When Evil Rises, Righteousness Stands!
Truth to Power - The Book of Esther • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Intro
Intro
Esther's influence. Four or five years have passed since Esther's coronation as queen of Persia.
A time of peace for Xerxes and his kingdom, a time in which the king's life was saved: two eunuchs had planned to kill Xerxes, but Mordecai exposed the plot, saving the Persian king's life.
Haman in power. After these events, the text tells us that Haman, an ambitious, dangerous, and vengeful man, rises to power.
In this regard, Warren Wiersbe states: "Each year on the Feast of Purim, the Book of Esther is read publicly in the synagogue, and whenever the reader mentions Haman's name, the people stamp their feet and exclaim, 'May his name be blotted out!'"
To Jews everywhere, Haman personifies everyone who has tried to exterminate the people of Israel.
Unfortunately for Xerxes and his subjects, the choice to promote Haman to prime minister will cause much pain.
Haman is not the right person for that position of power:
“Under three things the earth trembles, under four it cannot bear up: a servant who becomes king, a godless fool who gets plenty to eat,
When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people groan.
I hope that a man like Haman, the symbol of human pride and arrogance, will never reign over our lives.
Sermon's outline. After finishing reading chapter 3, there is only one comment to make: "IT IS NOT FAIR!"
An evil man in power ready to exterminate an entire people!
Life is hard—but God is good.
Life is unpredictable—but God is sovereign.
Life is unfair—but God is just.
Life is short—but God is eternal.
—Mary Farrar
Mary Farrar
God’s justice guarantees that ultimately all that is unfair will be dealt with … In his time and in his own way he will deal with both the injustice and those who have been unjust.
Joseph M. Stowell
In this chapter, the main character, Haman, will be unmasked, exposing all his wickedness:
Xerxes honors Haman;
Mordecai challenges Haman;
Haman condemns the Jews.
N.1 - Xerxes honors Haman
N.1 - Xerxes honors Haman
After these events, King Xerxes honored Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, elevating him and giving him a seat of honor higher than that of all the other nobles.
Honor, glory, and power. As we have noted, King Xerxes was an insecure and unwise man. The very fact that Xerxes granted a position of power and honor to a small man like Haman demonstrates how weak Xerxes was.
Regarding the honor Xerxes bestowed on Haman, I would like to consider two aspects:
1A. The Absence of Reason.
After these events, King Xerxes honored Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, elevating him and giving him a seat of honor higher than that of all the other nobles.
The author provides no reason to justify Xerxes’ honor for Haman.
We find no list of his virtues, nor is there any mention of a heroic deed performed by Haman: only silence.
A great silence if we consider that at the end of chapter 2, Mordecai saves Xerxes' life without receiving any recognition (Esther 2:22), while in chapter 3 Haman is inexplicably honored and promoted to prime minister of Persia.
Now Haman has the keys of the kingdom of Persia!
Application. Let us carefully evaluate the people we place alongside us. Let us pray, observe, gather information:
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
Trust must be earned, and honor is earned on the field.
For honoring a man like Haman, Xerxes will pay a high price: his family and his kingdom will be damaged by this vicious individual.
Haman was a small man who Xerxes bestowed great honors and responsibilities.
Regarding small men, the British essayist Walter Savage London (1775-1864) wrote, "When little men cost long shadows, it is a sign that the sun is setting."
To whom are you giving the keys to your heart?
1B. The Presence of Minions.
Day after day they spoke to him but he refused to comply. Therefore they told Haman about it to see whether Mordecai’s behavior would be tolerated, for he had told them he was a Jew.
Even though everyone knew that Haman was unworthy of that honor, the author of the book of Esther tells us that everyone bowed before Haman (Esther 3:2).
Whenever there is abuse of power, there is always the presence of ruffians. These minions were not interested in the good of Persia, but only in themselves. They have no value:
Of more worth is one honest man to society and in the sight of God, than all the crowned ruffians that ever lived.
Thomas Paine (Political Reformer and Author)
In order to gain personal advantage, ruffians make normal, good, and just what is actually condemnable.
What is morally wrong can never be politically right.
—Abraham Lincoln
Application. We live in a society that favors flatterers and ruffians. The risk is that, remaining in contact with minions, there is a risk of falling into flattery and compromise.
Never surround yourself with minions:
I do not sit with the deceitful, nor do I associate with hypocrites. I abhor the assembly of evildoers and refuse to sit with the wicked.
Losing the support and favor of some flatterer will only benefit our lives. Ruffians are false friends, false helpers, false supports:
1500 Illustrations for Biblical Preaching Friendship, False
A false friend is like your shadow. As long as there is sunshine, he sticks close by. But the minute you step into the shade, he disappears.538
N.2 - Mordecai challenges Haman
N.2 - Mordecai challenges Haman
All the royal officials at the king’s gate knelt down and paid honor to Haman, for the king had commanded this concerning him. But Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor.
Light vs. darkness. The only one capable of challenging Haman's power and arrogance is the hero Mordecai.
This challenge will continue until the end of the book of Esther, with Mordecai's triumph.
The reason for this conflict is based on the identities of Haman and Mordecai:
2A. Haman’s identity.
So the king took his signet ring from his finger and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews.
The author reveals that Haman was a descendant of Agag. Agag was a wicked people, condemned by God because they attacked Israel as it was leaving Egyptian slavery:
He said, “Because hands were lifted up against the throne of the Lord, the Lord will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation.”
King Saul and King Agag. King Saul was too generous with Agag, the king of the Amalekites, and this cost him the throne:
But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs—everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.
While Saul lost the throne because he was too magnanimous toward Agag, Mordecai's courage in opposing Haman will crown him:
When Mordecai left the king’s presence, he was wearing royal garments of blue and white, a large crown of gold and a purple robe of fine linen. And the city of Susa held a joyous celebration.
Application. Let us not be gentle with what God condemns. Let us not be magnanimous with sin.
With what God does not approve of, with what God does not love, with what harms your home, with what undermines the peace of your marriage, do not be sparing!
With sin, Saul's permissive attitude fails to pay off, while Mordecai's resolve will bear fruit in due time.
2B. Mordecai's identity.
All the royal officials at the king’s gate knelt down and paid honor to Haman, for the king had commanded this concerning him. But Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor.
Mordecai's defiance of Haman is just one of many chapters in the same spiritual warfare between what is good, pure, and beautiful versus what is bad, dirty, and evil.
And in this act of courage, Mordecai typifies Christ Jesus!
During His earthly ministry, Jesus consistently denounced the wickedness, sin, and hypocrisy of the Pharisees.
Even Jesus' family members bowed to their disbelief, even Jesus' disciples bowed to the threats of the Roman soldiers, but Jesus did not bow!
Application. This is the problem of the Gospel: presenting to the world One who does not bow to the carnal desires of this society, One who does not say yes to social pressure.
This is the problem: proclaiming Someone who does not approve of compromising with sin, who does not want to please the Haman of the moment.
Perhaps you have managed to persuade your family members, your wife, your husband, your parents, your colleagues, even the church you attend has failed to say no... everyone has indulged you and bowed to your desires.
But today there is Someone who does not bend, Someone who has the authority to say no to you, no to your plans and no to your intentions.
It is you who must bow before Him:
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
The Wise men from the East. At the birth of Jesus, the Scriptures tell us that from the East, from the kingdoms of Media and Persia, the noble Wise men bowed before the King:
On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
N.3 - Haman condemns the Jews
N.3 - Haman condemns the Jews
Yet having learned who Mordecai’s people were, he scorned the idea of killing only Mordecai. Instead Haman looked for a way to destroy all Mordecai’s people, the Jews, throughout the whole kingdom of Xerxes.
The Final Solution. Hatred toward Mordecai spread to all the Jews of Persia.
Despite the Persian prime minister's indiscriminate hatred, let us not be discouraged. Vernon McGee used to say, "The Jew has attended the funeral of every one of the nations that tried to exterminate him," and Haman was no exception.
Regarding Haman's condemnation of the Jews, I would like to emphasize two aspects:
3A. A different people.
Then Haman said to King Xerxes, “There is a certain people dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom who keep themselves separate. Their customs are different from those of all other people, and they do not obey the king’s laws; it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them.
God's people have always been accused of being different. Even the early Christians were often accused of rebelling against the Roman empire: Paul and Silas were unjustly imprisoned.
They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar
Application. We must be concerned when there is no difference between God's people and other nations.
The problem is not when the world, the enemies of the Gospel, accuse us of being different, but when the Church of Christ is so similar to the world that we can barely distinguish it.
We are different because God created us for Him:
For the Lord has chosen Jacob to be his own, Israel to be his treasured possession.
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
3B. A suffering people.
The couriers went out, spurred on by the king’s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa. The king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was bewildered.
Haman's decree caused great pain and fear: the day of the destruction of the "different people" had been set in the calendar.
Suffering but not defeated, grieving but not without hope:
We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
Indeed, this suffering would later motivate Mordecai and Esther to save the Jewish people.
Application. We are accustomed to rejecting suffering, yet it is in suffering that God works our hearts best.
When a heart is in pain, it is in the best position to receive God's intervention. Suffering prepares us, awakens us, and predisposes us to be used by the Lord.
The Lord not only reveals to us that God will use this pain, but reminds us that He will be with us (Mattia):
1500 Illustrations for Biblical Preaching Suffering, Response To
You may explain to a child all the medical reasons why he must have a shot in the arm, but when the nurse gets ready to plunge that needle into his arm, he runs to Mommy. Comfort comes not in always knowing the reason why, but in knowing the comforter.1352
Conclusion
Conclusion
Haman in power. At the end of chapter 3, Haman drinks wine with the Persian king, heedless of the harm he has caused.
Yet God is moving!
Soon, God will deliver His people from this enemy.
Let us not despair if our enemy toasts the misfortunes that befall our lives, our failures, our limitations, etc.
There is a Man who will not bow to Haman's power.
