The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1903-03-30

took as. his subject last Sunday night
"Jezebel, the Bad Queen of Good Hus-
band
And Ahab, the son of Omri. did evil
in the sight of the Lord above all that
were before him. 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 lid
onians. and went and served Baal, and
worshpped him.. ] Kings, xvi. 302i,
Our present study is a great contrast to
the last, which we SO much enjoyed. There
is no greater woman in the Old Bible
than. Deborah. while Jezebel undoubted-
~ is one of the meanest women in his
tory. I nave read of other very bad
women in the Bible. have read of
not a few in profane history and l have
seen quite a number with my own eyes.
but I am quite sure the world never had
a worse woman than Jezebel. the wife
of Ahab
The first we hear of her importance is
that she is the wife of Ahab She was
a Phoenicfan princess. daughter of Eth
baal king of the Zidonians She was of
bad stock. Her father was an idoator.
He united with his royal office that of
the priesthood of the goddess of Astorte,
the principal female divinity of the Phoc
nicians. as Baal was the principal male
divinity. He was also a man OF covetous
heart and bloody hands. He came to his
throne by the murder Of his brother, who
occupied the throne. She was also a wom-
an of voluptuous habits. Her training
in the court of Phoenicia was such as
to open up every avenue of sin. The court
HE of the old world has ever been cor
,,, I. .I,y c,-i,,,
and scandal ever turks about the royal
palaces. But this was specially true of
Phoenicia. Never was there more damn
able social and religious atmosphere.
Turning the Tide.
Alab. on the other hand. was of good
old Israelitish stock and brought up in
the service Of Israel's God. His marriage
to this winsome. wicked voluptuous.
heather woman was his own permanent
ruin and the cause of the turning of the
tide in Israels life. Not only was the
union with a Canaanitish wife forbidden
but by her revelry and sin she polluted
the whole people of her dominion. Ahab
was weakling before her From the very
first she dominated not only his own
private life. but his throne. his religion
and the religion of his people. So infer
nal was her influence that Jehu said Of
her when he advanced to overthrow the
dynasty Of Ahab: what peace, so long as
the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and
her Witchcrafts are so many? There is
no estimating the influence that is exerted
even today by the conduct of one who is
at the head of the government When
Mrs. Grover Cleveland refused to allow
wine at the white house it did more to
check the punch bowl fad of silly society
than all the denunciation Of all the tenn
perance women in America When
Charles b. Aycock the present eloquent.
able and fearless governor OF the Old
North Sta lie. came squarely out for tenl-
perance legislation in North Carolina.
it set the state on fire and made his name
immortal among the best men and women
Of the state If the governor of Georgia
would do the same thing. we would crush
the open saloon in a day.
The First Step Downward
The first step Of her wicked influence
upon her husband was the immediate
breaking down Of his religion and the es-
tablishment Of idol worship on a grand
scale. There is no surer step to ruin than
when one gives up his religion. ! have
observed many young man and woman
reared by pious parents come to the city
Iney were al first faithful and devoat
They would be reg Ilar in their religious
habits. Their lives We're pure and chaste.
have observed them, however under the
influence Of strange comrades begin to
surrender their old habits and take on
others ] have noted their downward
progress and finally their eternal ruin.
1t has only been short time since | saw
just this course in young woman When
she left her home she was as pure as 4
snowflake She had regular habits OF de-
Voton. She thought pure thoughts and
FTacticed pure deeds. But she got in with
the wrong crowd. Her first step down
ward. as she told it herself. was neglect
of prayer t night when she went 10 bed
She then began to stay away from church,
and finally to the depth Of an earthly hell
She plunged
This vas true Of lAhab under the inhu-
ence Of Jezebel. She was not content to
worship Idols herself, but she must be a
propaganda of idolatry upon a very
progressive plan in The court OF Ahab
she supported not less than four hundred
and fifty prophets Of Baal. and four hun
dred Of Asjorte. The true prophets Of
jehovah, isracl's cod were from time
to time put To death by th4 various
orders Of these faise prophets HOW
aggressive the devil is. GOD never I'M
dertook any enterprise that the devI
did not try to put ii down. That is a
good Nay TO tell whether thing s of
God or moi. If il is Of God The devil
is gong to be found hanging around
somewhere. never started anything in
my life FOR God that ,lid not have 10
constantly keep the dogs on line devil. \
man said TO me nos long ago: Ever
since I got religion have had trouble
wish everything I have attempted to
do" said: TO II, sure sou do The
devil is stirred up now and is making
war against You" Let US not imagine
because we are tempted and tried that
We are not on Gods side The people
of God have always been tried by Satan.
r. VAS true Of our Lord.
Wrath Revealed
The war against The prophets Of Israel
continued until finally God revealed His
wrath Elijah. the Tishbite Of Gilead
came over and sounded the first note OF
warning Observe he did not come over
and sneak around and lay plots to over
throw The king. nor did he come preach
ing generaties. file came direct to King
Ahab and pronhesed in the naI>e 81
the God Of Israel. He declared that
-Ahabs land should have no rain nor