spirit of selfishness, brooking no refusal of his wishes and feeling that the things he desired should by right be his. Yet Ahab's humility delayed the judgment pronounced on his house until his son's days. The setting shows Ahab as a man of very great authority and responsibility, yet God is above even that authority and His sovereignty is supreme. Even those with as much authority as Ahab remain under God and will find His rule over them, so control of the large interests of God's work cannot be vested wholly in human judgment and human will without seeking God's will, God's way, and God's counsel as indispensable.
The Lord's word concerning Jezebel was a specific sentence of judgment that dogs would eat her by the wall of Jezreel. That doom was delivered through Elijah upon Ahab and all his house after the murder of Naboth and Ahab's seizure of Naboth's vineyard. The sentence on Jezebel formed part of that fearful message of destruction pronounced against Ahab's house and household.
The judgment answered Ahab's evil in leading Israel into sin, specifically the gigantic evil of idolatry supported by Ahab and the heathen Jezebel which had seduced the nation. Jezebel used her position to sway the king and lead Israel into sin, strengthening and sustaining Ahab in wrongdoing and stirring him up. Her evil influence over him was exercised from the first and continued through the later years of his life, bearing fruit in deeds of shame and violence seldom equaled in sacred history.
Ahab, who sold himself to work wickedness, was naturally covetous and followed the dictates of his evil heart until fully controlled by the spirit of selfishness, brooking no refusal of his wishes and feeling that the things he desired should by right be his. Yet Ahab's humility delayed the judgment pronounced on his house until his son's days. The setting shows Ahab as a man of very great authority and responsibility, yet God is above even that authority and His sovereignty is supreme. Even those with as much authority as Ahab remain under God and will find His rule over them, so control of the large interests of God's work cannot be vested wholly in human judgment and human will without seeking God's will, God's way, and God's counsel as indispensable.