Is There A Judas or Jezebel Lurking in Your Heart? Surely The Bible Says That Hearts Are Wicked.
Today we confront the treachery within, asking if a spirit of betrayal like Judas or manipulation like Jezebel is lurking in the hidden places of our hearts.
Featured Scripture and Commentary
Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
I remember years before I stumbled upon salvation, when I was still stumbling on ever fake road to despair, destruction and desolation and was certainly no sage (nor am I one now) I became aware of this much…
Those things that we tell ourselves and that we believe about ourselves – if someone else came up to us and challenged us with these accusations we would punch them in the nose and certainly never buy into it. Lies about our intentions, our capabilities both good and bad and everything else stream into our heads all day and often at night. For “even a man who is pure of heart and says his prayers by night can become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the full moon is bright” (the original Lon Chaney “Wolfman” movie, and yes, I do have lots of weird brick a brack bouncing around between my ears which makes for interesting bulletins I hope). What I didn’t realize is that there was someone else indeed. But more so of a refocuser and an amplifier than a source. There is an adversary, an evil one, the father of lies, the accuser and we are constantly in the court being tried. There is a vicious murderous wolfman, a treacherous Judas (who will sell out for the cheapest advantage) , a manipulative church-wrecking Jezebel in each one of us. Cheerful thought, eh? Well pause for a moment and read it not in my interpretation but directly in the Word of the Lord (below). I would not otherwise say this stuff about you. I love you (sometimes it’s an effort but less than it used to be because I have changed. I love you even more when you read my bulletins <3 ) Now if you are still not convinced, simply do this… how much were you inclined to listen to the voice seeking to direct you to the wickedness in your heart, how much were you likely to act in a dark way, maybe even engage in anything that Mark lists out in 7:21-23 BEFORE it became an important, the most important (I say prayerfully) and essential part of your life to bury yourself in the Bible and build a relationship with the Triune God? What you have done, to whatever degree of success, is you became a new creature in Christ driven by Christ in you (Galatians 2:20) and rose above the wickedness of your heart (I say prayerfully).
I remember I was in a psychology class and the teacher was saying how hearts are wicked and I asked – how can a wicked humanity create anything that is good in the world? She acted as if I had asked a question that demonstrated wisdom she wasn’t prepared for. I brag not because most of the time I was pretty close to brain dead but here is the point: The question still holds 40 years later except now we know the answer – God moves, only God creates, anything good in the world is God working through us. The fallen mess we see all around us? Our wicked hearts created that.
Don’t trust your heart. Pray into it, for it, drench it in God’s Word, bury it in the Bible so the wickedness can’t breathe and slips every time it tries to gain traction.
The answer to the original question is yes. Think of the worst historical villains and realize they are contructed from the same substance as we all are. It is just a matter of how far fallen we are not if we are fallen. Those things that we see in others cause us despair and disgust because they pull us all down but we are already standing in the same muddy river in which none will ever be baptized. Without Jesus, the true vine, we are dead branches – dead in our sin nature with the foot on the accelerator rushing like “Pelham 123” (a movie) towards destruction. Thank Jesus for the access to the Father and the salvation, thanks the Holy Spirit for commandeering our wicked sin nature and steering us towards the top of the holy mountain every day no matter how much we might struggle and squirm against us and thanks to the good, good Father who created us and found a way to salvage us when we had fallen because He so loveth us.
7 LIFE-CHANGING CORROBORATING SCRIPTURE QUOTES:
Mark 7:21–23, Revelation 2:20–23, Psalm 51:10, Ezekiel 36:26, Proverbs 4:23, James 1:14–15, Genesis 6:5
Mark 7:21–23 For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.
John 15:4–5 I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
Revelation 2:20–23 Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols… I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways.
Psalm 51:10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Ezekiel 36:26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
Proverbs 4:23 Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.
James 1:14–15 But each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
Genesis 6:5 (The Wickedness of Thought):
The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.
TODAY’S BIBLICAL MORALITY PLAY
We often look for enemies outside the church walls. We blame the culture, the government, or the “world.” But Jesus warned us: “It is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come” (Mark 7:21).
The Bible says the heart is “deceitful above all things” (Jeremiah 17:9). It is not just weak; it is treacherous.
Consider Judas. He wasn’t an outsider. He was one of the Twelve. He walked with Jesus, saw the miracles, and heard the sermons. Yet, lurking in his heart was greed and betrayal. He didn’t start as a traitor; he started as a disciple who tolerated a small compromise until it grew into a deadly root.
Consider Jezebel. In Revelation, she represents a spirit of seduction and false teaching within the church. She doesn’t attack from the outside; she corrupts from the inside, leading believers into compromise under the guise of “freedom” or “enlightenment.”
The question isn’t just “Are there Judases and Jezebels in the world?” The harder question is: Is there a Judas or a Jezebel lurking in your heart?
The Judas Spirit: Are you holding onto secret greed? Do you serve God only when it pays off? Are you ready to betray truth for thirty pieces of silver (comfort, approval, money)?
The Jezebel Spirit: Are you tolerating sin in your life while calling it “grace”? Are you leading others astray by compromising God’s standards to fit the culture?
You cannot cast out what you refuse to name. If you feel a tug toward compromise, a whisper of greed, or a justification for sin, do not ignore it. That is the lurking enemy.
But there is hope. God does not leave us with our deceitful hearts. He promises: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you” (Ezekiel 36:26). He can search you, know you, and cleanse you.
Do not let the enemy camp in your heart. Invite the Light in. Confess the lurking sin. Let Jesus wash you clean.
PRAYER FOR WHOMSOEVERS
Lord, search my heart. Reveal any hidden way in me. If there is a spirit of betrayal like Judas, expose it. If there is a spirit of compromise and manipulation like Jezebel, root it out. I do not want to harbor enemies within. Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me. I surrender my hidden sins to Your light. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
