Disobedience and the destruction of the wicked

 I have been reading the book of Esther this week since it is Purim on wednesday.

There are those who hate Yahweh's people, the Jewish people, as well as hate those who belong to Messiah Yeshua - the faithful remnant who obey Messiah Yeshua and follow Him. These people have a vile hatred against those who belong to Yahweh because of their hatred of Him and also because of their hatred of Messiah Yeshua.  Yeshua said people would hate His followers because they hated Him first:

Luke 6
22  Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake.
23  Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.

Some of these people even claim to be Christians just like those who killed Yahweh's prophets claimed to be following Him while incorporating pagan worship into their worship of Yahweh (read Isaiah, Ezekiel and Jeremiah for a few examples)

Many people wonder why Yahweh seemed "so harsh" in the Old Testament when He commanded Ancient Israel to wipe out certain groups of people.  One example was when King Saul let King Agag live:

1 Samuel 15
1  Samuel also said unto Saul, The LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the LORD.
2  Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.
3  Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.
---
9  But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly. ---
14  And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?
15  And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed. ---
22  And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
23  For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.

King Saul's disobedience resulted in his being removed as king over Israel.  It did not seem like a big sin, just like Eve's eating from the forbidden tree did not seem like a big sin, but it had major consequences.

Reading in Esther, there is a wicked anti-Semite by the name of Haman who hated the Jewish people and wanted to wipe them off the face of the planet.  Haman was an Agagite: the descendant of Agag the king that Saul was told to kill but let live.  Haman was wicked and plotted to have Mordecai hung on the gallows that he built for that purpose but his plot backfired on his evil scheme:

Esther 6
4  And the king said, Who is in the court? Now Haman was come into the outward court of the king's house, to speak unto the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.
5  And the king's servants said unto him, Behold, Haman standeth in the court. And the king said, Let him come in.
6  So Haman came in. And the king said unto him, What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour? Now Haman thought in his heart, To whom would the king delight to do honour more than to myself?
7  And Haman answered the king, For the man whom the king delighteth to honour,
8  Let the royal apparel be brought which the king useth to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and the crown royal which is set upon his head:
9  And let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king's most noble princes, that they may array the man withal whom the king delighteth to honour, and bring him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour.
10  Then the king said to Haman, Make haste, and take the apparel and the horse, as thou hast said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew, that sitteth at the king's gate: let nothing fail of all that thou hast spoken.

Haman also plotted to have the Jewish people killed yet that plan also backfired on him resulting in his death:

Esther 7
1  So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen.
2  And the king said again unto Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition, queen Esther? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy request? and it shall be performed, even to the half of the kingdom.
3  Then Esther the queen answered and said, If I have found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request:
4  For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not countervail the king's damage.
5  Then the king Ahasuerus answered and said unto Esther the queen, Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in his heart to do so?
6  And Esther said, The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.
7  And the king arising from the banquet of wine in his wrath went into the palace garden: and Haman stood up to make request for his life to Esther the queen; for he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king.
8  Then the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the banquet of wine; and Haman was fallen upon the bed whereon Esther was. Then said the king, Will he force the queen also before me in the house? As the word went out of the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face.
9  And Harbonah, one of the chamberlains, said before the king, Behold also, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, standeth in the house of Haman. Then the king said, Hang him thereon.
10  So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king's wrath pacified.

Haman resulted in King Saul's disobedience in not killing Haman's ancestor Agag and Haman's evildoing resulted in his and his sons deaths.  Yahweh will deal with sin and He will deal with those who plot and scheme to kill His people (both the Jewish people and His faithful remnant).  If someone schemes against you and does evil because you belong to Yahweh, just sit back and watch Yahweh deal with them.  Yahweh detests the evildoer and He will deal with them in His time.  

Psalms 7
11  God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.
12  If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready.
13  He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors.
14  Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood.
15  He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made.
16  His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate.

Psalms 37
30  The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment.
31  The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.
32  The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him.
33  The LORD will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged.
34  Wait on the LORD, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.
35  I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree.
36  Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found.
37  Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.
38  But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be cut off.
39  But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD: he is their strength in the time of trouble.
40  And the LORD shall help them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him.

If you are a victim of evildoers plotting against you, do not be afraid of them and let Yahweh deal with them.  They will be dealt with severely as Haman was dealt with.  It took time for Yahweh to set up everything for it to come to pass although Haman was punished with the same evilness he was plotting against Mordecai and the Jewish people.  Those who plot evil will be punished and will not "get away with it"

If you are involved in any evildoing, you need to repent and get away from those who plot evil against those who follow Yeshua even if the evildoers claim to be "christian".  No evildoing is of Yahweh and anyone involved will be cast down and judged unless they repent.

Daniel and Queen Esther (two short studies)

Two short little studies today.

Daniel

 

The prophet Daniel was taken into captivity when Babylon conquered Israel,  Most people do not realize that the prophet Daniel was the son of David and his wife Abigail:

1 Chronicles 3:1  Now these were the sons of David, which were born unto him in Hebron; the firstborn Amnon, of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; the second Daniel, of Abigail the Carmelitess:

Daniel 1:3  And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king's seed, and of the princes;

Daniel 1:6  Now among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah:

Ezra 8:2  Of the sons of Phinehas; Gershom: of the sons of Ithamar; Daniel: of the sons of David;

This is interesting in the light of how Daniel is a type of Messiah in the events that happened to him.

Queen Esther

 

There is no hard facts on this one.  Many consider Ahasuerus mentioned in Esther the same as Artaxerxes mentioned in Nehemiah.  Some believe Artaxerxes is a title for many kings.  Either way, both ruled in Shushan and it is clear from the context that Nehemiah was after Haman tried to exterminate the Jews in Esther.

I believe that Artaxerxes in Nehemiah in Esther is either the king Esther married or her son.  It makes sense since the king in Nehemiah allowed Nehemiah to go back to Jerusalem and rebuild the city and even paid for the rebuilding and there was no mention of Haman.  Nehemiah was in a high position which would not have been the case if this was before Esther and Haman would have have tried to prevent the king from allowing Jerusalem to be rebuilt.  The queen was sitting next to Artaxerxes when the request was made and that could have been queen Esther (either wife or mother of the king)  There is very good reason to believe the queen mentioned in Nehemiah was Esther.   The king had no second thoughts about granting the request and no reason he would have done so if Esther was not his wife or his mother.   If  Artaxerxes is the husband or son of Esther, then Esther not only saved the lives of the Jews at the hand of Haman, she was also the reason Jerusalem was rebuilt by Nehemiah (about 17 years later if Artaxerxes is indeed Ahasuerus or a little longer if Artaxerxes was her son)

Esther 1
1  Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus, (this is Ahasuerus which reigned, from India even unto Ethiopia, over an hundred and seven and twenty provinces:)
2  That in those days, when the king Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the palace,
3  In the third year of his reign, he made a feast unto all his princes and his servants; the power of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes of the provinces, being before him:

Nehemiah 2
1  And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence.
2  Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid,
3  And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?
4  Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.
5  And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it.
6  And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.
7  Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah;
8  And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.
9  Then I came to the governors beyond the river, and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me.