Christian Living
Please God and Find Favor
In Esther 8:1-7 Esther because she pleased the King found favor in his sight that saved her people from the hands of the enemy. On that day did the King Ahasuerus give the house of Haman (Prime minister and favorite of the king)the Jews enemy unto Ester the Queen, and Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had told what he was unto her (her cousin). And the king took of his ring which he had taken from Haman and gave it unto Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman (he was of Amalekite descent). And Esther spake yet again before the king and fell down at his feet and besought him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman the Agagite and his devise that he had devised against the Jews. Then the king held out the golden scepter toward Esther. So Esther arose, and stood before the king. And said, if it please the king and if I have found favor in his sight and the thing seem right before the king and I be pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite which he wrote to destroy the Jews which are in all the king’s provinces. For how can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto my people? Or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred? Then the king Ahasuerus said unto Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew, behold I have given Esther the house of Haman, and him they have hanged upon the gallows because he laid his hand upon the Jews.
How much more will God do for us that trust in him and are willing to please him? To please mean to we agree to give pleasure to or satisfy the will or wish of another. It also means we are polite in requests and we are willing to comply and surrender our will to the commands of the one we desire to please. When we seek to please God we always consider if it is God’s will (James 4:15) for something we want even to live or die. God’s Will is not and will not be annulled. No man could annul the fact that God’s will to fulfill the promise made to Abraham that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Although it was a man’s covenant it was confirmed by God that no man could disannul or add to it. Christ was the seed of promise. He sought to please God in every area of his natural life. Not only did Jesus please God but it pleased God to send Christ. Jesus came to fulfill and do the will of the Father as it was written in the volume of the book of Him (Hebrews 10:7).
To please God we cannot resist his Will. To resist his will means we find fault with what He has said in His Word. We are not willing to submit our lives to be used by Him. When we resist God we reply against God (Romans 9:19-20) asking why did he make us like this or that. How can we that have been formed by God say to God I am not what you made me to be? When we please God he will make us into vessels of honor. God is not willing that any perish or that he bring forth wrath upon us. God wants to make known the riches of his glory on us the vessels of mercy, which he has prepared for his glory. God will have mercy on whom he will have mercy. When we please God we escape death, hell and the grave. We escape damnation and judgment as well as destruction. The will of God is irresistible. When we please God we find favor in his sight. God is our protector, the originator, founder and inventor of all life; should not he know how to do for us? He takes full responsibility for us.
God is not lost that he need to be found but it is up to us to find him and obtain his favor. We once were lost in sin but now we are found in Christ alive and saved. God gave us this favor that we won’t perish. We need him to survive. Favor is kind regard, good will, approval or liking, unfair partiality, favoritism, a kind obliging, friendly or generous act, or a token of love. It means to be indulgent toward, be partial too, prefer or to be for, to make easier, help or assist. When we find favor we are regarded highly and pleasing. We are in approval, supported, and endures hardness as a good soldier because we have the advantage. Can we lose favor with God? Yes! When we fail to obey God, stay faithful to all that we are called to and be false in our walk. When we have no fear of God in our life we will do anything and all sincerity and truth is gone. God is not pleased with us in this state. We lose fellowship with God, with Christ, and with one another. God don’t want our flattering words for they are vain. God wants us to perfect his work in us and keep his judgments for He is a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right.
Esther was a woman of ethics. Her character and personality set forth a complete system of morals. She set forth a standard for every woman that would come after her. She enunciated certain great moral truths which carried with them procreative virtue because of the fact that she made them her own, lived them and was even willing to die for them. She practiced what she had learned. She was the bountiful daughter of Abihail of the tribe of Benjamin (Esther 2:7, 15) who was reared an orphan in the house of her cousin Mordecai, in Shushan. Through her beauty she became an inmate of the King’s palace and when the queen Vashti (who refused to obey the King was demoted (Esther 1:1-22) was disgraced Esther was chosen by the Persian King Xerxes to take her place. This position enabled Esther to deliver her entire race from an overwhelming danger. Haman the favorite counselor of the king obtained permission to kill all the Jews in the kingdom. Esther became aware of it through Mordecai of what was going on. She had an outside source and he had an inside hook up.
Esther was a fair young virgin that pleased the king although she was a Jew and became the new queen. Mordecai had been brought from Jerusalem during the time of exile the Jews faced at the hand of King Nebuchadnezzar. He brought with him Esther his cousin whom he raised as his own after her mother and father had died. Esther was chosen Queen for she pleased the king (Esther 2:9). Esther being forewarned by Mordecai not to tell of her heritage kept it to herself. Mordecai walked before her court every day to check on her. As he sat in the King’s gate he heard a plot against the King by two of his chamberlains. He told of it to Esther (Esther 2:21-23) and she certified the King thereof in Mordecai’s name. When inquisition was made of the matter it was found out; therefore they were both were hanged on a tree and it was written in the book of the chronicles before the King.
Haman then sought revenge. He was promoted and was set above all the princes that were with him. He was reverenced as the King had so commanded concerning him but Mordecai didn’t bow down to him or reverence him. He was accused of transgressing the King’s commandment. Haman being full of wrath against Mordecai then sought to lay hands on him to do harm alone and all of his people, the Jews that was throughout the whole kingdom. He obtained a murderous decree. There is a certain people he told the King scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of the kingdom and their laws are diverse from all people; neither keep they the King’s laws; therefore it is not for the King’s profit to suffer them. If it pleases the King, let it be written that they may be destroyed and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the hands of those that have the charge of the business, to bring it into the King’s treasuries (Esther 3:8-9). He had the King’s favor so he did obtain a murderous decree and did what he desired to the Jews. The letters were sent by posts into all the King’s provinces to destroy, to kill and to cause to perish all Jews, both young and old, little children and women.
There was a great mourning over the King’s decree among the Jews, and fasting and weeping and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes. Esther sent for Mordecai once it was made known to her of the King’s decree but he refused the clothes. She was exceedingly grieved. She sent her servant to Mordecai and he told him all of what had happened and gave him a copy of the decree. He told him to show it to Esther and declare it unto her and to charge her that she should go in unto the king to make supplication unto him and to make request before him for her people. She appointed a fast, prepared a banquet with her, Haman and the King. She prepared yet another banquet and when asked of the King what was her petition she said (Esther 5:6-8) if I have found favour in the sight of the King, and if it please the king to grant my petition and to perform my request, let the King and Haman come to the banquet that I shall prepare for them, and I will do tomorrow as the King hath said. Haman being angry built a gallow for Mordecai to be hanged as his wife had suggested. Be careful the ditch you dig may be for you as Haman soon found out.
In the meantime God intervened and the King could not sleep, he commanded that the book of records of the Chronicles be opened and read before him. It was found written (Esther 6:2) that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the King’s chamberlains, the keepers of the door, who sought to lay hand on the King Ahasuerus. The King then asked what honor and dignity had been given Mordecai for what he had done. They told the King nothing had been done. Haman had now come into the outward court of the King’s house to speak unto the King to hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him. Haman’s timing could not have been better. We have to be careful of what we ask for, it may be more than you ask for. While he sought to kill Mordecai the King was seeking a way to honor him. Mordecai as his cousin Esther had obtained the favor of the King just in time. Mordecai was honored higher than Haman. His wise men and his wife told him (Esther 6:13) if Mordecai be of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast begun to fall, thou shall not prevail against him, but shalt surely fall before him. While they yet was speaking the King’s chamberlains came to bring him to the banquet Esther had prepared.
However Esther through great risk (Esther 7:1-6) succeeded in obtaining the king’s permission for the Jews to defend themselves on the appointed day of slaughter and to take vengeance on all who molested them. The decree the King had previously issued against the Jews were reversed. Haman was hanged and Esther’s cousin Mordecai was advanced to take his place. In commemoration of these events, the Purim feast was instituted by the Jews, and celebrated each year with great rejoicing and gaiety.
Be weary when God give you enough room to hang yourself. God will promote us even in the midst of the heathen. Favor God’s favor is for a time to come. Although Esther was in a place of favor she sought favor also for her people. She could not endure to see the evil that was to come unto her people although her identity was unknown. We should never be satisfied in us having favor alone. We should learn to please God and man in every area of life. We need to question some stuff in our life as to how will God be pleased by this or that. Once God bless us we are not to forget where we came from. Esther didn’t forget. Bless someone lower in status than you. Esther was a queen but her people were uppermost in her heart. God positions us for greatness. God’s favor comes when his purposes are met in our lives if we don’t abort the mission. We alone do not receive the favor of God, the sinner too receive God’s grace and mercy. When we don’t fulfill the purpose for which we are created we are a people a people most miserable. Please God and find favor!
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