Esther

Esther

          This is one of my favorite stories. An orphaned girl named Hadassah was adopted by her cousin (some say uncle) Mordecai. He raised her in the Jewish faith. But the King, looking for a wife, picked her to be his queen.

          In the palace she had every comfort and the latest beauty treatments.  Her uncle, strong minded and faithful to God, refused to bow to a man named Hamond. Hamond was angry and devised a plot to have the king make an order that all the Jews would be killed including, of course, Mordecai.

Esther had not let anyone know of her heritage. Her servants told her that Mordecai had put on a sack cloth and was tearing his clothes in great mourning. Esther sent a servant to see what was wrong and to bring him new clothes.

          Mordecai refused the clothes and let Esther know about the plot. She was afraid to go to the king if he had not summoned her. It could mean her death.

          But here is where it gets good. She decides to pray and fast for three days. Then she allowed the results to be in God’s hands. She said after the time of prayer she would go to the king, and if she dies, she dies.

          I love this kind of trust and courage. Wow! I need this. To be able to trust that God has put you right where you need to be, even if you can’t be certain of a perfect outcome for you own self.  To still step out into the unknown and do what is right.

          The king listens to Esther, and Hamond is punished. Mordecai even gets to be Hamond’s replacement.

          How great is that?

Ezra and Nehimiah

                                                   Ezra and Nehemiah

          Two Sundays ago the sermon at our church was on Ezra and Nehemiah. During this time period the Israelite kings and the people were not honoring their God. But here is an example of a time when God allowed tragedy to happen. The people refused to listen to the prophets and God let Babylon invade and take His people captive.

          Now the Israelites wanted to cry out to God in worship. They needed Him, but the kings in Babylon would not let them worship. God ordained that Persia would capture Babylon along with Israel.

           The Cyrus king of Persia was more benevolent to the Jewish people. He gave them permission to rebuild their temple.  After the temple was built the people came back to worship and remembered what it was like to be able to worship their God.

Ezra 3:11-12

 “With praise and thanksgiving they worshiped the Lord:                                                                                                                                                                                                                        ‘He is good: his love toward Israel endures forever’ And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, sho had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they say the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy. No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away.”
              Nehemiah, cup bearer to King Artaxerxes was allowed to go to Judah and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. God ordained this cup bearer to be in the right place at the right time to help His people.