There is an EnemyDavid Caron MD

Scary Words?• Judgment• Fear of the Lord• Commands

An Enemy• I Peter 5:8-11“8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary

the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. 10 But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. 11 To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

Job 1:6-12• 6 Now there was a day when the sons of God

came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. 7 And the Lord said to Satan, “From where do you come?” So Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.” 8 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?”9 So Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for nothing?

Judgment

Matthew 12:20-21

• 20A bruised reed shall he not break, And smoking flax shall he not quench, Till he send forth judgment unto victory. 21And in his name shall the Gentiles hope. • If you remember only one thing: • There is always an enemy who without reason

would prowl about seeking whom he may devour; BUT thanks be to God who has brought forth judgment unto victory.

There is an enemy

• devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour

• prowling lion

Esther• The enemy, accuser is Haman. • The accused is Mordecai and all those who are his people or the

Jews. • Mordecai refuses to bow before the new 2nd in command • Haman casts the pur (the lot) to decide the month in which he

would enact his plan• Haman accuses the Jews to the king stating,• Esther 3:8 … “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed

among the people in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from all other people’s, and they do not keep the king’s laws. Therefore it is not fitting for the king to let them remain. 9 If it pleases the king, let a decree be written that they be destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who do the work, to bring it into the king’s treasuries”

Let’s see how Haman “sets in motion” his own destruction.

• First he did not know the writings • Solomon prays at the dedication of the temple: 2Chron

6:23“Judge Your servants, bringing retribution on the wicked by bringing his way on his own head, and justifying the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness.”• The psalmist says: Psalms 7:14-16 “Behold, the wicked

brings forth iniquity; Yes, he conceives trouble and brings forth falsehood.15He made a pit and dug it out, And has fallen into the ditch which he made. 16 His trouble shall return upon his own head, And his violent dealing shall come down on his own crown.”

Let’s see how Haman “sets in motion” his own destruction.• Second He did not know the Prophets or the Proverbs. see

the folly of his own actions• Proverbs 16:33 The lot is cast into the lap, But its every

decision is from the Lord.• One man says it this way “Throughout the book the

providential timing of events decisively favors the Jews against Haman.”…

Proverbs 26:27 “Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, And he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him.”

Esther 9:24 • 24 because Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the

enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to annihilate them, and had cast Pur (that is, the lot), to consume them and destroy them; 25 but when Esther came before the king, he commanded by letter that this wicked plot which Haman had devised against the Jews should return on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.

Recall: Matthew 12:20-21

• 20A bruised reed shall he not break, And smoking flax shall he not quench, Till he send forth judgment unto victory. 21And in his name shall the Gentiles hope. • If you remember only one thing: • There is always an enemy who without reason

would prowl about seeking whom he may devour; BUT thanks be to God who has brought forth judgment unto victory.

Psalms 7:6-17 • 6Arise, O Lord, in Your anger; Lift Yourself up because of the rage of my

enemies; Rise up for me to the judgment You have commanded! 7So the congregation of the peoples shall surround You; For their sakes, therefore, return on high. 8The Lord shall judge the peoples; Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness, And according to my integrity within me. 9Oh, let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, But establish the just; For the righteous God tests the hearts and minds.10My defense is of God, Who saves the upright in heart.11God is a just judge, And God is angry with the wicked every day.12If he does not turn back, He will sharpen His sword; He bends His bow and makes it ready. 13He also prepares for Himself instruments of death; He makes His arrows into fiery shafts.14Behold, the wicked brings forth iniquity; Yes, he conceives trouble and brings forth falsehood. 15He made a pit and dug it out, And has fallen into the ditch which he made. 16His trouble shall return upon his own head, And his violent dealing shall come down on his own crown. 17I will praise the Lord according to His righteousness, And will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.