10/8/2011 8:13:20 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: A night of discovery
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Eater 6:1-5
Message of the verses: “ 1 ¶ During that night the king could not sleep so he gave an order to bring the book of records, the chronicles, and they were read before the king. 2 It was found written what Mordecai had reported concerning Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs who were doorkeepers, that they had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. 3 The king said, "What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?" Then the king’s servants who attended him said, "Nothing has been done for him."
“4 ¶ So the king said, "Who is in the court?" Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king’s palace in order to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on the gallows which he had prepared for him. 5 The king’s servants said to him, "Behold, Haman is standing in the court." And the king said, "Let him come in.’”
We begin the sixth chapter in the book of Ester and also a new chapter in Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary on Ester. I have mentioned in many different SD’s that I use Dr. Wiersbe’s “Be” series commentaries to aid my study. From time to time I look at other commentaries, but most all of the time I follow the outline that is found in the commentary written by Warren Wiersbe. There are exceptions to this, but no very many as I find it more beneficial to me by following his outlines. I have also mentioned that when you read the introduction to each chapter you can mostly get a clue as to what that chapter is about, and in today’s study we find this written at the beginning of his commentary that helps to understand what the chapter is about: “In which God sounds an alarm, but Haman won’t listen.” The title of this chapter is “Warning Signals” and it has to do with the different warning signals that were given to Haman right before he is to be executed, but as in the case of many people he does not turn from his sinful ways in order to be saved. Ezekiel 33:11 says, “"Say to them, ’As I live!’ declares the Lord GOD, ’I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’” (I realize that Haman is not a Jew, but the point is that God has no pleasure in the death of a wicked person). 2Peter 3:9: “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”
I want to also say that as I have studied this subject on many occasions and went away scratching my head as I cannot understand it I have learned one thing that has help me to understand it and that came in the study of the attributes of God. The Bible shows the attributes of God and I will just mention a few of them to help to make the point that I wish to make. God is love, God is just, God is Holy, God is all powerful, God is wise, God is all knowing, and God is everywhere. Now what I have learned from this study is that God receives glory from all of His attributes. When one thinks of creation one can see God’s power, wisdom, love, and His holiness, along with His knowing all things. Now let’s look at the cross where we see God’s love but we also see God’s justice. God’s wisdom and power are also seen at the cross. While listening to a sermon by John MacArthur he point out that all of God’s attributes are seen at the cross which means that God received glory for all of His attributes for what Christ accomplished at the cross. I would suppose that the hardest thing for a believer to understand, at least it was for me, is that God receives glory from His attribute of justice. One cannot think of God as being vindictive and that He is waiting for people to mess up so that He is waiting to execute His judgment on them. The verses above from Ezekiel and 2Peter show that this is not true.
One more example I wish to give and that is from the Ark of the Covenant that has the two cherubim’s on it facing each other. This is where the High Priest would come in once a year on the Day of Atonement and place the blood on the Arch of the Covenant. A long time ago when I was listening to a sermon by a Pastor who was explaining this said that one of the cherubim’s represented God’s justice and the other His love. God is angry over sin, yet He is love so when He looks at the blood His justice is satisfied. Again it is hard to understand God receiving glory from His justice, but it is true. Some things you just have to take by faith even though you cannot understand them. Deuteronomy 29:29 is a verse I run to when I do not understand something like this from the Scriptures it say: “"The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.’” Let’s look at this verse from the Message “GOD, our God, will take care of the hidden things but the revealed things are our business. It’s up to us and our children to attend to all the terms in this Revelation.”
I had not planned on writing about this when I started this SD, but that is how it turned out and so I will have to begin the study of the 6th chapter of Ester with the next SD.
10/8/2011 10:14:21 AM
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