i can hardly wait to share with you what i've discovered this morning. i've been studying the book of esther with my small group of gals from church and it's my first beth moore study i've done, but i have to say that i am sold and would love to do the rest of her studies at some point.
for the sake of time (i have a pork shoulder in the oven i need to tend to shortly), i'll just recount the jist of esther to catch you up. cliff's notes, if you will. but carey's version.
esther wins the spot to become the new queen of persia, king xerxes's wife. she is a jew and has kept her nationality a secret so far. haman, this horrible man, who is essentially acting as king (because xerxes gave him his signet ring to sign whatever law into action he pleases), has a horrifying passion to annihilate the jewish people. this desire of his is fanned into flame by mordecai's (esther's cousin who adopted and raised her after her parents died) refusal to bow to haman. so haman is enraged and decides to not only kill mordecai but to kill all jews.
haman orders the pony express to deliver certified mail to each household in all regions of persia (written in every language so that every person would understand the new law set into place) to deliver the message that in just 11 months, jews should be ready to be murdered.
this is where it gets good.
this news was delivered to households on the same day as passover. what's so special about that, you ask? well, even if you weren't a devout jew at the time, of all holidays and celebrations, passover was the one you did not miss out on, therefore it can be assumed that everyone was gathered in homes with their families preparing the table for this annual feast.
"that very evening at dusk, in accordance with God's command, the fathers were to recount to their families the story of Israel's deliverance from the mighty Egyptians. they told about the terrible bondage and oppression, about Pharaoh and his arrogant unwillingness to release them, and about the 10 dreadful plagues. they also rehearsed every detail of the miraculous redemption in the ears of their wives and children, but this time no doubt choking back the tears and trying not to alarm the little ones. celebration turned to shock and horror, but for those who were willing, perhaps also to hope." (beth moore's words)
haman must have been so proud of himself, thinking that he'd ruined their passover celebration with this horrifying news. but the timing was perfect, wasn't it? the jews were reminded who they were and what God had done for them. He had delivered them from the egyptians and He could do it again from the persians.
in the same way, we must remember. "He who delivered you from drugs can deliver you from distraction. He who delivered you from bankruptcy can deliver you from bingeing. He who delivered you from infertility can deliver you from inconsistency. He who delivered you from the fire can deliver you from fear."
it's like God is using winds of a new threat to blow the dust off a past miracle that has moved from our active file into the archives.
remember.
remember what God has done for you.
for the sake of time (i have a pork shoulder in the oven i need to tend to shortly), i'll just recount the jist of esther to catch you up. cliff's notes, if you will. but carey's version.
esther wins the spot to become the new queen of persia, king xerxes's wife. she is a jew and has kept her nationality a secret so far. haman, this horrible man, who is essentially acting as king (because xerxes gave him his signet ring to sign whatever law into action he pleases), has a horrifying passion to annihilate the jewish people. this desire of his is fanned into flame by mordecai's (esther's cousin who adopted and raised her after her parents died) refusal to bow to haman. so haman is enraged and decides to not only kill mordecai but to kill all jews.
haman orders the pony express to deliver certified mail to each household in all regions of persia (written in every language so that every person would understand the new law set into place) to deliver the message that in just 11 months, jews should be ready to be murdered.
this is where it gets good.
this news was delivered to households on the same day as passover. what's so special about that, you ask? well, even if you weren't a devout jew at the time, of all holidays and celebrations, passover was the one you did not miss out on, therefore it can be assumed that everyone was gathered in homes with their families preparing the table for this annual feast.
"that very evening at dusk, in accordance with God's command, the fathers were to recount to their families the story of Israel's deliverance from the mighty Egyptians. they told about the terrible bondage and oppression, about Pharaoh and his arrogant unwillingness to release them, and about the 10 dreadful plagues. they also rehearsed every detail of the miraculous redemption in the ears of their wives and children, but this time no doubt choking back the tears and trying not to alarm the little ones. celebration turned to shock and horror, but for those who were willing, perhaps also to hope." (beth moore's words)
haman must have been so proud of himself, thinking that he'd ruined their passover celebration with this horrifying news. but the timing was perfect, wasn't it? the jews were reminded who they were and what God had done for them. He had delivered them from the egyptians and He could do it again from the persians.
in the same way, we must remember. "He who delivered you from drugs can deliver you from distraction. He who delivered you from bankruptcy can deliver you from bingeing. He who delivered you from infertility can deliver you from inconsistency. He who delivered you from the fire can deliver you from fear."
it's like God is using winds of a new threat to blow the dust off a past miracle that has moved from our active file into the archives.
remember.
remember what God has done for you.
1 comments:
Carey,
This is awesome. Thanks for sharing!
Morgan
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