Targets

Esther 3:6 "But he distained to lay hands on Mordecai alone. So as they made known to him the people of Mordecai, Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus.

 

So what else is new? Here is this guy that the king promoted and gave authority to, Haman. (What was Ahasuerus thinking?) He set out a law that said that everyone needed to bow to him...and everyone did, except one guy, Mordecai.

 

Wild how the many will succumb to stupid and unbiblical laws. I wonder what laws we are following that God will one day say: "Why did you do that?"

 

I digress. So, Haman is not a happy camper. He is so teed off that he decides to issue another decree. This decree did not only apply to Mordecai, but to the entire people of Mordecai, the Jews. This new decree issued an order that all of the Jews, young and old, women and children, would be rounded up and killed on one certain day. (v 13)

 

Like I said: What else is new. For some reason throughout history, there has never been one people group who have been hated like the Jews. It seems like they have always had a target on their backs. Multiple nations and multiple leaders have attempted to wipe them out. Some of the noteworthy are guys like Pharaoh seeking to destroy them. Here is Haman seeking to destroy them. Then there was Hitler seeking to destroy them. And there is Ahmadinejad who is currently seeking to destroy them. There is nothing new under the sun. The Jews will always be sought out to be destroyed. Just look at Mark 13:14 and something called the "Abomination of Desolation" where the Jewish temple is desecrated, and you will see that this is going to continue until Jesus returns. I just think of Israel, this tiny little country about the size of New Jersey. Why are people so intent on destroying it? What is so special about this nation? Why don't the Swiss have a target on their backs like the Jews?

 

The reason the Jews have a target on their backs is because they are a special people. They are a chosen people. They are God's people...and their persecution through the ages just proves it. But then I think of verses like I Pet 2:9 that says that "You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession...". Peter was writing to Christians. We too are a special people, a chosen people. We have an inheritance with the original people of God, and we too can expect that we will have targets on our backs. We already do. Look who is being persecuted across the world...Christians. Look at where an article on FOX yesterday outlined how Christians are being destroyed and driven out of Afghanistan right now. The Jewish people and Christians are both in for it.

 

That is why, when I pray for the world, I pray that God will strengthen and protect and allow both the Jews and Christians to endure.

 

There is nothing new. God's people will always be targets because we are God's people.