Waiting on God: 3 Reasons He Hasn’t Moved Yet (Book of Esther)

 Join Pastor Adam Duroy in this powerful conclusion to our study of the Book of Esther. Through Esther’s courage and Mordecai’s rise, we see how God’s unseen hand works in impossible situations. Pastor Adam unpacks how believers can trust in God’s perfect timing, navigate trials with wisdom, and recognize when He is preparing them for greater purposes. With practical insights and biblical truths, this message will encourage you to seek God’s perspective before making decisions. 

This channel exists to help you develop an informed view of biblical teachings through careful, expositional preaching. 

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Transcript

00;00;00;00 - 00;00;10;25
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Hello everyone. You're listening to Generation of Purpose with Pastor Adam Roy, where we dig into God's Word for a fresh look at growing your relationship with God and finding your purpose. Let's get into it.

00;00;10;25 - 00;00;17;26
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Time to finish up our study in the book of Esther.

00;00;17;29 - 00;01;05;08
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People who get up early in the morning to go to work. We'll often look at two reports. They'll look at the weather report. But before they go out of the house in their car, what's another report? They're probably going to check the traffic report. That's right. They'll check the weather report, but then also the traffic report, the information given in the traffic report is fed to the newscasters, the reporters by a person who is monitoring the status of the highways in the city streets by view of a helicopter.

00;01;05;10 - 00;01;37;14
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The traffic report can be very helpful because, you know, if you're trying to get to work on time, you'll be alerted to road closures, delays relating to accidents, perhaps, construction work and so forth. When you're fed this information, you'll be aware of what to expect, and you might be able to, ahead of time, plan a little bit more carefully the route that you decide to take, won't you?

00;01;37;17 - 00;02;10;12
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But some people may not take the time to listen to or watch the traffic report because they ironically feel like they don't have time to and they want to leave their house at a good time to get to work on time. But if you get stuck in gridlock traffic because you missed the traffic report, because you felt like you didn't have time to view the traffic report, well, then that's a pretty sad situation because now you're stuck in traffic.

00;02;10;18 - 00;02;39;10
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It's bumper to bumper, right? You can't see what's ahead of you. And so you're certainly not sure whether to turn around, whether to take the closest exit and go another route and so forth. It's better to take the time to seek out the information that's coming from the one who has the helicopter view of what's going on, and the best detours and ways ahead.

00;02;39;12 - 00;03;17;14
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Of course, in our life, we often have to go out and deal with various challenges. We have to go out and take up the various responsibilities that we have as parents, as people who hold jobs, as children of God. The Lord has called some of us to specific things, but it's up to us to make the time. To tap into the one who has the helicopter view of everything that's ahead of you.

00;03;17;17 - 00;03;51;15
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Because the one who has the helicopter view of everything that's ahead of you, then has the best information pertaining to how you can navigate through the bumpy road that might be in front of you. But it's a sad thing when a lot of Christians say, well, you don't understand. You know, I'm dealing with this real difficult conundrum in my life, and I just have to get up and go talk to this person and go here or go there or, you know, I have to, you know, I have to put food on the table.

00;03;51;15 - 00;04;11;22
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And so I gotta make more money. And so I got to just take up 2 or 3 jobs. Of course, that's what I have to do. That's just common sense. You know, I don't have time to talk to God about it. I just got to get up and go. When in reality, as we've seen within the book of Esther, God knows the ins and outs of every situation.

00;04;11;24 - 00;05;01;27
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God knows what is best for you in every situation because he knows the best road ahead. Because again, he has the helicopter view. He can see everything more clearly and so matter what type of situation you might be in, no matter what type of endeavor you have decided to take up in your life, no matter what type of perhaps obstacle or trial you've gotten into, you have to make sure that you take time to pause, to take a step back, and to truly pray to the Lord and seek out his guidance and wisdom as to how to navigate again, whatever it might be, because he has the helicopter view of everything we saw in many

00;05;01;27 - 00;05;30;13
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ways, more or less that that is what Esther did. Okay, we saw this in our last session, which of course we didn't meet last week because we took off for Presidents Day weekend. But the week before that, we saw that Esther and her people, not just her, the entire Jewish population living in Persia at the time, they were hit with a difficult challenge, a threat.

00;05;30;15 - 00;05;56;28
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That's a better way to put it, a devastating threat, because this individual, Haman, whom we read that the king all nerd higher than all the other nobles, he had it out for Mordecai, Esther, his cousin, because he felt that Mordecai didn't give him the proper honor that you know he felt that he deserved right? But hey, man, he didn't want to just stop at, oh, I'm going to get revenge on Mordecai and take him out.

00;05;56;28 - 00;06;30;05
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No, he said, I want to take out the entire Jewish population, which would have included Mordecai. And of course, it also would have included Esther, who ironically had taken the throne as queen at that time. And so Mordecai communicated all of this to his cousin Esther, and he told Esther, hey, you never know. Perhaps God has allowed you to get into this position of leadership that you're in right now as Queen in Persia for such a time as this.

00;06;30;05 - 00;06;50;23
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And I talked about how last, you know, last time I talked about how all of us really are on this earth for such a time as this and so much as we have all been brought into this life at the time we were brought into this life for a particular reason. Now it's up to us to figure out what that reason is.

00;06;50;23 - 00;07;11;26
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Of course, we know that the overall reason is for us to spread God's kingdom. That's the overall calling that each of us are called to, but we each have some callings within that call line, so we each have a special place within God's kingdom to carry out his kingdom work. It all depends on the gift that God has given you or where he's led you in life.

00;07;11;26 - 00;07;38;06
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And it's up to you to discover that. So you have been brought to where you are right now in life for such a time as this. And wherever you end up in life, if you find yourself in a situation where you've moved to another state or you've, taken up another job or another career, or, you know, you met a person that you're about to get married to, you're marrying into a particular family.

00;07;38;06 - 00;08;00;25
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Wherever you find yourself in life, you have to see that God and His divine providence has brought you to that point. So always ask yourself, whenever you are relocated or brought to a new location in your life, Lord, what do you want me to do here? Why am I here? Right? Why have you brought me here now? Of course.

00;08;00;25 - 00;08;26;04
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We saw last time that Esther. You know, just like Mordecai. She was absolutely devastated when she heard about the edict that was issued, talking about how on a particular date, the Persian people were people within, you know, armed people within the, Persian militia would go out and would eradicate the Jewish people who were living in the various cities and towns in Persia at that time.

00;08;26;07 - 00;08;50;24
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And that date was going to be coming up. And so Esther would then her position of influence, she had to figure out a way to win the King's approval, to see then if he would be able to do something about that edict that was issued, because back at the time, if the king put his seal on a particular edict, a particular order, it couldn't be reversed.

00;08;50;27 - 00;09;31;06
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So there was a lot barren mind that Esther was up against at this point. There was a lot that she was up against at this point. But what did she do? Okay, we saw this last time. She sent out a message to all of her people who were living within the vicinities at that time, and she asked them for, I believe, a time period of 2 to 3 days to do nothing but fast, fast commentators believe, of course, since this was the Jewish culture, that the fact that she asked her people to fast, most certainly that would have included prayer.

00;09;31;09 - 00;09;54;27
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So in that sense, she dedicated a time and she had her people to dedicate time for three days to prayer and fasting, because she had to present herself to the king. And if you remember, okay, it wasn't in the you know, it wasn't any simple thing to just present yourself to the King. Unless he had summoned you, even though she was the queen.

00;09;54;27 - 00;10;18;00
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So even the Queen couldn't present herself to the king uninvited. And so she prayed she could have been killed if she presented herself to King Xerxes. And he did not welcome her. Her coming to visit him. And so that is why she had her people pray and fast again. They were seeking the Lord. They were seeking the Lord's guidance.

00;10;18;00 - 00;10;36;05
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They were seeking the Lord's wisdom. And they were, you know, Esther had to then figure out once, as we know, King Xerxes did hold out his golden scepter to let her know. Okay. Yes, I'm welcoming you. I'm okay with that, though. You're uninvited. I'm okay with you coming to visit me in my palace. That then happened. All right.

00;10;36;05 - 00;11;24;05
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Then Esther had to figure out a way to stop what was about to happen to her people. And so she came up with a plan. A strategy we read last time. Okay, that. She invited the king and also Haman, his second in command, that bad guy, to her house the next day for a royal banquet. And so they went ahead and they participated within that royal banquet that Esther had prepared for both Heyman and King Xerxes.

00;11;24;08 - 00;11;52;21
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King Xerxes said to Esther, when they were within that royal banquet setting, Queen, what is it you want me to do for you? Even up to half of the kingdom, right? Even up to half of the kingdom I can provide for you. What is it that you want? She then said, all right, here's what I want. I want you now, tomorrow, to come to one more banquet that I have prepared for you and your highly esteemed noble Haman.

00;11;52;24 - 00;12;16;23
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And so we're going to be picking it up today, of course, at that second banquet. Now, that second banquet that Esther prepared, commentators have explored over the years as to why Esther approached the situation like this. Why didn't she break the news to King Xerxes and the Haman? On the first night when she had that first banquet that she held for them?

00;12;16;26 - 00;12;41;01
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You know, various conclusions have been drawn. Some people think that Esther simply wanted to explore the demeanor of Heyman and the King, to see how they interacted with each other, to see how close they were, in fact, okay. Because again, she was about to read Heyman out. And how was King Xerxes going to respond to this? Either way, there's no doubt about it that Esther was being very strategic.

00;12;41;01 - 00;13;08;17
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She was being very careful. This was all well planned and it's absolutely without a questionable doubt that it was the Lord himself that was imparting wisdom upon Esther in regards to how she could carefully navigate this situation and the steps that she was taking right now, again, to ultimately save her people. She was being completely guided by God and His divine hand.

00;13;08;20 - 00;13;38;04
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The Lord's providential hand is all throughout the Book of Esther, even though, as we've covered, God's name is not mentioned once, God's name is not mentioned once, and but again, his fingertips are simply all over the book, and we can see that so clearly. So there's absolutely no doubt, especially after Esther was seeking the Lord very carefully, after she had that three days of fasting, which would have included prayer and so forth.

00;13;38;10 - 00;14;06;15
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There's no doubt that at this point God is certainly guiding Esther along. He is certainly imparting upon her the right wisdom that she should take when it comes to what strategy to use here. And you have to understand, God absolutely will give you the wisdom that you need to handle every situation and every challenge that you encounter in your life.

00;14;06;18 - 00;14;36;07
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It doesn't matter what it might be, God will give you the wisdom that you need. Okay, a lot of us sometimes feel intimidated by situations in life. Responsibilities in life. All right, let's look at it from the spiritual standpoint. When it comes to the Christian walk, we all have a responsibility as followers and disciples of Jesus Christ. And that responsibility is well, you know, it's twofold.

00;14;36;07 - 00;14;54;27
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It's to preach the gospel. It's to make disciples. And but some of us can feel a little bit intimidated by that. And we think to ourselves, well, you know, I'd like to sign up for that mission trip. Perhaps they're going to be going to Cuba. We have a missions team actually right now at Riverview that are going to be going to Cuba.

00;14;54;29 - 00;15;17;20
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I'd like to go to Africa. I'd like to go to Israel. I, I feel I feel like I'm cold, but I'm a little bit intimidated. I don't have experience. I've never been overseas or whatever the case might be. God will give you everything that you need at the proper moment. If he has indeed called you, God will give you the wisdom, because let me tell you something.

00;15;17;22 - 00;15;55;06
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If God's called you to do something, you do not need your wisdom, not by me, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. All you need is the wisdom of God. God's going to impart on you everything that you need in order to get through something. Whatever the case might be, we read within Matthew chapter ten, for instance, Jesus told the apostles when he sent them out, he said to them ever so clearly, but when they arrest you, okay, when you run into tribulation, do not worry about what to say or how to say it.

00;15;55;06 - 00;16;17;17
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At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the spirit of your father speaking through you. Another example is that of Moses. Remember when Moses was initially called in the burning bush within the Book of Exodus, Moses was a little bit intimidated. And Moses said, you know, Lord, I don't think I could go to Egypt.

00;16;17;17 - 00;16;40;28
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I don't think I could face Pharaoh. Why? Well, because, you know, I'm not a good speaker. That's essentially I mean, that's, you know, a modern translation of the issue. But that's essentially what Moses was saying. I'm not a good, confident speaker. I'm just not. But God said to Moses, don't worry. I will be your voice again. The Lord will impart upon you everything you need in order to get through something.

00;16;40;28 - 00;17;04;29
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So again, in this whole situation, Esther probably went into the first banquet not knowing exactly what she was going to do. What could be that? Maybe she intended to break the news to Xerxes about Heyman when she was in that first banquet, maybe as she was sitting down and she just saw the way they were interacting with each other, maybe they were getting a little bit too intoxicated, whatever the case might be.

00;17;05;02 - 00;17;29;06
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She then decided to go ahead and invite them a second time. The next day for a second banquet. But again, all of this was simply the Lord's spirit imparting upon Esther wisdom the steps that she needed to take in order to save the people of God. Save the people of God. There are a couple of other things that occurred, of course.

00;17;29;08 - 00;17;58;06
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Mordecai, in a very humorous episode in chapter six, was elevated by the king. The king couldn't sleep and so he had one of his nobles come in and read to him the events that had taken place in Persia over the past year or so. And, you know, the king discovered that he not he had not thanked or honored Mordecai in the way that he should of after Mordecai stopped, essentially what was a conspiracy to assassinate King Xerxes a little bit before.

00;17;58;08 - 00;18;17;27
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And so King Xerxes, if you remember, called Heyman in. And again, this was a very humorous episode. You know, King Xerxes said, hey, man, what do you think I should do? How should I honor someone in such a magnificent way? And Heyman thought that he was going to honor him. He thought that the King was intending to honor him, and so Heyman went through.

00;18;17;27 - 00;18;42;16
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Oh, I would adorn him in marvelous robes and lead him throughout the city proclaiming, this is a man to be honored. And it was actually Mordecai, the one that Heyman hated, who Heyman ended up having to parade around the city and proclaim honor upon him and so we actually read at the end of that episode in chapter six and verse 12.

00;18;42;16 - 00;19;08;14
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Afterward, Mordecai returned to the King's Gate. Heyman rushed home with his head covered in grief and told Jerash, his wife, and all his friends everything that had happened to him and his advisors interestingly said to him, since Mordecai, before whom your downfall has started, is of Jewish origin, you cannot stand against him. You will surely come to the ruin.

00;19;08;16 - 00;19;30;09
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It's almost as if more. It's almost as if Heyman's advisors had a sense, because of the ironic events that took place that day, which Heyman explained to his advisors, it's almost as if they had a sense that there was some sort of divine power and protection that was behind the Jewish people, almost like this was a bad omen for Heyman.

00;19;30;12 - 00;19;50;12
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The fact that he so, ironically, then had to go ahead and elevate and honor Mordecai, the one that he was intending to kill and kill his whole people. And so they saw it, perhaps as a bad omen for Heyman. You know, this is maybe, hey, this is maybe a sign from the gods or whatever, that you should leave this man and his people alone.

00;19;50;12 - 00;20;14;16
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That's, in essence, what they're communicating to Heyman right now. If anything, I see it perhaps as a warning from God. Hey, don't touch this man. Don't touch this, people. I have my hand upon hand upon them. And while they were still talking with him, the king's eunuchs arrived and hurried Heyman away to the what was again the second banquet okay that Esther had prepared.

00;20;14;18 - 00;20;41;01
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So the King and Heyman went to Queen Esther's banquet, and as they were drinking wine on the second day, the king again asked Queen Esther, what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom it will be granted. Then Queen Esther asked if I have found favor with you. Your Majesty, and if it pleases you, grant me my life.

00;20;41;04 - 00;21;06;16
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This is my petition and spare my people. This is my request. For I and my people have been sold to be destroyed and killed and, you know, just completely annihilated. If we had merely been sold as mill and female slaves, I would have been kept quiet because no such distress would justify disturbing the king. Okay, we'll stop there for a moment.

00;21;06;18 - 00;21;40;05
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King Xerxes, he says, what is it? What is your petition, my queen? What is your request? One commentator writes, quote, there was great irony in Xerxes request. He assumed that she would ask for material possessions, when in reality she was interested in what really matters. Human lives. Now that makes a lot of sense. You know, Esther, and we should see that by this point, Esther was not a vain woman.

00;21;40;07 - 00;22;13;07
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Was it Esther's life goal to become Queen? Absolutely not. We know this. We've been following her from the beginning. She sort of just fell into this particular role. But if you're a godly person and you've ended up in an influential position, you see a position of status. You better believe that God has a purpose for you being in that particular position.

00;22;13;10 - 00;22;38;06
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Not everyone in this life will be elevated to a influential position or a position where people look up to you and so forth. Not everyone will become a manager or a supervisor, or a politician, or a mayor or a law. You know, whatever the case might be, a judge. But Esther's mission, her calling, she found out, was to save lives.

00;22;38;09 - 00;23;15;10
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Our calling, our mission is to save souls and listen word to live out that calling wherever the Lord brings us, wherever God brings us. Now again, I told you earlier, that's our overall calling. There is an overall calling that each Christian has been called to okay. And that is to preach the gospel, to make disciples and to teach everything the Lord Jesus had commanded, his followers and but each of us have a particular role within that overall calling.

00;23;15;13 - 00;23;46;29
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How does the Lord want you to spread his kingdom? What is your petition? King Xerxes asked Esther. What is your request? Even up to half of the kingdom I'll give to you. What is your petition? There's something to think about if you happen to achieve a position of influence or status. Boy, can it be easy to take your eyes off of what it's all about in God's sight?

00;23;47;01 - 00;24;15;15
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Here Esther was as queen and King Xerxes is saying, I'll give you up to half the kingdom. You know, when Jesus came to this earth, if you remember the Jewish people, or at least many of the Jewish people, they wanted to make him king right then and there. They wanted him to overthrow the Roman Empire, and they wanted him to establish his rule and reign right there at that time, in first century Palestine.

00;24;15;18 - 00;24;38;13
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They wanted him to overthrow the rule and reign of the Romans. And Satan also tempted Jesus. If you remember, Satan took Jesus to a very high place and he said, hey, check me out. Check this out. These these are all the kingdom arms of the world, right? What a wonderful view we got right here, Jesus. And I'm willing to give all of these kingdoms over to you.

00;24;38;14 - 00;24;56;28
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You know, all of these kingdoms have been placed in my hand under my authority. And that's what Satan told Jesus. All you got to do is bow down and worship me. Now, Satan didn't even have to offer that to Jesus. Jesus as king already had the power and authority to do whatever he wanted. He could have come to this earth.

00;24;56;28 - 00;25;22;06
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He could have gone along with his followers who wanted him to become king, and he could have just set up shop right then and there. But he didn't do that, now, did he? Why? Because Jesus remained focused. He remained focused on his calling. He remained focused on the mission that the father had put him on, even up to the Garden of Gethsemane.

00;25;22;08 - 00;25;47;17
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Have you remember? Jesus struggled even up to that point, and Jesus was crying out, Lord, take this cup away from me. You can make the argument that Satan approached him a second time at that moment and get some money. But what was it that Jesus concluded, but not my will, but your will be done. You see, Jesus, he remained focus.

00;25;47;20 - 00;26;07;15
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So, Esther, she's in a position of influence. She's in a position of power right now. But she remained focused because she knew by that point as to why God put her in that position of power. And that position of influence of the Lord lead you to a position of power or influenced, hey, praise God, that's really cool. But you remain focused.

00;26;07;17 - 00;26;31;17
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You remain focused as to why you're here on this earth. You are here is simply as a tool, an instrument to spread the kingdom of God and whatever respect he wants you to spread his kingdom in with whatever strategy he's led you to do it with whatever gifts he has given you. But again, if he's led you to a particular job, a particular career, or a particular position, hey, that's great, but remember, stay focused.

00;26;31;20 - 00;26;53;15
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Why has God brought you to that point in this life? Because he has a purpose and a goal for you in that position that he's led you. And so Esther was a godly woman. She wasn't vain. She remained focused. And so King Xerxes responded to Queen Esther after Esther explained, these people want to kill us. Who is he?

00;26;53;17 - 00;27;21;21
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Where is he? The man who has dared to do such a thing? And Esther responds, and she refers to Haman as an adversary. It's interesting because Satan is often in the Bible referred to by that term, and an enemy, this vile Haman. Then Heyman was terrified before the king and queen. The king got up in a rage. He left his wife and he went out into the palace garden.

00;27;21;23 - 00;27;51;12
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But Heyman, realizing that the king had already decided his fate, fate stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life. Now, just as the King returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Heyman was falling on the couch where Esther was reclining. And so you know Heyman. He's just begging for his life at this point. And so he's just going over and, you know, grabbing a hold of Esther, you know, perhaps by her legs first and her knees.

00;27;51;12 - 00;28;08;14
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No, please. Queen Esther, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. You know, it looks like he fell over a little bit on to her as she was reclining on this couch. And then King Xerxes come in, comes in, and he sees Heyman in the position that he's in, and it looks like Heyman was a maybe, you know, up to something else.

00;28;08;16 - 00;28;33;23
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Something, something no good. And so the King exclaimed in the next verse, Will he even molest the Queen while she is with me in the house? As soon as the word left, the King's mouth, they covered Heyman's face. Wow, that reminds me of those movies, right? You know where the good guy gets captured, and then the henchmen come over and just put, like, a veil over the person's face, and they're going to take him off to interrogate him somewhere.

00;28;33;25 - 00;29;00;27
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That's kind of like how it happened then. Horrible. Now, one of the eunuchs standing by the king said, a pole reaching to a height of 50 cubits, stands by Heyman's house. He had it set up for Mordecai, who spoke up to help the king. So the king said, then impale him on it. So they impaled him, and on the pole he had set up for Mordecai.

00;29;01;04 - 00;29;29;28
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Then the king's fury subsided. So there you go, right? God has his hand upon the righteous. You know, in our last session a couple of weeks ago, we saw the way all of this. We saw that the way all of this is playing out within the book of Esther is exactly what is said of the destiny of the wicked in Psalm 37.

00;29;30;00 - 00;30;07;22
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There are swords that will pierce their own hearts, and their bows will be broken. Their swords will pierce their own hearts. The exact pole that Heyman had prepared for Mordecai and his hatred for him. Well, that was the pole that would then cost Heyman his own life. Same Satan was using Heyman. Heyman again was one of a number of figures, a number of people throughout history that the devil has used to attack the Jewish people.

00;30;07;22 - 00;30;34;07
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And I'm talking right now about ethnic Jews. There is spiritual Israel. I'll touch on that a little bit later. Towards the end of our study. But Heyman was one of a number of anti-Semitic people that the enemy has used over the centuries to attack the descendants of Abraham. So Satan here was using Heyman to thwart God's purposes through what would have been the destruction of the Jews.

00;30;34;07 - 00;30;59;00
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Listen, you might have an enemy in your life, a Heyman, and if you are truly walking with the Lord and you're doing his will and an enemy comes into your life, someone who was hurting you to the point where it is obstructing your focus to stay on the course of God's path in your life. Listen, that person is not coming up against you.

00;30;59;00 - 00;31;19;02
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They're coming up against God. They're coming up against God. Now, what does that teach us? It tells us that we can give our enemies over to God. We can give our enemies over to God. If they're coming up against God, then that means that you can give your enemies completely over to God. It don't matter who it is.

00;31;19;04 - 00;31;43;00
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Yeah, no matter how complicated the situation is, it don't matter how hopeless the situation might look. Because, you see, God isn't going to allow a person in your life to thwart the purposes that he has been working in you. And that's something that you can take to the bank as something that you can grab a hold of. Now, what if you're not walking in the purposes of God?

00;31;43;00 - 00;32;01;01
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Well, we'll touch on that in a little. But how did Xerxes then respond to all this after he realized that he had been duped, essentially by the wicked? Hey, man, you know how you know he went out in a rage into the garden. He came back and he was even more furious. And all these things. So what did Xerxes do?

00;32;01;01 - 00;32;26;28
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Because remember, once something was signed and the power at that time, the king put his seal on it, it was nothing more, really, that could be done. So beginning in chapter eight, that same day, King Xerxes gave Queen Esther the estate of Heyman, the enemy of the Jews, and Mordecai came into the presence of the king, for Esther had told how he he was related to her.

00;32;26;28 - 00;32;53;26
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That is, the king took off his signet ring, which he had reclaimed from Heyman, and presented it to Mordecai, and Esther appointed him over Heyman's estate. The tables are turning indeed. Esther again pleaded, with the king falling at his feet and weeping. She begged him to put an end to the evil plan of Haman, the aggregate which he had devised against the Jews.

00;32;53;28 - 00;33;14;02
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And we read here then that the king again extended his golden scepter to Esther. She arose and stood before him, she said, and this was what her request was, if it pleases the king, and if he regards me with favor, and thinks it is the right thing to do, and if he is pleased with me, let an order be written.

00;33;14;02 - 00;33;39;19
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Overruling the dispatches that Heyman, the son of Hammad, after the aggregate devised and wrote to destroy the Jews and all the King's provinces. For how can I bear to see disaster fall on my people? How can I bear to see the destruction of my family? King Xerxes replied to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew because Haman attacked the Jews.

00;33;39;19 - 00;34;04;00
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I have given his estate to Esther and they have impaled him on the pole. He set up now write another decree in the king's name in behalf of the Jews, and as seems best to you, and seal it with the king's signet ring, for no document written in the king's name, and sealed with his ring again can be revoked.

00;34;04;07 - 00;34;27;18
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You know, it really speaks to the fact of just how flawed man's ways of governing is. It's been like that for a long time, and it's still like that to this very day. Once the seal was put on a particular edict, there was nothing that could be done to reverse it, no matter how disgusting or wicked the edict might have been.

00;34;27;20 - 00;34;48;28
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Back at that time, things were pretty messed up. But you know what? They're still messed up. The way government works, the way things are, the things that we see within the highest offices in our land, the corruption, all these types of things. No matter what political party is in power, there are still things that are messed up. There are still flaws.

00;34;48;28 - 00;35;15;03
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There are things that don't work perfectly. There will never be a perfect system, at least not until the one who will come, who will rule and reign with a rod of iron. When he takes the throne, things will be a little bit different. Well, that's an understatement. Things will be a lot different on this earth. One day. Jesus Christ himself is going to come down.

00;35;15;05 - 00;35;42;22
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We read that he's going to rule with a rod of iron. He's going to have his own rod, just like Xerxes did, except righteousness and justice will be the foundation of his throne, and the nations will become his inheritance and the ends of the earth, his possession. We read that within the Psalms, it's spoken about more within the major prophets.

00;35;42;24 - 00;36;06;10
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We get allusions of Christ's rule and reign upon this earth throughout the entire Bible, from the Old Testament to the New Testament, even down to the very last book of the Bible, the Book of Revelation. We read and revelation that quite literally, specifically, explicitly, it tells us he will rule and reign on this earth for a thousand years.

00;36;06;10 - 00;36;25;28
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And I'm excited for that day. Amen. Jesus Christ is coming back. There is not a perfect system right now, but one day Christ is going to set the record straight, and he's going to show all of the governments and nations on this earth who are still going to be here at the time, just how one is able to govern and rule and reign.

00;36;26;00 - 00;37;17;24
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It's going to happen soon. I'm telling you, the Lord is coming back now. Just because Christ is not yet. Physically ruling and reigning on this earth from Mount Zion right now, that does not mean that he is not in control over the affairs of the world today. Now that is something that we have to take to heart, because often we look at the news, often we you know, we talked earlier about the traffic report and the weather report, but we also have the news report often in the morning that we listen to on the radio, you know, when we're driving to work and so forth, and we can hear the headlines and we feel as

00;37;17;24 - 00;37;39;07
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if things are just out of control. I've actually said that to myself out loud sometimes in the car when I'm driving, heading to work here, listen to listening to, you know, the news radio and so forth. I'm like, man, things are just out of control. You know, you got to stop yourself and remind yourself, okay? In one sense, you could say things are out of control.

00;37;39;09 - 00;38;14;19
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Man has free will to choose how they want to live and how they want to do things. And because of the fall, there is chaos and destruction. The world is reaping what is sowing day by day. But then, on the other hand, God still overall has his control over everything that happens in the world. We see that within the Book of Esther, because if you can tell, if you remember throughout the book of Esther, it seems that things were just getting out of control because the Jewish people were up against a complete genocide and annihilation.

00;38;14;21 - 00;38;41;10
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But God's still, even then, even in such a devastating situation, had his hands still. The Lord's underlying hand is everlasting arms were still under the whole circumstance, pulling everything together. Back in Esther's time, God was still in control and we see here that he does provide for Esther, for Mordecai, for King Xerxes, even who now had to clean up a mess.

00;38;41;13 - 00;39;10;11
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He proves he provides for the three of them a solution, a remedy. Now, war was never part of God's plan, because we're going to be getting into very, explicit descriptions of war here. War was never part of the plan of God war, and all of the things that are associated with war and fighting in a battle are simply a result of the fall.

00;39;10;13 - 00;39;49;06
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But again, even though the fall occurred and mankind and the world went into an imperfect state, God's hand in his control is still over the affairs of everything that happens. And God will often use things that are a result of the fall in order to accomplish his purposes. And so, for example, in Genesis chapter nine, during the covenant that was made with Noah, after Noah and his family left the ark on Mount Ararat, we read that there was a covenant made with Noah.

00;39;49;06 - 00;40;19;15
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A few different things were set in stone, including the principle of capital punishment. Now, it was never God's will for any person to be murdered on this earth, because it was God's will for us to all live in a perfect state and to truly emanate the glory of God to the fullest extent. But the fall occurred. And so in order to decrease the amount of bloodshed and so forth, the Lord actually used that of capital punishment.

00;40;19;15 - 00;40;43;18
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Okay, that whole principle of all right, man for man, an eye for an eye, in order to then decrease the amount of killing and the amount of slaughter that was happening on the earth during the time of Noah before the flood occurred. And so God will sometimes use things that are a result of the fall, in this case, war, in order to bring about his purposes.

00;40;43;18 - 00;41;16;07
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And that's further proof of the providence of God that God has his hand upon everything in the affairs of this world. And so we see here, continuing on in verse nine, all at once, the royal secretaries were summoned on the 23rd day of the third month, the month of seven. They wrote out all of Mordecai his orders to the Jews and to the satraps, the governors, and the nobles of the 2127 provinces stretching from India to Kush.

00;41;16;09 - 00;41;40;14
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These orders were written in the script of each province and the language of each people, and also to the Jews in their own script and language. Mordecai wrote in the name of King Xerxes, sealed the despatches with the king signet ring, and sent them by a mountain by mounted couriers who rode fast horses, especially bread for the king.

00;41;40;16 - 00;42;12;07
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And here was the king's edict. Here was the solution that Xerxes provided it granted the Jews in every city the right to assemble and protect themselves, to destroy, kill, and annihilate the armed men of any nationality or province who might attack them and their woman and children, and the plunder the property of their enemies. Now, the fact that this edict went out and everyone throughout the lands would have read it, that probably would have caused.

00;42;12;07 - 00;42;31;26
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Okay, think about it. A lot of people who are planning to attack the Jews on that particular day, it would have caused them to then take a step back and rethink that decision. Oh, wait a minute. So you mean the Jews are actually going to have, in a sense, some military assistance when we're coming at them to take them and so forth, and slaughter them?

00;42;31;28 - 00;42;57;05
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So this was put in place to probably not only give the Jewish people an ability to fight back, but also when the edict went out, people would have read this and they would have thought twice then about actually seeking out to kill the Jewish people the day appointed for the Jews to do this, and all the providences of King Xerxes, was the 13th day of the 12 month, which would have been the month of Adar.

00;42;57;07 - 00;43;22;02
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A copy of the text of the edict was to be issued as law in every province, and made known to the people of every nationality, so that the Jews would be ready on that day to avenge themselves on their enemies. The couriers riding the royal horses went out, and spurred on by the king's command, and the edict was issued, and the citadel of Susa.

00;43;22;04 - 00;43;47;28
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And so when Mordecai left the king's presence, he was wearing royal garments of blue and white, a large crown of gold, and a purple robe of fine linen, and the city of Susa held a joyous celebration for the Jews. It was a time of happiness and joy. It wasn't all dire anymore. It was the time of gladness and honor in every province and in every city to which the edict of the king came.

00;43;47;28 - 00;44;27;00
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There was joy and gladness among the Jews with feasting and celebrating. You see, and many people of other nationalities became Jews because of fear of the Jews had seized them. Oh, I love that. And many people of other nationalities adopted that of Judaism because of fear that the Jews had seized them. In other words, this whole situation caused people to become converted calls people living within Persia, pagan people to become converted to worshiping and serving the true God, the God of Israel.

00;44;27;02 - 00;45;07;26
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You know, when people around you are looking at you and they see the trial that you're going through, but they're witnessing the fact that you're trusting the God that you've told them that you believe in. They see that you are at peace even through the storm, through the trial, through the difficulty. And then they start to see these nonbelievers in your life, your non-believing friends and family members and loved ones and coworkers and so forth, and neighbors, they start to see that you are starting to gain victory and the difficult toilsome trial that you're in that can cause a person who's with you to want to have then what you have, and as a result,

00;45;07;29 - 00;45;41;25
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the most difficult situation or trial that you're in can eventually, perhaps turn into the most Bountiful harvest that you've experienced in your life, the fact that you have held through it, the fact that you're gaining victory in the Lord, can inspire other people in your life when they see that to want to accept Jesus Christ as well. People in the area, many Jews, many other people of other nationalities became Jews as a result of everything that was occurring and was going in the favor of the Jewish people.

00;45;41;27 - 00;46;10;24
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And so on the 13th day of the 12 month, the month of Adar, the edict commanded by the king was to be carried out. And on this day we read. And the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them. As we know. But now I like this. The way they put it in the NIV. The tables were turned and the Jews got the upper hand over those who hated the the tables were turned.

00;46;10;27 - 00;46;39;11
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Now we first saw all the tables being turned, of course, with Heyman and Mordecai here the tables have turned, and that now the Jews are being feared by the people throughout the land. Now God has God. God can and has the ability to turn the tables. And your situation and your life situation and the state that you're in right now.

00;46;39;14 - 00;47;11;27
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God can and has the ability to turn the tables. Think about how impossible the situation appeared prior to Esther, his banquet with the King and Heyman. Now think about how impossible your life situation might appear to be. It don't matter how big the Heyman is in your life. God exercises the same amount of power now as he did back then.

00;47;11;29 - 00;47;34;14
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God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And so he has the ability. He has the ability to turn the tables in your life situation. Another thing he is willing. He is willing, and he wants to turn the tables in your life. Now, whether or not he will turn the tables is actually, believe it or not, a different story.

00;47;34;16 - 00;48;03;21
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Like I said, God is willing, but there might be a reason as to why he hasn't yet turned the tables in your situation. I want you to think about this for a little. Here are three common reasons. Three common reasons as to why God has not yet turned the tables in a person's life situation. The first reason is it may not yet be his time.

00;48;03;23 - 00;48;27;26
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They may not yet be his time. You know, in Ecclesiastes 311 we read, God makes all things beautiful in his time. God has a time in place for everything, a perfect time and place for everything. Again, as we talked about earlier, God is the one who's in the helicopter. He has the bird's eye view of everything. He sees the future.

00;48;27;28 - 00;48;54;13
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He knows you more than you know you. God knows the ins and outs of every situation. The short term effects, the long term consequences of things go a certain way. If things happen too soon, you know, whatever the case might be. So God, in his sovereign wisdom knows when it's the right time to intervene, and all we have to do is wait and continue to be obedient to the Lord's voice and his commandments in His Word.

00;48;54;18 - 00;49;16;11
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While we're waiting, that's all we have to do. The second reason why God oftentimes is not turning the tables yet in a person's life situation. The second reason, to an extent, actually overlaps with the first I just gave you. The second thing is God will stretch out the waiting period some times because he is seeking to stretch us.

00;49;16;14 - 00;49;44;29
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I'll say that again God will stretch out the waiting period some times because he's seeking to stretch us, to refine us, toughen us up. We read in the epistles, no temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. God is faithful. He won't let you be tempted beyond what you can bear, and he'll provide a way for you to endure it.

00;49;45;02 - 00;50;04;00
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He'll probably he'll provide a way for you to endure it. Now. It's not always going to be fun. It might be very painful. The more you are waiting on the Lord, the more of the situation is just ongoing in your life. But God is going to give you the strength to endure it, and as a result, you'll develop more endurance.

00;50;04;07 - 00;50;32;02
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The more you endure, the more you'll develop endurance, the more you will develop and have a greater strength, one that will be very apparent to you when you face trials, then in the distant future. A third reason why God will often not yet turn the tables in a person's life is because that person has yet to repent and put the Lord first in their life.

00;50;32;02 - 00;51;02;02
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Now this is an important one. Some Christians go through their entire lives listen without ever seeing God turn the tables in their circumstances and their life situations. It's not that God isn't willing, it's that they're not willing to get with this program. You see, God's not looking to use perfect people. There's something you have to understand. None of us are going to be perfect.

00;51;02;02 - 00;51;28;11
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That's not what I'm saying. God's not looking to use perfect people were all sinners. We all mess up the Jews. In Esther's day. They were not perfect people. In fact, many of them probably had been heavily influenced by the pagan culture in Persia. Esther and Mordecai, even we saw over the past couple of weeks, were influenced to an extent by the pagan culture in Persia.

00;51;28;14 - 00;52;08;01
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They weren't perfect, but you know something about the Jewish people in Esther's day. They understood their calling as the people of God. They understood their calling. They remembered their Bibles. They remembered what the Scripture said concerning of them. They remembered that Father Abraham was given a set of promises. Your descendants will be a light to the world. You have been set apart, as the Lord told the people upon Mount Sinai, when he was revealing to them his divine revelation.

00;52;08;01 - 00;52;37;23
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Law and Moses was giving in, giving it to them. As we see in the Torah, you have been set apart. You are a special nation, a special people. Now you are to walk in that calling the Jewish people. In Esther's day they were imperfect, but they understood their calling as the people of God. And we all need to understand that we have a calling as God's people, and we need to make sure that we're obedient to that calling and that we take up that calling.

00;52;37;29 - 00;52;59;18
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And often times, God has not yet turned the tables in your life situation because he's waiting for you to finally wake up. He's waiting for you to finally look up at him and tell him, you know what? I am ready now to make that choice to follow Jesus. I am ready now to make that choice, to put the Lord's calling first in my life.

00;52;59;21 - 00;53;28;25
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And when God finally does turn the tables, indeed it will be a time of rejoicing in your life. We see that it was for the Jewish people, right? They were excited. They were celebrating because they saw that God was indeed, as we see here, turning the tables and so in verse two of chapter nine, the Jews assembled in their cities, in all the provinces of King Xerxes, to attack those who determined to destroy them.

00;53;28;28 - 00;53;54;17
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No one could stand against them, because the people of all other nationalities were afraid of them. And all the nobles of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and the king's administrators helped the Jews because the fear of Mordecai had seized them. Mordecai was prominent in the palace. His reputation spread throughout the provinces, and he became more and more powerful.

00;53;54;20 - 00;54;21;11
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The Jews struck down all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying them, and they did what they pleased to do to all who hated them. And we skipped down to verse 11. The number of those killed in the citadel of Susa was reported to the king. That same day, the king said to Queen Esther, The Jews have killed and destroyed 500 men and the ten sons of Heyman in the citadel of Susa.

00;54;21;14 - 00;54;49;22
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What have they done in the rest of the King's provinces? Now? What is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? It will also be granted if it pleases the King. Esther answered. Give the Jews and Susa permission to carry out this day's edict tomorrow also, and let Hayman's ten sons be impaled on poles. So the king commanded that this be done.

00;54;49;22 - 00;55;15;17
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An edict was issued in Susa, and they impaled the ten sons of He-Man. Against some of these details at this point are getting a little bit unsavory. Okay, it seems like we're getting, undertones of revenge, undertones of bloodlust and all these types of things. We're reading this right now, and we're thinking to ourselves, okay, you know, these are the aspects of the Old Testament that are a little bit unpleasant, right?

00;55;15;20 - 00;55;40;12
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We're reading of all this war, all this violence, all this ugliness. There are certain things that are hard for us to grasp, but we simply just have to in faith, trust that God was in control of everything that was happening here. God allowed everything that was happening here again. God will use war in battle and even killing should I say, in order at times to accomplish his purposes.

00;55;40;19 - 00;56;03;28
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We see that throughout the Bible. But if anything, the intensity okay, when it comes to the intense things that were done here, even to Heyman's ten sons, and send a strong message to the people in Persia, do not touch the people of God and those who do seek to attack the people of God. They will reap what they so absolutely.

00;56;04;00 - 00;56;24;23
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The Jews in Susa, in verse 15 came together on the 14th day of the month of Adar, and they put to death, they put to death ensues a 300 men. But they did not lay their hands on the plunder. Meanwhile, the remainder of the Jews who were in the king's provinces also assembled to protect themselves and get relief from their enemies.

00;56;24;25 - 00;56;49;14
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They killed 70,000 of them, but did not lay their hands on the plunder. This happened on the 13th day of the month of a dollar, and on the 14th day they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy. The Jews in Susa, however, had a psalm assembled on the 13th and 14th, and then on the 15th day they rested and made a day of feasting and joy.

00;56;49;20 - 00;57;17;16
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And that is why rule Jews. Those living in villages observe the 14th of the month of Adar as a day of joy and feasting, a day for giving presents to each other. And verse 20, Mordecai recorded these events, I'm sure, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Okay, this was the first. These were the first steps of how we got the information that eventually accumulated into this book of Esther.

00;57;17;16 - 00;57;59;11
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Mordecai recorded all of these events that had taken place, and he sent letters to all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Xerxes, near and far, to have them celebrate annually the 14th and 15th days of the month of Adar, as a time when the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as a month and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration, he wrote them to observe the days as days of feasting and joy, and giving presents of food to one another and gifts to the poor, and of course, that is now known this day of celebration as Purim.

00;57;59;14 - 00;58;29;05
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Purim it is celebrated to this very day, has been known as the most festive and popular holiday observed by the Jewish people. It's the only Jewish holiday that is mentioned in the Bible, but not within the Torah, and it's usually it is celebrated within the Jewish communities. Purim in early March. So it's coming up right now. And so we have more details of pure, throughout the rest of chapter nine.

00;58;29;08 - 00;58;57;26
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And we're going to go ahead and just skip ahead to the last chapter, which only consists of three verses in chapter ten, one little final word of certainly God's faithfulness to Mordecai, God's faithfulness to Mordecai. Since Mordecai was certainly a faithful servant of the Lord King Xerxes imposed tribute throughout the empire to its distant shores and all his acts of power and might, together with the full account of the greatness of Mordecai, whom the king had promoted.

00;58;57;28 - 00;59;20;03
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Are they not written in the book of the Annals of the Kings of Media in Persia, Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to King Xerxes, preeminent among the Jews, and then held in high esteem by his many fellow Jews because he worked for the good of his people and spoke up for the welfare of all the Jews.

00;59;20;05 - 00;59;52;18
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The Book of Esther. It's a very interesting book. Again, within Esther, the name of God is not acknowledged at all. And yet we see that God's hand was certainly in the picture the entire time. Why was the book of Esther written if God's name was not in the book, if not even that of prayer is explicit, is explicitly mentioned in Esther.

00;59;52;20 - 01;00;29;15
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Why was Esther included in the biblical canon? These short ten chapters that we have here, some of which are very peculiar at times within the narrative, the Book of Esther shows us that God has always had his hand upon the Jewish people. God has his preserving hand upon his chosen people. We see this throughout the Old Testament. We see this even into the New Testament to an extent.

01;00;29;18 - 01;00;59;24
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But God had his hand upon the people of Israel, upon the ethnic Jews who he was using for a very important purpose, and that was to out of their line bring forth the Messiah, who would, of course be the one that would bring redemption to the entire earth. And that was, of course, why Satan was trying to use Haman to completely annihilate the Jewish people.

01;00;59;27 - 01;01;27;15
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The Messiah would come from the Jewish line, and that's something that we know that Satan wanted to stop. Satan has always been looking to attack the people of God because the people of God are Satan's enemy, and Satan is trying to halt the purposes that God is working through the people of God to accomplish and so with Esther, we see that God will preserve his people.

01;01;27;18 - 01;01;50;21
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All throughout history, we see that God's supernatural hand has been upon the Jewish people. And I'm talking about ethnic Jews. Does God still have his hand upon the Jewish people, the ethnic Jews that are living within the world today? Well, that's a good segue into a shameless plug for my Israel in the church workshop that's going to be coming up this Sunday.

01;01;50;23 - 01;02;17;12
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But I would encourage you, though, to come out to it, because we are going to be talking about that. What does the Bible say about this? This God's hand is God's hand still upon ethnic Israel? Does God still have a purpose for the ethnic Jews? What is that purpose? How is God going to use the Jewish people in the future in order to finish up the mission that he has, what he's bringing the entire world towards?

01;02;17;15 - 01;02;43;02
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So God has his hand upon the Jewish people. And that's why the book of Esther was written, God will preserve his people. But you want to know something. That principle does not just apply to the Jewish people, because we read within Galatians chapter three, understand then that those who have faith are the children of Abraham. You have to understand something.

01;02;43;04 - 01;03;07;21
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We have ethnic Israel, but we also have spiritual Israel. Spiritual Israel is us and just as God had his hand upon the Jewish people back in the Old Testament time and was working out his purposes through them, we also are Israel. We are the people of God, and he has purposes for us that he's working out through us.

01;03;07;24 - 01;03;43;07
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God preserved the Jewish people in the Book of Esther because he intended to work out his purposes through them. And God intends listen to preserve us in our lives. And so much as he promises to work out and accomplish the good work that he has already started in us as followers of Christ, he who began a good work in you will bring it unto completion at the day of Christ Jesus.

01;03;43;07 - 01;04;14;05
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It's a promise that we have, and so God intends to preserve us because he intends to accomplish purposes in our lives as long as we're still clinging to him and following his guidance. And that's why I got into that a little bit before the three reasons as to why God will oftentimes not immediately at least turn the tables within the person's life situation.

01;04;14;05 - 01;04;50;18
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Sometimes God is waiting for us to take up that calling, to take up our identity as the people of God, and to start walking in the purposes that he has for us to spread his kingdom on this earth. But when you start to do that, that is when you can have the confidence that God's preservation will be upon your life, will be upon your family, will be upon your loved ones in so much as God is not going to allow the enemy to cut your life short.

01;04;50;20 - 01;05;26;02
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If the Lord is not done with you and the purpose that he has for you, we all have an appointed time to die. Some of us get sick and pass away. Some of us die of old age, some of us other things happen. But if you're truly walking in God's purpose, God's not going to allow anything to happen to you to the point where it then stops the purpose that God was working out through you, and that purpose that he intended for the rest of your life, is now no longer going to be completed.

01;05;26;02 - 01;05;52;00
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God will not allow that to happen. And so what I'm going to do is I want to end with reading to you very briefly, a Psalm that I've been reading to a lot of people actually, here within our church, people who we have brought in in between services each Sunday to anoint, people over the past month or so that I have visited in our church who are homebound, bound.

01;05;52;02 - 01;06;17;17
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Psalm 121. It speaks to certainly God's hand upon ethnic Israel that we see in the Book of Esther, but it also speaks to the fact that God intends to preserve us in our lives as we are navigating the difficulties in living out the kingdom purpose that he has for us. Psalm 121 I lift up my eyes to the mountains where does my help come from?

01;06;17;19 - 01;06;45;29
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My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip. He who watches over you will not slumber. Indeed, he who watches over Israel, you see, will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you. The Lord is your shade at your right hand. The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.

01;06;46;02 - 01;07;13;01
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The Lord will keep you from all harm. He will watch over your life so that you can accomplish the purposes he has for you. The Lord will watch over your coming and going, both now and forevermore. Oh, encircle that and forevermore. Because again, all of us do have an appointed time to die and to leave this earth. Some of us will leave this earth, perhaps by very unsavory means.

01;07;13;04 - 01;07;41;09
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But death is simply just another turning point in life, one where the Lord will simply bring you into the eternal purpose that he has for you up with him in heaven. And so we truly can have confidence that as long as we are in the purpose of God for our life and we're being obedient to him and following his will, living out that kingdom purpose that he has for us, he will indeed watch over us both now and forevermore.

01;07;41;10 - 01;08;06;01
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Amen. Let's pray. Heavenly father, we do thank you for all the wonderful lessons that we have here within the Book of Esther. Lord. We thank you, Father God, that you are still operating in the exact same way that you were back at the time Lord in the Book of Esther. You still have the same amount of power you still have the same amount of influence.

01;08;06;03 - 01;08;28;20
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You still have the same amount of control over the affairs of the earth as you did back at the time. In the book of Esther. And you still have, thank God. And this is it right here, the same amount of wisdom, Father God. And you gave Esther and Mordecai direction as to how to navigate through this awful threat that came upon them and their people.

01;08;28;22 - 01;08;59;11
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And I pray, Father God, that we operate like Esther, that when we're hit with the threat, when we're hit with the difficulty, let us pray. Let us fast. Let us take a few days just pondering your will, how to move forward. And I pray, Father God, that you give us that wisdom that is needed. Father, in order that we then are able to move through the tenses of life and we're able to fulfill that purpose that you have for us.

01;08;59;13 - 01;09;22;03
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And we do thank you, Lord, that you will watch over us both now and forevermore. We thank you that you have your hand upon ethnic Israel. We pray for the peace of Jerusalem right now in the Middle East, as we're instructed to Lord in Scripture. And we thank you, though, that even though things are happening in the Middle East, we we know, Father God, how the story ends.

01;09;22;10 - 01;09;37;19
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And one day you will be ruling and reigning with a rod of iron, father God from Mount Zion, from Jerusalem. And we look forward to that time and so keep us safe. As we're driving home tonight and all these things, we pray a man.

01;09;37;21 - 01;09;42;00
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You.

01;09;42;00 - 01;09;51;21
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Thank you for watching this episode of Generation of Purpose with Pastor Adam Deroy. If you enjoyed it, please be sure to subscribe. Thank you.