September 14 - Ezra 6:14-22 | Ezra 4:6 | Esther 1:1-4:17

Good morning everyone :-)

Today we tied up a few loose ends in the book of Ezra and then began the book of Esther which is a unique book, in as much as, though obviously very inspired by God, His name is not mentioned even one time in the book. There is no mention of heaven, or hell, prayer or faith either. If you think about it, Esther might not even be a book if King Saul had done his job. When ordered to destroy ALL of the Amalekites, Saul left Agag alive, fast forward two hundred years and we find Haman, a decedent of Agag, determined to destroy the Jews. It goes to show you what will happen if we do not kill the sin in our lives, it will com back to try to destroy us. Eso no es bueno!

When you read the book of Esther you immediately think “Well done Esther.” After all she was brave and in that bravado she saved the Jews. However, as I mentioned before, this entire story has most definitely got to be God driven, God cleaning up the mess Saul left, because there is so much politically incorrect, for the times, going on; not the least of all, Jews just did not marry Gentiles. Right? Mordecai knew that, and yet he sends his young, beautiful niece into the pack of wolves and she becomes queen. Now that she is strategically located, a situation arises where she will need to muster up every bit of courage she has, every ounce of faith in God she possesses and boldly go with her request before a king whose moods were quite unpredictable, knowing that if she went on a bad day for him, he would simply have her head lopped off right there. Nice … not!! 

Let it not escape us how beautifully obedient and respectful this girl is to her uncle who raised her as his own from a small child when her parents died. What must have been going through her head when he asked her to enter a beauty contest, first prize “queen” those who did not get first prize become members of the king’s harem, basically, call girls and yet she respectfully obeyed. 

Let me first say that we as children or as wives who are to submit to our husbands, are under no obligation to do what we are asked to do if it is a sin against God’s law. Okay? Obeying God comes first, always!! Having said that, naughty, disrespectful kids are like a boil on the butt of humanity. (did I say that out loud?) Respect is the core of all successful relationships, so it’s a crucial skill for us to teach our children. If you teach your kids to be respectful instead of rude, you’ll bring out the best in them and bless them with the ability to build strong relationships with God and other people their whole lives long. Make sense?

If we follow the basic instructions of the Bible for any relationship we will be successful. Our marriages will be strong and our children will be obedient and respectful with a love for Yahweh and that is how it should be. Genesis 18:19 says,"For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.” God has made many promises to us, all we have to do is keep the way of the Lord and know that all things are in His timing. Amen?

Have a good day and to God be the glory.

God bless you all …..