Esther 7

The Main Idea

Fallen Condition Focus

(v. 3) When given the opportunity to confront sin (our true enemy), speak up, rather than letting it lead you to ruin (power and vanity).

Gospel - it's not about the hero (Esther)

Jesus' lived the life we should have lived to kill the true enemy of sin and misery - both the pride and the hurt?

through his acceptance I have the freedom to confront

every decision is for God's glory or ours

Esther chapter 7 is where we are today and this chapter is the climax of this story.

A climax in a story is usually the turning point in a story where things starts to change.

Usually in every story there’s a conflict. And at some point the conflict reaches its most intense moment and the main character has to address this conflict and then from that point on, the story shifts depending on how the conflict is resolved.

Esther 7 Overview

The climax is the most significant moment in a story.

This is why, the music gets louder, your heart starts pounding, you sit on the edge of your seat because you want to know, how things are going to play out.

Who wins? Good or evil?

In movies, good or evil is represented through characters - the villain or hero? or does the character fail and become the villain, or prevail and become the hero, or stay the hero?

But notice that, must stories end with the main character (the protagonist) winning in the end. Most stories have a defining moments when the character figures out how to defeat the conflict. We want to see that. That’s how we identify with the character. We want to be like them - we want to be the hero, the overcomer.

Sampson is an interesting character because he’s considered a “hero” for his strength - thousands of soldiers come to arrest him, then he kills them. But he has more than a couple issues - mainly no self-control, sleeping around and drunkenness.

Samson’s defining moment is defeating the Philistines. This changed the course of history for God’s people.

what’s been a defining moment in your life? It changed the direction of your life

direction of your marriage, or direction of your life after divorce

direction of your children, or direction of your relationship with your children

Regardless of whether it’s considered worth celebrating or mourning - defining moments require courage to make a difficult choice

A choice many on the outstide would say, ‘how did you do that?’

Esther 7 - the situation

Esther, Haman, and the King are celebrating another Banquet

Remember what happened between the last banquet and this one?

Life Application: Avoiding Consequences Rather than Offering a Confession

Exalting Jesus in Esther We Too Want to Avoid the Consequences rather than Offering a Confession (7:7–8)

Here’s some wisdom for you: (1) We experience the consequences of sin because we get caught in sin. (2) We get caught in sin because we do not confess our sin. (3) We do not confess our sin because we think we can conceal our sin. (4) We conceal our sin because we do not want to confess our struggle to someone who cares for us. For some reason we always want people to think we are better than we really are, but in fact we are worse than they could ever think