The king sent for the queen but she refused to come.
I fear that queen Vashti in the book of Esther is like an average church member in America. She was in the king’s house and doing good, but she really didn’t have any time for the king. “I’ll hold my position,” she says, “I’ll pastor the church. I’ll teach Sunday school. I’ll sing a song. But I really don’t have time for a prayer life and dedication.”
So, they decided to do the worst thing that they could to her. Did they kill her? No, they banished her from the king’s presence. I believe that the worst thing that a person could ever go through is knowing that God will never touch them again.
In the next part of the story, the king sends for all the fair, young virgins in the provinces of the kingdom to come unto him and he would choose from that group a queen. But they couldn’t just walk into the presence of the king after a 14-day journey. They had to have several months of purification. If we are ever going to touch this generation, we need everything out of us that’s not like Jesus.
Scriptures
- Esther 2:17
- John 15:16
- Esther 3:1
- Daniel 3:10
- Revelation 4:9
- 1 Peter 5:8
- Esther 8:6
- Esther 9:5
- Matthew 11:12
- 2 Corinthians 10:4
He picked you and me.
The richest and the noblest came before him and he refused them. Then a little girl named Esther who didn’t have parents, whose nationality wasn’t really loved in this nation, walked down the hall and stood before the king. He pulled her up a little closer and told everyone that he had found his bride. There are millions more fit, millions more worthy, and millions more deserving, but the King has chosen you and me.
Now, she’s living in the king’s house, and Haman was introduced.
Life was wonderful until an enemy showed up to destroy. Haman was a type of the devil. I had always wondered what made Haman so angry. What makes the devil so angry at me and you? It has to be more than him just being evil. I found it. What made Haman, who is a representation of the devil, so angry was this: Modecai did not bow.
The devil is trying to imitate God. The devil is wanting you to bow down and surrender. Anytime that Hell tempts you and you fall to it, you have bowed. But somebody has to keep fighting, standing, and holding on.
Make up your mind that the only one you will bow to and surrender to is Jesus Christ.
But now that you’ve made up your mind that Jesus is the one that you are going to bow to, your enemy is mad. Only good and perfect gifts come from above. Anything bad that happens to us does not come from God. But sometimes God raises up the hedge of protection a little bit. I believe it’s to show the flames that they don’t have power over everybody and to let the lions know that they don’t have authority over everybody. You are God’s child and the enemy can’t do anything that God doesn’t allow.
Does God trust you so much that He can bring your name up to your enemy? Does God have such a confidence in you that He can bring your name up to the devil? God needs somebody He can trust that’s not going to give up or throw in the towel. “Have you considered my servant Job?”
But before the enemy can touch you, God has to allow it.
I’m not going to tell you that everything is well and good. Hell is going to drag everything it’s got out of the closet. Everything is going to be in your face. satan has come to kill, steal, and destroy, but he is not going to win. The church is going to stand up with the glory and power of God. America will know that there’s a God in Heaven with a people in the land.
So, the ministry (Mordecai) tells Esther that everything is not okay and that there’s an enemy.
God who knows everything, has brought you to this place in your walk with Him for such a time as this. He did not save Jerimiah, Rachel, Esther, Ruth, or Daniel for this day. He saved you for 2021. He saved you for this generation. He saved you for such a time as this.
He saved Esther for her time and she drew near to the king and gained favor in his sight. He asked her what she wanted. She didn’t want to dump it all at once on him. She realized how amazing and awesome the king was when she got in his presence and she decided to have a couple days worship service. She gave the king a banquet, but she did have one request.
“Can Haman (my problem) come to church with me?”
When she had spent her time worshipping and praising the king, he finally asked her what her request was. She told him about her problem. If Haman would have known that Esther was a Jew then he would have tried to destroy Mordecai a different way. God hides some things from the devil. What the devil means to destroy you with God has a blessing in store.
God is about to set the devil up.
The king gets mad and goes out into the garden. When he comes back Haman is up on the bed that Esther was on, begging. But the king sees it as him trying to force the queen. Over on the other end of town Haman’s family is building a gallows to hang Mordecai on, but what they didn’t know is what they meant for evil, God was going to turn it around and work it out as good for His people.
In the Garden, satan was given an authority. However, he only gets that authority if we give it to him. God has given us greater authority.
Esther worshipped the king, but that wasn’t enough. The Jews fought those who came against them. We can worship, but we have to put on our armor and fight, too.
If we stand up and fight, we are going to see victory.
–Pastor Anthony Wynn
