Not Meant To Be There.
Sometimes I just sat and just listened to the choruses, sermons, talks, and sharings. Or whatever else was going on. And I thoroughly enjoyed them all. But sometimes I left the meetings and wondered why I ever bothered going there.
Sometimes people would come up to me afterwards and mention that they saw me at a particular meeting. And we shared good comments about the meeting. And on other occasions a few people would ask me why I was there. This one particularly puzzled me – It’s a christian meeting, isn’t it? A place where God’s people could come together and share in singing and fellowship?
Ofcourse, we all can come together in fellowship. “One Church, Born Again, Under God”.
But the truth is that we all carry something from our past with us. Things that will never leave us. And, if we were honest, we would also admit that if had conducted ourselves differently in our past then we wouldn’t be having some of the problems that we have today. But when listening to a podcast recently I came to realise a couple of things. Firstly, that these regrets are not a new thing. It has happened all throughout history. And secondly, we are all the same in this respect. Every single one of us has something that has influenced how we think, or don’t think, in our present day lives.
We would do well to continually remind ourselves that God has everything under control and He is still on His throne.
When reading through a few chapters from the old testament Book of Esther a couple of very relevant points that would be applicable for today were brought to my attention.
Israel had found themselves in captivity again. And there was a young Israelite woman called Esther in the city of Sushan in Persia, modern day Iran. She was an orphan but had a cousin in the city who mentored her. His name was Mordecai. The accounts in the Book of Esther tell us of how Esther ended up being married to the King, Ahasuerus.
However, there was an occasion of political intrigue that had arose between Esther and the King. The King’s advisor was a man named Haman. And Haman hated the Jews. But Haman had found out that Esther was being mentored by her cousin and this made Haman want to kill all of the Jews even more. And so the political intrigue continues over the next few chapters between Esther, Haman and Mordecai.
Esther was frightened that she was caught up in the middle of this set of affairs. But Mordecai was advising her…
Esther 4:14 “…Do you think that it is possible that God has chosen you to come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"
And so the rest of the story of Esther carries on.
But the point at I want to bring out is this. Esther and Mordecai were being accused and harrased by Haman. But Haman should not have actually been there. Haman should never have existed in the first place. He was a descendant of the old adversary of Israel, The Amalekites. For the book tells us…
Esther Ch3 (1)After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite…”
You see Agag was a king among the Amalekites. And the Amalekites as a tribe should have been totally decimated long ago. God commanded King Saul to go and eliminate the whole tribe. Men, women, children, animals. Everything.
1st Samuel Ch15 (3)Now go and attack The Amalekites, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.' "
However, Saul did not fully obey all of God’s command. He allowed King Agag to live…
1st Samuel Ch15 (8)He also took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. (9)But Saul and the people spared Agag….
And so we find one of Agag’s descendants, Haman, alive and well and living in the Courts of King Ahasuerus. Not only that, but Haman had been promoted to the chief advisor to the king…
Esther Ch3 (1)After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him and set his seat above all the princes who were with him.
It’s very easy for us all to sit and lament “Oh, if only Saul had done as he was commanded”. “Why didn’t Saul do what he was told?”
And that’s a thought that we always visit for ourselves. “Why did I do that?” “Why did I allow this to happen?” And so the self-questioning and self-examination goes on. But, we must not forget to keep God in the equation. For God was with us then as much as He is now.
And like all of God’s stories, Esther’s story has a happy ending too. In the end Haman was caught out with his treachery and hanged. Mordecai was promoted into Haman’s position and ended up as the King’s advisor. And Esther? Well, let the scriptures speak for themselves…
Esther Ch2 (17)The king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the others. So he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen…”
Queen Esther is still remembered among the Jews today. The Tombs of Esther and Mordecai are believed to be in the city of Hamedan in Iran. The Jewish festival of Purim which is celebrated around the beginning of March each year was initiated by Queen Esther. And the Jews celebrate Purim by reading through The Book of Esther every year.
So, let’s not sit back and hark over the old things which we should’ve done, would’ve done or could’ve done. God was with us then just as He is with us now. He has everything under control. And His Destiny will be carried out - Whether we want it to or not.
God is still on the throne, and He will remember His own.
Though trials may press us and burdens distress us,
He never will leave us alone.
God is still on the throne, He never will leave us alone.
His promise is true.
He will not forget you.
God is still on the throne.
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