10/14/2011 8:29:30 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: Haman’s Reward
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Ester 7:9-10
Message of the verses: “9 Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs who were before the king said, "Behold indeed, the gallows standing at Haman’s house fifty cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai who spoke good on behalf of the king!" And the king said, "Hang him on it." 10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows which he had prepared for Mordecai, and the king’s anger subsided.”
Let us begin with Proverbs 11:8 this morning: “The righteous is delivered from trouble, But the wicked takes his place.” This proverb surely goes along with the verses above. Was it Haman’s pride that caused him to tell others in the palace what he had planned to do to Mordecai? It probably was and not his pride caused him to be hanged on the gallows that he had made for Mordecai.
I would suppose that one of the reasons that Haman wanted to hand Mordecai on these gallows was to bring fear to the Jews in the city, but now the Jews were greatly encouraged when they saw Haman hanged on his own gallows.
Here are some more verses that I have read in Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary on this section: Galatians 6:7 “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.” Job 4:8 “"According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity And those who sow trouble harvest it.’” Proverbs 22:8a “He who sows wickedness reaps trouble.”
There is this law about sowing and reaping and it if both for believers and unbelievers and there are different places in the Scripture that teach this of which I will only give a couple just to show that this is a true statement. We have already seen a good example of this in the verses above, but let us think about Jacob who deceived his father when he killed an animal to make a special dinner for him pretending to be his brother Esau and years later his sons killed an animal pretending its blood to be the blood of Joseph. Then we read about Pharaoh drowning the Hebrew boys after they were born in order to stop the population growth of the children of Israel, and then years later Pharaoh’s army, (probably all men) were drowned in the Red Sea.
That is a side of this law that most people look at, but there is the other side of this law, and that side is sowing good things and reaping good things, and that is the best part of this law. Jesus said in Matthew 10:42 “"And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.’”
Jesus spike a parable that is found in Luke 12:15-21 “Then He said to them, "Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions." 16 And He told them a parable, saying, "The land of a rich man was very productive. 17 "And he began reasoning to himself, saying, ’What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’ 18 "Then he said, ’This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 ’And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry."’ 20 "But God said to him, ’You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’ 21 "So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.’” Haman was a man like described here, and we will soon find out where all of his possessions went to.
When we speak of riches we must remember that the most costly thing that a person can have comes free, but at a great cost to the One who give it to us: “18 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, 19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ (1Peter 1:18-19).”
I want to make one more point from this section of Scripture and that is the last part of verse ten where we read “Then was the king’s wrath pacified.” (KJV) Dr. Wiersbe points out that the word Pacified is also used in Genesis 8:1 “But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark; and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided.” The word translated subsided is the same word that used in Ester 7:10. The king’s anger went up like the flood waters and then after the hanging of Haman the king’s anger subsided. I suppose that we can also see this when it comes to the wrath of God for after last plague that is found in the book of Revelations we can read that the wrath of God was satisfied. We must remember that one of the attributes of God is justice, for God is a just God, and we have spoke of this before that all of God’s attributes bring Him glory including His justice. We must also remember that God’s wrath is not a vindictive kind of wrath where God is getting even with those who do wrong against Him, but again we must remember that God’s wrath is just and equitable, for everyone will get exactly what he deserves, either good or bad. Haman’s punishment was equitable, and his punishment to come will be equitable.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I have again seen anger in this section and talked about the wrath or anger of God and how pure it is. This is a good goal for me to follow, which is have a just reason to get angry and not be vindictive in my anger, but be just in it. Good plan to follow.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
1. Be angry and sin not.
2. Continue to learn contentment.
3. Continue to trust the Lord even when things go badly.
10/14/2011 9:19:04 AM
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