Pride Comes Before the Fall

If you have a Bible, go ahead and grab it. Tonight we are going to be in Esther 1 and I am really excited to spend these next few weeks going through this book. We aren’t going to spend a large amount of time going through it. In fact if you are used to my type of series as we go through books of the Bible, this is probably gonna come as a bit of a surprise for you because we will be done with Esther by the end of September and then we will do something else from October through December. Esther really is a remarkable book and in someways a confusing book because one may go through all ten chapters and think, “why on earth is this book here? What has this got to do with anything else going on in the Bible? Where is God in this book?” That last question is what I think really makes Esther stand out. The book of Esther is the only book in Scripture where God appears to be absent. Even His name does not appear in this book. One might argue that Song of Solomon is also a book where God is absent but depending on how you translate a verse in chapter 8 of it, you do see the name of God mentioned so for our sakes, Esther is the only book where the name of God is absent. But is God Himself absent? Notice that I said earlier that God appears to be absent, not that He is absent. What we are going to see over these next seven weeks is that just because it appears that God is absent, that is never the reality. God is always there and He often works in totally unexpected ways. The book of Esther, I believe, is one of the greatest books in all of Scripture that testifies to the providence of God. While God may not appear in the ways that we are used to when we look at Scripture in the book of Esther, we will see that the very same God that is present at the time of Abraham, Moses, and David is the very same God that is working behind the scenes in the book of Esther. Matthew Henry, one of the greatest commentators that the world has ever known says this: “Though the name of God be not in the book of Esther, the finger of God is, directing many minute events for the bringing about of his people’s deliverance. The particulars are not only surprising and very entertaining, but edifying and very encouraging to the faith and hope of God’s people in the most difficult and dangerous times.” Pretty much every night over the next 7 weeks, we are going to see the providence of God at work. We will see not only how God orchestrates events for His glory and for the good of His people in the book of Esther but we will also be able to see how He is able to do that now in our lives here in the 21st century. What we will see in this book is that as great as Esther is, as great as Mordecai is, Jesus is and will always be the greater. What we will see in this book is that Jesus is the greater king, Jesus is the greater husband that goes to unheard of extremes for his bride, Jesus is the greater Esther, the pure redeemer that comes to rescue His people, Jesus is the greater Mordecai who weeps for His people, and Jesus is the greater conqueror who destroys the enemy of His people. Jesus shouts from every line within this book. As Spurgeon would say, “There is a road from here to Jesus Christ, and I mean to keep on His track till I get to Him.” What I want us to look at tonight is how similar we all are as mankind. What we are going to see tonight is even though Ahasuerus is the most powerful man in the world, the king of a kingdom that stretches throughout what was practically the entire known world, his sin and his shortcomings were really no different than anything else you or I or anyone else in the world experiences. We’ll look at his negative example and see if we can turn it into positive instruction for our lives and then we will see how Jesus stands out in this chapter and how God is already laying the groundwork for what will happen through the rest of the book. Let’s open up in prayer and then we will dive into Esther 1

Esther 1 ESV

Now in the days of Ahasuerus, the Ahasuerus who reigned from India to Ethiopia over 127 provinces, in those days when King Ahasuerus sat on his royal throne in Susa, the citadel, in the third year of his reign he gave a feast for all his officials and servants. The army of Persia and Media and the nobles and governors of the provinces were before him, while he showed the riches of his royal glory and the splendor and pomp of his greatness for many days, 180 days. And when these days were completed, the king gave for all the people present in Susa the citadel, both great and small, a feast lasting for seven days in the court of the garden of the king’s palace. There were white cotton curtains and violet hangings fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rods and marble pillars, and also couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl, and precious stones. Drinks were served in golden vessels, vessels of different kinds, and the royal wine was lavished according to the bounty of the king. And drinking was according to this edict: “There is no compulsion.” For the king had given orders to all the staff of his palace to do as each man desired. Queen Vashti also gave a feast for the women in the palace that belonged to King Ahasuerus. On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha and Abagtha, Zethar and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus, to bring Queen Vashti before the king with her royal crown, in order to show the peoples and the princes her beauty, for she was lovely to look at. But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s command delivered by the eunuchs. At this the king became enraged, and his anger burned within him. Then the king said to the wise men who knew the times (for this was the king’s procedure toward all who were versed in law and judgment, the men next to him being Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media, who saw the king’s face, and sat first in the kingdom): “According to the law, what is to be done to Queen Vashti, because she has not performed the command of King Ahasuerus delivered by the eunuchs?” Then Memucan said in the presence of the king and the officials, “Not only against the king has Queen Vashti done wrong, but also against all the officials and all the peoples who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus. For the queen’s behavior will be made known to all women, causing them to look at their husbands with contempt, since they will say, ‘King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, and she did not come.’ This very day the noble women of Persia and Media who have heard of the queen’s behavior will say the same to all the king’s officials, and there will be contempt and wrath in plenty. If it please the king, let a royal order go out from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes so that it may not be repealed, that Vashti is never again to come before King Ahasuerus. And let the king give her royal position to another who is better than she. So when the decree made by the king is proclaimed throughout all his kingdom, for it is vast, all women will give honor to their husbands, high and low alike.” This advice pleased the king and the princes, and the king did as Memucan proposed. He sent letters to all the royal provinces, to every province in its own script and to every people in its own language, that every man be master in his own household and speak according to the language of his people.

The King and I

What we see here in chapter 1 is a great case study on the dangers of pride and the similarities that exist in the hearts of practically every person that has ever lived. When we look at King Ahasuerus, we see someone that I believe is painfully insecure. We see someone that needs near constant reassurance and we see someone who needs to be told what is the right and wrong thing to do. King Ahasuerus is a reminder to us that we can have physically everything but be totally empty on the inside, totally hollow spiritually. When we look at how this king lives, we see someone more like us than we might recognize and we see the great danger that comes with pride. You do not need to be the king of the largest and most powerful nation in the world to have major shortcomings. You don’t need to be quote on quote king of the world to be dead in sin and in desperate need of a Savior. You simply need to be human. There are a few things from Ahasuerus that I want to point out 5 things to show you how similar we are. You don’t have to be a king to have king-sized problems. Even if you may not find yourself in every single one of these points, I guarantee that you can place yourself in at least one of them.

You can have everything but be totally lost and insecure

The first thing that I want to point out is that you can have everything in the world and be totally lost and insecure. Look at how the early verses describe Ahasuerus. This king reigned from India to Ethiopia over 127 provinces. It has been estimated that at the height of his power, Ahasuerus ruled over 2.1 million square miles of land. To put that in perspective, the entire United States is about 3.7 million square miles. This king has it all and he wants people to recognize this. We’ll talk more about that later on. It says that for 180 days, he showed off all of his greatness and after that happens, he gives a feast for every person in the capital city. Then from verses 6-7, we see more of all the great riches that Ahasuerus has. On the surface, he has everything that you would think would make someone happy. He has power, he has a beautiful wife, he rules a vast empire, he has riches without end but all it takes is one thing to not go the way that he wants and boom, insecurity and nothingness. Ahasuerus is a perfect representation of how you can have everything you want but fail to possess what you really need. You can have every physical blessing in the world but if you fail to have the spiritual blessing of Jesus Christ, you will not have that which you truly need. The problem with earthly treasures is that they are so easily taken away. One thing that I think inflation and COVID sort of helped people to see is just how easily one can have everything and be brought to nothing. How many thriving businesses didn’t survive the pandemic? How many people that had nice looking bank accounts were left with nothing because of covid and inflation? The problem with earthly treasure is that you can lose it as fast as you make it, maybe even faster. If you have Jesus Christ, you have everything you need to be happy. Paul says in Ephesians 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.” You do not need a second blessing, you do not need to win the lottery to be happy. If you have Christ now, you have been blessed with every spiritual blessing. I mentioned this in Sunday School this past week and I said that if Jesus Christ offers me every spiritual blessing now, everlasting life now, forgiveness of sins now, His perfect righteousness now, reconciliation with God now, newness of life now, what could any other religion or philosophy possibly offer me? What else could I possibly need to know that would amount to that? What could possibly top that?

We struggle with anger and self-control

The second thing that we see from Ahasuerus is that just as he struggled with anger and self-control, we often struggle with anger and self-control. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. Just because you can drink every drop of alcohol that the king puts before you doesn’t mean that it is wise to do so. We see in Ahasuerus a man that immediately blows his top when things don’t go his way, we see this in verse 12 and we will see it again by the end of the book. The person that is consumed by anger and consumed by a lack of self-control will not be able to produce anything pleasing to the Lord. James says in James 1:19-20 “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” Why do we struggle with these things? Because we want to feel that we are in control and when things appear to fight against our kingdom, we lose it.

We exploit those that are close to us and fail to lead as we should

The third thing is that we have the tendency to exploit those that are close to us and we fail to lead as we should. Look at what Ahasuerus does to his queen. Look what he does to his wife. Instead of honoring his wife, he desires to parade her around as some sort of spectacle. Men, when the time comes you need to honor your wives. I know you aren’t married yet but when the day comes, you need to treat that woman like the queen of your world. There are enough little boys in this world and your future wife does not need you to be one. Paul says in Ephesians 5:25 “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” Ahasuerus doesn’t do this. He isn’t there to protect his wife, he is there to dishonor her and shame her. I don’t fault her for doing what she did because the greatest crime is the husband that failed to lead like he should. Paul later says in Colossians 3:19, “Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them.” Ahasuerus didn’t do this. We exploit those that are close to us and we often fail to lead as we should.

We just want to think that we are right regardless of what it costs

The fourth thing that we have the tendency to do is think that we are right regardless of what it costs. We often try to rationalize what we are doing as the right thing, even if it is totally the wrong thing. Notice that what the king does, is he decides that in order to save face about what happened, he writes a whole new law to make sure that it never happens again. He does anything that he can to soothe his bruised ego and he does all that he can to convince himself that the way that he has treated Vashti is right and noble but what we see throughout Scripture is the very opposite. Instead of working to lead, the king practically decides to run away and allow the law to handle his marital woes. When it comes to your sin, when it comes to the things that you do that you now are not right, what do you tell yourself to rationalize it? How do you make the bad go down sweet in order to justify what you do? You say something like, “Even though I’m doing this, at least I’m not doing that! Just because I have this addiction doesn’t mean that I’m addicted to this other thing!” You do this long enough and you will convince yourself that you have a pretty nice kingdom. But the reality is, you are living a lie and your building your kingdom on sand. I’m not sure if you’ve heard the story of the emperor’s new clothes but it’s an old fairy tale about an arrogant, prideful king that only wants the best of everything. Eventually, two con men come into the kingdom and they convince the emperor that they can make him the most beautiful, expensive, elegant clothes but there is something odd about these clothes. They are so magnificent that they appear to be invisible to those that are stupid and incompetent. The emperor is impressed by this and he tells them to get working on the clothes right away and not only does he send high ranking officials to check on the progress of the clothes, the emperor himself goes to check on the clothes and even though there is nothing there, they all act like they can see something because they don’t want to admit their own shortcomings and don’t want to look like fools. Eventually the day comes when the con men say to the emperor that his new clothes are ready so they pretend to get him dressed and the emperor is so caught up in his own delusion that he is convinced that he is wearing the most elegant piece of clothing known to man. He decides that the best thing for him to do is to have a procession take him throughout the empire to show off his grandeur and as he makes his way through the city, no one says anything. They don’t want to risk upsetting the emperor but all of a sudden, a little boy from the crowd goes, “Momma, the emperor doesn’t have on any clothes!” It’s then when the people realize just how fooled they have been. We need someone to tell us when we don’t have any clothes on. We need someone to tell us that our crap doesn’t stink. In a way, this is what we have the Law for. The Laws is like the child that tells us how it really is and what our problems really are. We convince ourselves that our way is right bu the Law of God reminds us just how far we have to go in order to be right with God.

We want people to recognize our greatness and tell us that we are right.

The last thing that I’ll mention is that we want people to recognize our greatness and tell us that we are right. We want to be reaffirmed in what we are doing. We want to be told that our sins really aren’t that bad and we really are that good. That is what Ahasuerus threw this entire feast for! It was so people would look at him and be amazed. In a sense, he wanted to be worshipped. He saw himself in such a way that he wanted other people to see it too. He was so insecure in what he had that he wanted others to remind him of what he possessed. We so want to be told that we are right. We want to be noticed but while the world may see all the grandeur that we have on the outside, God sees us to our very center. Psalm 44:20-21 says:

Psalm 44:20–21 ESV

If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign god, would not God discover this? For he knows the secrets of the heart.

God doesn’t just know our hearts, He knows the very things that we attempt to hide in the deepest pits of our hearts. Charles Spurgeon said, “God knows the secrets of the heart which are the most secret of things, they are as open to God as a book to a reader.” If Christ does not dwell in our hearts, then nothing good dwells in our heart. You can be king, you can be rich, you can have it all and people can tell you that but if you do not posses Christ, you possess nothing. Before we wrap up for the night, let’s talk about the greatness of Christ. Where do we see Christ in Esther 1?

Jesus the Greater

What can we see of Jesus in this section of Scripture? In Esther 1 we see a king and he is a king that has a lot of possession but a lot of flaws. He is a king that is totally unsympathetic to the needs of those around him. He has a bride but he does not love his bride in a sacrificial way. We see a king that needs to be surrounded by yes men despite his apparent flaws. We see a human king that lashes out in anger over sins that he is responsible for. But what about Jesus? Jesus is the greater Ahasuerus. Jesus is the king without a single flaw. Hebrews 4:15 says of Jesus “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Jesus is our sympathetic and sinless king and high priest. Jesus is the great bridegroom of the Church. He has loved His bride perfectly, sacrificially, and always. When His bride makes a mistake, Jesus does not cast them away but seeks to draw her to Himself to show that it is better to faithfully return than to be cast away forever. In Jesus Christ we see a king that is not surrounded by a horde of yes men but is a king that is surrounded by the angels that cry out day and night, “holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.” In Jesus Christ we see where not just one king but every earthly king is only a shadow of He that rules and reigns over all things. While Ahasuerus may have reigned over 127 provinces, Jesus Christ reigns over all creation. Where Ahasuerus falls dreadfully short, Jesus Christ stands above and beyond. He is the King that can address every flaw and every point that we have made this evening. He is the King that not only serves His people; He dies for His people. It is Jesus that is deserving of all honor, glory, and praise, now and forever and always.

God’s Providence at Work

As we close chapter 1, you may be wondering where God has been in this chapter. As we close, I will give you just a little hint of providence that we see working in this chapter. What may appear as something totally insignificant is actually God laying the ground work of providing and loving his people. If Ahasuerus did not rule, he would not have reigned over all these kingdoms. If he did not reign over these kingdoms, he would not have shown off the great wealth that he had. If he did not show off the great wealth that he had, he would not have felt compelled to show off his wife to the watching world. If he did not show off his wife, he would not have cast his wife away. If his wife was not sent away, as we will see next week, there is no story of Esther. There is no deliverance for the people of God and there is no reminder of God’s providence in a dark and often dangerous world. As early as Esther 1, God is doing a million and one different things all to lead to what will happen by the end of the book. God never plans the end without planning the means to get there. I am so excited to spend these next few weeks with you in this book as we continue to see a God who is there and is orchestrating all things for His glory, even when it seems like we can’t see Him. Let’s pray.