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(Esther
7 & 8)
The banquet is set, the plan is at hand, and the
King’s interest is at the consideration of the Queen’s desire.
The second day is underway, and the King again offers the Queen anything
up to ½ of the kingdom… and
Esther humbly responds “If I have the kindness of your favor in sight, please
grant the life of my people and me that we may live and not be killed… for we
have an enemy…” (Paraphrased)
King Ahasuerus was concerned and questioned who this enemy might be?
And the Queen responded with an intense direction that the wicked Haman
was the king’s adversary.
The king was taken back with such an accusation, and with great wrath he
left the room and went to the garden. Haman began to plead rather quickly and intensely with
Esther, so that his life might be spared. He
even fell across the couch where Ester sat.
The king enters to see this and questions "Will he also assault the
queen while I am in the house?"
The gallows that Haman had made for Mordecai’s death was pointed out to
the king, who in turn said the hand Haman on it.
The king’s wrath was then subsided.
Haman’s land and property was then given to Esther, and Esther told the
king she was related to Mordecai. The
king gives his signet ring to Mordecai (the one which Haman used to posses), and
Esther appointed Mordecai over the house of Haman.
Esther pleads with the King about the wicked plot Haman had made against
the Jews. The king told her and
Mordecai to make a decree for the Jews, and sign it with the signet ring, for a
letter written in the king’s name and signed with the king’s; signet ring
cannot be revoked by anyone. By
this letter, the king allowed the Jews to protect their lives, and to destroy
and kill anyone who would oppose them to assault them.
The Jew’s rejoiced, and “many of the people of the land became Jews,
because fear of the Jews fell upon them.”
I noticed many interesting things in these 2 chapters, but one item that
seemed to stand out greatly was how the King’s wrath was subsided after Haman
was hung on his own gallows. The
scriptures reflect over and over how our sin’s are wicked, and keep anyone
from being in the presence of God – hindering true fellowship and a sincere
relationship with HIM. The awful
sin in our life has to be dealt with, punished, corrected…
and the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).
We can pay for our sins ourselves with an eternal death (separation from
God forever), or accept the sacrifice Christ made 2000 years ago at Calvary.
By HIS death, burial, and resurrection, our sins have been forgiven, we
just need to believe, receive, and accept the gift Jesus Christ offers us.
Through Jesus Christ’s death on he cross (tree)… by HIS
“hanging”, God’s wrath is appeased. The price is no longer on our heads, for it has been paid in
full. And through Jesus Christ, we
can have a wonderful relationship with our Heavenly Father, fellowshipping
through HIS Word….
What joy it is to know that where I was once held in the sight of God
with wrath and death, I now am seen clean and righteous (through Christ) and
able to enjoy the love of God and all HE has to offer!
With this in mind… I must often remind myself, that I do not have a
license or right to continue on in sin, but need to refrain and strive to stay
right and true according to God’s Word. Not giving in to selfish, personal
motives and pleasures, but setting my desires on Godly, biblical, honest and
true desires. To
“Set [my] mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” (Col 3:2
NKJV) And To “Delight [myself] also in the LORD, And He shall give [me] the
desires of [my] heart. Commit [my] way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall
bring it to pass.” (Ps 37:4-5 NKJV). The
key is to delight myself in the LORD… if this is accomplished, my desires will
be only that which is good, right, and true by God’s standards &
requirements… and God will gladly grant those desires, for they are HIS
desires!
May we all appreciate, enjoy, and experience the forgiveness of God,
having HIS wrath withdrawn, and able to have true fellowship in a right
relationship with HIM!
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