Exile and Return: "The Great Reversal"

Prophets and Kings: The Great Reversal   

Esther 6:1-13

Genesis 3:15 - “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

Matthew 16:25 - “...whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."

I. The Reversal of Exaltation and Humility. (Esther 6:6-11)

Four needs of self-exaltation:

1. Be honored instead of God.

2. Be recognized as better.

3. Be the center of attention.

4. Be in control of situations and people.

II. The Reversal of Judgment and Salvation. (Esther 7:3-10)

III. The Reversal of Victory and Defeat. (Esther 9:1-2)

 1. The Jews gained mastery over those who hated them. 

2. And no one could stand against them.

How Esther Points to Christ:

1. Know the Truth - I am no longer a slave to sin.

Romans 6:6 - “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.”

2. Consider the truth - I am dead to sin and alive to God.

Romans 6:11 - “So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

3. Act on the Truth - I must offer my body as an instrument of righteousness.

Romans 6:13 - “Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.

Romans 8:32 - “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”

Reviewing this Past Sunday with Family and Friends

1. What events in your life have deepened your trust in God’s wisdom and caused you to appreciate Him more?

2. What does God promise to those who exalt themselves and why? 1 Samuel 2:7, Proverbs 29:23, Isaiah 2:11, 5:15, 42:8, and James 4:6, 10.

3. Why do we find humility a difficult position in which to live?

4. What encouragement do you find from this truth: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble?”

5. Consider Proverbs 5:22 - “The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him, and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.” How does this truth help you grow in Christ-likeness and leave your sin?

6. How does the promise of present and future victory help you deal with defeat today?  1 Corinthians 10:13, 15:57, Ephesians 6:13, James 1:1-7, 1 John 5:4 and Revelation 22:1-4.