Learning from Esther 8 – Right To Assemble and Protect Themselves

Esther 8:11 – “The king’s edict granted the Jews in every city the right to assemble and protect themselves; to destroy, kill and annihilate any armed force of any nationality or province that might attack them and their women and children; and to plunder the property of their enemies.”

An interesting feature of the story of Esther is that even when the King discovers the plot to exterminate the Jews (Haman was planning to commit genocide), there was no measure taken to prevent this from occurring.  Instead, Mordecai and Esther convinced the King to authorize resistance by God’s people against their enemies.  This was partly due to an unusual feature of ancient Persian law, which made the previous edict irrevocable; the best they could do was try to offset it or cancel it out with an equal counter-measure.  Instead of prohibiting anyone from attacking the Jews, the new edict simply authorized the Jews to assemble and to protect themselves, and to destroy any who attacked them.

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Learning from 1 Corinthians 13:4 – Love Is Patient, Love Is Kind

1 Corinthians 13:4 – “Love is patient, love is kind…”

Love is one of God’s highest priorities for us as individuals and for our churches. This Bible passage teaches us that love is a more important characteristic of a church than any type of spiritual gifts, healing, miracles, prophecies, or revelations. Of course, God wants every church to have those things as well. Love is even more essential than revelation. Revelation is necessary (we need to know the will of God so we can obey it) but this passage says that lack of Christian love negates the intended effect of revelation, making it pointless (1 Corinthians 13:1-2). Similarly, the Bible says “without faith no one can please God” (Hebrews 11:6), because faith is essential. Even so, true biblical love is greater than faith (1 Corinthians 13:13).

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The Beginning of Worship – Entering through the Blood of Jesus

Hebrews 10:19-22 – “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.”

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House Church in Cy-Fair, Texas

We normally meet on Sunday nights at the Popielarczyk home at 14430 Terrace Bend, Cypress, TX 77429, for an evening of prayer, worship, fellowship, and studying the Bible.  For more information, call 281-360-7244 or write us today at info@cyfairbiblestudy.com.  Click to learn more about what we do.

Most people arrive a few minutes before 7 pm. Our meetings start at 7 and end at 8 pm. There is no obligation to linger afterward, though many people do, eating together and talking until 8:30 or 9.  All are welcome (including children)!  If possible, send us an email or give us a call if you plan to attend, so that we can give more detailed directions, or answer additional questions about our non-denominational Bible study in Cy-Fair, TX.