F4F | Cindy Jacobs Botches "For Such a Time as This"

Fighting for the Faith

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:15

Welcome to another installment of Fighting for the Faith. My name is Chris Roseborough. I am your servant in Jesus Christ.

00:20

This is the channel that compares what people are saying in the name of God to the Word of God. I must apologize at the beginning of this episode of Fighting for the

00:28

Faith. What you are about to hear could cause your ears to bleed. You're gonna receive a prophetic scolding from Cindy Jacobs and she's not a real prophet.

00:40

She's a false prophetess and I know she sits at the head table, the head chair of the

00:46

Apostolic Council of Prophetic Elders, but not a single one of them actually hears from God and this is no exception.

00:53

Although we're not gonna really listen to her wax prophetic today, instead what we're gonna do is we're gonna be listening to a recent lecture, a portion of it, delivered by her at a conference put on by Patricia King and it's all for women.

01:09

So this is a women's prophetic conference and all the women there got a prophetic scolding by Cindy Jacobs.

01:16

So again, my sincerest apologies. But what we're gonna do today is we're gonna talk about the issue of what's called

01:23

Narcissus. This is a phrase, a concept that I didn't actually come up with a real name for it,

01:31

Narcissus. I oftentimes get credited for coming up with the name. However, I can't remember the name of the person who actually came up with it.

01:39

Narcissus is a term that describes a particular twisting of scripture and back in the days when

01:47

I was doing my podcast on a daily basis, you know, I kept calling it narcissistic isogesis and a listener sent me an email and said, you know, you just stick the two together, it should be called

01:58

Narcissus. And so the phrase has stuck and I get credit for it, although I think that listener really should.

02:05

But alas, but you're gonna hear her narcigeeting a popular text, especially among women's ministry, and it's from the book of Esther, the book of Esther chapter four, perhaps you were born for such a time as this.

02:21

And boy, does that get just totally taken out of context. So what we're gonna do today is we're gonna work our way through a large portion of the book of Esther, kind of counterbalance the prophetic scolding that we're gonna get from Cindy Jacobs.

02:38

But you're gonna know, this is where we're gonna spend most of our time. And I'm going to kind of help kind of frame the problem, because this is something that Americans and people who've grown up in Western civilization often struggle with.

02:51

And that is that everything that you get on television and in the movies, is designed to narcissistically prop you and your ego up.

03:02

You know, it's all about following your heart about you achieving your destiny about you fulfilling your purpose.

03:09

It's about you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you. And boy, you know, it's hard to knock that out of us because our sinful natures legitimately want to hear messages like this.

03:22

So brace yourself, assume the crash position, put your tray tables in the upright and locked position.

03:28

If you have a tinfoil pyramid hat, this would be the time to put it on in order to protect yourself from the false prophetic emanations and radiation that's going to be falling out as a result of what we're going to listen to in the front part of this episode of Fighting for the

03:43

Faith. All I can tell you is you've been warned. So I've taken all the proper precautions and taken the right meds in order to calm myself down.

03:55

I haven't really done that. A little bit of hyperbole, but you're going to see that the hyperbole is, uh, is warranted.

04:03

So let me whirl up the desktop and, uh, yeah, this is a recent composition that I did and the

04:11

C is getting cut off here. And I was thinking about this, you know, because I was like kind of showing off my, my photography, especially if I have a composition that I think is actually decent.

04:20

And I don't know why I haven't done this earlier. So let me, let me pull up my web browser. And that is, is that if you would like to follow me on Instagram, okay, my

04:30

Instagram account does not do theology, apologetics or anything like that. It is purely dedicated to one single focus.

04:38

And that is my tinkering as it relates to photography. And so, uh, you know, the, the, the desktop that I just put up there,

04:47

I posted this minutes before we started hitting the record button for this episode of Fighting for the

04:52

Faith. That's, that's it in its entirety. Um, and so yeah, again, you can kind of see, you know, the method behind the madness and see all of my compositions and, uh, and the things

05:02

I tinker with and things like this. But, uh, so if you're interested in following me on Instagram, it's at PirateChristian, it, you know, it's my

05:09

Instagram account and, uh, would love to get your comments regarding, uh, regarding my photography.

05:15

That's not the place for theology, by the way, it's just not. So, you know, this, this is a compartment of my life that I try to keep away from, uh, theology, apologetics, and heresy because photography is the thing

05:27

I do in order to keep me sane, you know? So anyway, you get the idea. So that, that just, so there, there's the latest one and that's my desktop pattern for right now.

05:38

Anyway, you've been warned. Let's listen in to the beginning portion of, um,

05:46

Cindy Jacobs from Patricia King's recent, uh, Women's Conference. And the name of this message is called

05:53

For Such a Time as This. Here we go. Let's read from the

06:02

Bible. Esther 4, I said this earlier, 13 to 14. And Mordecai told them to answer Esther, do not think in your heart that you will escape in the

06:09

King's palace any more than any, all the other Jews. For if you remain completely silent, say completely silent.

06:16

Let that be, this be an admonishment to you. You cannot be silent in this day. So, no, very beginning of her message, she goes right into Esther 4, completely miss all the context.

06:31

And then she does this thing, uh, say the word, uh, you know, you know, what, what, what word did she have people say?

06:37

You know, uh, Mordecai told them to answer Esther, do not think in your heart that you will escape in the King's palace any more than any, all the other

06:45

Jews. For if you remain completely silent, say completely silent. There it is. And she says, so say completely silent.

06:52

That technique, by the way, that is a mind manipulation technique. And so, uh, years ago on the, uh, audio podcast version of Fighting for the

07:01

Faith, I actually talked about this and, uh, somebody had sent me some links talking about what this practice legitimately does.

07:07

The whole purpose of it is to basically turn off your critical thinking. Let me explain.

07:13

So there are certain subconscious things that you're not aware of going on inside of your brain and inside the vagus nerve.

07:21

And so when you are listening to somebody, uh, who's a false teacher, the false teacher has got to find a way to circumvent your body's natural inclination to go, wait a second, there's something wrong here and throw red flags and start screaming that there's bovine scatology all over the place.

07:39

And so what happens is, is that when somebody gives you an order, they give you a command and they say, say this word, and then everyone says the word.

07:49

What that does on the subconscious level is it turns off your ability to do critical thinking because here's how this works.

07:55

The person has given you a command and you obey it. Your body says, okay, so we can trust this person.

08:03

Yeah. So this is a form of mind control, of manipulation. So if you are attending a church where the pastor's constantly saying, say this word, and then everyone says the word, run.

08:16

This is a person who is intentionally deceiving you and knows a technique in order to get your defenses to turn off so that you won't think critically about them.

08:26

Just think about that. So anyway, that's where she's at. So out of context, we got into Esther 4.

08:32

You were made for such a time as this. And now she's screaming bits and pieces at you of this message.

08:39

Listen to me. Let that be an admonishment to you. You cannot be silent in this day. Stop yelling at me, lady.

08:48

If you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place by you and your father's house.

08:54

Ooh, that's serious. We'll perish. We're talking about generation stuff here. Yet. Say yet.

09:01

Who knows whether you have come to the kingdom, say it with me, for such a time as this.

09:09

Total. Twisting. Narcissistic twisting of this text. That's not what this text is about, and we'll explain, you know, kind of give you a bigger picture to frame this in, and then we'll actually spend a lot of time in the book of Esther very shortly, but let's listen in a little bit more.

09:24

Whenever there are dire circumstances or injustices, God always chooses a deliverer.

09:31

You mean like Jesus? Just asking, you know. Someone who will pay the price to bring the change.

09:41

Yeah, that would be Jesus, not you, not me. We're the problem. So already we can see that there's an issue, and so let me frame it this way.

09:50

I've created just a few slides on a keynote presentation and exported it to HTML, and here's kind of a big thought

09:57

I want you to think about. Narcissistically reading yourself as the hero of biblical text is a twisting of Scripture that tastes great to our fallen sinful nature, but is poisonous to true

10:11

Christian faith and piety, and that's what she's doing. She's reading, she's read about a particular hero of the

10:20

Bible, and that's Esther, and obviously her uncle Mordecai, completely out of context, and as if somehow this is telling you, you, like Esther, are going to save the day.

10:32

You're gonna pay the price, and you're gonna be the one to change the world. Most likely that's not even gonna be close to anything you do in your life, and this puts a heavy burden on people, by the way, but you're gonna note, your sinful fallen nature that you've inherited from Adam and Eve, I have one of them too, loves this stuff.

10:56

Oh man, just eats it up. Oh, I am so, I am so important. It's about time that God recognizes just how important that I am.

11:06

In fact, He knows how important I am. That's why He made me for such a time as this.

11:13

Yeah, this is a complete narcissistic twisting of Scripture, hence the phrase narcissism.

11:20

Narcissism is self -love and eisegesis is reading yourself into this text. You and I are not in the story of Esther.

11:27

It's not about you, it's not about me. That doesn't mean that there are not real legitimate applications as we look at this text to help us to relate to the difficulties that we find ourselves in.

11:40

But here's the thing, is that the majority, and I mean this, this is not by any stretch the totality, but the majority of evangelicals today have about this much depth of understanding as it relates not only to the

11:54

Bible, but church history. And there's a big problem as it relates within the

11:59

American churches, and I would even say Western churches as a whole. This is a problem still in Western Europe, as well as in Australia and other places where Western civilization is pretty much embedded itself and everyone's watching the same

12:12

TV shows on Netflix, okay? Kind of get the idea. And that is, is that we have very little understanding of history in general.

12:21

But when it comes to church history or the fact that there have been Christians who have led the way before us, who have wrestled through biblical texts, who are legitimately great guides in helping us to find the real treasure, the real meaning, and the real depth of Scripture, people in the

12:39

Western churches not only do not listen to them, they're completely oblivious to them, and they're culturally set up in such a way that they don't, not only do they not know that they exist, if they were told they exist, they wouldn't have the time or patience to deal with that, and that is a problem.

12:57

And so, there's a cartoon that I like to point people to in this regard.

13:02

If you guys remember Charles Scholl's and the Peanuts cartoon. So, here's

13:08

Charlie Brown's sister, and she's writing an essay on church history. And so, she's written in cursive.

13:15

Who does that anymore, by the way? Who writes in cursive? Church history. And then, here's what she says, when writing about church history, we have to go back to the very beginning.

13:25

Our pastor was born in 1930. Now, we have to update this today.

13:32

So, our pastor was born in 1974, 1986, something like this.

13:39

But the point is, is that that shows just how far back Christians go in regard to church history.

13:49

That's about it. Back to the boomer generation at this point, as if somehow everybody who comes before that doesn't matter.

14:00

And as a result of it, we've completely cut ourselves off. And boy, is that a mess. It is a real problem, because the reality is, is that if you were to read and understand the writings of the church fathers, you would not be able to engage in narcissistic eisegesis.

14:16

So, how then are we to understand the story of Esther? And I'm going to frame it in a couple of ways.

14:23

Number one, we're going to note that the theme of the exile is kind of the overarching theme that we need to be looking at here.

14:31

And I'll show you why this works here in a second. But if you think back, okay, back into the history of Judah, they, like the northern kingdom of Israel, went into full apostasy mode, impenitent idolatry, ever -increasing wickedness.

14:49

It was a complete mess. And God sent prophet after prophet after prophet to call them to repentance and to get them out of idolatry.

15:00

And God assured them that he would forgive them of their sins. But did they repent of their idolatry? No. And sometimes apostasy, like cancer, is so, it gets so bad that extreme measures are the only chance that you have of curing the patient of the disease.

15:20

And so, what did God do? Okay, after the prophet Jeremiah, God sent

15:25

Judah into exile in Babylon for 70 years.

15:32

And by the time they came back at the, you know, so read Ezra and Nehemiah. But when they came back, there was a revival of the love and the reading and the hearing and the understanding of God's Word.

15:45

And so, let's just say exile cured them of a lot of things. But the exile itself is a type and shadow, if you would, of, well, the very

15:54

Christian life that we live in. And let me show it to you from Scripture. So, in 1 Peter chapter 1,

16:00

Peter begins, Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who are elect exiles,

16:09

Christians, we are exiles. Think of it this way. Have you ever been to the

16:16

New Jerusalem? Nope. Neither have I. Have you set foot in the glorified kingdom of Christ, which will appear when

16:28

Jesus appears in glory to judge the living of the dead? No. So, the idea here is that every

16:34

Christian needs to take this mindset upon themselves. Doesn't matter if you live in the United States, doesn't matter if you live in Western Europe or Australia or other parts of the world,

16:43

Nigeria, South Africa, wherever you live. You, as a Christian, were born in exile.

16:50

Exile from Christ's kingdom itself. Name for me one of the streets in the

16:58

New Jerusalem. How many parks does it have? What's the favorite meeting spot for people there in the

17:07

New Jerusalem? You don't know because you've never been there. Neither have I. So, we were born in exile, born under the dominion of darkness, and that's what

17:16

Babylon represents in the book of Revelation. I kind of think of it that way. And as a result of it, there's a time when we will be allowed to go home, but not now.

17:27

So, every Christian is now an exile, and we are waiting to return to Jerusalem, or in our cases, go there for the first time, right?

17:39

So, to those who are elect exiles of the dispersion and Pontius, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the

17:47

Father and the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for the sprinkling with his blood.

17:53

May grace and peace be multiplied to you. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

17:59

According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance that is, and listen to what we're gonna inherit as Christians, an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power you are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

18:24

So, in this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith, which is more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

18:42

Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you have not, you do not now see him, you believe in him.

18:48

And you rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, which is the salvation of your souls.

18:59

This is good stuff. This is just the introductory thoughts here in Peter's first epistle. Now, concerning the salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours, they searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the

19:14

Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories.

19:20

It was revealed to them that they were not serving, that they were serving not themselves, but they were serving you in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preach the good news to you by the

19:31

Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which even the angels long to look. So therefore, preparing your minds for action and being sober -minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

19:47

And this is an important aspect of being a Christian. We have one foot in this world, and we have to operate here as if we're gonna be here for a long time, but we also have one foot in the hope of the world to come when

19:59

Jesus returns, and we hope that Jesus will return any minute now.

20:05

But we are prepared to stay in exile as long as is necessary, right? So, as obedient children, then, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance.

20:15

But as he who called you is holy, and also you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, you shall be holy, for I am holy.

20:24

And if you call on him as father, who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, listen to, again, the words, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the feudal ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

20:47

He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you, who through him you are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are now in God.

21:04

All right, good stuff. And here we, again, you'll note, in the opening chapter of 1 Peter, the concept of exile comes up twice, and we are instructed by God the

21:14

Holy Spirit, who is the common author of all of Scripture, that we are to conduct ourselves with fear, fear towards God, love towards others, throughout the time of our exile.

21:26

How long is our exile? As long as you're alive, you are in exile. Or, when Christ returns, the exile is over once and for all.

21:34

And so, we are to conduct ourselves with fear during the time of our exile. That being the case, when you look then at the

21:40

Old Testament text as it relates to the exile. So, Esther is going to be one of those books. You're going to get parts of Jeremiah.

21:48

The tale of Jeremiah is a great place also to see this theme. The book of Lamentations. Also, you need to take a look at Daniel and Ezekiel.

21:58

These are books as it relates to the exile. And Esther is a unique book. The reason why

22:04

Esther is so unique is because God's name in God himself is never mentioned directly in the text.

22:13

He is assumed. And so, if you were to kind of think about it, is that we as Christians, Christ has promised us in this lifetime suffering and persecution.

22:23

The one who believes in him is going to suffer, and Christ is our master. And if they crucified him, what kind of treatment do you think the world's going to give you as a

22:33

Christian? So, we should expect suffering and persecution. And so, if you would, Esther stands out as a kind of one story of the exile that gives us hope and also gives us some things that we can emulate and a mindset that we can, again, copy ourselves during the time of our exile.

22:59

Esther and Mordecai were in exile. So are you, and so am I. They were in dire danger.

23:05

So are you, and so am I. And so, we can see by the examples of the saints how we are to conduct ourselves then during the time of our exile.

23:17

And so, here we're not reading ourselves into this text. In fact, we're not even making ourselves heroes at all.

23:23

We are looking to people who bonafide through faith accomplished things that are amazing, but God is the one working behind the scenes.

23:32

And their example of their piety, of their fear of God, how they prayed to God and called out to him in the time of their dire circumstances stands as an example for us to follow as well.

23:44

And that's a lot different than narcissistically reading yourself into the text as if you're the hero.

23:50

You're not. I'm not. But you'll note that even if we perish as Christians, the day that we perish, our exile's over.

23:58

We finally get to go home. So it's important to keep that one foot in the hope that is in the future, that we will come into fullness when we die or when

24:10

Christ returns. Get the idea here. So all that being said, let's take a look at the story of Esther, and we're gonna be reading a large swath of this thing.

24:19

So, you know, just buckle up. It's a great story if you haven't read it, but read yourself into it.

24:26

Let the text stand as an example of what saintly, biblical, believing believers, believing believers, how they conducted themselves during the time of their exile.

24:40

And two of them are standing out here, Mordecai and Esther. So in the days of Ahasuerus, the

24:47

Ahasuerus who reigned from India to Ethiopia, over 127 provinces.

24:53

This guy has got a huge empire. In those days when King Ahasuerus sat on his royal throne in Susa, the citadel, in the third year of his reign, he gave a feast for all of his officials and servants.

25:07

The army of Persia and Media and the nobles and the governors of the provinces were before him.

25:13

And while he showed the riches of his royal glory and the splendor and the pomp of his greatness for many days, 180, and when these days were completed, the king gave for all the people present in Susa, the citadel, both great and small, a feast lasting for seven days in the court of the garden of the king's palace.

25:35

There were white cotton curtains and violet hangings fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rods and marble pillars and also couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry marble, mother of pearl and precious stones.

25:56

Drinks were served in golden vessels, vessels of different kinds, and the royal wine was lavished according to the bounty of the king.

26:04

And drinking was according to this edict. There is no compulsion for the king had given orders to all the staff of his palace to do as each man desired.

26:15

Queen Vashti also gave a feast for the women in the palace that belonged to King Ahasuerus.

26:21

On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mahuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Ab -Gathha,

26:32

Gzathar, and Karkas. These Persian names are a little difficult. The seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus to bring

26:41

Queen Vashti before the king with her royal crown in order to show the people and the princes her beauty, for she was lovely to look at.

26:50

Now, obviously, there's some underlying narcissistic, self -centered motivation for what he's doing here, but Queen Vashti refused to come at the king's command delivered by the eunuchs.

27:04

At this, the king became enraged and his anger burned within him. Then the king said to the wise men who knew the times, for this was the king's procedure toward all who were versed in law and judgment, the men next to him being

27:18

Karshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish Merez, Marcena, and Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media, who saw the king's face and sat first in the kingdom.

27:34

According to the law, what is to be done to Queen Vashti because she has not performed the command of King Ahasuerus delivered by the eunuchs.

27:42

Then Memucan said in the presence of the king and the officials, not only against the king has

27:50

Queen Vashti done wrong, but also against all the officials and all the peoples who are in the provinces of King Ahasuerus, for the queen's behavior will be made known to all women, causing them to look at their husbands with contempt, since they will say

28:03

King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him and she did not come.

28:09

This very day the noble women of Persia and Media who have heard of the queen's behavior will say the same to all the king's officials and there will be contempt and wrath in plenty.

28:21

And if it please the king, let a royal order go out from him and let it be written among the laws of the

28:29

Persians and the Medes so that it may not be repealed, that Vashti is never again to come before King Ahasuerus and let the king give her royal position to another who is better than she.

28:42

So when the decree made by the king is proclaimed throughout all of his kingdom, for it is a vast, it is vast, all women will give honor to their husbands high and low alike.

28:52

Now this advice pleased the king and the princes and the king did as Memucan proposed and he sent letters to all the royal princes, to every province in its own script and to every people in its own language, that every man be master in his own household and speak according to the language of his people.

29:14

Okay, yeah, so this is an interesting thing. Now one of the things you could do here, just kind of pointing this out exegetically, is you can make the comparison then between King Ahasuerus and Jesus.

29:29

And let me show you how you make that connection. In the book of Ephesians chapter 5,

29:34

Ephesians chapter 5, you have this text that everybody knows these three verses, but few have really pondered the next ones.

29:46

So listen to Ephesians chapter 5 starting at verse 22. This kind of lays out how a

29:52

Christian does good works, and watch how Christ gets pulled into this. Wives, submit to your own husbands as to the

29:58

Lord, for the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, his body and is himself its

30:04

Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

30:12

And the wives sit there and go, what? Here's the next part though, and this is where Jesus comes in.

30:21

Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, so that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

30:45

You're going to note that Jesus' bride, the church, doesn't have a very good history.

30:52

Let's just kind of put it that way. Morally sketchy beyond all reason, but what does Christ do with his rebellious, sinful wife?

31:03

He cleanses her of all of her unrighteousness, washes her with water and the word, and he presents her to himself in splendor, without wrinkle or spot.

31:16

He's the one who does all the cleaning and cleans up. So you're going to note, Jesus as a husband isn't anything like King Ahasuerus, and you're going to note, this is how

31:26

Christian husbands are supposed to be towards their wives. And you sit there and go, now let me ask you a question.

31:33

If Christian husbands loved their wives this way, would wives have a problem submitting to them?

31:41

Just saying, working that out. So everyone wants to put the emphasis here, but the emphasis needs to be here.

31:50

It needs to be on the husbands. Husbands, you are to be Christ -like. You are to be forgiving of your wives, kind, merciful, slow to anger.

32:00

And when she sins against you, you are the one in the lead, forgiving her, washing her, caring for her, presenting her to yourself in splendor, covering over her sins, forgiving as you are forgiven in Christ.

32:16

You need to exemplify that love that Christ has for his bride, the

32:21

Church. Exemplify that in your own marriage, right? So that he might present the

32:28

Church to himself in splendor, without spot, wrinkle, or any such thing, so that she might be holy without blemish.

32:33

In the same way, husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.

32:39

For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes it and cherishes it, just as Christ does the Church, because we are members of his body.

32:46

Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother, and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.

32:53

Now this mystery is profound. Here Paul is quoting from the book of Genesis, chapter 2.

32:59

A man leaving his father and mother, cleaving to his wife. And watch what he says. This mystery is profound. What mystery?

33:04

The mystery of the words of Genesis 2? Right. That's the mystery.

33:10

This mystery is profound, and I'm saying it, this passage, refers to Christ in the Church. Marriage is a type and shadow of Christ's love for his bride, the

33:20

Church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

33:26

Yeah, women, wives need to respect their husbands. But I would note here, is that when husbands love their wives sacrificially, the way

33:34

Christ loves the Church, men are respectable, and they earn respect from their wives.

33:39

Keep that in mind. So in our story so far, here in the book of Esther, we have a good little comparative point.

33:48

But this now is the setup in the story where Esther will now come onto the scene. So after these things, when the anger of King Ahasuerus had abated, he remembered

33:57

Vashti and what she had done, and what had been decreed against her. Notice he didn't forgive her sins.

34:03

And then the king's young men who attended him saying, said, well, let beautiful young virgins be sought out for the king, and let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom to gather all the beautiful young virgins to the harem in Susa, the citadel, under custody of Haggai, the king's eunuch who is in charge of the women.

34:23

Let cosmetics be given to them, and let the young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of So this pleased the king, and he did so.

34:34

Now there was a Jew in Susa, the citadel, whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, a

34:41

Benjamite, who had been carried away from Jerusalem among the captives carried away with Jeconiah, the king of Judah, whom

34:49

Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had carried away. So he's been in exile for some time.

34:55

And you're gonna note, a lot of his relatives lost their lives in Nebuchadnezzar's campaign against Judah.

35:04

He was bringing up Hadassah, that is Esther, the daughter of his uncle, for she had neither father nor mother.

35:12

They probably died in Nebuchadnezzar's campaign. The young woman had a beautiful figure and was lovely to look at.

35:21

And when her father and her mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter. So when the king's order and edict were proclaimed, and when many young women were gathered in Susa, the citadel, in custody of Haggai, Esther also was taken into the king's palace and put in custody, in custody of Haggai, who had charge of the women.

35:42

The young woman pleased him and won his favor, and he quickly provided her with cosmetics and her portion of food, and with seven chosen young women from the king's palace, and advanced her and her young women to the best place in the harem.

35:57

Esther had not made known her people or kindred, for Mordecai had commanded her not to make it known.

36:04

And every day Mordecai walked in front of the court of the harem to learn how Esther was and what was happening to her.

36:12

Now when the turn came for each young woman to go in to King Ahasuerus, after being 12 months under the regulations for the women, since this was the regular period of their beautifying, six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with spices and ointment for women, and when the young woman went in to the king in this way, she was given whatever she desired to take with her from the harem to the king's palace.

36:35

In the evening she would go in, and in the morning she would return to the second harem in custody of Sha 'ashgaz, the king's eunuch, who was in charge of the concubines.

36:47

She would not go into the king again unless the king delighted in her, and she was summoned by name.

36:53

When the turn came for Esther, the daughter of Abahel, the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her as his own daughter to go in to the king, she asked for nothing except what

37:05

Haggai, the king's eunuch, who had charge of the women, advised. Now Esther was winning favor in the eyes of all who saw her, and when

37:13

Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus into his royal palace in the tenth month, which is the month of Tibet, in the seventh year of his reign, the king loved

37:24

Esther more than all the women, and she won grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.

37:36

Then the king gave a great feast for all his officials and servants. It was Esther's feast.

37:42

He also granted a remission of taxes to the provinces and gave gifts with royal generosity.

37:50

Now when the virgins were gathered together the second time, Mordecai was sitting at the king's gate. Esther had not made known her kindred or her people, and this continues to be a theme here.

38:00

It's an important one because it'll become a detail that is a vital to the story. As Mordecai had commanded her, for Esther obeyed

38:07

Mordecai just as when she was brought up by him. In those days, as Mordecai was sitting at the king's gate,

38:13

Bigthon and Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs who guarded the threshold, became angry and sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus.

38:21

And this came to the knowledge of Mordecai. Now note here, Mordecai is a

38:26

Jew in exile in Babylon, and he is not of the same people as the

38:33

Babylonians, but he is doing exactly what God commanded. And let me explain what

38:39

I mean by that. If you go to Jeremiah chapter 29, God had

38:46

Jeremiah dictate a letter to the exiles in Babylon, and it was necessary for this letter to go out because when they got swept up and then taken into exile in Babylon, there were a lot of false prophets among them.

39:02

And they were saying, oh, don't unpack your bags, we're only gonna be here for a short amount of time, and all this kind of nonsense, totally contradicting what

39:09

God said. God said, you're gonna be there for 70 years. And so here we have the account of this letter, and this is something that then plays into the story of Esther.

39:20

These are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders of the exiles and to the priests, the prophets, and all people whom

39:28

Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. This was after King Jeconiah and the

39:34

Queen Mother, the eunuchs and the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen and the metal workers, had departed from Jerusalem.

39:39

The letter was sent by the hand of Eliasah, the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah, the son of Hilkiah, whom

39:46

Zedekiah, king of Judah, sent to Babylon. To Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, it said thus.

39:53

All right, so here's the letter. Thus says Yahweh, the God of armies, the Lord of armies, the

39:59

God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent. Note who sent them there. God did, not the devil.

40:06

God sent them into exile. Okay, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.

40:13

Build houses, live in them. Plant gardens, eat their produce. Take wives, have sons and daughters.

40:20

Take wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters. Multiply there, do not decrease.

40:28

And seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile.

40:34

In other words, don't try to undermine the government there. Instead, seek the welfare of the government there.

40:41

Seek the welfare of the city where I send you. Pray to Yahweh on its behalf and for its welfare.

40:49

And for in its welfare, you will find your welfare. For thus says Yahweh Sabaoth, the

40:54

God of armies, the God of Israel. Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams that they dream, for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name.

41:04

I did not send them, declares Yahweh. For thus says Yahweh, when 70 years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place.

41:17

Now, this is an important thing here, because we can see a pattern emerging in Scripture.

41:23

And it goes something like this. Just like God fulfilled his promise to the exiles of Judah, and then he indeed visited them, and he indeed fulfilled his promises, and he brought them back.

41:36

In that same way, God is going to fulfill his promises to all

41:41

Christians, and he will bring them safely into the new earth. And he's going to raise them from the dead, and they will live forever in a world without end.

41:51

Just read parts of the prophet Isaiah or the end part of the book of Revelation.

41:57

In that same way, so you'll note then, this exile theme applies to us as Christians, because God is going to make good his promise.

42:04

Christ is going to visit planet earth, bring an end to sin and injustice and the devil, and bring it all to a cataclysmic halt.

42:13

And he's going to establish his kingdom here on earth. And just like he fulfilled his promises to the exiles, he's going to fulfill the promises to us.

42:23

So that's kind of the big idea here. So when I come back then to the story of Esther, you'll note that Mordecai is doing exactly what

42:31

God has commanded him to do, seek the welfare of the people where you are in exile. So you'll note,

42:37

Mordecai could have thrown his hat in with these two eunuchs and tried to undo the life of King Ahasuerus.

42:48

But he knows that God says to seek the welfare of the place where you're going. So what does he do?

42:54

In loyalty to God and obedience to God and to King Ahasuerus, when

43:02

Mordecai gets word of this insurgency, this attempt to take the life of King Ahasuerus, he alerts the officials.

43:10

Rather than participate in it, he uncovers it. So, and this came to the knowledge of Mordecai, he told it to Queen Esther.

43:18

Esther told the king in the name of Mordecai, when the affair was investigated and found to be so, the men were both hanged on the gallows and it was recorded in the book of the

43:28

Chronicles in the presence of the king. After these things, King Ahasuerus promoted Haman, the

43:35

Agagite, the son of Hamadatha, and advanced him and set his throne above all the officials who were with him.

43:42

Now Haman is an extremely self -centered, horribly self -centered egotistical man.

43:50

And all the king's servants who were at the king's gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman, for the king had so commanded concerning him.

43:57

But Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage. Can't do it. I refuse to worship a man, Mordecai's attitude is.

44:03

Indeed, you'll note this is similar to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refusing to bow down to the golden idol, right?

44:10

So then the king's servants who were at the king's gate said to Mordecai, why do you transgress the king's command?

44:15

And when they spoke to him day after day, he would not listen to them. And they told Haman in order to see whether Mordecai's word would stand, for he had told them that he was a

44:25

Jew. And when Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage to him, Haman was filled with fury.

44:31

But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone. So as they had made known to him the people of Mordecai, Haman sought to destroy all the

44:41

Jews. It's a similar thing. You Christians won't behave, we're gonna destroy all of you.

44:47

That's the idea here. So the people of Mordecai throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus.

44:53

So in the first month, which is the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, they cast purr, that is they cast lots before Haman day after day.

45:03

Casting lots like this is a form of divination or astrology or something like that, right?

45:09

They cast it month after month until the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar. Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, there is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom.

45:23

Their laws are different from those of every other people, and they do not keep the king's laws so that it is not to the king's profit to tolerate them.

45:31

And if it pleased the king, let it be decreed that they be destroyed, and I will pay 10 ,000 talents of silver into the hands of those who have charge of the king's business, that they may put it into the king's treasury.

45:44

Betraying Jews for silver, huh? That seems to be a thing here. That's what happened to Christ, right?

45:50

So the king took his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman, the Agagite, and the son of Hamadatha, and the enemy of the

45:57

Jews. And the king said to Haman, the money is given to you, the people also, to do with them as it seems good to you.

46:04

Uh -oh. Yep. So then the king's scribes were summoned on the 13th day of the first month, and an edict according to all that Haman commanded was written to the king's satraps and to the governors over all the provinces, to the officials of all the peoples, to every province in its own script, and every people in its own language.

46:22

It was written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king's signet ring. Letters were sent by couriers to all the king's provinces with instructions to destroy, to kill, to annihilate all

46:34

Jews, young and old, women and children in one day, the 13th day of the 12th month, which is the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods.

46:43

A copy of the document was to be issued as a decree in every province by proclamation to all the peoples to be ready for that day.

46:51

The couriers went out hurriedly by order of the king, and the decree was issued in Susa, the citadel, and the king and Haman sat down to drink.

46:59

The city of Susa was thrown into confusion. When Mordecai learned all that had been done,

47:06

Mordecai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, and he went into the midst of the city, and he cried out with a loud and bitter cry.

47:14

He went up to the entrance of the king's gate, for no one was allowed to enter the king's gate clothed in sackcloth.

47:19

And in every province, wherever the king's command and his decree reached, there was great mourning among the

47:25

Jews. With what? Fasting, weeping, lamenting, and many of them lay in sackcloth and ashes.

47:35

Why? They're praying to God to deliver them. God is the one who sent them, and now they are facing extinction.

47:46

Do you think God's gonna let this stand? Of course not, right? God will deliver them.

47:52

Now, when Esther's young women and her eunuchs came and told her, the queen was deeply distressed.

47:58

She sent garments to clothe Mordecai so that he might take off his sackcloth, but he would not accept them.

48:04

Then Esther called for Hathach, one of the king's eunuchs who had been appointed to attend her, and he ordered him to go to Mordecai to learn what this was and why it was.

48:15

Hathach went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in the front of the king's gate, and Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and the exact sum of money the

48:23

Haman had promised to pay into the king's treasury for the destruction of the Jews. Mordecai also gave him a copy of the written decree issued in Susa for their destruction, that he might show it to Esther and explain it to her, and commanded her to go to the king to beg his favor and plead with him on behalf of her people.

48:42

And Hathach went and told Esther what Mordecai had said. Then Esther spoke to Hathach and commanded him to go to Mordecai and say, all the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law to be put to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter, so that he may live.

49:09

But as for me, I have not been called to come into the king these thirty days. And as they told

49:15

Mordecai what Esther had said, then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, do not think yourself that in the king's palace you will escape any more than all the other

49:25

Jews. If they're going to kill every one of us, they're going to kill you too, Esther. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the

49:34

Jews from another place. But you and your father's house, it will perish. And who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this.

49:43

And here's the thing. This isn't about you. This is about Esther.

49:50

And you're going to note that Mordecai is refusing to presume that he knows the way in which

49:58

God will deliver them. But he's confident and has faith that God will. So he cannot assure

50:06

Esther that if she acts and speaks out, that she will not be destroyed.

50:12

She might be. God will deliver them. He's sure of that.

50:17

But maybe, just maybe, let us not presume to know the will of God here, but let us humble ourselves.

50:24

That's the point of this text. So then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, go gather all the

50:29

Jews to be found in Susa and hold a fast on my behalf. Do not eat or drink three days, night or day.

50:40

Three days. Huh. That three -day stuff in Scripture is a big deal, right? Three days, night or day.

50:48

I and my young women will also fast as you do. And then I will go to the king, though it is against the law.

50:55

And if I perish, I perish. Mordecai then went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.

51:02

No, she's not acting presumptuously. She is calling for prayer. She is humbling herself in prayer.

51:09

She's having all of the women who attend to her humble themselves and fast and pray. She's not gonna eat for three days.

51:17

Hmm. Now, here's where church history helps.

51:22

Let me explain. Let me come back over here. Okay. Remember here.

51:32

Church history. When writing about church history, we have to go back to the very beginning. Our pastor was born in 1930.

51:38

Balagh. That's not church history. Let's take a look at how the ancient churches handled this text.

51:47

Far different than the way Cindy Jacobs has. This is origin. But what use is there to recall all the examples of those who, because they prayed as they ought, received great favors from God?

52:04

Everyone can choose for himself many examples from the scriptures. Anna obtained the birth of Samuel, who was reckoned with Moses, because when she was barren, she prayed to the

52:15

Lord with faith. And Hezekiah, being still childless and having learned from Isaiah that he was about to die, prayed and then was included in the genealogy of the

52:26

Savior. Again, when as a result of a single order arising from the intrigues of Haman, the people were about to be destroyed, the prayer and fasting of Mordecai and Esther were heard.

52:38

And hence there arose, in addition to the feast ordained by Moses, the festival of Mordecai for the people.

52:44

The feast of Purim. That's the feast that came about as this. So you're gonna know origin. How does he see this?

52:49

He sees this as an example of what? God answering prayer, of people humbling themselves and beseeching

52:56

God in a time of great trial or need. How about Clement of Rome? Clement of Rome.

53:02

Here's what he writes. Many women, fortified by the grace of God, have accomplished many heroic actions.

53:09

The Blessed Judith, when the city was besieged, asked permission of the elders to be allowed to go into the foreigner's camp.

53:14

By exposing herself to danger, she went out for love of her country and of the people who were besieged.

53:20

And the Lord delivered Halafernes into the hand of a woman. To no less danger did

53:27

Esther, who was perfect in faith, expose herself in order to save the twelve tribes of Israel that were to be destroyed.

53:37

For by fasting and humiliation, she begged all the all -seeing master of the ages.

53:47

And he, seeing the meekness of her soul, rescued the people for whose sake she had faced danger.

53:57

See, that puts a different spin on this altogether. As she said, right?

54:03

As she said, if I perish, I perish. But she asked for prayer. This is a woman of faith.

54:11

And that's the point. So on the third day, Esther put on her royal robes, stood in the inner courts of the king's palace, in front of the king's quarters, while the king was sitting on his royal throne inside the throne room opposite the entrance to the palace.

54:26

And when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, and see, this is the moment right here.

54:34

She is walking on the razor's edge. She is either going to die and be put to death for coming when she was not cold, or the king will have mercy on her.

54:49

When the king saw Esther standing in the court, she won his favor in his sight, and he held out to Esther, the golden scepter that was in his hand.

55:02

Today's books have nothing on the Bible. Nothing. So then Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter.

55:09

And the king said to her, what is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given to you, even to the half of my kingdom.

55:17

And Esther says, if it please the king, let the king and Haman come today to a feast that I have prepared for the king.

55:23

And then the king said, bring Haman quickly, so that we may do as Esther has asked. So the king and Haman came to the feast that Esther had prepared.

55:31

And as they were drinking wine after the feast, the king said to Esther, what is your wish? It shall be granted to you.

55:37

And what is your request? Even to half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled. When Esther answered, my wish and my request is that if I have found favor in your sight, the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my wish and fulfill my request, let

55:50

King Haman come to the feast that I will prepare for them, and tomorrow I will do as the king has said.

55:57

So Haman went out that day joyful and glad of heart. But when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate, that he neither rose nor trembled before him, he was filled with wrath against Mordecai.

56:10

Nevertheless, Haman restrained himself and went home. And he sent and brought his friends and his wife

56:16

Zeresh. And Haman recounted to them the splendor of his riches, the number of his sons, all the promotions with which the king had honored him, and how he had advanced him above the officials and the servants of the king.

56:29

All who are narcissists pay attention. This is a text written against you.

56:36

Then Haman said to Queen, even Queen Esther, let no one, let no one but me come with the king to the feast that she had prepared, and tomorrow also

56:46

I am invited by her together with the king. Yet all his worth is nothing to me so long as I see

56:53

Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate. And then his wife Zeresh and his friends said to him, well let a gallows fifty cubits high be made, and in the morning tell the king to have

57:03

Mordecai hanged upon it. Then go joyfully with the king to the feast.

57:09

This idea pleased Haman, and he had the gallows made. You think

57:14

God's gonna let this stand? You think God's not gonna rescue Mordecai, who has humbled himself in sackcloth and ashes, beseeching

57:24

God to have mercy and to deliver them? And you're gonna know, the reason why

57:30

Mordecai refuses to cower and to bend the knee and bow before this fellow is because he's a

57:37

Jew. He bows only to God. You think God's not gonna rescue him? So on that night, the king could not sleep.

57:46

You'll note God is working behind the scenes here, and that's the point. This is a story of exiles like you and like me.

57:56

We can't see God, but he works behind the scenes. Humble yourself.

58:02

Ask him in prayer. Beseech him on your behalf and the behalf of others to come and to rescue you from you and deliver you from your oppressions, from your suffering, from your difficulties.

58:14

He hears. This isn't a coincidence that happens next. On that night, the king could not sleep.

58:20

He gave orders to bring the Book of the Memorable Deeds, the Chronicles, and they were read before the king.

58:26

And it was found written how Mordecai had told about Big Thanah and Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs who guarded the threshold and who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus.

58:37

And the king said, What honor or distinction has been bestowed on Mordecai for this? And the king's young men who attended him said,

58:45

Nothing has been done for him. And the king said, Who was in the court?

58:52

Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king's to speak to the king about having

58:57

Mordecai hanged on the gallows that he had prepared for him. And the king's young men told him,

59:04

Haman is there standing in the court. And the king said, Well, let him come in. So Haman came in and the king said to him,

59:11

What should be done to the man whom the king delights to honor? Of course, Haman thinks it's about him.

59:18

And Haman said to himself, Well, whom would the king delight to honor more than me? And Haman said to the king, For the man whom the king delights to honor, let royal robes be brought, which the king has worn, and the horse that the king has ridden, and on whose head a royal crown is set.

59:33

And let the robes and the horse be handed over to one of the king's most noble officials and let them dress the man whom the king delights to honor, and let them lead him on the horse through the square of the city proclaiming before him.

59:45

Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor. And then the king said to Haman, Hurry, take the robes and the horse, as you have said, and do so to Mordecai the

59:56

Jew, who sits at the king's gate. Leave nothing that you have mentioned. Leave out nothing that you have mentioned.

01:00:02

So Haman took the robes and the horse, and he dressed Mordecai and led him through the square of the city, proclaiming before him,

01:00:10

Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor. And then

01:00:16

Mordecai returned to the king's gate, but Haman hurried to his house, mourning, and with his head covered.

01:00:24

And Haman told his wife Zeresh and his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and his wife

01:00:32

Zeresh said to him, If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of the Jewish people, you will not overcome him, but you will surely fall before him.

01:00:43

They can see what's going on. They know that God's hand is against Haman.

01:00:51

They can see that this isn't going to work out. So while they were still talking with him, the king's eunuchs arrived and hurried to bring

01:00:57

Haman to the feast that Esther had prepared. So the king and Haman went into the feast with Queen Esther.

01:01:03

And on the second day, as they were drinking wine after the feast, the king again said to Esther, What is your wish, Queen Esther?

01:01:09

It shall be granted to you. And what is your request? Even to half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.

01:01:15

And then Queen Esther answered, If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be granted me for my wish and my people for my request.

01:01:26

Please spare my life and my people. This is such a great story.

01:01:39

And God is faithful in the midst of all this, although he is not mentioned by name in this book.

01:01:45

Of course, he's the one working behind the scenes. He still is for exiles like you and like me.

01:01:54

We dare not stop calling out to him, praying to him, beseeching him to have mercy on us.

01:02:00

So she says, If it please the king, let my life be granted me for my wish and my people for my request.

01:02:07

For we have been sold, I and my people to be destroyed and to be killed and to be annihilated. If I, if we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women,

01:02:16

I would have been silent for our affliction is not to be compared with the loss to the king. So then

01:02:21

King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, Who is he? Where is he? Who has dared to do this?

01:02:27

And Esther said, A foe, an enemy, this wicked Haman. Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen.

01:02:33

And the king arose in his wrath from drinking wine, drinking and went into the palace garden.

01:02:39

But Haman stayed to for his life from the queen, from Queen Esther, for he saw that harm was determined against him by the king.

01:02:47

And the king returned from the palace garden to the place where they were drinking wine as Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was.

01:02:55

And the king said, Will he even assault the queen in my presence in my own house? As the word left the mouth of the king, they covered

01:03:03

Haman's face. Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king said,

01:03:09

Moreover, the gallows that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, whose word saved the king is standing at Haman's house, 50 cubits high.

01:03:17

And the king said, Hang him on it. So they hanged

01:03:22

Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. And then the wrath of the king was abated.

01:03:29

I'll let you finish the book yourself. But you get the idea. This is so much better, so much deeper than so many people, including

01:03:42

Cindy Jacobs and their complete botched mishandling of these texts. These texts are written for our instruction.

01:03:51

They are written for our comfort. They are written to convict us of our sins and assure us that the same

01:03:58

God who made good his promises and he did visit his people, he did bring them out of exile, he will do the same for all

01:04:08

Christians. He himself, Christ, God in human flesh, came and sojourned among us.

01:04:16

He himself was an exile who was made a servant, a slave of humanity, serving us so that we can be forgiven and pardoned.

01:04:28

And you'll note that the church is the bride of Christ. Jesus is

01:04:33

King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And he has taken away her sins, your sins and mine.

01:04:39

Do you think he will not be attentive to you when you confidently enter the throne room of Christ and say, dear

01:04:47

Lord Jesus, have mercy on me and my fellow Christians? Now you see it, right?

01:04:56

It's beautiful. It requires some application. It requires you to apply yourself, to learn, to put away all of your stupid ideas that church history just began five minutes ago and join the rest of the church throughout the ages as they've worked their way through these texts and consider how they've read and understood them and recognize that women like Cindy Jacobs, she's a wingnut wackerdoodle.

01:05:27

See if her words sound true now, having gone through this large portion of scripture.

01:05:32

And there is always a price. Because when a deliverer comes into Satan's territory, chaos ensues.

01:05:44

If you're going in to be a deliverer into whatever sector of society, I tell you, and if you're a disruptor, we are

01:05:51

God's disruptors. We are God's disruptive technology.

01:05:58

AI got nothing on us. And so when we come in, listen, it's just like going to take the promised land.

01:06:04

When the children of Israel went in to take the promised land, there were what? What was there? Giants.

01:06:11

No giants. You're only a visitor. You're only a tourist. That is not your land. You're going the wrong way.

01:06:17

So don't be whining when the giants show up. Thankfully, there are no giants in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

01:06:24

I haven't run into a single one yet. Let you be one that says

01:06:34

I killed the lion and I killed the bear. Who are you uncircumcised Philistine? You giant who dares defy the armies of the most high

01:06:42

God. This woman has no understanding of the Bible at all. None.

01:06:48

This is just just a foam of foolishness. When the plagues come and you're a prophet and we watch all of, you know, we read the full counsel of the word of God.

01:07:04

We know from the New Testament point of view that the prophet came out of the wilderness with locusts.

01:07:10

He ate locusts, probably had a piece of locust. You're not John the Baptist. And man, you get the idea here.

01:07:18

This is just complete narcissistic foolishness. This woman has no firm grasp on reality.

01:07:25

She thinks she's hearing voices of God when she's not. And she has no concept of what the Bible really is about, which is the very voice of God we need to be listening to and applying ourselves to and hearing rightly handled.

01:07:40

Because just hanging out of his mouth because they were mean unto him. You've got to change your mind.

01:07:47

You've got to realize you are called for this time. You could have been born in another generation. You could have been born in another moment.

01:07:54

Yet in the purposes in the economy of God, you are destined to be here now to be change agents.

01:08:02

No, we're not. No biblical text says that. And you twisting Esther 4 out of context, perhaps you were born for such a time as this, says you have no understanding at all of the scriptures.

01:08:16

And so I'll just ask you this. It's obvious. Now, this woman does not rightly handle a biblical text.

01:08:24

She has no clue what the Bible is about. Do you really think she's hearing prophetic messages from God?

01:08:31

Of course she's not. Because if God were talking directly to her, he would be rebuking her to her face for her mishandling and twisting of scripture and leading people astray in her complete, botched, shallow, shallow, narcissistic reading of the biblical text.

01:08:50

In fact, the Bible itself rebukes women like her and other false prophets like her.

01:08:56

But now that you know what the story is about and you've seen it in context and you've seen the beauty of the text and what it's really about and how it relates to you as Christian in exile, you'll never be able to listen to a message like this again.

01:09:13

I think you get the point. So hopefully you found this helpful. If so, all the information on how you can share this video is down below in the description.

01:09:21

And let me quickly thank every one of you who supports us financially and is a member of our crew. You make it possible for us to continue to bring fighting for the faith to you and to the world.

01:09:31

And for that, I am deeply thankful. So thank you for your support.

01:09:36

Those of you who would like to support us financially, all the information on how you can join our crew, there's a link below that'll take you to a webpage where you can join our crew and support us.

01:09:45

And if you do, thank you again. So until next time, may God richly bless you in the grace and mercy won by Jesus Christ and his vicarious death on the cross for all of your sins.