The Golden Scepter: The Power of Divine Favor

By Timothy Olorunfemi

One of the greatest connections of man to his Maker is divine favor. The grace (unmerited favor) of God to man for salvation is the climax of God’s favor. God has shown His favor to man from the beginning as an expression of His love and kindness, and many times in response to obedient living. He has gone the extra mile, many times, to deliver His people who He favored, even when He has to exchange lives for their lives.

The Book of Esther is one of the best books illustrating the love and favor of God in the Bible. It elucidates the mystery of the invisible hand of God in delivering His people from their enemies and elevating them from obscurity to eminence and from the status of nonentities to nobility, by His favor.

This book attempts to explore the Book of Esther to explain the divine providence in deliverance, protection, promotion, and empowerment of God’s people with favor to fulfill their destinies. The Golden Scepter: The Power of Divine Favor also relates the miraculous deliverance of the children of Israel in the Persian Empire by the hand of Queen Esther, to the salvation of man by the Son of God, Jesus Christ. The prayer points will help readers to connect to the ultimate source of favor - the Almighty God.

• Language: English
• Publisher: GodKulture
• Release date: Feb 14, 2018
• ISBN: 9780999068984

Book preview

The Power oF Divine Favor

Timothy

Olorunfemi

Chicago, IL

© Copyright 2017 – Timothy Olayemi Olorunfemi

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved. This book is protected under copyright laws of the United States of America. This book may not be copied or reprinted for commercial gain or profit.

ISBN: 978-0-9990689-9-1

eISBN: 978-0-9990689-8-4

Library of Congress Number: 2017913129

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 marked as KJV from Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture Quotations marked.

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Dedication

This book is dedicated to those who need

God’s favor and seek Him daily.

Acknowledgments

First and foremost, I will like to give all the glory to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Author and Finisher of my faith. I thank God, who has given me the grace for salvation and to produce this book for the blessing of His people. Without Him I can do nothing.

Secondly, my best friend forever and wife, Janet Olorunfemi, for her encouragement and patience, particularly during the writing of this book. You are a strong source of inspiration to me.

My gratitude also goes to my brother, my friend and my mentor, Pastor Dare Olorunfemi, for his counsel and editing; our parents in the Lord, Pastor (Dr.) Ezekiel and Pastor (Dr) Juyi Ojo, Pastor in Charge of Province (PICP) 2 Region 2 of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, North America, for their contributions, advice and encouragement; Dr. David Popoola and Brother Emmanuel Boateng for being part of the Book Launch Committee and their advice, editing and contributions towards the production.

Also, other members of the Book Launching Committee: Deaconess Faith Achenpong, Bro Abiodun Edunro, Dr. Toyin Fabiyi and Sister Phoebe Olorunfemi.

I want to thank all my children, biological and spiritual, for their prayers and motivation for writing this book. I pray that the God of

Foreword

BY PASTOR EZEKIEL OJO

Romans 9:15-16 says, For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

This is one of the famous Bible verses on divine favor and the author, a beneficiary of divine favor himself, has done an excellent job in writing about it. It is generally believed that favor is not fair, however, it resides in the territory of God’s sovereignty. When God’s hands are upon a person for His favor, that person does not have to be perfect. Moses was a murderer but God still chose him. Paul was a persecutor of believers but God still favored him and used him for His own glory. The same God said in Romans 9:13-14 that, As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.

The book takes off with Chapter 1, deeply focusing on God’s invisible hand which can also be regarded as the hand of destiny that remotely guides the destinies of men. The book focuses heavily, from Chapters 2 to 5, on the exploits of Esther and Mordecai in the book of Esther to drive home the message of favor interestingly showing similarities between the golden scepter and the Mercy Seat. Chapter 6 reveals several ways that believers can divinely position themselves for divine favor.

In a world of both abundance and scarcity playing out in human lives at different stages, one therefore needs a deep understanding of how to be in the right place at the right time to attract divine favor.

Chapter 7 reveals how people can purposefully attract divine favor just as when Esther mobilized a whole nation to fast and pray before appearing before the King to make petitions for God’s people. It demonstrates how people can also move the hands of God for divine favor. Chapter 8 concludes on the limitations of grace and reasons why God can decide to withhold his favor from people.

Overall, this book is highly recommended for believers, church leaders, ministers and scholars of the Bible. It can also be used as a training manual for church workers and even for those in secular businesses. I hereby congratulate the author for doing an excellent job.

Ezekiel Ojo, PhD

Senior Pastor, RCCG Solid Rock, Phoenix, Arizona.

Pastor In Charge, Region 2 Province 2 RCCGNA

Introduction

For thou art the glory of their strength:

and in thy favour our horn shall be exalted.

(Psalm 89:17)

The love and favor of God form the foundation on which He makes covenant with us.

The favor of God is a requirement for our success in fulfilling our destiny.

The Golden Scepter: The Power of Divine Favor, explores the Book of Esther and the major characters to demonstrate the mercy and grace of God in the life of His people. This is not a character study of Esther or the other major characters, but this book showcases the power of the invisible hand of the invincible God in the use of favor as a tool to deliver and to promote His people over their enemies.

The book of Esther, even though it does not contain the name of God, expounds the power of God’s favor in lifting His people from grass to grace and transforming them from nothing to something, even in a strange land. Hardly is there a book of the Bible, particularly in the Old Testament, that so demonstrates the power of divine favor in the redemption of God’s people. It also discusses how we can position ourselves to receive and enjoy God’s favor.

God, through His favor, displaced the enemies of the Jews and unfavorable circumstances and replaced them with His people and pleasant situations. The time of fasting was replaced with a time of feasting for the people of God. The golden scepter, which would have been a tool of judgment and condemnation for Esther, became the rod of mercy for her and her people, Israel. The Book of Esther can therefore be called The Book of Divine Favor, or The Book of Displacement and Replacement, or The Book of the Golden Scepter or The Book of Purim.

Esther was a Jewess orphan raised by her cousin, Mordecai, in the city of Shushan, the capital of the Persian Empire. Mordecai was a devoted Jew who was working at the gate of King Ahasuerus (Esther 2:5-6). They were both part of the Jewish population scattered across the Persian Empire after the return of many back to the land of Israel from seventy years of captivity. Mordecai was of the descendants of King Saul while Haman the Agagite was of the descendants of King Agag, the Amalekite that King Saul refused to destroy. Esther became the queen of the powerful empire, and was used as a savior for the people of Israel in diaspora from the hand of their enemy, Haman, who plotted the first holocaust of the Jews.

Christ is our Scepter, upon whom was laid our sins that He may be able to purchase our pardon. We receive mercy and grace at the touching of Jesus Christ (accepting Him as our Lord and Savior). We "obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need," (Hebrew 4:16) through the Lord Jesus Christ. Through Christ, we receive propitiation for our sins that we may be reconciled to the father. Upon Christ, the mercy of God and the sin of man met, and there, the judgment of God was satisfied and the redemption of man was completed.

The first inspiration to write this book came to me in January 2006 when I first scrambled together the manuscript and the framework. Unfortunately, I lost the script in transit when I was coming to the United States of America.

The inspiration became latent until activated on October 5, 2015 when I read the Open Heaven of Daddy GO (General Overseer of The Redeemed Christian Church of God), Pastor Adeboye titled: SCEPTRE OF HIS POWER. The name of this book changed over time but the message remains the same: The Power of God’s Favor. To get the best out of this book, please read the book of Esther to get an adequate background of the story. I believe God has designed it to be a blessing to you.

Chapter 1

The Invincible Hand of God to Favor

I know that You can do all things, and that no thought

or purpose of Yours can be restrained or thwarted.

(Job 42:2 AMPC)

The favor of God is an enhancer of destiny.

No one can get anywhere remarkable in

the journey of life without the hand of God.

The hand of God is invincible. It conquers every battle and wins every war. The powerful hand of the Almighty God can be subtle, but it is mighty to pull down strongholds (2 Corinthians 10:4); and tear apart mountains and fill up valleys (Psalms 114:4-7, Nahum 1:5). The secret hand of God divides the flames (Psalms 29:7). It builds roads in the sea (Exodus 14:21-23). By the invincible hand of God, mountains skipped like rams (Psalms 114:4-6); water gushed from a rock (Exodus 17 & Numbers 20); mighty men were drowned in the sea (Exodus 14:24-26) and mighty kings were dethroned and slaves were enthroned (1 Samuel 2:8).

With His invisible hand of favor, He dethroned seemingly invincible kings to enthrone unlikely slaves to be rulers over kingdoms:

I have seen slaves sitting on horses and influential people going on foot like slave. (Ecclesiastes 10:7 GWT)

By the favor of God, He helps slaves to take inheritance and causes princes to serve the captives. He causes mighty kings to be subject to immigrants. With God, all things are possible!

Divine favor, that which we do not merit, also called grace, makes the difference in the life of any man. God’s favor is the invisible power of God that does visible things in the life of the beneficiaries. It is the favor of God that sets people apart, and empowers them to succeed in their God-given assignment. God’s favor is His tool to empower His people to get what they do not sweat for and do not deserve. It is the force that moves His people, without struggles, to get to where they are not qualified to reach.

The favor of God turns a weakling to a mighty man of valor and transforms the ordinary to the extraordinary (Judges 6:12-16). It is the super element that backs natural men to do supernatural things. How could a mortal man tell the sun, the moon and the star to stop at the valley of Ajalon (Joshua 10:12-13)? It is the favor of God that enables us to say a thing and it comes to pass (Lamentations 3:37). It is the favor of God that makes us different from others (1Corinthians 4:7). We are what we are by His grace (1Corinthians 15:10).

How did a slave become a Prime Minister in a foreign land (Genesis 41)? How did people inherit houses they never built and got assets they never worked for (Deuteronomy 6:11)? How did an adopted slave girl become the queen of one of the most powerful kingdoms of the time (Esther 1-2)? How did a foreigner who was a security guard become more and more powerful in a strange land, until he became a Prime Minister (Esther 9:4)? How did a slave serve as part of the top inner caucus for three consecutive kings in a strange land? How did a slave earn the homage of a king (Daniel 2:46)? These are all results of the invisible hand of God, called divine favor to favor His people.

I pray for somebody reading this book that the favor of God will take you to an unimaginable height. The hand of the Lord will take you to places you cannot even dream of. God’s favor is going to set you apart from today, in Jesus name.

God is the master planner and architect of our destinies; and every thought and counsel of men are in His palm. His invisible hand frustrates the omen of liars and makes diviners mad over our destinies (Isaiah 44:25). He turned the counsel of Ahithophel to foolishness over David (2 Samuel 17:7) and caused the plot of Haman against the Jews to boomerang (Esther 7:10; 9:25). No wonder why William Cowper (1731-1800), in his hymn, God Moves in a Mysterious Way, wrote of the wonderful ways of God:

God moves in a mysterious way

His wonders to perform;

He plants His footsteps in the sea

And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines

Of never failing skill

He treasures up His bright designs

And works His sovereign will.

God’s favor is one of the most potent tools of His invisible hands to empower His people to succeed in their assignment on earth. In His favor, He works wonders to deliver His own people from the perils of life and elevates them from dunghills and sets them to rule with kings, as written in Psalms 113:7-9:

He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill; That he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people. He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the Lord.

God’s favor could be expressed as God’s presence, like in the case of Joseph (Genesis 39:1-6); or in form of the hand of God, as the case of Jabez (1 Chronicles 4:10). The favor of God is a shield with which the righteous are encompassed (Psalms 5:12). In it is life, and by it weeping in the night is replaced with joy in the morning (Psalms 30:5). It can also be in form of help like the case of Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 18:31).

God gives grace according to the measure of assignment given:

But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. (Ephesians 4:7)

The greater the assignment, the bigger the grace. God gave double grace to Zerubbabel:

Who art thou, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it. (Zechariah 4:7)

He gave high favor to Mary the mother of Jesus Christ to fulfill her great destiny:

And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. (Luke 1:28)

He gave sufficient grace to Paul:

And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

God gives grace and favor to meet specific assignments. I pray that the Lord will give you sufficient grace and favor to fulfill your destiny, in the name of Jesus.

The Lord God has His own ways of defending His people, whom He favors. He is mysterious in His plans. No one can get anywhere remarkable in the journey of life without the hand of God. We need His hands of mercy and favor to see us through. We need His help to empower us to do the incredible. We need His transforming power to move us from ordinary levels to extraordinary heights. We can see the invisible and hear the inaudible. We can know the unfathomable things and do the incredible. Only if we receive His Grace to do them. Our God is able to