Esther Part 2

Or like the time my friend asked me point blank about God and was seriously inquiring about trusting Jesus and I froze up and told him we could talk about a different time and it never came back up.

And sometimes its not even about boldness it also about trusting God as well.

Like the times I know that I need to trust God about my situations but instead I tell God, don’t worry about it anymore, I’ll take care of it.

Without realizing that God was protecting me from something and I ended up getting hurt in the process.

Being bold and trusting is not easy.

Being bold, we believe comes natural.

But I don’t really think it does.

I think it take us having a great deal of trust in an almighty God that gives us the boldness to do his will.

It takes trust in God’s plan to be bold in your life.

I remember a time where my buddies and I were playing football in the school yard.

Let me tell you something there is nothing better then playing football in 6th grade.

Because the teacher at recess would let us tackle each other.

It was incredible.

Well we would play everyday.

And I remember that one time my buddy was like hey I have a plan, we are going to do a reverse flea flicker.

Here is what that means.

We are going to run one way hand the ball off to someone else then they are going to throw it back to quarterback and he is going to bomb it deep.

I got to the wide receiver, who was going to go catch the ball.

I however had a bad attitude about the whole thing.

Why?

I wanted to run a different play.

I thought this play was stupid and there was going to be no way that this play was going to work.

So I went to my spot and my buddy yelled hike.

The play was in motion and I stood right where I was.

Hands on my hips because I knew they play was not going to work.

I didn’t trust my team to pull this play off.

So I decided to take the play off.

I was a little emotional okay.

But you know what happened.

The play worked, I the ball was thrown to where I was suppose to be— and the other team picked it off.

To which my response was see, I told you so.

To which every player on my team blamed me for not being the right place.

Let’s just say they were mad at me the rest of the day.

We:

But like when we don’t trust a plan or we think our plan is better, we do this.

We think we know better.

So lot of times we will just wait for things to fail.

Like we if fail to trust the plan we are not going to give it our all are we?

I mean we might say we are but deep down we are rooting for the plan to fail.

We want it to.

It shows a lack of trust on our end.

And when we lack trust we lack boldness to go along with it.

I want us to look at the story of Esther tonight.

If you recall last week we talked about God’s providence is always greater then our own longings.

Esther had become queen and now she had a chance to help out her people.

Recall the Jewish people were set to be destroyed by that dude Hamon— BOOO

And it was her cousin Mordecai who told her look, if you don’t help us that is okay, we will find deliverance through another means.

As in God will see us through this with or without you.

He had incredible trust in his God.

But he would go on to say this:

Esther 4:14 ESV

For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

Mordecai is like look, there is a reason why you have become queen and it could very well be for a time such as this.

Your people, remember Esther is a jew as well.

Your people are going to die if you don’t go before your husband the king.

She was scared for this, because nobody shows up in front of the King uninvited.

Yet she found boldness inside of her and decided it was the right thing to do.

That is where we left off last week.

God:

So lets pick this up with another timeline.

To the whiteboard!

Here are the people we have present

Esther

Xerxes

Mordecai

Hamon-BOO

Zeresh— Hamon’s wife

So lets do through the timeline of what is happening here.

*Esther gets boldness to go before the King.

You can image how scared she probably was!

But it played out well.

*The King accepted her.

Esther 5:2–3 ESV

And when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she won favor in his sight, and he held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter. And the king said to her, “What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given you, even to the half of my kingdom.”

I don’t Esther was not prepared for this.

I think she was thinking that the King was going to reject her.

Let’s see her reply

Esther 5:4 ESV

And Esther said, “If it please the king, let the king and Haman come today to a feast that I have prepared for the king.”

*So she invites Him and Hamon over for a meal

The King is so excited for this!

Esther 5:5 ESV

Then the king said, “Bring Haman quickly, so that we may do as Esther has asked.” So the king and Haman came to the feast that Esther had prepared.

*Esther has them over for lunch.

The King ask the same question again— what do you wish— I’ll give it to you.

And Esther says to have lunch with you tomorrow as well.

I really think that this all was happening so well that Esther kept finding herself not ready to answer the question.

Maybe this was Esther’s plan to butter him up before she dropped the news that his number 2 guys is a snake who is trying to wipe out her people.

I don’t think that they make greeting card for that.

So as Esther preps for the next day.

*Hamon is on cloud nine.

He is loving life, he just got to eat with the king and queen.

Life is looking pretty good for Hamon.

Until he sees his enemy Mordecai!

Yet Hamon returns home and tells his wife Zeresh all that happened that day.

He had a meal with the king and queen and was invited back tomorrow as well.

But yet even as amazing as that was he still saw Mordecai!

and that ruined his day.

Esther 5:12–14 ESV

Then Haman said, “Even Queen Esther let no one but me come with the king to the feast she prepared. And tomorrow also I am invited by her together with the king. Yet all this is worth nothing to me, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.” Then his wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Let a gallows fifty cubits high be made, and in the morning tell the king to have Mordecai hanged upon it. Then go joyfully with the king to the feast.” This idea pleased Haman, and he had the gallows made.

So Hamon’s next step in his evil plan to destroy the jews was building the gallows.

As in a place to hang them.

To kill them.

This is a very action packed 24 hours because after Hamon went home as the night fell, King Xerxes was restless.

*The king couldn’t sleep.

So he had someone come and read to him the Chronicles.

The chronicles were the accounts of all that was taking place, and he wanted someone to read that to him, most likely to put him asleep.

Have you ever had trouble sleeping that you do something that will make you tired?

count sheep.

Count backwards form 100

Read a book.

Scroll on social media— it doesn't really help— pick something that does not stimulate your mind.

Anyway this was the kings plan except that when the guy reading the book starts talking about a time when the king’s life was saved by the jew Mordecai the king ask the question— what did we do to honor him.

And the answer was nothing.

I think this upset the king because he ask who is present that he can talk to, to make this right.

And guess who?

Hamon was present.

So Hamon comes in and lets read this account.

Esther 6:6–11 ESV

So Haman came in, and the king said to him, “What should be done to the man whom the king delights to honor?” And Haman said to himself, “Whom would the king delight to honor more than me?” And Haman said to the king, “For the man whom the king delights to honor, let royal robes be brought, which the king has worn, and the horse that the king has ridden, and on whose head a royal crown is set. And let the robes and the horse be handed over to one of the king’s most noble officials. Let them dress the man whom the king delights to honor, and let them lead him on the horse through the square of the city, proclaiming before him: ‘Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.’ ” Then the king said to Haman, “Hurry; take the robes and the horse, as you have said, and do so to Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king’s gate. Leave out nothing that you have mentioned.” So Haman took the robes and the horse, and he dressed Mordecai and led him through the square of the city, proclaiming before him, “Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.”

Hamon thought that the king wanted to honor him!

*The King Honor’s Mordecai

If Hamon knew who the king was honoring there would have been no way any of that would have been done for Mordecai.

*Hamon was so upset, he was mourning.

But look at what his wife said to him.

Esther 6:13 ESV

And Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and his wife Zeresh said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of the Jewish people, you will not overcome him but will surely fall before him.”

What wisdom from the group of people.

They could almost sense like there is something else at work here.

Their God is doing something.

*It is then the next day and the king and Hamon come in for a feast.

The king ask the say question as before, What do you wish— I will give it to you!

Here is what happened

Esther 7:3–6 ESV

Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be granted me for my wish, and my people for my request. For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have been silent, for our affliction is not to be compared with the loss to the king.” Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who has dared to do this?” And Esther said, “A foe and enemy! This wicked Haman!” Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen.

You have done messed up now Hamon!

*Hamon is sentenced to death and what is ironic is that Hamon is hung on the gallows that were intended for Mordecai.

Esther then get all of Hamon household.

Which she then turns over to Mordecai who pretty much became King Xerxes second in command guy!

And as for the edict— you know the one that was to kill all of the jews in Persia.

King Xerxes stopped it from happening.

*Esther saved her people.

Know that is a quick run down of that story.

Esther showed incredible boldness in this situation.

It meant death for her to go the King but she said yes anyway.

I can’t help but to think of the boldness that was on display as Jesus stepped into this world as well.

To enter a place that was surely going to kill him but yet he said I’ll go anyway.

To rescue not only the jewish people but all people from there current state that seemed irreversible.

He steps in and said I will save my people.

Christ had a great deal of boldness and trust.

And it is through his boldness and trust that we can as well.

For through the Holy spirit we too can trust in God and his plan so we can also have boldness in our lives.

You:

Here is what I want you to think about.

What situations in your life right now do you need to show boldness and trust?

Maybe it is with a friendship.

Maybe it is with a job.

Maybe it is at school.

Maybe it is with a parent or with a child.

Maybe it is with a sibling.

Maybe it is a sin that just has it’s teeth in you and you know what you must do but are afraid to do it.

No matter the situation God is with you.

You can trust Him and because of your faith in him you can be bold in what he is calling you to do.

We:

What if we all showed this level of boldness and trust?

I think that if this is something that we all got a hold us there is nothing that christians couldn’t do.

Trust in God and Love Him.

He is the one that will make the path straight.

This week let us go from here and not be intimidated by a hopeless world, but since we have thee hope and thee truth we can be bold in our faith and trust in the plans of the Lord.