The Hidden Helper

One night they were at the Blue Boar, probably eating supper, when a London Lawyer named (Jaggers) joined them at table and informed them that Pip had a great benefactor.

Now, Pip only knew one rich person, Miss Havishem, so he assumed she was his great benefactor.

It was years later Pip learned that someone else had been his secret benefactor and paid for his education and lodgings.

In the book of Esther, the Jews, Mordecai and Esther included had a hidden benefactor,

that is the only reasonable explanation for

how the tables turned in their favor,

so many ways,

so completely

in their favor.

Esther 9:1 (NIV)

1 On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, the edict commanded by the king was to be carried out. On this day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but now the tables were turned and the Jews got the upper hand over those who hated them.

The edict being carried out was the second edict the one giving the Jews the right to gather together and defend themselves.

It’s interesting that it says the enemies of the Jews wanted to OVERPOWER them,

when we know they wanted to

kill and

plunder

all of the Jews!

They wanted to annihilate them.

and grow rich in the process.

Esther 9:2 NIV

2 The Jews assembled in their cities in all the provinces of King Xerxes to attack those determined to destroy them. No one could stand against them, because the people of all the other nationalities were afraid of them.

Why were the people of all the other nationalities afraid of them?

Do you remember the story of the slaughter of Shechem?

The story is found in Genesis 34 and 35.

Jacob also known as Israel come back into the land of Canaan grazing his flocks, and he camped near Shechem.

Dinah, Jacobs only daughter, went into the city of Shechem and the prince of the land raped her, fell in love with her, wooed her, got his father to arrange a marriage to her

Her brothers said only if all the men of Shechem get circumcised and the king gladly ordered

every man in Shechem to be circumcised.

While they were recovering, Dinah’s brothers Simeon and Levi took swords and killed all the males in town.

You can geuss, this made them a lot of enemies in the neighborhood.

Genesis 34:30 NIV

30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me by making me obnoxious to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people living in this land. We are few in number, and if they join forces against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed.”

The best thing to do would be to leave the area ASAP

Genesis 35:1–4 NIV

1 Then God said to Jacob, “Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.” 2 So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes. 3 Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone.” 4 So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and the rings in their ears, and Jacob buried them under the oak at Shechem.

After an act of consecreation, rededication, they took off for Bethel and guess what God did

Gen 34-35 ,

Genesis 35:5 NIV

5 Then they set out, and the terror of God fell on the towns all around them so that no one pursued them.

So if in Esthers time,

ALL of a sudden everyone’s afraid of the Jews,

who do you think caused it?

Could it be their un-seen, un-named benefactor?

Esther 9:3 NIV

3 And all the nobles of the provinces, the satraps, the governors and the king’s administrators helped the Jews, because fear of Mordecai had seized them.

So the nationalities were afraid of them

the nobles, satraps, governors and kings offices were afraid of them and helped the Jews.

I bet the officers had soldiers underthem, fighting for the Jews

What or who, could cause such sudden and compelling fear of the Jews, fear or Mordecai?

Esther 9:4 NIV

4 Mordecai was prominent in the palace; his reputation spread throughout the provinces, and he became more and more powerful.

Reminds me of the favor Joseph experience in Egypt.

Esther 9:5–10 (NIV)

5 The Jews struck down all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying them, and they did what they pleased to those who hated them. 6 In the citadel of Susa, the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men. 7 They also killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, 8 Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, 9 Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai and Vaizatha, 10 the ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews. But they did not lay their hands on the plunder.

Here is where we learn how many sons Haman had.

they all died in the fighting that day

presumably that was the end of Haman’s line and

the end of the Amalekite line because they are never

mentioned again in the bible.

This is the first time they tell us the Jews did not take plunder from the dead.

That is remarkable.

Esther 9:11–15 (NIV)

11 The number of those killed in the citadel of Susa was reported to the king that same day. 12 The king said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman in the citadel of Susa. What have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces? Now what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? It will also be granted.”

13 “If it pleases the king,” Esther answered, “give the Jews in Susa permission to carry out this day’s edict tomorrow also, and let Haman’s ten sons be impaled on poles.”

14 So the king commanded that this be done. An edict was issued in Susa, and they impaled the ten sons of Haman. 15 The Jews in Susa came together on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, and they put to death in Susa three hundred men, but they did not lay their hands on the plunder.

It sounds like there were more enemies of the Jews in Susa then in the rest of the Persian Empire

The king granted this extra day in Susa,

there would have been no time to grant this also to the 127 provinces, but it did happen in Susa.

Esther requested this extra time.

She also requested that the 10 sons of Haman be impaled on poles.

The guys are dead

why impale them now?

It would be a pretty clear sign,

Don’t mess with the Jews

someone is on their side!

And again, they did not touch the plunder.

Esther 9:16–18 (NIV)

16 Meanwhile, the remainder of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces also assembled to protect themselves and get relief from their enemies. They killed seventy-five thousand of them but did not lay their hands on the plunder. 17 This happened on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy.

18 The Jews in Susa, however, had assembled on the thirteenth and fourteenth, and then on the fifteenth they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy.

What a change has happend.

The table had certainly turned

The Jews, the victims of Haman’s plot have became the victors.

They will have Peace and security for many years to come

They had to celebrate

Esther 9:19–28 (MSG)

19 (This accounts for why Jews living out in the country in the rural villages remember the fourteenth day of Adar for celebration, their day for parties and the exchange of gifts.)

20 Mordecai wrote all this down and sent copies to all the Jews in all King Xerxes’ provinces, regardless of distance, 21 calling for an annual celebration on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of Adar 22 as the occasion when Jews got relief from their enemies, the month in which their sorrow turned to joy, mourning somersaulted into a holiday for parties and fun and laughter, the sending and receiving of presents and of giving gifts to the poor.

23 And they did it. What started then became a tradition, continuing the practice of what Mordecai had written to them.

24 Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the archenemy of all Jews, had schemed to destroy all Jews. He had cast the pur (the lot) to throw them into a panic and destroy them. 25 But when Queen Esther intervened with the king, he gave written orders that the evil scheme that Haman had worked out should boomerang back on his own head. He and his sons were hanged on the gallows. 26 That’s why these days are called “Purim,” from the word pur or “lot.”

Therefore, because of everything written in this letter and because of all that they had been through, 27 the Jews agreed to continue. It became a tradition for them, their children, and all future converts to remember these two days every year on the specified dates set down in the letter. 28 These days are to be remembered and kept by every single generation, every last family, every province and city. These days of Purim must never be neglected among the Jews; the memory of them must never die out among their descendants.

For the Jews, this victory

this deliverance was a big thing.

it needed to be memorialized

year after year celebrating God’s deliverance

told in a why that never names who was watching out for them.

What kinds of milestones do you, do we remember

Birthdays

Anniversaries

My Christian Biker neighbor celebrated the day he had a new birth, the anniversary of his new birth as a believer in Christ.

Are there times in your life, where God stepped in and helped you that you should recount to others before you forget about all that He has done for you.

Years and years ago, one of my first dates with Pam was just a hike in the mountains.

I raised over to her house and picked her up

I raised back toward the trailhead we were meeting my dad and and

just when I when I turned a sharp corner and hadn’t built up much speed yet

while going up hill

that’s when my tire fell off my car and started racing me up the hill.

That has always stood out to me, as a time when God acted

to keep me and

to keep Pam safe

from harm on the open road.

Events like that should be share with others from time to time.

Maybe you have some stories you need to share again, before they fade from your memory.

When we take time to remember and retell our stories of God’s intervention

That helps us stay confident of God’s love and presence in the quiet times

when we don’t see or feel HIM working in our lives.

Let’s finish chapter 9

Esther 9:29–32 MSG

29 Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail, backed Mordecai the Jew, using her full queenly authority in this second Purim letter 30 to endorse and ratify what he wrote. Calming and reassuring letters went out to all the Jews throughout the 127 provinces of Xerxes’ kingdom 31 to fix these days of Purim their assigned place on the calendar, dates set by Mordecai the Jew—what they had agreed to for themselves and their descendants regarding their fasting and mourning. 32 Esther’s word confirmed the tradition of Purim and was written in the book.

And then chapter 10 has only 3 verses

Esther 10 NIV

1 King Xerxes imposed tribute throughout the empire, to its distant shores. 2 And all his acts of power and might, together with a full account of the greatness of Mordecai, whom the king had promoted, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Media and Persia? 3 Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to King Xerxes, preeminent among the Jews, and held in high esteem by his many fellow Jews, because he worked for the good of his people and spoke up for the welfare of all the Jews.

Why is Mordecai praised?

The New International Version Chapter 10

because he worked for the good of his people and spoke up for the welfare of all the Jews.

Purim was established as a Jewish holiday

Purim is still celebrated by the Jews to this day.

It falls in February or March every year and last 2 days

In the book of Esther we see a list of who should celebrate it, amount the Jews

Every Generation

Every family

Every Province

Every City

Never fail to Celebrate

Never forget

What should we be celebrating?

It says at Purim they gave gifts to the poor

what kind of gifts could you give to the poor?

They poor are more then those on street corners, with a sign,

they could also be your neighbors living paycheck to paycheck.

Plunder left behind

One thing the author of Esther wants us to know is that the Jews did not fall upon, did not take plunder from the battles.

Three times in chapter nine we are told, they did not take the plunder.

That might be the only time in ancient history that the winners did not loot from the losers.

They had a legal right to plunder their enemies.

The edict sent out by Mordecia said

Esther 8:11 (NIV)

11 The king’s edict granted the Jews in every city the right to assemble and protect themselves; to destroy, kill and annihilate the armed men of any nationality or province who might attack them and their women and children, and to plunder the property of their enemies.

The reason for the battle was for peace and security in their communities, that is what they were after,

not getting rich being the biggest bullies in the provinces.

It was a commendable choice

a choice that many of their non Jewish friends probably thought was CRAZY

His money was right there in his pocket

and you didn’t take it.

Perhaps with God’s great deliverance, they considered the plunder, corban

dedicated to God

but that illustration doesn’t fit because, they they would have gathered the plunder for the temple or the tabernacle.

Purim Remembrance

In a book that never mentions God, this remembrance of what God has done in rescuing us is pretty important.

Unseen Benefactor

Why were the Jews able to succeed?

Like Pip, the Jews had an unseen benefactor

Pip was just an imaginary character,

so was his benefactor.

But we have an unseen benefactor who is not imaginary

When we look back and see HIS help,

we should give thanks

we should celebrate what we can see in hindsight and tell others about it.

I would like to have a Friday Night or Saturday night social this fall with pie and ice cream where we eat and share stories, one brief story each willing participant of a time you saw God’s hand in your life.

Would you come and have something to share, if we can get that scheduled this fall?

God Bless you all

Let’s pray.

Related Media

Related Sermons