TUESDAY, 19 January, 2021 “Bewildered”

Scroll down to see and play Audio.

Good Tuesday morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends,

We have several days in the year which we celebrate as “eve”… Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve, or Thanksgiving Eve, and today is “Inauguration Eve”. Today is the final day of the Trump administration and tomorrow a new president will be inaugurated in America, and the world will begin feeling the ripples of change almost immediately. Unlike most every previous inauguration in America, Washington DC is filled with thousands of armed military, determined to keep peace and order in this leadership transition. I wonder what you think as you see the pictures? Would the word “bewildered” fit what you feel?

Can you remember some other times in history when cities or nations were ‘bewildered’ by the events or circumstances which caused chaos? How about September 11, 2001, in almost every city in the world, especially America? How about when the Magi came to Jerusalem looking for the newborn king? Matt. 2:3 says “King Herod was bewildered, and all Jerusalem with him.” Or how about when King Hezekiah was told a vast army was approaching Jerusalem and they felt totally ill equipped to defend themselves? (2 Chronicles 32) Or how about December 7, 1941? Today, would you look with me at Esther chapter 3? The final verse of that chapter says “The king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was bewildered.” Why? Well, it’s amazing how the events of that chapter reflect what is happening in many parts of our world today! Let’s take a look and see what God wants to show us.

Kings and Presidents and Monarchs and other heads of State, sometimes elevate a person to a high ranking position and they expect that this person will be shown great honor by the rest of society. They are chauffeured in limousines or have assistants scurrying around to serve them or have security to protect them. In some cultures normal people bowing is expected when these officials pass by. Such was the case in the Persian kingdom when Emperor Xerxes, the most powerful man in the world, elevated Mr. Haman to a very high position. The record says “King Xerxes honored Haman the Agagite, elevating him and giving him a seat of honor higher than other nobles. All the royal officials bowed and paid honor to Haman, for the king had so commanded. But Mordecai would not bow or pay him such honor.” (Esther 3:1,2)

As you read that do two other famous Biblical events come to your mind? Remember Daniel’s friends who refused to bow to the golden statue of king Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 3) and found themselves facing a fiery furnace? Or remember Samuel denouncing king Saul (1 Samuel 15) because he refused to obey God’s command to annihilate the wicked Amalekites, including their king named Agag? I wonder if Haman is a descendant of Agag, thus he is called Haman the “Agagite”?

As you read Esther 3 you’ll discover Haman was a prideful man, and it irritated him that this man Mordecai refused to bow when he walked by, so Haman was determined to find out about this man. When it was discovered Mordecai was a Jew, Haman’s frustration grew to bitterness and then finally a plan to kill Mordecai. But, after more reflection, Mr. Haman determined the death of one man would not be sufficient. The record says “Haman looked for away to destroy all Mordecai’s people, the Jews, throughout the whole Persian empire of King Xerxes.”(Esther 3:6) Ponder this a moment my friends. What Hitler attempted in the 1930’s and 40’s was not the first time a wicked plan was devised to destroy ALL Jews. Have you ever considered WHY? It’s because of WHO they are and WHOSE they are! The Bible makes it very clear the Jews are a special people of God.

The Old Testament is essentially the story of God’s establishment of this nation of people with a purpose. They were to show the world what it looks like when a people live in the protection of God, the provision of God, the blessing of God and live their lives for God’s honor and glory! It was God’s intention that Jews would love God, know God, honor God with their lives, and be God’s representatives to the world. God had told Abraham “…all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Gen. 12:3) Yes, that refers to the fact that Jesus, the Savior of the world, was born as a descendant of Abraham, but it also means God desires that the Jewish people are a blessing to any society where they reside… as they honor God by living their lives in obedience to God’s laws.

Consider this statement by God: “Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Sovereign LORD, when I show Myself Holy through you, before their eyes.” (Ezekiel 36:23) My friends, do we understand that this desire of God is now God’s desire for ALL people who have trusted Jesus to be their Savior and have been born again by His Holy Spirit? Peter said it well, “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of HIM who called you out of darkness…” (1 Peter 2:9-12) Is that how you see your purpose in life today my friends, on this eve of a radical change in America?

So Haman in his anger devised a plan for the extermination of Jewish people throughout the Persian kingdom! A date was selected by something called “the Pur”, or the careful casting of a lot. A proclamation, an executive order, was written and sealed by King Xerxes and sent throughout the kingdom, translated into every language spoken in all 127 provinces. The record says this: “Dispatches were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces with the order to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews, young and old, women and children, all on one day…the 13th day of the 12th month, and to plunder all their possessions. The edict was issued as law in every province and made known to all peoples of every nationality, so everyone would be ready for that day.” (Esther 3:13,14)

I doubt it is possible, but try to imagine yourself hearing this edict in your town, your language, far from Susa the capital of the Empire. As you discuss it with your friends, you come to understand you will have authority to personally kill any Jew you see or know, and take their possessions for yourself, on that particular day! Do you suppose you might feel ‘bewildered’ as you consider what a horrendous kingdom wide holocaust will occur on that day, and what moral depravity has led the emperor to issue such an edict? What lawlessness, anarchy, total chaos will be unleashed on that day? And if you were a Jew, of your same age, living anywhere in the kingdom, what would you feel as you heard this edict read?

Now friends, this is not a fairy tale, this is actual history. And while it occurred nearly 2500 years ago, you are likely old enough that you’ve seen pictures or read accounts of the Hitler Holocaust which killed 6 million Jews in WWII. The truth is such evil has existed in every generation of our human race, and it exists in our world even in our day. We’ve seen ISIS and Boko Haram and Al Qaeda and similar vicious groups do such things all over the world in recent years. There is no guarantee that such evil will not rise up again, maybe in your part of the world, perhaps yet in your lifetime. What will you do if it happens?

As we come to the end of Esther 3 there appears to be no hope, no recourse. The slaughter will take place with the blessing of the emperor. But God. . . How many times in recent weeks have I called you to see that God is always watching, always completely aware of events happening in our world. God is always ready to bring great glory to Himself by His miraculous work here on earth in the midst of chaos, anarchy, tragedy, disaster. Tomorrow, we’ll see what happened in this remarkable dark moment of history for God’s glory.

For today, on the eve of a Presidential change in America, I urge us to pray, to search our hearts, and to consider how close such an overflow of vicious evil might be in your part of the world. Call on God for His help, His guidance, for you and me as we try to live God honoring lives in such darkness. In closing I urge you, after you have read Esther 3, to read Ephesians 6:10-18 and take hold of the hope God offers us there. Paul writes: “Finally be strong in the LORD and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against… the spiritual forces of evil…”

Oh God, we bow before you on this historic day, asking that You would show us, Your people, how to live today as true, Holy Spirit filled, Ambassadors of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 5:20) in our chaotic world embroiled in the devil’s schemes.

My friends, I’ve included a worship song to help us ponder these great truths today…

Today’s Scripture is Esther 3.

Choose below to read or listen.

Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.

Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.

Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)

Archived back issues of “Walking with Jesus” and other resources are available by clicking here to open our ‘home page’ (or go to HOME at upper right of this page).

Share with friends. Subscribe below for daily “Walking with Jesus”.