Esther for This Time #8 – Reversals Begin

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Painting: Esther reveals Haman’s plot to the King by Jan Lievens, 1623

God Loves Reversals

Do you need reversals in your life? Let Esther encourage you. God loves reversals, and He can make them happen for you.

Three Reversals

Today in our podcast, we encounter three reversals in Chapter Seven of the Book of Esther. This is God’s providence, bringing dramatic changes in circumstances in response to the prayers of His people. It can happen again, and it can happen in your life! Join us today as we cover these points:

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God’s Intervention

• When King Ahasuerus cannot sleep, he reads his chronicles and discovers Mordecai’s service needs a reward.
• The King asks Haman what he can do for the man he delights to honor.
• Haman replies the man should wear the King’s clothes, ride the King’s horse, and be proclaimed for service throughout the streets.

A Peripety

• Haman hates Mordecai and is humiliated when the King tells him to proceed with these actions for Mordecai.
• It is a peripety – a significant reversal of circumstances or turnaround of intentions written in heaven.
• When Haman told his friends and wife Zeresh about the Mordecai incident, they warned him: “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of the Jewish people, you will not prevail against him but will surely fall before him.”

God Reverses Evil (Esther 7: 1-8)

• Esther dishes up sweet words to the King.
• She knew when it was NOT time to speak and when it was time to say her request to the King.
• She used the exact words from the edict so that the King knew he was hearing the truth.

Persian Culture

• In Persian culture,
  • Diners eat at a table while reclining on a couch.
  • Men could not come within seven steps of a woman in the King’s charge or harem.
• Haman approached Esther’s couch to beg for mercy – he had overstepped his bounds by 7 feet.
• To the King, he was assaulting Esther. So, he orders a face cloth draped on Haman.
• In the Persian culture, a facecloth covers an enemy of the King so the King would not have to look upon the one he condemned.

The Lord Loves Reversals  (Esther 7: 9 – 8: 2)

• Harbona, one of the King’s chief consultants, appears to know of Haman’s hatred for the Jews and of the gallows he built in his backyard to execute Mordecai. He suggests Haman hang on these gallows.
• Oh, how the Lord loves reversals! His divine providence reversed three evil events for today.
  • The gallows built in Haman’s backyard for Mordecai are used to hang Haman.
  • The King removes the signet ring, indicating “a second in charge” position, from Haman and gives it to Mordecai.
  • Haman’s decree is reversed.  Instead of plundering the property of the Jews, the King gives Haman’s property to Queen Esther.
• What the study of literature calls peripety—an event that suddenly brings a reversal of fortune and dramatic change in circumstances, is what Christians call a miracle.

Personal Reflection

• Romans 15: 4 reminds us: “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.” Let Esther give you hope. God can give you reversals too:
• Which of the following principles do you find most helpful for you?

1. 1. God can reverse the evils around us.
   2. Gentle leadership with prayer and God’s discernment accomplishes much.
   3. Teachers of drama or literature call a reversal “peripety,” but Christians call it a miracle.

• What miracle or turnaround do you need today?  Based on what you observed from Esther and Mordecai, how will you pray for one?

1. 1. Read Psalm 37: 1-5 and notice all the phrases “do not fret” and “trust in the Lord” instead. Which will you do? The Lord will act as you delight in Him and commit your way to Him.
   2. Ask Jesus to bring laughter and joy to your life as you pray for the reversal.

Cup of JOY Women

• Consider forming a weekly one-hour Cup of Joy Women’s small group. Brief study guides accompany this podcast series, and you can begin anytime.  You will meet for only ten weeks and it’s free! Pray about accepting this opportunity to engage others and gently evangelize by meeting with one or more friends over coffee or tea in your home or church.
• For information, email Karen or go to Cup of Joy Women.

MORE ~Esther for This Time: A Ten-Part Series over the Book of Esther

• Esther for This Time #1—The Backdrop & the Party ~ Esther will show us that God never abandons us; He was faithful 2500 years ago and is faithful to you today.
• Esther for This Time #2 – The Queen, the Refusal & the Bad Advice  ~ Pursue God’s true wisdom instead of worldly counsel from those motivated by power.
• Esther for This Time #3 – The Spa & A New Queen   ~  Hear how the attractiveness of the heart wins friends and favor and see God’s providence begin unfolding quietly.
• Esther for This Time #4 – Unwavering Resolve & the First Edict   ~ Only God can deliver a people from destruction; With prayer and resolve, He can and He will.
• Esther for This Time #5 – Your Mission For Such a Time as This ~  View powerful examples of interceding for a nation in desperate times.
• Esther for This Time #6 – Pray, Wait and Discern   ~  Esther demonstrates the value of prayer, but also why it’s important to wait and discern God’s solution.
• Esther for This Time #7 – God-Designed Comedy  ~ Enjoy the change: God reverses calamity with a sense of  ~ humor.
• Esther for This Time #8 – Reversals Begin ~ God loves reversals and offers creative solutions to problems; He can make them happen for you, too.
• Esther for This Time #9 – Creative Solutions and MORE Reversals  ~ Watch the reversals unfold through prayer, and the nation’s deliverance brings a desire for conversion.
• Esther for This Time #10  –  Celebrating God’s Goodness & the Feast of Purim  ~ Join the celebration and be reminded of how God delivers his people from their enemies and will do the same for you.

Links

• Download Bookmarks from this podcast series: WRAPyourselfinJOY.com.
• Check out more podcasts here!
• Click here to find the book Esther For Such a Time As This: Prayer, Reversals, and JOY
• Join my newest podcast  Ruth – Finding JOY in Tough Times and Trusting in God’s Goodness.