I have often wondered what Esther wrote in her
famous Decree, so many years ago. Although the Bible does not include it, I did
find a copy online, at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. You
can find the link here: http://www.usccb.org/bible/esther/8
I invite you to read through the decree, as it
is the basis for this particular article and the decree at the end of the page.
Due to the irrevocable nature of the laws of
the Medes and Persians, a king’s decree could not simply be revoked. It was
considered an unchangeable law that must be followed. There was a person in the
Bible named Haman, who was King Ahasuerus’ right hand man, and a very
deceitful, proud, power hungry person at that. (Read the book of Esther).
Haman conspired a plot against the King and
Mordecai,who was Esther’s uncle. Mordecai found about it and foiled Haman's plot. In an attempt to
rid himself of Mordecai, Haman construed another treacherous plot, but he hid
his plot in deceit. He deceived the king into writing a decree that would annihilate
not just Mordecai, but all the Jews. He thought that if he destroyed all the
Jews, he would get rid of Mordecai as well and the king would never discover
his secret plot for a takeover. What Haman did not understand at the time is
that the king’s very own wife, Queen Esther, was also a Jew! Haman overplayed
his hand, and in the end, Queen Esther, Mordecai and all the Jews were saved. It
was a time of divine retribution as God turned the tables on the enemy and
protected His people.
A Time of
Divine Retribution
The enemy often overplays his hand. He gets too
greedy and is never satisfied. He pushes and pushes until his treacherous plan
is brought out in the open. Then there is a revolt, a cry for justice, and God
raises up those who will cooperate with Him to bring Him into the situation.
When God is pulled into the situation, a divine reversal must take place. There
are times when situations may seem horrible, impossible or too far gone in the
wrong direction for God to do anything about. Ah, but nothing is impossible
with God! He is a God of justice, and His compassion for the oppressed compels
Him to get involved. When people cry out to God, He is moved by faith in their
belief in Him, and when God gets involved, the situation is forced to change!
God’s
Call to This Generation
God is raising up Esthers: those who will use
their faith and their voice to speak His will into the situations needing
change, and declaring His word, which are the laws of His kingdom. God is
calling for His royal scribes, His royal secretaries and writers to rise up as
abolitionists in this hour. He is calling his bride to pray His heart into
situations – no matter how impossible they may seem in the natural – and believe
that HE IS GREATER. He is calling us to pray apostolic and prophetic prayers,
demanding change to come into the earth that will overturn evil plans and bring
justice to those marked for destruction.
Abolish: to do away with or
put an end to; cancel, annul, overturn, prohibit, repeal, rescind, terminate,
wipe out, extinguish, annihilate, to make void, finish or to supersede.
We must revoke, repeal and overturn destructive
laws. We must quash apathetic mind sets. It’s time to arise and wipe out the
plans of the enemy. We bind the enemy according to Mark 3:27 and then have the
power to bring the house down on the enemy’s head. Binding prayer prohibits,
paralyzes and voids the power of the enemy. It strips the enemy of his power
and causes demonic spirits to become impotent! This is the meaning of abolish! We
must stamp out fear, intimidation and every assignment of the enemy!
Every day we are bombarded with news that
exposes the darkness of men’s hearts. From human trafficking and pedophiles
abusing our children, to the secret plotting to microchip implants, forced
vaccination laws that destroy our bodies, to death panels holding all the
authority over who they choose to live or die, and the government conspiring
with FEMA to deal with force and capital punishment towards those that refuse
to follow the herd; it is not difficult
to understand that the enemy is giving his full attention and due diligence in
conspiring a multitude of plans for the destruction of mankind. And why
wouldn’t he? That’s his only job description: to kill, steal and destroy. (See
John 10:10)
The only thing more powerful than the twisted
plans of corrupt men is the power inherit in the word of God. It is God’s law,
and His word is powerful and effective in defeating evil. His word, the Lord
Jesus Christ, is one and the same.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All
things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.” (John 1:1-4)
If you read that carefully, you will see that
the word “He” in verse two assigns personhood to the Word. He refers to part of
the godhead: the Son. The Son (Jesus Christ) is synonymous with the Word. When
we look into the scriptures, we find Jesus on every page. His creative power
resides with His Holy Spirit. When we speak God’s word, we sound like God. We
can create like God. We can enforce the laws of His kingdom as we utilize and
declare His intent, supported by the use of His word. God’s word acts to
enforce the laws of heaven upon the earthly realm. When we do, He releases
angels on assignment to carry out the fulfillment of His Word. Like Jesus,
God’s word has an assignment. Now, I don’t mean this with any disrespect; we don’t
command the Lord – but, when we return God’s word to Him in prayer and
declarations, then we are essentially launching the Son of God and the armies
of heaven on their assignments. (Remember what I said earlier about the Son of
God being synonymous with the Word of God). We send out the Word by declarative
prayer, and Jesus commissions His angels to go enforce the laws of His kingdom.
We pull heaven down every time we speak and declare what God’s word has said!
“So shall My word be that goes forth out of My
mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I
please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which it is sent.” Isaiah 55:11
God always wants to know what we see. In the
first chapter of Jeremiah, God shows Jeremiah a picture of a situation then
asks him what he sees. He does a similar thing in Ezekiel 37. He showed his
prophet a picture of death, where many had been slain. Then he asks Ezekiel a
question to determine whether or not he was full of faith. “Can these bones live?” In other words, “Can I do the impossible,
Ezekiel?” He wanted to know what his prophet really saw. Would he look with
eyes of faith?
What do
you see?
It is very important to believe God for the
bigger picture, no matter how impossible it seems. God is a God of miracles! He
is a God of restoration! He is a God who loves to put the enemy to an open
shame and completely reverse what Satan has done to bring death and
destruction!
We can choose to see with our natural eyes, but
that will leave us feeling very overwhelmed and discouraged. When we choose to
look with eyes of faith, however, we see our God as being greater than any evil
plot, scheme, or destructive force the enemy can cook up. Satan was defeated at
the cross and will always remain defeated. Our job is to BELIEVE God, put our
trust in Him, and agree with His word. God needs our agreement so that He can
release answers to prayer! He is always watching over His word, ready to send
out answers, but we must form an agreement by faith before He can act.
The Lord said to me, “You have seen correctly,
for I am watching My word to see that it is fulfilled.” (Jeremiah 1:12)
Esther’s Decree served as an indictment of
charges leveled against Haman. She then wrote a decree that reversed the king’s
original decree. Their fate was no longer sealed. The day that the enemy had
planned for their destruction became a divine reversal, where the Jews were
empowered, encouraged and emboldened with courage to take back their power.
This caused the Jews to prevail over their enemies.
This is
the hour to turn the tables on the enemy!
When situations look hopelessly too far gone to
think they can change, that is the time when God will act. This is how He
displays His glory! Choose to change what you see. Choose to look at whatever
situations you may be facing with a different perspective. Often what looks
impossible in the natural is simply a divine set up for God to display His
glory! Hallelujah! Give God a shout and look for Him to intervene! Let your
faith rise up to believe the truth about His word.
“With men this is impossible, but with God all
things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26)
“For with God, nothing shall be impossible.”
(Luke 1:37)
Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all
things are possible to him that believes.” (Mark 9:23)
“Behold, I am the Lord; the God of all flesh; is
anything too difficult for Me?” (Jeremiah 32:27)
Friend, what situation are you looking at
today? What do you believe is too far gone for God to fix? What situation has
you throwing your hands up in defeat, saying that you’re dealing with a hopeless
situation? What lie have you come into agreement with that has led you to
believe that it is impossible to turn around? I encourage you to take another
look and take God at His word! There is always a reason to hope when we have
Christ. He has a way into every situation, He is just waiting to the opportune
moment!
If we are honest with one another, we must
admit that sometimes He does wait until all hope has been exhausted. Nothing
has brought about the change we were hoping to see. We feel completely
powerless to change the situation we wanted to change.
God steps in.
Often the way God steps into a situation doesn’t
immediately make it better. It can see to get far worse. Remember the story of
Lazarus? Jesus waited until death had claimed it’s prize. There was grief.
There was a sense of hopelessness – except for one. The least likely perhaps to
demonstrate faith came from a person who never even seemed to be paying
attention. Always distracted. Voted least likely to be paying attention to
Jesus’s teaching. Always concerned with trivial matters. That’s right, Martha. Martha, in a time when funeral
arrangements were past, prayers had been seemingly ignored, and her brother was
4 days dead in the tomb. Martha’s hope surged into faith. That’s when Jesus
showed up. Take a look at John 11:21,22:
Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, I know that if you
had been here my brother would not have died. But even now, I know that God will give you whatever you ask Him.”
I can just see Jesus’s head turn in her
direction. One eyebrow raised. What did she just say?
A knowing smile of pleasure crept across his face. He nodded. She got it. Martha started shaking off off the unbelief, sadness and heaviness of the moment. While everyone else was
grieving, Martha put a demand on the anointing. Faith was present to work a
miracle! The compassion of the Lord compelled him to get involved, but He also
had a spiritual principle he was trying to get across to those who followed
Him. He never cuts a process short. He lets it run its course. Perhaps that is
all He is doing in your situation now. Choose to believe!
Spiritual Principles of Breakthrough
My friends, there is a combination of elements
necessary to release breakthrough. One is genuine faith in the midst of an
impossible situation. The other is the word of God. The prophetic anointing
sees beyond the natural and grabs hold of a different reality. The apostolic
anointing declares the laws of God’s kingdom and pulls them into the natural,
utilizing declarations and decrees. We don’t beg, plead or ask in prayer;
apostolic prayer declares God’s word and His will and commands it to come
forth. The results are in God's hand and in His timing. By faith we believe in the God who raises the dead, calling them back to
life, and we call forth things (that do not yet appear in the natural) and we
command them to exist. (See Romans 4:17)
A New Decree Changes the Outcome
Esther wrote a new decree to turn a day
appointed for destruction into a day of victory and rejoicing. If you want to
overturn the enemy’s assignments, learn from her example. Learn from Jesus’
example as He always combated the enemy with scripture! What situation is
calling for you to take action? What problem can only be resolved by writing a
decree of your own? Decrees carry the weight of God’s authority!
The following prayer is long. But it has been
written using the very form and words of Esther’s decree, and we all know hers
was very effective. It accomplished
exactly what was needed in that hour! The following royal decree, tailored in
the fashion of Esther’s original decree, is to turn the tables on the enemy and
once again put spiritual powers of darkness to an open shame.
A Prayer and
Declaration to Turn the Tables on the Enemy
Let’s pray:
From the Lord Jesus Christ and our heavenly
Father, this message and declaration to His sons and daughters in the faith, to
those called according to the Father’s purpose:
Whereas the enemy has sought to glorify himself
through the destruction of mankind and,
Whereas the enemy has sought to elevate himself
in a position of being ‘like God,’ and sought for himself a throne where he
would be worshiped;
Whereas spiritual forces of darkness and
destruction have had evil assignments against the citizens of our homeland and
of this nation;
Whereas principalities and powers, rulers of
darkness, spiritual and natural authorities, the powers of this dark world and
the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly and earthly realms have waged war
against the innocent and against the children of God,
Whereas many unjust people, including lawmakers,
politicians and elected officials have become ambitious, lustful and greedy for
selfish gain, therefore putting the lives of the citizens of this great nation
as risk,
Whereas through their hatred, enmity and
contempt for God and others they seek to harm the citizens of our nation and of
our homeland, plotting against those who elected them,
Whereas their actions have driven out faith, compassion,
love, mercy and gratitude from among humankind and have demonstrated arrogant
boastfulness, acting as if they can avoid accountability and escape the stern
judgment of the all-seeing, Almighty God,
Whereas those who have cloaked their hatred
with disguise and entrusted with the administration of affairs have induced
many in authority to become accomplices in the shedding of innocent blood, the
destruction of souls and many other irreparable calamities,
Whereas those in authority, power, position and
influence have used their means to place the lives and well-being of many
citizens in jeopardy, proving they are unfit to hold a position requiring
public trust,
Whereas they have deceived with malicious
slander the sincere good will of others,
Whereas this is verifiable by the witness of
Your Holy Spirit and others, provides proof that their wicked deeds are
undeserving of authority,
Whereas those who have benefited from the good
will of the people who voted them into office and promoted them to positions of
power and authority have proven they are unable to control their arrogance,
striving to deprive others of civil liberties, life, health, freedom and God
given human rights,
Whereas the enemy and adversary has sought to
catch the citizens of our nation and of our homeland defenseless and unaware,
and is intent to transfer the rule of God’s kingdom to the kingdom of darkness,
Whereas we are governed by very just laws of
the kingdom of God, our homeland, and must secure a peaceful future for our
families, and future generations,
Whereas we are the children of the Most High,
the living God of Majesty, who has maintained the kingdom in a flourishing
condition for us and future generations,
Whereas, in so much that we are Your children,
heirs of the kingdom and co-heirs with Jesus Christ, and blessed by Your favor,
Whereas we are commanded to plead the cause of
the poor, the fatherless, the widows and those treated unjustly,
Whereas You, O God, have promised to bring
justice to the poor, to plead the cause of those taken into captivity by wicked
oppressors, and save our children,
Whereas we are called to execute vengeance on
the nations and punishment on the peoples to bind kings with chains and their
nobles with fetters of iron, in the pursuit of justice, righteousness and equity,
to execute on them the judgment written,
Whereas we are Your delegated authority to
enforce the laws of the kingdom of heaven, a scepter of authority and a royal
diadem in Your hand,
Whereas we are comforted by the promise that
when we are in deep distress and call upon the name of the Lord we shall be
saved and delivered from ungodly oppressors,
Whereas it is written that vengeance belongs to
God,
We call for swift action from God who governs
all, and mankind through whom He works and wills, to bring swift action and
punishment for the crimes committed, which are witnessed by the Holy Spirit and
the angelic hosts of heaven,
That wherever justice has been thwarted, and
human rights disregarded; where life and liberties have been unjustly removed
by men driven by greed and evil desires,
Let all men and women rise up in unity, faith
and courage to defend themselves against those who attack them, attempt to make
slaves of them, force them through fear and intimidation to serve the enemies
of God and righteousness,
For God has turned the tables on the enemy, so
that the day of destruction should be appointed as a day of gladness,
celebration and rejoicing in God our Savior.
I return the word of God to YOU, Father, as it
is found in Your Holy Scriptures:
Isaiah 14:14,15; Ephesians 6:13; Psalm 149:7-9;
Zechariah 2:8; Psalm 50:15; Psalm 72:12, Jeremiah 33:3; Romans 12:19,20; Isaiah
30:18,19; Psalm 82:3,4; Isaiah 22:22; Galatians 4:6,7; Isaiah 49:25; Deut.
16:19; Psalm 72:4; Isaiah 62:3; Esther 8:2, 4,5,7-17.
Let this be recorded into the books of heaven,
and the execution of Your justice and judgment sent forth this day, July 8,
2017 in the year of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
