Esther Sermon - 4

Behind the Seen: The Plot Thickens…

Esther 2:19-3:15

1. Introduction – We covered a lot of ground this morning in the reading, so I’m going to take some time and recap what happened, I’ll fill in some of the historical and cultural holes along the way.

a. We’ll ask ourselves the question “Where’s God in all of this?” And we’ll make this scene practical to our lives today.

2. The Background – The scene begins with one of the story’s heroes saving the king. Mordecai discovered a plot to have King Xerxes killed. Mordecai passed the information along to Queen Esther, who told the king and the plan was thwarted.

a. Mordecai was given full credit for the discovery of this plot and his good deed was recorded in the king’s chronicles, but he is not rewarded – a very important fact that will reappear later in the story.

3. Chapter 3 – And as Chapter 3 begins, we hear of a promotion taking place in Xerxes’ court and all of us would expect Mordecai to be promoted.

a. But the narrator tells us that it’s not Mordecai who receives the promotion, it’s a man named Haman. He was promoted to second in command of all the Empire.

b. And right off the bat, we learn a few things about Haman. First, he was an Agagite – I’ll explain the importance of this in a bit.

i. Secondly, apparently Haman wasn’t all that well liked, because the king had to order that people bow down to him.

1. It’s important because in that day people naturally bowed down to people in higher positions of authority, people they respected – but Haman must have been severely disliked if a decree had to be made concerning him.

c. And so, the story goes that Mordecai refuses to bow down to Haman. And at this point we need to ask two questions – Why didn’t Mordecai bow?

i. And why was Haman so filled with rage that he planned to kill all the Jews, not just Mordecai?

1. To answer this question, we actually have to dive deep into history, and look at a few different Bible passages – because they hold the answers for us.

a. And believe it or not, the answers are intertwined.

d. So why wouldn’t Mordecai bow down to Haman? Maybe it’s personal – after all, Haman got the promotion that Mordecai deserved.

i. Maybe Mordecai had a religious reason for not bowing – he didn’t want to honour a person above God.

1. The only clue we are given as to why Mordecai wouldn’t bow down to Haman is that it’s because he’s a Jew.

a. More specifically, in chapter 2, we are told that Mordecai is from the tribe of Benjamin, from the family of a man named Kish. These are all important clues in figured out why Mordecai refused to bow to Haman.

e. But to answer this question fully, we have to examine question 2.

i. So here we go – why was Haman so full or rage against all Jews?

f. So, the clues we have in the chapter before is that Mordecai is a Jew and Haman is an Agagite. What’s an Agagite? Well, the Agagites were descendants of a man named Agag – who the Bible tells us was the king of a nation called the Amalekites.

i. And the Amalekites and the Jews have long-standing animosity between their two nations.

1. The Amalekites have the dubious distinction of being the first nation to attack Israel.

a. As Israel was making their way out of slavery in Egypt and towards the Promised Land – the Amalekites ambushed them.

i. The Amalekites were a pagan nation, who sacrificed their own children to appease the gods they served.

ii. And even after Israel took possession of the Promised Land, the Amalekites continued to raid Israel.

g. And so, this animosity continued for generations until under the leadership of King Saul, who we are told is a man from the tribe of Benjamin – whose father’s name is Kish – God told Israel to go and completely wipe the Amalekites from the face of the earth.

i. They were to kill everyone and keep nothing for themselves. Why God would make this kind of command is beyond the scope of this sermon – but it is a topic I’ve covered before and there are a couple great books written on the subject.

1. Anyway, Saul was commanded to wipe them out, but guess what – Saul didn’t listen. He kept some plunder for himself – and he let the Amalekite king live – a man named Agag.

a. And because of Saul’s disobedience, his days as king were numbered and God promised that there would be long standing animosity between the Jews and the Amalekites – or in this case, the Agagites.

h. So why wouldn’t Mordecai bow down to Haman? Because he refused to show honour to a mortal enemy of his people.

i. And why was Haman so enraged that he wanted to wipe out all the Jews? Because they once tried to wipe out his people.

1. We must understand that what we have in this chapter, is the latest chapter in the long-running battle between the Amalekites and the Jews.

4. Haman’s Plan – So Haman began to plot the demise the Jews in Persia. But to fulfill his plan, he needed a day for it happen – so he cast lots.

a. Lots are kinda like dice, but instead of being used for gambling, they were used for divination. They were used to consult the gods about the future.

i. Now there were times in the Bible, when God allowed his people to cast lots for them to know his will, but – lots or purim as the ancients called them – were for divination.

b. It’s believed that it was ancient custom to cast lots at the beginning of the year to determine when events should be carried out during the year.

i. That’s why they lots were cast in April, but Haman had to wait until the following March to carry out his plan.

1. The insertion of our modern calendar dates kinda confuse the issue a bit. In the Jewish calendar, the first month of their year was the month of Nisan – equivalent to our April and the last month the month of Adar – our March.

a. So, the lots were cast and Haman had to wait a year.

c. But, he now had a day from the gods to carry out his plan, not he needed permission from the king to make it happen.

i. And Haman’s presentation of his plan is vague at best – but apparently that doesn’t matter.

ii. His presentation goes from truth, to half-truth to outright lie.

1. Yes, the Jews separate themselves from the other people.

a. Yes, they have their own laws, but they also obey the laws of the Persians. But, it is an outright le that they refuse to obey the king.

d. And it’s a good thing for Haman that the king isn’t big on fact checking. In fact, we’ve seen throughout this story so far that the king is easily manipulated into doing whatever other people wanted him to do.

i. Xerxes doesn’t even ask who these people are – he doesn’t ask about the events leading up to Haman’s plan.

1. Apparently, it doesn’t occur to Xerxes that wiping out an entire people group would diminish his tax base – something he depended on to keep his empire going.

a. It didn’t occur to him that if Haman’s plan was good and noble he wouldn’t need to bribe the king with 10,000 talents to silver.

b. But Xerxes doesn’t care about any of those things because, according to Haman, his power and rule was being thwarted by this unnamed people group – so they had to go.

e. So, Haman’s plan is made law – the Jews would be annihilated nearly a year after the decree was made and Haman was given ultimate authority throughout the Empire.

f. Now, at the end of this chapter we encounter another date – and it’s a significant one.

i. Our modern date is written as April 17 – but in the ancient calendar the date is Nisan 13 – remember Nisan, the first month of the year for the Jews.

1. And Nisan 13 is an important date because is the day before a very important Jewish holiday – Nisan 14 is the beginning of Passover. In fact, on Nisan 13, Jews throughout the Persian Empire would be getting ready to kill the Passover lambs.

g. Passover was Israel’s yearly celebration and remembrance of God delivering them out of slavery in Egypt.

i. One can’t help but wonder if the joyous and celebratory attitude of Passover was replaced with sorrow – when on Nisan 13 a decree went out throughout the Empire describing their execution.

1. And here’s why this date is important – with the decree going on at Passover time – and with the massacre not happening for another year, the Jews in Persia were left to wonder if God would once again deliver them.

a. God did it at the first Passover – he rescued them with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm from Egypt.

i. The question for the Jews living in the Persian Empire is this – is God still with them? Will God deliver them? The answer to the question is going to have to wait for future weeks as we dive further into Esther’s story.

5. Where’s God? – And so, one evil man and one disinterested king sit down to have a drink or two after planning the annihilation of God’s people.

a. So that begs the question, where’s God? How could God allow this happen? How could he allow a plan to be put in place that would wipe out his people? How come he didn’t stomp it out right away?

b. But don’t we raise that same question today? When disaster strikes, don’t we indignantly say “How could God let that happen?

i. Or when two morons are racing towards nuclear war we ask, “What is God doing here?’

1. Or when suffering or persecution or hardships come our way, we ask “Has God abandoned me?”

c. Think about our story – a plot was devised, lots were cast, a date was picked, permission was granted and a royal decree was sent out – even though the plan would not be executed until 11 months later.

i. Think about it – the Jews in the Persian Empire had 11 months to think about their impending demise. They had 11 months to do what??

1. Fret? Panic? Worry? Or trust that God – as he did countless times in the past – would once again deliver them from the hands of their enemies.

a. They had a decision to make when hardship came their way.

d. And that same decision is ours today when hardships or suffering comes our way. How do we view the tough times of life? Are they simply moments of pointless pain or are they moments of grace?

i. Is suffering in life pointless or is there a refining aspect to it? For us today, it’s a matter of perspective.

e. So, when the odds are stacked against you, when you are suffering hardships in life – whatever they may look like – how do you respond? Do you retreat? Go into a shell? Do you curse God?

i. Do you see the hard times of life simply as moments of pointless pain?

1. Or do you see those times as moments of grace? Where God is using something difficult in your life to refine something in your character?

f. One thing I love about the Bible is just how brutally honest it is. The Bible never promises us a comfortable, hunky dory kinda like. The Bible goes out of its way to show us how hard life can be at times.

i. The Bible describes God as a refiner – someone who mans the fire where silver and gold is purified.

1. God is a like a person who makes sure gold and silver are void of any impurities – so the best possible product hits the market.

a. In the same verse God is described as launderers soap – someone who removes stains from clothes.

g. Notice that God is not a forest fire, destroying indiscriminately; he’s not an incinerator, burning everything up…

i. God is a refining fire – a fire that is intended to only melt away the impurities in our lives.

h. Some have a lot of impurities – so God really cranks up the heat in our lives – not to consume but to refine.

i. In my own life, God has really cranked the heat – he had a lot of work to do in me. And God put me through the fires of life when I was 23 with a cancer diagnosis.

1. Talk about a crisis of life and faith. So, you know, this isn’t information I pulled from a book – I’ve lived this and I know what I’m talking about.

i. Were there moments of pain? Absolutely. 12 straight weeks of intense chemotherapy and 3 surgeries in 3 months will do that to you.

i. But, I’ll tell you there were many more moments of grace. Where God showed me that he was in control of a chaotic situation and he knew what he was doing.

j. How do you react when pain and suffering come your way? With the right perspective, instead of being filled with pain and anger, we can be filled with grace and hope.

i. The Jews in Persia didn’t know they were going to be miraculously deliver, they had to have faith that God had not abandoned them.

1. They had to trust that God was working behind the scenes and behind the things that are seen.

k. And we today must have that same faith, faith that pain isn’t pointless and hardships can have a refining aspect to them.

i. I believe it is in those moments of suffering when we understand Jesus’ suffering for more deeply, when we feel the love of God more powerfully and we feel the forgiveness of God more richly.

l. The Jews in Persian had an ancient promise that God was their God and they were his people. They had a reminder of God’s deliverance in the past – celebrated each year at Passover.

i. And even when they were living in a foreign land, even when they were threatened with extinction, they had to believe that God would always watch over his people.

m. And here in the 21st century, there’s another promise of God’s deliverance and God’s nearness to us.

i. And month after month and year after year we reminder ourselves of Jesus death and resurrection.

1. We remind ourselves that despite what circumstances present – God is in control of all things.

ii. What the cross of Jesus shows us is that God can take the most inhumane, the most violent things this earth has to offer and work…not despite them, but he works through them to bring about his redemptive purposes.

6. Application – So maybe you’re here this morning and you’re right in the heat of the fire.

a. I invite you to explore and reflect on what you’re going through and begin to trust that God is actually moving and working through the hard things of life.

i. Don’t allow your pain to pointless, look for where God is melting out the impurities in your life.

b. Perhaps there are some of you here this morning that have just come out of a fire of life.

i. I invite you to take time to reflect and see the hand of God in your life.

1. Again, don’t let this time be a period of pointless pain, see God’s grace and allow the refinement of your character to take place.

c. And I can guarantee that all of us here this morning will face hardships in the future – so we all need to prepare ourselves.

i. The Jews had 11 months to prepare for their fateful day – 11 months to trust that God was in control.

1. We need to know how God works. We need to trust that God is in control – even through the chaos of life.

a. And when we are prepared to face hardships; when we have the proper tools in hand and the proper protection we need – when we know that God sometimes works through those hardships – we’ll be able to give him praise even when we’re in the middle of life’s storms.

d. For next week, read chapter 4, and familiarize yourself with what’s going on in that chapter, and we’ll study it in detail when we gather back here next week.