#EstherChallenge – Day 8 Chapter Eight

Hello Beautiful People !

Time for Day Eight! Please remember to hashtag #EstherChallenge when you tweet about it. In addition, email estherchallenge@outlook.com with your notes for each chapter, or a summary and I will put it up on this blog page.

DAY EIGHT- CHAPTER EIGHT

Main People in this Chapter:

• King Aha (aka King Xerxes which is the Greek name for Ahasuerus)
• Queen Esther
• Mordecai

CHEEKY SUMMARY by Kanayo: Finally Haman was Hangman and Queen Esther found favour yet again with the King as he gave her all of Haman’s estate. Esther showed her gratitude to Mordecai by making Him in charge of the Estate. (It doesn’t say that she gave it to him, I think that is because it would have been insulting to give away a ‘gift’ received from the King). Mordecai was also given the signet ring which belonged to Haman. This ring gave him the right to speak for the King.

Now although Haman was dead, his evil edict (law) was still in place. This troubled Esther and she went to the King again without permission pleading that he revokes the law for the sake of Her and Her people, the Jews. The King gave Mordecai who was now in possession of the great ring to revoke the order of destruction placed upon the Jews. His order counteracted the law passed by Haman, as it gave all Jews everywhere to defend themselves when in opposition by their enemies. This order was sealed by the King’s ring and name, it was IRREVERSIBLE. The message was announced everywhere; billboards, adverts and twitter. The first edict had set this day as the day to kill the Jews. Now, the second edict gave the Jews permission to fight back. This would be a one day war, and then both edicts would not be the law any longer.

The Jews were no longer fearful or sad. God had answered their prayers and their fasting was not in vain. To top it all off, non-Jews (Persians) became Jews, probably for two reasons: 1) It wasn’t seen as a bad thing to be a Jew; they saw that the Jews were favoured 2) They didn’t want to be killed by the Jews

WHAT I LEARNED FROM THIS CHAPTER:

THE NEW LAW BROUGHT FREEDOM FROM THE OLD LAW.

This new law didn’t cause Haman’s previous law to be null and void. That law was still in force: a day of ‘open slaughter’ upon the Jews without consequences. The new law allowed the Jews to protect themselves and fight their enemies. Now, what do you think would have happened if the Jews had not believed this second decree from the king? They would have remained an easy target for their enemies bound by the first law. In other words, if you don’t operate under the power of the second law, the NEW law you will succumb to the power of the first.

The wages of Sin is death…this is the first law. But Jesus came to redeem us from eternal death and gave us eternal life through His death…this is the second law. It doesn’t mean that we will not die, but it means that when we do die and have accepted and believe in Christ we are given eternal life. It was the same for the Jews, they had to accept and believe and behave according to that second law, because if they didn’t they would have died under the law of death initiated by Haman.

ARE YOU STILL LIVING UNDER THE FIRST LAW? DO YOU FEEL CONDEMNED BECAUSE YOU DON’T THINK YOU ARE GOOD ENOUGH FOR GOD? DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU’VE DONE HORRIBLE THINGS AND THERE IS NO WAY GOD CAN ACCEPT YOU?

Romans 8:1-4 (NLT), “So now there is NO CONDEMNATION for those who belong to Christ Jesus. ² And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. ³ The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. SO GOD DID WHAT THE LAW COULD NOT DO. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. ⁴ He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead FOLLOW THE SPIRIT.”

This relates to our Christian life. You don’t have what it takes to live the Christian life by yourself. You couldn’t save yourself from the penalty of sin and you can’t save yourself from the power of sin. There is a second law in place. And it is something far better than your own efforts! God wants your heart, not your deeds. He loves you just the way you are. Even before we thought or cared about Him, He sent His Son to die for us. Live under His grace; the new law of salvation and not of condemnation. Don’t think you have to do things to make Him love you more. His love for us is so great that nothing we can do could change it. We do amazing things because we love God, we don’t do those things to gain His love. Being under the new law doesn’t mean that we should sin that God’s grace may continue to cover us…no way. He wants to take the old and make it new, transform our old ways into ones that truly depict our love for Him.

Romans 8:38-39 (NLT), “³⁸ And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. ³⁹ No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

PRAYER: Daddy, whoever is reading this and feels that they are not worthy of your love, I pray that you will reveal it to them through your word. I thank you for revoking the law of eternal death over our lives and giving us eternal life through your Son Jesus. I thank you for your grace that favours us when we don’t deserve it and for your love that is unfailing. For those that do not know you, or are struggling in their walk, I pray that they will come to know you, believe in you and accept you. Thank you Lord for your word, I take this opportunity to rededicate my life to you, be at the centre and take full control. Amen

WHAT EVERYONE DOING THE ESTHER CHALLENGE THINKS: