The Spirit of Amalek Revealed in the Book of Esther скачать в хорошем качестве

The Spirit of Amalek Revealed in the Book of Esther

Amalek was a nation at war against God and Israel with confrontations beginning while Moses was leading the Israelites through the wilderness to the Promised Land. In Deuteronomy 25:17-19, God commands Israel to destroy the Amalekites and to not forget. However, they did not heed his command and the Amalekites continued to be a thorn in their side. In the book of Esther, we see a descendant of Amalek once again come against the Jewish people. His name was Haman who was the most powerful official in service to the King of Persia. He plotted to destroy the Jewish people, however Queen Esther and her uncle Mordecai courageously stood their ground through faith. Together, they sought God's help and foiled Haman's evil plan. The same anti-God and anti-Israel spirit of the Amalekites continues to exist today. Just as Queen Esther exposed the darkness seeking to annihilate her people, we are called to expose and destroy the darkness with our light by the power of the Holy Spirit. We read in Ephesians 5:11-13, "[11] Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them...[13] Everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. Darkness always wars against the light, but we know that it can "never extinguish the light" as we read in John 1:5. Jesus Christ has already gone before us and has defeated the darkness by his victory on the cross. (Colossians 2:15). And He has equipped us to successfully overcome darkness through the light he gave us just as Apostle Paul teaches in 2 Corinthians 4:6-9, "For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ." And we read in Ephesians 5:8, "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light." We extinguish darkness by living as children of light, the light of Christ. As such, we need to be awake and aware of the darkness that continuously attempts to permeate this world. We read in 1 Thessalonians 5:5-8, "[5] You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. [6] So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober...[8] Since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet." We are called to be warriors against the dark spiritual forces. • Therefore, we must be dressed as warriors with the armor of God. • We must be alert so we are not caught off-guard, easily tricked or coerced. • We must root it out of our life through the power of the Holy Spirit. • We must courageously stand our ground and expose the darkness. • We must stand for God and stand for Israel. • We must expose and thwart the spirit of Amalek in this world. Jesus has given us the authority and the calling as Children of Light. The book of Esther ends with a celebration of the Jews' victory over their enemy. We read in chapter 9 that Mordecai instituted the 14th day of the Hebrew month Adar as a day of joy and feasting, a day of giving presents of food to each other and gifts to the poor. This day is called Purim. Esther 9:27 tells us that the Jews took it on themselves to establish this day and that they and their descendants AND all who join them should continue to observe this day annually throughout all generations to come. As Purim approaches this upcoming week, let us join the Jewish people in their celebration of overcoming evil as we also celebrate the power and authority Jesus has given us to overcome evil and be forever victorious in his name. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx The mission of Daily God Gems is to share God's word and be a source of encouragement, peace, love and unity in Messiah. Visit us at www.facebook.com/dailygodgems and www.dailygodgems.com