God Saves His People Through A Queen

Introduction

Mother’s Day Video

Happy Mother’s Day and thank you for sending in all those pictures of Motherhood so we could share them with each other. I know that my wife spend longer than she thought enjoying looking through our pictures and memories and when she got up from the kitchen table she said, “My heart is full, I am so greatful to be able to be a mom” I hope you had a similar experience remembering so many great aspects of being a mom. Maybe we will do this again and if you didn’t get a chance to send in a picture this year you would have another opportunity.

You know God was the one who thought up this whole mother thing. He was the one who knew that we would need these nurturing, caring and hard working people in our lives so he created these aptitudes in our moms and today is the day that we celebrate that as a group, even as I hope that we are thankful for our moms all year long.

It seems so fitting to me that we are able to stay in stride with the Gospel Project this morning as we look at the book of Esther, one of only two books in the Bible named after women.

The story of Esther is set at the end of the exile of God’s People. Remember how the prophet Jeremiah prophesied that God’s people would be carried off into exile for a period of 70 years? Well that 70 years is up and God’s people are slowly making their way back to the promised land. Some of them however, will never make that trip but stay in the land that they have come to know as home. Right or wrong, this was the choice of Esther and her family and it sets up an incredibly striking story about how God works to accomplish his purposes in our world even though people might be completely oblivious to it... because He is working behind the scenes.

Tension

And that is one of the most intriguing aspects the story of Esther. God is never directly mentioned in the entire book. There are no prayers recorded. No miracles happening. No prophecies referenced. Just a story about how a particular girl “happened” to be in just the right place at exactly the right time to be able to rescue God’s people from being wiped off the face of the earth…you see while God’s name is never mentioned in the book, His fingerprints are all over this story. Let me encourage you to take time to read this story this week. It is not terribly long and it reads just a like a novel or play as it is full of ironic twists, humerus turns and striking parallels that I know my short summary today will not even close to do it justice.

I still remember the time when I discovered “Cliff Notes” in High School. My sisters were in college and they were using these handy little summary books to help them to understand books that they just didn’t have time to read. Well being the dumb teenager that I was, I walked right into my High School English class with one of those books under my arm…Wow did I get an earful from Mrs. Spellmen. She was all over me because I was “robbing myself from the joy and journey of reading and understanding classic literature on my own”.

Well in God’s Word we have something so much better than any other literature book and it would be a shame is all you knew of the story of Esther is the little bit you hear from me today. I won’t holler at you like she did - but I do want to encourage you to pick up a Bible right now in your living room or kitchen or wherever you are and open it up to the book of Esther chapter 4 to read along with me now and so that later this week you will know right where it is to read the rest of it.

Let’s pray and then we will dive into this great story together.

Truth

The book of Esther opens up with an introduction to the reign of a man named King Ahasuerus in the ESV Bible, but if you are reading from the NIV or some other translations your Bible may use the Greek name “Xerxes” with an footnote attached. If that name seems more familiar to you it is probably because there has been many stories, books and even movie scripts written around the legendary Persian King Xerxes. But whether you use the Greek or Hebrew version of his name, he was the son and successor of King Darius from the Daniel story that we looked at last week.

One of the things that is really important that we don’t want to miss in the story of Esther is how morally corrupt this King is. The book of Esther does not hide this Kings selfish, prideful and immoral character. The setting of much of this book is various feasts where we find the King completely inebriated. Every significant decision that the King made in this book was made when he was “making himself merry with wine”. It is like one long “drunkfest” for this King.

And in line with his partying lifestyle is the prideful way in which he flaunts his wealth and his power. There is method to his madness however as these parties are not all open to the public, the King has invited together the most powerful men in the Empire, thousands of them, to celebrate together with Him his unmatched greatness and power. So he lavishes them with great feasts, gifts and entertainment all in hope of them recognizing his unquestionable authority of over them and securing their continued allegiance for his future endeavors. You see there is only one thing that the ruler of the largest empire in the world really wants, and that is to be the ruler of an even larger one.

A quick side note for the ancient history buffs, most theologians believe that all this pomp and revelry was to convince the leaders of the Empire of the merits of going to war with the Spartans of Greece…a rather historic battle that you probably have heard about.

My point is this, too often we try and make the story of Esther about how the love of a beautiful and godly woman changed the heart of a King who was a diamond in the rough. We develop a Walt Disney version in our minds, some sort of beauty and the beast story, but it was nothing like that guys. It was a barbaric time in ancient history when Kings were power hungry, blood thirsty and tensions were high as they were constantly on the look out for anyone who is or might some day become a threat to their power. It just won’t help our understanding of the book of Esther to make it fit for the hallmark channel.

So with that tone set in our minds, the story begins when this barbaric King is sitting in a drunken state with a group of his governors at the end of week long drunk fest and in his boredom for the other distractions around him he decides to demand the presence of the queen so that all these men could lustfully ogle and covet her as one more display of the King’s greatness and power. So this mighty king commands her to come before them and she says....“Nope, not gonna happen”.

There is more than just a lovers spat happening here. The King was doing his best to convince these men that he was so powerful that no one would dare to say no to him…and then his wife does!

So there is much that happens here, but basically in his drunken rage he banishes the queen, but then he sobers up and starts to remember her until some of his young punk servants say - “If I were as powerful as you I would just go grab all the most beautiful girls in the empire and make the one you like most the queen.” I am not sure that the surfer dude tone is in the text but that is what the King did and that is how Esther enters this story.

Esther was a beautiful woman, by whatever the Persian standard for outward beauty was at that time. This was the only standard that mattered to the King. He was not looking for a woman of noble birth, he wanted the world to know that he did not need a woman like Vashti, He could have any woman he wants as his queen. So there was some sort of beauty pageant and...

Esther 2:17–18 ESV

17 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. 18 Then the king gave a great feast for all his officials and servants; it was Esther’s feast. He also granted a remission of taxes to the provinces and gave gifts with royal generosity.

And …were back to drinking, feasting and gifting, this King was a master of propaganda.

Well the King had an official named Haman that somehow pleased him and He was promoted to the highest office in the land. Haman was not a Persian, but a descendant of the Amalekites, the ancient enemies of Israel. Well Haman shared the Kings lust for power and thoroughly enjoyed his new position where people would bow as he went by… except that one man would not bow to him. Mordecai, Esther’s uncle who raised her, would not bow before him because he was Jewish. So Haman sets out to not only destroy Mordecai but every Jewish man, woman and child in the entire Empire. The word that Scripture uses is “annihilation”.

Using his privileged position, Haman presents the King with his “concerns” over this particular group of people. He says:

Esther 3:8–9 ESV

8 Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom. Their laws are different from those of every other people, and they do not keep the king’s laws, so that it is not to the king’s profit to tolerate them. 9 If it please the king, let it be decreed that they be destroyed, and I will pay 10,000 talents of silver into the hands of those who have charge of the king’s business, that they may put it into the king’s treasuries.”

Pride, Power and Profit, always a dangerous combination.

The ancient Greek Historian Herodotus tells us that the annual income of the Persian Empire was 15,000 talents of silver. That is about 420 billion dollars today. (In the US we are closer to 3 Trillion, but for the ancient world this not too shabby) Haman offered 2/3 of that, $280 Billion.

Beware of Biillionaires. They have always been powerful people, especially in any culture that operates under the “evil” version of the golden rule “ He who has the gold, makes the rules”.

Haman, the Billionaire, explains the threat to the King and then volunteers to finance the elimination of the threat, and then some. What does the King has to loose? So the King agrees and signs the annihilation or genocide of the Jewish People into law. From his position of mourning outside the city gate, Mordecai reaches out to the newly crowned queen Esther to instruct her to go the King on behalf of the Jewish people. But Esther is hesitant, and she reminds Mordecai that his request comes with great risk.

Our first them for the week is that...

1. The salvation of God’s people comes with great risk (Esth. 4:6-11).

Esther 4:6–11 ESV

6 Hathach went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in front of the king’s gate, 7 and Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and the exact sum of money that Haman had promised to pay into the king’s treasuries for the destruction of the Jews. 8 Mordecai also gave him a copy of the written decree issued in Susa for their destruction, that he might show it to Esther and explain it to her and command her to go to the king to beg his favor and plead with him on behalf of her people. 9 And Hathach went and told Esther what Mordecai had said. 10 Then Esther spoke to Hathach and commanded him to go to Mordecai and say, 11 “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law—to be put to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter so that he may live. But as for me, I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days.”

I think Esther’s hesitation is warranted, don’t you. Especially considering the only reason she is wearing the Persian crown right now is that the previous queen did something that angered the King. To choose to appear before the King without his request was a risky choice.

A good definition of risk is “intentional interaction with uncertainty”. It is choosing to do something hoping for one outcome, but not knowing it will happen. This is the position Esther is in. She knew that the King could either extend the scepter or extend a death sentence.

Of course Mordecai didn’t know what would happen if she went in either, but he did know what would happen if she didn’t. Most of us have a natural bend toward the safety of certaintly, but some things are worth “intentionally interacting with uncertainty”. They are worth the risk.

Esther 4:13–14 ESV

13 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. 14 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?”

Our second theme we see here in our story is that ...

2. The salvation of God’s people comes at the right time (Esth. 4:12-16).

You might have recognized that last line as it is probably the most prominent line in the entire story of Esther. who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this? Do you hear how it points to a bigger picture. How it points to an author who is planning and purposing this story into existence?

Esther 4:15–16 ESV

15 Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, 16 “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.”

We don’t need to read God’s name in this story to see how He is still at work here. There is no way all of these things could line up so perfectly just be coincidence. One of the beautiful aspects of the story is in it’s perfect timing. I am only giving you the “Cliff Note” version of this story but as you read it this week you will see how so many things happen exactly when they need to happen in order to make it significant to the story. At any other time it would hardly have mattered, but because of the perfect timing everything worked out great!

You can find this same technique being utilized by so many fictional story tellers today, which drives us to recognize the presence of a skillful author. The same thing is true in how God writes our stories, we might not be able to see what the author has written on the previous pages but when everything comes together at just the right time you can sense that God was in it all. Have you ever had an experience like that? I have, and I pray to God’s glory that you get to experience something like that too.

So Esther agrees to go to the King, but wants three days of fasting to pursue a plan to leverage the risk factor in her favor. It is risky enough to just walk into the Kings presence unannounced, but she wants to have a solid plan in place if things do go in her favor. And this is what happened...

Esther 5:1–4 ESV

1 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. 2 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. 3 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.” 4 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.”

She invited the King to what else but another feast! Esther knew how the King liked to party, and so when she wanted something from the King, she did the exact same thing that he did when he wanted something from the officials in his Kingdom. She wined and dined the man. Not only once, but the climax of this party was an invite to another party the next night. One of the best examples of perfect timing happen between those two feasts, but you will have to read that part on your own.

Our third and final theme for the week is that

3. The salvation of God’s people comes in fullness (Esth. 7:3-6,10–8:2)

Esther 7:1–6 ESV

1 So the king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther. 2 And on the second day, as they were drinking wine after the feast, the king again said to Esther, “What is your wish, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.” 3 Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be granted me for my wish, and my people for my request. 4 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.” 5 Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who has dared to do this?” 6 And Esther said, “A foe and enemy! This wicked Haman!” Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen.

And rightfully so, because as the story continues the King responds, in drunken wrath again, and Haman and his whole family is executed instead of the Jews. And when the King found out that Mordecai was Esther’s uncle, he is appointed to Haman’s position and given all that was Haman’s.

And they all lived happily ever after. The End....at least as far as we know.

Gospel Application

On this Mother’s Day, I am reminded how one of my wife’s favorite things to do as a mother is to read stories to our children. There is such a richer connection in learning things through story than just a list of facts.

Towards the end of the book of Esther, there is a command written that every following generation of Jewish People would read the story of Esther once a year at a Jewish festival called Purim. Maybe you have heard of this. Jewish communities and families will gather together and read the story and they make it kind of fun because every time the name of Haman is mentioned, adults and children alike boo and hiss, but when Mordecai and Esther are introduced they cheer like crazy. It is one of the most festive holidays in the Jewish Calendar when they read this story and celebrate how their people were rescued from annihilation by a brave queen Esther and her Uncle Mordecai.

Unfortunately, for most of them, the reading is more about a celebration of national pride than a recognition that God was doing something much more. Every threat of extinction for the Jewish people at this time was also a threat to Jesus. The children of Abraham were the promised ancestress of the Messiah and another character in this story that is not mentioned but was certainly working behind the scenes was our adversary the Devil. More than anything he would have loved to see the Jewish people killed off so that the promises of God would be forgotten and the Messiah would not be looked for.

But did you hear what Mordecai said about Esther’s choice to play a part in this rescue plan?

“...if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place,” - Esther 4:14

It seems that Mordecai knew how God’s fingerprints were all over their story and he trusted in the promises of God that traveled to and through the Jewish people. We read here how God brought salvation to His people through queen Esther, who interceded for them at great risk to her own life. God would provide a greater salvation—from sin and death—through Jesus, who interceded for us and laid down His life on our behalf.

Landing

God’s timing is always perfect, so let me ask - What about you? Have you received the salvation that Jesus purchased for you? Maybe today would be your time. Maybe there is something here in Esther’s story that connects with your heart in such a way that you recognize that there is a law that is calling out for your destruction. The law of sin and death, but Jesus paid the penalty of that law on your behalf and he offers you freedom from it.

If you want to know more about that, then please get ahold of me. You can contact me here through facebook or reach me by the phone or email that’s listed there.

Your life is an amazing story that God is already writing, and “who knows, maybe you are here, for such a time as this!”

Let’s pray.