"Prepared by Faith"
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INTRODUCTION - WHAT WE’RE AIMING FOR IN THIS SERIES…GENERAL THEME.
New series - 4 weeks…I want to challenge you to be here - crazy, right?
BOOK OF ESTHER - To kind of give you a frame of reference historically: Remember a guy named King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon? He reigned from 605-562 BC. In 605, Nebuchadnezzar invaded Jerusalem and deported young Jewish men - particularly a guy named Daniel and 3 of his friends. In 587, the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed. In 539, Cyrus of Persia conquered Babylon and in 521, Darius became ruler of the Persian empire. You remember him from the book of Daniel? Remember the lion’s den episode? Then, in 486, Darius’s son, Xerxes, came to power in Persia....and that’s where we find ourselves in this story…it takes place in Persia’s capital city - Susa…Modern day SW Iran. God’s people the Jews are still living all spread out across the empire - still in exile.
One of the most interesting characteristics of the story of Esther is this…God is nowhere mentioned, nowhere does he speak, nowhere does he show up and reveal himself with any earth shattering, nature conquering miracles.
GOD ALWAYS ACCOMPLISHES HIS PURPOSES GOD IS ALWAYS WORKING - EVEN WHEN HE IS NOT OVERLY-EVIDENT.
Series Main Idea:
When I can’t hear God’s voice, I can trust his hand.
When I can’t hear God’s voice, I can trust his hand.
Now in the days of Ahasuerus, the Ahasuerus who reigned from India to Ethiopia over 127 provinces, in those days when King Ahasuerus sat on his royal throne in Susa, the citadel, in the third year of his reign he gave a feast for all his officials and servants. The army of Persia and Media and the nobles and governors of the provinces were before him,
Now in the days of Ahasuerus, the Ahasuerus who reigned from India to Ethiopia over 127 provinces, in those days when King Ahasuerus sat on his royal throne in Susa, the citadel,
Now in the days of Ahasuerus, the Ahasuerus who reigned from India to Ethiopia over 127 provinces, in those days when King Ahasuerus sat on his royal throne in Susa, the citadel, in the third year of his reign he gave a feast for all his officials and servants. The army of Persia and Media and the nobles and governors of the provinces were before him, while he showed the riches of his royal glory and the splendor and pomp of his greatness for many days, 180 days. And when these days were completed, the king gave for all the people present in Susa the citadel, both great and small, a feast lasting for seven days in the court of the garden of the king’s palace. There were white cotton curtains and violet hangings fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rods and marble pillars, and also couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl, and precious stones. Drinks were served in golden vessels, vessels of different kinds, and the royal wine was lavished according to the bounty of the king. And drinking was according to this edict: “There is no compulsion.” For the king had given orders to all the staff of his palace to do as each man desired. Queen Vashti also gave a feast for the women in the palace that belonged to King Ahasuerus.
Esther 1:4-
while he showed the riches of his royal glory and the splendor and pomp of his greatness for many days, 180 days. And when these days were completed, the king gave for all the people present in Susa the citadel, both great and small, a feast lasting for seven days in the court of the garden of the king’s palace.
in the third year of his reign he gave a feast for all his officials and servants. The army of Persia and Media and the nobles and governors of the provinces were before him, while he showed the riches of his royal glory and the splendor and pomp of his greatness for many days, 180 days.
And when these days were completed, the king gave for all the people present in Susa the citadel, both great and small, a feast lasting for seven days in the court of the garden of the king’s palace. There were white cotton curtains and violet hangings fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rods and marble pillars, and also couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl, and precious stones.
There were white cotton curtains and violet hangings fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rods and marble pillars, and also couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl, and precious stones. Drinks were served in golden vessels, vessels of different kinds, and the royal wine was lavished according to the bounty of the king.
Drinks were served in golden vessels, vessels of different kinds, and the royal wine was lavished according to the bounty of the king. And drinking was according to this edict: “There is no compulsion.” For the king had given orders to all the staff of his palace to do as each man desired.
And drinking was according to this edict: “There is no compulsion.” For the king had given orders to all the staff of his palace to do as each man desired. Queen Vashti also gave a feast for the women in the palace that belonged to King Ahasuerus.
Queen Vashti also gave a feast for the women in the palace that belonged to King Ahasuerus.
A 6 month party! King Xerxes is the living embodiment of excess. Anything he wanted he got any time he wanted it. Nothing was off limits. He had the finest of fine furniture, wine, even the finest goblets to drink the wine. And, as if a 6 month party weren’t enough, he capped it off with 7 day banquet. Some of you who think you used to could or can party, you don’t hold a candle to this guy!
On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha and Abagtha, Zethar and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus, to bring Queen Vashti before the king with her royal crown, in order to show the peoples and the princes her beauty, for she was lovely to look at. But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s command delivered by the eunuchs. At this the king became enraged, and his anger burned within him.
On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha and Abagtha, Zethar and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus, to bring Queen Vashti before the king with her royal crown, in order to show the peoples and the princes her beauty, for she was lovely to look at. But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s command delivered by the eunuchs. At this the king became enraged, and his anger burned within him.
Esther 1:10-
Xerxes now wants to show off his most prized possession - Vashti. He’s treated everyone to the most awesome party they’ve ever had - for half a year - and now, he’s bringing out what he’s most proud of. The Hebrew text insinuates that Xerxes wants Vashti to parade around the banquet hall in front of his friends NAKED.
How demeaning…how humiliating…how inhumane…but, let’s be real - this is middle eastern Persian culture. Male dominated AND he’s literally the most powerful man on planet earth. You DON’T SAY NO. But Vashti does.
Now in the days of Ahasuerus, the Ahasuerus who reigned from India to Ethiopia over 127 provinces, in those days when King Ahasuerus sat on his royal throne in Susa, the citadel, in the third year of his reign he gave a feast for all his officials and servants. The army of Persia and Media and the nobles and governors of the provinces were before him, while he showed the riches of his royal glory and the splendor and pomp of his greatness for many days, 180 days. And when these days were completed, the king gave for all the people present in Susa the citadel, both great and small, a feast lasting for seven days in the court of the garden of the king’s palace. There were white cotton curtains and violet hangings fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rods and marble pillars, and also couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl, and precious stones. Drinks were served in golden vessels, vessels of different kinds, and the royal wine was lavished according to the bounty of the king. And drinking was according to this edict: “There is no compulsion.” For the king had given orders to all the staff of his palace to do as each man desired. Queen Vashti also gave a feast for the women in the palace that belonged to King Ahasuerus.
Edict - women are going to respect their men.
Chapter 2 - new plan//new queen.
Now there was a Jew in Susa the citadel whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, a Benjaminite, who had been carried away from Jerusalem among the captives carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away. He was bringing up Hadassah, that is Esther, the daughter of his uncle, for she had neither father nor mother. The young woman had a beautiful figure and was lovely to look at, and when her father and her mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.
So when the king’s order and his edict were proclaimed, and when many young women were gathered in Susa the citadel in custody of Hegai, Esther also was taken into the king’s palace and put in custody of Hegai, who had charge of the women. And the young woman pleased him and won his favor. And he quickly provided her with her cosmetics and her portion of food, and with seven chosen young women from the king’s palace, and advanced her and her young women to the best place in the harem. Esther had not made known her people or kindred, for Mordecai had commanded her not to make it known.
And every day Mordecai walked in front of the court of the harem to learn how Esther was and what was happening to her.
Now when the turn came for each young woman to go in to King Ahasuerus, after being twelve months under the regulations for the women, since this was the regular period of their beautifying, six months with oil of myrrh and six months with spices and ointments for women— when the young woman went in to the king in this way, she was given whatever she desired to take with her from the harem to the king’s palace.
Esther 2:11-
In the evening she would go in, and in the morning she would return to the second harem in custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch, who was in charge of the concubines. She would not go in to the king again, unless the king delighted in her and she was summoned by name.
When the turn came for Esther the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her as his own daughter, to go in to the king, she asked for nothing except what Hegai the king’s eunuch, who had charge of the women, advised. Now Esther was winning favor in the eyes of all who saw her.
REPEAT SERIES THEME
Even in a pagan culture…even with a godless, narcissistic, hedonistic, flesh driven king, God is working…even though HE’S not visible, his hand is. Although subtly, he is there.
You know, there was a prophet about the same time in history as this takes place named Jeremiah. Jeremiah wrote one of the most quoted verses - even quoted by people who aren’t necessarily Jesus followers:
Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.
A plan. God has a plan for all of history and he has a plan for how your life fits into that great big plan. Here’s what I want us to really chew on this morning - and this week:
God is preparing me now for what he has prepared for me.
God is preparing me now for what he has prepared for me.
Even when my circumstances don’t make sense. Look at Esther:
She and her people are living in exile - away from their homeland, ruled by a people that don’t worship the same God and don’t have the same basis of morality - they are living in a pagan culture. She’s an orphan. She lost her parents at a very young age. She was adopted and raised by her cousin who, for all we know, is single…no one to help him. Now, she’s ripped away from him - not by choice - but by the insatiable sexual hunger of a power-driven king - where her success, her life, basically, is determined by whether or not she is more beautiful than anyone else and, let’s be honest, if she satisfies the king in bed.
This is not your ideal life - not the story anyone of us would choose. She didn’t do anything to deserve any of this. Maybe you identify. Maybe your details aren’t the same but you’re pretty much in the same boat.
You know, it saddens me that so many Christians are pretty atheistic - or agnostic at best - when it comes to life not really making sense. No Christian should ever say, “Well, it’s just the luck of the draw…or it’s just the hand I’ve been dealt in life.” God is completely out of control! We ask, “Why?!?!?” You know, why do bad things happen to good people?
OUR WORLD IS FALLEN
The Bible makes clear that we are under the curse of sin. Adam and Eve, the first humans, disobeyed God and as a result, sin and death and brokenness came into our world and affects everything - health, relationships, nature, EVERYTHING.
The world is not out of God’s control but is under the power and domain of sin.
GOD IS SOVEREIGN.
But that’s the hope of Easter.
, - the earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof (everything in it!), - heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool.
Our God is in the heavens;
he does all that he pleases.
Our God is in the heavens;
he does all that he pleases.
The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof,
the world and those who dwell therein,
Thus says the Lord:
“Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool;
what is the house that you would build for me,
and what is the place of my rest?
But that’s the hope of Easter.
So…God is in control. He has a plan. None of this is catching God by surprise. If God is using this to prepare me NOW for what he has prepared FOR ME, what do I need to know? What do I need to do now?
Trusting the visible hand of the invisible God requires the combination of faith and wisdom.
Trusting the visible hand of the invisible God requires the combination of faith and wisdom.
Faith:
You know, I think faith is really misunderstood. Faith is never a step into the darkness…it’s not a blind faith. Biblical faith is not hope-so. It’s not a “let’s give this a try and see how it pans out....maybe it will, maybe it won’t.”
No. Faith is not a step into the darkness, it is a leap into the light. Faith is assurance. It’s know-so, not hope-so. Why? Because biblical faith is rooted and grounded in the belief, the unshakeable belief, that God IS WHO HE SAYS HE IS AND WILL DO WHAT HE SAYS HE WILL DO.
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:
I want to give you some verses from the NT that show us what I’m talking about:
God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
But, still, life doesn’t really make sense…we ask, “Why?”
He is faithful…he WILL finish in you what he started in you.
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Psalm
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him, and he will act.
As a child of God, I can trust that my PERFECT God is faithful to work through IMPERFECT circumstances for His glory and for my good.
As a child of God, I can trust that my PERFECT God is faithful to work through IMPERFECT circumstances for His glory and for my good.
WISDOM:
Not just KNOWING the right thing to do but doing it. It’s not just I believe God is in control…It is, “I am going to live like God is sovereign and live in a obediently EVEN WHEN IT DOESN’T MAKE SENSE.”
I want you to look at Esther: None of this is ideal, is it? But...she listens to Mordecai and she listens to Hegai.
“Don’t tell them you’re a Jew.”
She didn’t take the excess of cosmetics that all of the other girls did. She listened to Hegai who knew Xerxes better than anyone. They focused on the exterior, she focused on the interior - of the heart.
Obedience even when it doesn’t make sense…when it’s not easy.
Look, at this point in the story, we don’t know what’s going to happen…Esther doesn’t have any more answers than when she started and nothing probably makes much more sense. You and I - especially ME - are guilty of expecting God to work according to OUR timetable. To move according to our plans. It may be weeks, months, or years before we fully see what God has prepared us for. It took a year for her beauty process.
I must remember that God prepares me one step at a time.
I must remember that God prepares me one step at a time.
Maybe God is using the circumstances in your life to draw you to himself…to run you to himself.
“God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
C.S. Lewis
God wastes absolutely nothing. He wants to have a relationship with you. A lot of times, the pain we deal with in life is self-inflicted. We bring it on ourselves because of our sin. Jesus came to heal us. He came to restore us and to give us a purpose and hope.