Oprah, Jezebel & the Law of Double Reference
In a recent conversation with a friend of mine, I was reminded of a dream I’d had within the past couple years. I’m sure I wrote it down somewhere, but had not remembered it until that very moment. This was the dream.
Oprah, Backed by Jezebel
I was backstage of a (theater) playhouse with Ms. Winfrey. It was just the two of us in what, I suppose, was [her] dressing room. She was her very Oprah-est with me: kind, warm, full of hugs, and good ideas. And she had an idea for me: something to do with travelling the world, teaching children.
There was nothing wrong with the idea, nothing bad about it. I love kids and teaching is a noble profession. It was actually a warm, fuzzy type dream. I couldn’t quite place what was wrong with it--if there was anything wrong with it in the dream; I struggled to gather my thoughts, to find my words. But I very graciously declined her. I knew it wasn’t what I was supposed to do. I think she may have extended the opportunity again and again, I graciously declined.
And then something snapped.
I couldn’t hear it, couldn’t see it, and she didn’t say anything. But from that point onward, I perceived, I knew, she wanted to kill me. Again, she didn’t say anything; she had no weapons in her hand, but her intent was sure as the day is long. I could read it in her eyes.
So I lunged toward every reachable door seeking escape. Door after door after door was locked. She’d locked me into the room and I didn’t even know it! But thankfully, I found one she thought she’d locked but hadn’t and raced out of it, across the stage, through the auditorium, until I was away from her clutches.
Upon waking up, I knew who I’d dealt with: it wasn’t Oprah, it was the spirit behind Oprah. It was Jezebel.
The Law of Double Reference
This is the Law of Double Reference: when a natural person is addressed and simultaneously, the demonic spirit or principality behind that person is equally addressed. Cindy Jacobs recently wrote about this in a Generals International post, “Overcoming the Strongman”:
The law of double reference—when a visible person is addressed, but certain statements also refer to an invisible entity who is using the visible creature as a tool. (Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible)
The Kings of Tyre and Babylon, Backed by Lucifer
The prophets Ezekiel and Isaiah both displayed this Law. Let’s start with Ezekiel.
Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “You were the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, Beryl, onyx, and jasper, Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes Was prepared for you on the day you were created. You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you. By the abundance of your trading You became filled with violence within, And you sinned; Therefore I cast you as a profane thing Out of the mountain of God; And I destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the fiery stones. Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor; I cast you to the ground, I laid you before kings, That they might gaze at you. You defiled your sanctuaries By the multitude of your iniquities, By the iniquity of your trading; Therefore I brought fire from your midst; It devoured you, And I turned you to ashes upon the earth In the sight of all who saw you. All who knew you among the peoples are astonished at you; You have become a horror, And shall be no more forever.”’” (Ezekiel 28:11-19)
A similar passage in Isaiah reads:
It shall come to pass in the day the Lord gives you rest from your sorrow, and from your fear and the hard bondage in which you were made to serve, that you will take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say: “How the oppressor has ceased, The golden city ceased! The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked, The scepter of the rulers; He who struck the people in wrath with a continual stroke, He who ruled the nations in anger, Is persecuted and no one hinders. The whole earth is at rest and quiet; They break forth into singing. Indeed the cypress trees rejoice over you, And the cedars of Lebanon, Saying, ‘Since you were cut down, No woodsman has come up against us.’ Hell from beneath is excited about you, To meet you at your coming; It stirs up the dead for you, All the chief ones of the earth; It has raised up from their thrones; All the kings of the nations. They all shall speak and say to you: ‘Have you also become as weak as we? Have you become like us? Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, And the sound of your stringed instruments; The maggot is spread under you, And worms cover you.’ “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit. “Those who see you will gaze at you, And consider you, saying: ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, Who shook kingdoms, Who made the world as a wilderness. And destroyed its cities, Who did not open the house of his prisoners?’ “All the kings of the nations, All of them, sleep in glory, Everyone in his own house; But you are cast out of your grave Like an abominable branch, Like the garment of those who are slain, Thrust through with a sword, Who go down to the stones of the pit, Like a corpse trodden underfoot. You will not be joined with them in burial, Because you have destroyed your land And slain your people. The brood of evildoers shall never be named. Prepare slaughter for his children Because of the iniquity of their fathers, Lest they rise up and possess the land, And fill the face of the world with cities.” (Isaiah 14:3-21)
It would seem that, like the future AntiChrist himself, and like Oprah, the natural figures of the King of Tyre and the King of Babylon are possessed by the strongman who rules the ruler and thus, the region: Satan. This is easily seen in the cases of Tyre and Babylon.
Over the ages, we who speak English and related languages have said that the term “babel” comes from the sound that a baby makes, what someone who can’t understand another language thinks it sounds like. Thus we assume that the Tower of Babel was named such because that is the place where God came down and confused the language of the people (Gen. 11). That is what many definitions of the word will tell you. But that is not the original, Babylonian meaning of the word.
Babel in its original language means “gate of the gods.” Bab-El. “El” means “lord” or “god.” With this in mind, it also makes more sense now why Nimrod in all of his arrogant foolery attempted to build a Tower to reach Heaven. He wasn’t just trying to make a (phallic) monument unto himself. He wasn’t even just trying to stick it to God by saying, “If You send another Flood, I dare you to try and drown me now!” (Even though had he bothered to speak with his great uncles he would have known that God already promised never again to do this.) But he also built Babel to reach the gods? What gods? The “gods” that all the ancient religions around the world believe came down among and interacted with men. You and I know them to be fallen angels who rebelled against God. Not gods themselves, but craving the worship the one true God deserves. But that's another blogpost for another day.
Babel or Babylon was the oldest seat or throne of power of Satan. I personally believe it is where he fell from Heaven (Luke 10:18).
Tyre, the great Phoenician capital and center of Baal worship would have also been another favourite of Lucifer’s.
I believe we see another example of this phenomenon in Revelation 2.
“And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write…. ‘Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent. Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds. I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works.’” (Revelation 2:18, 20-23)
Thyatira was the seat of the Greek goddess, Artemis, who in Roman mythology was, Diana, the Greco-Roman counterpart of Jezebel. Thus it would be no surprise that the church there would be in a fierce battle against the Spirit of Jezebel. She was the prince over the region, as she was in Ephesus.
Thyatira was the location of one of The Seven Churches addressed by Jesus Christ in the Book of Revelation. Although they were commended for their faith and service, they were rebuked for their tolerance of paganism. The "Jezebel" referred to in the letter was not the evil Jezebel of the Old Testament, but another person by that name who drew people away into worshiping the idol Artemis, also known as Diana. (The Footsteps of Paul and John)
We could speculate as to whether or not the false prophetess in Thyatira was actually named Jezebel, but it seems more likely that Christ was addressing the principality behind the personality. (Although I must say, it would have been very dumb on the part of her parents to name her Jezebel and even dumber on the part of the church officials who would have given her a platform with such a telling name!)
Former Panamanian Dictator, Manuel Noriega
A Real Life Example
In her article, Cindy Jacobs shares with us a more up-to-date version of the Law of Double Reference.
A fascinating instance of how intercessors in one nation conquered their strongman comes from Panama. Different Panamanians have described to me the agony of the years under the harsh dictatorship of Manuel Noriega. They shared about the sound of helicopters in the night that flew over the jungles and dropped black garbage bags containing the remains of those who posed real or imaginary threats to his dictatorship. It was a well-known fact that Noriega consorted with occult leaders and practiced voodoo and other forms of magic. The empowerment he received from these dark forces protected him for a season. He indeed seemed to be an invincible strongman.
However, there was one army in the nation whose leaders understood that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but are mighty for pulling down strongholds and strongmen!
Various Christian leaders organized a prayer army. This army focused its spiritual weapons through prayer in a unique way—all-night prayer vigils by bus! The intercessors would pray throughout the whole nation once a month in this manner: While a leader led the prayer through radio broadcast, those interceding on the buses agreed together with those who had to stay at home with their families. The strongman’s troops never suspected they were being undermined in such a “painless” way. Most of you know the end of the story—prayer worked! Eventually Noriega was deposed and sent to prison in the United States.
Of course, Noriega was not the real enemy; he was simply being used as a tool of Satan over the nation. However, as long as he was in power and yielding himself as an instrument, the law of double reference indicates that he also represented a spiritual strongman.
Noriega may have been the physical, governmental strongman over Panama, but there was a principality driven by the Occult behind him who empowered him. Thankfully, this was revealed to the intercessors and this strongman was pulled down and unarmed by the power of God (Luke 11:21-22)!
In America, we can look at our own current president and first lady, Barack and Michelle Obama. And while we may see the first black president and first lady on the outside, behind them we see the age old power couple, Ahab and Jezebel. Prophet Brian Carn has shared on numerous occasions how God showed him before the fact that Jezebel and Ahab would “reign” in America for two terms. Well, they’re approaching the end of their last term! The secular world may call it the Michelle Obama effect and even be in awe of it, but the saints of the Most High whose ears are opened and tongues are loosed call it what it is: Jezebel and Ahab!
Prophet Carn has also mentioned that Athaliah comes next (Jezebel’s daughter) who kills anyone that gets in her way (II Kings 11). No one fits this description better than Hillary Clinton.
We can look behind the confusion that is Bruce “Caitlyn” Jenner and view the shining Spirit of Perversion behind him.
Heck, we can even look at Pastor John MacArthur and the Executive Director of his media ministry, Phil Johnson, and see a religious or Pharisaical spirit. The list goes on and on.
This is not a slander-fest. This is not a point-at-someone-and-condemn-them-to-Hell moment. Even Ahab repented and God forgave him (I Kings 21:27-29). Even Jezebel gets a chance to repent (Rev. 2:21). How much more these human beings who (often unknowingly) host these spirits? We know that our wrestle is not one of flesh, but of spirit.
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12)
Thus, if who we battle is not in the flesh, then neither are our weapons.
This doesn’t mean we pick fights with principalities. It doesn’t mean we spend all our time fighting against and focusing on them. It doesn’t mean that we cower in fear, nor that we fight blindly and arrogantly. It means we are confident in who we are in Christ: that we are very literally seated IN Christ IN heavenly places and war from a position of victory (Eph. 2:5-7). The war is already over in eternity. The victory already won. We just have to endure hardness as good soldiers (II Tim. 2:3), fight the good fight of faith (I Tim. 6:12), and remember that we’re on the winning side, just trying to make it home--and take as many people as we can with us. Yes, even Jezebel.
