Esther-Lesson Nine - Day 6

DAY SIX: Living in Such a Time as This

1.  God again proved Himself faithful to His Word, and the Jews faithfully reflected Him by how they responded to the threat of annihilation.  Ahasuerus’ order had allowed them to completely destroy all their enemies and to plunder their spoils, just like Haman had planned to do to them.  Yet they chose to only kill the men responsible, and to not touch their “loot.”  In this, they gave witness to God and showed non-believers around them a picture of God’s justice, holiness, and also His grace.[x] 

 

You may find you have the liberty to do some things under the law of the land, but should refrain from such activities to instead be a living witness of God to those around you.  Some “plunder” may be attractive and legal, but lethal to your witness to others!  What are some circumstances like this that you have run across in your walk with the Lord, in which your liberty was really put to the test?  How did you respond to it?  How did it impact others around you, or would impact your testimony to others if they saw you doing it?   What are some ways you might need to focus less on what you can do and still walk with the Lord and instead on what you should or shouldn’t do to draw others closer to God?  Share your thoughts here and with your group. 

 

2.  Our past failures and mistakes can tend to drag us down.  No doubt there were many participating in these actions of self defense who clearly remembered being dragged from Israel and Judah by a cruel tyrant, where attempts to assimilate them to a foreign culture were constantly present, and sometimes compromising what they knew was right to just survive.  All the failures and mistakes they remembered about what led them to this place must have haunted them.  The Jews had two choices in making a difference on that day in early March: To continue in despair and depression because of this, allowing the enemy to destroy them; or to stand up and press on from the past failures, and fight for their survival, returning to trust in the Lord. 

 

Have past memories and failures been dragging you down, or haunt you so much that you become ineffective for God’s kingdom?  Then consider Paul’s advice about this: 

 

I don't mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection! But I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ Jesus saved me for and wants me to be. No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven (Philippians 3:12—14, nlt)

 

What are some ways that you can take Paul’s advice to heart, and seek to be victorious over the past and press on to victory?  Please record your thoughts and share them with your group.

 

3.  If anything else specifically ministered to you as you studied this week’s passage, please record it here so you can share it with others in your group.

Scripture Memory:  Hopefully you now can write out this week’s passage completely by memory.  Do so now, and keep on reviewing it so you will be ready to share it with others in your group time.

           

Esther 9:1:

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