Esther 以斯帖記 8-10
Esther 9:1 Now in the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king’s command and edict were about to be carried out, on the very day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain the mastery over them, the reverse occurred(NIV: the tables were turned): the Jews gained mastery over those who hated them.
以斯帖記 9:1 十二月,就是亞達月十三日,王的諭旨和敕令要執行的那一日,猶太人的仇敵盼望制伏他們,但猶太人反倒制伏了恨他們的人。
Even after Haman was hanged, the problem of the Jewish people still remained. Because his former edict could not be revoked, King Ahasuerus issued a new edict to allow the Jews to “gather and defend their lives, to destroy, to kill” their enemies. (8:11) Miraculously, on the day that the Jews were to have been wiped out, “the reverse occurred: the Jews gained mastery over those who hated them.” God is a God who can reverse actions and intentions!
As sinners we are doomed “for the wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23). This law cannot be revoked because God is a just and holy God. But praise the Lord – God sent His Son Jesus who is sinless to die for us who are sinful; thus when we confess we are sinners and accept Jesus as our Savior, “the reverse occur[s]”: we were doomed to perish and now not only do we have eternal life and but we also have become children of God. May this reversal occur for every one of us and continue to occur throughout the journey of our lives to reverse our dire situation and to turn “from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday” (9:22) !
即使在哈曼被絞死之後,猶太人民的危機仍然存在。 由於無法廢除其先前的諭旨,亞哈隨魯王發布了一項新諭旨,允許猶太人“保護自己的性命,剪除,殺戮”他們的敵人。 (8:11)奇蹟般地,在猶太人被消滅的那一天,“情況發生了逆轉:猶太人反倒制伏了恨他們的人。” 上帝是可以逆轉行為和意圖的上帝!
作為罪人,我們注定要滅亡,因為“因為罪的工價乃是死” (羅 6:23)。 這項律法不能被廢除,因為上帝是公義聖潔的上帝。 但是讚美主-上帝差遣了無罪的兒子耶穌為有罪的我們而死; 因此當我們承認我們是罪人並接受耶穌為我們的救主時, “逆轉”就發生了:我們注定要滅亡,現在不但我們有了永生,更成為上帝的兒女。 願這種逆轉勝在我們每個人中發生,並在我們一生的旅程中繼續發生,以扭轉我們的嚴峻局勢,並將其變成”轉憂為喜、轉悲為樂的吉日” (9:22)!