The following sermon is by John MacArthur, pastor, author, and Bible teacher with Grace to You.

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And now unleashing God's truth one verse at a time.

Here is Grace to you Bible teacher John MacArthur.

It always strikes me that this is such a strange time of year.

Because all of our calendars and our normal functions in life get thrown into chaos.

I want to make sense not out of the mundane, but out of the things that really matter.

And I want to frame that if I may in this way.

In the book of Esther, in chapter one, you don't need to look at it.

There is a very interesting statement about King Hajoeris, a pagan king, the king of the Persian

empire, who ruled from about 486 BC to 465 BC.

And it says concerning him that he surrounded himself with wise men.

That's first chapter of Esther.

And they are defined this way, who understood the times.

That's really what wisdom should do.

Even pagans understand that.

Perhaps more applicable to us is the same basic comment with regard to the sons of Issaqar.

You will remember First Chronicles 11 and 12.

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