Mordecai Takes Action by Expressing His Concerns

9/30/2011 8:22:21 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                                                             Focus:  He expressed his concern

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                         Reference:  Ester 4:1-3

                Message of the verses:  “1 ¶  When Mordecai learned all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city and wailed loudly and bitterly. 2  He went as far as the king’s gate, for no one was to enter the king’s gate clothed in sackcloth. 3  In each and every province where the command and decree of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing; and many lay on sackcloth and ashes.”

                Today’s SD begins the forth chapter in both the commentary of Dr. Wiersbe and also the book of Ester.  Dr. Wiersbe entitles this chapter “A Day of Decision,” and he writes this statement before beginning his commentary, “In which the queen goes into her counting house and counts the cost.”  In this chapter we will discover what it is that Mordecai will do about the peril that has fallen upon the Jewish people.

                I want to take this opportunity of writing about what the Jewish people did when they heard about the law that was to kill all of them.  They began to fast, and weep and wail, and also put on sackcloth and ashes.  We see this at different times throughout the OT, and at times in the NT.  It seems that this is a lost form of worship in our churches today.  In the economy of the OT Law people were required to fast.  While Jesus was here on earth He explained to the disciples of John the Baptist that the reason that His disciples did not fast was because He, the Bridegroom, was with them, however after He left them they would again begin to fast.  The NT also states “when you fast,” and so it is assuming that people will fast.

                I have read a number of books on the human benefits of fasting and have fasted on two different occasions, once for a week on nothing but water, and then for 22 days with only one glass of juice per day.  It is amazing that when one fasts that after three days they are not hungry at all, and it seems to me that both the physical and spiritual things that happen when you fast are similar.  Physical benefits are to cleanse the body of toxins and allow the body to begin to heal itself.  Spiritual benefits are that of cleansing the mind and spirit, taking time to listen to the Lord as your mind is much clearer than when you are eating.  Other spiritual benefits are that when you fast it usually because you have a spiritual item that you are concerned about and so you do not want the process of eating to hamper your thoughts about seeking the Lord’s direction for your life. 

                When you fast, as I mentioned, after three days you are not hungry, however the next time that you feel hungry is the time to end the fast, for if you don’t it begins to starve you.  If you look at both Matthew four, and Luke four you will read about the Lord Jesus Christ fasting for forty days.  Although the text does not say so I do believe that the Lord did drink water, for after three days without water you can surely die, and it seems to me that Jesus did not use his powers for things like that.  If you read the text it says that after forty days He became hungry, and so it was time for the fast to end.  I read of a man who fasted for ninety days, and it was under supervision.  He must have been a large man when he began his fast, for when fasting the body uses the excess fat as fuel to keep on living.  Large people who fast seem to lose weight, while thinner people do not lose that much weight.

                At any rate the Jewish people began to fast and pray to the Lord because of the peril that had come upon them and Haman and the king were feasting and having a party time.

                Mordecia put on sackcloth and began to cry out over what had happened and he went all the way to the king’s gate this way.  He did not care that others knew that he was Jewish for he was in mourning over what had just taken place.  Dr. Wiersbe quotes this in his commentary from who he believes comes from Edmund Burke of England, “All that is required for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”  Solomon writes the following “11 Be the saviour of those who are given up to death, and do not keep back help from those who are slipping to destruction. 12  If you say, See, we had no knowledge of this: does not the tester of hearts give thought to it? and he who keeps your soul, has he no knowledge of it? and will he not give to every man the reward of his work?” (Proverbs 24:11-12 Bible in Basic English)

                These quotes surely did not apply to Mordecai for he was doing something about what was going on in Persia at this time, and the Lord would use both he and Ester to save their people from wicked Haman and his plot to kill them.

                Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I hope to have the same courage that Mordecia had when facing things like he faced.  I believe that the same cause is to be taken up by the people of God over the issue of abortion, for who else cares for these unborn babies if we as believers do not.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.       Do what I can to help the cause of the many unborn babies in America.

2.       Continue to learn contentment.

9/30/2011 9:08:12 AM

Apathy Leave Home Without IT!

9/29/2011 9:21:58 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                                                                             Focus:  His apathy

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                                         Reference:  Ester 3:15b

                Message of the verse:  “and while the king and Haman sat down to drink, the city of Susa was in confusion.”

                In today’s SD we look at the last reason why Haman was such a dangerous man, and it is because of his apathy.  (Emotional emptiness Inability to feel normal or passionate human feelings or to respond emotionally)  (Encarta Dictionary) (North American)

                This section of Scripture reminds me of looking at movies based on World War II, especially those based on the European theater when you can see many Jews being killed only being Jewish, and then you see the German soldiers eating and drinking like nothing was wrong. “Schindler’s List” is a movie produced by Steven Spielberg that tells the story of how the Germans were killing the Jews in WW II and although it has some rather graphic scenes in it one can surely see the apathy of those who were killing the Jews.

                We see in the last part of verse fifteen two men, one who seems to have no idea what is going on, and one who is on a mission from Hell.  After the law is given these two men sit down to have a drink, and I am sure in the case of Haman it was to celebrate his seeming victory, but in fact in three months he will be the one who is killed by the man who does not seem to know what is going on.  God had two people waiting in the wings to do His will, Ester and Mordecia.

                In his commentary on this verse Dr. Wiersbe quotes Helen Keller who wrote, “Science may have found a cure for most evils, but it has found no remedy for the worst of them all—the apathy of human beings.”  He also tells the story of J. Hudson Taylor who was a great missionary to china in the late 1800’s and how he had gone into a church where the believers were feasting and fellowshipping, and there was really nothing wrong with that, but he was unsettled with it and was pondering what the Lord had for him to do, and so he went for a walk on the beach.  One of the phrases that he had written in his book that got to the heart of Warren Wiersbe was “unable to bear the sight of rejoicing multitudes in the house of God.”  As stated above there is nothing wrong with this provided that the hearts of these people in the house of God had a good attitude of doing the will of God which has in it winning the lost.  Dr. Wiersbe writes “but rejoicing must never be a substitute for responsibility.”

                The parable of the “Good Samaritan” in Luke 10:25-37 speaks of apathy, for there were two “religious” people who saw the plight of the wounded man and walked right by, but the “disrespected” Samaritan stopped and helped the man and cared for him until he was well again at his own cost.

                The problem that is seen here is that apathy is not just found in unbelievers who want to go out and destroy the Jews, for it can be found in believers who do not remember what it is to be lost, and therefore do little to tell others of the saving grace of God through Jesus Christ.  They are content in great fellowship with their friends when there is a world of lost people around them who need to hear the go good news of the Gospel.

                I have a friend of mine who has coined the phrase “Divine Connection,” and I like that phrase and have had some divine connections that have happened to me on different occasions.  A family moved in next door to us a few years back and I had the privilege to leading a pretty large number of them to the Lord, start a Bible Study with them where others came to know the Lord, and then took a few months to disciple them in the fundamentals of the faith.  This was surely a divine connection as it was the Lord who set all of this up and all I had to do was follow the leading of His Spirit.  It was in the summer when the first of them received Christ and then in the fall we had a Bible Study where more came to know the Lord.  One night about a week before Thanksgiving I woke up around 4:00 AM and could not go back to sleep.  This was a moment unlike any other in my life when the Spirit of God was speaking to my heart about those who had just been saved.  He seemed to say to my heart that it was Him who had done this and that this was the greatest miracle that can happen.  I began to cry over the fact that these people were now part of God’s kingdom and I have never looked at the salvation of a soul like I did before.  I must admit that there was a form of apathy in me before that morning, and I thank the Lord that He spoke to me then.

                I must say what is on my heart at this time and that is that I believe in divine connections as there have been more such times since the very special year.  I don’t think that we as believers need to have a guilty conscience about not witnessing to the lost, unless we are not willing to do so, but I do believe that we need to pray that God would send us these divine connections and when they come be willing to step out by faith to tell them of the hope that we have within us.  Pray that God will lay someone on your heart that He will save, and that He will allow you to be a part of it.

                Last year I had a painful experience with a kidney stone and went to a doctor to have it “blasted.”  He did a terrible job of it and so I ended up in the hospital to have it removed another way.  The doctor that was going to do this procedure was a man whom I had a burden for him to know the Lord, as I had him before but due to some insurance issues could not go to see him.  I truly believe that this was a divine connection, even though it was a very painful thing that I went through in order to see this doctor again.  While going to see him for a visit after the procedure I took the time to write him a long letter about how I came to know the Lord and how He changed my life.  I also bought for him a small mp3 player with some messages on it from the 9^th chapter of Daniel.  I pray for him a lot and hope to see him soon, as we have been out of state for eight months.  When I think about the pain that I went through to be able to tell him the good news of the Gospel I know that it was all worth it.

                Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I want to have a heart for the lost and I pray that the Lord will continue to send me more divine connections in order to tell them the greatest story ever told.  When apathy seems to try and slip into my life I pray that the Lord will remind me of that wonderful morning when He showed me the beauty of seeing a soul saved.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.        Pray for more divine connections.

2.       Continue to learn contentment.

3.       Pray that our Bible Study that begins tomorrow will bring glory to the Lord.

9/29/2011 10:53:27 AM

Haman's Subtlety

9/28/2011 10:34:13 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                                                                             Focus:  His Subtlety

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                                         Reference:  Ester 3:7-15a

                Message of the verses:  Today’s SD is the fourth main point under Dr. Wiersbe’s outline and this chapter explains to the readers how Haman was such a dangerous man.  There are three sub-points under this forth main point and he entitles the first sup-point “He selected the day,” and it covers verse seven:  “7 ¶  In the first month, which is the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, Pur, that is the lot, was cast before Haman from day to day and from month to month, until the twelfth month, that is the month Adar (NASB).”  “7 ¶  So in the month of April, during the twelfth year of King Xerxes’ reign, lots were cast in Haman’s presence (the lots were called purim) to determine the best day and month to take action. And the day selected was March 7, nearly a year later (NLT).”

                This is the first step that wicked Haman took in his plan to destroy the Jews, which is selecting the day, something he and the court astrologers did.  Haman did this before he went to the king and this is the process that the Eastern people would follow before making a decision.  They were consulting with their gods and as we look at other OT books such as Daniel and Ezekiel we can see this process taking place.  Ezekiel 21:21 give an example of how Nebuchadnezzar used this process of looking to his god (and idol) before making a decision:  “21  The king of Babylon now stands at the fork, uncertain whether to attack Jerusalem or Rabbah. He calls his magicians to look for omens. They cast lots by shaking arrows from the quiver. They inspect the livers of animal sacrifices (NLT).”  The NLT helps explain what the king did so that it is easier to understand.

                The astrologers came up with the month of Adar (March) to attack the Jews, however the lot was cast in the month of Nisan (April), and this is a year later, so this gave time for Mordecai and Ester to make their plans to stop the plans of Haman.  Proverbs 16:33 reads “The lot is cast into the lap, But its every decision is from the LORD NKJV).”

                We do not know if Haman was disappointed over when the lot was cast, but he may have been, then again he may have wanted to use this time to watch the Jews panic and also make sure his plans were in order.

                The next sup-point is entitled “He requested the king’s permission,) and that covers verses 8-11:  “8  Then Haman approached King Xerxes and said, “There is a certain race of people scattered through all the provinces of your empire who keep themselves separate from everyone else. Their laws are different from those of any other people, and they refuse to obey the laws of the king. So it is not in the king’s interest to let them live. 9  If it please the king, issue a decree that they be destroyed, and I will give 10,000 large sacks of silver to the government administrators to be deposited in the royal treasury.’’  10  The king agreed, confirming his decision by removing his signet ring from his finger and giving it to Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. 11  The king said, “The money and the people are both yours to do with as you see fit.’”

                In this section of Scripture we see lies given to the king by Haman, but we also see the usual way this king acted, and that is to accept something before he even knew what he was accepting.  Proverbs 18:13 describes his action, “He who answers a matter before he hears it, It is folly and shame to him.”

                When the people of Judah and Jerusalem were being defeated by the Babylonians Jeremiah told them , in effect, to behave themselves and the Lord would be with them:  “4  "Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, 5  ’Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their produce. 6  ’Take wives and become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there and do not decrease. 7  ’Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf; for in its welfare you will have welfare’ (Jer. 29:4-7).”   

                Why would this king just give Haman his ring and tell him to do whatever he wanted to do and it would be okay with him?  Why did the king not take up the offer of taking this great amount of money from Haman, after all he had just spent a lot of money fighting the Greeks.  Perhaps he figured that Haman would argue with him and give the money anyway. 

                The last sub-point is entitled “He immediately spread the word”  and covers verses 12-15a :  “12  So on April 17 the king’s secretaries were summoned, and a decree was written exactly as Haman dictated. It was sent to the king’s highest officers, the governors of the respective provinces, and the nobles of each province in their own scripts and languages. The decree was written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with the king’s signet ring. 13  Dispatches were sent by swift messengers into all the provinces of the empire, giving the order that all Jews-young and old, including women and children-must be killed, slaughtered, and annihilated on a single day. This was scheduled to happen on March 7 of the next year. The property of the Jews would be given to those who killed them. 14  A copy of this decree was to be issued as law in every province and proclaimed to all peoples, so that they would be ready to do their duty on the appointed day. 15  At the king’s command, the decree went out by swift messengers (NLT).”

                This law was written very quickly and it traveled to all parts of the empire very quickly too.  Perhaps Haman wanted this to get done that fast because he did not want the king to change his mind.

                Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I would like to pick up on a point that Dr. Wiersbe made in his commentary and that is that if all of this bad news can get to all parts of this empire when the communication is not nearly as good as we have today, why can’t the Church take the good news of the Gospel to people just as fast today, a day when communications is as good as it has ever been.

                My prayer is that the Lord would allow me to have many “Divine Appointments” with the lost as I can take care of.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.        Pray that the Lord will lead me to the lost that he desires me to speak to about Christ.

2.       Continue to learn contentment in my life.

9/28/2011 11:38:15 AM

Haman's Vanity

9/27/2011 9:03:21 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                                                                             Focus:  His vanity

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                                         Reference:  Ester 3:2-6

                Message of the verses:  “2  All the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman; for so the king had commanded concerning him. But Mordecai neither bowed down nor paid homage. 3  Then the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate said to Mordecai, "Why are you transgressing the king’s command?" 4  Now it was when they had spoken daily to him and he would not listen to them, that they told Haman to see whether Mordecai’s reason would stand; for he had told them that he was a Jew. 5  When Haman saw that Mordecai neither bowed down nor paid homage to him, Haman was filled with rage. 6  But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told him who the people of Mordecai were; therefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus.”

                It is important to remember as I begin this SD that I have been looking at different keys in this chapter of Ester that show how Haman was a dangerous man, and what is meant by this is that he was dangerous to the Jews as is very easy to see in these verses for he was not just content to do something with Mordecai but wanted to get rid of all of the Jews that were in the kingdom, and that would have been all of the Jews.

                Dr. Wiersbe points out in his commentary that it was pretty much a custom in the middle east to show respect to those who were in command by bowing to them or in other forms of respect, but in the case of Haman he had to go to the king and to make an order that all would bow down to him.

                Dr Wiersbe quotes a British essayist named Walter Savage Landor who lived from 1775-1864, and wrote:  “When little men cast long shadows, it is a sign that the sun is setting.”  Dr. Wiersbe then goes on to write “Haman was a little man, indeed, but his vanity compelled him to make himself look and sound bigger than he really was.” 

                “Fools take to themselves the respect that is given to their office,” wrote Aesop in his fable “The Jackass in Office,” and this also applies to Haman, for people recognized him because of his office and not because of his character.  Even Albert Einstein agreed with this when he wrote “Try not to become a man of success, but try to become a man of value.”

                Mordecia seemed to have the best brought out in him by the worst that was brought out in Haman.  As written before you don’t actually see a lot of things that Mordecia did to follow the Law, but what you do see is that he had a great love for the people of God, and this must mean that he had a great love of the God of his people.

                We can read in the OT that Abraham bowed down to the sons of Heth when he negotiated with them for Sarah’s grave site.  It was not a violation of the second commandment to bow down before people in authority and it is not wrong for Christians to do this today as they would show respect to their leaders.  I realize that this is not the practice in our culture, but Christians should show respect to those who are in authority over them.  Sometimes this is difficult when we me have people who are in authority over us that are not good leaders, for as we learned in the last SD written on Nehemiah that good leaders led people like Nehemiah lead people, like a shepherd leads his sheep, and not like a cattleman who has to go behind his cattle and drive them.

                It seems that Haman did not even recognize that Mordecia was not bowing down to him for others had to tell him about it, and this again brought out the worst in Haman.  These other officials questioned Mordecia about not bowing down to Haman and it was at this time (v-3) that Mordecia identified himself as a Jew. 

                The question arises why did Mordecia refuse to bow down to Haman?  Dr. Wiersbe writes “I think the answer is that Haman was an Amalekite, and the Amalekites were the avowed enemies of the Jews.  The Lord swore and put in writing that He had declared war on the Amalekites and would fight them from generation to generation (Ex. 17:16).  How could Mordecai show homage to the enemy of the Jews and the enemy of the Lord?  He didn’t want to be guilty of what Joab said about King David, ‘You love your enemies and hate your friends’ (2Samuel 19:6 NKJ).”

                By not bowing down to Haman we can see that Mordecia knew the history of the Amalekites and what the Lord has said about them.  This is another indication of Mordecia being a godly man.  Mordecia was truly standing up for what the Lord had written in His Word and if he had not then it would mean that Satan would use Haman to win a battle that the Lord said would not happen, for the promise of the coming Messiah would not happen if Haman got his way, but again by using the analogy of the chess game that John MacArthur brought up in is commentary on Ester, we see that God would use Mordecia and Ester to call “Checkmate” to win the game against Satan.  There was a lot at stake when Mordecia refused to bow down to Haman.

                In the book of Acts there were several apostles who told those in authority over them these words, “We will obey God and not man,” meaning that if civil laws go against God’s Laws believers are to obey God’s Laws.  Think about the Hebrew midwives who refused to kill the young male Hebrews even though that was the law of the land at that time.  The three brave men in Daniel three did the same, and now we find Mordecai joining this group of brave people.

                It is important to remember that all of these people we are talking about had respect and did not go out and start a riot, but allowed the Lord to work through them in bringing about His will.  They all stood on the promises of God.

We not see Haman’s anger growing larger and larger, as he not only wanted Mordecai out of the way, but all of the Jews.  It is good to remember Genesis 12:1-3 which states “1 ¶  Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; 2  And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; 3  And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.’”

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  To have the courage to stand like Mordecai did against Haman, by having the same respect that Mordecai and others in the Scriptures had when they stood for the cause of Christ against leaders who did not.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.        Trust the Lord to give me the courage to stand for the cause of Christ.

2.       Continue to learn contentment and to realize that by learning contentment that I realize that the Lord is in control of my life and the circumstances in my life.

9/27/2011 10:08:23 AM     

Haman's Vanity

9/27/2011 9:03:21 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                                                                             Focus:  His vanity

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                                         Reference:  Ester 3:2-6

                Message of the verses:  “2  All the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman; for so the king had commanded concerning him. But Mordecai neither bowed down nor paid homage. 3  Then the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate said to Mordecai, "Why are you transgressing the king’s command?" 4  Now it was when they had spoken daily to him and he would not listen to them, that they told Haman to see whether Mordecai’s reason would stand; for he had told them that he was a Jew. 5  When Haman saw that Mordecai neither bowed down nor paid homage to him, Haman was filled with rage. 6  But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told him who the people of Mordecai were; therefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus.”

                It is important to remember as I begin this SD that I have been looking at different keys in this chapter of Ester that show how Haman was a dangerous man, and what is meant by this is that he was dangerous to the Jews as is very easy to see in these verses for he was not just content to do something with Mordecai but wanted to get rid of all of the Jews that were in the kingdom, and that would have been all of the Jews.

                Dr. Wiersbe points out in his commentary that it was pretty much a custom in the middle east to show respect to those who were in command by bowing to them or in other forms of respect, but in the case of Haman he had to go to the king and to make an order that all would bow down to him.

                Dr Wiersbe quotes a British essayist named Walter Savage Landor who lived from 1775-1864, and wrote:  “When little men cast long shadows, it is a sign that the sun is setting.”  Dr. Wiersbe then goes on to write “Haman was a little man, indeed, but his vanity compelled him to make himself look and sound bigger than he really was.” 

                “Fools take to themselves the respect that is given to their office,” wrote Aesop in his fable “The Jackass in Office,” and this also applies to Haman, for people recognized him because of his office and not because of his character.  Even Albert Einstein agreed with this when he wrote “Try not to become a man of success, but try to become a man of value.”

                Mordecia seemed to have the best brought out in him by the worst that was brought out in Haman.  As written before you don’t actually see a lot of things that Mordecia did to follow the Law, but what you do see is that he had a great love for the people of God, and this must mean that he had a great love of the God of his people.

                We can read in the OT that Abraham bowed down to the sons of Heth when he negotiated with them for Sarah’s grave site.  It was not a violation of the second commandment to bow down before people in authority and it is not wrong for Christians to do this today as they would show respect to their leaders.  I realize that this is not the practice in our culture, but Christians should show respect to those who are in authority over them.  Sometimes this is difficult when we me have people who are in authority over us that are not good leaders, for as we learned in the last SD written on Nehemiah that good leaders led people like Nehemiah lead people, like a shepherd leads his sheep, and not like a cattleman who has to go behind his cattle and drive them.

                It seems that Haman did not even recognize that Mordecia was not bowing down to him for others had to tell him about it, and this again brought out the worst in Haman.  These other officials questioned Mordecia about not bowing down to Haman and it was at this time (v-3) that Mordecia identified himself as a Jew. 

                The question arises why did Mordecia refuse to bow down to Haman?  Dr. Wiersbe writes “I think the answer is that Haman was an Amalekite, and the Amalekites were the avowed enemies of the Jews.  The Lord swore and put in writing that He had declared war on the Amalekites and would fight them from generation to generation (Ex. 17:16).  How could Mordecai show homage to the enemy of the Jews and the enemy of the Lord?  He didn’t want to be guilty of what Joab said about King David, ‘You love your enemies and hate your friends’ (2Samuel 19:6 NKJ).”

                By not bowing down to Haman we can see that Mordecia knew the history of the Amalekites and what the Lord has said about them.  This is another indication of Mordecia being a godly man.  Mordecia was truly standing up for what the Lord had written in His Word and if he had not then it would mean that Satan would use Haman to win a battle that the Lord said would not happen, for the promise of the coming Messiah would not happen if Haman got his way, but again by using the analogy of the chess game that John MacArthur brought up in is commentary on Ester, we see that God would use Mordecia and Ester to call “Checkmate” to win the game against Satan.  There was a lot at stake when Mordecia refused to bow down to Haman.

                In the book of Acts there were several apostles who told those in authority over them these words, “We will obey God and not man,” meaning that if civil laws go against God’s Laws believers are to obey God’s Laws.  Think about the Hebrew midwives who refused to kill the young male Hebrews even though that was the law of the land at that time.  The three brave men in Daniel three did the same, and now we find Mordecai joining this group of brave people.

                It is important to remember that all of these people we are talking about had respect and did not go out and start a riot, but allowed the Lord to work through them in bringing about His will.  They all stood on the promises of God.

We not see Haman’s anger growing larger and larger, as he not only wanted Mordecai out of the way, but all of the Jews.  It is good to remember Genesis 12:1-3 which states “1 ¶  Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; 2  And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; 3  And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.’”

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  To have the courage to stand like Mordecai did against Haman, by having the same respect that Mordecai and others in the Scriptures had when they stood for the cause of Christ against leaders who did not.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.        Trust the Lord to give me the courage to stand for the cause of Christ.

2.       Continue to learn contentment and to realize that by learning contentment that I realize that the Lord is in control of my life and the circumstances in my life.

9/27/2011 10:08:23 AM     

Hamans New Authority

9/26/2011 9:42:10 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                                                                             Focus:  His Authority

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                                         Reference:  Ester 3:1b

                Message of the verse:  “and advanced him and established his authority over all the princes who were with him.”

               

                I am not the best when it comes to working a computer, but above you should be able to double click on the mp3 in order to hear Psalm 37, a Psalm that will help to understand what will happen eventually to Haman.  This has not worked and so the best thing will be to read Psalm 37 on your own.  As we look at this last part of Ester 3:1b and then think about how Mordecai was not even given a thanks for saving the kings life we may wonder why we see this kind of thing happen to Haman who did nothing to be advanced into the position that he now has.  Again listening to Psalm 37 will help put this into prospective.

                When we look at the life of Haman we will see that he was a proud man and his goal was to achieve power and so he probably used flattery on the king, for we already have learned some of the weakness of the king and one was that he was gullible and therefore was susceptible to flattery and he was also anxious to please people.

                Dr Wiersbe points out that there have been Bible scholars who have recognized that some of the vary traits that are found in Haman will be seen in who the Bible calls the antichrist.  Haman received his power from the king and the antichrist will receive his power from Satan.  Haman had a deep hatred for the Jews and so will the antichrist, who at first will be nice to them signing a treaty with them to keep them safe, but will latter come against them and try to kill all of them.  (Daniel 9:27-27)  In 2Thes. 2 and also Rev 13 there is more info on the antichrist and by reading those passage and comparing them to some of the things that we will see Haman do one will be able to see the similarities between the two.

                God permitted Haman to come to power and He will permit the antichrist to come to power, and in the end God will receive glory just as He received glory from Pharaoh and will receive glory from those who will invade Israel in the last days as described in Ezekiel 39 where it says that God will put hooks in their jaws and bring them down against the nation of Israel in order to defeat them, for it will be God who will do a miracle and defeat those nations that will come against Israel in the last days.  I have written before that all of God’s attributes bring glory to the Him including His justice.  This however is harder for us to understand than having His Love bring glory to God.  One must think only of the cross in order to see His attributes of love and justice bringing Himself glory, for it was love that held Christ on the cross so that God’s justice could be satisfied and all who have believed in the fact that Christ died for them and was buried and rose again will one day be with the Lord in glory.

                “Dr. J. Vernon McGee use to say ‘The Jew has attended the funeral of every one of the nations that tried to exterminate him’ and Haman was not to be an exception.”  You see God cannot go against His promise and His covenant that He made with Abraham and so even when one reads of the sin that Israel had committed, and even though God was so upset with them you will always read that God will accomplish His purposes that He made for Israel and will bring them back into their land, something that happened in May of 1948.  Take the time to read the 15^th chapter of Genesis to see the covenant that God made with Abraham, and because there was no one greater God swore to Himself that this covenant will come to pass, and even though Satan has tried to stop it that will never happen.

                Haman had authority given to him by the king, and when a person receives authority it will test their character as to how they use that authority, and we will see that his character left a lot to be desired.

                Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I have stated in earlier SD’s that I desire not to be as gullible as I have been in the past.  I do not want to be anything like Ahasuerus and that is one of the reasons for studying the OT, that is to see mistakes that were made and then not make them.  A pastor we were listening to while living in Hawaii was telling the benefits of having all age groups in the local church and gave some of the benefits of having all of the age groups, and what he said about having the older people in a church was that they could let the younger people know of the mistakes that they have made so that the younger group will not make them.  That is kind of like reading the OT, the thing is not to repeat the mistakes.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.       Learn from mistakes and not make them again.

2.       Continue to learn the difficult thing of being content.

9/26/2011 10:52:21 AM

Haman's Ancestry

9/25/2011 7:48:48 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                                                                             Focus:  His ancestry

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                                         Reference:  Ester 3:1a

                Message of the verse:  “1 After these events King Ahasuerus promoted Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite,”

                Today’s SD begins the third chapter in the book of Ester and also in the commentary of Warren Wiersbe’s book on Ester “Be Committed.”  He entitles this chapter “An Old enemy With A New Name,” and we are introduced to another of the characters in this drama, Haman.”  Dr Wiersbe writes at the beginning of this chapter “In which an evil man challenges the throne of Almighty God.”  It is good to be reminded of what John MacArthur committed on in the introduction to his notes from his study Bible on Ester, and that is that the book of Ester is like a chess game between God and Satan, and one of the key players on the side of Satan is Haman.  Dr. Wiersbe writes “Haman personifies everybody who has tried to exterminate the people of Israel.  This chapter explains to us why Haman was such a dangerous man.”  The first reason that will show how dangerous he is will be his ancestry, and that will be the subject of this SD.

                Ester is read out loud in the Synagogues each year during the feasible of Purim, and when the name of Haman is mentioned the people will stomp their feet and say “May his name be blotted out.”  The people of God were in great danger because of this man Haman, and yet the promises of the Lord concerning His keeping of Israel are scattered through all of Scripture including in the book of Romans in the NT. 

                I have mentioned in passing the ancestry of Haman in an earlier SD, but now we are at the point in the book of Ester where he is mentioned.  This chapter takes place four years after Ester was named queen and all of this time Mordecia was doing the business of the king at the gate, and now we see that Haman is promoted by the king.  In the chess game mentioned above this would be a move by Satan.

                I wish to start the portion of my SD with a quote from Proverbs that when watched throughout this book of Ester will describe Haman, and the important thing to remember is that the things mentioned in this section of Proverbs is what God HATES.  “16  There are six things which the LORD hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: 17  Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood, 18  A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil, 19  A false witness who utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers (Proverbs 6:16-19).

                I have always been a person who loves history and so that makes it easier for me to study the book of history that are in the OT, of which Ester is the last.  When we begin to look at the battle that went on between Haman and the Jews we must go all the way back to the book of Genesis for Haman descends from Jacob’s brother Esau.  Esau and Jacob never did get a long and when their mother was pregnant with these two boys God told her that there were two nations within her womb.  The reason that Rebecca enquired of the Lord about this was because the two boys being formed in her womb were struggling within her womb and this is the answer that the Lord gave to her “The LORD said to her, "Two nations are in your womb; And two peoples will be separated from your body; And one people shall be stronger than the other; And the older shall serve the younger.’”  (Gen. 25:23)    I would suppose one could say that it was inside the womb of Rebecca that this battle began for the grandson of Esau was the father of the Amalekites and there was hatred between these two nations and it began in the womb.

                We move to the book of Exodus and find that while the children of Israel were in the wilderness that the Amalekites attacked them from the rear, and it was because of this deed that God promised to destroy them and Moses reminded the children of Israel of this in Deuteronomy 25:17-19, “17  "Remember what Amalek did to you along the way when you came out from Egypt, 18  how he met you along the way and attacked among you all the stragglers at your rear when you were faint and weary; and he did not fear God. 19  "Therefore it shall come about when the LORD your God has given you rest from all your surrounding enemies, in the land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance to possess, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven; you must not forget.”

                We now move to the book of 1Samuel where the Lord gives orders to King Saul to destroy the Amalekites, but Saul did not do as the Lord told him to do and because of this Saul would lose his crown and any chance of a dynasty.  There is irony found here for when Saul would lose his life it was told to David by an Amalekite that he had killed Saul.  Saul was from Benjamin and so was Mordecia and so this battle would again be fought between an Amalekite and a descendant of Benjamin.   The results will be different this time.

                Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As I look at the story of Ester and some of the stories within the stories I seen the hand of God, and I also see God being faithful in keeping His promises that He made to Israel and this gives confidence to me that He will keep His promises to me that were made to those in His Church.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.       Believe the promises of God, for He is faithful.

2.       Continue the hard road of learning contentment.

9/25/2011 8:46:10 AM