Esther
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Providence
Providence
Intro myself?
Honor them, I got to sit under John Joseph, reputation in, I love your team and your pastor, hes real deal, passes the close up text.
INTRO
We are studying the book of Esther this morning…Did you know it is the only book of the Bible where God is not mention once? This same book was so morally ambiguous that the great reformers John Calvin and Martin Luther hated the book. Calvin wrote a commentary on every book of the Bible, but completely left out Esther. Furthermore, he refused to preach on the book. Martin Luther is quoted saying “I am so great an enemy… to Esther, that I wish it had not come to us at all, for it has too many heathen unniaturalities.”
While I disagree with their conclusion, I understand their point. It is a messy book. The “heroes” of the book break multiple commandments, engaging in what would seem appalling to our common sensibilities, and all the while God seems to be silent.
Its a messy book, with messy people, in a messy kingdom, and a missing God.
But What I hope you will see this morning, is that there is a reason this book is in the canon of Scripture. This world has and always will be messy. Today, we live in a messy world, with messy people, in a messy country, and often we are left asking where God is in all of it.
It seems the question this book is concerned with answering is how does God, often behind the scenes, work in the mess of our world and how might he be calling us to join him in that work. Let’s journey here together.
Reading of Text.
If you are able, would you stand in honor or God’s word? I am going to read the part of the book you probably know, then we are going to walk through this book together.
And they told Mordecai what Esther had said. Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.” Mordecai then went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.
BRIEF Where are we?
This is the last week in the Old Testament. And we have journeyed as God has made a people and pursued them despite their sin. Through Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, David, Amos and the splitting of the kingdoms, to the Babylonian exile, Daniel, and now…
We have seen these past couple weeks some of the people of God return from exile after 70 years in babylon to their homeland Jerusalem. We saw last week in Haggai as they rebuild the city and the temple.
You may or may not know this, but there were around 2.5million jews in babylon at the time the Babylonian exile ended. In Haggai we saw the first group of Jews return to Jerusalem, and it seems, based upon Biblical genealogies, that only about 50,000 of the 2.5million returned to Jerusalem. So what happened to the other 4.45million jews? They stayed in Babylon.
If you think about it, At the time of the return they had been in exile for 70 years. That means there are 2nd and 3rd generations of people who had never lived in Jerusalem. They were born and raised in and knew Babylon as their home. God had told them in Jeremiah to plant roots and raise families and they did. So naturally, the majority chose to stay.
In Ezra, Nehemiah, Zechariah, Haggai we learn about the lives and history of the 50,000 who traveled to Jerusalem rebuilt the temple and the city, but has God forgotten about the millions of Jews who stayed in Babylon?
Certainly not! In Esther, we get a glimpse of how God was working in the midst of the 2 million Jews who stayed in Babylon.
Story of Esther.
There are 4 key characters in the book of Esther. Esther, Mordecai, the Persian King, and Haman. Mordecai is Esthers uncle who has taken in his orphaned niece Esther. The book takes place in Susa, where Esther and Mordecai live, Susa is also the capital city of the Persian empire at the time. The King, lives in Susa along with his officials, one of which one is Haman.
The Story Begins, in Chapter one with the King throwing this great party that will last 180 days. At the end of this party He has a great 7 day feast where everyone is invited. On the 7th day he calls for the queen, Queen Vashti, to come show off her beauty in front of his guests. Queen Vashti refuses and so the king removes her as queen.
The king now has no queen and so some of the kings young servants come to him…
Then the king’s young men who attended him said, “Let beautiful young virgins be sought out for the king. And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom to gather all the beautiful young virgins to the harem in Susa the citadel, under custody of Hegai, the king’s eunuch, who is in charge of the women. Let their cosmetics be given them. And let the young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti.” This pleased the king, and he did so.
So now young and beautiful virgins from all over the kingdom will be brought to Susa, the capital city, where they will spend a year being “beautified” with perfumes and cosmetics before they will then each be brought before the King for a night. The king will then decide which one to take as a wife, the rest join his concubine.
Now you can fill in the blanks for yourself, but when we talk about moral ambiguity, this is the epitome of it. This is wrong, it was wrong and it is wrong. It’s abhorrent frankly, and so you can start to see how this book has gotten its reputation. It’s messy.
Esther becomes one of these girls, and there is no indication either way to suggest whether she was forced into it or not. It is a topic up for debate. We know that many of the women desired to be queen and therefore wanted their shot, but there is no mention of Esther seeking out this opportunity or pushing back against it. Similarly, there is no mention of Mordecai stepping to stop or object to this. Either way, it is against several of God’s commands, first being that he requires his people to marry within the faith community of which the king was not, on top of that you have some other moral issues of which I don’t need to tell you.
In any case, Esther is taken in and immediately gains favor with the kings staff and receives special treatment. After her year of beautification, she is brought before the king we see this…
the king loved Esther more than all the women, and she won grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.
Esther becomes the queen, beating out every other beautiful virgin in the kingdom. This is hundreds, very likely thousands of girls and Esther is the one chosen.
Upon her becoming Queen, Mordecai, Esthers adopted father, developed a rhythm of walking outside the king’s gates to see if he could hear anything about Esther’s well being as she is now queen.
It just so happens that one day, Mordecai overhears two of the king’s officials plotting to kill him. Mordecai sends word to Esther, we read this…
And this came to the knowledge of Mordecai, and he told it to Queen Esther, and Esther told the king in the name of Mordecai. When the affair was investigated and found to be so, the men were both hanged on the gallows. And it was recorded in the book of the chronicles in the presence of the king.
The king hangs these men, and now needs to replace them, one of the replacements was Haman. He is the villain of our story. Haman is promoted and the king decides everyone should bow down and honor Haman. (maybe to prevent Haman from trying to kill him) In any case, Haman goes to the kings gate expecting to be honored and bowed before, but Mordecai is not having this. Mordecai, as a Jew, refuses to bow to anyone other than God. Day after day Mordecai refuses and eventually Haman had enough. So Haman goes before the king to make a deal. Haman says he will give the king a bunch of money if he lets him kill all of the Jews in the empire. For, Haman decided was not enough to kill Mordecai but all the people of God needed to be eradicated, because they were a threat to the empire.
The king agrees and so Haman sends out this decree…
Letters were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces with instruction to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all Jews, young and old, women and children, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods.
In response to this Mordecai, Esther, and all the Jews are obviously quite concerned. There is this coming day when their neighbors will rise up to kill them and their families. Here is where Mordecai tells Esther that she should go before the king and tell him of Haman’s plot. That she is where she is for such a time as this.
The problem is that if Esther goes before the king she could die. You see there was a law that if anyone went before the king without first being called they would be killed UNLESS the king reached out his scepter to you which then he would listen to what you have to say. Seeing how the King treats women and queen Vashti, this must have been terrifying for Esther.
Yet, In great courage and faith, Esther chooses to go before the king. Boldy declaring “If I perish, I perish”
In chapter 5 we see this moment,
On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace, in front of the king’s quarters, while the king was sitting on his royal throne inside the throne room opposite the entrance to the palace. And when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she won favor in his sight, and he held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter. And the king said to her, “What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given you, even to the half of my kingdom.” And Esther said, “If it please the king, let the king and Haman come today to a feast that I have prepared for the king.”
Good news! Esther is recieved. She wants to ask the king for help but decides its best to ask him at a banquet the following day.
Now here is where things get interesting. Later that night two things happen at the same time. First, Haman decides to kill Mordecai. He Meets with his wife and some friends who he tells of his promotion and great success but how he cannot enjoy it, he can’t be happy until Mordecai is dead. They respond saying you man of great success, just kill him then. Haman loves this idea so he orders gallows to be set up where Mordecai will be hanged from.
At the same time Haman is plotting Mordecai’s death, the king is having trouble sleeping and we see this in Chapter 6…
On that night the king could not sleep. And he gave orders to bring the book of memorable deeds, the chronicles, and they were read before the king. And it was found written how Mordecai had told about Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, who guarded the threshold, and who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. And the king said, “What honor or distinction has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?” The king’s young men who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.” And the king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king’s palace to speak to the king about having Mordecai hanged on the gallows that he had prepared for him.
Let’s pause for a minute.
God is working even when
What are the odds of this? That the king, needing some night time reading to put him to sleep, opens up this book and just happens to read from the Chronicles of the king and just happens to come across this specific story.
This is a crazy coincidence. Or is it? Think about it.
It just so happens Esther is orphaned as a child and Mordecai takes custody.
It just so happens that queen Vashti is removed from the throne
It just so happens that Esther is entered into this contest
It just so happens Esther gains favor with the kings staff
It just so happens Esther is made queen out of all the virgins in the land
It just so happens the same Esther is the adopted daughter of Mordecai who Just so happens to overhear the plot to kill the king
And it Just so happens that at the very same time Haman is plotting to kill mordecai, the King reads of his life saved by Mordecai.
I hope you see my point. This is not a coincidence. Though God is silent on these pages, he is ALL over this book. We have not yet seen the Jews rescued, but spoiler alert, they will be. God is working in the background, unseen but ever present.
We can look at Esther and come to no other conclusion than God is working. But Why? Why does he choose to move in this messy kingdom, with these messy people, and these messy heroes… because God loves His people despite their messiness.
If we have learned anything this year let it be that God time and time again kneels down to save a deliver His people, why? For His glory Yes, but in the same breath because of his great love for those he has set apart.
And so you look around in the mess of your life, the mess of your sin, the mess of your family, the mess of our country and you can know that while crying out to God frustrated by His silence that you have the guarantee he is working it all for good and for His glory.
Why? Because He loves His children.
**?You know the good news about this, you don’t need to worry about who is going win in November. God’s got it. You do your part
I love what happens next in the story.
Great reversal
And the king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king’s palace to speak to the king about having Mordecai hanged on the gallows that he had prepared for him.
You may have caught this at the end of the last passage we read but it just so happens that as Haman is walking into the kings court to tell the king of his plan to hang Mordecai, the king has just finished reading about Mordecai saving his life. Not a coincidence, God is moving even in His silence.
What unfold next is wild. The king asks Haman what should be done to a man who the King wants to honor, and Haman, thinking the king is about to honor him, replies with saying a royal crown and robes should be put on him and he should ride the kings horse through the city square proclaiming the kings highest honors.
The king likes this idea and tells Haman to prepare all of this… for Mordecai.
What a reversal. Haman was supposed to be the one being honored. Haman was supposed to be the one being bowed before to but now its Mordecai. Mordecai refused to bow down to Haman and now Haman has to prepare all this honor for Mordecai.
OOF not a good day for Haman, but it gets worse, the next day at the banquet Esther tells the king of Haman’s plot to kill Esther and Mordecai’s people.
For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have been silent, for our affliction is not to be compared with the loss to the king.” Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who has dared to do this?” And Esther said, “A foe and enemy! This wicked Haman!” Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen.
Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, said, “Moreover, the gallows that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, whose word saved the king, is standing at Haman’s house, fifty cubits high.” And the king said, “Hang him on that.” So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the wrath of the king abated.
Haman is hung on the very gallows he built for Mordecai. Again, what a reversal.
We see this all over the story of Esther. These great reversals.
Esther who was orphaned by Mordecai becomes queen and saves Mordecai
Haman the man of honor who despises Mordecai must prepare honor for him.
And the very gallows Haman meant for Mordecai, Haman is hanged upon.
Let us be encouraged this morning that even in the mess of our world, the mess of ourselves, the mess of our country that nothing is ever too far gone, too broken, too messy for God to turn it around. God is the worker of great reversals.
He takes the faithless Abraham and makes him the great faithful father of many nations.
He takes the younger brother Jacob and makes him the heir to his fathers blessing
The 12th brother slave Jospeh and makes him second in command in all of egypt
The stuttering moses into the vessel of God
The stubbord pharoah to a parted red sea,
he underdog army of Joshua to the conquered cannanites
The sheperd david into a king and a fallen david into a man after God’s own heart
He makes the conquerer the conquered
The low the exalted
The oppressed the free
He is the God who takes the gallows meant for Mordecai, and hangs haman
The same God who took on flesh, and bore a cross the devil meant for evil, but God used defeat death and grave.
The same God who took a wretch like you and me, and made us white as snow
And so no matter how far gone how messy you think things are. There is nothing God cannot reverse and the cross of Christ is the ultimate picture of that, it is the the ultimate uno reverse card. This moment when satan thought he had won, but God used death to defeat death.
If God can use a cross, the lowest of mankind as a display for the salvation of mankind what can our God not do? He has always been the God of great reversals. He has been reversing things for those in the palm of his hand since the Garden and that’s not changing today.
And let me say this, this is important. You and I know this, our hope is not set in the things of this world. So don’t hear me say whatever suffering or pain you are experiencing that God is going to turn it around exactly like you want him to, that he is going to reverse it and breakthrough is just a prayer and enough faith away. No.
We hope and pray, asking God for that which we desire knowing we have a father who loves to give good gifts to his kids, and in all of it, no matter the answer, even in the silence, we trust that God is working everything for good and His glory we understand the ultimate answer to the sufferings and longings of this life are found in the eternal victory of Christ Jesus.
We pray God turns things around, we pray God redeems, restores, and heals we pray that lives change AND we have the hope that even if not in this life, because of the cross of Christ all things will one day be made new. Every tear will be wiped from our eyes, all will be redeemed and restored. So we hope not in the guarantee of our circumstantial reversals, but in the Great reversal of the cross of Christ.
We pray in hope, knowing God’s great love for us, for circumstantial reversals. But our faith is not rooted in them, our ultimate faith our ultimate hope is in the finished work of Christ Jesus, no matter our circumstances.
How does God want to use you in the great reversal?
Esther ends with the people of God being empowered by the king to defend themselves against any who would do them harm. Once again God saves His people, despite their messiness, and he uses the orphan girl made queen to do it.
What an unlikely hero. But at this point we have learned, that’s the way God works. In his great reversing he uses the unlikely to do the extraordinary.
So as I close, I want to end here. I know as we look in ourselves and the world around us there is a lot of messiness. A lot we long to see reversed. Much of those things will not be turned around until we walk the streets of Gold. But, what we know, is that in the mean time, God longs to see the mess, the brokenness, the darkness of our world be pushed back by the light. We are those lights. As the light of Christ reflects off of us who believe, we are called to push back the darkness. Bringing the gospel in word and action to the mess, the brokenness, the suffering in this world.
Often we pray God fix this country, God elect this person, God help these people, we see broken and suffering around us, our hearts break for social issues and we pray God fix it… but how often do we pray God use me.
It is a holy thing when your heart breaks for that which grieves the heart of God. Maybe God has given you the passion for a certain issue, *not to berate people on facebook or get all pressed about who going to win in november* but maybe hes given you that passion because he wants to use you to do something about it. To help someone. To serve someone. To love someone. To be a light pushing back the darkness. If he can use a messy orphan like Esther he can use you.
God is doing a great reversing work even today, and he is inviting you to be a part of it.
Who knows, maybe God has you right where you are, for such. a time. as this.
Let’s pray.