Favour: Esther's Gift

Favor – from a message by Bill Winston 

“I decree and declare that I walk in favor, my petitions will be granted, any hindrance will be cast aside.”

-A moment of favor is worth a lifetime of labor – Bill Winston

Favour in the Life of Esther. Est_2:15  Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her for his daughter, was come to go in unto the king, she required nothing but what Hegai the king's chamberlain, the keeper of the women, appointed. And Esther obtained favour in the sight of all them that looked upon her.

Est_2:17  And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favour in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti.

Est_5:2  And it was so, when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, that she obtained favour in his sight: and the king held out to Esther the golden sceptre that was in his hand. So Esther drew near, and touched the top of the sceptre.

Est_5:8  If I have found favour in the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my petition, and to perform my request, let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I shall prepare for them, and I will do to morrow as the king hath said.

Est_7:3  Then Esther the queen answered and said, If I have found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request:

Est_8:5  And said, If it please the king, and if I have found favour in his sight, and the thing seem right before the king, and I be pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews which are in all the king's provinces:

Mordecai the Agagite: possibly a descendant of Agag the Amelikite king slain at the word of Samuel. which was the final act of betrayal in Saul’s reign. 1Sa 15:32  Then Samuel shouted, "Bring me King Agag of Amalek!" Agag came in chains, and he was saying to himself, "Surely they won't kill me now."

1Sa 15:33  But Samuel said, "Agag, you have snatched children from their mothers' arms and killed them. Now your mother will be without children." Then Samuel chopped Agag to pieces at the place of worship in Gilgal.

-From these words of Samuel, it is very evident that Agag had carried on his wars with great cruelty, and had therefore forfeited his life according to the lex talionis. Samuel then hewed him in pieces “before the Lord at Gilgal,” i.e., before the altar of Jehovah there; for the slaying of Agag being the execution of the ban, was an act performed for the glory of God.

1Sa 15:34  Samuel went home to Ramah, and Saul returned to his home in Gibeah.

1Sa 15:35  Even though Samuel felt sad about Saul, Samuel never saw him again. The LORD was sorry he had made Saul the king of Israel.

-        In this final episode b/w Samuel and Saul it must have grieved Samuel that things had turned as they did.  Samuel had been God’s instrument to elevate Saul to such a position…. He had released God’s Favor into his life… and Saul had abused and despised that favour.

1 Samuel 15:34-35 [K & D]

After the prophet had thus maintained the rights of Jehovah in the presence of Saul, and carried out the ban upon Agag, he returned to his own home at Ramah; and Saul went to his house at Gibeah. From that time forward Samuel broke off all intercourse with the king whom Jehovah had rejected. “For Samuel was grieved for Saul, and it repented the Lord that he had made Saul king,” i.e., because Samuel had loved Saul on account of his previous election; and yet, as Jehovah had rejected him unconditionally, he felt that he was precluded from doing anything to effect a change of heart in Saul, and his reinstatement as king.

-        Saul was elected and anointed by God, but once secure he ‘went to his own home’. David by contrast, never relented in showing his thanksgiving to Jehovah, going as far as preparing the Temple.

Favour depends entirely upon God. Job 10:12  You, the source of my life, showered me with kindness and watched over me.

-        Isa 65:16  I am God! I can be trusted. Your past troubles are gone; I no longer think of them. When you pray for someone to receive a blessing, or when you make a promise, you must do it in my name. I alone am the God who can be trusted.

-        Does the concept of ‘trusted’ here encompass the release of favour into one’s life?  The Hebrew word here is ‘amen’=so be it, this is truth, the matter is settled…. “God said it and I believe it!”

-        Isa 65:17  I am creating new heavens and a new earth; everything of the past will be forgotten. 18  Celebrate and be glad forever! I am creating a Jerusalem, full of happy people. 19  I will celebrate with Jerusalem and all of its people; there will be no more crying or sorrow in that city. [AND in your city and situation!!]

-        Isa 65:20  No child will die in infancy; everyone will live to a ripe old age. Anyone a hundred years old will be considered young, and to die younger than that will be considered a curse. 21  My people will live in the houses they build; they will enjoy grapes from their own vineyards. 22  No one will take away their homes or vineyards. My chosen people will live to be as old as trees, and they will enjoy what they have earned.

Isaiah was given revelation on this at several points, but reminding the people of it in a time of adversity [ie post Uzziah Is 6:1, where people had come to rely on a stable government]

-        Isa 32:15  When the Spirit is given to us from heaven, deserts will become orchards thick as fertile forests.

-        Isa 32:16  Honesty and justice will prosper there, 17  and justice will produce lasting peace and security.

-        Isa 32:18  You, the LORD's people, will live in peace, calm and secure, 19  even if hailstones flatten forests and cities.

-        Isa 32:20  You will have God's blessing, as you plant your crops beside streams, while your donkeys and cattle roam freely about.

-        God will bless/prosper/favour all of your activities.

This is not just the promise to God’s chosen but even to the empires that have oppressed them: Isa 19:22  After the LORD has punished Egypt, the people will turn to him. Then he will answer their prayers, and the Egyptians will be healed.

Isa 19:23  At that time a good road will run from Egypt to Assyria. The Egyptians and the Assyrians will travel back and forth from Egypt to Assyria, and they will worship together. 24  Israel will join with these two countries. They will be a blessing to everyone on earth, 25  then the LORD All-Powerful will bless them by saying, "The Egyptians are my people. I created the Assyrians and chose the Israelites."

-        Here, the nation of Israel is receiving God’s favour, not only within itself but as an equal partner w the great empires of the day.

[Keil & Deilitsch] Israel is added to the covenant between Egypt and Asshur, so that it becomes a tripartite covenant in which Israel forms the “third part” (sheilshiyyâh, tertia pars, like ‛ası̄ryyâh, decima pars, in Isa_6:13). Israel has now reached the great end of its calling - to be a blessing in “the midst of the earth” (b'kereb hâ'âretz, in the whole circuit of the earth), all nations being here represented by Egypt and Assyria. Hitherto it had been only to the disadvantage of Israel to be situated between Egypt and Assyria. The history of the Ephraimitish kingdom, as well as that of Judah, clearly proves this. If Israel relied upon Egypt, it deceived itself, and was deceived; and if it relied on Assyria, it only became the slave of Assyria, and had Egypt for a foe. Thus Israel was in a most painful vise between the two great powers of the earth, the western and the eastern powers. But how will all this be altered now! Egypt and Assyria become one in Jehovah, and Israel the third in the covenant. Israel is lo longer the only nation of God, the creation of God, the heir of God; but all this applies to Egypt and Assyria now, as well as to Israel. To give full expression to this, Israel's three titles of honour are mixed together, and each of the three nations receives one of the choice names - nachali, “my inheritance,” being reserved for Israel, as pointing back to its earliest history. This essential equalization of the heathen nations and Israel is no degradation to the latter. For although from this time forward there is to be no essential difference between the nations in their relation to God, it is still the God of Israel who obtains this universal recognition, and the nation of Israel that has become, according to the promise, the medium of blessing to the world.