Esther Pt:9
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
It has been a couple of weeks now since we were with our Jewish friends and their plight. The last time we visited the account we were in Chapter 7 and the villain of the story had well and truly got his comeuppance, not only had he been rumbled, he had been put to death on the very instrument of torture that he had erected for his bitter rival Mordecai.
It was a great day of rejoicing I’m sure for Mordecai and Esther, the immediate threat to Mordecai’s life had been thwarted. However, as we well know a larger threat was still looming for the nation as a whole.
Yes, Haman was dead, but his murderous plan was still very much alive.
Long after wicked people are gone, the consequences of their evil words and deeds live on. Even today, innocent people are suffering because of guilty people who lie in their graves.
Unless something intervened, within nine months the Persians would attack the Jews and wipe them off the face of the earth.
There were about 15 million Jews among the estimated 100 million people in the empire.
Make no mistake, the odds were overwhelmingly against God’s people, they were up against it, their backs were well and truly against the wall, facing hopeless odds of survival, they were just a small nation up against an empire, however, we must make this clear and I want you to remember this well; God’s people have always been a minority, and “one with God is a majority.”
Remember The Lord had brought Esther and Mordecai to the kingdom “for such a time as this,”
Transitional - so let’s continue the account and see how things unfold shall we? Firstly, there is:
I. A Lamentation for the People vs 1-3
a. Esther continues her intercession for her people
i. You see how surrendering to God as Lord, brings a deep love for his people
ii. As Christians the more we surrender to, and love Jesus, the more we love his people
1. We see the world through his eyes and we love others more
2. We develop a deep love for the saints, our brothers and sisters In Christ
3. Gal 6:2 “Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.”
b. Mordecai is now to before the King
i. Notice the text reveals to us that Esther has told the King about her relationship to Mordecai
1. Everything is out in the open, all cards are on the table, nothing hidden or secret
2. That’s a great place to be
a. Not to be carrying any burdens or secrets
b. It’s not how God would have us live
i. We are to be better than that
ii. We are not lie, to cheat, to deceive.
1. We are to trust God and “do justly” as Micah 6:8 tells us “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good;
and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”
ii. Mordecai is also given the Kings signet ring
1. This is a symbol of the King’s authority and however wields it has immense power in the land
2. As even further insulting to the now dead Haman, Mordecai is appointed head over the house of Haman
a. Talk about adding insult to injury
b. This all started because Haman was consumed by Mortdecai’s refusal to bough and now what, Mordechai rules over Haman house and they would have to honour him
c. The irony is outrageous it really is
c. Despite the great news of the death of Haman and the promotion of Mordecai, there is still a big problem, the plan to purge the Jewish nation, that was set in motion and according to the law of the Medes and the Persians cannot be rescinded
i. So Esther lays out her plea before the King with tears, she implored him with tears to counteract the decree
ii. Esther is desperate, the situation is desperate and she throws herself before the King wailing for her people
Transitional – This lead us onto my second point where we witness:
II. A Love of the People vs 4-6
a. I want you to notice the identification in verse 6
i. “My People” & “My Countrymen”
1. This is the same Esther who in the earlier chapter is hiding the fact she is a Jew
2. She is taking nothing to do with her people as she spends her time in the Kings court
ii. Now she realises how important they are to her, how much she loves them, how she couldn’t live through the loss of her blood born people
b. Esther has finally released how much her people mean to her, but what has it taken?
i. It the threat of losing them that has awoken her great love for them
ii. It’s the thought of not knowing if they will be there in 9 months’ time
iii. It’s the stark realisation that they are in grave danger
c. Friends, can I urge you to treasure those that you have while you have them
i. To enjoy the people of God and not take them for granted
ii. It shouldn’t take looming tragedy to draw us closer together
iii. It shouldn’t take death to be the thing that makes us love more, we should love more because of who we are in Christ, we should love more because we have the holy spirit living in us
1. But how often do we begin to pour out love, only when circumstances push us to it?
iv. Illustration – When friends, family or church members die we are often left with a lot of regrets that we didn’t do enough for them or spend enough time with them
d. Esther, through the recent trials has come out with a deep love for her people you can see it in her through these verses
i. She appeals to the King so sincerely and so earnestly that he grants the best that he can do to help
Transition – That leads us to
III. A Letter to the People vs 8-14
a. The king will not revoke the decree, which would be considered a breach of Persian law. Instead, he gives Esther and Mordecai permission to write an edict that will countervail Haman’s plot.
i. Mordecai calls the royal scribes and has a decree written that grants the Jews a right to assemble and defend themselves against anyone who attacks them.
1. This is carte Blanche to fight by any means, against anyone, man, woman or child who would attack the Jews.
2. They can defend without any fear of and further punishment is they survived
3. Not only that they are allowed to plunder the possessions of the attackers
ii. Again the irony is all too apparent as Mordecai seals the letter with the signet ring of the king
1. The same ring that Haman used to seal the decree to try and destroy the Jews is the same ring used by Mordecai to seal the decree to try and save the Jews!
2. The act also draws another parallel between Mordecai and Joseph,
a. In Gen 41, when Pharaoh named Joseph second-in-command over Egypt, he immediately “took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph’s hand” (Gen 41:42).
b. The broader parallels between the two figures are obvious:
i. both are Israelites residing in a foreign land as “exiles”;
ii. both are threatened by the authorities; both are promoted to second-in-command;
iii. both use their authority to secure the salvation of their people (Joseph by saving his father and brothers from the famine in Canaan; Gen 45:4–11).
c. However, that Mordecai’s character pales in comparison to Joseph:
i. Joseph was imprisoned because of his refusal to compromise his high morals;
ii. he achieved his office because of the supernatural gifts bestowed on him by God;
iii. and he carefully gave credit to God for his abilities (Gen 41:16
16 And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.
d. Mordecai will indeed rescue his people, but it was through Esther’s beauty and cleverness that the deliverance was made possible
b. So the decree has the stamp of approval and it is sent out, carried by swift couriers to all the provinces of the empire.
i. Nobody in the empire would be under any doubt that if they attacked the Jews as previously planned, that the Jewish people would be under a position to defend themselves under the full authority of the King himself
Transitional – We then close as we see finally
IV. A Light from the People vs 15-17
a. Mordecai then goes forth from the king’s presence dressed in royal attire, and the Jews rejoice at his promotion.
i. Everywhere the decree arrives, it inspires celebration among the Jews
ii. The darkness is lifting
1. Remember before it was sackcloth and ashes
2. Fasting and weeping
b. Now, “The Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honour” verse 16
i. The Hebrew word that is used for "Light" here is "Orah"
1. Hence, even in English we see that the word "Aura", refers to a "Surrounding Light", which Illuminates the Outer-shell of the Body known as the "Aura"!
a. This conveys the idea also that the English word "Aura" meaning surrounding light, comes from the Hebrew word "Orah" which is the etymological "base" of the Hebrew word "Torah".
b. Which is really teaching light when it is broken down in the wordings
2. The Jews had an aura about them
c. The effect of this light was that other were drawn to it.
i. Instead of Hamans planned extermination, God works the outcome so that more are drawn to him.
1. The Jews had joy and gladness and then many of the people of the land became Jews.
2. The character and demeanour of Believers can be a draw or a repellent to those outside the Church
a. We show Jesus people will drawn
b. We show solemnness and glum faces, unhappiness and discontent people will be repelled.
ii. Another reason given in the text why so many became Jews at this time is because the fear of the Jews fell upon them.
1. They observed the awesome deliverance of the Jewish people from such dire circumstances
2. They could help but see the supernatural, the sovereign hand of the one true God of Israel in this
a. I’m reminder of Rahab’s words as she spoke to the spies in Jericho
9 And she said unto the men, I know that the Lord hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. 10 For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. 11 And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.
b. You want to give the sceptic evidence that God is real, tell him to look at the history of Israel
i. There is a famous story in which Kaiser Wilhelm the 1st of Prussia asks Otto von Bismarck, "Can you prove the existence of God?" Bismarck replies, "The Jews, your majesty. The Jews."
ii. Look at the history of the Jews and how God has miraculously preserved them, time and time again, many nations have tried to exterminate them but Gods hand is always there, just like we have seen in our time in the book of Esther
iii. Go home and google it, I don’t have time to go through them all, but there is miracle after miracle in the battles Israel has had
iv. The six-day war for example
1. In 1967, Egypt began moving large forces and heavy artillery to the Sinai desert. Next, Egypt closed the Straits of Tiran to Israeli ships and anyone bringing any military equipment to Israel. This was an act of war.
When Egypt, Syria and Jordan formed a pact and placed their militaries on high alert for war, it became clear that conflict was inevitable. Two hundred Israeli Air Force planes were dispatched towards Egyptian air bases and should have been shot down.
Though flying very low to avoid being detected by Arab radar sites, a Jordanian radar facility was able to detect the unusual amount of aircrafts approaching the sea.
Jordan quickly sent out the message, “Inab” (a code for war) to Egypt.
Miraculously, however, the Egyptian coding frequencies were changed the very day before and Jordan was not yet updated. Still, the miracle of surprise was not enough. Egypt’s anti-aircraft ammunition was sufficient enough to destroy all the Israeli planes attacking.
Miraculously, the order was not given to launch any of those missiles on the Israeli crafts. Israel accomplished her mission and took down half the Egyptian air force: two hundred and four Egyptian planes, the majority of which were in the Sinai Desert readying to attack Israel. This changed the course of the war.
d. The book of Esther opens with the Jews keeping a very low profile, so much so that Esther and Mordecai wouldn’t even confess their nationality. But now the Jews are proud of their race and so happy with what God had done that they were attracting others to their faith!
i. Even the pagan Gentiles could see that God was caring for His people in a remarkable way.
ii. Evangelist Billy Sunday said, “If you have no joy in your religion, there’s a leak in your Christianity somewhere.”
iii. If Christian believers today manifested more of the joy of the Lord, perhaps those outside the faith would be attracted to the church and be willing to consider the message of the gospel.
Conclusion
This chapter begins with Queen Esther in tears but it ends with the Jews rejoicing and feasting
Happiness of one kind or another is mentioned in this paragraph at least seven times The Jews had been mourning and fasting, but now they were ecstatic with joy.
What had made the difference? Well it was the second decree, the decree that brought hope, and joy and light.
In this we have a wonderful picture of the Gospel:
The first decree brought a death sentence to the people, remember there was no hope, just certain doom.
This pictures for us the sure Judgement of God upon the guilty human race Rom 3:23 , Rom 3:10 , all of us are guilty and to face the sure, holy and just judgement of God.
10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
But then come the second decree that brings hope to the people that the King is on their side and will fight for them, this brings joy and light!
This pictures the Gospel, the Good News that despite the irreversible decree of judgement God made a way, Grace!
It’s a beautiful picture and just like the people rejoiced at the second decree, we should rejoice in the Gospel, our salvation!!
Notice also how the decree was translated into many languages and distributed as quickly as possible with much haste! What a picture of the urgency of our mission to share the gospel to all the world with much haste
So what do we learn from Esther Chapter 8?
Let’s love the people of God and not take them for granted, lets love as Christ loves, let’s not wait for tragedy to hit to drive us to love others
Then let us remember to have the joy of our deliverance always in our minds, let us live each day in light of the cross, who we have been delivered from the eternal judgement of God because of the willing sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ
Let’s live out the Christian life joyfully having that aura about us, the light of the Gospel that save us that others might be drawn as moths to the light that is Jesus living through us
Then finally it reminds of the wonderful Grace and Mercy of God, who made a way where there was no way.
That fallen man could be reconciled to a Holy and just God, and that is the most amazing decree of all
Let’s Pray