Esther

Esther

The Mysterious, Marvelous Working of Almighty God
The Story, Pt. 20: Esther

By Pastor Dan Kennedy
© October 19, 2014
www.pastorkennedy.com

Tell the Coming Generations!
A Selected Antiphonal Reading of the Miraculous Works of God
78 A Maskil of Asaph.

4 We will not hide [God’s miraculous works] from [our] children,
but tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.
5 He established a testimony in Jacob
and appointed a law in Israel,
which he commanded our fathers
to teach to their children,
6 that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children,
7 so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God,
but keep his commandments;
12 In the sight of their fathers he performed wonders in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.

13 He divided the sea and let them pass through it, and made the waters stand like a heap.
14 In the daytime he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a fiery light.
15 He split rocks in the wilderness
and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.
16 He made streams come out of the rock and caused waters to flow down like rivers.
20 He struck the rock so that water gushed out and streams overflowed. Can he also give bread or provide meat for his people?”

23 Yet he commanded the skies above
and opened the doors of heaven,
24 and he rained down on them manna to eat and gave them the grain of heaven.
25 Man ate of the bread of the angels;
he sent them food in abundance.

42 They did not remember his power
or the day when he redeemed them from the foe,
43 when he performed his signs in Egypt and his marvels in the fields of Zoan.
44 He turned their rivers to blood,
so that they could not drink of their streams.
45 He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them,
and frogs, which destroyed them.

46 He gave their crops to the destroying locust
and the fruit of their labor to the locust.
47 He destroyed their vines with hail
and their sycamores with frost.
48 He gave over their cattle to the hail
and their flocks to thunderbolts.
49 He let loose on them his burning anger, wrath, indignation, and distress, a company of destroying angels.

50 He made a path for his anger;
he did not spare them from death,
but gave their lives over to the plague.
51 He struck down every firstborn in Egypt, the firstfruits of their strength in the tents of Ham.

52 Then he led out his people like sheep and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
53 He led them in safety, so that they were not afraid, but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
54 And he brought them to his holy land, to the mountain which his right hand had won.
55 He drove out nations before them;
he apportioned them for a possession and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.

Just as there have been many profound acts of God confirming His Power and Love for His People throughout the Scripture, so the Book of Esther provides an awe-inspiring panorama of God’s unseen and powerful Hand moving, restraining and initiating the completion of His Will, within the complexity of earthly kingdoms, and the profound individuality, diversity and incomprehensible corruptness of the human heart.

Though the cause of evil prosper,
yet the truth alone is strong;
Though her portion be the scaffold,
and upon the throne be wrong;
Yet that scaffold sways the future,
and behind the dim unknown,
Standeth God within the shadow,
keeping watch above His own.
From “Once to Every Man and Nation” – James R. Lowell

The Book of Esther
1. A Royal Display of Glory (Esther 1:1-9)
2. Queen Vashti’s Refusal of the King’s Request (Esther 1:10-22)
3. Esther Chosen Queen (Esther 2:1-18)
- Past Pain, Present Questions, Potential Disasters and Future Deliverance
4. Mordecai Discovers a Plot and it is Reported (Esther 2:19-23)
5. Haman Plots Against the Jews (Esther 3:1-15)
6. Esther Agrees to Help the Jews (Esther 4:1-17)
7. Esther Prepares a Banquet (Esther 5:1-8)
8. Haman Plans to Hang Mordecai (Esther 5:9-14)
9. The King Honors Mordecai (Esther 6:1-13)
10. Esther Reveals Haman’s Plot (Esther 6:14-7:6)
11. Haman Is Hanged (Esther 7:7-10)
12. God Saves the Jews through Esther (Esther 8:1-17)
13. The Jews Destroy Their Enemies (Esther 9:1-19)
14. The Feast of Purim Inaugurated (Esther 9:20-32)
15. The Greatness of Mordecai (Esther 10:1-3)

Questions for us:

• What does this chapter on Esther, of “The Story” teach about God’s work behind the scenes of history?
• How did Mordecai respond when faced with disaster?
• What character qualities do you observe in Queen Ester?
• When was the last time you faced a threatening situation? What was your reaction?
• In what ways have you experienced God’s faithfulness in your life?
• What steps can you take to show that you trust in the faithfulness of God?

Cloud of Witnesses
There are Many Examples of Faith in Scripture testifying to us of God’s Powerful, Sovereign and Continuing Work which gives Us Hope, as we look to the Founder and Perfecter of our Faith: Jesus Christ
Hebrews 12:1–2
12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Please read the book of Esther!