Esther (The Soap Oprah/6th sense)

What is Sovereignty?

Talks about sovereignty are usually kept to ivory towers and big brain bible studies. Most of the talks about God’s sovereignty are fun as a mental exercise but not practical, because it doesn’t change what Jesus calls us to do. There are at least 2 exceptions to that rule, that’s what we’re going to look at over the next two weeks.

Everything that happens will be used for good, whether it’s inherently good or bad.

God is willing to allow terrible pain to happen IF He can use it for good.

The reason why these 2 principles are not simply mental exercises is because in order to understand the gospel you have to believe these two things about the sovereignty of God.

1. In the Gospel God uses healing, kind words, teaching full of love, gentleness, and all kinds of good things to announce the coming of the kingdom of heaven, BUT he also uses sickness, harsh, judgmental words, teachings about death, damnation, and the cross, and all kinds of suffering to bring in the kingdom of heaven.

2. The gospel is, literally, the most perverted thing that can possibly happen. A perfect being who cannot sin, became sin. A being of perfect love suffered all hatred. The giver of all life was dealt a death blow. And it was all according to the will (the sovereignty) of God.

Esther

King of Persia Hates His wife and Esther wins the beauty pageant

King demands his wife dance during a party and she denies him. Humiliated he decides to replace her.

They hold a beauty pageant to find the next queen and Esther wins.

At the same time Mordecai (Esther’s uncle) over hears 2 guards plotting to kill the king and tells the king, saving his life.

Then enters “The enemy” Haman

Haman is an Agagite = Canaanite

Haman is elevated in the government and demands that everyone bows to him. But Mordecai refuses.

Haman persuades the king to decree a day that all Jews should be killed. In order to figure out the day Haman rolls a die. (He casts lots)

Mordecai finds out about this date and goes to Esther begging for help

Mordecai wants Esther to go to the king, but it’s against the law

Despite the automatic sentence of death she does it anyway

Esther holds a banquet

Esther invites Haman and the king to a banquet that lasts several days

during that time Haman sees Mordecai and is filled with rage because he doesn’t seem afraid of him

So Haman builds a pole for Haman to be impaled on in the morning

That night the king is reminded of the time Mordecai saved him and decides in the morning he’ll honor him

Haman comes to the king and right before he asks to impale Mordecai the king poses him a question: “What should the king do to honor a man he seeks to honor?” Haman goes through this long list, put him on the kings horse, have him marched through the streets! The king says “Great idea! Go do that for Mordecai”.

Esther makes her plea

She tells the king she’s Jewish! And that Haman is trying to get her killed! and Mordecai!

The servant tells the king that Haman set up a pole for Mordecai to be impaled on. The king decides Haman will be impaled on the very pole he meant for Mordecai.

The Jews are saved

The king isn’t willing to revoke a law, he’d have to admit he made a mistake… So he signs a new decree that on the same day the Jews were supposed to die they were commanded to defend themselves and destroy their enemies.

Mordecai is elevated to Haman’s old spot, Haman’s sons are impaled on spikes, and every person who plotted against the jews throughout the whole kingdom is killed resulting in 75000 dead.

God’s sovereignty through the story

Everything that happens will be used for good, whether it’s inherently good or bad.

The dice Haman threw was to decide the death of the people, the jews named the feast day celebrating their salvation after it

Mordecai telling Esther that they would be saved, she’s deciding if she’ll play a part or not

The New International Version (Esther Chapter 4)

When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai, 13 he sent back this answer: “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. 14 For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”

The night before Haman was going to impale Mordecai the king couldn’t sleep, so he had his servant read him a bedtime story. The servant happens to choose the scroll that contains the time Mordecai saved the king’s life. Mordecai just happened to hear about the plot? The king just happened to have that read to him the night before Haman tries to murder Mordecai? The insurrection of the guards was used by God to save Mordecai’s life.

Haman decided Mordecai’s glory, when he thought he was deciding his own. And Haman decided his death, when he thought he was deciding Mordecai’s.

Application

Everything that happens will be used for good, whether it’s inherently good or bad.

God’s sovereignty should make you act in an optimistic way.

Esther was faced with the question, will you break the law and incur death hoping that the king will stop it? Notice that the way Esther felt and the way she acted were not the same:

The New International Version (Esther Chapter 4)

Hathak went back and reported to Esther what Mordecai had said. 10 Then she instructed him to say to Mordecai, 11 “All the king’s officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that they be put to death unless the king extends the gold scepter to them and spares their lives. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king.”

The New International Version (Esther Chapter 4)

Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 16 “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”

She was terrified, convinced she would die - but she ACTED the way she knew was right.

Today: If you screw everything up, if you drop the ball and are disobedient, if you try to love someone and it fails, if you accidentally hit someone walking across the road and kill them! None of that is good, no, but God will use it for good. That gives us freedom to try, freedom to fail, freedom to push, leap, move.

Example

I’ve been in the room during several testimonies from ex-drug users and there’s something I’ve heard a lot.

They say something like, “I think God brought me through that because He knew that I needed it in order to be the person I am today.” Those words are wrong but the sentiment isn’t. God does not tempt us to use drugs, however here’s what I think they were trying to explain: Even the most humiliating and terrible things that they’ve done - God, because he is sovereign - used it for their good. Where they go wrong is to think that MAKES IT GOOD, it doesn’t.

But in one sense they are right, Haman chose the way he would die and the way Mordecai would be glorified. The enemy glorified the children of God and built the foundation of His own downfall - do you see how that part of God’s sovereignty isn’t just fun head knowledge its essential to understanding the gospel?

Vision

Think of the most humiliating and terrible thing you’ve ever done OR that was ever done to you. The thing that you will never tell anyone. Hold it in your mind. Now think about this in relationship to that...

The New International Version (Romans Chapter 8)

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

Because God is Sovereign He is going to use that thing for good. It won’t make it good, it won’t make it right, but - just like addicts so often realize - God will turn it into something you’re grateful for.

So then there’s the vision:

If you would dare to believe that God is going to use the most terrible thing that anyone has ever done to you for your good, then you could live a life grateful instead of bitter.