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878. Bible Study: Esther 9 & 10 (Purim Celebration Established) · Faith by annm2705

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Today is the Jewish feast day or celebration of Purim and we are
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covering Chapter 9 and 10 from the Book of Esther, which
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establishes the date of Purim. Now this is it's March 3rd, 2026
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and I will note something interesting as we get into the
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text. But first let's pray.
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Dear Lord, please open our eyes and ears to what you have to
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say. Be with us as we read through
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this chapter and let us learn something from this and hear
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your words as you intended. We ask this in Jesus name.
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So it starts out on the 13th day of the 12th month.
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Now that has to be clarified already because that's probably
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like February or March time frame according to the calendar
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that they kept. So it's not there's so many
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different calendars. And in order to understand this
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is the, I guess the month of Adar, which God had established
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as the first month, but this is now the considered the 12th
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month in in this area. So on the 13th day of the 12th
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month, the month of Adar, which is February and March for the
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Gregorian calendar, the edict commanded by the king was to be
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carried out on the days the enemy of the Jews had hoped to
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overpower them. But now the tables were turned
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and the Jews got the upper hand over those who hated them.
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Now there's a lot of significance right here because
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you can confirm this. We know that the the leader of
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Iran was eliminated on February 28th, 2026.
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Khamenei. And if you go to the Dead Sea
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Scroll calendar, DSS calendar.org, look at the date
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that corresponds to 228 on the Dead Sea Scroll calendars.
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As I've mentioned before, this is the calendar that was kept by
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the Essenes, which was a Jewish sect who believed in the Messiah
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and kept a calendar that was found in the Dead Sea Scrolls.
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And so if you look at that, it shows us that 228 in the
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Gregorian calendar is actually the month of Adar.
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And it's the 14th date is it's the date of Purim, which we will
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now we're talking about the 13th that we'll get into the the date
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soon. But just I want to clarify.
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And in this story of Purim, it was a turn of events.
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Remember, Haman hated Mordecai and all the Jews and he wanted
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to exterminate them. Khamenei hated all the Jews and
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he would say, you know, death to Israel and death to United
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States. I mean, there are there are
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multiple people that he didn't like.
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And ironically, you know, is this God's Providence coming
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through? These are things that we don't
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pay attention to. But God is sovereign.
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God is in control. And this is evidence that we
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need to trust God and we need to know, we need to remember that
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what it says in the Bible will come true, will prevail.
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And God gives us so much information that if we just pay
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attention to what is said and know that God doesn't change, we
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can see these things often in hindsight.
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But because we can see these things in hindsight, doesn't
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that make you trust God more when you see these?
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These are not coincidences. We some may think they are
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coincidences, and that's because their faith is not as strong.
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But faith comes by hearing the words of the gospel and the
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words of God's word. You know, God's word, your faith
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grows when you start seeing this repetition.
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And God always gives two or three witnesses.
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And I'm going to go through that a little bit later in this
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chapter too. So it's just when, when you're
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in the word more, you will see these things and you will
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realize this is not a coincidence.
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And this is, you know, interesting.
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Even though the Jews today celebrate from today on March
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3rd, the Dead Sea Scroll calendar, that was an ancient
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calendar that was kept back in the day before calendars were
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changed. Like all these calendars got
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changed. And it was probably the enemy's
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goal to change the calendar so people didn't know what day was
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what. But because we, because Ken
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Johnson put together this Dead Sea Scroll calendar and we can,
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we can cross reference the old historical dates with the date,
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the Gregorian calendar. So I recommend that you kind of
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look at that because when significant events happen, you
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can see the certain feast days that God said to observe.
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And those are all documented on the Dead Sea Scroll calendar.
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So again, it's called DSS calendar.org and it's worthwhile
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to visit it and just scroll around and look up different and
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see if you, you know, there may be some other things that you
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pick up on when you look at it. So I'll get back to the text,
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but it's, it's very interesting that the, the true date from the
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Dead Sea Scrolls is the day that Khamenei was eliminated.
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And it reflects the story of so much in the fact that someone
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who hated the Jews and was coming after the Jews was
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actually eliminated. He said he was going to destroy
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them, but he was destroyed. And that's, you know, it comes
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into other verses that I'm going to get into a little bit later.
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I'm going to go to verse 2. The Jews assembled in their
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cities, in the provinces of King Xerxes, to attack those
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determined to destroy them. No one could stand against them,
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because the people of all the other nationalities were afraid
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of them. And all the nobles of the
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provinces, the satraps, the governors, and the King's
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administrators helped the Jews because fear of Mordecai had
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seized them. Just like Haman's advisors were
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saying, hey, this is the Jews that you're coming against, and
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it's probably not going to go well with you because they had
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heard the history apparently of what God had done for the Jews
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in the past. So verse 4, Mordecai was
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prominent in this, in the palace.
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His reputation spread throughout the province and he became more
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and more powerful. This is very similar, like, oh
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gosh, what is it? History rhymes, apparently.
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Finally I remembered what that verse was.
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Mark Twain is the one who coined that phrase, apparently.
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But history doesn't repeat, but it rhymes.
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Similar things happen and we do see that.
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So think about this Joseph, the same thing happened to him.
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This is the the son of Isaac, I mean the son of Jacob.
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And he, you know, his brothers turned against him and he was
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taken into slavery and then became the number 2 to Pharaoh
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and actually was put into that position to save many people to
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survive the famine. So God put somebody into
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position when it looked like the odds were against them, he
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turned around and made them into someone great.
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They were. Joseph was tested many times
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before that happened. And probably Mordecai was tested
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too. I mean, they went through that
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period of fasting for three days and praying and seeking the
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Lord. I mean, I'm assuming because
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that's what fasting would you would do, is that you would pray
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to the Lord, even though God is not mentioned in this book.
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But so because the reputation of what, of God being with the
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Jewish people, it did 'cause some fear, because who's going
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to fight against God? Who's going to fight against the
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Creator? Who's going to succeed in that?
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Now granted, sometimes there were times where God turned away
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from the Jews when they were involved with idolatry and they
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had forgotten God and he did that so that they would
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eventually repent and turn back to him.
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He didn't do it for punishment, but He did it to to put them
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under pressure so that they would turn to Him.
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Because often times when we, when things are going well, we
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may not seek God. But when we get really desperate
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and when things go bad and we have nothing else, often that's
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when we turn to God. And God is so merciful and so
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loving that He will allow those things to happen in our lives so
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that we turn to Him because He is a loving Father and He does
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want us to turn to Him. So verse 5, the Jews struck down
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all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying
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them. And they did what they pleased
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to those who hated them in the citadel of Susa.
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Now remember, this is in southwestern Iran.
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So isn't that ironic? It's not.
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I mean, it's, isn't that a coincidence?
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Well, it's probably not. In the citadel of Susa, the Jews
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killed and destroyed 500 men. They also killed Parshan, Datha,
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Delphon, Apatha, Poratha, Adadia, Aridatha, Paramatha,
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Erisiii, Aridiii and the the ten sons.
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All those names which I probably mispronounced are the 10 sons of
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Haman, son of Hamidatha, the the enemy of the Jews.
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But they did not lay their hands on the plunder.
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So this is interesting that the the Jews got rid of the his
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descendants, Haman's descendants, the ten sons.
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But they didn't, they didn't steal from them.
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They did not lay their hands on the plunder.
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They just eliminated those who wanted to destroy them.
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Doesn't it sound familiar? Verse 11, The number of those
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killed in the citadel of Susa was reported to the king That
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same day. The king said to Queen Esther,
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the Jews have killed and destroyed 500 men and the ten
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sons of Haman in the citadel of Susa.
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What have they done in the What have they done in the rest of
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the King's provinces? So that was just in the city of
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Susa. Now what is your petition?
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It will be given to you. What is your request?
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It will also be granted if it pleases the king, as Esther
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answered. Give the Jews and Susa
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permission to carry out this day's edict tomorrow.
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Also let Haman's ten sons be impaled on Poles.
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So the king commanded that this be done.
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An edict would was issued in Susa and they impaled the ten
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sons of Haman. The Jews in Susa came together
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on the 14th day of the month of of Adar.
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OK, so remember that the the ones in Susa came together on
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the 14th day in the month of Adar.
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That's equates to this. February 2nd or February 28th
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2026 is the same as ADAR 14. So came together on the 14th day
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of the month of Adar and they put to put to death in Sousa 300
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men for but they did not lay their hands on the plunder.
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So this is the second time that it says they did not lay their
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hands on the plunder. They had an object, they had an
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I guess an they had a goal, a mission that they were on, and
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it was to just get rid of the people that hated them.
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Meanwhile, the remainder of the Jews who were in the King's
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provinces also assembled to protect themselves and get
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relief from their enemies. They killed 75,000 of them but
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did not lay their hands on the plunder.
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So this is the third time it says they did not lay their
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hands on the plunder. This happened on the 13th day of
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the month of Adar and on the 14th they rested and made it a
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day of feasting and joy. So they were celebrating on the
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14th day where they rested. It sounds like those are the
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ones out in the the rural area is where they did.
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So yeah, the 14th day is the rural.
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OK. The Jews in Susa, however, had
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assembled on the 13th and 14th. And then on the 15th day, they
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rested and made it a day of feasting and joy.
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So it's like there's two different days that are
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celebrated and the 14th and the 15th day.
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It's the ones in the city where they rested on the 15th day.
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The ones in the country or the rural side are in the villages.
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They rested on the 14th day because Esther had asked for one
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more day for the Jews in the city.
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So this that is why rural Jews, those living in villages,
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observe the 14th of the month of Adar as a day of joy and
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feasting, a day for giving presents to each other.
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Mordecai recorded these events, and he sent letters to all the
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Jews throughout the provinces of King Xerxes, near and far, to
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have them celebrate annually on the 14th and 15th days of the
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month of Adar. As the time when the Jews got
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relief from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow
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was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of
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celebration, he wrote. Then he wrote them to observe
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the days as days of feasting and joy and giving presents of food
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to one another and gifts to the poor.
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So the Jews agreed to continue the celebration.
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They had begun doing what Mordecai had written to them,
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for Haman son of Hamiditha the Agite, the enemy of all Jews,
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had plotted against the Jews to destroy them and had cast the
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purr that is the lot for their ruin and destruction.
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But when the plot came to the King's attention, he issued
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written orders that the evil scheme Haman had devised against
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the Jews should come back onto his own head.
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This is about that reaping and sowing, right?
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That we we reap what we sow That's probably the reason why
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God tells us to not curse our enemies, because when we do
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that, we may reap what we sow. And he says bless them and do
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not curse them. That's what Jesus said.
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But I will talk a little bit more about that after I finish
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these chapters. So Haman had devised against the
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Jews should come back onto his own head, that he and his sons
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should be impaled on poles. Therefore these days were called
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Purim from the word PUR per. Because of everything written in
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this letter, and because of what they had seen and what had
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happened to them, the Jews took it on themselves to establish
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the custom that they and their descendants and all who join
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them should sell, should without fail, without fail.
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So this maintains a longer duration.
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Observe these two days every year in the way prescribed and
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at the time appointed. These days should be remembered
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and observed in every generation by every family and in every
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province and in every city. And these days of Purim should
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never fail to be celebrated by the Jews, nor should the memory
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of these days die out among their descendants.
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So this is something that is always to be remembered.
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So Queen Esther, daughter of Abbehail, along with Mordecai
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the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second
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letter regarding Purim. And Mordecai sent the letters to
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all the Jews in the 127 provinces of Xerxes Kingdom,
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words of goodwill and assurance to establish these days of Purim
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at their designated times. As Mordecai the Jew and Queen
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Esther had decreed for them, and they had established for
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themselves and their descendants in regard to their times of
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fasting and lamentation, so also notice that they prayed for this
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and they had fasting and lamentation prior to this
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reversal of for this reversal of events.
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OK, Esther's decree confirmed these regulations about Purim
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and it was written down in the records.
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Now chapter 10 very short. King Xerxes imposed tribute
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throughout the empire to its distant shores and all his acts
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of power and might, together with a full account of the
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greatness of Mordecai, whom the king had promoted.
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Are they not written in the Book of Annals of the Kings of Media
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and Persia which is modern day Iran?
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Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to King Xerxes, preeminent
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among the Jews, and held in high esteem by his many fellow Jews
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because he worked for the good of his people and spoke up for
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the welfare of all the Jews. This is like God rewarding A
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selfless act. We know that God doesn't change.
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We know that God values life in the same way, and when people do
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something honorable and speak up for the welfare of others, God
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reward rewards this. We can see this here.
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It's when we are selfless, not selfish.
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And Jesus did the most selfless act of giving his life on the
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cross so that all who believe in him and love him back will be in
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in the Kingdom of God and join in the inheritance that God has
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planned for those who do that. It doesn't say that life will be
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easy. It says that we must not we
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must. It's our choice whether we
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become selfless or we stay selfish and look at what we want
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to accomplish. Or are we, are we going to be
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more loving towards other people like being self selfless, like
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thinking of others more than thinking about ourselves?
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And that's, that's a test certainly that we all get put
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through at some time. So there's been a lot of talk
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about blessings and curses and and even on major podcast and I
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want to read a few things because God, God does establish
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this and this has been questioned lately.
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And the first one is from Genesis chapter 27, verse 29.
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It says may nations serve you and peoples bow down to you.
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Be Lord over your brothers and may the sons of your mother bow
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down to you. May those who curse you be
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cursed and those who bless you be blessed.
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Now this is this is an interesting thing where this
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came from. So this was given through the
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there was this this prophet. But oh, I think this was wait a
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second. No, that's not this one.
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That's the next one. So this is the blessing that
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Isaac gave to Jacob. So let's see, I could, I could
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read that whole section or not, I don't know.
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So Isaac was deceived by Jacob. First of all, Esau had given up
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his birthright. And then with the help of his
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mother, Jacob went in when his father Isaac was dying and
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giving out blessings. And he went in as the first
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born. And there was a little bit of
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deception there. But I don't really, you know,
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like I don't know why God honored that, but he did honor
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that. And but it also says in
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Scripture that God hated Esau because maybe there was just
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some wickedness in Esau. I'm not really sure and but he
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certainly didn't, he didn't love God back like he had the
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opportunity. He's a twin brother of Jacob and
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he just chose something else. He chose worldly things and not
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the things of God. So Jacob was replaced.
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But you know, the the whole deception thing, I'm not really.
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That's doesn't seem right, but it's what happened is
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documented. But nevertheless, Isaac gave
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this blessing to Jacob and said, May nations serve you, and
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peoples bow down to you. Be Lord over your brothers, and
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may the sons of your mother bow down to you.
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May those who curse you be cursed, and those who bless you
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be blessed. There is power in the words and
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the way God's anointing. We can see that first God said
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this to Abraham and then it was through Isaac that the blessings
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would occur and it just traveled down.
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And then you can see that it went from Isaac to Jacob.
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So there's this transition of blessings.
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It was Abraham, then to Isaac, then to Jacob.
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Then in Numbers chapter 24 verse 9, it says like a lion, they
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Crouch and lie down like a lioness who dares to rouse them.
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May those who bless you be blessed and those who curse you
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be cursed. Now, this is really interesting
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because the current, gosh, I have to look it up to see what
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it is, but the current military, I don't know what it's called.
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Roaring Lion. That's the military operation
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that Israel is undergoing right now with Iran, and it's called
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roaring lion. I'm sure they know and they're
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referencing this scripture. But like a lion, they Crouch and
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lie down like a lioness who dares to rouse them.
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May those who bless you be blessed and those who curse you
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be cursed. Now this was spoken through the
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prophet of Balaam. Now Balaam wasn't exactly a good
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guy. He did divination, but he also
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did hear from the Lord. So he had this prophetic gift or
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this communication with God, but he wasn't always doing the right
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things. And he was actually the one that
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the, the king Bailek wanted, you know, knew his powers, not his
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powers, but his ability to communicate or to see in the
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spiritual realm or to communicate with God.
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And so he, he was looking for his own selfish means.
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The king was he was fearful of the Jews coming out of out of
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the wilderness and and so he didn't want them to take power
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and so he said put curse on them, you know like do something
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against them. But Balaam, he tried 7 times and
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it failed every single time. Instead of curses coming out of
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his mouth, blessings came out of his mouth towards the people,
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the Jewish people, the Israelites.
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So I can read this in context from Numbers 24 verse one.
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When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did
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not resort to divination as at other times, but turned his face
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toward the wilderness. When Balaam looked out and saw
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Israel encamped tribe by tribe, the Spirit of God came on him,
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Holy Spirit, and he spoke his message.
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The prophecy of Balaam, son of Beor.
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The prophecy of the one who sees clearly.
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The prophecy of the one who hears the words of God, who sees
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a vision from the Almighty, who falls prostate, and whose eyes
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are opened. How beautiful are your tents,
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Jacob? Your dwelling places Israel like
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valleys. They spread out like gardens
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beside a river, like aloes planted by the Lord, like Cedars
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beside the waters. Water will flow from their
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buckets. Their seed will have abundant
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water. Their king will be greater than
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Agag. Their Kingdom will be exalted.
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I think Agag was the was from the descendants of Esau, and
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that's also who Haman was from. Also, you'll have to double
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check me on that because sometimes I get names mixed up.
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But it's interesting that there's this, this comparison is
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kind of relevant to the things that are happening right now.
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Numbers 24, verse 8. God brought them out of Egypt.
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They have the strength of a wild ox.
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They devour hostile nations and break their bones in pieces with
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their arrows. They Pierce them like a lion.
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They Crouch down and lie down like a lioness Who who dares to
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rouse them? May those who bless you be
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blessed, and those who curse you be cursed.
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It would be wise for us to pay attention what's written in the
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Bible and the blessings and curses.
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And we can see, as Mark Twain says, says, the rhythm of things
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where this happens over and over again.
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And we also know from the Bible that God does not change.
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So it's not wise to come against Israel.
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The Bible also says that Israel is not perfect.
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And God rebukes them sometimes, and he takes their enemies
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sometimes to correct them, to bring them to repentance.
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So it never says in the Bible that the Israelites are a
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perfect God honoring people, but it does say that God chose them
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to bless others through them. So this is God's design.
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We're not going to change it. The Bible is very clear of the
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way that things happen, and it's foolish for us to think that we
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can do something other than that, you know, like to go
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against the words of God. So let's see.
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The other thing that I wanted to talk about was in Genesis
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chapter 12, verse 3. This was what God had said, I
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believe, to Abraham. Yes, this was the call of
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Abraham. So again, as we, as I said
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before, first it went to Abraham, then it went to Isaac,
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and then it went to Jacob. So it was like a passing down
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from the Father to the Son. So this is what God said to
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Abraham, I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses
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you, I will curse and all peoples, all peoples.
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So pay attention to that on earth will be blessed through
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you. And let's see, then there's I
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think there might be a couple things.
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So then Jesus, here's what Jesus says.
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Jesus never tells us to curse other people like that is God.
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That is sovereignty. So God says I will bless those
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who bless you and curse those who curse you.
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That is God talking. But Jesus says for us like we
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are not in a position in that position, we don't have that
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authority. So Jesus tells us, bless those
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who curse you for those who mistreat you.
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And and so Jesus has a message that is really telling us, you
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know, where we are in authority. I guess Now Paul says the same
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thing in Romans chapter 12, verse 14.
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Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse.
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We don't want to curse other people because that could place
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a curse on us. What we sow we will reap.
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That's another reason why God says before you sacrifice
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anything, if you have a problem with a brother or sister, go and
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make amends before you offer the sacrifice.
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We, and then the Lord's Prayer that Jesus taught us says
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forgive others as you have forgiven us, that so we can
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forgive others as you have forgiven us.
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So if we're not forgiving others, that's another hindrance
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to blessings. We need to have forgiveness of
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others and we need to remember how God has forgiven us of our
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trespasses, of the things that we've done that are wrong, that
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God did it for us. And we need to extend the same
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to others. When we withhold forgiveness for
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someone, we're actually reaping what we sow.
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So if we're withholding forgiveness, then is our
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forgiveness withholding? I mean, it says that in the, in
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the prayer that Jesus taught, like we are forgiven as we
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forgive other people. So if we want to be forgiven by
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God, we have to forgive others. And the way I look at it, which
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helps me, is not to focus on the person, but there is a spiritual
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influence behind the person. And some people will deny this,
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but the scripture seems very clear to me that until we
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receive the Holy Spirit, we are operating under a worldly
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spirit. We are in slavery essentially to
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the evil one. We may not recognize it, we may
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not want to admit it, but we are until we finally say, God, I
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want your spirit. I want to surrender to you.
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And then the Holy Spirit can come when we are repentant,
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which means we turn away from sin.
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We can't keep hanging on to sin because that's kind of you don't
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receive the Holy Spirit when you're still holding on to sin,
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when you're still holding on to your slavery.
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You've got to let that go and then and you let that go and you
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surrender it all to God and you ask, you know, ask Jesus.
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I mean, it doesn't say clearly that we have to ask, but Jesus
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did say that we can't even inherit the Kingdom of God
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unless we are born again, unless we receive the Holy Spirit.
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And the Holy Spirit comes from Jesus.
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So we need to release the, you know, the unforgiveness.
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That's that's a sin against God. And we also have to repent, turn
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away, be willing to the Holy Spirit will give us power to
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overcome the sinful things, but we have to be filled with the
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Spirit, the Holy Spirit to eliminate the other spiritual
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impacts. So like I said, for me, it helps
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when I see someone who is operating in a worldly way, when
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they come against me, I don't take it out on them.
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They just haven't been awakened yet.
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They just haven't received the Holy Spirit yet.
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But God wants them to receive the Holy Spirit.
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So that's really helpful. It's, you know, to have that
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empathy because I look at it like I was the same way.
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I was operating like that. And then God, thankfully I got
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to know God and I've been forgiven and I want to serve
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God. And so I can see a difference.
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It's only in hindsight, but when you're in the middle of it, you
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don't want to admit that, you know, you're being influenced by
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the evil 1. And we can't help it.
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We're all born that way. We have that tendency and, and
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we just like when we get to the age that we can understand this,
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that we can make the decision, then we have to, you know, make
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our desires known to God so that we can, we can be in his Kingdom
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and, and have a good relationship with God, be able
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to communicate with God. Sin separates us from God.
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And if we want to have that good communication with God, it says
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God hears the prayers of the righteous.
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Now, how do you become righteous except by the Holy Spirit?
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It certainly isn't natural. So we all need the Holy Spirit
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in so many ways. The Holy Spirit gives us power,
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gives us courage, gives us peace, joy, happy, not
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happiness, peace, joy, self-control, perseverance,
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faithfulness, gentleness, all of those.
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You can find that in Galatians chapter 5 and it's around verse
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22 where that starts where you can see the things the Holy
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Spirit gives us. The the character of a person
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becomes changed when they have the Holy Spirit, when the Holy
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Spirit is operating in their lives and you will see a
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difference in people. So anyway, this, I guess I, I
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could read a few of the questions and answers from the
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study Bible and then we will wrap it up on this, you know,
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day of Purim according to the Jewish calendar right now.
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But for Chapter 9 and 10, I'll go through the questions and
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answers and then wrap this up. Why did they fear Mordecai?
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Mordecai's sudden advancement was recognized as supernatural.
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To observe such a person was to wait.
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To oppose such a person was to oppose the gods and assure one's
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doom. The rulers of the provinces were
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in awe of a power they could not identify but could clearly
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perceive the sovereign power of God.
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Did the Jews initiate this attack on their enemies?
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The edict allowed the Jews to protect themselves against those
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who might attack them and their women and children.
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These may be these may have been pre emptive strikes, but this
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was not random violence, for the Jews were not killing women and
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children or looting. Remember 3 times we were saying
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they did not take the plunder. Why didn't the Jews take any
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plunder? This was a holy war, a war
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commanded by the Lord in judgment on great evil.
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That's something really interesting to think about
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today. It was distinguished from normal
37:39
warfare by the ban on taking plunder, which demonstrates that
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the aggression was not for financial gain, but only to
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carry out God's sentence. And remember, this also happened
37:53
after three days of fasting. Why were Hammonds, our Hayman's
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sons, impaled on poles, since they were already dead?
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First, it made an example of them as a deterrent to any who
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might think to attack the Jews again.
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Second, given the hanging on a pole was a sign of the Lorde
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curse on a person, it would have it would have especially
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communicated to the Jews of Susa that the Lorde ancient curse
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against those who cursed them was still in force.
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So just like we read that curse Jesus said when he said I did
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not come to take away any of the the laws or the what the
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prophets had to say. He only came to fulfill what the
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prophets had talked about. So every word of God remains
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until we are in perfection with the Lord, because until heaven
38:55
and earth disappear, everything remains.
38:58
So remember that too. Why did the Jews need to kill
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75,000 people? That the Jews would kill so many
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aggressors indicates that the hostility against them had been
39:09
increasing since the edict against them had been issued.
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It is possible that this number is an exaggeration used to
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emphasize the emphasize the Jews victory.
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However, given the vast extent of the Persian Empire, 75,000 is
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not an inconceivable number, especially considering that 800
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were killed in Susa alone. The failure to mention Jewish
39:33
casualties is almost certainly intended to communicate the Jews
39:37
overwhelming success rather than an absence of losses.
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How was Haman's casting of lots different from that of the Jews?
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Haman used the pure or die dice to determine the fate of the
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Jews. Jews and other ancient people
39:54
also cast lots as an impartial way to decide what course of
39:59
action to take. But while Haman credited chance
40:03
or fate with the outcome, the Jews trusted God to make his
40:09
will known through the lots. Even while Haman trusted the
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poor, God determined the result for.
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God had determined to save His chosen people by His almighty
40:22
power. What's the meaning of Purim?
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Purim is a combination of the Persian word for the lot for lot
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or poor, and the Hebrew plural ending I am.
40:35
The day was chosen by lot originally as the day an attack
40:41
was to be launched against the Jews, but in a dramatic turn of
40:46
events it became a Jewish holiday that is observed to this
40:50
day. An explanation of the name was
40:53
necessary because the word would not have been recognized by non
40:58
Persian Jews. What was the Book of Annals of
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the Kings of Media and Persia? Archaeologists have not yet
41:07
recovered this historical record.
41:09
There is evidence in some ancient records, however, of a
41:13
man, a minor official of Xerxes administration, who had the name
41:18
Mardukaya, which is similar to the name Mordecai.
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How much power did Mordecai have?
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A second in rank to the king? Plenty.
41:29
Mordecai not only could frequently act on his own, but
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also could enjoy the confidence and trust of the king, who
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relied more on him than any of the nobles and advisors.
41:40
Mordecai also had virtually unlimited opportunity to shape
41:44
the policies and administration of the empire.
41:47
His high position, similar to that of Joseph and Daniel,
41:52
guaranteed the welfare of the Jews while they lived in a
41:56
foreign land. Once again, God had provided for
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and protected His people. I had forgotten about Daniel,
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but Daniel was another one, you know, who rose to power because
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of the of what God did in his life.
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And just like God says two or three witnesses established the
42:13
truth, He does that in Scripture too.
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So we have Mordecai, we have Joseph and Daniel.
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That's three examples of what God does when he operates in
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someone's life and obedience and what obedience can do in
42:29
someone's life. So I hope this was something
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that you learned from today and at least it keeps us in the word
42:36
every day. So if you're not subscribed,
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please subscribe. If you found this beneficial,
42:41
please share this with others and come back for the next one.
42:45
We will be starting a new book and the next podcast.