The Great Reversal

Good morning again, this is our last message in the book of Esther and if you would open up to chapter 9. Then pray with me..

I have titled todays message The Great Reversal and I believe that title is fitting based on what has happened in this story.

Out of all the stuff I have preached and taught the last 10 years or so this has been one of the most challenging studies for me and I pray the Lord has used it in your life. Through prayer he led me to preach this book to you.

He has used it greatly in mine, and honestly I am not the same after going through this book the last 2 months with you.

If you have been with us by now you should be really familiar with the story but being the last message I want to recap it so it all fits together. Remember King Xerxes has this massive empire, that spans across 127 providences, has this beautiful queen, that disobeyed him, leading to the crowing of queen Esther, who is silent about who she really is, because her cousin Mordecai and Mordecai who is Esther cousin finds out the King is going to be assassinated and he tells Esther about it, the king finds out this is true, and doesn’t honor him for saving his life in the moment.

Instead we are introduced to Haman, a man who rises up in power to be the King’s right hand man, and Mordecai for one reason or another does not bow down to him, causing a rage to build up in him so much so that he wants not only him dead, but he wants his jewish people dead as well.

So he goes to the king bribing and perhaps tricking the king into making this edict which becomes a death sentence on the people of God. And so what happens is Mordecai finds out about all this, and goes to the queen begging for intercession. And for the queen this is risky even though she is the queen she cannot just barge in to the kings place with out first being called.

and in chapter 4 we see two of the most famous verses really in all of scripture, and its a great transition in this story.

Esther 4:14 ESV

14 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?”

and her response is the most famous line in this book from her. Esther 4:16

Esther 4:16 ESV

16 “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.”

So Esther comes up with this great plan, and she over the course of time decides I am going to use my beauty, my intellect, and the kings appetite to plead with the king on behalf of my people. So feast one includes the king, and Haman, and they have a great time, and as Haman leaves this first feast he again sees Mordecai not bowing down to him, and is enraged to the point where after some conversations with his friends, and family they see it best that they make gallows for Mordecai to hang on and he can be out of Haman’s life forever.

However in all of this the king has this sleepless night, that no doubt God was over , and so he does what all kings do when they can’t sleep he reads the book of memorable deeds. And as its being read to him, he asks what was done for this man Mordecai who saved my life, and they say nothing, and the king who as we know can’t make up his mind on anything seeks council from someone in the court, and when Haman is found there the king calls him in, and remember Haman is man who is pretty full of himself, and thinks the King is going to honor him because of the questions he is asking him, and he says everything he wants to be honored with not knowing in the end it was for someone else.

Not only was it for someone else it was for Mordecai, so haman not only did not get honored, but he had to honor Mordecai all around the city, when he whole desire was to kill Mordecai that very day. he did not get to unfold his plan to hang Mordecai in the gallows he built for him he had the worst day ever, at least that is what he thought.

Before he even had time to process all that had happened by speaking with his friends that said this isnt good for you he taken to night two of the feast, where it got a-lot worse for him, because when he went to the feast this time he was met with accusations against him by Esther telling the king of the edict he had written, and it upset the King so much so he stormed out, causing Haman to go into a great panic leading him to begging Esther for his life.

But the reversal of the story continued because when the King comes back he sees Haman at Esthers feet and thinks she is being harmed by him, leading to him to be hanged on the gallows he build for someone else.

But the story doesn’t end there, because last week we saw Esther was not satisfied by the death of Haman she wanted her people to live, so she against risked her life going to the king pleading with him to revoke the edict that Haman had wrote, but unfortunately we learned when a King writes and seals and edict it cannot be reversed. However the King allowed a new edict to be written to counter the edict Haman wrote giving the jews hope.

And today in the text we arrive many months later to the day the two edicts go head to head, you could say a great showdown, and what I want you to see as your main idea today is this..

God reverses the plan of the enemy and gives the people of God a victory.

Listen with me to the first 5 verses of chapter 9.

Esther 9:1–5 ESV

1 Now in the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king’s command and edict were about to be carried out, on the very day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain the mastery over them, the reverse occurred: the Jews gained mastery over those who hated them. 2 The Jews gathered in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to lay hands on those who sought their harm. And no one could stand against them, for the fear of them had fallen on all peoples. 3 All the officials of the provinces and the satraps and the governors and the royal agents also helped the Jews, for the fear of Mordecai had fallen on them. 4 For Mordecai was great in the king’s house, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces, for the man Mordecai grew more and more powerful. 5 The Jews struck all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying them, and did as they pleased to those who hated them.

we really see the reversal here don’t we. We see the main Idea clearly here. Remember both of these edicts are in play on this day, so it could be an all out civil war but we see something a bit different from that. We see the reverse.

We see an army of Jews stand up to those who are ready to put them to death, and the text is clear that no-one could stand in their way, because they had great fear over them.

And this fear was magnified because not only did the Jews have God on their side, but they had all the governors, and royal agents as well, because they did not want to go against Mordecai.

Goes to show you friends, how God can change a situation if he pleases. How he can reverse a death sentence, and we will get into that later.

The Jews were having their way with those who hated them, but the text doesn’t end their keep on listening…

Esther 9:6–16 ESV

6 In Susa the citadel itself the Jews killed and destroyed 500 men, 7 and also killed Parshandatha and Dalphon and Aspatha 8 and Poratha and Adalia and Aridatha 9 and Parmashta and Arisai and Aridai and Vaizatha, 10 the ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews, but they laid no hand on the plunder. 11 That very day the number of those killed in Susa the citadel was reported to the king. 12 And the king said to Queen Esther, “In Susa the citadel the Jews have killed and destroyed 500 men and also the ten sons of Haman. What then have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces! Now what is your wish? It shall be granted you. And what further is your request? It shall be fulfilled.” 13 And Esther said, “If it please the king, let the Jews who are in Susa be allowed tomorrow also to do according to this day’s edict. And let the ten sons of Haman be hanged on the gallows.” 14 So the king commanded this to be done. A decree was issued in Susa, and the ten sons of Haman were hanged. 15 The Jews who were in Susa gathered also on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar and they killed 300 men in Susa, but they laid no hands on the plunder. 16 Now the rest of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces also gathered to defend their lives, and got relief from their enemies and killed 75,000 of those who hated them, but they laid no hands on the plunder.

The people of God get the victory but do not take not spoils.

We see that many lost their lives who sought to kill the jews, and Esther even asked that one more day be added to this in Susa.

And Esther sought to do something that Saul the first king did not do, and that is to finish what he never started. And though that may have never been her intention God made sure to fulfill what he asked Saul to do.

I have referenced this before in this study, but remember Haman was an Agagite, who are decedents of the Amalekites who Saul was commanded to be destroyed. In 1 Sam 15:18-19 it says this…

1 Samuel 15:18–19 ESV

18 And the Lord sent you on a mission and said, ‘Go, devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ 19 Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the Lord?”

Remember Saul did not kill all that he was suppose to, and took all their spoil for themselves.

I love what one commentator said… “To obey is better than sacrifice.… Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king” (1 Sam. 15:22–23).

Because King Saul failed to execute holy war properly in obedience to the Lord’s command, he was disqualified as Israel’s king and God’s agent on earth. In Esther, the author’s statement three times over that the Jews did not lay a hand on the plunder suggests that this episode against Haman and those who “hated” the Jews was understood as holy war, not as an opportunity for looting and personal gain. The Jews of Persia succeeded where Saul failed.

Incredible isn’t it how God always fulfills what he asks of others even when people say no to his commands.

When it comes to his sons the commentator says this.. The author lists the names of Haman’s sons possibly to show the allegiance of Haman and his family to the demonic powers of darkness and evil and, therefore, proper casualties of holy war.

Esther and the people of God cared more about saving their own life than anything else. Cared more about the victory than anything else.

We must as one man said.. have utter confidence that our faithfulness will be rewarded by our faithful God. Sometimes, just like for Esther and Mordecai, we’ll receive rewards that startle us in their immediacy. But often as Christians, we learn to wait on our reward, knowing that it’s kept in heaven for us by the power of God.

lets keep on reading…

Esther 9:17–28 ESV

17 This was on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth day they rested and made that a day of feasting and gladness. 18 But the Jews who were in Susa gathered on the thirteenth day and on the fourteenth, and rested on the fifteenth day, making that a day of feasting and gladness. 19 Therefore the Jews of the villages, who live in the rural towns, hold the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day for gladness and feasting, as a holiday, and as a day on which they send gifts of food to one another. 20 And Mordecai recorded these things and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, 21 obliging them to keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar and also the fifteenth day of the same, year by year, 22 as the days on which the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month that had been turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, days for sending gifts of food to one another and gifts to the poor. 23 So the Jews accepted what they had started to do, and what Mordecai had written to them. 24 For Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast Pur (that is, cast lots), to crush and to destroy them. 25 But when it came before the king, he gave orders in writing that his evil plan that he had devised against the Jews should return on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows. 26 Therefore they called these days Purim, after the term Pur. Therefore, because of all that was written in this letter, and of what they had faced in this matter, and of what had happened to them, 27 the Jews firmly obligated themselves and their offspring and all who joined them, that without fail they would keep these two days according to what was written and at the time appointed every year, 28 that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, in every clan, province, and city, and that these days of Purim should never fall into disuse among the Jews, nor should the commemoration of these days cease among their descendants.

2nd point I have for you this morning is this…

Remembrance of what God does brings gratitude.

Now if you want to go back to my first sermon in Esther, I told you that this book is an important book to the Jewish people, so much so that they read it in the concentration camps, and in time of great distress, because despite all the odds, the people of God lived and they put their hope in them.

And the events of the book led to celebrating this day each and every year.

One scholar tells us the meaning of the day by saying this… By naming the festival "Purim," attention is focused on something deeper. And it is this: the lot, or destiny, of God's people is not left up to chance and it is not determined by someone like Haman casting lots before his gods. No, only God determines the lot of his people. The name reminds the people that it is God and God alone who determines how things turn out in the world.

We should believe that God determines how things turn out in the world. We have enough evidence through his word to believe that he is in charge, that he holds the victory.

In fact when I open of the bible I am reminded of the goodness of God. And it brings gratitude in my own heart. Because I know I dont have all this figured out, but God does, and he always has the last word.

Whats cool about the Jewish calendar the year begins and ends around March. It begins with a celebration of the Passover and ends with a celebration of Purim. I was reminded by reading this week is, it begins with a celebration of how God delivered his people from the oppression of Pharaoh in a foreign land, and it ends with a celebration of how God delivered his people from the oppression of Haman in a foreign land.

But as I was working on this sermon this past week, what I thought is even cooler about the Christian calendar is something greater happened than what happened in Esther, or what happened in Egypt, and we get to read about it, and remember it, not just one or two days of the year, but everyday. In fact we come together specifically every single week celebrating the fact that Jesus Christ rose from the dead, and because of that we can have eternal life in him.

Lets finish reading this book and I have one more point this morning for you verse 29 and following say this…

Esther 9:29–10:3 ESV

29 Then Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew gave full written authority, confirming this second letter about Purim. 30 Letters were sent to all the Jews, to the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, in words of peace and truth, 31 that these days of Purim should be observed at their appointed seasons, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther obligated them, and as they had obligated themselves and their offspring, with regard to their fasts and their lamenting. 32 The command of Esther confirmed these practices of Purim, and it was recorded in writing. 1 King Ahasuerus imposed tax on the land and on the coastlands of the sea. 2 And all the acts of his power and might, and the full account of the high honor of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia? 3 For Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to King Ahasuerus, and he was great among the Jews and popular with the multitude of his brothers, for he sought the welfare of his people and spoke peace to all his people.

Jesus is the only one who can reverse your death sentence.

A major story line in this book is the fact that God reverses the edict written by Haman giving the victory to Gods people.

Esther and Mordecai played a critical role in this story, and their faithfulness cannot be discounted. In fact they got two days a year in which they are remembered. Which I talked about just a few moments ago.

But the true hero in this story is God. It’s God. We have seen God though silent work to save a generation that was in jeopardy of dying.

I have a-lot of people I like to read about in scripture. I preached a series on Josiah, I have mentioned how much I love John the Baptist, I know brother Nathan loves David, but no-one is like Jesus nor does anyone deserves the honor he deserves.

Esther and Mordecai got their day, and their honor, and saved their people for a time, and you can read in multiple places throughout the scriptures of men and women who helped saved a people for a moment in time, but only Jesus cures your main problem which is sin.

The line every Christian says is everybody is a sinner or has a sin problem. And you don’t have to look far to find it in each and everyone of us.

In Fact everyone today is looking for that answer to help them in this life. To reverse the curse of living in a fallin world. Don’t believe me if you look at the non fiction best sellers on amazon 10 out of the 20 books are self help books. And as I examined those books I noticed some things.. Everyone wants this way out of the life they have, to reverse bad habits, to change the way your mind works, and thinks, to have better rules to live by, to understand how everything truly works, to live, to heal, to love, to be free. Those books might give us solutions to help us, but they can’t get rid of the curse we have which is sin.

If you are a Christian you say I have all those things in Christ, he has changed my life giving me a new life, reversing the bad habits I use to have, showed me what love is, and now I am truly free and I will tell you you are right, you are absolutely right. But if you don’t see him as the only one who can save you by repentance and faith it doesn’t mean anything to you. It doesn’t reverse your death sentence. Only Jesus Christ can reverses your death sentence.

Someone from outside the faith could look at this story, and perhaps see a-lot of good luck, see people who have this great power struggle like many do today, see a beautiful queen who had a king wrapped around her finger, and used it to her own advantages, but we must see it differently.

We must see that God was making sure that the promises he made to Adam, to Moses, Abraham to Elijah, to David, and to all his people would be preserved through his line of people, and ultimately through Jesus Christ.

One person I have read alot of the last several months said.. This is the Christian’s hope as seen in Esther.

The book of Esther is part of the spiritual heritage for Christians. Its significance has been transformed by his resurrection. Remember, Shortly before his death Jesus said, “Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live” (John 14:19, emphasis added). Because of his resurrection, Christians can face death with the assurance that we ourselves will not be defeated by the grave but will triumph over it against all human expectation. The deliverance of the Jews in Persia foreshadows the redemption of those from all nations who enter into God’s covenant through Jesus the Messiah.

Folks the world may seem really grim to you, or might not, but the truth is Jesus is the only one who can save you. No King, No president, not even your spouse can save you.

I have enjoyed walking through this book with you, and my prayer has been that we truly come to know a God who is sovereign over all things that God is always working even when we cannot see it. And he is working in this place. Be faithful to what he has called you to.

If you happen to feel far from him today, because of Jesus you can run to him, you don’t have to go begging a king or seeking advice on an ungodly friend you can run to him and his word and have hope in him, And as I just read Know that Jesus died but now lives so you also will live if you repent and believe in him.

Let us pray..