ESTHER & JOB

It is Saturday, and I have a Men's Prayer Breakfast in a little while, but here are some thoughts that I had as I read in Esther and Job. 1) PRIDE & HATRED- This is what Haman showed, pride and hatred.  He hated Mordecai and therefore the Jews as well.  He built a gallows for Mordecai on his own property.  He built it 75 feet tall and built it in one day!  This shows the height of his pride and the depth of his hatred.  To build such a structure and to build it in one day is an example of the extremes this man Haman felt of pride and hatred.  Little did he know that his pride and hatred for a man and a people would cost his his own life and the lives of 75,810 others!  Yes, check it out in Esther chapter 9, and you will see that Haman, his ten sons, and 75,800 others died throughout the kingdom.  I wonder if Haman's wife would have suggested such a thing IF she knew her husband and sons would be hanged on the gallows built in their own yard?  I think not!  Don't get let pride and hatred attach themselves to you... they are very, very destructive!  2) THE KING'S COMMANDMENT- Esther 8:14 says:  "... being hastened and pressed on by the king's commandment."  We too have a commandment... it is called the great commission.  We need to be busy about getting the good news out to others.  Let us hasten in our task! 3) THE LONGEST VERSE IN THE BIBLE- Is found in Esther 8:9- "Then were the king's scribes called at that time in the third month, that is, the month Sivan, on the three and twentieth day thereof; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded unto the Jews, and to the lieutenants, and the deputies and rulers of the provinces which are from India unto Ethiopia, an hundred twenty and seven provinces, unto every province according to the writing thereof, and unto every people after their language, and to the Jews according to their writing, and according to their language."   Yes, this is all just one verse.  I think also it has every letter of the alphabet except "J" if I'm not mistaken.  A little "factoid" for today. 4) I ONLY- Four times in Job chapter 1, it says:  "and I only am escaped to tell thee."  (vs. 15, 16, 17, and 19)  This tells us that we are spared for a purpose.  We have escaped death ourselves many times, and God spared us for a reason.  That reason is to tell others of Salvation and deliverance with God.  Let us always remember that we are saved for a purpose! Well, these are the thoughts for today.  Have a blessed day in the LORD! Pastor Mike Mutchler