Joseph Prince - Where Is God In The Midst Of Your Trouble?
Praise the Lord. Let's all stand to our feet. So good to see so many of you. Thanks for taking time to seek the Lord's face, amen. Uzziah, the king, as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper, amen? And whatever you do, the greatest thing that you can ever do is to seek the Lord because as long as you do that, you will prosper. And the sad thing about Uzziah is that it was as long. He didn't continue to seek the Lord. And the Bible says one day he became proud, he was lifted up, and he fell. He became a leper for the rest of his life. But there's something about worship that reminds us that God is sovereign, that he rules in all the affairs of men, that he puts up one and puts down another. Promotion doesn't come from the east or from the west, but notice it doesn't say it doesn't come from the north because it does. Promotion comes from the Lord, amen?
So, just lay aside your worries and cares and just look to the Lord and say, "Lord, I'm seeking you, Lord. I love you, Lord".
♪ You are my hiding place ♪
♪ You always fill my heart ♪
♪ With songs of deliverance ♪
♪ Whenever I am afraid ♪
♪ I will trust in you ♪
♪ I will trust in you ♪
♪ Let the weak say ♪
♪ I am strong in ♪
♪ The strength of the Lord. ♪
♪ You are my hiding place, ♪
♪ My hiding place. ♪
♪ In times of trouble, ♪
♪ I'll run to you. ♪
♪ You cover me ♪
♪ With your wings ♪
♪ When arrows fly and ♪
♪ You surround me, Lord, ♪
♪ With your love songs. ♪
♪ Oh, Lord our God, ♪
♪ We worship you, Lord. ♪
♪ Oh, God. ♪
♪ Let all the weak say ♪
♪ I am strong in ♪
♪ The strength of the Lord. ♪
♪ You are my hiding place. ♪
♪ You always fill my heart ♪
♪ With your songs ♪
♪ Of deliverance. ♪
♪ Whenever I am afraid, ♪
♪ I will trust in you. ♪
♪ Let your healing flow ♪
♪ In the name of Jesus. ♪
Father, release right now your healing, Lord, by the power of your Holy Spirit, Lord. For everyone that has a need of your touch right now, touch in Jesus's name, heal, heal, heal in Jesus's name. You don't have to have hands touched, only the hand that matters is right now his hand and he can touch you right where you are. In the name of Jesus, receive your healing right now. Somebody's been experiencing pains in your chest. These past few days you've been very concerned and worried. Right now in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I rebuke that pain and I command perfect healing to flow into your chest right now, into your heart, into your body. In Jesus's name amen, amen.
Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Rashes, all kinds of rashes breaking out in your body and you do not know what's going on. The Lord heals you right now in Jesus's name, amen, amen, amen. You are feeling warmth all over. Yes Lord, thank you, Lord. Somebody injured your finger, one of your finger and you find it hard to straighten it. Straighten your finger right now, start doing what you cannot do. If you have pain in that area, you can't move that area, it was in pain, just move it right now in the presence of the Lord. Receive your miracle. Receive your healing right now in Jesus's name. Somebody injured your left hand and you can't lift your hand all the way up. Lift your hand right now in Jesus's name and see what the Lord has done, amen, amen? Do it right now in Jesus's name.
Thank you, Lord Jesus. Thank you, Lord Jesus. We give you worship, Lord. We adore you, Lord. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Thank you, Lord, amen, amen, amen. Those of you with this condition where you can't lift your hand, move your hand right now, lift it up and down. If the pain is gone, do a wave now. If the pain is gone, do a big wave, all across this place, all across this place do a big wave all across. Just wave, wave, look at the back there. Out there I see your hand. Wave real violently, okay? It's a big place here so okay, hold the claps first so that we can see these people. Wave your hand, wave if you know you have received in Jesus's name. Okay, the one with the finger, you can straighten your finger now. Okay, wave, do a violent wave. Do a violent wave whoever it is. Yes, way back there, way back there, way back there, a number of you, amen. Looks like all the fingers are gathered together way back there. Can you see those? Wave one more time? Violently, yes, camera, can you pick them all up? Praise the Lord. Yeah, the fingers are gathered together, amen? Amen, amen.
Way up there the light is bright but if you wave violently, I can see you. Whatever your condition is, if the pain is gone, the pain is gone, the chest pains is gone, right now you can take a deep breath, you are healed. Give praise to the Lord. You know, when you testify, you keep your healing. When you testify, you keep what the Lord has given you. So, if you came in here with pain, one more time, we hold the claps. Okay, everyone's hand down for a while. If you know you came in here with pain and all the pain is gone, there was very fast what the Lord did just now was very fast. If you know the pain is gone do a big wave that this comfort is gone, that condition is gone, do a big wave, big and violent, okay, so that we can see it, all right, all right.
Okay, on the ground floor first, camera, can you pick them up? Those on the ground floor. No more pain, no more pain. Don't do it by faith, okay? This is now, no more pain, okay? All the pain is gone? Praise the Lord. Okay, the middle tier, camera can you pick them all up? All these that the Lord has healed. The Lord is doing a fast work tonight. Wave, wave, all right, look at that. Look at all those hands, praise the Lord. Give Jesus all the praise, and the glory, and the honor. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Amen, thank you, Lord, hallelujah. That was really quick. We have a few more songs, right? But it's done. Praise the Lord. You may be seated. The Lord is not finished yet. If you have been diagnosed with something, the Lord can just heal you where you are, even as the Word goes forth, amen? Praise the Lord.
Are y'all glad you came tonight? Hallelujah, it's so good to see all of you and are you ready for the Word tonight? Are you ready? I don't think so. Are you ready for the Word? If you are ready for the Word, you must have brought your Bible, right? Don't show me your phone. You must have brought your Bible, right? Let me see your Bible, how many people? Wow, some are really, the Bible is so big, it can choke a donkey. Okay, you know, I'll be showing you up here anyway, right? But it's something about the Bible that you know you have a personal copy and I don't mean on smartphones and, you know, what not, but really a copy like this it just does something, amen? Even when you carry it sometimes through a mall, it's a testimony. If anyone asks you what's this just say, "Manufacturer's handbook". They say, "No, no, really what is it"? Just say, a book of success, success in every area of your life, amen?
Okay, let's dive right into the Word. I've got a lot. I want to keep my word because I told you all we'll go deeper into the Word, amen? Are y'all ready to go deeper? All right, ready? We'll study from Genesis to Revelation. First I'm gonna ask Pastor Lawrence to come up here and he's gonna explain to you the mystery of the horns of Daniel. Okay, are you ready? And then Pastor Joe's gonna come up here and explain to you about the mystery of iniquity that's mentioned by Apostle Paul. Are y'all ready? And then the chairman of our church board will come up and explain to you, okay, when Russia is gonna attack Israel, all right, from Ezekiel 38. By the way, since we're on this, just let you know that recently Russia has been marshaling their forces in Syria, and do you know there's a Bible prophecy in Ezekiel 38 that talks about an attack from the north on Israel?
So, that has not yet happened yet. So, Bible scholars are waiting for that to happen because they say that so for there's been no marshaling or build up of, you know, the army of Russia in the north. So, is this the one that's happening right now? We do not know, but we are in for exciting times ahead of us. And the Bible says, the Bible says God will defend Israel. Ezekiel 38, don't forget, go back and read it. It tells you all the players involved and how God does it. And you can see modern warfare there because it talks about how when the battle is finished that if someone sees a bone on a mountain in Israel, they cannot touch it. It sounds like something radioactive material. They have to leave it will take seven years to cleanse the land so, some parts of the land is like there's localized, maybe localized nuclear whatever, but God will defend using even the armies of Israel and God has done it in the past, even though they were outnumbered, amen?
So, Bible scholars are waiting for that to happen and if you've been reading the news, it seems like they are marshaling their forces in the north of Israel and already there's some skirmishes with the Israeli Air Force so it's exciting days ahead of us, amen? So, people ask the question, "Will Ezekiel 38 happened after the Rapture or before"? So, for that, Pastor... who shall I pick now, Pastor Gabriel? Pastor Mark, okay. Let's go right now to the Word of God. We are in for exciting times.
I want to share with you how when, you know, when things go wrong in your life and you are wondering, "Where is God, where is God in all this? Where are all those things that Pastor Prince preached about"? Maybe you have had a bad diagnosis from the doctor, maybe, you know, you have a problem in your family and things seems to be like, "Where is the blessing that God promised us? Where is that breakthrough I prayed for"? I want to tell you something, even when things don't seem to be working in our favor, God is working behind the scenes and sometimes God will position things in place and then bang, at the right time.
You see, God did not deliver Israel before the Red Sea, right? As they were going towards the Red Sea, God did not deliver them. God waited until they were in front of the Red Sea. They see the problem, they cry out to the Lord, the enemies are marauding from behind about to attack them, kill them, annihilate them, and then God opened up the Red Sea. So, sometimes you see the thing about us is that we take things for granted. Many of you, you don't even know that God protected you from an accident maybe yesterday. Maybe the devil planned for you to die before this year last year. Maybe he sent a disease along your way that was cut short by an angel of the Lord, and the Lord delivered you. But many a times, we don't give him praise and thanks for the things we do not know about.
If God protected Israel all the way, you know, we talk about protection and I wrote a book on protection, so I believe in divine protection but many a times, we don't call upon the Lord or we don't thank him for a protection, or a deliverance, or a help rendered. We only give thanks for those that we know. So, in the story here today, you will find how God works behind the scene. We're gonna look at the story of Esther. Are y'all ready for Esther? Okay, how many of you read the Book of Esther? The story happened in 483 B.C. and the man that she married, the king of the story, many of you know the story so I know that you know story so I just let you know the historical background. The man that the married is a very famous man in history, all right, who failed in the battle against the Grecians, against the Greeks. And he is Xerxes, Xerxes the great, X-E-R-X-E-S right, from history, and he's otherwise known by in the Hebrew as Ahasuerus. And he's the one that had the beauty contest, and y'all know the story that God used Esther's beauty, or rather the Bible says that she obtained favor.
So, she is beautiful but there are many other beautiful woman in the land but what you want is favor and tonight you're gonna get favor from God, amen? I want to tell you something about the Word of God. Every time you hear the Word, and I just want to say a Word to all the young people. I learned something when I was young, all right, younger. I learned something when I was younger. I learned this that there was a man who actually failed his grades and what happened is that he was challenged by a leader to memorize the entire Book of Proverbs and he took it up. You know what happened to him? From failing grades, he got straight A's. Now, does the Bible tell you about geometry, about science, about geography, about history, about law, or whatever you're studying?
Now no, you know, it may cover all these things but many a times it tells us stories, it talks about the Lord and what the Lord can do and all that. And yet, it has a bearing on your life. Whatever profession you are, whether you're a student, whether you are taking care of children, amen, whether you are a teacher, whether you are a lawyer, a doctor, whatever you are, the Word of God, when you touch God's Word, you touch the power to prosper you. There's something about reading God's Word and spending time in the Bible studying the Bible that prospers your way. Time and time again, God told Joshua when he had a big pair of shoes to fill, Moses just died, and God told him, "Meditate on my Word. You'll make your way prosperous," tselach in Hebrew. You'll make your way prosperous, and you will have good success, not just success, good success. There are success that take you away from your family, success that, you know, cost another area of your life, but good success.
And the Bible says in Psalms 1 that those who meditate on God's Word day and night, whatever he doeth shall prosper, whatever. So, touch God's Word, you touch prosperity. I'm not referring to money, all right? It may involve money because when you prosper in all your ways, you will create wealth in your life, amen. Are you listening, people? But not just that, those who meditate on God's Word, his leaf will not wither. Leaf will always be green. That talks about your health. That talks about renewal of youth like the eagle, amen? As thy dies, the Bible says, "As thy days so shall thy strength be".
Well, the signs of the world tells us that the older you are, more days behind, behind you than in front of you, they say that you decay. You get old, but that's what happens when you believe that, and you're exposed to that, and you've not been spending time in God's Word. The flavor, the touch, the substance is not being imparted because you have lost touch with the Word of God. You're listening to the news, you're watching the news, you're listening to what people are saying. You're listening to experts saying that and you have to say what they say because it's based on their five senses. It's based on their knowledge. It's based on their upbringing of their studies, amen, they background.
But the thing is this, with you when you spend time in God's Word, you have a different vision because like the Bible says, "As thy days, so shall thy strength be". More days, you have more days in front of you, some you are 20 years old, right? You have 20 years in front of you. God says, as your days increase, then 40, now double. "As your days increase, so shall your strength". It's opposite from the world, it's opposite from the world. And Caleb is always a minority compared to even believers. Like you have the 12 tribes, you have the 12 leaders, but only one of them believe God that, "my strength is as strong as I was the day Moses sent me," and now he's 85.
So, you think about it. You know, the Word of God will change, cleanse your mind so you don't accept things from the world so easily. Are you listening, people? You know, when the world say there's no provision... and by the way, the Book of Esther, number one, you're gonna taking down notes, just write down, "The name of God is never mentioned". The name of God is never mentioned. You cannot find "God" or "the Lord" mentioned at all in the Book of Esther. It's one book in the Bible, the name of God doesn't appear and yet you see God behind the scenes. It is not so much a book of miracles because miracles means God intervened into an ordinary circumstance, but many of the turning points in the Book of Esther is very supernaturally natural so it's not so much a book of miracles as it is a book of provision, God showing himself as the God of providence.
By the way, the word "providence" comes from an old Latin word which is pro video, pro video. Y'all hear video y'all know, right? And the word "pro" in Latin means before. Video means I see. That's where you get the video. All right, that means God sees the need beforehand and God provides. Provision, even the word "provision" is vision pro. Before it happens, God provides. You don't have to be afraid that life will take you by surprise. I must stick to the lesson today but, you know, we are here to study the Bible. And another thing about the Bible is when you touch the Bible, you touch health. Proverbs 4:22 says, "They, God's words, are life..." Say, "life". "To those that find them and health..." Say, "health". "To all their flesh". Even when you don't understand, you open the Bible and you read a portion, it has a cleansing. It has a reviving. It has a rejuvenating. It has a supplying. It has a health-giving effect, amen. And people who study the Bible, you can see their faces, their faces shine. Their eyes sparkle. They look younger and they are stronger as a result. But the moment you don't spend time in the Word, you're not in touch with the Word, you find your life just gets mundane and you become natural.
So, the first thing we learned about the Book of Esther is that the name of God is not mentioned, okay? But the name of God is mentioned in the acrostic, you know what's acrostic, right? Acrostic like for example grace, how you spell grace? G-R-A-C-E so another way of saying acrostic, G, God, God's. R, riches. A, at. C, Christ. E, expense. God's riches at Christ's expense. That's grace so it's an acrostic. Can you see it, amen? Do you know there are four acrostics of the name Yahweh in the Book of Esther. It's hidden. Now, how do you spell Yahweh? Someone says Y-H. No, in Hebrew it's gonna be Yud Hei Vav Hei but for convenience we say YHVH. So, you look up here. Now, remember like Chinese, won't be hard for you to understand this. Hebrew reads from right to left, okay, right to left.
By the way, did I tell you that when you touch God's Word, not just God's Word, it's life to those who find them but health, health to all their flesh, Proverbs 4:22. Health to all their flesh. You know, when you take medicine, right, many a times medicine, it helps resolve some pain or some condition, but then it's not health to all your flesh. In fact, it may cause a problem in another area. All right, you may go to the toilet more often or something like that, but only God's Word is medicine that is health, Proverbs 4:22, health to all their flesh. Every time you touch God's Word, it's health to all your flesh. So tonight, be expecting when you go out of this place, you are going out healthier, stronger, amen, and more prosperous in every area of our life. I don't mean money alone. I mean prosperous, amen? So, that's God's Word. Touch God's Word, you touch good success. Touch God's Word, even if you don't understand.
Y'all heard me share the illustration of the farmer who told his son, you know, the son say, "I don't understand. Why should I read the Bible? I don't understand the Bible"? The father says, "Okay, you know, son, you know, I understand what you're saying, but go get me some water from the river and water the plants here". The son about to take the bucket, the father say, "No. Take this, you know, a rattan, you know, like rattan basket, wicker basket? All right, take that and fill with water". The son says, "Dad, this is not gonna hold water". "Just go ahead, do what I say". So, the son tried his best. The river was nearby, took some water and run all the way back and it leaked. "Dad, I told you". Dad said, "Do it again". So, he did it again, came back. "Do it again," came back. "Dad, I don't understand what you're trying to say. It cannot hold water". But the father says, "Look at the basket. He looked at it. Look at how clean it is".
So even when you don't understand God's Word, it leaks, you feel it, it leaks, you don't understand, it's not retained but look at how clean your mind is, amen, amen? Okay so, say, "yud". Reading from light to left, I want you to memorize these letters. Very easy, okay, in Hebrew. Yud is the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet. Yud, reading from right to left, yud, hei, vav, hei. You know, I haven't even finished yet. This church is amazing. I love this church, amen. And many a times you have to explain to people from the start, all right, for you you guys helped me so much already. So, this is pronounced Yahweh. We sang that song just now, right? Yud hei vav hei, Yahweh. And in the Book of Esther, the name Yahweh is hidden in acrostic four times, all right? One time it appears as "I Am," Ehyeh "I Am that I am".
Now, let me explain acrostic. In Psalms 96, verse 11, we have the English text says this, "Let the heavens rejoice and let the earth be glad. Let the heavens rejoice and let the earth be glad". Would you like your earth, where you are at be glad? Your family area be glad, amen? Heaven must rejoice first, then the earth will be glad. That's always God's priority. Can I have a good amen? But if you look into the Hebrew, all right, reading from right to left, the Hebrew says all right, let rejoice "Yismachuw hashaamayim wataageel haa'aarets" Yud, first one. Hei, vav, hei. Without the Lord, your earth cannot be glad. Without the Lord, heaven cannot even rejoice, amen? So, it tells you straightaway. This is an acrostic.
So, although the name of God is not in the Book of Esther in your reading of your English or any other language, but in the Hebrew, it appears in acrostic form and every time it appears, it is a pivotal point in the story. Every time it happens, it's really a game changer. It changes the whole scenario. Would you like to follow? Are you excited about that? Now, why are we telling you this? Because the same thing is happening in your life. God is working behind the scenes, but you don't like what you see. The story of Esther, there was actually a madman, an evil man... I can't say he's a madman. You know, the most craziest people, some of them, are very intelligent in an ingenuous, in an evil way, like Hitler. He knew how to rally people to the cause so they're not mad as, you know, like you see people losing their minds.
So, there was a man called Haman, he's an evil man, and you see the hero of the story here, Mordecai, a type of Christ. And, of course, the heroine was Esther. Esther whose name is in the Hebrew, Hadassah. Hadassah is myrtle tree, but they changed her name to the Persian name because they were in Persia and her name became Esther, which means star, and she's the star of this story. The real star is God of course. So, why is it that God doesn't reveal his name, why, in this book? Why didn't God reveal his name? During this time, Israel was not in the place where God wants them to be, right? They are in captivity. Remember the story of how they worshiped other gods than the God that brought them out of Egypt than the God who opened up the Red Sea, than the God who gave them all the land flowing with milk and honey. And they started sinning against God and God sent prophet after prophet, some of them they killed the prophet and all that. And God says, finally God says, "This is it. I'm gonna send you one last call. If you repent, all right, I will restore everything". But they refused and they went into captivity.
Then the times of the Gentiles started, the head of gold, the breast of silver, all the way down to the feet. One day I'm teach on that in detail in the vision of Daniel or rather, the vision of Nebuchadnezzar that Daniel interpreted, and it's the times of the Gentiles. We are still in the times of the Gentiles. We are now in the feet area. So, it's very interesting. Israel was supposed to be the nation that leads all other nations. One day they will be when Jesus comes back. He will rule from Jerusalem so that prophesy will be fulfilled but because of their sin, they were suspended and the times of Gentiles began with Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. You can read this in your history book. The time of Gentiles began all the way until a European, a revived Roman Empire in Europe or the now, in fact, you can't say Europe because the revived Roman Empire covers the entire Middle East. Even Israel is under the revived Roman Empire, actually you talk about it. Then Iran, Iraq, and all the rest. So, from here will come the Antichrist.
I can't tell you where is it exactly but it's from the previous Roman Empire. He's gonna appear and he's gonna bring peace, supposedly world peace to all the questions that the world has. He seems to be very brilliant and all that but his whole purpose is to annihilate the Jews as well as Christians. Now, we won't be around because we are raptured, because we attend Bible study. So, like when Jesus told the Jewish people about A.D. 70 in Luke, he told them, "When you see the armies surround Jerusalem, you see the Roman army surround Jerusalem..." Right, because of the rebellion of the people, they laid a siege. They see a lot of people to leave because the fewer people there are, the faster they will fall, less army to fight, right? That a lot of people believe. Jesus said, "When you see the armies surround Jerusalem," Jesus says, "flee to the mountains". Guess what. That happened in A.D. 70, all right, and those Christians who remembered what Jesus said or even before A.D. 70, they realized it's happening. The moment the siege is laid, they're fled the country. Not a single believer died. You know that? So, this is prophecy. To know it beforehand is to forearmed.
Okay, let's go into the Word right now, the story of Esther. So, her parents died and Mordecai took care of her. Mordecai obviously is a very elderly man and he took care of her. And the time came, chapter 1, all the Indians gonna love this. Chapter 1, verse 1, "It came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus (this was the Ahasuerus who reigned over one hundred and twenty-seven provinces, from India..." And all the Indians said? Amen. "To Ethiopia". So, India is mentioned in the Bible. Do you know China is mentioned in the Bible also? All right, you can do a search it's called sinnim, S-I-N-N-I-M, -im is just plural, sin, S-I-N is where you get chin later on. So, the Bible prophecies about his people coming back from the land of China as well. Anyway, India is here, good.
"In those days when King Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the citadel, in the third year of his reign he made a feast for all his officials and servants - the powers of Persia and Media, the nobles, and the princes of the provinces being before him — he showed the riches of his glorious kingdom, the splendor of his excellent majesty for many days, one hundred and eighty days in all". And by the way, at one time, don't forget, after King Nebuchadnezzar came the Medo-Persian, the breast of silver of the vision that Daniel interpreted for Nebuchadnezzar, the times of Gentiles. They reigned across all the way from northern Africa, Ethiopia, all the way to India. That's a wide compass of land and many other lands were undiscovered during that time, okay? So, they were the ruling power of that day.
So, this king, he was inviting everyone to come to his place in Shushan. If you can actually look up this in on YouTube as well as Documentary Channel. Today is it's called Susa, it's the story of Susa, S-U-S-A, Shushan, right? And in fact, you can see literally, can see they have unearthed, they have unearthed the palace. Of course, you can't see the structure anymore. You can see the ground though. And in chapter 1, it talks about black and white marble. I have seen with my own eyes. One of my missionary friends in the '90s, he went down there, he took a picture of his standing on the black and white marble. He showed it to me and you still can see and it's in chapter 1. It talks about the black and white marble flooring. So, the palace has been uncovered. Okay so, it is still there if you are keying in, okay, studying and all that, not now, of course, but it's Susa, okay, which is Shushan, ancient Shushan. And the story happened there.
So, the Bible tells us during this time he was eating and all that, and it was hundred and eighty days of celebration. Can you imagine or not? All kinds of food. And the Bible says that they were drinking wine from goblets of gold, vessels of gold. So, finally after 180 days was over, he has a special party thrown for his special friends in his palace garden for another seven days. On the seventh day, he invited his queen. He said, "Go get my queen," because he was so proud of her beauty. And he says, "Let her put on her crown when she comes". So, they went to get her, but she said no. She said no to her husband, and this is where the story gets exciting because long before the evil happened, God was arranging circumstances already. So, she said, "No," and the king says, "What"? And his wise men were around him. He says, "Did y'all hear that"? And the wise man says, "King, if this is not handled, all the women of the entire kingdom of Persia will not respect their husbands when they hear this happen".
So, let's follow the story. Drop down, "If it pleases the king, they said, let a royal decree go out from him, and let it be recorded in the laws of the Persians and the Medes, so that it will not be altered, that Vashti shall come no more before King Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal position to another who is better than she". So, you know who is that, right? Esther, so God was working behind the scenes already. And drop down, "When the king's decree which he will make is proclaimed throughout all his empire (for it is great), all wives will honor their husbands, both great and small. And the reply pleased the king".
Now, this is a turning point. Okay, this is the turning point. Look at the phrase, "All wives will honor," and look at it in the Hebrew. "hiu' wakaal hanaashiym yitanuw" which is to give from Nathan, okay? Look at this, can you see yud hei vav hei in reverse? Okay, יהוה. It's in reverse. Now, we say, "No it's English, it's correct. It's forward". But remember Hebrew reads from right to left, so it's reversed. You know why is it reversed? Out of these four acrostic, listen, two are reversed, two are forward. When it's forward, God is ruling directly. When it is reversed, he's overriding. He's overruling. And you see right now he's overruling, deposing Queen Vashti, preparing the place for Esther who will be in a position to help her people. Long before you have a need, long before the devil plants any evil against you, God has the provision. God sees beforehand. Can I have a good amen? All right.
So it's a turning point right down here. So now, the call is made. The queen is deposed. I'm sure she regret it a lot, okay? And a call is made. The king wants to find a wife. So, all the women of the province, and it's the entire province, they were all summoned to come to Shushan, the palace. And let's follow the story. Okay, "Now when the turn came for Esther the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her as his daughter, to go in to the king, she requested nothing but what Hegai the king's eunuch, the custodian of the women, advised. And Esther obtained favor in the sight of all who saw her".
Now, if you read earlier, the Bible says she was very beautiful and yet the Bible says that she obtained favor. I want to say this, those of you, Pastor Lawrence, listen, who are good looking and all that, or you're pretty and all that, chances are sometimes you depend on that to help open doors instead of depending on favor. Even though Esther was beautiful, so were other women also. The way to stand out is always God's favor. God gives favor, amen, amen? You are new to the business. There are many others who have made their mark long before you from their grandfather to their father, to handed down to them, and you are new to the business. Well, you know what? Favor will make the difference. If people like you, people like you, amen? If you read the entire thing you find that it talks about the women who were brought there. Before they see the king, they actually bathed in perfume for six months and then another perfume for a number of period of time also. And so, the whole thing is it's just amazing, very elaborate, very prosperous, very lavish.
So, the Bible tells us, drop down, "Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus, into his royal palace, in the tenth month. And the king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins; so he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. So, once again you have grace and favor, which was my first seminar or conference that I did for Hillsong Church. It's called Grace And Favor, amen? And if you put your trust in God's grace and favor, you'll go places, amen? Doors will open. Don't depend on your smarts. See, the problem with us Singaporeans especially, you know, you are so smart. You people are so smart, and you tend to depend on your smartness. You depend on your experience. No, thank God for education. Thank God for your experience. Thank God for your background. Thank God for whatever it is, help. But the thing is depend completely in your heart on the Lord, and his favor, and his grace, amen, okay?
So, once again the Bible emphasize the Holy Spirit is endeavoring to give us, to bring home to the point, she obtained grace and favor. Okay, drop down. Okay, "Then the king made a great feast, the Feast of Esther, he proclaimed a holiday in the provinces and gave gifts according to his generosity". Now, the drama intensifies. We come to the next chapter. The next chapter we have that evil man, Haman. I told you just now, right? He's a type of the Antichrist to come. All right, Haman, he's from the Amalekites and the Amalekites hate Israel. In fact, when the children of Israel came out of Egypt, the Amalekites would come behind and annihilate, kill, destroy, children, people who are lagging behind, old people, people who are weak. And God says to Israel, "Never tolerate the Amalekites".
So, what is Amalekite today? Your flesh. Whatever you don't destroy will destroy you. Saul was told to kill the Amalekite. He didn't. When he was on the mountain of Gilboa, it was an Amalekite that killed him. So, it's a principle. Today, we don't kill people. Love your neighbor, love your enemies as well, amen? So, the principle in the Old Testament is always the principle of the flesh. Amalekite is your flesh. In fact, the word "amal" from the Hebrew to labor hard, to labor with pain, amal. That means what? That is the flesh. Flesh is always fleshly effort. Kill it, kill that fleshly effort. It's causing stress. It's causing sickness. It's causing lack of rest, robbing you of your peace of mind. This fleshly effort. 'I got to, I got to, I got to. It's up to me. It's up to me. What will I do? What must I do"? You know, stop it, that's Amalekite. Kill it or it will kill you. That's a principle of the Bible, okay?
So, Haman is from this tribe Amalekites, and we don't know how he ended up in Persia. He's not a Persian and yet he rose through the ranks to become the top vizier to the king, top premier. He's the top next guy and the king liked him so much, the reason is not given, that the king made him his right-hand man, and he's not even a Persian. So, when he was in this position, he was so proud that one day he passed by the king's gate and Mordecai was there. Mordecai was the one who took care of Esther, remember? Now, obviously he's sitting at the king's gate. He's a man of some standing. He's an official in the kingdom as well or else he won't be allowed to be there in the king's gate. Are you listening? So, Haman wanted him to bow down before him and by that, Persian means worship. You bow before no other gods, amen? Bow before no other man, amen? I'm not referring to the curtsy bow or the Korean, you know, all right? Drink teh tarik halfway, face the other way. All those respectable terms is okay. This is worship. He wanted Mordecai to worship him. When he found out that Mordecai was a Jew, he was even more, you know, more incensed. He was mad. Don't forget, he has a hatred for Jews.
So, let's look at next chapter. "When Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow or pay him homage, Haman was filled with wrath. But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told him of the people of Mordecai," the Jewish people. Instead, look at how evil this man is, "Haman sought to destroy all the Jews throughout the kingdom". It's not just one thing to destroy Mordecai. He wants to destroy all the Jews. Can you see that? What happens? You still believe God is working behind the scene even when superficially outwardly you see things are going against you and people that not supposed to get promoted get promoted, and then you are told to go. You are retrenched. God has something better for you. You got to believe that. God is positioning you. God is getting you ready, not to face something that company will face or whatever, God is behind the scene and you have favor with God.
See, the more you believe that, when it happens, God gets the glory. That's why God wants faith because faith will show God, demonstrate to God on your part, that you will give him the praise and the glory because you're believing God for favor and when it happens, you know who to give glory to. But if you're walking, you know, just natural living after your senses, you don't believe and all that. Even when God does something for you, you don't give him glory. Without faith, it's impossible to please God. Drop down. "In the first month, which is the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, they cast Pur," Which means the lot. It's like a dice in those days, but they twist the dice. You know have you seen it before? It's called pur when you get the word "Purim". Until today, the Jewish people celebrate Purim as the victory over Haman and how God preserved the Jewish people during the time of Esther. It's the feast of Esther and they celebrate every year. It's called Purim, the plural of pur. Pur is actually the dice or the lot. They twist it around, and you know what they did, Haman did with his men? He said, "Let's find a day to kill them, and I'll recommend to the king".
So, they turned to pur and the pur came to the 13th day. Maybe it's from here that the tradition is that 13 is an evil day but for God's people, an evil day God's gonna turn it to a memorable day, a day of victory, a day you will celebrate. You're about to see that happen, okay? So, it's on the 13th day and it drop down. "The king's scribes were called on the 13th day of the first month, and it was sealed with the king's signet ring sent to all the provinces". Okay, anymore? Drop down to chapter three. Okay, "And the letters were sent by couriers into all the king's provinces, to destroy, to kill, to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day". On the what day? Thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and to plunder their possessions".
Wah, I didn't tell you this, Haman went to the king and said, "King, I must tell you this, all right, that there is a group of people in your kingdom. I don't know how to tell you this, but I'm very concerned for you, king. You know my heart if for you, right, king? But this bunch of people, they practice their own laws. They don't care about your laws and if they continue, they will spread this message and it will destroy your kingdom. You know it will be no profit to you". And the king says, "Really, what kind of people are these"? "They're the Jewish people. So, I'll tell you what, all right, allow me and my men to annihilate them for you," and they recommend the very day itself, okay? And the king used his signet ring.
One thing about the law of the Persians, you can even read about it in history, in secular history, is that once the law is made, you cannot change it, even the king himself cannot change it. So, the king used his signet ring that was his signature in those days on the clay tablet. Yes, the death sentence is made, women, children, throughout the entire kingdom. During this time in the land of Jerusalem, already the decree has been made. I want to tell y'all this part, okay? The decree has been made by Cyrus which is the predecessors, not the immediate one, but predecessor of Ahasuerus. King Cyrus actually made a decree for all the Jewish people to return to Jerusalem. He said, "Y'all can go back". He permitted them and encouraged them to go because, you know why? His name was prophesied by Isaiah, the prophet, long before he was born, okay? So, the Jews went back among whom are Ezra and Nehemiah.
So, when the story of Esther happened, Ezra and Nehemiah were in Jerusalem. Are you listening? So, when the decree was made to destroy everyone in the kingdom, Judea at that time, Israel at that time, was under the kingdom of Persia, which means Ezra and Nehemiah will also be destroyed and all the people that came back. Now question is asked, how come Mordecai and Esther all stayed back? The question is not told us. Maybe the Lord told them to stay back. So, this is the story that's happening. So, you didn't know the timing, okay? Which means all that remnant that came back, they'll also be destroyed but long before that happened, God prepared someone in the palace.
Isn't it amazing that God prepared Moses in the palace of Pharaoh? Small things, small things happen and God can, you know? A baby crying, who would expect the daughter of Pharaoh bathing one day, all right, saw a basket. She opened up, a baby crying will change the entire destiny of a nation. Turned her heart the moment she said no and pushed the baby back, it's finished. God with can work with smallest of things. And because we are proud preachers, okay, myself, me and Mark, okay? We are proud people. Many a times we look for the big, big things. We miss out on the small, small things that God is doing in our life, but God can use the very small things to change things in your favor. A baby crying, a woman's anger, temper, Vashti and then God deposed. God can work through all these things. God will make the wrath of man to praise him. I think that Psalms we have the verse up here. It says, "Surely the wrath of man shall praise you; with the reminder of wrath you shall gird yourself". You know what it means or not? Even when man is angry towards God, man is angry towards his children, God can use the wrath of man to praise him. You'll see it. And whatever wrath is remained, God will use to gird himself, clothe himself, hallelujah.
So, back to Esther again. So, the day has been set. Are y'all with me so far? What's gonna happen? Then the next chapter, chapter 4, tells us Mordecai was weeping in sackcloth and ashes and he heard the decree and he sent a message. He didn't have access to the palace, and Esther was in the palace so he sent a message through a messenger to Esther saying, let's follow what he said. "If you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this"?
Can I say this to you? If God allows us to be used in doing something, consider it a privilege because, you know what? Help will still come from somewhere. If you don't want to do the job, all right, can I say this? God is not hard up. When God tells you do something, he's planning for you to get blessed. He's positioning you. Of all the boats, I mean, I mean, Peter is not the only one with a boat on the Lake of Galilee. There are other boats as well, but when Jesus stepped in this boat and Jesus said, "Can I borrow your boat to preach to the people"? That is wasted time, right? In a sense, quote unquote, "wasted" because the fisherman could use it for fishing. Like if you think tonight is wasted time, let me tell you this, waiting on the Lord is never wasted time because they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. Even the youths shall faint and the young man shall utterly fall, but they that wait upon the Lord will mount up with wings as eagles. Run and not be weary? Wah, what is that? Walk and not faint. The secret is waiting upon the Lord.
So, let the Lord have it, amen? After the Lord finished preaching, the Lord says, "Peter let's go fishing". Peter said, "No, no". "Let's go fishing". And he gave him what? A net-breaking boat-sinking load of fishes. He's a good pay master. Now, imagine if he went with someone else's boat, the person with the recipe of all the blessings. When the Lord tells you to do something, he's positioning you. It's a privilege because if you don't, relief and enlargement will come from another place. And who is to say whether you came to the kingdom for such a time as this, amen? "Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai". I always believe there are leaders there sitting down there because they don't want to give up something or whatever it is when, you know, they sit down. And they're seeing other people with the kind of blessing that they could have had, with the kind of anointing and calling that they could have had, but they said no to God and that person said yes and the person got what you're supposed to get.
There's some things that God rewards, something all of us can have by grace through faith, but there are some things he give you the grace, it can be in vain if you don't use it. But if you use it, he'll reward you for using the grace he first gave you. That's called reward. All right, drop down. No more dropping. Okay, now we got only one acrostic so far, right? Now we come to the chapter where we have to acrostics, turning point. So now, it's desperate situation, amen? So, Esther is about to go and see the king. Esther is about to meet up with the king, and she knew another law of the Persian is that if you come to the king's presence uninvited, you die. The king must invite you or if you come in, the king must extend his scepter to show that he has pleasure with you.
So, Esther says, "Hey you guys, all right, pray for me. If I perish, I perish". So, the time came for Esther. Next chapter, "Now it happened on the third day that Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king's palace". All right, and drop down. It says here, "It was, when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, that she found," what? "Favor in his sight, and the king held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther went near and touched the top of the scepter. And the king said to her, 'What do you wish, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given to you up to half the kingdom!'" Okay, drop down. This is the part, verse 4, "So Esther answered, 'If it pleases the king, let the king and Haman come today to the banquet that I have prepared for him.'"
Ladies, this is called timing. She didn't say that, "save my people," you know? Sometimes you gotta learn, amen, go through his stomach, amen? And then, you know, invite, you know, and create a suspense. I mean, it's amazing what she did. And she let the king and Haman come. This verse 4 here, "Let the king and Haman come," it's an acrostic. Let's look at it. "Yaabow hamelek wa-Haamaan hayowm". Now this time it's forwards because it's ruling straightaway. Yud hei vav hei, everything got to do with this banquet you're about to see, okay? Oh, Haman was so proud. Haman was so happy. He went back and this is what he said to his family and all that. All right, and drop down. "At the banquet of wine the king said to Esther, 'What is your petition? It shall be done.'"
Okay, next verse, "Then Esther answered and said, 'My petition and request is this.'" So, even at the banquet she says that, "I want to have another banquet tomorrow," creating suspense. You know, the king is saying, "Tell me what you want. I'll give you half the kingdom". "I just want this. This is my request. Please come tomorrow, all right, I have another banquet". And that's the day that changed everything. Drop down. "So Haman went out that day joyful and with a glad heart; Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate, and that he did not stand or tremble before him, he was filled with indignation against Mordecai. And Haman restrained himself and went home, and he sent and called for his friends and his wife Zeresh". Drop down, where are we now? "Haman told them of his great riches, the multitude of his children, everything in which" He boasted to all his friends. This guy got a problem with pride, isn't it, amen?
So, pride goes before a fall, it's true. "Everything in which the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the officials and servants of the king". And it says, "Besides, Queen Esther invited no one but me to come in with the king to the banquet; tomorrow I am again invited by her, along with the king". All right, drop down. "Yet all this avails me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate". So, the wife said, "I recommend build a gallow really, really high, 50 cubits high," 75 feet. How crazy is it? And it was built behind his house, you know? You see later on it's built behind his house because he want to see him hanging, hang him high. And the thing pleased Haman.
Now, verse 13, "Yet all this avails me nothing," is another acrostic and this time reverse. Look at this, "This avails me nothing" from reverse yud hei vav hei. He's angry at Mordecai and God is causing the wrath of man to praise him because had he forgiven and, you know, changed whatever, I mean but because of this, God will cause the wrath of man to praise him. So, whatever people do against the Lord or against his people, God will cause it to praise him. Just wait, just wait even your personal life, the devil might have, seem to make inroads. Just wait, the health you'll get back is stronger, amen. The provision will be larger. The place is a wealthier place. David says, "It was good for me to be afflicted. You have brought me to a large place". We're not camping in the valley. The Lord, he leads me through the valley. He did not lead me to stay there but through, amen? It doesn't say bypass, collect 200, no, through the valley.
Go back to Esther 5 again. All right, so next chapter I must read to you. Okay, this is my favorite chapter of all coming to close. This is my favorite chapter so I must read to you. Again, I told you just now God uses what? Simplest things. Like, for example, it is God who gives the beggar or the king sleep. We take sleep for granted, but God gives sleep and God can remove sleep. And sometimes you spend a sleepless night ask the Lord, "What do you want to say"? Take your Bible, you know, even it's an attack or whatever, take your Bible, use that time with the Lord. When you touch the Bible, you touch provision. You touch the Bible, you touch health. You touch the Bible, you touch youth renewing qualities, amen. You touch the Bible, you touch wisdom.
So, that night, that night. Say, "That night". That night when the family of Haman is talking about building a 75-feet high gallows to hang Mordecai there, when all this evil scheme was happening in this house, that same night, that night, the king cannot sleep. "So one was commanded to bring the book of the records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king". This part I don't understand. Of all the things that you do, right, you might want to hear music or whatever, but he asked for the Book of the Chronicles. You know how boring it is? The book of... go to the data side of things and read to me all the data. But it was God. Maybe he wanted to bore himself to sleep, I don't know, okay? So, he read the Chronicles and cut a long story short, okay, because of time. It was found that Mordecai actually did the king a favor. Mordecai heard about these two doorkeepers who tried to kill, who plotted to kill the king. And he revealed it to someone who revealed it to the authorities and all that and they seize upon this guy. But Mordecai's name was in the Chronicles, but he was never rewarded. The king never knew about it but for a sleepless night. And the king said this, "What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this"?
Now he knows his name. "Actually your wife is related to him". So, he didn't know Mordecai. He says, "'What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?' And the king's servants who attended him said, 'Nothing has been done for him.'" At the same time, guess who came that morning very early in the morning to recommend the gallows. Haman. He came in. Haman just entered. The king say, "Who's in the court"? All right, to suggest that the king hang Mordecai on the gallows prepared for him. So, the king says, "Okay, I trust this guy. This is my right-hand man. Might as well ask him for advice". Drop down, "The king's servants said to him, 'Haman is there, standing in the court.' 'Let him come in.'
So Haman came in, and the king asked him, 'Haman, what shall be done for the man whom the king delights to honor?' Now Haman thought in his heart, 'Whom would the king delight to honor more than'" moi, "more than me". I'm sure that when Haman, when he said that, he said, "All right, what shall I do for the man that I delight to honor"? 'Cause when you're proud, you think everything's about you. You're so vain. Everything's about you, right? Next verse, "And Haman answered the king, 'For the man whom the king delights to honor, let a royal robe be brought which the king has worn, and a horse on which the king has ridden.'"
In other words, your Porsche or your Lamborghini. "Which has a royal crest placed on its head. Then let this robe and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king's most noble princes, that he may array the man whom the king delights to honor. Then parade him on horseback through the city square, and proclaim before him: 'Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!' Then the king said to Haman, 'Hurry, take the robe, the horse as you have suggested, do for Mordecai the Jew.'" Even the word "the Jew" is there. "Who sits within the king's gate! Leave nothing undone of all that you have spoken".
Hey, when God turns it around, it's turned, my friend. Your day is coming. Your day is coming. You might be retrenched, might not have a job, that girl might have dumped you, amen. I don't mean to laugh, sorry. Or the guy dumped you or whatever, you know. Dump is not a good word, okay? Actually he promoted you because he was dragging you down. Yeah, that girl's saying yeah. Grant her one, Lord, from you in Jesus's name amen, amen? So now, the guy who's pulling you down is gone. He thinks he's gone because, you know? But God put in his so that you are set free to go higher where God wants you to be. And all the people said? Turn around.
So, watch this now. Drop down, "Haman took the robe and the horse, arrayed Mordecai, led him on horseback through the city square," remember, he recommend one man shouting, he became the man. "And proclaimed before him, 'Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!' Afterward Mordecai went back to the king's gate. Haman hurried to his house, mourning with his head covered. Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that happened and his wife encouraged him like this, "If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish descent, you will not prevail, you also fall". Wah, so good advice, huh? You are the one that recommend the gallows. Then verse 14, "While they were still talking with him, the king's eunuchs came, hastened to bring Haman to the banquet which Esther had prepared". Remember that?
Now the turnaround. Let's go to the banquet now. We are coming to the end. "The king and Haman went to dine with Queen Esther. On the second day, at the banquet of wine, the king asked, 'What's your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted to you". And she told the king about her people, all that's happened to her people and all that. And Queen Esther says, "We have been sold. Now, if I found favor in your sight..." You know how she present the whole thing beautifully but because of time, I'm going to verse 4. "We have been sold, my people and I, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. Had we been sold as male and female slaves, I would have held my tongue, although the enemy could never compensate for the king's loss.'"
So, this is the first time King Ahasuerus actually realized that Esther was a Jew. The earlier part of the story, which I didn't read to you just now, it's all there. Okay, cannot read everything, right? I'm exciting you actually with the portions because many of you know the story but actually Mordecai told her, "Don't reveal who you are until the right time". So, now the king realized, oh no, he made a decree against her. And she says, "The enemy has done this". And the king says, "Who is he, and where is he, who would dare presume in his heart to do such a thing"? There's only one other guest and he's hearing the whole thing happening right now. And all of a sudden, he realized Esther is a Jew, is a Jewess.
And Esther said, "The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman"! Haman was terrified before the king and queen". All right, "The king got so mad the king arose in his wrath. He went to the palace garden to gather himself; but Haman stood before Queen Esther, pleading for his life". So, he jumped from where he was and the queen was in a special place, and he went to where the queen was. "And pleading for his life for he saw that evil was determined against him by the king".
Now, we have the acrostic, evil was determined. Look at this in the Hebrew, evil was determined against him. Yud hei vav hei, the whole thing came back to his doorstep. Who did it? Who did it? God. He would never have dreamed that, right? So, he was pleading with Esther. Go back to the story. "But he was on Esther's couch". He jumped to where his table was. He go to Esther's couch. "At the same time, the king came in and the king saw Haman had fallen across the couch where Esther was. The king said, 'Will he also assault the queen while I am in the house?' As the word left the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face". All his men covered the face and in those days, cover the face means you'll never see light anymore, finito.
Next verse, "Now Harbonah, one of the eunuchs, said to the king, 'Look! The gallows, fifty cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke good on the king's behalf, is standing at the house of Haman.' The king says, 'Hang him.'" It was in his house, his wife can see, all his relatives can see the boasting and all that, all those friends of his can see in the backyard him hanging up there. "So they hanged Haman on the gallows and the king's wrath subsided".
The very thing, I can tell you stories from history, the very thing the devil meant, God turned it and cut off his head with it like Goliath's sword. In case you are here today and you're planning things against a believer - and believers, don't rejoice. The Bible says, "Pray for them which despitefully use you". You know why? They need you prayer. 'Cause the very thing sometimes that you meant can come back on you. We need to pray for you. You don't realize this, many of you, you are God's favorite person. "He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of my eye," the Lord says.
Now, we come to the closing part chapter 8. Now drop down anymore. Oh sorry, before that, there's one more acrostic from chapter 7. Remember the part where the king says, "Who is he and where is he," right? Now, this is not yud hei vav hei. Do you remember God appeared in the burning bush to Moses and and Moses says, "God, what shall I say? You're sending me to the people of Israel, but they'll ask me, what is your name? Who is he that sent you"? God says, "I Am that I Am". In Hebrew, Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh "I Am that I Am". Ehyeh is I am. The number of times Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd. I am the door. I am the way. I am the life". They came to arrest him in the garden, right? He stepped forward they say, "We are looking for Jesus". He says, "I Am". They all fell. "I Am," ehyeh. Say, ehyeh, I am. It is spelled like the word is like this A, aleph hei yud hei. Memorize it if you can. Aleph hei yud hei, it means I am. "All right, who is he? Where is he"? It's actually the acrostic for ehyeh.
Who is he and where is he? Who a also who in pronounced as who in Hebrew. There's a lot of English words that can go all the way back to Hebrew as well like who, "Huw' zeh waeey-zeh". Who is he and where is he? Aleph, hei yud hei, ehyeh, yes, ehyeh, I am. The final signature; five acrostic number of grace in the Book of Esther. And chapter 8 tells us, "There was such a celebration and the king, all right, told Esther, took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai; Esther appointed Mordecai over the house of Haman". Verse 3, "Esther spoke again to the king, fell down at his feet, and she implored him with tears to counteract the evil of Haman the Agagite, and the scheme which he had devised against the Jews". We still have a problem, right? Once the king has signed something, right, on the clay tablet, he has punched it. It cannot be reversed. So, the day is coming right, 13th.
Then the king said to Mordecai, "Mordecai, here is in essence, empty clay tablet, whatever you right, I'll put my seal". And Mordecai says, "Every Jew in the land, okay, you have the right to defend yourself. And everyone has a right to kill those who try to kill you". And the Bible tells us, drop down, chapter 8, "You yourselves write a decree concerning the Jews, as you please, in the king's name, and seal it with the king's signet". The king is talking to him. "For whatever is written in the king's name and sealed with the king's signet ring no one can revoke". Anymore? Drop down, yes. "So Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white," which is the flag of Israel today, blue and white. "With a great crown of gold and a garment of fine linen and purple; and the city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad. The Jews had light and gladness, joy and honor. And in every province and city, wherever the king's command and decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a holiday. Then many of the people of the land became Jews, because fear of the Jews fell upon them".
Those who were not Jews also became Jews. What's your name? "Abraham". What's your name? "Zuckerberg". What's your name? "Mark Mayer". What's your name? "Lawrence Labriinski". What's your name? "Giram Goldberg". And you? "Gabriel Iceberg". So, the Jews, they have so much favor. People were so scared and Mordecai became the right-hand man. Who dares the king, right? You know, and there was some enemies that were killed during that time and the feast, the 13th became the feast of Purim. All right, the 14 as well. Two days of celebration for the Jewish people and it's called Purim because of the Lord. And God turned the whole thing around. In a book that the name of God is not mentioned, we have God overriding the situation.
Now, the question I was asking y'all just now is, why didn't God put his name openly, right? It was a period of Lo-Ammi. Long before they went in captivity, God already said that, "during that time, if you are in the land of the Gentiles, I will hide my face". Deuteronomy 31, all right, I'll because of time, drop down to, "hide my face". God says, "In that day I'll hide my face from them," why? Because they have rejected the Lord. Now, look at me. One of Hosea, prophet Hosea son, God told him, "Name your son, Lo-Ammi, not my people. You're not my people," okay? So, that period of time when Israel was in captivity, it's called Lo-Ammi period, not my people, period. Yet, even then God's heart is compassion. He cannot acknowledge them openly in their rebellion, right? But he can actually work behind the scenes if their favor to protect them, to preserve them, to bless them, amen?
We are no more Lo-Ammi. In fact, in Lo-Ammi there's a prophecy there even when God says, "No longer my people". Show them Hosea 1:8 and 9. 1:8 says, God says, "Call his name Lo-Ammi, For you are not My people, And I will not be your God". Do we have verse 10? No, we don't, so I have to read verse 10 from the Bible, right? Now I'm gonna read from Romans 9. Believe it or not verse 10 is quoted by Paul in Romans chapter 9. What a God way to end our service tonight, amen? Are y'all ready to listen? Okay, this is what God says in Romans 9, verse 25, "As God..." Now before that, verse 24, "Even us whom God called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles"? Chinese, Indian, all Gentiles, amen? Chindian also Gentile. "As God says also in Hosea: 'I will call them My people, who were not My people, and her beloved, who was not beloved. And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, 'You are not My people,' There they shall be called sons of the living God".
Jesus came and fulfilled... we no longer live in a day, even when we fail and blow it, God does not leave us. He does not hide his face. They were under the law in the Old Testament. We have Jesus as our high priest and God says, "Where I used to say, not my people, you are now sons of the living God," amen? And many, many years after that, the story of Esther, Jesus will come back to the restored remnant Ezra, Nehemiah. God allowed them to go back to see what they will do with the Messiah when he comes. And unfortunately, they put the Messiah on the cross so there was another scattering of the A.D. 70 until now. It still lasts until Jesus returns. And love Israel again and Israel will cry and Israel will say, Baruch haba B'Shem Adonai, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord".
And when Jesus hung on the cross, the Pharisees said to Pontius Pilate, who put Jesus's title above his head, "Change the title, change the title"! Why were they so adamant about changing the title? What they put on top of Jesus was in Latin, in Greek, in Hebrew and it says this, "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews". And look at this here, this picture. This is what in three languages Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. In look at the... do you see acrostic there? Yeshua is spelled yud. The next word is haYhudim, ha melek, haYhudim, okay? Yeshua HaNazarei ve melek haYhudim. All right, next letter is vav, and the final word ha-Yhudim is hei. Yeshua starts with yud, HaNazarei of Nazareth. Ve melek, started with vav. HaYhudim of the Jews, hei. So, what the Pharisees and the people of Israel saw when he hung there on the cross was Yahweh and yet the Pontius Pilate just put his name, Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. Yeshua, Jesus, HaNazarei of Nazareth. Ve melek, king. HaYhudim, the Jews.
That's just his title and yet the Pharisees saw it, the people of Israel saw it, yud hei vav hei being crucified on that cross. And that's why the Pharisees says, "Change it, change it"! And Pontius Pilate said, "What I have written, I have written". God will not allow anyone to change it. Yahweh came and lived among us and died as our savior, and rose from the dead to be our high priest and the shepherd. In Psalms 22, "My God, My God," it starts with, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me"? Psalms 22, Psalms 23 is today where he is right now. "The Lord is my shepherd, surely goodness and mercy will follow me". Psalms 24 say, "Who's the king of glory"? They come back again. Lift up everlasting doors. Lift up the gates. Jesus is coming for us, amen? And we'll welcome him, amen?
To Jesus be all the praise, and all the glory, and all the honor, amen. Every head bowed, every eye closed all across this place right now. If you have never put your trust in Jesus as your Savior, I'm gonna pray for you right now that everything that happened to Esther and the people, Jewish people, you will experience it as well. Don't forget, he says, "This is my name. Whatever you need, it's like a blank check. I Am, fill in". What do you want him to be? "Well, the doctor says I have this condition". "I am your doctor. I am your healer. I am your physician". "I'm always tired". "I am your strength". "I'm concerned that my grandfather died young, and my father died young". "I am your length of days". "You don't realize that, Pastor Prince, my business going down. Everything is going down". "I'm your banker. I'm your provider. I Am that I Am".
He stands before you in all his fullness and his inexhaustible supply and he says, "Take me as your," you fill in the blank. So, if that is you wherever you are right now, you want forgiveness of sins, you want to be part of God's people, pray this prayer with me right now. Say, "Heavenly Father, I believe Christ died for my sins and you raised him from the dead when all my sins were cleared and I was justified in him. Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior now and forever. In Jesus's name, amen". Let's all stand to our feet. Let me just bless you.
Thank you, Lord. The Lord bless you with the blessings that he bestowed on Esther, favor and grace. May you obtain favor and grace in the sight of those that God wants you to have favor with. And for those that are not good for you, God closed the doors, but open doors of opportunity, doors of friendship, doors of relationships that are great for you, that are good for you. The Lord give you favor to those that really matter. The Lord grant you to be at the right place at the right time, always. And the Lord grant you that no weapon formed against you, even those that you do not know of, and every tongue spoken or that is speaking even right now against you, or any attempt or plan of the enemy of the evil Haman against you, the Lord cause it to fall to the ground and not prosper, but the Lord cause everything that you do to prosper, everything you touch. And may your leaf always be green, and the Lord grant you and bless you with wisdom, understanding, knowledge that when you open up the Scriptures, they will jump out at you, they will talk to you so that you can touch life. You can touch wisdom. You can touch provision. You can touch health, wholeness, and healing for your body. The Lord grant you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. And may all that you do, think, and say, glorify one, Yahweh, Yeshua, Yahweh who saves. In Jesus's name, and all the people said? God bless you.