Friday, November 26, 2010

Advent Is Here

Hanging Of The Greens Service at RUMC Sunday. Come a little early for coffee and fellowship.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Behold The Black Horse

Behold The Black Horse

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “Two pounds of wheat for a day’s wages, and six pounds of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!” (Rev. 6:5-6)

In answer to a recent question, I made the comment that early signs of the coming Seal Judgments are beginning to appear. This does not mean I believe we’re in the beginning of Daniel’s 70th week. It means I can see signs that it’s not far off, which means the rapture of the Church is even closer.

Although I believe the Seal judgments will be sequential, I don’t think the signs of their coming will necessarily be in order. Some have different run-up periods than others. For example, we know the first seal says that a man will suddenly appear on the world scene. He’ll seem to be a peace maker but his real agenda will be to conquer the world. He’s the rider on the white horse. After him a rider on a red horse will appear, and war will soon follow as the true intent of the man on the white horse is revealed. These two judgments indicate that a man appears and quickly leads the world from a perception of peace to the reality of war. His rise to power has certainly been underway for some time even though no one knows who he is yet. But once his time comes, he’ll quickly have the whole world behind him. The point is, for the most part the run up to the first two seals is invisible.

The third seal judgment, also known as the Black Horse, is different in that the run-up is visible and can be tracked. The rider on the black horse holds a pair of scales with which to measure the comparative value of money and food. Changes in the relationship between the two can be tracked, allowing us to make a good guess as to how close we’re getting. This relationship is the topic of our study today.

Food Inflation

Recently financial experts have warned about the likelihood of runaway inflation as a result of the of the US government’s increasing debt. This will make the dollar worth less and less which means the things people buy will cost more and more by comparison. The most noticeable early signs are in commodities such as food, partly because the effects of inflation have been compounded by shortages.

The World Bank says, “World food price volatility remains significant and in some countries, the volatility is adding to already higher local food prices.” As examples, world wheat and corn prices have risen 57%, rice 45% and sugar 55% over the last six months and soybeans are at their highest price for 16 months. Some experts are saying we’re only one crop failure away from having out of control shortages in many parts of the world. The World Bank concluded it’s report by saying the world should expect this kind of volatility in food prices for the next 5 years.

The National Inflation Association, or NIA, (www.inflation.us) tracks real world changes in inflation. They say the government’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures would have you believe that food inflation is at the slowest pace on record. But every food shopper knows this is not true. The NIA claims that when calculating food inflation, the government uses something called geometric weighting, which gives a lower weighting to goods that are rising in price and a higher weighting to goods that are falling in price. If the price of steak is rising while the price of hamburgers is falling, the CPI will give a lower weighting to steak and a higher weighting to hamburgers. The government justifies this by saying that rising steak prices mean Americans are more likely to eat hamburgers. As a result of this weighting, the CPI no longer measures what it would cost to maintain the same standard of living as in the past. It’s now based on the realization that America’s standard of living has been in decline and the expectation that it will continue to decline in the future.

Dollar Inflation

The NIA also says there’s a misconception in America that wages have risen at the same rate as price inflation, when this is simply not the case. The median household income in the U.S. was $11,800 in 1975 and today is $49,777. If you go by the government’s CPI, $11,800 in 1975 dollars equals $47,208 in today’s dollars. That would seem to indicate that Americans are earning slightly higher real incomes today than 35 years ago. However, the truth is, once you discount the effects of geometric weighting, the median household income in 1975 of $11,800 actually equals $154,000 in today’s dollars. This explains how in 1975, a father was able to support a family on just one income and college students were able to afford their own tuition with just a summer job. Today, in many cases both parents need to work to support their family, and students need to go deeply into debt to fund their education.

As for the elderly, NIA calculates that because of the way the CPI has understated the real rate of price inflation, Americans on Social Security should be receiving payments that are more than double what they receive today. Unfortunately, the government just announced last month that Americans on Social Security will receive no payment increase in 2011, despite the fact that food inflation will likely become the biggest crisis of the year, much larger than the mortgage crisis we have today.

On a related note, analysts have said it’s no longer a question of if but when and how much money the Fed will pump into the system in an effort to stabilize the economy. Some say as much as $2 trillion will eventually be needed. There are no assets backing this money. It will come straight out of thin air. As you read this, the Fed has begun an initial purchase of government debt totaling $600 billion. We’ll be able to track the effects on the value of the dollar by measuring rising prices.

Food Riots And Tax Rebellions

Back in the fall of 2008, I posted a summary of comments by Gerald Celente, CEO of Trends Research Institute. He’s renowned the world over for his accuracy in predicting future world and economic events. He accurately predicted the 1987 stock market crash, the fall of the Soviet Union, the 1997 Asian currency collapse, the sub-prime mortgage crisis, and one year before the fact predicted what he said would become known as the Panic of 2008, saying that giants would tumble to their deaths, which is what we’ve just seen in the fall of several of our oldest and biggest financial firms, and with the big three auto makers teetering on the brink. (You can check his track record for yourself at www.trendsresearch.com.)

At that time Celente was forecasting food riots and tax rebellions in America – all within four years, cautioning that putting food on the table will be a more pressing concern than buying Christmas gifts by 2012.

“We’re going to see the end of the retail Christmas. We’re going to see a fundamental shift take place. Putting food on the table is going to be more important that putting gifts under the Christmas tree,” said Celente, adding that the situation would be “worse than the great depression”.

“America’s going to go through a transition the likes of which no one is prepared for,” he said at the time, noting that people’s refusal to acknowledge that America was even in a recession in 2008 highlighted how big a problem denial is in being ready for the true scale of the crisis.

While they were pretty astonishing at the time, two years later it seems much more likely that they’ll turn out to be true.

I’m not saying that Celente is a prophet, or even that his predictions confirm what the Bible says. But current conditions point to continuing increases in food prices and because of our government’s economic strategy some experts say the possibility of run away inflation can not be ignored.

The conditions described in Rev. 6:5-6 are infinitely worse than anything we’ve ever seen, and even worse than Celente’s predictions. It will take all of an average worker’s pay for one day’s work to buy enough food just for the day. Conditions are no where near that bad now. But unless some drastic changes take place, that’s where we’re heading and getting there by 2012 is well within the realm of possibility.

In Summary

My purpose in offering this commentary is not to provide a comprehensive treatment of Rev. 6:1-8, also known as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, but to use current money and food conditions to demonstrate how the Black Horse judgment will materialize.

And remember, the Black Horse is the third in the series and follows the outbreak of war over 25% of the world (Rev. 6:8). War is known to disrupt food supplies in affected regions. Add this disruption to world wide food supplies that are already strained and a monetary system that’s been robbed of its value and you can see how it would take everything a person earns just to feed himself.

The fact that this judgment follows the rapture does not mean we can relax and pretend nothing’s wrong. Even if this new congress follows through on its promises, it will take several years just to stabilize America’s debt problem and in the mean time the government will need to borrow even more just to meet the commitments it has already made. This is bad news for the whole world, and it’s not at all certain that the problem can ever be solved. America may already have done to itself what no outside enemy could accomplish and brought about its own defeat.

I believe the rapture of the Church is very near and could literally happen any day. But each day the Lord tarries will be a day of increasing uncertainty, especially for the unemployed and under employed. This is not a time for hoarding or investing in the future. We who have excess should be more diligent than ever in seeking out and helping those who are unable to help themselves.

And above all, we must have hope, for the Lord has promised to come for us. It was He who said, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:10-11, 28). You can almost hear the footsteps of the Messiah.

Psalm 2

Psalm 2

Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against His Anointed One. “Let us break their chains,” they say, “and throw off their fetters.”

The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. Then he rebukes them in His anger and terrifies them in His wrath, saying, “I have installed My King on Zion, my Holy Hill.”

I will proclaim the decree of the Lord. He said to me, “You are my Son. Today I have become your father. Ask of me and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. You will rule them with an iron scepter; you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”

Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned you rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son lest He be angry and you be destroyed in your way for His wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.

Because of the language employed, we think about armed rebellion here. But what about civil or social or spiritual rebellion? Haven’t our leaders on earth waged these kinds of warfare as well? Think of the laws written to insure freedom of religion that are now interpreted as guaranteeing freedom from religion. What about the public schools who ban even silent prayer, courts who prohibit a display of God’s Law, and officials who are trying to remove the words “under God” from our Pledge of Allegiance? And that’s just in the US, that bastion of personal freedom. Are not these also attempts by the rulers of this world to break the ties between man and his Creator?

It’s said that as the bonds between God and man are broken, the bonds between man and man can fare no better. We certainly see the truth of that observation. Lying, cheating, stealing and defrauding often seem the order of the day. But remember God laughs at these puny attempts at rebellion as we laugh at a two year old who thinks if his eyes are covered so he can’t see us, then we can’t see him either.

The Lord scoffs at our Godless leaders now, but soon He will rebuke them. You see, they don’t make the rules, He does. He’s installed His King over the earth. They can’t impeach Him and He’s not going to resign.

One thousand years before the first Christmas David “saw” through the eye of inspiration as the Father gave His Son the authority to become sole heir to Planet Earth. He’ll rule the nations as one who oversees his personal property, brooking no interference and accepting no criticism. The first will indeed become last as the Kings of the Earth are warned to serve Him with the fear reserved for one who in the blink of an eye can be stirred to wrath. Is this the “Gentle Jesus, meek and mild” we were taught about in Sunday School? I think not. This is not the Lamb of God but the Lion of Judah.

Once before mankind committed a grievous error by failing to recognize Who they were dealing with, and it’s destined to happen again. The Jews wanted the Lion of Judah to throw off the Roman yoke, a Warrior King Who would defeat Israel’s enemies. But refusing to admit the sin problem that first required the sacrificial Lamb, they rejected Him.

The mainline Church looks for the Lamb of God, that sandal shod social worker Who walked the paths of the Galilee patting little children on the head and telling everyone to turn the other cheek. Forgetting that he’s promised to return like a roaring Lion with the armies of Heaven to defeat His enemies and take possession of that which He’s purchased, they fail to see the signs of His coming.

At the end of the age when the sign of the Son of Man appears in the sky, all the nations of the Earth will mourn (Matt 24:30). For those who’ve rejected Him it will be a sad day indeed when the Lord returns, but for we who believe, it will be the culmination of history, the beginning of Heaven on Earth. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.

Prayer: Lord please make us ever mindful of the times in which we live. Help us prepare our hearts and minds for the life that’s coming, the one we were created for, the one we long for. Give us peace as we consider leaving this one. Let us not be like Lot’s wife, who turned to look back, but like Paul who said, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” (Phil. 1:12) Amen.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Easter Sunday 2010

Easter Sunrise At The Parsonage, April 4, 2010

The River At The Parsonage, Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday 2010

Easter Sunday 2010

Easter Sunday 2010

Easter Sunday 2010

Pastor Dean, telling the Resurrection Story.

Monday, April 26, 2010

Saturday, April 3, 2010

The Folded Napkin

The Gospel of John (20:7) tells us that the napkin, which was placed over the face of Jesus, was not just thrown aside like the grave clothes.

The Bible takes an entire verse to tell us that the napkin was neatly folded, and was placed separate from the grave clothes.

Early Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, 'They have taken the Lord's body out of the tomb, and I don't know where they have put him!'

Peter and the other disciple ran to the tomb to see. The other disciple outran Peter and got there first. He stooped and looked in and saw the linen cloth lying there, but he didn't go in.

Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, while the cloth that had covered Jesus' head was folded up and lying to the side.

Was that important? Absolutely!

Is it really significant? Yes!

In order to understand the significance of the folded napkin, you have to understand a little bit about Hebrew tradition of that day. The folded napkin had to do with the Master and Servant, and every Jewish boy knew this tradition.

When the servant set the dinner table for the master, he made sure that it was exactly the way the master wanted it. The table was furnished perfectly, and then the servant would wait, just out
of sight, until the master had finished eating, and the servant would not dare touch that table, until the master was finished.

Now if the master were done eating, he would rise from the table, wipe his fingers, his mouth, and clean his beard, and would wad up that napkin and toss it onto the table. The servant would then know to clear the table. For in those days, the wadded napkin meant, 'I'm done'.

But if the master got up from the table, and folded his napkin, and laid it beside his plate, the servant would not dare touch the table, because...........

The folded napkin meant, 'I'm coming back!'

He is Coming Back!
Author Unknown

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Upcoming Events, Spring, 2010

Spring is getting closer (try not to look directly at it, you'll scare it away).  Ripley UMC and Guilford UMC have teamed up to present some fun and tasty events in the month of April.  Check out the News & Announcements page for details.

Saint Patrick's Day Corned Beef And Cabbage Dinner

The Corned Beef and Cabbage Dinner was a rip-roaring success! We had a good turnout and everyone had a great time! Special thanks to all the volunteers, without whom this event would have been impossible: Dot Hutchins, Elaine Greaves, Pam Jerome, Rita Farrar, Lib Haseltine, Jeris Sinclair, Ruth Sevey, Nancy Hoskins, ...Glenna Dean, and David Mosley. Love you ladies! And David...LOL

Saturday, February 27, 2010

The Jewish Feast of Purim

Welcome To GraceThruFaith!

Special Announcement: The Jewish Feast Of Purim is February 27-28.   It recalls the heroic acts of Queen Esther in protecting her people from an extermination order issued against the Jews shortly after the Persians conquered Babylon.  The story is told in the Book of Esther which, in addition to relating the history of actual events,  reveals some remarkable truths about the Christian life.

The Book of Esther: Esther's Story Part 1

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley
(NOTE: Ray C. Stedman’s book “The Queen and I” was a major source of inspiration for this series of articles on the Book of Esther.)

Although my Hebrew name is Hadassah, which comes from our name for the myrtle tree, most people know me by my Persian name, Esther. This is the story of how I rose from an orphaned captive Jewish girl to become Queen of Persia, the most powerful nation of my day. Many “learned” people (Martin Luther was one) have expressed doubt that my story should even be in the Bible because it seems to have such a secular theme. As evidence of this they claim that the Name of God is never mentioned. But as I’ll show you His Name appears five times, although each time it’s hidden in the Hebrew text. In fact “Something Hidden” is a good sub-title for my story because as it unfolds you’ll see that there is much more hidden than just the Name of God. It was all placed here for your learning, as a reward for the diligent student.
My family had been brought to Babylon from Jerusalem with all the other Jews during what’s now called the Babylonian Captivity, a judgment that began in 586 BC with the destruction of Jerusalem and Solomon’s Temple. My parents died when I was still a young girl, so my older cousin Mordecai raised me as his own. My story takes place after Cyrus the Persian had conquered Babylon and released my people from our servitude but before Ezra left with a large group of volunteers to begin rebuilding our Temple in Jerusalem and reestablishing our nation.
It was a glorious time of peace in the Persian Kingdom and the air felt fresher, the sky looked bluer and the stars brighter because of it. All of Persia’s enemies had been conquered, including the great Babylon, long thought to be invincible. With no external threat present, King Ahaseurus, also called Xerxes, decided to host a grand celebration honoring the peace. Inviting his governors and other officials from all over the kingdom (it stretched from India to Egypt and encompassed 127 provinces) he threw a bash that lasted a full 180 days and was capped off by a lavish 7-day banquet! On the last great day of the banquet the King was feeling no pain and after extolling the flawless beauty of his Queen, Vashti, he commanded his servants to bring her into the banquet hall so all his princes and nobles could feast their eyes on her and envy his good fortune.
You’d think the Queen would be thrilled to receive all that attention, but to everyone’s amazement, she refused to appear before them. To say the King was beside himself with anger would be a massive understatement. Nobody disobeyed the King of Persia and lived to tell about it! He and his nobles quickly agreed that if she wasn’t punished, all their wives would soon become disobedient. They advised him to banish Queen Vashti from his presence and find a new queen to replace her, and he agreed. That very day he issued the decree deposing Vashti, vowing never to see her again.
In the Hebrew text describing this event the first hidden appearance of God’s name appears. The first letters of the Hebrew words for “all the women will respect” in what is now called verse 20 of chapter 1 form the acrostic acronym YHVH, the initials of God’s Name. There are a total of four such appearances. This one is spoken about the queen. The next will be spoken by the queen (5:4) and like it is made up of first letters. In both cases where the acronym consists of first letters the initial facts of an event are being revealed.
The third one will be spoken about Haman, (5:13) and the fourth by Haman (7:7). These two are made up of the last letters of the Hebrew words in the respective passages, and both times the final stages of events are being described. All four of these acronyms consist of the letters YHVH.
The first and third acronyms are spoken by gentiles and read left to right like all languages west of Jerusalem. The second and fourth are spoken by Israelites and read right to left like all languages east of Jerusalem.
There is also a fifth one (7:5) made up of last letters but in reverse order, and in this one the letters used are EHVH, another form of the Name of God, the one He used at the burning bush and that we translate “I am”. That makes five concealed appearances of God’s name. Five is the number of grace and indeed my story is a beautiful illustration of the Grace of God, concealed in the Old Testament, but revealed in the New.
But back to my story. It wasn’t till later that I discovered Queen Vashti’s reason for disobeying. She had refused the King’s command to parade before all those drunken nobles at the banquet because he had commanded her to appear wearing her crown, and only her crown. No wonder she declined.
After the party ended and the King had sobered up, he remembered how much Vashti had meant to him, and he regretted banishing her. Her absence created a great longing in his heart, and he missed her sorely. But Persian laws cannot be reversed, even by the King, so he was stuck with his decision. His advisors, seeing how sad and lonely he was, suggested combing the Empire for beautiful virgins they could bring to the capital city to be carefully prepared for him. After auditioning them, he could choose his favorite and she could help him forget Vashti. The King agreed, and that’s how I came into his life.
Now’s a good time to stop and introduce something else hidden in my story. In addition to being an actual historical event, the highlights of which are celebrated among Jews even today in the Feast of Purim, my story is also an amazing model of man’s proper relationship with God. It’s like a parable where every character also represents someone else.
To reveal these hidden mysteries, we’ll have the King represent our soul; our mind, will, and emotion. The Queen represents our spirit, our eternal essence. My cousin Mordecai, who we’ll meet soon, represents the Holy Spirit. Haman, an evil advisor to the King who we’ll also meet next time, represents our sin nature, or flesh, under the influence of Satan. The Capital City is our body, and the Kingdom, our world; the surroundings over which we exert influence.
The proper order for spiritual communications has God at the top, and in descending order the Holy Spirit, our spirit, and then our soul. As created beings, we’re designed to operate on the basis of the revealed Word of God, communicated through the Holy Spirit to our spirit and then to our soul, where it’s translated into behavior. When that’s happening we’re at peace.
When our story opened, the King and Queen were on their thrones. There was peace in the Capital City and indeed throughout the Kingdom. This represents man, functioning according to design, ruling over his kingdom within the parameters of God’s revealed Word as communicated through His Spirit.
But in his impaired state, the King reversed the order of communications, allowing the emotions emanating from his soul to govern his behavior. His lust prompted an improper command, and his anger at her disobedience caused him to banish the Queen. He soon regretted it, feeling sad and lonely, but the damage was done. This is what happens when we let our feelings replace the Word of God as the guide for our behavior. The line of communications is broken and we begin to feel sad, and alone. We’ve lost contact with our Counselor. And as we’ll see, once that happens there is no peace, either within us or in our surroundings, because it opens the door for the sin nature, or flesh, to take charge.
Next time the search for a new Queen begins, Haman and Mordecai begin their battle for the King’s ear, and a conspiracy to assassinate the King leads to an even more sinister plot to destroy my people. We’ll also see how ruthlessly the flesh battles to maintain authority over the spirit once we permit it. So hang on, we’re just getting started.

The Book of Esther: Esther's Story Part 2

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley
As I mentioned last time Mordecai is my cousin, although he’s so much older than I am that he actually remembers life in Jerusalem before the Babylonians destroyed it. When my parents died he took me in and raised me as his own. Our age differences made him seem more like a grandfather to me than a cousin and I loved and trusted him completely.
As soon as news of the King’s search for a replacement Queen was made public, Mordecai convinced me to enter the competition and sent me to Hegai, the man in charge of the King’s harem. Hegai took a liking to me right away, recognizing that there was more to me than just a pretty face and pleasing figure. He arranged for me to have extra beauty treatments and a special diet, assigned 7 maids to look after me, and gave me the best apartment in the harem.
Mordecai had warned me not to reveal my nationality, so I didn’t keep to the “kosher” diet or other unique traditions of my people while in the harem. (My “Jewishness” was something else hidden in my story, at least for the time being.) Somehow, Mordecai was certain I would be selected from among all the candidates to be the next Queen of Persia, even though at this point the King didn’t even know I existed. I guess he thought that if my Jewish heritage became known, it would hurt my chances in the competition.
As I reflect on Mordecai’s certainty, I’m reminded of the debate in your time over predestination vs. free will. The King was going to exercise his own free will to make a random selection from among all the girls in the competition, but my cousin already knew what his decision would be and had made sure I was available and prepared.
When you chose to accept the Lord Jesus as your Savior, you were exercising your own free will, but God, Who sees the end from the beginning, knew what your decision would be before He laid the foundations of Earth, and made sure there was a place for you in His Kingdom. From His point of view it was predestination. From yours it was free will. Once you understand that God simply knew in advance what decision you would make, the problem goes away.
Before any of the harem girls were permitted to visit the King, we underwent 12 months of beauty treatment with herbs, perfumes, and cosmetics and were also given other training and preparation to make certain we were absolutely our most attractive selves possible. Then, one at a time we would be taken to the King in the evening, returning the following morning to another part of the harem. We would never see the King again unless he specifically asked for us by name. Needless to say, this put a tremendous amount of pressure on each girl since her one night audition would determine whether she would be chosen to live a life of unimaginable wealth and privilege as the Queen of Persia or spend the rest of her days confined in a “gilded cage” with no hope of a normal life.
Every day of that long year, Mordecai walked along the courtyard just outside the harem, checking with officials to find out how I was and what was happening to me. Remember I told you last time that Mordecai is a model of the Holy Spirit in my story. He was watching over me before I was chosen, making sure everything was going all right and that nothing would hinder the success of my audition with the King. In just this way the Holy Spirit watched over you every day of your life, even before you chose to accept the Lord Jesus as your Savior, making sure nothing would interfere with your opportunity to make that choice when the time came.
Finally it was my turn to visit the King, and just as Mordecai had known it would be, the King found me more attractive and more pleasing than any of the other virgins who had been brought to him. He placed the royal crown on my head and proclaimed me Queen of Persia. Then he hosted a huge banquet in my honor. He invited all his princes and nobles, made the banquet day a holiday throughout the kingdom, and distributed gifts to his subjects with royal liberality. It was the kind of day that girls like me don’t even dare dream about.
But you’ve had one just like it. My coronation celebration was a model of each believer’s salvation experience and the rejoicing that took place in heaven on that wondrous occasion when your spirit was united with the Holy Spirit of God. The King of Kings and His Heavenly Host stopped everything to sing and shout for joy! Did you know that the Bible records only five events that are cause for such celebration? They are the creation of the Earth, (Job 38:1-7) the birth of the Messiah, (Luke 2:13-14) the decision to finally unseat Satan from the Throne of Earth, (Rev. 5) the Messiah’s victorious 2nd Coming (Rev.19) and the welcoming of a new believer into the Kingdom. (Luke 15:7) That shows how important your salvation is to the Lord!
Now in those days the main gate of a city was actually a building, constructed as part of the city wall. This building usually became the major commercial and legal center of the city and ours was no exception. It was called the King’s Gate and most of the important men in the city gathered there every day. Mordecai was often there and one day happened to overhear a private conversation that troubled him greatly. Two of the officers who guarded the King’s Gate had become so angry with the King that they were actually plotting to assassinate him!
Mordecai rushed to tell me and of course I informed the King, crediting Mordecai as my source. (In obedience to my cousin, I was still keeping our family relationship secret so I didn’t tell the King anything about that.) When Mordecai’s claim was investigated and found to be true, the two officers were tried and convicted, and hanged on the gallows. The entire event, including Mordecai’s part in it, was recorded in the Annals of the King.
This is an example of the spiritual communications I described last time working properly now that the lines were open again. By placing a queen on the throne the order was restored and warnings of impending danger could come from the Holy Spirit (Mordecai) to man’s spirit (the Queen) to man’s soul (the King) where it could be translated into behavior. Things were functioning the way they should again and peace was the order of the day.
But the sin nature doesn’t give up so easily, and unfortunately can often enlist the soul in its efforts to rule over us. Man’s soul has the power to act autonomously and can take advice from any source. It’s where our freedom of choice, sometimes called agency, resides. Before we’re saved, our soul has only the sin nature to advise us on how to behave, but once salvation has taken place, it’s the role of the Holy Spirit to resist and displace that once trusted advisor. What happened next is another example of the harm that comes from ignoring the promptings of the Spirit and acting on our feelings instead.
One day, for no particular reason, the King decided to honor a friend of his, a noble named Haman. He named Haman to a position of special counselor and made him superior to all the other nobles in his court. Even though Haman hadn’t done anything to deserve this honor, the King required everyone to bow down and pay homage to Haman whenever he passed by. Mordecai was incensed and refused to do so.
Perhaps a little history lesson will help explain the contention that existed between Haman and my cousin Mordecai. Haman was a descendant of Agag, King of the Amalekites, traditional enemies of the Jews. Years earlier, Israel’s King Saul had spared Agag in disobedience of the Lord’s command. The Amalekites had attacked the Jews when Moses was leading them through the wilderness and the Lord had sworn to wipe them off the face of the Earth for doing so. Saul was commanded to carry out the Lord’s judgment. (1 Samuel 15:1-9) By sparing Agag, he permitted the Amalekites to survive and their animosity toward the Jews to remain. Even though the Prophet Samuel killed Agag a few days later, the damage was done. As we’ll see, Haman was determined to show God just whose people would be exterminated.
When Haman learned of Mordecai’s refusal to bow before him, he was furious. Then he found out that Mordecai was Jewish, and this enraged him even more. Not being satisfied with just killing Mordecai, Haman conceived an evil plot to rid the entire kingdom of all of its Jews. Casting lots with his co-conspirators, he chose a day on which all the people of Persia were to rise up as one against my people to completely annihilate us from the Kingdom. Using his new found influence to poison the King’s mind against us, Haman got the King to issue a decree giving his plan the force of law, and promising the Persian people the property and possessions of all the Jews they killed for carrying out this heinous act. Finally Haman pledged 10,000 talents of silver to the King’s Treasury to seal the bargain.
The King, who was already rich beyond measure, replied, “Keep your money, but do with the people as you please.”
Well, as you might guess, the King’s edict put the whole kingdom into a turmoil. Everywhere you went, Jews were wailing and tearing their clothes, throwing dust in the air and wearing sackcloth, and Persians were perplexed by this seemingly uncalled for extermination order. No one knew quite what to do.
Remember, Haman is a model of our sin nature. When our sin nature is elevated above the Holy Spirit in terms of influence in our lives, it immediately works to nullify all the fruits of the Spirit’s regenerative work in us. Both our spirit and our soul suffer anguish, and those around us become perplexed by our contradictory behavior. As the Apostle Paul would later write, “The sin nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sin nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.” (Gal. 5:17) So it was between Haman and Mordecai.
In our next episode, Mordecai confronts me with the frightening truth that only I can save my people, and to do so I’ll have to risk everything, my prestige, my crown, even my own life. Little Hadassah, still in her teens, will be forced to confront the most powerful ruler on earth, a man who literally holds the power of life or death over her. My secret identity will become known and I’ll have to count myself among those scheduled for extermination. See you then.

The Book of Esther: Esther's Story Part 3

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley
The foiled assassination plot against the King can be likened to your salvation experience. Remember, due to Mordecai’s timely warning the two officers who plotted the King’s death were discovered and sentenced to die. Most translations of my story say they were hanged, but in those days hanging meant something different than it does today. It meant that they were nailed to a tree or wooden post and left to hang there till they died, and that’s what happened to the would-be assassins. It was an early form of crucifixion, and it saved the King from death. The event was then recorded in the Annals of the King.
Because of your sin, represented by the two officers, you too were appointed for death. But the Holy Spirit intervened and your sin was dealt with in the only way possible. It was nailed to the cross and you were saved from death. The event was then recorded in the Lamb’s book of Life.
When the King made Haman his chief counselor and empowered him to act on the King’s behalf, it symbolized man giving his sin nature authority over his behavior. Believers are sometimes surprised when they discover the extent to which the sin nature still controls their responses to events in their lives. They don’t realize that while being saved gives them the right to choose a new Counselor, they have to make that choice daily and then follow His advice in order to attain the victorious life. (If you’re starting to suspect that my story is a model of the Book of Romans, you’re catching on.)
One of Haman’s first official acts was to mount an effort to wipe out Mordecai and all the Jews, symbolic of the sin nature’s attempts to undo all the regenerative work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer.
When Mordecai told me what Haman had done, I was sick at heart. And when he said that I had to help save our people by going to the King, I was scared to death. I reminded him that no one, not even the Queen, could approach the King with out first being summoned. Barging in on him unannounced was an offense punishable by death, and the King hadn’t sent for me in over 30 days. Who knew if he ever would again?
Mordecai was not impressed. He curtly explained to me that God doesn’t miss out on an opportunity to advance His Kingdom just because of our reluctance, we miss out on the opportunity to be involved. If I didn’t help save my people, the Lord would raise up someone else who would. But, he said, I shouldn’t think I would escape this danger just because I was the Queen. I was still Jewish after all. And besides, who could say that I wasn’t elevated to my royal position for just such a time as this?
“OK,” I said. “Have all the Jews in the city fast for 3 days and 3 nights. My maids and I will do the same. At the end of that time I’ll go see the King even though it’s against the law. If I perish, I perish.” Mordecai went out and did all that I asked.
On the third day, with my heart beating so loudly that I’m sure everyone around me could hear it, I put on my royal robes and stood just outside the King’s Hall. He was sitting there on his throne facing the entrance. When he looked up and saw me his eyes lit up and he smiled as he motioned me into his presence. My life had been spared, at least for that day.
“What is it?” he asked. “What’s your request? Even if it’s for half the kingdom, I’ll grant it.” By law, half the kingdom is the most the King was permitted to give someone, so that was a good sign. But all I asked for was the pleasure of his company at a private luncheon that afternoon, along with permission to invite Haman as well. He happily agreed.
After the meal, as the King and Haman relaxed with me over drinks, the King again asked what I wanted him to do for me, and again offered half the kingdom. “Come dine with me again tomorrow, the two of you,” I responded. (I wanted to make absolutely sure the King was being sincere in his offer to do anything I asked.) “If this is agreeable, then tomorrow I’ll tell you what I want.” They both accepted my invitation and left.
Haman was really full of himself after the luncheon. “The Queen invited only the King and me,” he bragged to any one who would listen. But later as he passed by the King’s Gate, Haman noticed that Mordecai refused to bow down and was enraged all over again. Complaining long and loud to his family about Mordecai’s insubordination he was finally cheered by his wife’s suggestion that he have a giant gallows constructed and first thing in the morning ask the King’s permission to hang Mordecai on it for refusing to obey the King’s order. He rounded up the workers and had the gallows built that very day. (As I explained earlier, hanging him on it meant nailing him to it.)
That night the King couldn’t sleep, so after tossing and turning for some time, he had the historical record of his reign brought and read to him thinking that would help him relax. But when he heard the part about the assassination plot Mordecai had discovered, saving his life, he sat up in bed and asked how Mordecai had been honored for this act of loyalty.
“I don’t think we did anything,” his attendants replied. By then it was nearly morning, so the King asked if there were any officials in court yet. After looking around they reported, “Haman has just come in”. (Haman was there early to get permission to hang Mordecai as soon as he could.)
Calling Haman in, the King asked him how he would suggest they honor someone who had done a great service to the King. Haman assumed the King was planning to honor him, and said, “Put one of your own robes on him and seat him on one of your own horses. Then have one of your most trusted officials lead him through the city loudly proclaiming that this is what is done for someone the King delights to honor.”
“Great idea,” the King exclaimed, “Before you do anything else, go yourself and do this for Mordecai!”
Haman was speechless! He had come in early thinking he’d get permission to execute his archenemy Mordecai first thing, and now he was being ordered to personally honor him in the King’s name, in broad daylight and in front of the whole city. How humiliating! He was still moaning and groaning to his family after carrying out the King’s order when my servants arrived to bring him to the luncheon.
Little did he know, his problems were just beginning. After we had eaten, the King again asked for my request, and for the third time offered me up to half the kingdom. By now I knew he was sincere, so although my stomach was turning flip-flops, my voice was steady as I told him how my people had been placed under an extermination order and scheduled for annihilation. I said that if we had merely been ordered into slavery, I wouldn’t have thought to bother him, but I couldn’t stand by and let my family and all my people be slaughtered without speaking up.
I could see Haman’s astonished look as for the first time I revealed my true nationality. He had no idea he’d condemned the King’s beloved to death in his dastardly plot against the Jews.
The King was furious! “Who is the man who has dared to do such a thing?” he demanded.
“The adversary and enemy is this vile Haman,” I replied.
Haman was white with terror. The King jumped up and stormed out of the room. Haman knew what was coming and, throwing his arms around me, begged me to spare his life. The urgency of his plea threw us both back on the sofa where I was seated, and he landed on top of me. Just then the King returned. It looked for all the world like Haman was trying to molest me, and for the King this was the last straw. As he roared in anger, the guards grabbed Haman and pulled him off me.
One of them told the King that Haman had just constructed a giant gallows for the purpose of executing Mordecai. Pointing a condemning finger at Haman, the King shouted, “Hang him on it instead!” No due process here, no endless arguments on the finer points of the law, no jury deliberation. The King’s word was the law.
That very day they hanged Haman on the gallows he had built for Mordecai, and the King’s fury subsided. He confiscated Haman’s substantial estate and gifted all of its money and property to me. I introduced Mordecai to the King and for the first time revealed our family relationship. Remembering his loyalty, the King named Mordecai to Haman’s now vacant position as chief counselor giving him the official signet ring he had taken from Haman’s finger. This authorized Mordecai to act in the King’s name. I made Mordecai administrator over all my newfound wealth as well.
Listening to his spirit, man finally learns of the true intentions of the sin nature. But putting the sin nature to death isn’t enough. The Holy Spirit has to be installed as Chief Counselor, and empowered to act. Even though He was sealed within you at the instant of your salvation, you still have to put Him in charge. You see, it’s never a question of how much of the Spirit is in you. The question is always how much of you is in the Spirit. Mordecai was always there for the King. His increasing influence over the affairs of the Kingdom represents the Holy Spirit moving from being with you, as He was before you were saved, to being in you, as He became at the moment of your salvation, to being upon you as you authorize Him to govern your behavior. Only then will you begin to act in His power.
As the Lord Jesus would one day tell His disciples, “When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first.” (Matt 12:43-45)
You can’t leave the position of Chief Counselor vacant. Either you appoint the Holy Spirit, or the sin nature will return to re-appoint itself.
This is not the end of my story; it’s only the beginning of the end. My people are not out of danger yet. We still have to overcome the problem of the extermination order against us that even the King cannot rescind. And as we’ll see, the sin nature has offspring that must also be put to death. Stick around. What happens next will astound and amaze you.

The Book of Esther: Esther's Story Part 4 (Conclusion)

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley
With the death of Haman and the elevation of Mordecai to Chief Counselor, you’d think my problems would be over, but we still had the extermination order against all my people in Persia to deal with. I fell on my knees and begged the King to rescind Haman’s order.
The King replied to Mordecai, “Because Haman attacked the Jews, I have given his estate to Esther, and they have hanged him on the gallows. Now write another decree in the king’s name in behalf of the Jews as seems best to you, and seal it with the king’s signet ring – but no document written in the king’s name and sealed with his ring can be revoked.”
Most English translations of my story render the last part of the King’s reply as … “for no document written in the king’s name and sealed with his ring can be revoked” instead of the way I’ve presented it above. Let me make clear what the King was saying, and you’ll see that my version is more accurate. He was giving Mordecai the authority to issue another order that would supercede the extermination order, but even he was powerless to rescind Haman’s order since it had been published over the King’s signature and sealed with his seal. The Jews were still under threat of death and there was nothing anybody could do about it.
So it is with you. When you reached the age of accountability you became liable for execution under the Law of Sin and Death. There’s nothing you can do to change that. All your attempts at self-help are futile. In fact, the harder you try the worse your plight becomes. Only the Holy Spirit can change things. With Him in your life you can appeal to a higher law, the Law of Grace. It supercedes the Law of Sin and Death. The Apostle Paul would one day write about that in his letter to the Romans, chapter 7.
Upon reading Haman’s edict again we discovered that he had forbidden Jews to organize and defend ourselves against our enemies. Here was the loophole we were looking for. Forced to leave the extermination order in place, we simply published a modification permitting the Jews to fight in their own defense. And since Haman had authorized their enemies to seize the wealth and property of any Jews they killed, we extended that same privilege to Jews who overpowered their attackers. The playing field now appeared level, but our enemies would soon discover that we had a secret weapon. Though my people would still have to fight for their lives, victory was now assured.
When Mordecai left the palace that day he was dressed in royal garments of blue and white, with a large crown of gold on his head and purple robes about him. At the sight of him, a spontaneous celebration erupted among my people in the capital city that soon spread through out the entire Kingdom. Mordecai’s power and influence grew quickly because of the edict he had published giving us the right of self-defense. Many people of various nationalities began converting to Judaism, and the governors of all 127 provinces hastened to earn Mordecai’s favor through their kindness to us.
On the day Haman’s edict went into effect, Jews everywhere banded together and went on the offense against those who had gathered to attack us; I believe you would call it a pre-emptive strike. Because of Mordecai’s power and his influence with the King, there was great fear of the Jews and no one could stand against us. All the officials of Persia helped us so as to avoid displeasing Mordecai. My people’s power was coming right from the throne. We struck down all our enemies, even slaying Haman’s 10 sons, but did not take any of the plunder to which we were entitled. Victory is only pure in the absence of personal gain.
Under the Law of Sin and Death, no defense is permitted. Everyone is guilty and must submit to punishment. The Law of Grace supercedes the Law of Sin and Death, but a pre-emptive defense is required. (You must apply the Blood of the Lamb.) So you also use power that comes right from the Throne to achieve victory over your spiritual enemy and nullify the extermination order against you.
At the end of the day the King asked me if I desired anything further, once again offering up to half the Kingdom. I replied that I wanted the edict permitting the Jews to attack their enemies extended for one more day. I also asked that the bodies of Haman’s dead sons be hanged in the public square for everyone in the capital city to see. The King happily granted both these requests.
When my story was originally written down, each of Haman’s 10 sons was listed in large letters on a separate line with the name at the beginning of the line and the Hebrew word for “self” at the end separated by a long blank space in the middle. When you see these 10 names translated into English, this puzzling manner of listing them will make sense to you. Here they are with their English meanings and the word self added at the end.
Parshandatha means “curious-self,” a busy body.
Dalphon means “weeping-self,” self-pity.
Aspatha means “assembled-self,” self sufficient.
Poratha means “generous-self,” self-indulgent, a spendthrift.
Adalia means “weak-self,” an inferiority complex.
Aridatha means “strong-self,” assertive, over bearing.
Parsashta means “preeminent-self,” ambition.
Arisai means “bold-self,” impudence.
Aridai means “dignified-self,” pride.
Vaizatha means “pure-self,” self righteous.
Publicly displaying the bodies of Haman’s 10 sons signifies putting these 10 representative sins to death. (The number 10 implies completeness of the Divine order; that nothing is left wanting, the whole cycle is complete.) Their names reveal the intensely personal value of victory over the sin nature. As you can see from the first meaning of the names, each of the 10 was originally a desirable characteristic, part of the Image of God in which we were created. But the contamination of the sin nature, symbolized by the addition of the word self, distorted them as indicated by the second meaning, and they became offensive to Him. Satan has turned all of God’s creation, which was a source of endless joy to Him, into a perversion of its original state.
Reversing this contamination is not as simple as just trying to change your behavior. Because of his sin nature, the heart of man is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. (Jeremiah 17:10) Putting the sin nature to death and yielding your life to the guidance of the Holy Spirit is the only way regeneration can begin, and even that will only be complete at the resurrection when our corrupt selves are once again made incorruptible, the way God designed them to be.
Finally the battle was over and the victory won. Once again peace was the order of the day. Mordecai ordered that a celebration be held and he and I chose the name “Purim” for it. It’s the plural form of our word pur, which means lot. (Remember, Haman and his cronies cast lots to determine on which day we should all be killed.) We then issued a proclamation throughout the Kingdom establishing the 14th and 15th of our month Adar (Feb.-Mar.) as the annual celebration of the Feast of Purim, and so it is to this day.
By the fact that this feast is still celebrated in Jewish communities all over the world, you can see that the events of my story actually took place. The story behind the story describes the battle between the Spirit and the sin nature and illustrates the proper order of communications between our Creator and us. It shows you why the Lord ordained that my story be a part of His Book, which after all is the Owner’s manual for humanity.
Now that you’ve read and understand my story, you’re better equipped to fight and win this battle and experience the incredible joy that only proper spiritual communications can bring. Doing this will please our Lord greatly and make it possible for you to live the life to which He’s called you. Shalom, or as the Persians say, Salam aleikom. 12-05-04