God bless you in the name of our lord and savior Jesus Christ who spoke to the world those things which he had heard of his Father (John 8:26).
A decree is an official command that establishes something. It is described in connection with the “commandment (word, dabar) of the king” four times in Esther (2:8; 4:3; 8:17; 9:1). A decree could be as simple as an order given by the king to let people drink without restraint at a banquet or as formal as an edict written down and sent throughout the entire kingdom for everyone to know and obey (1:20; 3:14; 8:13).
There is an interesting verse in Job about decrees. Although it uses a different Hebrew word, gazar, gazar is used synonymously with dath in Esther. In Esther 1:19, the “law,” dath, of the Persians and Medes is later referred to as what was decreed, gazar, against Vasti. (The same is true of a third synonym, pithgam, translated “decree,” in Esther 1:20.)
Job 22:28:
Thou shalt also decree [gazar] a thing [omer], and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways.
The word “thing” in Hebrew is omer. It means promise, speech, word, or thing spoken. It is similar to the Greek word rhema (Luke 1:37), and includes the promises, the sayings, the utterances, and the confessed words of God.
Gazar, used 13 times, usually describes the division of an object into parts (I Kings 3:25; II Kings 6:4). However, in Esther 2:1 and Job 22:28 it has the connotation common in Aramaic, of making a pronouncement. It is like our English word “decide” which comes from the Latin, “to cut off from.” It is a proclamation of a decision having authority behind it to which people have to comply. We can speak and it will be established for us. We can declare the outcome of a matter before it comes to pass, if our proclamation is in line and harmony with the words of God.
A decree is the determination of someone who has power. Ecclesiastes 8:4 says, “Where the word of the king is, there is power and who may say unto him, what doest thou?” Revelation 1:5-6, says that Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, hath made us kings and priests unto God, his Father. He has given us authority in his name. We can decide, predetermine, and declare the outcome of a matter before it actually comes to pass. When our decree is in line with the word we have received from God, we can “decree a thing, and it will be established for us!”
Job 22:28 has certainly “a touch of audacity” about it. What a promise! When we make a decree based on the authority of God’s Word our purposes shall not be disappointed, but ratified by God. Furthermore, He will give us the light of his direction and governance providing and assuring great comfort and success. A thing must be decreed before it can be established and illuminate our ways.
Strictly speaking, Job 22:28 is only true of God, whose decrees are immutable (Hebrews 6:17; Isaiah 14:24). However, when we speak His words as He gives them to us, we will find that we, too, can decree things and God will establish them. He will also give us the light, the direction, we need to bring to pass whatever He has shown us.
David’s encounter with Goliath gives us a great example. After Goliath berated and cursed David, David made a solemn decree. He spoke with the authority of the Lord saying:
I Samuel 17:45-47:
Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. 46 This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. 47 And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD’S, and he will give you into our hands.
Of course, that is exactly what happened. When Goliath approached David. David acted. He received the light he needed to bring the decree to pass. The polysyndeton in verses 48-51 enumerate his actions. David hasted and ran and put his hand in his bag and took a stone and slang it and smote the Philistine in his forehead and stood upon the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of the sheath and slew him and cut off his head.
Decreeing a thing requires recognizing our authority and being a bit audacious. It’s more than just cheerful optimism or wishful thinking. When we speak forth the Word of God, we are not just spouting clever rhetoric or pious platitudes. Rather we are declaring with our lips what God has communicated to our hearts. We can be daringly bold, recklessly brave, unrestrained and uninhibited. We can be extremely original, highly inventive and act in defiance of convention without restriction to prior ideas or tradition. After all, we are functioning in God’s kingdom, and He’s given us authority in the name of Jesus Christ.
Enjoy your day as you live with and for Him (Psalms 37:4-5). I wonder, what you’ll get to decree today?