{"id":14977,"date":"2013-10-03T00:01:10","date_gmt":"2013-10-03T05:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=14977"},"modified":"2013-10-02T21:41:44","modified_gmt":"2013-10-03T02:41:44","slug":"esther-chapter-59","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2013\/10\/03\/esther-chapter-59\/","title":{"rendered":"Esther – Chapter 5:9"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Wk5_Fox_Esther\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cHaman was a happy man as he left the banquet\u201d (Esther 5:9a, NLT). \u00a0His seemingly ever- increasing power starting from his promotion (chapter 3:1 and 2) to King Xerxes giving him his signet ring and carte blanche<\/span> to do what he wanted with this \u201ccertain people\u201d (chapter 3:10 and 11) to this intimate banquet with the king and queen (here in chapter 5:4 and 5), was feeding Haman\u2019s pride big time.\u00a0 Not only that but Queen Esther had invited him to a second banquet! His hat didn\u2019t fit his big head anymore, and his buttons were popping off his cloak from his puffed out chest as he walked out the king\u2019s gate to go home for the night!\u00a0 Can you hear his evil cackle?\u00a0 Oh, I don\u2019t like this guy!<\/p>\n

\u201cBut when he saw Mordecai sitting at the palace gate, not standing up or trembling nervously before him, Haman became furious\u201d (Esther 5:9b). \u00a0We already know from Esther chapter 3, that Haman planned to destroy Mordecai and all the Jews.\u00a0 Now, when he<\/span> saw Mordecai sitting there so peacefully with no regard for him at all, Haman almost exploded on the inside with indescribable hatred.<\/p>\n

Mordecai \u201cstood\u201d his ground by sitting when Haman walked by. Mordecai knew Who<\/span> he had to ultimately answer to, and it wasn\u2019t Haman.\u00a0 Mordecai had full confidence in the Lord\u2019s provision and protection. \u00a0Confidence in God and the humility of obedience and submission to Him gave Mordecai a calm and peaceful presence that was like acid eating away at Haman. (Compare the similarities when Jesus \u201cstood His ground\u201d in His last hours, Matthew 26-27<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Haman was so full of himself that he couldn\u2019t see that his pedestal of pride had no foundation. One day it would come crashing down around him. \u00a0As Matthew Henry\u2019s Commentary would describe him: he is a self-admirer, a self-deceiver<\/em>.\u00a0 Doesn\u2019t he sound like someone else we know? Isaiah 14:13-14, \u201cFor you (Satan) say to yourself, \u2018I will ascend to heaven and set my throne about God\u2019s stars\u2026<\/span>and be like the Most High.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 Satan\u2019s plan is for the destruction of God\u2019s creation.\u00a0 His pride is so great and his rage against God is so consuming that he intends to kill and destroy (John 10:10) everyone he can.\u00a0 But he has no foundation of truth.\u00a0 He has built his plan on pride and hatred. \u00a0He and his plan will fall<\/span>.\u00a0 Isaiah 14:15, \u201cInstead, you will be brought down to the place of the dead, down to its lowest depths.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall.
\nProverbs 16:18<\/strong><\/p>\n

Haughtiness goes before destruction; humility precedes honor.
\nProverbs 18:12<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Matthew Henry\u2019s Commentary also says: “A slight affront, which a humble man would scarcely notice, will torment a proud man , even to madness, and will mar all his comforts.”\u00a0 Haman was tormented by Mordecai\u2019s affront, his intentional defiance. \u00a0I believe Satan is tormented by our affronts when we stand against him and his evil plan to destroy us and our families.<\/p>\n

We have two life<\/span> examples to look at here.\u00a0 We have Haman<\/strong> <\/em>who lived a very self-centered and prideful life.\u00a0 He deceived himself and he deceived others, especially the king, for very selfish motives.\u00a0 Then we have Mordecai<\/em><\/strong>, who was a humble man of faith and confidence. His motives were selfless as day after day he watched over and wisely advised Esther, even to the extent of sitting at the gate when \u201ctrouble\u201d walked by.<\/p>\n

Today we have the opportunity to check our motives for what we do and what we say. \u00a0If our motives are based on feeding our pride and obtaining power over a person or a situation, we are self-deceived and insecure. \u00a0If a small offense eats away at us, we will want to check our lives for underlying pride.\u00a0\u00a0 A life controlled by pride will lead us to \u201cdestruction,\u201d as we read in Proverbs 16:18.<\/p>\n

If our motives are directed by our faith in God, then we will live selfless lives of submission and service.\u00a0 We will not be easily offended, and will forgive quickly.\u00a0 We will stand in humble confidence and peace, even as we \u201csit by the gate\u201d when trouble tries to destroy us. \u00a0(Ephesians 6:13.)\u00a0 We will have an inner assurance that God will show Himself mighty to save.<\/p>\n

\n

The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy;
\nI (Jesus) have come that they (you and I) may have life, and have it to the full.
\nJohn 10:10<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Who does your life look most like…Haman or Mordecai? \u00a0Is it one of pride, torment<\/span>, insecurity, fear, and eventual destruction? Or is it one of humility, peace, confidence, faith, and life?\u00a0 Today is your day to choose \u201clife and have it to the full.\u201d<\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n

Let’s Pray<\/span>:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dear Lord, we come humbly to Your throne of grace today.\u00a0 Even at this moment we are searching our innermost beings for areas of pride and deception. \u00a0Help us, Holy Spirit, to find them so we can repent and allow You to cleanse us.\u00a0 We want our motives to be pure and selfless. Please help us to not be easily offended and to quickly forgive.\u00a0 May each of us live a life of humility, peace, confidence, and faith.\u00a0 Thank You for offering us life to the full!\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 Name, Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cHaman was a happy man as he left the banquet\u201d (Esther 5:9a, NLT). \u00a0His seemingly ever- increasing power starting from his promotion (chapter 3:1 and 2) to King Xerxes giving him his signet ring and carte blanche to do what he wanted with this \u201ccertain people\u201d (chapter 3:10 and 11) to this intimate banquet with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":14981,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8],"tags":[3930,3928,3100,3942,3933,3660,252,3475,3936,3945,3927,3929,3931,3926,3512,425,3685,2269,3938,1305,3935,3937,554,3826,559,3934,3940,2054,3944,1510,1498,3939,3932,1617,3943,3941,1022,1739],"class_list":["post-14977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-womens","tag-3930","tag-2-king-xerxes","tag-3100","tag-affront","tag-banquet","tag-clella-gilbert-fox","tag-confidence","tag-darlene-schacht","tag-destruction","tag-ephesians-613","tag-esther-31","tag-esther-310","tag-esther-54","tag-esther-59","tag-esther-the-beauty-of-courageous-submission","tag-girlfriends-coffee-hour","tag-haman","tag-hatred","tag-haughtiness","tag-humility","tag-isaiah-1413-14","tag-isaiah-1415","tag-jesus","tag-jews","tag-john-1010","tag-matthew-26-27","tag-matthew-henrys-commentary","tag-mordecai","tag-motives","tag-pride","tag-proverbs-1618","tag-proverbs-1812","tag-queen-esther","tag-satan","tag-self-centered","tag-self-deceivers","tag-submission","tag-womens-on-line-bible-study","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/Wk5_Fox_Esther.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p39pHp-3Tz","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14977","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14977"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14977\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15023,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14977\/revisions\/15023"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}