Grace Bible Church
Pastor Teacher
Robert R. McLaughlin
Thursday January 22, 2020
Pastor Kabrick
A time such as this. Summary of the Book of Esther. Pastor Rick Kabrick.
Mordecai will say to Esther: Don’t be afraid, you are here for just such a time as this.
We too need to realize that we are also here for just such a time as this.
Whatever calling you have, wherever that calling takes you, you will have to decide just as Esther did, whether to do it…or not.
Serving the LORD is not about capability, it is about availability.
DEU 25:17, “Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you were coming out of Egypt, how he met you on the way and attacked all the stragglers when you were tired and weary; and he did not fear God.”
So, the Amalakites went after those who were very vulnerable. But they made a major miscalculation as they didn’t include GOD in their calculation.
1 SA 15, Thus says the LORD of hosts: “I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed them on the way when he came up from Egypt. Go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare anyone of them.”
1SA 15:9, But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.
1SA 15:17 “You may not think you’re very important, but the Lord chose you to be king, and you are in charge of the tribes of Israel. You refused to do what God told you, so GOD has decided that you can’t be king.”
Samuel’s name means one who obeys GOD!
1SA 15:17, “You may not think you’re very important, but the Lord chose you,
Stop right there and apply that to you. Not your wife or your husband or your friend or your Pastor…but to you.
REV3:15-16, “To the church in Laodicea write: ‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot one or the other. Because you are lukewarm, I will spit you out of My mouth.’”
However, there is no book or writing where God’s providence, the hand of the Lord Jesus Christ controlling history or His story is more apparent.
Cyrus the Great: Had the Jews released by Royal decree from captivity to return to Jerusalem in 539 BC; Remember Isaiah wrote about Him 150 years or so before he was born…Many see a relationship to Trump and Cyrus.
Again, although we who are faithful to GOD cannot see the overall plan of events that the Creator sees.
We are looking at just a piece and cannot see the entire picture.
Although we who are faithful to GOD cannot see the overall plan of events that the Creator sees.
We are looking at just a piece and cannot see the entire picture.
Like many of God’s people, Esther struggled with the questions:
“What can I do?
“Who am I that God should use me to work His will?”
PRO 16:4, The LORD works out everything to its proper end – even the wicked for a day of disaster.
The very fact she refused to go implies that she either felt something out of the ordinary was being asked of her although we don’t know for sure.
When such Royal decrees were made, they were recorded in the laws of the Empire, the chronicles, and then could not be altered.
When such Royal decrees were made, they were recorded in the laws of the Empire, the chronicles, and then could not be altered.
So Mordecai went everyday to pace in front of the court of the women’s quarters. There he sought to learn about Esther’s well being.
The King exalted Haman till he was above all the princes of all the provinces. In such a great Empire, this was a very exalted position. Everyone was required to bow to Haman. Mordecai refused to bow.
Haman’s downfall will be not getting over one little Jew who would not bow.
Many people cannot handle power without becoming proud and conceited.
To achieve his goals Haman went to the King to obtain permission to slaughter the Jews. He stated some partial truths, but of course not the whole truth.
We must be very careful of the influence people have on us and whose advice we take. Especially in business matter but important in all areas of life.
Haman’s evil would not only have affected himself, but he included the King in his evil plan, and all the people of the empire in the act of murder.
Had he alone been threatened for his conduct, that would have been one source of grief. But his conduct had led to a decree of destruction, not just against him or even against his whole family, but it was decreed against all Jews, everywhere.
All she could do was to look at the difficulties and see them as obstacles and then make excuses. And she actually had some good arguments and excuses.
We may fear the problems we may face if we serve GOD, but we need to have a much greater fear of the consequences we will face if we do not serve GOD.
“If I perish, I perish!” We all ought to admire and imitate such courage. What a line for us to ponder. You and I are here in this moment for a reason.
Live inside of the LORD’s plan for your life and HE will use you in the way HE intended.
It is interesting that many of the bad things we fear never really happen. We worry and dread that appointment or meeting but we often find out there was nothing to fear at all and things went great.
Like Esther, we need to put our faith in GOD. Instead of death, as she feared, she had been offered half of the greatest empire in the world at that time.
The events that transpire between these two banquets were absolutely essential to the success of her request. Once again God’s hand was there, the LORD was clearly at work, although not even Esther could not have understood it at the time.
We will see, beginning with this very night, GOD’s providence. Hamans’ defeat would be complete in just ONE day, 24 hours from the second most powerful to the least.
The irony here is amazing isn’t it? The King wanted to ask Haman’s advice about how to honor Mordecai, yet at that very moment the reason Haman was there was to ask permission to hang Mordecai!
If God can use such small things for great good, don’t you think He can use you and me!