Esther Chapter 9 Verse 1

· So, the day that was appointed by Haman and decreed by the king has come for the destruction of the Jews and notice, out of the woodworking comes enemies of the Jews! We will find out later in this chapter that the Jews go to battle and end up killing hundreds of men in the capital city and upwards of seventy-five thousand men in the provinces of the empire!

· Why? There were essentially two decrees! One said to attack and the other said to side with them… What’s happening here is that when license was granted to destroy them on this single day, there was this revelation of the force that was against them. Always against them, but hidden until this day of revelation!

· Folks don’t see it because it’s not something just simply and easily seen. It’s something to intentionally be aware of the fact that every day there is an army that is essentially working against you. The human being, not just the Christian, has a three-fold enemy. And if you’re unaware of your enemy then you have no chance! The greatest advantage in a war is the element of surprise! The world, the flesh and the enemy himself are the three-fold enemy working against every human being. Each one working strategically, patiently and extremely effectively to mess you up to the point of destruction.

· I know I quote this verse a ton but it is central, applicable and important to every life… John 10:10, Jesus says, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.” That means that’s ALL he does. Nothing good and nothing more. Sin has fashioned my flesh in his image and this world system now lies under the sway of the wicked one (1 John 5:19).

· Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 2:11, “Do not be ignorant of his devices, lest Satan should take advantage of you.” Jesus said in John 6:63, “The flesh profits nothing.” This world and all that is in it, which is passing away, headed up at the moment by the “god of this age” as Paul called Satan in 2 Corinthians 4:4…, that three-fold enemy, the world, the flesh and the kingdom of darkness every ounce of his work and ways, is to steal something from you, destroy something in your life and ultimately replace with death every place there is life in your heart, mind and soul.

· And people roll their eyes, unchallenge their wicked attitudes, hearts and ways, and go on with life. Why? Because until the day that is appointed by the Anti-Christ and decreed by the King of kings, those enemies remain in the shadows. Making them unseen to the lazy eye and entirely effective. Just look at the general condition of humanity!

· So, know that because until the day we take hold of our final redemption according to the second decree of the King, we can’t see these things. It takes wisdom to see them and the fear of God is the beginning of that. Anything that is not in the confines of communion with God is stealing from you, destroying something in you and sowing death, turning your lights out, man… in your heart of hearts…

· And I don’t mean some sort of strict walk with the Lord…, I’m talking about communion with the Father, holiness. Not perfection…, holiness! And communion with the Father is both Biblical AND personal AND includes learning, growing, repenting, changing, learning, growing, repenting, changing, over and over again…

· So, here’s where I’ll lose the vast VAST majority if I already haven’t. You know what, in fact, if you right now aren’t on fire for the Lord, close to Him, desperate to grow in your faith, check out for a moment because this will mean nothing to you. The work of the Spirit…, love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…, these things are the work of life. Check this out… not loving, choosing to be joyless, stirring up problems, impatience, not being kind, not being good, not be faithful, not being gentle, living reactive, these things steal from you because they are the hidden surprise effective and entirely common strategies of the flesh, the world and the kingdom of darkness! And every one of those things, they are ALL your choice!!

Esther Chapter 9 Verses 2 – 5

· I just love this example and picture we have in Mordecai. He refused to bow to wicked Haman (Haman is a picture and type of the enemy, the Anti-Christ, the world and the flesh) and because of that, he was set to be the single reason he and his people would be destroyed. Yet he still did the right thing. Still tipped off the king about the plot against him. Still protected even his own enemy! And the end of the story is that Mordecai becomes great in the King’s palace, famous, and increasingly prominent! But don’t miss this…, AFTER he went through a time of a sentence of certain death hanging over his head!

· Psalm 30:5 says, “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” That weeping and sorrow for Jesus was His betrayal, His abuse and His crucifixion. Yet He endured faithfully through those terrors knowing that after three days in the grave, He would raise Himself up again unto eternal life for many. Just like that we have seasons of night. And that’s when we have a choice to walk in faith, to do what is right in the eyes of the Lord, or to not. And once the night is over, the day we step into relies completely on the path we chose when it was dark and we couldn’t see…

Esther Chapter 9 Verses 6 – 10

· Haman had so much more than himself to live for but he couldn’t help but just live for himself. Why? His three-fold enemy had him pinned and he didn’t even know it! He had a supportive wife, friends, control of a vast empire, trust of the king, influence, position and power…, and he had 10 sons. He was an overly blessed man but couldn’t appreciate his blessings…

· It’s like that cartoon I’ve seen so many times where a man is walking with his wife and kids in the park and an expensive convertible car passes by with a guy who looks over at him and in the moment the man walking with his family thinks, “Wow, he’s rich,” when at the same moment the man in the car thinks of the man with his family, “Wow, he’s rich.”

· Perhaps the central tried and true strategy of our enemy…, the incessant pride of life makes us entirely unthankful and we should absolutely personally nuke that in our lives. Being a person who is unthankful, unappreciative is to a be a person that is unable to get past their own pride and desire for more for themselves. We all have so so much. We just get used to what we have and want something else…, or something more…

· Check this out, according to a 2016 article in Forbes, the average American today is 90 times richer than the average historical person. The American living standard of today is about 50 times what it was in the richest part of 1600 England. In the past, those times, the article continues, the vast majority of families lived well on about $600 a year in today’s money…, and that wasn’t considered poverty…

· The article continues and this is so shocking… “However, we sure do have a lot of people still talking about poverty so what are they on about? The truth is they’re not talking about poverty at all. They’re talking about how some have more than others; inequality.”

· Listen, I know there are people in need and I’m not saying those in need should be marginalized. In fact, according to the US 2023 Census, around 11% of Americans live at a level of poverty and we should have programs and a heart to help those families. AND, for the other 89% of Americans, we are arguably the most subdued people in all of history.

· Our phones are better loved than our spouses. We spend more time looking for interesting things on our screens than we do communing with our kids. There are far more successful professionals in our places of business than in our churches. Folks worry all the time about securing their retirement funds but have no thought towards faithfully supporting the work of the Kingdom.

· That is our culture. That is the American way and that system of self-focus is literally, this is obvious to the spiritual host of heaven observing us, that kind of lifestyle subdues, depresses and steals from us. Creates a spirit of unappreciation and that brings forth an entire culture of people that are not able to be thankful because they are so disregarded. Because everyone is doing those same things… All that is is the reward of pride. That’s what the enemy wants and has done a great job stealing from us. Our ability to appreciate the blessing that we ought to cherish but we don’t because of the one thing we don’t yet have or our simple and culturally promoted focus on self.

· Haman had 10 sons. The number 10 is the number of divine completion… 10 Commandments, 10 Plagues, Noah was the 10th generation from Adam, Abraham was the 10th generation from Shem, the tithe that belongs to the Lord is 10%, Jesus’ model prayer has 10 clauses…, it marks something as being total, comprehensive, complete and perfect. And with the loss of his 10 sons, what he had in his own home and life, total, comprehensive, complete and perfect…, was never enjoyed, never appreciated and so it was completely lost!

· While Mordecai rises, Haman disappears. Matthew 23:12, “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” What’s the difference between the humble and the proud? One is thankful, one is not. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything be a thankful person, take note of what you have right in front of you, what God has given you and the blessings He has already given you, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you!”