Understand then, there are parts of the Bible where, if you look past the natural story, you see the hidden spirit realm. It tells us that this woman, and the spirit we're talking about - although we may call it the spirit of Jezebel, it is not a ‘woman’ spirit. In the spirit realm, there's neither male nor female. It's a spirit that finds an expression, in this case through a woman; but it can also express through a man; or through an organisation; or through a family; but it usually finds a person that it gains access to, to operate through, and then its desire is to do a whole number of things…
When you look at the gods that they worshipped, they worshipped the god Baal, and the god Ashtara. If you have a look at it, you'll start to see, that it’s what is happening today, on a big scale. It's an old spirit at work. Baal was a god of the storms, the god of thunder, and the god of divination. Baal was a god they worshipped, and one of the ways they worshipped was they offered, and they sacrificed their children. Their children died to please Baal. That same spirit is at work today - look at the increase in abortion!
She seduced Ahab. He become entangled with her through the marriage; she seduced him, and he sold himself to do evil. He just gave himself over to follow what she wanted, so he could gain advantage; but in the end, he lost everything. Let me just tell you what the agenda is, and you find this by just looking through the scripture, through the story.
If God refers to it, at the end in Malachi, it must be important. It must be something significant. When John the Baptist came, preparing the way of the Lord, preparing for Jesus to come, he said: this is the same spirit. “The spirit of Elijah is on him” - preparing hearts for an encounter and carrying a revival. That's the anointing God wants to release on you.
What is the agenda? There are several things...
#1 - To steal your Inheritance. The spirit of Jezebel is a power at work, that wants to steal your inheritance.
If you read the story in the Bible, there was a man named Naboth. He had a vineyard, and it was his inheritance; it was his provision from the Lord, through his family line. It was something that was handed down to him - He didn't have to work for it, it came down by inheritance. Christ has won many things for us by inheritance; but the devil wants to steal them from you. He is committed to taking everything that Christ won at the cross - your healing, your deliverance, your confidence, your identity, everything that Christ won - to remove it by deception, to remove it by accusation.
One of the big problems that Christians have, is struggling with guilt and condemnation. In other words, the victory, the acceptance that Christ won, has been stolen away from you. It comes as a thief to steal, and you don't notice that it's being stolen, but you lose your peace. You lose your sense of identity; and then you start to find it in other things.
I find so many people struggling with a deep pain, deep grief of rejection and deep insecurity on the inside. They've had their vineyard ripped off. What God said is for your provision for you, to supply not only yourself but your family, has been stolen by deception. She raised a false accusation, and raised up false witnesses, and then she had him killed, to get his vineyard. The inheritance, what God has provided for you, promises for your money, your finances, your marriage, your personal life, your health - the devil wants to steal those things away from you.
#2 - To steal your Legacy. Your legacy is what you will leave to the next generation. In Malachi 4:6, he said he will “turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers”, meaning there's a breach in the family relationships, and no longer are the families united, but they're embittered against one another.
I've prayed for businessmen, and they've got a lot of things going for them, in terms of money, but their family is a wreck. Their legacy has been ruined. The legacy you leave… it's not all the money you get. The legacy you leave are the people you have built up, and invested in, that carry on the values and the life that you've given them. Think about that.
The legacy is, first of all, natural. It's our own family, and the next generation. The devil wants to steal the next generation. We are very active working to invest, we've got seven children, and now we're investing in the grandchildren - we have 24 grandchildren. All families are in church, but there was a fight to hold onto the legacy. I had to fight for every one of them, in prayer. Every one of them could have been lost. There's a warfare for the next generation. You have to stand in prayer - husband and wife, standing together, believing God, holding God's promises over their family, and intentionally investing into them.