Nemesis

King AhabOn the Patron Saint page it was established that people are allowed to follow his or her life’s work after they die (Rev.14:13), which includes not just people who had ministries, but those who were diligently, passionately doing their own thing in life.

The exceptions are those who either:

a. Intentionally, deliberately worshiped Satan, i.e. made pacts with him

Or,

b. Intentionally, deliberately were rebelling against God, i.e. “blasphemed against the Holy Ghost”

For those who willfully, knowingly worshiped Satan, they go to Hell because that’s truly where their heart is:

21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Matthew 6:21)

For those who blasphemed against the Holy Ghost, it means that they had a witness of God by the Holy Ghost (or angels, visions, visitations, tours of Heaven, etc.) and chose to turn against Him:

31 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. (Matthew 12:31)

Their consciences become so pricked after death, that they cast themselves into that place furthest from God—Hell:

26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. (Hebrews 10:26-27)

Until the last judgment, Heaven allows our hearts to direct us after death. If we have the least bit of love for God, we will return to Him, if only for a life review, and then on to wherever else our love pulls us. This is reported by people who have a Near-Death Experience; they were given a choice to stay, or return to earth; it was their choice:

7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. (Ecclesiastes 12:7)

21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Matthew 6:21)

40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. (Hebrews 11:40)

40 For God had something better in mind for us, so that they would not reach perfection without us. (NLT)

This means there are principalities, powers, and dominions throughout the spirit world that surrounds the earth, whose roots can be traced to humans, not Satan. The following scriptures support the premise:

12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Ephesians 6:12)

20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: (Ephesians 1:20-21)

15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. (Colossians 2:15)

In the following account, it is presumed that the evil “prince of the kingdom of Persia,” and the “prince of Grecia” were fallen angels, but they very well may have been past rulers of those countries, who were highly revered in life and idolized after death. Those who venerated them in life would most likely follow them in death, increasing their dominions there.

12 Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.
13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.
20 Then said he, Knowest thou wherefore I come unto thee? and now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia: and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shall come. (Daniel 10:12-13, 20)

Their kingdoms throughout the spirit world would have waned and disappeared once their earthly counterparts died out so to keep their kingdoms alive they must learn to infiltrate religions by imitating their god, a saint, or spirit.

Some of the world’s largest religions are quite old, and it’s fair to say that not all of them have avoided becoming spiritually infiltrated, or infested by deceivers. When new religions form, they usually break off from older ones, and will carry some of their deceptions with them. Consider Christianity, Protestants broke away from the Roman Catholics, and though they stripped away many of their false doctrines and practices, many still remain (see Pagan Christianity for examples). Pentecostals broke away from the Protestants, and with every break the ease by which deceiving spirits can infiltrate has grown exponentially through mystery and intrigue with speaking in “unknown tongues,” and the feverish pursuit of “signs and wonders.”

The evidence of this is the sheer number of conflicting denominations; God’s spirit unifies, it does not divide. God’s spirit cares more about others, i.e. the poor and needy, and less about building empires.

So, just as there is a Patron Saint over The Army of the Lord (Elisha), who might the Patron Deceiver be over these many Christians? The person who brought in the greatest deception, who amassed great clout in the spirit world after dying was “the house of Ahab” with King Ahab at its head. He was the King of Israel, of whom was reported did “more evil” than all before him:

30 And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD above all that were before him.
31 And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him.
32 And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria.
33 And Ahab made a grove [pole]; and Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him. (1 Kings 16:30-33)

While most Bible Commentators call King Ahab “weak” and ascribe the strength of his crimes to his wife, the above verse clarifies that he had already achieved his “more wicked” status before marrying Jezebel (v.30). This is partly true because of his father Omri, who himself had achieved a similar status of being “more wicked” than all that were before him:

25 But Omri wrought evil in the eyes of the LORD, and did worse than all that were before him. (1 Kings 16:25)

Bible writers point to Ahab as the head of the evil, not his father, and not his wife. Look at the many references to “the house of Ahab”:

16 And in the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel, Jehoshaphat being then king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah began to reign.
17 Thirty and two years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.
18 And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab: for the daughter of Ahab was his wife: and he did evil in the sight of the LORD. (2 Kings 8:16-18)

25 In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel did Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah begin to reign.
26 Two and twenty years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Athaliah, the daughter of Omri king of Israel.
27 And he walked in the way of the house of Ahab, and did evil in the sight of the LORD, as did the house of Ahab: for he was the son in law of the house of Ahab. (2 Kings 8:25-27)

10 Know now that there shall fall unto the earth nothing of the word of the LORD, which the LORD spake concerning the house of Ahab: for the LORD hath done that which he spake by his servant Elijah.
11 So Jehu slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, and his kinsfolks, and his priests, until he left him none remaining. (2 Kings 10:10-11)

30 And the LORD said unto Jehu, Because thou hast done well in executing that which is right in mine eyes, and hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in mine heart, thy children of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel. (2 Kings 10:30)

13 And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down. (2 Kings 21:13)

5 Jehoram was thirty and two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.
6 And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, like as did the house of Ahab: for he had the daughter of Ahab to wife: and he wrought that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD. (2 Chronicles 21:5 – 6)

12 And there came a writing to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of David thy father, Because thou hast not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat thy father, nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah,
13 But hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to go a whoring, like to the whoredoms of the house of Ahab, and also hast slain thy brethren of thy father’s house, which were better than thyself:
14 Behold, with a great plague will the LORD smite thy people, and thy children, and thy wives, and all thy goods:
15 And thou shalt have great sickness by disease of thy bowels, until thy bowels fall out by reason of the sickness day by day. (2 Chronicles 21:12-15)

2 Forty and two years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name also was Athaliah the daughter of Omri.
3 He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab: for his mother was his counsellor to do wickedly.
4 Wherefore he did evil in the sight of the LORD like the house of Ahab: for they were his counsellors after the death of his father to his destruction.
7 And the destruction of Ahaziah was of God by coming to Joram: for when he was come, he went out with Jehoram against Jehu the son of Nimshi, whom the LORD had anointed to cut off the house of Ahab.
8 And it came to pass, that, when Jehu was executing judgment upon the house of Ahab, and found the princes of Judah, and the sons of the brethren of Ahaziah, that ministered to Ahaziah, he slew them. (2 Chronicles 22:2-8)

16 For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab, and ye walk in their counsels; that I should make thee a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof an hissing: therefore ye shall bear the reproach of my people. (Micah 6:16)

Even in their prophesied destruction, the prophecy refers to “the house of Ahab”:

7 And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the LORD, at the hand of Jezebel.
8 For the whole house of Ahab shall perish: and I will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel:
9 And I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah:
10 And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her. And he opened the door, and fled. (2 Kings 9:7-10)

Ahab’s daughter continued to spread their wickedness:

ATHALIAHath-a-li’-a (`athalyah; meaning uncertain, perhaps, “whom Yahweh has afflicted”; 2 Kings 8:26; 2 Kings 11 2 Chronicles 22, 23):

1. Relationship:

(1) Daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, grand-daughter of Omri, 6th king of Israel. In her childhood the political relations of the two kingdoms of Judah and Israel had, after many years of strife, become friendly, and she was married to Jehoram, eldest son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah (2 Kings 8:18). The marriage was one of political expediency, and is a blot on the memory of Jehoshaphat.

2. Athaliah as Queen:

When Jehoram was 32 years of age, he succeeded to the throne, and Athaliah became queen of Judah. She inherited her mother’s strength of will, and like her developed a fanatical devotion to the cult of the Zidonian Baal. Elijah’s blow at the worship of Baal in Samaria shortly before her accession to power did nothing to mitigate her zeal. It probably intensified it. The first recorded act of Jehoram’s reign is the murder of his six younger brothers; some princes of the realm, who were known to be favorable to the ancient faith of the nation, were also destroyed (2 Chronicles 21:4). There can be little doubt that these deeds of blood were supported, and perhaps instigated, by Athaliah, who was a much stronger character than her husband.

3. Murder of Her Grandchildren:

After eight years of royal life, Athaliah became a widow, and her son, Ahaziah, then 22 years of age (2 Kings 8:26; not 42 as in 2 Chronicles 22:2), ascended his father’s throne. As queen-mother, Athaliah was now supreme in the councils of the nation, as well as in the royal palace. Within a single year, the young king fell (see JEHU), and the only persons who stood between Athaliah and the throne were her grandchildren. It is in such moments that ambition, fired by fanaticism, sees its opportunity, and the massacre of the royal seed was determined on. This was carried out: but one of them, Jehoash, a babe, escaped by the intervention of his aunt, Jehosheba (1 Kings 11:2 2 Chronicles 22:11).

4. Her Usurpation:

The palace being cleared of its royal occupants, Athaliah had herself proclaimed sovereign. No other woman, before or since, sat upon the throne of David, and it is a proof of her energy and ability that, in spite of her sex, she was able to keep it for six years. From 2 Chronicles 24:7 we gather that a portion of the temple of Yahweh was pulled down, and the material used in the structure of a temple of Baal.

5. The Counter-Revolution:

The high priest at this time was Jehoiada, who had married the daughter of Athaliah, Jehosheba (2 Chronicles 22:11). His promotion to the primacy led to the undoing of the usurper, as Jehoiada proved staunchly, if secretly, true to the religion of Yahweh. For six years he and his wife concealed in their apartments, near the temple, the young child of Ahaziah. In the seventh year a counter-revolution was planned. The details are given with unusual fullness in Ki and Chronicles, the writings of which supplement one another. Thus, when the Chronicler wrote, it had become safe to give the names of five captains who led the military rising (2 Chronicles 23:1). With the Book of Ki before him, it was not necessary to do more than extract from the ancient records such particulars as had not hitherto appeared. This it is which has chiefly given rise to the charge of variations in the two narratives. See JEHOASH.

6. Her Death:

At the time of her deposition, Athaliah was resident in the royal palace. When roused to a sense of danger by the acclamations which greeted the coronation ceremony, she made an attempt to stay the revolt by rushing into the temple court, alone; her guards, according to Josephus, having been prevented from following her (Ant., IX, vii, 3). A glance sufficed. It showed her the lad standing on a raised platform before the temple, holding the Book of the Law in his hand, and with the crown upon his brow. Rending her robe and shouting, “Treason! Treason!” she fled. Some were for cutting her down as she did so, but this was objected to as defiling the temple with human blood. She was, therefore, allowed to reach the door of the palace in flight. Here she fell, smitten by the avenging guards.

The only other reference to Athaliah is that above alluded to in 2 Chronicles 24:7, where she is spoken of as “that wicked woman.” (W. Shaw Caldecott, International Standard Bible Encyclopedia)

God answered this deception by sending the prophet Elijah to challenge the false prophets of Baal to see whose God would burn up their sacrifice:

19 Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel’s table.
20 So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto mount Carmel.
21 And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word. (1 Kings 18:19-21)

37 Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.
38 Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.
39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God.
40 And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there.
(1 Kings 18:37-40)

As great of a triumph that it was, it was not enough to sway the house of Ahab. Jezebel, upon hearing the news swore by her own gods to do to Elijah what he did to their prophets. Despite all of Elijah’s power (and he had much) he was now afraid for his life and fled the area. It would be under the watch of his predecessor Elisha to deal with the remaining evil.

Summation

Elisha is the Patron Saint for The Army of the Lord, and his Nemesis is the house of Ahab, with Ahab at its head. Their original feud extends to the current day. 

 

<– | –>