Esther 7:1-6, Esther 7:9-10, Esther 9:20-22, Psalm 124, Numbers 11:4-6, Numbers 11:10-16, Numbers 11:24-29, Psalm 19:7-14, James 5:13-20, Mark 9:38-50.
A). A FEAST TO REMEMBER.
Esther 7:1-6; Esther 7:9-10; Esther 9:20-22.
Esther is a book of feasts. First there was the extravagance of a six-month long drinking feast for the army and the princes of the 127 provinces (Esther 1:3-4). This was immediately followed by a seven day drinking feast for the inhabitants of the palace (Esther 1:5), with a separate feast for the women (Esther 1:9) – this latter being the occasion of the demise of Queen Vashti. Then the king held another feast upon the accession of Queen Esther (Esther 2:18).
As the plot unfolds, we next find the king and Haman sitting down to eat and drink (Esther 3:15). Was the king’s mind so befuddled with wine that he was oblivious to the evil that he had just lent his seal to? In the midst of all this feasting, there would also be rending of clothes, sackcloth and ashes, and a loud and bitter cry (Esther 4:1); mourning, fasting, weeping and wailing (Esther 4:3).
Thankfully, the change of consort opened up the way for deliverance to come from a beautiful, wise, obedient, brave, and – dare we say? – Godly woman, who was brought to the kingdom ‘for such a time as this’ (Esther 4:14). Esther also legislated a fast (Esther 4:16-17) before daring to approach the unapproachable throne of her unpredictable husband. The young queen’s wisdom, courage, and tact would eventually win the day – yet even in a book which makes no direct reference to the LORD, it is evident that the victory is His, not hers.
Next it was Esther’s turn to hold a banquet of wine, to which she invited both the king and Haman (Esther 5:4-5). The king asked her what was really on her mind, but she at this time only proposed another feast the next day (Esther 5:7-8). This lulled Haman into a sense of his own importance, yet with a tinge of regret that Mordecai lived on.
Esther is also a book of reversals. Earlier, Mordecai had foiled an assassination plot against the king, and this was duly recorded in the book of the king’s chronicles (Esther 2:21-23). Then, when the future looked at its very bleakest for God’s people, the king providentially had a restless night and called for the book of records to be read to him. The choice of passage was surely something more than mere coincidence (Esther 6:1-3) – and the promotion of Mordecai saw Haman in mourning, and with his head covered (Esther 6:12).
Now Haman was rushed away to Queen Esther’s second feast. The language used makes it almost sound as if he was under arrest (Esther 6:14). Once again the king asked for Esther’s petition, and at this she almost burst into prayer (Esther 7:3-5).
We should be thankful that we have access to the throne of God Most High – not the throne of an unpredictable despot, but of a loving Father, who receives us in the name of Jesus, and hears and answers the prayers of His people (Hebrews 4:14-16).
The petition of Esther is in tactful court language, but recalls the language of the Exodus. The blustering king was enraged, and demanded to know who had presumed to do this thing (Esther 7:5). Thus the wicked Haman was unmasked (Esther 7:6) - but only to have his head covered (Esther 7:8) in order to be hanged from the enormous gallows that he had intended for Mordecai (Esther 7:9-10).
At this point the irreversible law of the Medes and Persians appears to be very much in the way – but with Mordecai’s further promotion, he worked out a way to cancel the former edict without either retracting it or changing it (which he could not do). I think the author is secretly laughing at just how ludicrous such laws are, especially when the land is ruled by someone who is as indecisive and easily led as Queen Esther’s buffoon of a husband. The people of God now had light, and gladness, and joy, and honour; a feast and a good day (Esther 8:16-17).
Although the deliverance appears to be of man’s devising, the covenant promises of Almighty God - who is still in control, even when His people are scattered and maligned - lay quietly at the back of it. The spontaneous feast now became an annual feast of remembrance, recalling the days when sorrow was turned into joy, and mourning into a holiday: days of feasting and gladness, and of sending of gifts of food to one another, and to the poor (Esther 9:22). Such was the decree to God’s people, both near and far (Esther 9:20) – and such is the comfort of all God’s people in all places down through the ages (Isaiah 57:19).
B). HAD IT NOT BEEN THE LORD.
Psalm 124:1-8.
Earlier in the book of Psalms, David had recognised the LORD as ‘my light and my salvation’, and asked, ‘whom shall I fear?’ Again, he acknowledged the LORD as ‘the strength of my life’, and asked, ‘of whom shall I be afraid?’. This was backed up with a testimony, and left David with great confidence, no matter what the future should hold (cf. Psalm 27:1-3). We know not what the future holds, but we know Who holds the future.
Psalm 124 is also credited to David, and seems to fit in with parts of his life. The focus, however, is not just on an individual’s experience of the LORD, but on the whole community’s experience of the LORD. “Had it not been the LORD who was on our side, now may Israel say; had it not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us…” (Psalm 124:1-2).
Jacob was the first man to be named “Israel” (Genesis 32:28). It was he who complained, ‘all these things are against me’ (Genesis 42:36). Not that we can blame him in the circumstances. However, our Psalmist is confident, not just for the individual, but for his whole family, that they may now say: “Were it not for the LORD; were it not for the LORD!” (Psalm 124:1-2). Let the redeemed of the LORD tell their story (cf. Psalm 107:2)!
I used to subscribe to a magazine called ‘History Today', in which there was a regular reflective article entitled, ‘What would have happened if?’ (e.g. ‘What would have happened if Napoleon had won the battle of Waterloo?’) Well, what would have happened, Israel, “were it not for the LORD” when “men” (not ‘things’, Jacob) “rose up against us” (Psalm 124:2), “when their wrath was kindled against us” (Psalm 124:3b)?
Actual fire was kindled against the three Hebrew youths. Yet the fire did not touch them. Why not? Because the Son of God was with them! (Daniel 3:23-25). That Israel should have emerged out of the ashes of the Holocaust, not just as a people but as a nation, is surely an act of resurrection! Whether they know it or acknowledge it or not, this an ongoing work of the LORD.
One of the miracles of history is the account of the survival of the Jews. This is one of the greatest proofs of the existence of the God of Israel. It is deeply significant that there should be a nation of Israel today; especially when so many of the names of those nations who oppressed Israel in Bible times are no longer on the map.
“If not for the LORD,” then what? “Then had they swallowed us up quick” (Psalm 124:3a). The metaphor is both vivid and grotesque. Historically, Israel may recall what happened to Korah’s men when ‘the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up’ (Numbers 16:32-33). That is the picture. But mere men cannot do this - nor what this signifies - to God’s people.
A second metaphor speaks of rising floods, rushing streams, and proud waves (Psalm 124:4-5). Noah and his family rode atop the Flood. Baby Moses drifted downstream out of the danger of the slayers of babies. Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus escaped to Egypt (of all places!) The Red Sea had to part to let the Hebrews through, whilst it fell back on their pursuers. Wind and waves had to yield to the Son of God. Pogroms against the Jews, and persecutions against Christians can only go as far as the LORD allows, then must cease.
“Blessed be the LORD who has not given us as a prey their teeth” (Psalm 124:6). ‘Hitherto hath the LORD helped us’ (1 Samuel 7:12). ‘The battle is the LORD’s,’ declared David the giant slayer (1 Samuel 17:47). ‘The battle is not yours but God’s,’ King Jehoshaphat was told (2 Chronicles 20:15). ‘Our God shall fight for us’ (Nehemiah 4:20).
How often, it seems, might the church have been extinguished, and yet there is still a church to testify to it! The more she was persecuted, the more she grew. As Tertullian famously said, ‘The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.’
In one final metaphor, “Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped” (Psalm 124:7)!
Now, as Christians, there is no doubt exactly Who our deliverer is. It is the ‘arm of the LORD’ (Isaiah 53:1) which is revealed to us in the outstretched arms of Jesus upon the Cross. Our soul is saved, we are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. We have escaped, not by our own doing, but through the One who cried, ‘IT IS FINISHED’ at the Cross. ‘He who has begun a good work in us will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ’ (Philippians 1:6).
“Our help is in the name of the LORD who made heaven and earth” (Psalm 124:8; cf. Psalm 121:2; Psalm 134:3). ‘If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?’ (Romans 8:31-32).
C). PROPHESYING IN THE CAMP.
Numbers 11:4-6, Numbers 11:10-16, Numbers 11:24-29.
Chips (French Fries) for tea every day seemed a good idea for a Ship’s Company of 180 Cadets in their teens. But chips every day??? We rebelled - and our chips were replaced by some fluffy artificial instant mashed potatoes which made us yearn anew for the days of the chips.
Manna was a miracle, yet the children of Israel eventually grew tired of it, miracle or not (Numbers 11:6). God was angry (Numbers 11:10), and He therefore gave the people something akin to what they wanted (Numbers 11:33). The people wanted fish like they had in Egypt (Numbers 11:5), but the LORD gave them poultry - poultry in abundance, until it came out of their nostrils and made them sick (Numbers 11:19-20).
Sometimes the punishment for our ingratitude is to be granted the very thing which we desire, even when what we desire is bad for us (cf. Romans 1:24). It turns out that God, after all, does know best.
Moses was feeling the burden of leadership, and laid out his own complaint before the LORD (Numbers 11:11). Moses’ father-in-law had long since advised Israel’s leader to delegate some of his judicial responsibility to able elders (Exodus 18:21-23): but it was no good Moses having a team of elders if he was not using them.
Now, about a year later, the LORD appointed a time and place when He would take of the Spirit which was upon Moses, and place it upon seventy men of the elders in order that they might share the burden with Moses (Numbers 11:16-17).
This is exactly what happened in today’s text. Seventy elders of the people were gathered around the tabernacle, and the Spirit came upon them, and they prophesied (Numbers 11:24-25). But what is of interest here is not the seventy, but the two: two who remained in the Camp who also prophesied (Numbers 11:26).
Why the two remained in the Camp we cannot tell. Perhaps they were somehow ceremonially unclean, or sick, or were detained by urgent legitimate business. There are times when we cannot reach the place where the LORD is expected to manifest Himself, and He does not fault us for it.
Furthermore, although there was a time and place appointed, we cannot limit the workings of the Holy Spirit. He is Sovereign, and will work when and where - and with whom - He pleases. People may ask (and they will ask), ‘Is Saul also among the prophets?’ (1 Samuel 10:11; 1 Samuel 19:24) - but the LORD appoints whom He will, when He will, and it is not open to debate.
It is hardly surprising that this matter was reported to Moses (Numbers 11:27). One cannot blame the young man for telling tales. After all, it did seem somewhat irregular.
Perhaps, however, Moses’ servant Joshua - great man that he was going to be - was on this occasion in the wrong when he said, “My lord Moses, forbid them” (Numbers 11:28). Moses certainly interpreted his zeal as misplaced, if not downright idolatrous: “Are you envious for my sake?” (Numbers 11:29).
This puts us in mind of another incident, when the disciple John informed Jesus of ‘one casting out devils in Your name; and we forbad him because he follows not with us’ (Luke 9:49). Denominationalism is as old as the hills! Jesus’ answer then, in that particular context was, ‘Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us” (Luke 9:50).
What Moses said next is itself prophetic: “Would God that all the LORD’s people were prophets, and that the LORD would put His Spirit upon them” (Numbers 11:29). This prophecy filters itself through Joel 2:28-29, and finds its way into the Apostle Peter’s explanation of the events of the day of Pentecost in Acts 2:15-18.
Do not forbid whatsoever - or whosoever - God has evidently ordained.
D). THE WORD OF GOD, AND A HEART FOR GOD.
Psalm 19:7-14.
Creation, general revelation, does not stand alone in its testimony to God. The LORD God has entered into a covenant relationship with mankind, and spoken to us Himself. This ‘special revelation’ is explored in the second main section of this Psalm, under at least six different synonyms for His Word to us (Psalm 19:7-10).
At this point we might recognize that God’s Word is not limited to Torah, to the Law alone. God’s Word is revealed in the unfolding of His special revelation throughout the Bible, from Genesis to the book of Revelation. This includes the historical books, the wisdom books (including the book of Psalms), and the prophetic books of the Old Testament; and the Gospels and Epistles of the New Testament. Ultimately, God’s Word is recognized in the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ (John 1:1-5; John 1:14; Hebrews 1:1-3).
‘Now these things are written,’ writes John, ‘that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you might have life through His name’ (John 20:31). Paul concurs: ‘Now all these things… are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come’ (1 Corinthians 10:11). “By them is thy servant warned,” acknowledges the sweet Psalmist of Israel, the man after God’s own heart (Psalm 19:11).
Thus the application (Psalm 19:11-14) begins with a recognition of the need to heed the warnings of Scripture, and to acknowledge the value of keeping God’s law (Psalm 19:11). The heart of man is desperately wicked, and deceitful with it (Jeremiah 17:9): so the Psalmist searches his own heart, and asks to be cleansed from secret sins – those which have been committed in ignorance, and which he has not yet discovered to be sins in his life (Psalm 19:12). A thoughtful reflection on God’s Word will lead us in the same direction, teaching us new things every day, but leaving us also with a deep impression of how poorly we know and apply that Word.
The Psalmist prays also to be kept from presumptuous sins (Psalm 19:13). It is a cry for the grace of God. ‘The temptation is strong Lord, and only you can keep me from the great transgression.’
The other side of that coin is our responsibility: having escaped the dominion of sin and death, how can we live any longer therein? (Romans 6:2). Without holiness shall no man see God (Hebrews 12:14). The imputed righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ is that which makes us “upright” (Psalm 19:13) – but if we are thus righteous, we will also conduct ourselves in an upright manner.
As with other preachers, sometimes I use these words, or words very like them, to open my sermons: “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer” (Psalm 19:14).
Paul puts it this way: ‘If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved’ (Romans 10:9). This is not only head belief, but heart belief, even as the LORD has promised (Hebrews 10:16-17). In the end, after all, the witness of Creation and Providence, and the words of Law and Gospel, are of no value at all to us unless they are allowed to take residence in our hearts.
E). CARING PRAYER AND PRAYING CARE.
James 5:13-20.
In the previous verses (James 5:7-12), James exhorted us to patience. The writer mentioned the sufferings of the prophets as an example of endurance (James 5:10). However, patience need not be passive: it will also see us engaged in prayer.
1. An Attitude of Prayerful Dependence.
James 5:13. So, is anyone among you suffering hardships? This includes not only illness, but also the hardness of affliction in our Christian warfare (2 Timothy 2:3). Well, “let him pray.”
Is anyone in good spirit? This speaks of a state of heart, regardless of circumstances (Acts 27:36). Well, “let him sing psalms.”
There is a prayer for our every situation. Furthermore, when our prayer is answered we will be cheerful. We should return thanks in praise.
2. Sickness, and Prayerful Leadership.
James 5:14. Not only should we be prayerful as individuals, but we should be prayerful as the church. There are times when we need to involve other people in our prayers. Specifically, James instructs the sick to send for the elders for prayer and anointing.
The situation is this: a person is conscious that they are unwell, and craves the prayers of the church. They are unable to attend church due to their sickness. They send for the elders.
The elders come and pray “over” the sick person. This seems indicative of the church’s authority over sickness and its causes (Matthew 10:1). The elders anoint the patient with oil.
The use of oil for healing is found in the mission of the twelve (Mark 6:13); and was also applied by the good Samaritan (Luke 10:34). However, the real source of the efficacy of these ministrations comes from Jesus Himself. The elders pray and anoint with oil “in the name of the Lord.”
James 5:15. We need not be ashamed that our faith alone is not sufficient to have the desired effect. We must not be too proud to call for the prayers of the church. This is not the only time in the Scriptures when the faith of someone else has benefited the sick (Matthew 9:2-7).
James speaks of the prayer of faith “saving” the sick: “and the Lord shall raise him up.” This is holistic healing. We cannot dictate to the Lord what form the answered prayer should take, nor when, but if we pray for a happy issue out of a person’s affliction we need to believe that that is what they will receive.
The writer also ties in the idea that illness does, sometimes, have its source in some specific sin (John 5:14). This is not universally the case (John 9:2-3), but it is a possibility. Let each person examine themselves before the Lord.
3. Prayer and Reconciliation.
James 5:16. There is a need for us all, always, to be honest with one another. If we have sinned against a brother or sister in the fellowship, we need to confess to them that specific sin, and to seek prayerful reconciliation with that person (Matthew 5:23-24). Thus are we “healed” of sin.
4. An Effectual Example.
“The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (James 5:16).
James 5:17. James tells us that Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, and “with prayer he prayed” that it might not rain. This means that prayer was Elijah’s habit, not some last resort for emergencies. There are other examples of the prayer life of Elijah in 1 Kings 17-19.
James 5:18. Then Elijah prayed again, and he was able to muster the power of heaven to bring fruitfulness back to the earth. This is an example of mountain-moving faith (Matthew 17:20). It is the product of effective believing prayer (Matthew 21:21-22).
5. Restoration.
James 5:19. As James draws his letter to a close, he reminds himself that he is writing to brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ. What are we to do if anyone among us is wandering from the truth? Well, James implies, we must strive almost as if it were up to us to bring back the wanderer.
James 5:20. Of course, conversion and salvation - and the covering of sins - are all God’s prerogative. Yet He uses his servants to minister to the wayward (2 Timothy 2:24-26); and Christian love is said to “cover a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8). Praying care will endeavour to expose those under our influence to the gospel; and caring prayer will faithfully uphold them before the throne of grace.
F). A SEQUENCE OF SAYINGS.
Mark 9:38-50.
1. John informed Jesus of “one casting out devils in Your name; and we forbad him because he follows not with us” (Mark 9:38).
Perhaps John’s jealousy was fired by the failure of the nine members of the team who - whilst Jesus, Peter, James and John were up in the mount of Transfiguration - had proved incapable of casting a demon out of a boy (Mark 9:17-18)?
2. Jesus’ answer was, “Forbid him not…” (Mark 9:39).
Denominationalism may seem to be as old as the hills, but we cannot limit the workings of the Holy Spirit. He is Sovereign and will work when and where - and with whom - He pleases. So, do not forbid whatsoever - or whomsoever - God has evidently ordained (cf. Numbers 11:26-29)!
3. Jesus continues “…for there is no man which a miracle in My name shall do, that can lightly speak evil of Me” (Mark 9:39).
This seems to be what the Apostle Paul is getting at when he says, ‘no man speaking in the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed; and no man can say that Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit’ (1 Corinthians 12:3). When we have the Holy Spirit, we have the confidence to speak in Jesus’ name (cf. Matthew 10:19-20). ‘For there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved’ (Acts 4:12). The key is the invocation of that Name ALONE (cf. Acts 19:13-16)!
4. “For he that is not against us is for us,” says Jesus (Mark 9:40).
This saying is not to be confused with another, in which Jesus seems to say the opposite: ‘he who is not with Me is against Me’ (Matthew 12:30). The context is significant: there Jesus was talking to unbelievers; whereas here, in Mark 9:40, He is talking to those who are believers. The most important thing is NOT which church we belong to, but whether we have Jesus as Lord!
5. A reward for those who welcome Jesus’ disciples (Mark 9:41).
A cup of cold water may seem an easy enough thing to give: but “to a disciple” during times of persecution? seems a little harder. As Jesus says elsewhere, ‘Inasmuch you have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto Me’ (Matthew 25:40).
6. A warning not to lead any of these “little ones” astray (Mark 9:42).
Whether with reference to the child in their midst, or in the wider sense of new (zealous) believers (such as the one who John had tried to stop), or in the widest sense of all who are Christ’s, Jesus unsparingly warns what a serious matter this is. ‘Temptations to sin will come, but woe to him by whom they come!’ says Jesus elsewhere (cf. Luke 17:1-2). That is the force of the reference to the millstone, which normally a donkey (poor thing) was left to pull along.
7. There follows a mini-sequence of hyperbolic sayings, warning us to be aware of the potential causes of stumbling within ourselves, and reminding us of the reality of hell (Mark 9:43-48).
‘Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires’ (Galatians 5:24). ‘We are debtors, not to the flesh to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live’ (Romans 8:12-13).
However, we do need to continue to ‘mortify’ what is worldly in us (Colossians 3:5), laying aside the sin which so easily ensnares us (Hebrews 12:1). ‘For the grace of God that brings salvation teaches us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in the present age’ (Titus 2:11-12).
8. “For everyone will be salted by fire” (Mark 9:49) is an ironic saying connecting the refrain of the preceding verses (which is a quotation of Isaiah 66:24 and concerns the inhabitants of hell) with the salt sayings of Mark 9:50 (which concern Christians).
There may be a reference here to the seasoning of the grain offerings with salt in the Old Testament economy (Leviticus 2:13), and of the sacrifices likewise (Ezekiel 43:24). To “be salted by fire” (Mark 9:49) may itself be a metaphor for persecution. Or it may speak of sanctification.
The idea of salt losing its saltiness (Mark 9:50) takes us back to the Sermon on the Mount, where ‘You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?’ (Matthew 5:13). This in turn gives rise to the exhortation, “Have salt in yourselves and have peace with one another” (Mark 9:50). Which brings us all the way back to John’s original comments about the man “not following with us” (Mark 9:38).
‘Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, that you may know how to give an answer’ (Colossians 4:6).
