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| Esther |
Time with Jesus - Thursday, 23 May 2013
Hi all,
Just for fun, who are these
characters? Bashful; Doc; Dopey; Grumpy; Happy; Sleepy and Sneezy.
My guess is that every filmgoer in the Western World since before WWII will know
the answer. It’s the seven Dwarfs in Walt Disney’s Classic and first full
length animated cartoon, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”.  |
| Snow White |
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| The Seven Dwarfs |
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| Entering Xerxes Room Uninvited |
The antics of the Seven Dwarfs
are one of the highlights of the movie. Another is near the beginning where the
wicked queen looks at the “magic mirror” and says, “Mirror, mirror on the wall,
who’s the fairest of them all?” When the magic mirror says, “Snow White” the
movie really gets going.
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| Esther Received by Xerxes |
We are told, “Beauty is in the
eye of the beholder”. Even so, beauty contests have become a major feature in
Western culture. Among the dreams of many young girls is that they will be
crowned, “Miss World”. South Africa has produced two such ladies. One was
Annaline Kriel. The other was Penny Coelen. For me, the most beautiful of them
all, is Penny Coelen. She won the title in 1958.
Beauty contests are not new.
They have been on the go for more years than I would care to guess. One of the
books of the Bible, Esther, is in fact, a snippet from the life of the woman
who won one of the very earliest beauty contests on record. What makes it
particularly remarkable is that she was a Jewess in Persia, present day Iran.
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| Esther Accuses Haman Haman hanged on his own Gallows |
Something that has always
puzzled me is the fact that her prize was to spend the night in bed with the
King. Nevertheless, there was no shortage of entrants.
The Book of Esther actually a
beautiful story about the way God works in the lives of people to intervene in
the affairs of men. God knew about the intentions of Haman to destroy the Jews
and “wipe them off the face of the earth”. Haman was descended from King Agag,
the king whom Samuel killed in front of Saul, in obedience to God. As such,
Haman had a passionate hatred for the Jews. This is a very early Biblical
example of anti-Semitism. God dealt with it very effectively through the agency
of a beautiful young woman!
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| Xerses |
The way Esther and her uncle
Mordecai dealt with this and obtained deliverance for the Jews is the heart of
the book; sufficient to say that it was done at great personal risk to Esther.
This is made clear in Chapter 4; 14 If
you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will
arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as
this?" Esther 4:14 NLT Purim,
the annual Jewish feast commemorates this deliverance.
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| Xerxes |
Our meditation looks at the book
of Esther in more detail.
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| Israel 2500 years later |
Shalom,
Jim & Phyllida
Strickland
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Matt
10:8
Freely you received, Freely give |
Time with Jesus – Thursday, 23 May 2013
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Matt
10:8
Freely you received, Freely give |
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©
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These
devotionals are the intellectual property of Jim Strickland and copyright
protected. You are welcome to copy and distribute them to anyone provided it
is for non-commercial Christian purposes
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©
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INTRODUCTION
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DAILY
LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES
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HE SEES AND KNOWS
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What
is it about God’s creatures that they need sleep? Effectively we lose a third
of our life in dreamland. Why? God created ants and they don’t sleep. So when
he created us, why did He write it into our fabric? Cats, dogs, horses, fish,
birds. Why do we have to sleep? If I knew the answer I’d give it. But I
don’t. Sometimes I’ve wondered if it had anything to do with the fall. If
that’s the case it looks as though sleep is a sort of practice-ground for
being dead!
Today’s
Scriptures start with a reference to King Xerxes being unable to sleep. This
is one of the pieces of information gleaned from the book of Esther. It is
one of the greatest love stories in the Bible. Here is a book that could well
be published by Mills and Boon. It has all the excitement of a Hollywood
movie set at a time and in a culture very different from what we know today.
Today,
women have equality with men. That was not the case back then. They were very
much under the control of fathers, husbands or kings. The greatest desire for
a woman was to be a mother. It was a disgrace to be childless. In a king’s
harem, this was not always possible.
We
find it difficult to understand how a large number of young virgin girls
would want to enter a beauty contest. Not when first prize was to spend the
night alone with the king in his bed chamber! It appears that the palace was
not short of “entrants”.
Things
have changed considerably over the past ±2500 years. Esther eventually became
the queen. The king’s name was Xerxes. His son was Artaxerxes. He may have
been Esther’s son.
We
are told that he is thought to be the King who allowed Nehemiah and others to
return to rebuild Jerusalem. If Esther was his mother, who knows how much she
influenced him?
The
most fascinating aspect of today’s Scriptures is the way that God oversees
everything that happens. It is clear that in every situation the hand of God
leads and guides. This is referred to by Jesus in Matthew 10. God knows the
detail down to the number of hairs on your head. He also brings good out of
evil. God alone knows how He could bring anything good out of the holocaust.
But for those who love Him, even the horror of the holocaust can bring forth
something beautiful. I’ve often wondered why it was that the world slept
through much of this suffering. One thing that is certain. In 1948 when the
United Nations created the Jewish State, everyone except the Arabs voted in
favour. Without the holocaust this would never have happened. Does this
justify it? No! But God brought something beautiful out of that time of
horror. Only He can.
Jim & Phyllida
Strickland
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1 That night the king couldn't sleep. He ordered
the record book, the day-by-day journal of events, to be brought and read to
him.
Esther 6:1 MSG
4 You kept me from going to sleep. I was so troubled
I couldn't speak.
Psalms 77:4 NIrV
5 Who is like the LORD our God, the One who sits enthroned
on high, 6 who stoops down to look on the heavens
and the earth?
Psalms 113:5-6 TNIV
35
Everyone who lives on earth is nothing compared to him. He does whatever he wishes with the army of heaven and
with those who live on earth. There is no one who can oppose him or
ask him, "What are you doing?"
Daniel 4:35 GW
19 Your road went through the sea. Your path went through
raging water, but your footprints could not be seen.
Psalms 77:19 GW
10 Surely your wrath against human beings brings you
praise, and the survivors of your wrath are restrained.
Psalms 76:10 TNIV
9 For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to
strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have
done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war."
2 Chronicles 16:9 TNIV
28 We know that all things work together for the good of those who love
God-those whom he has called according to his plan.
Romans 8:28 GW 28
28 Do
not be afraid of those who kill the body but can't kill the soul. Instead, be
afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 "Aren't two sparrows sold for only a penny? But
not one of them falls to the ground without your Father knowing it. 30
He even counts every hair on your head! 31 So don't be afraid. You are worth
more than many sparrows.
Matthew 10:28-31 NIrV
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He couldn’t understand it but Xerxes couldn’t sleep.
He lay and tossed around in bed. He even counted sheep.
But he was lying wide awake; in fact he’d no idea
That God was keeping him awake to hear what he must hear!
And then he had a brainwave; he thought it was his own.
But God had put it in his mind so that he could be shown,
Something of an injustice concerning Mordecai.
If he had not been cautious, Xerxes would surely die.
He hadn’t been rewarded. It had to be put right.
Then, knowing what he had to do, he went to sleep that night.
It’s in the book of Esther. Verse one of chapter six.
Have a look right through the book, we’ll see how God can fix
Any situation. For He is in control.
So if you’re lying wide awake, then look inside your soul.
I’m sure if you look hard enough, the answer will be clear.
And find just what is needed to draw your slumber near!
Don’t think that He can’t do it. He sees and knows it all.
And you will never get to sleep till you’ve obeyed His call.
He has the finest vantage point in heaven to look down.
He isn’t just some “tin pot god” a sort of circus clown.
He does what He’s decided. We cannot tell Him “NO!”
Don’t think you can oppose Him. That’s not the way to go!
He once walked with His people right through the great Red Sea.
Of course they couldn’t see Him; invisibility,
Is just one of the methods He uses for our sake.
One little tiny look at Him! You’ll “sleep” and never wake!
The people of this planet; each one will bring Him praise.
Even His opponents know all about His ways.
And He is on the lookout. He searches high and low;
To strengthen those committed and along with Him will go!
And He has an ability that’s hard to comprehend.
Provided that we love Him, the things that Satan’s penned,
Will work for our advantage. This is a certainty!
The problems we encounter work out for you and me.
So let us concentrate upon the one who loves us best.
He knows what we are needing and by Him we’ll be blessed.
He knows the cost of living and hairs upon our head;
And tells us He’ll take care of us no matter where we’re led!
Jim Strickland
Written 23rd May 2012
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