- araratchurch
- Mar 24, 2023
- 3 min read
"Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows because he stretched out his hand against the Jews. Also, concerning the Jews, write as you see fit, in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s signet ring—for a decree which is written in the king’s name and sealed with the king’s signet ring may not be revoked.””
Esther 8:7-8 AMP
I know you’ve probably heard quotes from different people expressing the sentiment that they would like to look up Eve when they get to Heaven and slap her in the face for what she brought on all of us. [As an aside, I will point out that the actual person held responsible (in biblical terms) for the Fall of man, was Adam.] People who make this kind of comment are actually ignorant of what happened in the Fall.
You see, man having been created with a free will was unable to resist the temptation of the forever-fallen one. Any of us having been put in the same place and the same situation as Adam and Eve, would have done exactly the same thing they did.
“Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, so death spread to all people [no one being able to stop it or escape its power], because they all sinned.”
Romans 5:12 AMP
So, man found himself in a position of being fallen and not able to get up. But, the Lord spoke through His prophets promising a day when there would be a remedy for the irrevocable penalty of sin.
““The day is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,” says the Lord. “But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.””
Jeremiah 31:31-33 NLT
How could this miracle happen that those formally slaves of sin could be found righteous, therefore avoiding sin’s penalty? Praise God, through the obedience of Christ and His sacrifice, our penalty was trumped by grace.
“So then as through one trespass [Adam’s sin] there resulted condemnation for all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.”
Romans 5:18 AMP
When we recognize that Jesus paid the price for our sin, and we put our trust in Him, we no longer need fear the penalty of sin.
“We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood.”
Romans 3:22-25a NLT
In our opening scripture we see that the king gives Esther and Mordecai the authority to write a new decree. He reminds them that the former decree (written by Haman and sealed in the king’s authority) could not be revoked. Therefore, their hope lies in writing a new decree enabling the sentence to be avoided by the use of force.
Just as the first decree, dooming the Jews to death could not be revoked, just so, the penalty for our sin could not be revoked. Praise God, through Jesus Christ, we are gifted with grace giving us the power to overcome the penalty of our sin!
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- Mar 24, 2023
- 3 min read
“For how can I endure to see the tragedy that will happen to my people? Or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?”
Esther 8:6 AMP
You’re probably familiar with the story of how Moses was used by God to bring the children of Israel out of bondage in Egypt. Interestingly, after the Lord had first spoken to Moses, and he had gathered his family and left for Egypt, along the way, a rather odd occurrence happened.
“Now it happened at the lodging place, that the Lord met Moses and sought to kill him [making him deathly ill because he had not circumcised one of his sons]. Then Zipporah took a flint knife and cut off the foreskin of her son and threw it at Moses’ feet, and said, “Indeed you are a husband of blood to me!” So He let Moses alone [to recover]. At that time Zipporah said, “You are a husband of blood”—because of the circumcision.”
Exodus 4:24-26 AMP
Moses—having just been called by God to deliver His people—came very near to being killed by the Lord due to the fact that he had not honored God’s covenant.
“This is [the sign of] My covenant, which you shall keep and faithfully obey, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be the sign (symbol, memorial) of the covenant between Me and you. And the male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”
Genesis 17:10-11, 14 AMP
Zipporah apparently understood about the covenant and why God was angry. Her actions kept the Lord from killing Moses.
The Lord in His great mercy does not punish or destroy without giving an opportunity for repentance.
“The people of the land have practiced oppression and extortion and have committed robbery; they have wronged the poor and needy and they have oppressed the stranger without justice. I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for [the sake of] the land, that I would not destroy it, but I found no one [not even one]. Therefore I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; I have repaid their way [by bringing it] upon their own heads,” says the Lord God.”
Ezekiel 22:29-31 AMP
But, when there is no repentance or intercession before God for the sin, destruction becomes inevitable.
In our opening scripture we see that Esther once again pleads for the lives of her people. As we have discussed before, it didn’t suffice for her to know that she and her family were assured safety. So, she becomes the one to stand up for those who remained in harm’s way.
Now, the people were not facing destruction because of their own sin, but because of the plot of Haman. Someone must stand up for them and she is doing it.
Having sold ourselves into the bondage of sin, we needed an advocate, someone to stand up for us. Please understand, God does not want to punish us; but sin must be punished. How wonderful it is that He Himself became our Advocate through Jesus Christ
“My little children (believers, dear ones), I am writing you these things so that you will not sin and violate God’s law. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate [who will intercede for us] with the Father: Jesus Christ the righteous [the upright, the just One, who conforms to the Father’s will in every way—purpose, thought, and action]. And He [that same Jesus] is the propitiation for our sins [the atoning sacrifice that holds back the wrath of God that would otherwise be directed at us because of our sinful nature—our worldliness, our lifestyle]; and not for ours alone, but also for [the sins of all believers throughout] the whole world.”
1 John 2:1-2 AMP
As we thank the Lord for the work of Jesus Christ as our Advocate, our Intercessor, we must not forget that it is also our responsibility to intercede in prayer before the Lord for those who remain in harm’s way.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- Mar 21, 2023
- 3 min read
“Again the king held out the gold scepter to Esther. So she rose and stood before him. Esther said, “If it please the king, and if I have found favor with him, and if he thinks it is right, and if I am pleasing to him, let there be a decree that reverses the orders of Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, who ordered that Jews throughout all the king’s provinces should be destroyed.”
Esther 8:4-5 NLT
Once, while in Nazareth, Jesus went into the synagogue and was chosen to do the scripture reading. After being handed the scroll of Isaiah, He scanned it to find the part He wanted to read:
““The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me (the Messiah), Because He has anointed Me to preach the good news to the poor. He has sent Me to announce release (pardon, forgiveness) to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed (downtrodden, bruised, crushed by tragedy), to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord [the day when salvation and the favor of God abound greatly].””
Luke 4:18-19 AMP
He then scandalized some of the people by doing this:
“Then He rolled up the scroll [having stopped in the middle of the verse], gave it back to the attendant and sat down [to teach]; and the eyes of all those in the synagogue were [attentively] fixed on Him. He began speaking to them: “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing and in your presence.””
Luke 4:20-21 AMP
The people took offense to His ascribing the fulfillment of this prophetic word to Himself as it clearly spoke of the Messiah.
Indeed, we know that the Lord had promised a time of favor, a time when we could approach God without fear. Jesus was the fulfillment of that promise.
“For He says, “At the acceptable time (the time of grace) I listened to you, And I helped you on the day of salvation.” Behold, now is “the acceptable time,” behold, now is “the day of salvation”—”
2 Corinthians 6:2 AMP
Through the blood of Jesus Christ we are adopted as sons and are given the Holy Spirit as a guarantee that we need no longer fear God‘s judgment.
“For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading again to fear [of God’s judgment], but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons [the Spirit producing sonship] by which we [joyfully] cry, “Abba! Father!””
Romans 8:15 AMP
As sons of God we can boldly approach the throne formerly reserved for our judgment. And, not only can we approach His throne, we can ask for help, assured He will give it.
“So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.”
Hebrews 4:14-16 NLT
Unlike other religions, we do not have to wonder whether or not we will find favor in the eyes of God. We know that through Jesus Christ our standing in God‘s favor is secured.
In our opening scripture we see that Esther—in seeking the king’s help again—prefaces her request by saying, “If I have found favor.” Praise be to the Lord, as we approach our King we don’t have to preface our request with that caveat; we know that we have found favor. And, dear child of God, nothing is better than that!
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!