THE CALL OF THE MOMENT
Esther 4: 15- 16
Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.”
God puts us into positions and situations for His purpose.
The Book of Esther relates how the Jewish people were threatened and at risk of being annihilated. But in the face of unsurmountable odds, Esther demonstrated faith by recognizing that God had placed her in the position of queen for a purpose.
Despite the risk to her own life, she chose to obey God’s plan and plead for her people before the Persian king.
Title: THE CALL OF THE MOMENT
- The Enemy Attacks – Background
- The Call of the Moment
- The Call of Many (many are called)
- Responding to the Call of the Moment
Moments in a man’s life.
- Getting married
- Starting a new job or leaving an old one
- Beginning a new business partnership
- Taking a big trip
- Paying of debt
- Finishing school
- Retiring
- Losing a loved one
- Having a baby
Ecclesiastes3 tells us: There is a time for everything,and a season for every activity under the heavens:a time to be born and a time to die,a time to plant and a time to uproot,a time to kill and a time to heal,a time to tear down and a time to build,a time to weep and a time to laugh,a time to mourn and a time to dance,a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up,a time to keep and a time to throw away,a time to tear and a time to mend,a time to be silent and a time to speak,a time to love and a time to hate,a time for war and a time for peace.
In the Book of Esther there was a moment of challenge to their faith that has called all of them to make an urgent move.
- THE ENEMY ATTACKS – background
Haman the Agagite was a descendant of King Agag of the Amalekites (1 Samuel 15:3,9).
Mordecai refused to bow down to him or show him honor (Esther 3:2). Once Haman learned that Mordecai was Jewish, he developed a plan to annihilate the Jews.
“If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them, and I will give ten thousand talents of silver to the king’s administrators for the royal treasury” (Esther 3:9).
- THE CALL OF THE MOMENT
When the Jews, including Mordecai, heard about the edict, they mourned (Esther 4:1-3). Dressed in sackcloth, they entered a time of fasting and prayer.
Queen Esther saw Mordecai, her cousin, in sackcloth and sent someone to inquire why he was distressed (Esther 4:4-7).
Urging her to have courage, he told Esther, “For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14).
Knowing that God had placed her in a position of power for this specific moment, Esther pleaded for her people.
Esther knew she could lose her life. As she said in her reply to Mordecai, “Go and gather together all the Jews of Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will do the same. And then, though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. If I must die, I must die” (Esther 4:16, NLT).
God was at work. He is the one who placed Esther in a royal position for a specific time and reason.
As Esther 8:16 says, “For the Jews it was a time of happiness and joy, gladness and honor.” The Jewish people continue to celebrate God’s deliverance by observing Purim (Esther 9:26-28).
God used Esther and Mordecai to bring about the deliverance of the Jewish people. The event that originally marked the end of the Jewish people was transformed into a time of rescue and rejoicing.
Application:There are moments of calling and appointments and we are called at any moment to do something urgently and significantly.
III.THE CALL OF MANY (Many are Called)
Esther was not the only person to be placed in a specific place and time for a purpose. We can see how God used people throughout the Bible:
- The prophet Elijah (1 Kings 18), when God told him to go and confront and challenge the wicked king Ahab over his idolatry.
- Naaman’s servant girl (2 Kings 5:1- 5) Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. Now the Syrians on one of their raids had carried off a little girl from the land of Israel, and she worked in the service of Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, “Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” So Naaman went in and told his lord, “Thus and so spoke the girl from the land of Israel.” And the king of Syria said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.”
She used what she had at that moment to convince the commander of the Syrian army.
- Daniel in the courts of Babylon (Daniel 2). He came to king Nebuchadnezzar boldly and interpreted the king’s dream when the rest of the astrologers were executed for their failure. He was the man of the moment.
The Lord placed these people in these positions and He does the same for believers today.
We have a choice to work within God’s plan. We have a choice to obey or disobey God. His purpose will still be done if we disobey, but we will miss the opportunity to be part of His plan.
The Lord does not need us, but He often uses humans to bring about his good purpose. We must acknowledge that God gives us unique opportunities and act obediently in the situations He places us.
Some of us may encounter risky situations, but we can step out in faith confidently. We are called to fast and fight.
The enemy comes to steal, to steal and to destroy. Our defense is to use a special weapon which has been proven from time to time to be very powerful. – PRAYER AND FASTING.
How powerfulis fasting and prayer? Based on our scripture text:
- Fasting unites hearts.
When Mordecai heard the news, they were disheartened but when Esther said, “if I perish, I perish…” it united their hearts for a purpose because the queen was willing to die for it.
Fasting makes us stronger because it unites.
- Fasting empowers the will.
There was no will to stand until the queen sent the word.Everybody should be willing to sacrifice if they want to stay alive. As a result of their willingness to fast for 3 days, Esther was honored by the king and when she approached him, an edict was sent for the people to fight back when they are attacked.
Fasting makes us willing in the midst of hesitations and makes us stand in the midst of troubles.
- Fasting breaks and scatters attacks.
It broke Haman’s attack on Mordecai, which represents the elders. It stopped the Persian’s attack on all the Jews, which represents the members of the church or the people of God and it honored the queen, which represents the leaders of the church.
- Fasting brings lasting effects.
The devil came through Haman to annihilate them but fasting took effect. The moment of fasting made them survive. The Jews are still alive until today.
Application: Something happens when we fast and pray. Your fasting today will bring lasting effects. What you are fasting and praying for is heard and the answer will come. Hebrews 11: 40 tells us, “since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.”
But even if you are not able to see the promise fulfilled in your day, it will be fulfilled in your offspring’s time.
But why people struggle to fast?
- Can’t resist food.
- It is not necessary.
The real problem is that we do not see the need of the moment and therefore we do not take action. Whatever we do is only for our own convenience. We are full of ourselves. We are blinded to the fact that there is a deep need to act.
- RESPONDING TO THE CALL OF THE MOMENT
Esther saw the need of the moment and she took action for the sake of her people and not of herself. And she also realized that the power to save and bring posterity to the Jews were in her hands. It will be her action that will save the next generation of the Jews. In the end she saved her own people and her life was spared.
But we have a Greater Esther – JESUS, who was called for the greatest moment of history – TO SAVE MANKIND not just the Jews. He saw the real need of man. He knew that the wages of sin is death – annihilation, and the answer is through forgiveness of sin. He denied his own need. He gaveHis life not only for the next generation but for all generations so that “whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” The power to save was in his hands and true enough, He saved the world when his hands were pierced by the nails on the cross.
Jesus, the greater Esther is the hope of every human. He made a greater sacrifice and self-denials that empowers us today. When He was crucified, He was denied of food and water, the disciples forsook him, the Father abandoned Him, even His clothes were taken away from Him. He emptied himself of everything and died on the cross so that whatever we ask in His name, He will give to us.2 Corinthians 1: 20 says, “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.
Exodus 14: 14“The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
So we fast and pray not because we want to shake the heavens to open. Heaven has been opened. It was done more than 2,000 years ago when Jesus said, “Tetelestai” or “it is finished” on the cross. We fast because it is a privilege to be like our Lord Jesus. And nothing else pleases the Father than when we become like His own Son. The bible says, “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37: 4)God is pleased with us because of what Jesus did on the cross.
Jesus was called for the greatest moment- to be the mediator and SAVE MANKIND. We are called for this moment asa privilege to stand in the gap through fasting and prayer.
CONCLUSION:
Mordecai’s words to Esther are significant for Christians today. The events of the Book of Esther show us that God was working to preserve His chosen people even though His name is never mentioned.Furthermore, believers can learn and trust that the Lord places people in certain positions for His purposes. He even uses situations of hardship for His good, just like He did for the Jews of Esther’s day.
The Lord gives all believers opportunities to serve and glorify Him. Even if the situation is difficult or painful, the Lord can use our obedience to transform the circumstance into a cause for celebration and praise.
Above all, Jesus made a greater sacrifice that empowers us today. He emptied himself of everything so that whatever we ask in His name, He will give to us.Heaven is already open. We fast because it is a privilege to be like our Lord Jesus.
