November 22, 2024

Esther – Chapter 6: Recap

October 11, 2013 by

Hos149

I think this story should be titled, “The Sleepless King and The Providence of God.”  We saw in the last part of this study that Haman strongly dislikes Mordecai and Mordecai despises Haman.  Mordecai wants Haman removed from the king’s advisory counsel and Haman wants Mordecai removed from life.  As I have mentioned before, Esther is one of the only books of the Bible that does not mention God…yet He’s not far from each scene, is He?

Esther 6:1-3

As we know, all is set to come to a head tomorrow so it’s no wonder that the king had a hard time sleeping. He had his servants read to him the story of how Mordecai saved the king from two assailants who had wanted to kill him (Esther 2:21-23).  It was also said that Mordecai had not been rewarded yet for his courage in this situation.  Can you see the fingerprints of God all over this?  He is the One that has the king awake!  He is the One that has him read the book of records and He is the One who directed the king’s eunuchs to choose the story about Mordecai’s saving the king’s life. Have you seen the invisible hand of God working in your life?

 Esther 6:4-9

The self-consumed one enters the picture.  Haman has this plan to hang Mordecai.  He wakes early and rushes to the king to tell him his plan before anyone else and,because he actually thought the king loved him, he had no doubt he would honor his request.  What he didn’t take into account was that God never sleeps and He had been working on Mordecai’s behalf throughout the night and speaking to the king’s heart (praise the Lord!).  So Haman comes in and the king wants to know what Haman thinks should be done to the man that the king himself wants to honor. He’s thinking the king MUST want to honor him, so he says this: the one you honor should be displayed wearing a royal kingly robe and crown, and paraded on a horse and should be admired by all the people.

Esther 6:10-14

What does pride come before? In Proverbs 18:2, it says, “Before his downfall a mans heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.”  Proverbs 25:27 says, “It is not good to eat too much honey, nor is it honorable to seek one’s own honor.”  Can you imagine what Haman was feeling when the king told him to do for Mordecai what he expected to be done for himself?  I feel sure his heart dropped and after the words sank in, he probably becomes extremely angry.  His worst fears have come true as he has to robe Mordecai and crown him and parade him through the streets in which Haman himself hoped to be paraded.  So what does he do?  He seeks counsel from his wife who confirms his own thinking, he is ruined.

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Let me just say to each of you who follow our Lord faithfully with your whole life, the day will come when you are publicly praised and honored and displayed by our great God Himself.  But do not set your heart on it in this life!  As I have said before in previous blogs, there is a little Haman in all of us, right?  We don’t want our good deeds to go unnoticed.  We may want a little recognition from others for the sacrifices we make on others behalf.  But now is not the time, unless God chooses to.  Otherwise, honor is reserved for Jesus Himself!  Jesus says if we love Him then we must love each other and we must put others before ourselves.  And we should seek only those things that hold eternal value.  All things will pass away, except Jesus Himself.

“He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”~ Jim Elliot

Who is wise? Let them realize these things. Who is discerning? Let them understand. The ways of the LORD are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.

Hosea 14:9

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Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou my inheritance, now and always Thou and Thou only, the first in my heart,
Sovereign of Heaven, my treasure Thou art.
High King of Heaven, Thou Heaven’s bright sun
Grant be its joy after victory is won
Great Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Be Thou my vision, O Ruler of all.”
(from Be Thou My Vision)

Let’s Pray:

Dear Daddy, we thank You for the clear, bright glow of the light of Your truth that shines in the darkness of our own hearts so that we can see ourselves exactly as we are.  Frightening as it is, we thank You that we don’t need to continue to look at that but to look to the One who has come into this world for this very purpose, that’s Jesus.  He alone destroys the work of the enemy in our lives.  Forgive us when pride gets in the way and we seek glory that belongs to You, oh Lord. Gently put us in our place.  For all we do on this earth, all words that come out of our mouths, may they only point to You and give You the honor and glory You so deserve.  Help us to love each other the way You have commanded and rid us of any anger or bitterness.  We love You and we praise You and we can’t wait to meet You face to face one day but until then may we continue to walk in Your path and light.  For it’s in Jesus’ name we pray.

Amen.

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Esther – Chapter 5:10-14

October 4, 2013 by

Jealousy: a sentiment which is born in love and which is produced by the fear that the loved person prefers someone else. Wouldn’t you say Haman was jealous of Mordecai? He was so afraid that the king would prefer Mordecai over him that he couldn’t even enjoy the fact that Esther had indeed invited him to the banquet that she had prepared for the king. He admits to all that it means nothing as long as Mordecai is seated at the palace gate.  Isn’t that just like us? We let what we don’t have  overshadow what we do have. The desire to have it all might just cost us the riches that we already have.  And for Haman, it cost him his life.

Anger had manifested itself into a dangerous mission to kill. Hatred and bitterness are like weeds with long roots that grow in the heart and corrupt all of life. He couldn’t even enjoy being the king’s right hand man because he was so full of anger that had gone unchecked for so long that it had manifested itself into killer instinct.  Hebrews 12:15 warns us to watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble us corrupting many.  Don’t let hatred and its resulting bitterness build up in your heart. It will backfire against you.  If the mention of someone’s name provokes you to anger, confess it, ask forgiveness, and let it go. Don’t allow it to live in your mind rent-free. It will cost you a lot more than you think.

As Christians, children of God, we cannot ignore anger and bitterness. We don’t need to hide it from our sisters in Christ or just make superficial changes to our behavior or personality. If it isn’t completely eradicated, it will grow back, making everything worse. Your Father knows what’s best for you. He doesn’t want us looking at others and wanting what they have. He knows you better than you know yourself and He loves you more than you can imagine. And He wants us to love each other the way He loves us. In  1 John 1:11, we read “But anyone who hates another brother or sister is still walking and living in darkness. Such a person does not know the way to go, having been blinded by darkness.

Wk5_Spring_Esther

In the end, this bitterness and resentment caused Haman the ultimate price.  His family and friends even suggested for Haman to set up a sharpened pole so tall that all would surely see Mordecai’s death.  But God had other plans, as He does for us too.  He is the ultimate judge.   Justice was done.  Haman ultimately paid the price.  Our consequences may not be death, but I can promise you we won’t have the joyful life that He promised us if we are consumed with the roots of anger.  Jesus came to set us free.  Free from all chains that bind.

Are you struggling today with any of these? Anger, jealousy, or bitterness?  If so, bring it into the light and tear down the veil of all of these; and then ask Him to take it away so you can enjoy this life He chose especially for YOU!

 *****

Let’s Pray:

Dear Heavenly Father, we come to You today praising You for Who You are.  God, we confess to You today all spirits of anger and resentment and bitterness.  We bind them in the name of Jesus and we release them to You today.  We love You and we know You have only good things planned for us and sometimes we mess it up.  Forgive us from our sins and give us a new fresh beginning.  Keep our eyes on You so they don’t wander and lust and covet what someone else has.  Thank You for Your grace and unending patience.  Fill us with Your unconditional love so that we can spread to all who come in contact with us.  For it’s in Your Son’s precious name we pray.

Amen.

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Esther – Chapter 3 Recap

September 20, 2013 by

Wk3_Recap_Spring

I have found the story of Esther to be a story of your life and mine.  You are the king and you have an influence on all who know you and all who come in contact with you.  You, too, have found a new queen when your spirit was made new and alive in the Lord Jesus Christ.  In this place of communion, have you sensed the Holy Spirit’s influence on your life?  He’s always at battle for you against the enemy who has an evil plan for your life.  Esther’s story retraces the story of our lives.

In chapter 3, we will see the process of evil unveiling in a humans life along with the way God can and will deliver us from it.  Read Esther 3:1-5. Verse 5 says,”When Haman saw that Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor, he was enraged.” W ho is Haman?  What’s behind the conflict between these two—Mordecai and Haman?  Haman is an Agagite, which means he is a descendant of a man named Agag.

Haman represents the evil that is at work in all of our hearts.  Mordecai represents the Holy Spirit.  In Galatians 5:17, we read: “The flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh and these are contrary one to the other.  This story of Haman, Mordecai and Ahasuerus is clearly representative of this battle we have as Christians.  We constantly mess up and try to justify our sins.  This is where the Holy Spirit comes in and opposes this influence in us that has come to destroy us.  He came to deliver us as we will see in this story.

Have you found that when you became a Christian, you had more trouble than you had before?  You were cruising through life pretty smoothly until you accepted Jesus.  Then you find yourself being attacked sometimes from all sides.  The enemy realized just how much you mean to the Kingdom of Heaven and he felt threatened.  So he comes at you to catch you off guard, to see if he can possibly knock down one of God’s warriors.  The enemy is threatened, just as Haman is threatened by Mordecai.  The king doesn’t recognize Haman as the enemy. Friends, we must recognize the enemy and how he works, and then wage war against him.  We have Jesus on our side and we will overpower the enemy!!!

Haman, the enemy in this story, comes up with a plan to kill the Jews.  Apparently his anger, bitterness, and resentment has gotten the best of him.  It has manifested itself in him and given him the desire to actually kill God’s people.  In Esther 3:6-7, notice that Haman begins with Mordecai’s people and not Mordecai.  How many times does the enemy start in areas of our lives that we are unaware of, such as our attitudes rather than our convictions.  We are to live a life that shows God’s work in our lives.  Our kingdom should see the fruit of the Spirit in our lives.  Galatians 5:22-23 tells us, “ But the fruit of the spirit is love,  joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”  These are “the people of Mordecai” in our lives.  This is where the enemy attacks.

Verse 7:  Haman wants to cast lots to decide when the Jews will actually be killed. He’s bringing in black magic to the kingdom Finding a “lucky” day in which to actually murder them.

Verses 8-11:  Haman openly suggests that Mordecai’s people are really unprofitable to the king but he is going to make him rich by paying $10,000,000 to the kings treasury.

Has Haman been talking to you lately?  Has he suggested that maybe honesty isn’t always best or that speed limits are only good if you’re not running late?  God allows us to be tempted but not past a certain point.  Ultimately the decision is ours and in these verses, the king decides to side with Haman.  He decided!  As we decide in our own lives sometimes.  The enemy is just like Haman and he puts things in our paths.  Darlene mentions 1 Peter 1:7 as a truth to cling to. It says, “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ….”

Have you ever thought about how your decisions affect others in your life?  Your decisions will touch all who know you in some way.  Even if you don’t share your decisions, your actions will eventually represent them.  The king decided….peoples lives were about to be changed.

Have you lost your sense of direction lately?  Maybe you started out good and strong but somehow you’ve gotten distracted and you don’t know what to do next.  Good news: Jesus does!  He says in Matthew 6:22-23, “If your eye be single, your whole body will be filled with light…but if the light which is in you be darkness, how great is that darkness.”  There is a way out and the Holy Spirit will show you.  When you believe what He tells you about the enemy, then you will begin to discover what that way out is!

Remember, He overcame the world!!

Let’s Pray:

Dear Lord God, our Father, we praise Your Holy name.  You alone are our stronghold and our Fortress forever.  Thank You for loving us unconditionally and for grace when we make decisions that aren’t in our best interest or for the best interest of Your Kingdom.  Lord, we give in to temptation sometimes, whether we are aware of it or not; and the Holy Spirit is always there to guide us and deliver us from the wrong choices we have made.  We always have You to forgive us and cleanse our hearts of all unrighteousness.  Help us to be the example that You would have us to be so that we may win others for Your Kingdom.  We love You.  In Jesus’ name.

Amen.

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