Brian Godawa - The Spiritual World of Jezebel and Elijah: Biblical Background to the Novel Jezebel: Harlot Queen of Israel

Many of my readers like to learn about the biblical and historical research behind my novels after theyve read them. The fact behind the fiction. It helps bring context and explains some of the stranger things of the novels to those who are intellectually and spiritually curious. This book is a presentation of the research behind my novel Jezebel: Harlot Queen of Israel . The truth is that the material in this book is so fascinating it can be read on its own by those who hunger as I do to uncover the ancient Near Eastern background of the biblical text.

The novel retells the biblical story centered around Queen Jezebel of Israel that can be found in 1 Kings 16 through 2 Kings 11. Jezebel, a daughter of the king of Tyre, marries King Ahab of Israel in the ninth century B.C. The marriage is a political one for the purposes of uniting in defense against the hostile Aramean kingdom in the north. Despite the pragmatism, king and queen find themselves falling in love.

Tyre, a Phoenician coastal city, is cosmopolitan and Canaanite. So Jezebel brings wealth, sophistication, and culture to a less advanced agrarian Israel. Unfortunately, she also brings the worship of Baal, the storm god of Canaan, and even builds a temple to him in Samaria, the heart of Israel.

Since Israel is supposed to be monotheist in its worship of Yahweh alone, the prophet Elijah the Tishbite and his students at the School of Prophets rise up to condemn Jezebel and call Ahab and Israel back to Yahweh from their spiritual adultery with Baal. This leads to a series of confrontations between the two worldviews that play out in the narrative, the most famous of which is the Mount Carmel episode of calling fire down from heaven.

But Jezebel doesnt give up. She fights back to gain more power and even trains Ahabs sister Athaliah to emulate her ways as future queen down in Judah. Jezebels ruthless ambition forces a climactic battle that jeopardizes an entire family dynasty of kings.

The story of the novel is told through the eyes of Jehu son of Nimshi, who is the commander of the army of Israel. Jehu is a man who struggles with dual loyalty to both God and King. His dilemma becomes more pressing as the king whom Yahweh anointed strays from his God. As Jezebels power grows, Jehu must rise up to do what is right, facing the loss of everything he holds dear, or suffer the damning consequences of doing nothing.

Another unique aspect of the novel is the depiction of the spiritual world. As I will explain in Chapter 2, the novel pulls back the curtain of the unseen realm. It depicts the spiritual principalities and powers that reign behind pagan Gentile nations and how they have influence on the course of history. Baal, Asherah, Molech, and others are not mere myths without bite. They are actual names of demonic powers that are real and have their own agenda.

Though this is obviously speculative, the principle is biblical. This is not simplistic spiritual warfare of demons of lust and gossip clinging to us like bacterial ghosts of influence. This is the bigger picture of higher entities of power ruling over Gentile nations as depicted in Deuteronomy 32:8-10 and Psalm 82. Nevertheless, the storyline of these spiritual powers is intended to reflect the mythology of pagans and how it reflects spiritual reality within a biblical worldview.

Thus, as Jezebel seeks to implant Baal worship in Israel, we see the spiritual entity named Baal and his allies, Astarte, Asherah, Anat, and others maneuver for power in the spiritual territories of Israel and Judah, much like human mobsters might maneuver for power over their regions in a city under their control.

But Yahweh and his archangels have other plans to protect the seed of David from the Seed of the Serpent. That is the basic storyline of the novel Jezebel: Harlot Queen of Israel . Now enjoy learning about the historical and biblical research behind it all.