Even though Haman was dead, the Jews still weren’t safe because Haman had tricked King Ahasuerus into signing the extermination of the Jews into law. And in Persian culture, laws could not be broken or revoked, not even by the king himself. The king was a wise man and put the issue into the hands of his wife, the queen, and the new prime minister, Mordecai. He knew that no matter how he solved it there would be problems, so he allowed them to make a new law, to in effect override the first. It seems the king understood that Esther and Mordecai had active faith.<\/p>\n
Having faith<\/em> does not mean we just stand idly by while God solves all our problems. Sometimes we wait for God to do what God is waiting for us to do. Our heavenly Father wants us to have an active faith, a faith that stretches us out of our comfort zone. These 2 believers were about to become agents of change in their world. God was using them to change the course of history in the lives of many people but especially the people of God.<\/p>\n God has called each one of us to also be agents of change in our generation. You and I are called to be salt and light to the world around us. We are called to stay on planet earth for a while in order to display before others what it means for a believer to live a surrendered life.<\/p>\n “LORD, give us the courage to be agents of change in the lives of those around us.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n =============================================================<\/p>\n\n\n\n Esther 8 KJV<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1<\/sup>\u00a0On that day did the king Ahasuerus give the house of Haman the Jews\u2019 enemy unto Esther the queen. And Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had told what he\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>unto her.\u00a02<\/sup>\u00a0And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it unto Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman. 3<\/sup>\u00a0And 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 device that he had devised against the Jews.\u00a04<\/sup>\u00a0Then the king held out the golden sceptre toward Esther. So Esther arose, and stood before the king,\u00a05<\/sup>\u00a0And said, If it please the king, and if I have found favour in his sight, and the thing\u00a0seem\u00a0<\/em>right before the king, and I\u00a0be\u00a0<\/em>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\u00a0are\u00a0<\/em>in all the king\u2019s provinces:\u00a0\u00a06<\/sup>\u00a0For 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?\u00a07<\/sup>\u00a0Then 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.\u00a08<\/sup>\u00a0Write ye also for the Jews, as it liketh you, in the king\u2019s name, and seal\u00a0it\u00a0<\/em>with the king\u2019s ring: for the writing which is written in the king\u2019s name, and sealed with the king\u2019s ring, may no man reverse.\u00a09<\/sup> Then were the king\u2019s scribes called at that time in the third month, that\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>, the month Sivan, on the three and twentieth\u00a0day\u00a0<\/em>thereof; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded unto the Jews, and to the lieutenants, and the deputies and rulers of the provinces which\u00a0are\u00a0<\/em>from India unto Ethiopia, an hundred twenty and seven provinces, unto every province according to the writing thereof, and unto every people after their language, and to the Jews according to their writing, and according to their language.\u00a010<\/sup>\u00a0And he wrote in the king Ahasuerus\u2019 name, and sealed\u00a0it\u00a0<\/em>with the king\u2019s ring, and sent letters by posts on horseback,\u00a0and<\/em>riders on mules, camels,\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>young dromedaries:\u00a011<\/sup>\u00a0Wherein the king granted the Jews which\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>in every city to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life, to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all the power of the people and province that would assault them,\u00a0both\u00a0<\/em>little ones and women, and\u00a0to take\u00a0<\/em>the spoil of them for a prey,\u00a012<\/sup>\u00a0Upon one day in all the provinces of king Ahasuerus,\u00a0namely\u00a0<\/em>, upon the thirteenth\u00a0day\u00a0<\/em>of the twelfth month, which\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>the month Adar.\u00a013<\/sup>\u00a0The copy of the writing for a commandment to be given in every province\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>published unto all people, and that the Jews should be ready against that day to avenge themselves on their enemies.\u00a0\u00a014<\/sup>\u00a0So\u00a0<\/em>the posts that rode upon mules\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>camels went out, being hastened and pressed on by the king\u2019s commandment. And the decree was given at Shushan the palace. 15<\/sup>\u00a0And Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a garment of fine linen and purple: and the city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad.\u00a016<\/sup>\u00a0The Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honour.\u00a017<\/sup>\u00a0And in every province, and in every city, whithersoever the king\u2019s commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. And many of the people of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews fell upon them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Even though Haman was dead, the Jews still weren’t safe because Haman had tricked King Ahasuerus into signing the extermination of the Jews into law. And in Persian culture, laws could not be broken or revoked, not even by the king himself. The king was a wise man and put the issue into the hands […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7465"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7465"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7465\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16427,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7465\/revisions\/16427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}