Daily Devotionals

Devotional: June 25th

For Reading and Meditation:
     Esther 9:1-22

The substance of the new law, introduced to modify the effects of the original edict to annihilate the Jews, was simply this - all Jews could, by every means possible, take up their own defense. When finally the dreaded execution day arrives, those who set out to execute the Jews find themselves in disarray. A strange fear has fallen upon the persecutors, and many of the officers of the Persian army, instead of executing the Jews, do everything they can to save them. Back in the palace, the king invites Esther to make one more request of him, whereupon she asks him to put to death Haman's ten sons. This request seems hardly in keeping with Esther's gentle nature, but we must remember that she is acting here as the representative of God in what we call judicial execution. God wanted to emphasize that it is pointless to try to liquidate His people, and it was He who prompted Esther to make this request. In all, 75,000 Persians died on the day when it was expected that many thousands of Jews would be annihilated. Following this great day of deliverance, Mordecai makes moves to establish it as an annual memorial throughout all generations. Now, some 2,500 years later, Jews celebrate the event every year in their Feast of Purim. Christians have a special memorial too. It is called the "table of communion," a simple but meaningful ceremony which God has established in the Church to remind us of that glorious day at Calvary when Satan's plans were wrecked, and salvation was made available to all humanity. May that memorial become more meaningful to us every time we participate in it.

O Father, I see that while the Jews have something to celebrate, I have something more significant. Your deliverance for me on the Cross is a spiritual deliverance, not merely a physical one. May the wonder of it sink deeper and deeper within me. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.

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