Esther As a Model Of The Spiritual Life Chapter 3 of 10
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Condensed Version (Completed)
We come now to the second episode of the story of Esther. In the first, we learned how the king dumped his old queen and found a new one. So an unbeliever receives a new spirit from God when they are born again.
Favorite stories often end with " and they lived happily ever after", so we would expect this one to also end that way. But real life never goes that way.
A Bad, Unexpected Turn
The very next chapter of the book of Esther presents a sudden turn of events. It is unexpected and comes totally without warning. And since the book of Esther is a picture of the spiritual life, it is a very valid part of our spiritual lives.
After accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior we expect to live a wonderful life without problems. But without warning, there usually comes a sideswipe we don't expect.
We expect the good guy, Mordecai, who provided the new queen and saved the king, to come into the picture. But instead we see a totally different person coming to the forefront.
Enter Haman
Ahasuerus suddenly promoted a man named Haman to the highest place; to his right hand. Haman is descended from an evil king named Agag, who was the leader of the enemies of God's people in the past. He is a picture one of the biggest enemies of the spiritual life.
The Jews who are God's people in this story are a picture of everything related to the spiritual life. Mordecai and Esther are both Jews, but since Haman hates the Jews and wants to get rid of them, he is also a threat to Esther and Mordecai.
The Spirit vs. the Flesh
Galatians 5:16 to 18 says,
Let me say this then, Walk in the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh.'For the flesh exercises its desires contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit contrary to the flesh: and these are continually in opposition to each other: so that you cannot do whatever you want.'But if you are being influenced by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
What is the spiritual life? It is simply a life that is under the control of the Holy Spirit. In the case of this book of Esther, the Holy Spirit is typified by Mordecai who is the adopted father of Esther.
A life of walking in the Spirit is a life where the soul submits to the spirit within under control of the Holy Spirit, and brings the body into subjection. In this way God's order of spirit, soul and body is maintained.
When you do this you face several enemies seeking to destroy and to make sure this doesn't happen.There are three main enemies in the spiritual life. They are the flesh, the devil and the World System.
We are going to be looking at one of these in this section, because Haman is a picture of the flesh.
The Flesh is Sinful
What is the flesh? It is the seed of sin which was placed into us when man fell in the Garden of Eden. When Adam and Eve ate that fruit and took it into their bodies, something became resident within them. It was like a seed that would bear fruit, and that fruit would be death.
This sinful tendency is something we are born with and grow up with it. It is a tendency within us to cause us to oppose everything that is of God. In the story of Haman we have a picture of how the flesh operates, the dangers of it and ultimately how to deal with it.
The Flesh Dominates
How does the flesh operate? Firstly it tries to control or dominate. Haman is totally preoccupied with himself. When he walks down the street he expects everybody to bow to him and reverence him. And they all do, except Mordecai.
The Holy Spirit will never bow to the flesh. In the passage I shared from Galatians it says that the flesh opposes the spirit, and the spirit also opposes the flesh.
Until now in the story of the spiritual life, Haman wasn't even visible. That is because Mordecai was not yet visible.
The Flesh Wants to Destroy
When you are born again by the Spirit of God, a new spirit is placed inside you. Then suddenly, out of the blue, a new conflict arises within. There is a restlessness and a striving inside and your new desire to serve the Lord is opposed by another desire inside of you.
The flesh rears up immediately when the Holy Spirit comes into your life. It wants to destroy what is of God.
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