A People Who Got It Right (Est 4.1-17) - 7-24-22

Scripture Texts today are Esther 4.1-17 and 1Peter 3.8-17. Today’s Subject is “A People Who Got It Right.”Last week we heard how the Israelite people were a people who got it wrong. Today, we will contrast the actions of the people of Samuel’s time with the actions of the Jewish people of Esther’s time. Although the actions took place under the Persian rule, it was really temporal battle against the Jewish people and the Amalekites and a spiritual battle against the LORD and Satan.I.They got it right because they acted on divine guidance instead of human impulse.Esther went from being timid to taking charge! Before she would make a move, she called for a national fast! For three days and three nights they would humble themselves, fast, pray, and seek the LORD’s face. She wanted to make sure it was the LORD’s will before she went to the king.II.They got it right because they did not substitute the symbolical for the spiritual.Being queen, Esther had a symbol of power. But she understood that she served at the pleasure of the king. He had banished Queen Vashti. He could easily banish her also. She had the crown on her head. But she did not trust in the symbolical. She understood that the real power was not in the symbol. The power is in the LORD. The symbols remind us of the Person, the LORD of Lords, and the King of kings. Esther, Mordecai, and the Jewish people understood that to tap into real power, they had to address the spiritual. This is why Esther called for a national fast.III.They got it right because they realized that evil was the real reason for their predicament.The people of Esther’s time were trying to live a righteous life while under Persian rule. Yes, this was a battle between Mordecai and Haman; the Israelites and the Amalekites. But ultimately, it was a battle between good and evil; between God and Satan. The people understood that they could not win this battle flesh against flesh. They had to fight evil on God’s terms by addressing it at its source, in the spiritual.Seek divine guidance, prioritize the spiritual over the symbolical, and realize that evil/sin is the source of our problems. Stay connected to God through fasting and prayer. Amen.