Identifying the Jezebel and Delilah Spirits
The spirits look the same but act differently.
Years ago I was invited to speak at a church in another country.
All throughout the region of that country, senior pastors from several churches had fallen into sexual sin.
In each case, a male senior leader had engaged in an affair with a younger woman.
These women had stayed with the senior pastors until they were fired from their positions, then moved on.
The church attendees asked me, “Please, can you pray with us and rebuke this Jezebel Spirit? It’s so strong in our region.”
I asked the Holy Spirit for His insight, and He showed me, “These churches aren’t dealing with a Jezebel Spirit at all. Instead they’re fighting with a Delilah Spirit.”
What are the Jezebel and Delilah Spirits?
The Jezebel and Delilah spirits are demonic spirits that the enemy uses to attack God’s people. The spirits are named after individuals in the Old Testament, Jezebel and Delilah.
Jezebel was a wicked queen who lived during the time of Ahab’s reign (1 Kings). Jezebel used her relationship with King Ahab to promote her ungodly ideas of Baal worship.
Jezebel recognized she had no real authority on her own, so she attached herself to a powerful leader to stay in power.
Delilah, in contrast, was a Philistine woman who was in relationship with Samson, one of Israel’s judges (Judges 16). Delilah used her relationship with Samson to find out the source of his strength and betray him to his enemies.
Both Jezebel and Delilah used control and manipulation to destroy God’s anointed, but the outcome of their attacks was much different.
Whereas Jezebel wanted to use her relationship with Ahab to destroy God’s people from a place of influence (like a tyrant), Delilah wanted to discover the source of Samson’s strength at an individual level and sabotage it.
Those who partner with a Delilah spirit want to sabotage God’s anointed, remove their strength, then move on. Those who partner with a Jezebel spirit want to attach themselves to someone more powerful so they can increase in influence.
Using your Gift of Discernment
Now, I’m not saying there are actual “Jezebel” and “Delilah” spirits floating around in the spiritual realm. However, I do believe we can study people’s lives from Scripture and see how the enemy uses the same tactics over and over again. (This is how we label spirits in a Sozo session. We see the evidence of a spirit that has influenced a person’s life and call it out by name [like fear, hatred, or perversion].)
Be careful not to ignore the spiritual realm (see Ephesians 6:12). The enemy may attack us in several different ways, so it is always best to ask the Lord for insight. By correctly identifying the spirits that are harassing us, we can quickly break agreement with them, confess any sin to God that opened a door to their influence, and release God’s presence over our situation.
This week ask the Lord if there are any attacks the enemy is waging in your life. Discern what the real root issue is — the underlying tactic — and pray against it through confession and repentance or simple declarations of God’s truth. Remember not to pray out a place of fear, but from a place of hope and faith, knowing that your prayers are being heard and answered.