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GOD IS IN CONTROL

GOD IS IN CONTROL. Ezra. Esther. Nehemiah. Temple. People. Jerusalem. Cyrus. Artaxerxes. Xerxes. 500-530 B.C. 464-423 B.C. 486-464 B.C. Ezra. Esther. Nehemiah. Temple. People. Jerusalem. THE PROVIDENCE of GOD. F R O M E T E R N I T Y.

grady-cummings
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GOD IS IN CONTROL

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  1. GOD IS IN CONTROL

  2. Ezra Esther Nehemiah Temple People Jerusalem Cyrus Artaxerxes Xerxes 500-530 B.C. 464-423 B.C. 486-464 B.C.

  3. Ezra Esther Nehemiah Temple People Jerusalem THE PROVIDENCE of GOD F R O M E T E R N I T Y

  4. ESTHER Esther 1-10

  5. E s t h e r 1. Overview, Out of View, In View (1:1-22) 2. Coronation & Assassination (2:1-23) Annihilation & Examination (3:1-15; 4:1-14) Fasting, Feasting & Fury (4:15-17; 5:1-14) Insomnia &Hamania(6:1-14; 7:1-10) 6. Promotion, Purim & Prosperity (8:1-17; 9:1-31; 10:1-3)

  6. WHY NO NAME OF GOD? 1] God was missing from the Jewish people’s lives . 2] God wanted the action/timing shout His name. 3] God spoke displeasure, or let silence express it . 4] To make us realize that history itself is God’s .

  7. WHY NO NAME OF GOD? 1] God was missing from the Jewish people’s lives . 2] God wanted the action/timing shout His name. 3] God spoke displeasure, or let silence express it . 4] To make us realize that history itself is God’s .

  8. WHY NO NAME OF GOD? 1] God was missing from the Jewish people’s lives . 2] God let the action & timing shout His name. 3] God spoke displeasure, or let silence express it . 4] To make us realize that history itself is God’s .

  9. WHY NO NAME OF GOD? 1] God was missing from the Jewish people’s lives . 2] God let the action & timing shout His name. 3] God spoke displeasure, or let silence express it . 4] To make us realize that history itself is God’s .

  10. WHY NO NAME OF GOD? 1] God was missing from the Jewish people’s lives . 2] God let the action & timing shout His name. 3] God spoke displeasure, or let silence express it . 4] To make us realize that history itself is God’s .

  11. Esther reads like a great story written by a great author, but in this case Godwrites the story in the fullestsense: 1] He is ‘scripting’ every event. 2] He over-arches the story with God’s “Meta-Narrative” of His sovereignty & man’s grossly apparent weakness. 3] He shows that even when man’s evil includes genocide (Haman) & chauvinist egomania (Xerxes), “Surely the wrath of man shall praise Thee.” Ps 76:10 4] He inspires the writer to scribe it exactly as He wishes.

  12. Esther reads like a great story written by a great author, but in this case God writes the story in the fullest sense: 1] He is ‘scripting’ every event. 2] He over-arches the story with God’s “Meta-Narrative” of His sovereignty & man’s grossly apparent weakness. 3] He shows that even when man’s evil includes genocide (Haman) & chauvinist egomania (Xerxes), “Surely the wrath of man shall praise Thee.” Ps 76:10 4] He inspires the writer to scribe it exactly as He wishes.

  13. Esther reads like a great story written by a great author, but in this case God writes the story in the fullest sense: 1] He is ‘scripting’ every event. 2] He over-arches this story with God’s “Meta-Narrative” of His sovereignty & man’s grossly apparent weakness. 3] He shows that even when man’s evil includes genocide (Haman) & chauvinist egomania (Xerxes), “Surely the wrath of man shall praise Thee.” Ps 76:10 4] He inspires the writer to scribe it exactly as He wishes.

  14. Esther reads like a great story written by a great author, but in this case God writes the story in the fullest sense: 1] He is ‘scripting’ every event. 2] He over-arches this story with God’s “Meta-Narrative” of His sovereignty & man’s grossly apparent weakness. 3] He shows that even when man’s evil includes genocide (Haman) & chauvinist egomania (Xerxes), “Surely the wrath of man shall praise Thee.” Ps 76:10 4] He inspires the writer to scribe it exactly as He wishes.

  15. Esther reads like a great story written by a great author, but in this case God writes the story in the fullest sense: 1] He is ‘scripting’ every event. 2] He over-arches this story with God’s “Meta-Narrative” of His sovereignty & man’s grossly apparent weakness. 3] He shows that even when man’s evil includes genocide (Haman) & chauvinist egomania (Xerxes), “Surely the wrath of man shall praise Thee.” Ps 76:10 4] He inspires the writer to scribe it exactly as He wishes.

  16. 6 Main Characters: 1] Ahasuerus (Xerxes) E. 1:1-2 2] Vashti E. 1:9 3] Mordecai E. 2:5-6 4] Esther E. 2:7 5] Haman E. 3:1

  17. 6 Main Characters: 1] Ahasuerus (Xerxes) E. 1:1-2 2] Vashti E. 1:9 3] Mordecai E. 2:5-6 4] Esther E. 2:7 5] Haman E. 3:1

  18. 6 Main Characters: 1] Ahasuerus (Xerxes) E. 1:1-2 2] Vashti E. 1:9 3] Mordecai E. 2:5-6 4] Esther E. 2:7 5] Haman E. 3:1

  19. 6 Main Characters: 1] Ahasuerus (Xerxes) E. 1:1-2 2] Vashti E. 1:9 3] Mordecai E. 2:5-6 4] Esther E. 2:7 5] Haman E. 3:1

  20. 6 Main Characters: 1] Ahasuerus (Xerxes) E. 1:1-2 2] Vashti E. 1:9 3] Mordecai E. 2:5-6 4] Esther E. 2:7 5] Haman E. 3:1

  21. 6 Main Characters: 1] Ahasuerus (Xerxes) E. 1:1-2 2] Vashti E. 1:9 3] Mordecai E. 2:5-6 4] Esther E. 2:7 5] Haman E. 3:1

  22. 6 Main Characters: 1] Ahasuerus (Xerxes) E. 1:1-2 2] Vashti E. 1:9 3] Mordecai E. 2:5-6 4] Esther E. 2:7 5] Haman E. 3:1 GOD !

  23. GOD within the shadow keeping watch above his own

  24. What the Book does NOT have: No mention of . . . 1] God 2] The Love of God 3] The Son of God 4] Spiritual death 5] Eternal Life 6] Faith 7] God’s Greatest Gift Contrastwith John 3:16 which mentions all 7 in 25 words.

  25. What the Book does NOT have: No mention of . . . 1] God 2] The Love of God 3] The Son of God 4] Spiritual death 5] Eternal Life 6] Faith 7] God’s Greatest Gift Contrastwith John 3:16 which mentions all7 in 25 words.

  26. PROVIDENCE: from pro(ahead) + videre (to see) God sees all in advance, & takes action accordingly. “Providence is the hand of God in the glove of human events”

  27. Esther Chapter 1

  28. E s t h e r 1. Overview, Out of View, In View (1:1-22) Coronation & Assassination (2:1-23)Annihilation & Examination (3:1-15; 4:1-14)Fasting, Feasting & Fury (4:15-17; 5:1-14) Insomnia & Hamania(6:1-14; 7:1-10)Promotion, Purim & Prosperity (8:1-17; 9:1-31; 10:1-3)

  29. “… Over 127 provinces” [E 1:1 ]

  30. (Roman Empire was still just this little ‘dot’) Persia was the largest empire to date in history

  31. “On his royal throne in Susa” [E 1:2 ]

  32. Providence & Practice #1 God is IN your situation right now. He may be silent, but He is not inactive. He may be invisible, but he is not blind . Is there an area of your life where you need to exercise faith for “Evidence of Things Not Seen” ?

  33. Providence & Practice#2 You might not see or benefit from God’s providence. God used Vashti’s loss to save the Jews, but Vashti got no “pay back”, not that God owed her anything.

  34. Providence & Practice # 2 You might not see or benefit from God’s providence. God used Vashti’s loss to save the Jews, but Vashti got no “pay back”, not that God owed her anything. Do I ‘hang back’ in my dedication because God still owes me something?

  35. Providence & Practice # 3 The PROVIDENCE OF GOD can cause a despicable Queen, Vashti, to make an honourable stand so that one better than she, Esther, can become Queen for such a time as this. Consider non-Christians who ‘oppose’ you, and look for ways that God’s Providence is working INthem & THROUGHthem.

  36. Providence & Practice # 4 God can use even man’s failings for His glory and His plan. Is there a past failing that haunts you, that God wants to ‘redeem’?

  37. Providence & Practice # 5 The Bigger Picture Leap forward almost 500 years & see a Jewish baby born in Bethlehem. In the manger was The Lion of the tribe of Judah 1of the tribes saved among 20 million Jews. God was not just saving His people’s lives; He was maintaining the line of descent to their Saviour.

  38. The Bigger Picture Leap forward almost 500 years & see a Jewish baby born in Bethlehem. In the manger was The Lion of the tribe of Judah 1of the tribes saved among 20 million Jews. God was not just saving His people’s lives; He was maintaining the line of descent to their Saviour.

  39. The Bigger Picture Leap forward almost 500 years & see a Jewish baby born in Bethlehem. In the manger was The Lion of the tribe of Judah 1of the tribes saved among 20 million Jews. God was not just saving His people’s lives; He was maintaining the line of descent to their Saviour.

  40. Providence & Practice # 6 A Worldscape Picture Move forward about 30 more years & again see hasty, ill-advised, foolish, proud, angry, disrespectful decisions to crucify the Son of God. Yet God would turn it all to salvation in 3days … “For God so loved the WORLD.” The action in Esther reached forward to the offer of salvation for the whole world.

  41. Providence & Practice # 6 A Worldscape Picture Move forward about 30 more years & again see hasty, ill-advised, foolish, proud, angry, disrespectful decisions to crucify the Son of God. Yet God would turn it all to salvation in 3days … “For God so loved the WORLD.” The action in Esther reached forward to the offer of salvation for the whole world.

  42. Providence & Practice #6 A Worldscape Picture Move forward about 30 more years & again see hasty, ill-advised, foolish, proud, angry, disrespectful decisions to crucify the Son of God. Yet God would turn it all to salvation in 3days … “For God so loved the WORLD.” The action in Esther reached forward to salvation for the whole world.

  43. Providence & Practice #7 • An Individual Portrait “…that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16b) The action of Esther reaches forward into this room today. * It preserved the line of descent to the Saviour who offers Himself to . . . YOU!

  44. Providence & Practice #7 • An Individual Portrait “…that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16b) The action of Esther reaches forward into this room today. * It preserved the line of descent to the Saviour who offers Himself to . . . YOU!

  45. Providence & Practice #7 An Individual Portrait “…that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16b) The action of Esther reaches forward into this room today. * It preserved the lineage to the Saviour for . . . YOU!

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