[Music] there are two types of women in the Bible there is The Godly woman the Proverbs 31 Woman the Esther the Ruth the Hannah kind of woman prayerful bold wise God-fearing This Woman's Worth is far above rubies and Pearls according to the Bible and then there's the ungodly woman that's who I would like to talk about today there are three ungodly women in the Bible that we should be aware of but before we dive in let me just say that the Bible gives us several warnings concerning the evil influence of ungodly women Proverbs 9: 13
in the Amplified translation the Bible says the foolish woman is restless and noisy she is naive and easily misled and Thoughtless and knows nothing at all of Eternal value Proverbs 21: 19 talks about an ungodly woman saying it is better to dwell in a desert land than with a contentious and Troublesome woman the ungodly woman is the one the Bible speaks of in Proverbs BS 11: 22 and says as a ring of gold and a swine's snout so is a beautiful woman who is without discretion her lack of character mocks her beauty the Bible is
very clear when differentiating a Godly woman and an ungodly woman so let's take a look at the identities of some of these women the first woman we'll look at is herodias Herod Antipas was married to a woman named herodias but both of them had been divorced and this was something that John the Baptist objected to John the Baptist publicly denounced their marriage and labeled it as adultery in Matthew 14 we read about how John had previously rebuked Herod by reminding him that it was unlawful for him to be with herodias so Herod had him put
into prison for her sake now herodias must not have enjoyed being convicted of sin in fact she was angered by John the Baptist and his rebukes so she decided to take matters into her own hands Matthew 14 verse 6 to8 says but when herod's birthday came the daughter of herodias danced before the company and pleased Herod so that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask prompted by her mother she said give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter I want you to notice how bitterness and anger
had so consumed herodias when her daughter danced in front of Herod he promised to give her whatever she would request herodias took this as an opportunity to take revenge on John persuading her daughter to ask for John's head on a platter her daughter did as she requested and as a result John was beheaded herodias was most certainly an ungodly woman and her actions show her to be an immoral bitter manipulative woman John was a servant of God but that didn't matter to her it's difficult to comprehend that a disagreement or a word of rebuke from
someone else would motivate a person to murder but this is how bitterness works it causes that person's heart to grow cold leading them to become irrational in how they think and behave herodias hated John so much that it clouded her mind and allowed her to take Extreme Measures in order to satisfy her pride and self-importance she wanted the life of a man of God simply because he disapproved of her actions and just look at the evil influence of herodias not only did she commit the sin of intending to murder John she made her daughter participate
in the evil act she used her relationship with her daughter to her own Advantage influencing and manipulating her to make an atrocious request which would end the life of one of the greatest prophets herodias is actions are an example of how an ungodly woman can use her position or power to cause destruction however a Godly woman influences those around her in a positive way acting as Peacemaker and leading people toward God and the way of righteousness the second case we'll look at is Delilah the story of Samson and Delia is an interesting story Samson was
a man man who had Supernatural strength but his downfall came at the hands of Delilah Samson was a man of immense physical strength however his weakness was the beauty of Delilah and before we take an even closer look at Delilah I want you to understand just how unique of an individual Samson really was he was uniquely gifted by God and did some incredible incredible things the Bible says he tore a lion apart with his bare hands he defeated a thousand men with the Jawbone of a donkey as his only weapon so what was so special
about Delilah that she would bring down a man who was so mightily anointed well my friends let me tell you that Delilah was bad yes but she wasn't the real cause of Samson's downfall the real cause of Samson's downfall was sin Disobedience and lust and so the devil simply took the opportunity that Samson gave him and the enemy used Samson's weakness to destroy him Delilah was planted in Samson's Life by the devil and don't get me wrong in this story Samson is just as guilty as Delilah as they both participated in sin however I want
to show you how the devil can bring people into your life who appear to care for you to love you but underneath the surface they are seeking to destroy you now the Amplified translation of the Bible says in judges 16 4-6 after this he fell in love with a Philistine woman woman living in the valley of Sorak whose name was Delilah so the five Lords governors of the Philistines came to her and said to her persuade him and see where his great strength lies and find out how we may overpower him so that we may
bind him to subdue him and each of us will give you 1,00 pieces of silver so Delilah said to Samson please tell me where your great strength lies and with what you may be bound and subdued the first problem is that Samson was a judge who God appointed over Israel God had often warned the Israelites against marrying or having a relationship with those outside the Israelite Community often such women or men would lead entire families astray Chasing After idols or foreign Gods now Samson did not guard his heart he was led by his eyes instead
of faith and so he fell in love with someone he was never meant to fall in love with he became yolked with someone he was never meant to and from the very beginning Delilah was already looking to to gain at the expense of Samson she was offered a great amount of silver and because her heart wasn't pure now now judges 16 9-12 says now she had men lying in ambush in an inner room and she said to him the Philistines are upon you Samson and he broke the cords as a string of toe breaks when
it touches fire so the SE of his strength was not discovered then Delilah said to Samson see now you have mocked me and told me lies now please tell me truthfully how you may be bound and he said to her if they bind me tightly with new ropes that have not been used then I will become weak and be like any other man Samson was having sexual relations with Delilah so he was clearly L blinded by Delilah he couldn't see red flags in front of him three times Delilah asked Samson about the source of his
strength and tested him and three times Samson failed to see the devil in front of him Delilah was a temptress and she was persistent and I want you to notice the manipulation from Delila In this passage of scripture judges 161 15-17 says then she said to him how can you say I love you when your heart is not with me you have mocked me these three times and have not told me where your great strength Lies when she pressured him day after day with her words and pleaded with him he was annoyed to death then
finally he told her everything that was in his heart and said to her a razor has never been used on my head for I have been a Nazarite to God from my mother's womb if I am shaved then my strength will leave me and I will become weak and be like any other man and ultimately Samson gives in to Delilah and loses his anointing now a few lessons worth noting are not everyone who says they are for you is actually for you just as the Lord can send people into your life to encourage you to
uplift you and help you the third case we'll look at is a woman who's notorious when it comes to being ungodly this woman is Jezebel and here's a quick rundown of her background she was married to King Ahab she had an incredible Wicked influence over her husband Ahab she was a pagan woman who worshiped multiple false Gods which include ba and Azera she once purposefully tried to kill the prophets of the god of Israel because of greed she took the life of a man named nabbo because she wanted his land she had close to 1,000
false prophets who ate at her table but I want to highlight her characteristics people often associate the spirit of Jezebel with sex and seduction and promiscuity but I believe these are just some of the fruits of the spirit at the core of Jezebel at the core of this wicked spirit is control it's a controlling manipulative spirit and it takes people captive one of Jezebel's most obvious traits was her controlling nature we can see this from the way that she controlled her husband and also her nation's religious views she wanted to use her power to advance
her own agendas and did so without any regard for those around her a Jezebel spirit a menacing spirit that seeks to dominate and control another person another characteristic of that Jezebel spirit is how it seeks to control or rule by fear Jezebel instilled fear into the hearts of people especially by murdering anyone who stood in her way she threatened to murder Elijah and this caused him to be afraid and run away from her only Satan uses fear Paul tells us in second Timothy chapter 1 verse 7 for God has not given us a spirit of
fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind that's how you tell if a spirit is not God whenever a spirit tries to frighten Us in order to control us that spirit is not of God the last important characteristic of Jezebel was her disregard for and her hatred of authority in her mind she had all the authority as Queen and didn't care for Elijah the prophet or any of God's people she didn't listen to him or repent of her way after he proved God's power and sovereignty she also taunted juu the military
commander of Israel's Army right before he ordered her servants to throw her out this spirit is also evident in our day as some people want to chase after their own selfish gain having no regard for order or hierarchy and so what are we to make of these three cases we've just looked at Proverbs 31:30 says charm and grace are deceptive and superficial beauty is vain but a woman who fears the Lord reverently worshiping obeying serving and trusting him with all filled respect she shall be praised those first five words should really Hammer home charm and
Grace are deceptive being pretty going to church every Sunday does not make a Godly woman the photos you post in your Sunday best outfit that's not what makes you a Godly woman the Bible says a woman who fears the Lord reverently worshiping obeying serving and trusting him with all filled respect that's a Godly woman and when you look at what influence really means it's the capacity or power to be a compelling Force influence affects the actions Behavior opinions of others God used Esther and she became a powerful woman of wisdom and influence she was used
by the Lord to save his people and on the opposite opposite side of things Jezebel was used by the devil to try and hinder God's work through Elisha she too was a woman of influence but not the kind of influence that you should ever desire to have
