Thursday, 27 December 2012

The Conclusion of the Book of Esther

Good morning

In Esther chapter eight and chapter nine we read the conclusion of what happened concerning the danger the Jews were in.

We see that Mordecai was rewarded for his faithfulness and his caring attitude, as was Esther. But we also see that the Lord did not miraculously bring peace for the Jews. The obvious consequence of Haman’s plot had to follow its course, since the people’s minds have already been poisoned by Haman’s evil activities, and to change the minds of these enemies of the Jews in such a short time simply was not practically possible.

But the solution was reasonably simple - fight with the power of God’ support and get rid of those who may cause a recurrence of a similar situation in future, such as Haman’s sons. We read in Esther 9:1-5:

“On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, the edict commanded by the king was to be carried out. On this day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but now the tables were turned and the Jews got the upper hand over those who hated them. The Jews assembled in their cities in all the provinces of King Xerxes to attack those seeking their destruction. No one could stand against them, because the people of all the other nationalities were afraid of them. And all the nobles of the provinces, the satraps, the governors and the king’s administrators helped the Jews, because fear of Mordecai had seized them. Mordecai was prominent in the palace; his reputation spread throughout the provinces, and he became more and more powerful. The Jews struck down all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying them, and they did what they pleased to those who hated them.

Mission accomplished. A little further on we read how they set specific days aside for celebration. When we started this series about the book of Esther, we said that the Lord knew what was coming and that He had to set up His people to initiate the protection of His assets – the Jews. Had Mordecai been selfish and non-caring, Satan would probably have succeeded in his plan.

In the same way Satan and his demons have plans with individuals and corporate structures close to all of us, and as the Salt of the Earth we are the only people the Lord can use to counter Satan’s plans. We therefore need to be faithful. Sometimes prayer is sufficient, but sometimes we need to do something about it. We need to pray right by asking according to the LORD’s will and by doing spiritual warfare. The next few messages will be devoted to this.

The Jews called days of celebration because of their victory over their enemies. How much more enthusiastically will we not celebrate the LORD if we constantly receive testimony of His victories over the works of the enemy of humankind, through the power of the name of Jesus Christ to whom all authority belongs?

“The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working],” (James 5:16 Amplified Bible).

Lord, thank you for using us when you need to get something done. I am available.

Thank you Lord that your Word went out from your mouth, via your servant’s pen, and it will not return to you empty, but will accomplish what you desire and achieve the purpose for which you sent it.

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