![]() ![]() If a similar choice should ever confront us, may God give us the grace to say with Paul that ∼hrist shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death ( Philippians 1:20), and with Esther: If I perish, I perish. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law and if I perish, I perish. They loved not their lives unto the death ( Revelation 12:11), if it meant denying their Savior.īelievers in many nations are suffering such persecutions even today, and the time is coming when the last great God-rejecting king of the earth (called the beast in Scripture) will cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed ( Revelation 13:15). Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. All the apostles (save John) died as martyrs, for example, and so have countless others throughout the centuries. This Sunday, we will dive into the story of Esther at 9:30 and 10:45 at Gayton. God did deliver Esther and the three Jewish youths, but there have been many through the ages who have died for their faith rather than deny their faith. that we will not serve thy gods ( Daniel 3:17,18). But if not, be it known unto thee, O king. . . In the same spirit, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were willing to enter the fiery furnace rather than to worship the humanistic gods of Babylon, testifying to Nebuchadnezzar that our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. It was a capital crime for anyone to intrude into the kings throne room unbidden, but she was willing to do so in order to do the will of God, knowing that We ought to obey God rather than men ( Acts 5:29). This is the courageous testimony of Queen Esther as she prepared to risk her own life in order to save the lives of her people. In taking a stand for Jesus Christ, we can use those same words in one of two ways: first, as reason for quitting, or as an act of faith and courage.Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish ( Esther 4:16). Following her widespread call for prayer and fasting, she spoke these words: “If I perish, I perish!” (Esther 4:16) What really struck me, however, were Esther’s words when she was to go unbidden before the king to plead the cause of the Jewish people,(a potentially life-destroying action). ![]() Haman ended up dying on his own gallows and Mordecai was advanced to a place of power in the kingdom. Here’s where Esther comes in.Īgain, I’ll have you read all the details yourself, but Esther used her God-given wisdom to have Ahasuerus revoke his declaration. He had gallows built for the purpose of killing Mordecai and he had coerced the king into declaring death sentences on the entire Jewish population. I won’t share all the details of his conspiracy except to say that he had devised an horrific plan to eliminate all the Jews. The Earth is filled with heroes of the faith, and were called to join. Then, there was Haman, a man as power-hungry and nasty as they come. If I Perish, I Perish She obeyed even though she thought she would die, and God worked. Daily she demonstrated poise, wisdom and discernment. Interestingly, he chose her for her beauty, inside and out, to be his wife. Here’s background information.Įsther, a Jewish lady and the adopted cousin of her relative Mordecai, had not revealed her nationality after all, the Jews were hated across the entire 127 provinces ruled by King Ahasuerus. Having said that, I also derived some much-needed encouragement and inspiration from this lovely and powerful lady. Honestly, I found it a welcome change from the huge lists of people, their names and details of their responsibilities. As I continue my daily Bible reading, I’ve just finished reading the book of Esther. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
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