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Showing posts with label Evil Haman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Evil Haman. Show all posts

Sunday, May 5, 2019

Purim the Story of Esther Queen of Persia

Providential Protection

Book of Esther Chapters 8-9


We as Christians know that God is involved in our world.

God is not a "watchmaker" (Creator) who just wound this world up as a watch and just allowing it to run down.

God is involved in our world daily.

God is looking after His people daily, the Jews and the Church.

God will keep His plan moving along just as He has since His first written words in the Book of the beginnings, the Book of Genesis.

No one can change the Word of to their benefit nor can the plan of God be changed or altered in any way.

God will keep every promise He has made to the Jews.

God will keep every promise He has made to the Church.

God will keep His covenant of "wrath" with every non-believer, these are facts in the Word of God which does not change!

God would never allow the Jews, the Hebrew people, to be wiped out of this world!

*****Est 8:3 And Esther spake yet again before the king, and fell down at his feet, and besought him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman the Agagite, and his device that he had devised against the Jews.

As we have seen in this passage, this King of Persia was weak in his ruling ability and evil Haman had put things in place that this king did not know how to stop.

A written law of Persia that was stamped by the king could not be changed.

Est 7:4 For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not countervail the king's damage.

This king gave his power to rule for the moment over to Queen Esther.

*****Est 8:4 Then the king held out the golden sceptre toward Esther. So Esther arose, and stood before the king,
Est 8:5 And said, If it please the king, and if I have found favour in his sight, and the thing seem right before the king, and I be pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews which are in all the king's provinces:

If we do not know by now, we live in a cruel world!

In many cases it is because politics have entered into people's lives and politicians never have the right answers for the good of all people, as we see daily here in America, and I am not talking about our President.

Haman may have vanished off the scene, but some of his evil was still in force.

Haman was an Agagite a descendant of the Amelikite who were the people that King Saul was to eliminate because they were so evil, but he did not because of covetousness.

The Amelikite hated the nation of Israel, and right now the law was on their side to destroy all the Jews in Persia and it would not have stopped there.

Things such as this seem to make their way into other nations, who think they are doing some kind of good.

Queen Esther was given the estate of Haman who we have already seen was very, very rich.

Queen Esther made Mordecai the overseer of this estate.

We should always remember those who have helped us through the years.

Queen Esther would have been a child of the state had not Mordecai took her in as his own child.

This king loved Queen Esther with all his heart and already said he would give her half his kingdom if she asked.

This precious child of God loved her people much more than she loved riches.

*****Est 8:6 For how can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto my people? or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?
Est 8:7 Then the king Ahasuerus said unto Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew, Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and him they have hanged upon the gallows, because he laid his hand upon the Jews.
Est 8:8 Write ye also for the Jews, as it liketh you, in the king's name, and seal it with the king's ring: for the writing which is written in the king's name, and sealed with the king's ring, may no man reverse.

Again we see that this king did not know what to do, but Mordecai knew exactly what to do without, breaking any Persian law.

This is what patriotism is all about. Citizens of a nation protecting citizens of that nation!

All citizens should want freedom.
All citizens should want the freedom to worship Jehovah God without reprisal.
All citizens should want their people to work toward these goals.

God tells us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, because most of our world still wants to destroy them, as did Haman.

This king gave Esther and Mordecai the ability to write whatever law would protect the Jews.

Queen Esther made intercession for her people.

You see this is what the Lord Jesus Christ did for us, He made intercession for all, "whosoever" would believe that He did.

The Lord saved us from eternal death! Separation from our God forever.

This body may pass away one day, but we will never see that death, because we will step into the throne room of God before that body of flesh takes its last breath.

2Co_5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

These Jews would not see death, and many of them would return to the Holy Land with Ezra!

*****Est 8:7 Then the king Ahasuerus said unto Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew, Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and him they have hanged upon the gallows, because he laid his hand upon the Jews.
Est 8:8 Write ye also for the Jews, as it liketh you, in the king's name, and seal it with the king's ring: for the writing which is written in the king's name, and sealed with the king's ring, may no man reverse.

Not many kings, not many leaders, and not many politicians, will ever admit their error, they will commit the repair of the error to someone else.

The house of Haman, did not costs the king anything at all.

He does never plead for forgiveness for this mess he had allowed to take place.

He does allow Queen Esther and Mordecai to do what they could, to stop the massacre before it took place without breaking the law of Haman.

The king did not ever take responsibility for this mess he had allowed to happen.

Mordecai knew exactly what to do!

We must understand as Christians, that words once spoken cannot be recalled! A deed once done cannot be undone!

That one with a hasty temper, who drove a spike into the heart of a friend cannot undo what he has done.

This why forgiveness is so important in the family of God.

We cannot erase the things we do contrary to the Word of God, but we can certainly forgive others like the Lord has forgiven us all our sin.

Again Mordecai knew exactly what to do!

*****Est 8:15 And Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a garment of fine linen and purple: and the city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad.
Est 8:16 The Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honour.

What is the proper use of power? Power must be used for the betterment of people, especially between God's people!

Mordecai went out dressed as the Prime Minister of Persia, with crown to prove it, and all people were aware that Haman was gone, and Mordecai was in charge now.

Not just the Jews but the entire city was glad that Haman was just a bad memory of the past, and should be forgotten!

Haman had made many enemies!

I say all people but the Amalekite, who history says were the only people who rose up to kill all the Jews.

We should understand every Word of God is important for our survival!

Deu 25:18 How he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee, when thou wast faint and weary; and he feared not God.
Deu 25:19 Therefore it shall be, when the LORD thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it, that thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; thou shalt not forget it.

Because this did not take place as commanded by the Lord, these people would haunt Israel all their days.

God knows what He is doing, and He has used Israel to do these things, and He will continue to use Israel to do many things, until the peace that will come when the Lord returns, of course after the Lord straightens out some things, again according to the Word of God.

Even the Babylonians called the Amalekite "Khabbati" which means "plunderers" and recorded the things they had done

So what Iran says, and the enemies of Israel say, they know all these things. The Persians and they Babylonians were some of the best record keepers in history, yet the deny that Israel is a legitimate nation.

We should be able to see that Satan still has his hands in these enemies!

What was Mordecai's plan?

*****Est 9:2 The Jews gathered themselves together in their cities throughout all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, to lay hand on such as sought their hurt: and no man could withstand them; for the fear of them fell upon all people.
Est 9:3 And all the rulers of the provinces, and the lieutenants, and the deputies, and officers of the king, helped the Jews; because the fear of Mordecai fell upon them.

We should understand that the best way to survive this world is to be prepared for an attack, because an attack is coming from somewhere at some time! Persecution will not cease until the Church is in Heaven and the Lord returns to set up His 1000-year rule from Jerusalem.

Why? Because these people hate God and deny the Lord Jesus is our Savior. They had rather perish than give in to the truth, just like atheist!

The date of the attack had been written into law by Haman.

The government and the military would now help the Jews, because they were appointees just like Nehemiah, and they knew they would lose their positions if they went against the king. There is a little typology written here.

These Jews acted properly, and they acted in unison, because they took a stand for their lives.

What does God say?

Eph 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Eph 6:13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Eph 6:14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
Eph 6:15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
Eph 6:16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
Eph 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
Eph 6:18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

They could do these things because God had a plan before Genesis 1:1, that Mordecai would be in this particular place at this particular time.

Jer 1:4 Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Jer 1:5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

God does these things to every one of us. He places us in places to be available when danger seeks out God's people.

This does not mean God will stop persecution, because only death can take away the persecutors, and God will give them every chance to repent but we must remember these words.

Rev 6:9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
Rev 6:10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
Rev 6:11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

Why would God wait at all? Why does God not bring vengeance when God's people are murdered?

2Pe_3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

*****Est 9:4 For Mordecai was great in the king's house, and his fame went out throughout all the provinces: for this man Mordecai waxed greater and greater.
Est 9:5 Thus the Jews smote all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, and slaughter, and destruction, and did what they would unto those that hated them.

Mordecai was not only Prime Minister, but he had great favor with the King, and it became known that he was also uncle to the Queen.

Mordecai was well received of all the people, maybe because they could see that a captive could go far in the government of Persia and he may better understand their needs.

Est 10:3 For Mordecai the Jew was next unto king Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted of the multitude of his brethren, seeking the wealth of his people, and speaking peace to all his seed.

This is why it would always be better if we voted only for Christians to be in our government!!!

*****Est 9:26 Wherefore they called these days Purim after the name of Pur. Therefore for all the words of this letter, and of that which they had seen concerning this matter, and which had come unto them,
Est 9:27 The Jews ordained, and took upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all such as joined themselves unto them, so as it should not fail, that they would keep these two days according to their writing, and according to their appointed time every year;
Est 9:28 And that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor the memorial of them perish from their seed.

Why was the government of Persia so bad at this time?

There were over 500 of Haman's kindred involved in the work in the Palace and not as slaves.

Est 9:6 And in Shushan the palace the Jews slew and destroyed five hundred men.

It is from these things that actually happened, that the Jews set up a new feast and festival called the days of Purim, which is still celebrated today!

The word Purim comes a Persian word "lots",because Haman had cast lots to find a day, he would see all the Jews in Persia destroyed.

On the first day of the new celebration the name of Haman and his 10 sons are read out because they were all hanged at once.

These Jews read the entire Book of Esther, and at the end they cry our "cursed be Haman", blessed be Mordecai, "cursed be Zeresh (Haman's wife) and blessed be Esther.

You see, the Jews do not ever forget these things and these things have to eat at the leaders of Iran who are the leftovers of Persia.

Just another reason that Iran hates Israel.

*****Est 9:29 Then Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew, wrote with all authority, to confirm this second letter of Purim.

We also see what happens when you try to abuse God's people, when they are trying their best to be obedient to Him.

The King of Persia even allowed Queen Esther to write these things into the law of Persia.

Queen Esther became one of the greatest heroes in the History of the Jews, and we already know the rest of the story, as we have seen Ezra return to begin again the worship in the second Temple and Nehemiah allowed to go back and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.

Neh_2:6 And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.

The next King of Persia was the son of Esther. God does work in mysterious ways!

Amen

Let's Pray!