Although Haman who was the
instigator of the intention to eliminate the Jews was hung for his
plan, Esther knew that her people were still in danger of the
implementation of the idea. With tears in her eyes she fell to the
ground before her husband King Ahasuerus in an effort to intercede
for her people. In chapter eight and verse four we see the beginning
of the king's reaction to her. We read:
Then the king held out
the golden scepter toward Esther. So Esther arose, and stood before
the king,
The
verse begins, “Then the king held out the golden scepter toward
Esther.” We read of this particular act of the king back in
chapters four and five, and we learned that if the king held out his
golden scepter to someone who approached his throne unannounced that
person would live. If he did not hold it out, they would die. As
Esther made her humble appeal to the king, he held out his scepter as
a symbol of his acceptance to her. He had already granted her request
to destroy wicked Haman and had given Esther his house. We can
imagine that he was very interested in this request as well.
The
verse goes on to say, “So Esther arose, and stood before the
king,..” From her lowly position upon the floor, Esther rose
when she saw the golden scepter raised. She knew she was accepted,
and more than likely the tears were still streaming from her face as
she stood before the king. She was received by him, however the
question remained as to whether he would grant her request or not.
What
will it be like when we come face to face with Jesus someday? Will we
be at our knees with tears streaming down our faces? Will we wonder
if he will raise His golden scepter of acceptance toward us? Will our
concern be only for ourselves or will we have others on our minds as
we approach Him? Because of Jesus' finished work on the cross for our
salvation we are promised that He will accept us if have received
Jesus Christ as our personal Savior. His part was to sacrifice
Himself for the sins of everyone, and our part is to believe that He
did. If we have received Jesus as Lord, the “golden scepter” will
be raised and we will hear Him say, “Well done you good and
faithful servant”, however woe be to the one who never receives Him
into their lives.
Next
time we will see another appeal from Esther to the king, so read
ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow...there is more...
Look
for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation” and the new marriage book “So, You Want
to Be Married” in all major bookstore sites, www.amazon.com ;
www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore
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