People who operate in the spirit of Jezebel love to spread rumors, lies, half-truths and partial truths about their victims in order to get other people to believe them as true. They do this because they want to get as many people as possible to not listen to their victims or to not agree with them. Sometimes they do this to get people to hate their victims which allows them to control them more and can cause negative circumstances for them. All it takes is one person to believe a lie about someone else to cause them to go out of their way to try to convince more people of their lies. But God knows the truth.
Ahab wanted Naboth’s vineyard but Naboth would not sell it. So Ahab pouted about it and then when Jezebel heard what happened she devised a plan to kill Naboth by lying about what he said to others and turn them against him.
1 Kings 21 NKJV
Naboth Is Murdered for His Vineyard
21 And it came to pass after these things that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard which was in Jezreel, next to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. 2 So Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, “Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near, next to my house; and for it I will give you a vineyard better than it. Or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its worth in money.”
3 But Naboth said to Ahab, “The Lord forbid that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you!”
4 So Ahab went into his house sullen and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him; for he had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” And he lay down on his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no food. 5 But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said to him, “Why is your spirit so sullen that you eat no food?”
6 He said to her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite, and said to him, ‘Give me your vineyard for money; or else, if it pleases you, I will give you another vineyard for it.’ And he answered, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’ ”
7 Then Jezebel his wife said to him, “You now exercise authority over Israel! Arise, eat food, and let your heart be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”
8 And she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who were dwelling in the city with Naboth. 9 She wrote in the letters, saying,
Proclaim a fast, and seat Naboth with high honor among the people; 10 and seat two men, scoundrels, before him to bear witness against him, saying, “You have blasphemed God and the king.” Then take him out, and stone him, that he may die.
11 So the men of his city, the elders and nobles who were inhabitants of his city, did as Jezebel had sent to them, as it was written in the letters which she had sent to them. 12 They proclaimed a fast, and seated Naboth with high honor among the people. 13 And two men, scoundrels, came in and sat before him; and the scoundrels witnessed against him, against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, “Naboth has blasphemed God and the king!” Then they took him outside the city and stoned him with stones, so that he died. 14 Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned and is dead.”
15 And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, “Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money; for Naboth is not alive, but dead.” 16 So it was, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab got up and went down to take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.
The Lord Condemns Ahab
17 Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 18 “Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who lives in Samaria. There he is, in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone down to take possession of it. 19 You shall speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Have you murdered and also taken possession?” ’ And you shall speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: “In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, dogs shall lick your blood, even yours.” ’ ”
20 So Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me, O my enemy?”
And he answered, “I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the Lord: 21 ‘Behold, I will bring calamity on you. I will take away your posterity, and will cut off from Ahab every male in Israel, both bond and free. 22 I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, because of the provocation with which you have provoked Me to anger, and made Israel sin.’ 23 And concerning Jezebel the Lord also spoke, saying, ‘The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.’ 24 The dogs shall eat whoever belongs to Ahab and dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the field.”
25 But there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do wickedness in the sight of the Lord, because Jezebel his wife stirred him up. 26 And he behaved very abominably in following idols, according to all that the Amorites had done, whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel.
27 So it was, when Ahab heard those words, that he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his body, and fasted and lay in sackcloth, and went about mourning.
28 And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 29 “See how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the calamity in his days. In the days of his son I will bring the calamity on his house.”
Ultimately Jezebel lost her life by being pushed out of a window by her eunuchs via Jehu’s command and then the dogs ate every part of her body except her palms, skull and feet.
What does the Bible say about spreading rumors, lies or half-truths via gossip?
Proverbs 16:28 NKJV
28 A perverse man sows strife,
And a whisperer separates the best of friends.
Interestingly I recently watched an episode of Little House on the Prairie from 1978 called “Whisper Country” in which a woman who had the spirit of Jezebel had accused Mary of flirting with a boy and lied about her to the whole town to turn them against her causing Mary to run away from the town to her father Charles. The woman actually called Mary a Jezebel which most people with the spirit of Jezebel do (they often refer to people as a Narcissist as well). Then Mary and her father Charles both went back to the town and confronted the woman in front of many of the parents and Mary told the whole truth and the woman had to admit that she lied and did not tell the whole truth. That is exactly what people do today is to tell lies and twist circumstances to their version in order to try to turn people against their victims. It’s because they have demons and love to make things up to make people believe that they are innocent and their victims are evil when it is the other way around.
Proverbs 11:13 NIV
13 A gossip betrays a confidence,
but a trustworthy person keeps a secret.
Often times in ministry people talk about private confidential information that they would be greatly embarrassed and hurt by if the information was ever divulged. When a person gossips and betrays the confidence of another it deeply hurts them and God is not pleased.
Ephesians 4:29 NKJV
29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 NIV
9 Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
Titus 3:10 NIV
10 Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them.
Thus it is not to be tolerated, period. If you ever hear a person spreading gossip about another tell them to stop and if they do it again then have nothing to do with them. Usually their life will be ungodly and not in line with the Lord so it’s best to distance yourself from them altogether. They are definitely not a kingdom person and most likely need healed from their soul wounds and delivered from the demons that they are listening to.
Matthew 5:11 NKJV
11 Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.
When people say all kinds of evil about you and persecute you then understand that you will be blessed by the Lord. It is not fun to go through but the Lord will often bless you in front of your enemies as we are called to love our enemies and pray for them.