“SWOP might be considered a constructive program by nonviolent scholars and activists, as it attempts to create more imaginative and just communities, reducing harm, improving health care and works to uphold the civil and human rights of workers and their communities.” (https://swopusa.org/ )
Doesn’t SWOP sound like a nice organization? One that you might even like to be involved with? I omitted one word from their description on their website… “Sex”. They seek to improve conditions for ‘sex workers’, etc. They don’t want to get rid of prostitution, just make it nicer.
Sometimes the temptation is to dress up ugly and convince ourselves it is a good cause.
Jezebel was a Sidonian, daughter of Ethbaal (meaning “with Baal”). According to 1 Kings 16:31 Ethbaal was King of the Sidonians, but he was also a priest to Astarte, goddess of fertility. Jezebel, his daughter was a vile queen, who brought her Sidonian worship with her to Isreal when she married King Ahab. The worship of Baal included temple prostitution and the sacrificing of children.
I write this while managing a safe house for trafficked girls who seek freedom from sexual slavery. My greatest ‘culture shock’ is the resident’s addiction to sexual depravity. I wonder if that was what Jezebel fell prey to as well. She was probably taught this was the best thing she could do with her life. Temple prostitution was very likely similar to human trafficking today. There is a huge component of substance abuse, which probably was true then. Did you know that the ancient word for witchcraft and human sacrifice was “pharmakos”, from which we get pharmacy.
Victims are frequently physically addicted, but also emotionally addicted to the euphoric feeling of love and attention. Even after they’ve left the controlling situation of trafficking, they are frequently drawn back to it, because it is where they find the emotional connections they crave.
Even Jezebel Was Influenced
Jezebel grew up in an environment that was deeply twisted and deceived, but she was also fiercely loyal, a strong leader, and determined. The combination of this character with the worship of Baal took Israel down a very evil path. But she probably didn’t start out that way. Someone allowed her to be lead down a dark and sinister path. She certainly had an incorrect understanding of God, and her Sidonian culture shaped her into the evil empress that we have come to despise.
She became so vile, Elijah prophesied that God would not even allow her body to be buried.
And the corpse of Jezebel shall be as dung on the face of the field in the territory of Jezreel, so that no one can say, “this is Jezebel”. – 2 Kings 9:37
Not everyone lives and works in a modern-day Sidon, But as Jezebel was, we can easily be deceived. These “Sidonian-like” influences are ravaging our children in school every day. We must cling to the hope that we have in the cross of Jesus and vigilantly teach it to our children.
Thank you for sharing this!