Anglican Devotional 18 July 2023 – Desist From Evil, It Will Backfire!

The Daily Fountain Devotional of the Church Of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) 18 July 2023 – Desist From Evil, It Will Backfire!

TOPIC: Desist From Evil, It Will Backfire!

READ: Esther 7:1-10 (NKJV)

1. So the king and Haman went to dine with Queen Esther.
2. And on the second day, at the banquet of wine, the king again said to Esther, “What [is] your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what [is] your request, up to half the kingdom? It shall be done!”
3. Then Queen Esther answered and said, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request.
4. “For we have been sold, my people and I, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. Had we been sold as male and female slaves, I would have held my tongue, although the enemy could never compensate for the king’s loss.”
5. So King Ahasuerus answered and said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who would dare presume in his heart to do such a thing?”
6. And Esther said, “The adversary and enemy [is] this wicked Haman!” So Haman was terrified before the king and queen.
7. Then the king arose in his wrath from the banquet of wine [and went] into the palace garden; but Haman stood before Queen Esther, pleading for his life, for he saw that evil was determined against him by the king.
8. When the king returned from the palace garden to the place of the banquet of wine, Haman had fallen across the couch where Esther [was.] Then the king said, “Will he also assault the queen while I [am] in the house?” As the word left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face.
9. Now Harbonah, one of the eunuchs, said to the king, “Look! The gallows, fifty cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke good on the king’s behalf, is standing at the house of Haman.” Then the king said, “Hang him on it!”
10. So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s wrath subsided.

THE MESSAGE:

Haman plotted against Mordecai and the Jews to be eliminated from the land of Shushan. He had got the approval of the king and a date for this plot to be carried out. Mordecai received the report and went to plead with Esther, the queen, to intervene. In our text today, Esther invited the king and the evil plotter Haman to a banquet. While the banquet was on, the king asked Esther to present her petitions and it would be granted even to half of his kingdom. Esther immediately presented her petitions before the king and indicted Haman for plotting to destroy her and her people. King Ahasuerus got angry and ordered Haman to be hanged on the same gallows which he made for Mordecai.

Beloved, Proverbs 26:27 teaches that a person who digs a pit for others will fall into it himself. The death of Haman was occasioned by his plots to destroy the Jews. He prepared the gallows for Mordecai but he was hanged on it. Rather than do evil to others, learn to do good; evil will definitely backfire in the long run. There are many ways and reasons people do evil. There is expression of anger almost at every place today and more often than not, the desire to kill, maim or harm is usually the focus. Unfortunately, Christians are not exempted from this attitude. You must not join those who look for the downfall of others or seek to destroy their fellows. People are bound to offend you but your reaction must not be a plot to destroy. Remember, vengeance belongs to God.

PRAYER: Please Lord, uproot from me every form of evil in Jesus’ name.