Missionary-Spectacles

There are various methods by which we can read the Holy Scriptures. I always attempt to read from a mission’s perspective for which I wear my missionary-spectacles! I am going to start from the book of Genesis and peep into key biblical characters and events. I invite you to join in this study tour! Let us start with our first parents, Adam and Eve. 

Crown of Creation

Garden of Eden was a palace garden minus a king and a queen. The incomplete garden became complete only after the creation of Adam and Eve. All creation followed a pattern of “let there be.” But when humans were created the pattern was “Let us make mankind…” (Genesis 1:26) Only the human duo was made in the image of God!  The triune God sets off human beings in the highest pedestal. Adam Eve were blessed with three God-like abilities: to think, to feel and to choose. The Great Commission of God comes in the first page of the Bible to Adam and Eve to multiply and fill the earth with many more people in the image of God (1:28-29). A hint of an external religious practice of a holy day is seen in Genesis 2:1-3. To work and take care of the created world comes in the blessed status in the life of Adam (2:15). Adam and Eve, the King and the Queen, no wonder, were the crowns of God’s creation. A formula for active holiness came in the form of “Do this, to have fellowship with me!” from God (2:16, 17) Even today, our mission mandate has a clear work culture. To work in God’s garden and take care of it is a blessing!

Seriousness of Sin

In a serene setting, villain satan came in the form of serpent. Sin arrived naïve and looked normal. The choice between holiness and sin was a real option for Adam and Eve. Both Adam and Eve fell into the trap of evil. Because of their sin of disobedience, fear gripped them. They hid themselves. Curses usurped blessings (3:14-19). But in the context of curse to serpent, a ray of hope shines bright when God said, “I will put enmity ​between you and the woman, ​and between your offspring  and hers; ​he will crush your head, ​and you will strike his heel,” which points to the redemption plan of God in dying for the sins of all human beings in the cross and his resurrection on the third day. However to Adam and Eve, the mandate to fill the earth with people and to work on it earned extra elements of pain and hard labour. Mission of God always has an adversary and spiritual warfare is a reality in it.

Merciful Mission

The merciful God came as the first missionary seeking the first sinners, Adam and Eve (3:9-10). An inaugural sacrifice takes place when God made leather garments to cover the shame of the first couple by butchering an animal/(s) (3:21). Someone has to pay the penalty and the pattern for covering sin was by the shedding of blood.  The merciful God also prevents Adam and Eve from eating from the Tree of Life (3:24) in their sinful state and proceed to a dead end! So He drives them away from the Garden of Eden. But remember the plan for evangelism has already been given about the seed of woman, Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world. The plan for Christmas was etched in the Garden of Eden. Galatians 4:4 says, when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as His very own children. (NLT) We have hope because Jesus bore our sins and curses we inherited from Adam and Eve and we continue to do by his death in the cross of Calvary. He was born in this world with that mission and he fulfilled it. Fulfilling our mission is still the same. It is what God gave to Adam and Eve: of filling this earth with people restored back to the image of God, having a personal relationship with God. This mission is an uphill task for us, restored sinners. But we gain victory ultimately. Is the merciful mission of God continuing through us today?

NB: A primary source for this article apart from the Bible is a book titled, "Down to Earth: A Biblical Theology of Missions" (Mission Educational Books) by Frampton F.Fox. I had the privilege of doing a course on Missions facilitated by this author at Hindustan Bible Institute, Chennai in the late nineties. 

Embracing & Accepting

We live in a hurting world. We face problems in our families, churches and the society we live in. Paul in his letter to Ephesians has framed a set of values for husbands/wives, parents/children, masters/slaves in Ephesians chapters 5 and 6. They look divine and good. But how do we embrace and accept someone who keeps hurting? While I was listening to a sermon yesterday in a CSI church, God inspired me to write these words from the Biblical portions shared from the pulpit. I have added few more scriptural aspects to the topic dealt in the church.

Husband/Wife

The story of Hosea and his wife Gomer is a model of extreme acceptance, which stretches beyond the limits of forgiveness, one can simulate in a married life. The purpose of this prophet’s life was that God wanted him to model his unconditional love and acceptance to the wayward Israel. The couple had three children, out of which the third one was not of Hosea! Gomer was repeatedly unfaithful to Hosea, in spite of her husband wooing and forgiving her every time. Finally it went to the stage that Gomer was sold as a prostitute. We can imagine how difficult the life of Hosea could have been as a man who was in the ministry of prophecy to be in the context of such a family! The climax of the story was that Hosea bought his wife for a price and redeemed her and ensured her love, all over again. Hosea is an outstanding example of spousal love following the footsteps of Christ’s acceptance and embracing us in spite of our repeated betrayals in our lives in a daily basis. I suggest you to read the book of Hosea in the Bible to know more about this Biblical hero and God’s love!

Parents/Children

The prime example of a parent whose love was beyond expectancy is that of the father of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). His love for the wayward son compared to the older son who was always with him could have been sort of a surprise in that context and in any context, today. A child is always a child to a parent. It is painful to see parents who find it difficult to accept prodigal children who have strayed out because of sin and unacceptable marriage norms. Can parents today be like that father who in essence was reflecting God’s love to his wayward children? Was any sin not acceptable, and could be labelled as unforgiving by our Lord? He bore all our sins and iniquities. Such an embracing love is what is expected from parents who have branded their children and their families as wayward.

Masters/Slaves

Philemon was that master with the mind of Christ who forgave his slave who stole money and ran away from him. But for the timely interference of Apostle Paul in the life of the thief Onesimus, who not only gave him gospel but wrote a recommendation letter back to the master to accept him. Paul went to the extreme of paying the stolen money to the master. But thankfully Philemon accepted Onesimus. I praise God for these men, Paul and Philemon who were involved in the process of accepting a sinner who later, history says, became the Bishop in Ephesus (from the book of Philemon in the New Testament).

Christ/Church

The Bible gives evidence of the disciples who showed signs of no- acceptance to children, women, and gentiles during their apprenticeship training with Jesus. They drove the children away (Matthew 19:13-15). They wanted Jesus to send the Syro-Phoenician woman away without encountering. They said, “Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us.” Jesus wanted them to unlearn their attitudes towards these potential partners of the Kingdom of God. The incident however ends up with an applause from Christ, praising her as a woman of faith (Matthew 15:21-28).  But the struggle in not accepting people whom God loves is continuing over centuries. Apostle Peter found it difficult to accept gentiles, for which he needed repeated admonitions through visions from God (Acts 10:9-16). Paul had to confront Peter for his hypocritical attitude (Galatians 2:11-13). 

Are we winners in accepting people from all strata of life into our families, our churches, our work places? Or, are we struggling and losing people? Jesus’ love surpasses all barriers. He died for the sins of all. By His resurrection, he assures victory for all over sin. He accepts all who come to Him and includes them as inheritors of His kingdom. As followers of Christ, we should have the same attitude that He had (Philippians 2:5). The clarion call now is to embrace a life of acceptance to win all people for Christ.

Strength of Tears

Tears are considered as a sign of weakness by some people. But I would like to quote some examples from the Scriptures to prove that there is strength in tears.

Tears are part of life

Long ago a wise man said like this: a time to weep and a time to laugh, there is a time for everything…a time to mourn and a time to dance (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4). The Psalmist said, “Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning (Psalm 30:5). Strong men and women cried. The primary example is Jesus, when he came as a human being on this earth. Few of the occasions when Jesus cried, are: while Lazarus died and when Jesus was burdened for the city of Jerusalem (John 11:35, Luke 19:41). Regarding his prayer in the garden of Gethsemane, the author of the book of Hebrews says, “During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission”  (Hebrews 5:7). Tears were a part of the life of Jesus. It is the same with us.

Tears for personal reason

While Jesus’ tears are for selfless reasons, we have evidences of  women and men  who cried for personal reasons and God seeing their tears, and answering them. Luke makes a mention of a sinner woman. She stood behind Jesus at his feet weeping. She began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. While the men around her got furious, we see Jesus accepting her tears as a sign of hospitality and love. And for sure it was a sign of repentance. Jesus forgave her sins (Luke 7:36-50). The experience of the sinner woman is a must experience for all of us, men and women, to shed tears for our misdeeds not only on that ‘one’ particular day of salvation, but we are called to keep working our salvation with fear and trembling on a regular basis ( Philippians 2;12).

In the case of Hannah, a very personal situation in her life triggered her to cry. But the good thing about her is that she shifted her focus on God and went to the temple and cried and made a vow out of that for a public cause. The result: prophet Samuel was born who brought a spiritual revival to the nation of Israel (I Samuel 1). Prophet Hosea makes a mention of a man named Jacob who cried. Hosea says that Jacob struggled with the angel and overcame him; he wept and begged for his favour (Hosea 12:4). The incident is narrated in Genesis 32 where we find him earning God’s blessings. He was guilty of earning blessing from his dad, Isaac earlier through a tricky way. Now he repents and earns it in a manner fitting in God’s sight (vs. 24-29).

Tears for public reason

This is a must for all. Nehemiah was broken for reasons that broke God’s heart as well. Time and again God poured out his anguish through his prophets regarding the sinful life of the Israelites and the impending punishment. And finally the judgement came. When the walls of Jerusalem were broken and burnt by enemies, Nehemiah wept and prayed (Nehemiah 1: 4).  Jeremiah, a prophet who lived during the exilic period,was called as a weeping prophet. His book of lament is what we read as Lamentations in the Bible. Does not what he saw in the exilic situation, the same, in many countries of the world today? Have a look on Jeremiah’s lamenting context:  My eyes fail from weeping, I am in torment within, my heart is poured out on the ground because my people are destroyed, because children and infants faint in the streets of the city.  They say to their mothers, "Where is bread and wine?" as they faint like wounded men in the streets of the city, as their lives ebb away in their mothers' arms.  (Lamentations 2:11-12) A heart of compassion in us only can cause good things to happen to needy people. The following verse can be our prayer: Oh, that my head were a spring of water and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night for the slain of my people (Jeremiah 9:1).

Tears are noticed by God

The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry (Psalm 34:15). God saw the tears of Hagar and responded to her need (Genesis 21:17). King Hezekiah wept bitterly when he was dying of a disease. He was healed (2 Kings 20). We as God’s children, when we walk through the valley of weeping, I am sure, it will become a place of refreshing springs, where pools of blessing collect after the rains! (Psalm 84:6) All who are worn out from sobbing, who drench their beds every night, wet their pillows from weeping like how David did (Psalm 6:6), let us get encouraged that God keeps track of all our sorrows. He has collected all our tears in his bottle. He has recorded each one in his book (Psalm 56:8). He will answer, in His time.

No tears in eternal life

Tears are a result of pain. And so the good news is: there are no tears in eternal life! God will remove all of our sorrows, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. The Bible says: for the old world and its evils are gone forever (Rev 21:4). On the other side, there will be tears and gnashing of teeth in eternal hell (Luke 13:28). All who truly repents for their sins and accepts Jesus as their Lord are led to a place of no tears!There is strength in tears to earn showers of blessings here on this earth and in the new heaven and new earth that we are going to inherit.

Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy! (Psalm 126:5)

From Fullness to Fullness

Years back a woman named Naomi went through deep frustration and pain. Death of dear ones tore her apart. Emptiness and boredom set in her life. Life tasted bitter all of a sudden. "Don't call me Naomi, "she told them. "Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The LORD has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me." (Ruth 1:20-21). Naomi means pleasant one. She renamed her Mara, meaning bitterness. Death of the dearest men (her husband and her two sons) in her life, for sure took a toll on her attitude to life. While losing dear ones made a negative impact in her life, the good thing in her was that she started to work on the one positive aspect of her life. She worked on the one leftover, living person in her life, Ruth, her daughter-in-law (the other one walked away) who was a symbol of true faith and love.

Can anything good come out of two widows, one an elderly woman and another one, in the prime of her youth? Why not? God operates through instruments, most often, humans and through divine leading, to bring hope in times of frustrations and disaster. The last three chapters of the Book of Ruth in the Bible tells us how Naomi worked on creating a new life for Ruth using her Yahwistic cultural practices and how the foreigner to a new faith, Ruth, obeyed her mother-in-law’s counsels. Yet nothing would have worked, but for Boaz, a man who basically respected a foreign woman who by then has started to work in his farm.

The climax of the story is that Naomi’s story ended in fullness. She went to Moab holding hands with three men in her life, her husband and their two sons. Her story ends in the last chapter, she being surrounded by another set of three persons, all of them newly added in her life, Ruth, her second husband, Boaz and their son Obed. King David and the King of kings, Jesus were born in this family line. No wonder, it is a story of fullness to fullness.

The women said to Naomi: "Praise be to the LORD, who this day has not left you without a kinsman-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth." Then Naomi took the child, laid him in her lap and cared for him. The women living there said, "Naomi has a son." And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David (Ruth 4: 14-17).

Here are few lessons from Naomi’s life for us to be used as instruments of fullness in the hands of God:
1. Work on the positives in life.
2. Use God-given wisdom to grab opportunities, like how it came to Naomi in the form of local culture. Be sensitive to God’s leading.

3. In families, we need to raise not only girls who are always taught to obey, but also raise Boazes who would respect women and redeem battered women. Most frustrations in families and societies have a possible solution when we properly raise boys and girls in our homes, while they are very young!

Let us be assured of the fullness which Christ has promised his followers to grip us in the agonising situations of our life. Jesus said: The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full (John 10:10). He always leads us from fullness to fullness!

காரியம் மாறுதலாய் முடிந்தது!! - நம் நாட்டை ஆசீர்வதிக்க!

 

வேதத்தில் எஸ்தரின் புத்தகம் முழுவதிலும் இறைவனின் பெயர் வெளிப்படையாக சொல்லப்படவில்லை. ஆனால் உள்ளார்ந்தமாக அவரின் வல்ல செயல்கள் புத்தகம் முழுமையும் நிறைந்துள்ளன. இதை விளக்க நான் எடுத்துள்ள முயற்சியானது இறை ஞானம் செரிந்த‌ தங்கப் புதையல் போன்ற இப்புத்தகத்தில் ஒரு சிறிய கண்ணோட்டமாகும். நம்மில் அதிகமானோர் அறிந்துள்ள இக்கதையில் மூன்று முக்கிய கதாபாத்திரங்களின் பெயர்கள் பதிவாயுள்ளன. அதில் ஒருவர் கதையின் கடைசி காட்சிகளின் போது உயிருடன் இல்லை. அந்த நபரைத் தான் நாம் முதலில் காண வேண்டும். ஏனென்றால் அந்நபர் தான் இக்கதைக்கு சுவாரஸ்யத்திற்குக் காரணர்.

பிரச்சனையான ஆமான்

வெளிப்படையாக ஆமான் கொண்டு வந்த பிரச்சனை அரண்மனை வாசல் காத்த மொர்தெகாய் மீது போன்று தோன்றினாலும் உள்ளார்ந்தமாக ஒரு நாட்டினர் மீதும், யூதர் என்னும் பெருவாரியான‌ மக்கள் கூட்டம் மீதுமாகும் (3: 5-6, 4:1-3)  இன்றும் நம்முடைய போராட்டம் மாம்சத்தோடும் இரத்தத்தோடுமல்ல, துரைத்தனங்களோடும், அதிகாரங்களோடும், இப்பிரபஞ்சத்தின் அந்தகார லோகாதிபதிகளோடும், வானமண்டலங்களிலுள்ள பொல்லாத ஆவிகளின் சேனைகளோடும் ஆகும்(எபேசியர் 6:12). இம்மாதத்தில் நாம் நம் தேசம் அந்நிய ஆளுநர்களிடமிருந்து விடுதலைப் பெற்ற நாளை கொண்டாடுகிறோம். இன்று நாம் உண்மையாகவே விடுதலைப் பெற்றிருக்கிறோமோ என்பது கேள்விக்குறியாயிருக்கிறது. பெரும்பான்மை மதப்பிரிவினர் சிலரிடமிருந்து கிறிஸ்தவருக்குப் பிரச்சனகள் அதிகம் எழும்பிக்கொண்டிருக்கிறது. பவுலைப் போல நம் விசுவாசத்திற்கான நல்ல போராட்டத்தைப் போராட ஆயத்தமாயிருக்கிறோமா? கிறிஸ்தவருக்கு எதிரான ஆமானின் சதித் திட்டங்களை நாம் எவ்வாறு மேற்கொள்ளப்போகிறோம்?

திறமையான மொர்தெகாய்

யூதருக்கு விடுதலைப் பெற்றுத் தரக்கூடியத் திறன் மொர்தெகாயிடமிருந்தது. எஸ்தருக்கு ஏற்ற சமயத்தில்  அவன் கொடுத்த ஆலோசனை வெள்ளித் தட்டில் வைக்கப்பட்ட பொற்பழங்களுக்கு சமானமாயிருந்தது (நீதிமொழிகள் 25:11. மொர்தெகாயின் வளர்ப்பு மகளான எஸ்தர் ஏற்கனவே அவன் சொற்கேட்டு நடந்து வந்து கொண்டிருந்தவள். ஆமானின் சதித்திட்டத்தை மேற்கொள்ள அவன் எஸ்தரிடம் கூறிய ஆலோசனை என்ன? " நீ ராஜாவின் அரமனையிலிருக்கிறதினால், மற்ற யூதர் தப்பக்கூடாதிருக்க, நீ தப்புவாயென்று உன் மனதிலே நினைவுகொள்ளாதே. நீ இந்தக் காலத்திலே மவுனமாயிருந்தால், யூதருக்குச் சகாயமும் இரட்சிப்பும் வேறொரு இடத்திலிருந்து எழும்பும், அப்பொழுது நீயும் உன் தகப்பன் குடும்பத்தாரும் அழிவீர்கள்; நீ இப்படிப்பட்ட காலத்துக்கு உதவியாயிருக்கும்படி உனக்கு ராஜமேன்மை கிடைத்திருக்கலாமே, யாருக்குத் தெரியும்?”

இதுவே நமக்கும் இந்நாட்களிலில் இறைவன் கொடுக்கும் ஆலோசனையாகும். நாம் மவுனமாயிருக்க முடியாது. நாம் செய்ய வேண்டியது இதுதான். அவர் நாமம் தரிக்கப்பட்ட நாம் நம்மைத் தாழ்த்தி, ஜெபம்பண்ணி, கர்த்தர் முகத்தைத் தேடி, நம் பொல்லாத வழிகளைவிட்டுத் திரும்பினால், அப்பொழுது பரலோகத்திலிருக்கிற அவர் கேட்டு, நம் பாவத்தை மன்னித்து, நம் தேசத்துக்கு க்ஷேமத்தைக் கொடுப்பார் (2 நாளாகமம் 7:14). எஸ்தர் இதைத் தான் செய்தாள்!        

ஜெபித்த எஸ்தர்

யூதர்களின் விடுதலைக்கான காரணத்தை ஒரே வார்த்தையில் கூற வேண்டுமானால், அது "ஜெபம்" ஆகும். ஆலோசனக் கூறிய மொர்தெகாயிற்கு எஸ்தரின் பதில் என்ன?"சூசானில் இருக்கிற யூதரையெல்லாம் கூடிவரச்செய்து, மூன்றுநாள் அல்லும் பகலும் புசியாமலும் குடியாமலுமிருந்து, எனக்காக உபவாசம்பண்ணுங்கள்; நானும் என் தாதிமாரும் உபவாசம்பண்ணுவோம்; இவ்விதமாக சட்டத்தை மீறி, ராஜாவினிடத்தில் பிரவேசிப்பேன்; நான் செத்தாலும் சாகிறேன்!" என்பதாகும். ஒரு ஜெப இயக்கம் அவள் மூலம் உருவானது. யேகோவாவின் நாமம் தடை செய்யப்பட்ட அரமனைக்குள் பெண்கள் ஜெபக்குழுவைத் துணிந்து தொடங்கினாள். எஸ்தரின் நம்பிக்கை ஜெபத்திலிருந்தது, அதுவும் கூட்டுப் பிரார்த்தனையில்! 

தேசத்திற்காக உபவாசித்து ஜெபிக்கும் ஆவிக்குரிய கலாச்சாரம் கிறிஸ்தவர்களிடம் குறைந்து வருவதால்  சபைகளிலும், நம் தேசத்திலும் பிரச்சனைகளும் அதிகமாகின்றது. விசுவாசத்திற்கான நல்ல போராட்டத்தைப் போராட, காரியம் தலைகீழாய் மாற நாம் திருமறைக்குத் திரும்பி நம் ஜெப முயற்சிகளை அதிகமாக்க வேண்டும். எஸ்தர் ஜெபத்தின் மூலம் வல்லமைப் பெற்று இராஜாவின் தயையையும் பெற்றுக் கொண்டாள். நாமும் ஜெபத்தின் மூலம் இராஜாதி இராஜாவின் தயையையும், நம் தேசத்தின் ஆளுநர்கள், அதிகாரிகள் ஆகியோரின் தயவையும் பெறுவோம். எஸ்தரின் சரித்திரக் கதையில் பிரச்சனையைக் கொண்டு வந்த ஆமான் மாத்திரமல்ல அவன் குடும்பத்தினர், அவனை ஆதரித்தவர் அனைவரும் அழிந்து போனார்கள்.

படுகுழியை வெட்டின ஆமான் தானே அதில் விழுந்தான்; கல்லைப் புரட்டின அவன்மேல் அந்தக் கல் திரும்ப விழுந்தது (நீதிமொழிகள் 26:27). அவன் மொர்தெகாய்க்கு ஆயத்தம்பண்ணின தூக்குமரத்தில் அவனையேத் தூக்கிப்போட்டார்கள் (எஸ்தர் 7:10). கர்த்தர் எஸ்தருக்கும், ஆமானிற்கும், சாம்பலுக்குப் பதிலாகச் சிங்காரத்தையும், துயரத்துக்குப் பதிலாக ஆனந்த தைலத்தையும், ஒடுங்கின ஆவிக்குப் பதிலாகத் துதியின் உடையையும் கொடுத்தார் (ஏசாயா 61:3). அவர்தம் பிள்ளைகளின் புலம்பலை ஆனந்தக் களிப்பாக மாறப்பண்ணினார்; அவர்களின் இரட்டைக் களைந்துபோட்டு, மகிழ்ச்சியென்னும் கட்டினால்  இடைகட்டினார் (சங்கீதம் 30:11). இன்றும் தேவன் நம் தேசத்தின் கடினமான சூழல்களைத் தலைகீழாக மாற்றித் தருவார். நம் குடும்பங்களை, சபைகளை, நாட்டை நம் நேரிய வாழ்வினாலும், ஜெபத்தினாலும் ஆசீர்வதிப்போம்.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Tables Turned: To Bless A Nation

The book of Esther explicitly does not have the name of Yahweh written in it. But the implicit content of the book is the power of the Yahweh God.  What I am undertaking here is a puny perspective of a gold mine and treasury of God’s wisdom in the whole of the book of Esther. There were three prime characters involved in this powerful story most of us are familiar with. One was not alive when the climax scene happened.  It is he who I am going to bring out first because it was he, who gave a supreme climax to the story!

Problematical Haman

Though superficially the problem brought forth by Haman looked like it was against a man at the gate of the place named Mordecai, intrinsically it was against a nation, a people group. (3:5-6, 4:1-3). Even today our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. This month we celebrate the independence our nation enjoys from foreign rulers. But truly there is an upper-hand attitude of the majority-faith-believers of our nation against the minorities. The Christian minority still remains foreign to the present rulers of our nation.  Like Paul, how are we going to fight a ‘good’ fight for our faith in the Indian context?

Resourceful Mordecai

The resourceful person for bringing freedom for the Jews was Mordecai. His counsel at the right time to Esther was like golden apples in settings of silver (Proverbs 25:11). He told Queen Esther, his adopted daughter (who had come to that position by obeying his counsel), “Do not think that because you are in the king's house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?"  (4:13-14). When people faces crisis with regard to faith, we need to listen to the counsel of God. Out of the many, one counsel is supreme, yet, simple: “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14) Interestingly Esther did exactly this.

Prayerful Esther

 If at all there could be one word for the turn of events in the struggle for lives in this historic Jewish event, it was “prayer.” Read her reply to Mordecai:  “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish." Esther initiated a prayer movement. She mobilised a prayer cell in her women’s domain.  She could do this boldly in a place, a palace, where Yahweh’s name was prohibited. Esther believed in prayer and that too corporate prayer.

The spiritual culture of fasting for nation is slowly weaning in the Christian context today and that is why we have an upheaval of problems in our churches and in our country. To fight a good fight for our faith, to turn the tables, we need to turn to the Bible and increase our prayer initiatives. Powered by prayer, Esther received favour in the eyes of the King. We too will receive favour in the eyes of our King of kings and our local rulers and authorities through our prayers. In Esther’s story, not only the problematical Haman, even his family, his supporters paid the cost for scheming against the people of Yahweh-faith. They had a tragic end. Haman fell into the same pit which he had dug for the Yahweh-worshippers. The stone rolled back on him (Proverbs 26:27).  He was hanged to death on the same pole which he had erected to execute Mordecai.

The key is our dependence on God through prayer. The wailing of the Yahwistic Jews turned into dancing; HE removed their sackcloth and clothed them with joy (Psalm 30:11), HE gave Esther and Mordecai crowns of beauty instead of ashes, oil of gladness instead of mourning, a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair (Isaiah 61:3). God still can turn the tables upside down in our situations. Let us bless our families, churches and nation through our upright living and prayers. Happy Independence Day!

Power of Prayer

Her Problem – A God Ordained One
Do we know that sometimes our problems are ordained by God? Hannah’s was! The Lord closed her womb (1:6). More than her inability to bear a child was the provoking pointed at her from her rival Peninah, who had children. The irritation caused by her overweighed the love shown by her husband, Elkanah. None could comfort her, not even her husband. He showed his love by giving double and special portion of the sacrificial meat. But nothing would satisfy this woman who was repeatedly bullied and yelled at by Peninah which usually ended with Hannah sobbing and foregoing food. This was a constant problem which continued for years (v. 6-7). Her soul was bitter with sorrow. Her final resort was God. In Hannah’s case, her problem was ordained by God. He knew who could handle a problem better – Hannah or Peninah? He knew that only a pained Hannah can make a meaningful prayer to God. God allows his children whom he loves to suffer. Only the future would reveal us the cause of the present suffering.

Her Prayer & Promise – A Different One
Her prayer loaded with much crying was a different one that birthed a vow (a promise to God). It was not a loud and laudable prayer with flowery language. It was a silent prayer that came out of anguish. Eli did not like the way she prayed and he even went to the extent of scolding her whether she was drunk and asked her not to drink. Her prayer was not a selfish one. It was for the welfare of a nation that was morally decaying. She pledged to place her child at the altar which was then getting defiled everyday by the sons of the priest’s family of her time.

What I love so much is that Hannah was not a critic of her context, rather she pledged her son for a life-time ministry, wanting him to be a solution to the context. Her prayer was specific as to what kind of ministry her son of promise would be in. It would be a specialized ministry of the Nazirite kind where there would be a life-time of restrictions. His hair would not be cut-off and his son of promise would lead an ascetic life. No wonder, her son, Samuel became a revivalist in the declining nation of Israel. He was a judge and prophet whom God powerfully used. People abandoned their idol-worship and clung to the Yahweh God. Are our prayers and promises so different enough to make a difference in our nation? What should we do to make that happen?

Her Praise – A Noteworthy One
Hannah was never sad after this significant prayer (v.18). Her life of praise is seen in the way she fulfilled her vow. Samuel would have been 12 year old, Bible scholars say at the time of being left at the temple by his parents as a Nazirite. Hannah’s prayer of praise is a noteworthy one in all of Scriptures for its liberation insights. Mary, mother of Jesus centuries later sings a similar song. They both were raised up from neglected statuses. They knew their God as their Saviour. So they received favour from Him. These songs of liberation are so meaningful even today in oppressive contexts. God’s favour is upon the Dalits, Adivasis, women or anyone who have been taunted, but have found their refuge in God. Such transformed individuals are the ones who transform the nation with the power of the living God. They beget a Samuel like how Hannah did. They beget a Saviour like how Mary did.

For Hannah, the bridge between her problem and her praise was a simple prayer with a promise. Like in Hannah’s case, the LORD is close to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit (Psalm 34: 18). There is power in the prayer of an oppressed believer. But we need to pray with a difference to make a difference in the lives of many. The plight of a nation like India is in the hands of women who can pray like Hannah. Our children are the solution to the problems our nation is facing. Therefore let us raise a Godly generation through our problems, prayers, promises and praises.

-– Reflections from the Life of Hannah from 1 Samuel 1 &2