A Day of Reckoning

​Esther 9:1 ~ “Now in the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king's command and edict were about to be carried out, on the very day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain the mastery over them, the reverse occurred: the Jews gained mastery over those who hated them.”
 
Let us never forget that the LORD God will bring forth a day of reckoning upon all who have devised and plotted evil against His people, who have attacked and caused harm to His bride, the church, who have persecuted and brought suffering to those who are faithful to the LORD, He will put back on their own heads the very harm that they intended against us. How dreadful it will be on that day when the LORD will judge the earth and all who dwell upon it, while sparing His people. Lest we forget, the Scriptures tell us, “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord’” (Romans 12:19). Again, we read in Hebrews 10:31, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of God.”
 
The story of Haman the Agagite is a microcosm of the full fury that will come upon the enemies of God. Haman had plotted against the Jews that they should all be destroyed. Esther 3:6 says, “So, as they had made known to him the people of Mordecai, Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus.” It all seemed so well planned, so carefully plotted against the Jewish people, that it could not fail. Haman even tricked King Ahasuerus into the scheme and had the king seal the warrant for the destruction of the people of Israel. Beloved, there is One who oversees all things and knows all the plots and plans of the enemy. The designs that stand against the people of God will not succeed. We may suffer for a time and find ourselves trembling with fear for the terrors that surround the church, but take heart—God is fully aware and will never let the enemy go beyond what His Divine purpose allows.
 
As we consider our text for today, we read, “on the very day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain the mastery over them.” Letters of condemnation against the Jews had been sent throughout the kingdom and all those who despised the people of God rejoiced at the prospect of bringing to destruction those they hated. Haman’s plot seemed inviolate, there was no stopping the fury of the wicked. Consider the words of Psalm 94:5-7, “They crush your people, O LORD, and afflict your heritage. They kill the widow and the sojourner, and murder the fatherless; and they say, ‘The LORD does not see; the God of Jacob does not perceive.’” The wicked of this world believe that God does not see or He does not care about the violence done against His people. But they fool themselves into a sense of security that is as trustworthy as a spider’s web over a flame. How often do we see the persecutions of God’s people around this world today. The church gets maligned, ridiculed, hated, attacked and even killed by the hands of those who despise the LORD. And, like those in Revelation 6:10, the cry goes out, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Dear Christian, it shall not be long.
 
We continue to consider our text today and read, “the reverse occurred: the Jews gained mastery over those who hated them.” On the very day the enemy thought they would gain victory God reversed the course of events and those who were to be destroyed became the victors. This happened before. In Judges 9:57 we read, “And God also made all the evil of the men of Shechem return on their heads, and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.” And, my friends, it will happen again. It may seem like even today there is a greater advancement of the enemy of the LORD. That the schemes of the wicked one grow ever stronger as the church stands against the onslaught of evil. It will not always be so. Consider the view of the final battle in Revelation 20:9, “And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them.” The whole earth camped against the saints of God and the LORD Jesus Christ, but the final victory is the LORD’s. Do not tremble, dear saint, the Almighty God who has saved you will deliver you into His eternal kingdom.
 
Destruction is proclaimed against the enemies of God, and it will come. Micah 7:10 declares, “Then my enemy will see, and shame will cover her who said to me, ‘Where is the LORD your God?’ My eyes will look upon her; now she will be trampled down like the mire of the streets.” Let us never forget that a day of reckoning is coming—and it will bring forth the full and final victory of the LORD.
 
In His Grace,
Pastor Michael

---