Moving from Fear to Faith

INTRO: What are you afraid of? If I ask my daughter, she would probably say “spiders.” Some of you would nod in agreement. But that’s not exactly the fear that I am talking about. Let me ask it this way, “Are you living in fear today?”

Perhaps you are living in fear of a virus that, for some, has some very serious implications.

Maybe you are living in fear of losing your freedoms or in fear of a tyrannical government.

Perhaps you are living in fear of death or in fear of being all alone.

Or, maybe you are living in the fear of the unknown.

The truth is that we all deal with fear. For most of us, we have to decide whether or not we will be driven by fear or by faith. Now, I want to note that it’s not always a clean line- we often have to find ways of respecting the dangers and risks associated with life. Yet, still I think that we will ultimately have to choose whether we will live our life in fear of these risks or if we will seek God and ultimately place our faith in Him. (BTW- we should note before we go any further that faith is the action, not the object. In order to have faith, we have to have faith in something or someone. For us as Christians, our faith is not in faith, but rather our faith is in the God of the Bible, Yahweh the triune God (Father, Son, and Spirit). )

Now, if you were able to watch the message last week, you know a little about this book of Esther and a few of the main characters. If you have not seen last week’s message, I encourage you to get on YouTube and check that out… but not right now..

Let me give you a quick review of what we know so far.

This is a secular world, with a secular king and secular values. King Ahasuerus (Xerxes in Greek), was powerful yet insecure. He threw a big party, divorced his wife over her refusal to obey him, and then issued a law for wives to obey their husbands. Then, the kingdom held it’s first ancient edition of the Bachelor and Esther was chosen to be the King’s new queen. Esther was Jewish, but nobody in the kingdom knew that. Then, Mordecai, Esther’s cousin, overheard a plot to assassinate the king, and told Esther who warned the king.

So we enter chapter 3 with a new queen of Persia. A few years pass by as we progress into this section. Esther is settling in, Mordecai still has some sort of official position in the Persian government, and hangs around the king’s gate.

Now, I told you last week that the book of Esther has all the elements of a great drama as it unfolds. And so, we have met the two protagonists, Esther and Mordecai already. Today, we are introduced to the antagonist.

In chapters 3-4, we will look at three elements of Esther’s move from fear to faith. We will not read every word, but I’ll walk us through the text as we study this morning. If you picked up a bulletin this morning, you can use the sermon guide on the inside flap to help follow along, or if you are watching online, we have made that available on our Facebook page as well.

We begin with the first element, which is the

Villain’s Plot (ch. 3)

Our villain is Haman. This is the first time we hear about Haman- he was a Persian official who got promoted to the king’s right hand. He had more authority than anyone in the kingdom, save the king.

Have you seen the movie Aladdin? Haman is kind of like Jafar… the trusted advisor of the king. I don’t know if Haman had a parrot, but he definitely had the selfish, evil attributes.

Well, Haman was pretty proud of himself. He walked around the kingdom and everyone bowed down to him… because they were told to! And you can imagine him strutting around and puffed up. But then, every time he came by Mordecai, Mordecai did not kneel or bow to him.

I don’t think Haman actually noticed this at first, but the other officials did. They knew that they were all told to bow to Haman, but Mordecai simply refused because, as he told them, he was a Jew. This meant that he understood the command of God that he should not bow to idols or worship any other than Yahweh.

Mordecai did not, as far as we know, refuse to obey any of Haman’s directives. He simply would not bow.

When Haman learned of this and the reason, he was angry. Now, again we should note that this anger comes from his pride. Just as the king’s anger was over Vashti’s refusal to come to the party. He was angry because he felt like he was getting jipped. Now, everyone else in the kingdom bowed down, but a prideful heart cannot deal with any rejection.

It was not enough that he was paid well, obeyed by everyone in the kingdom, and even worshiped to a degree by most everyone. No, this was not enough.

And Haman’s pride and anger bring about a sinister plot. Not only would he make Mordecai pay, but he would seek the to annihilate every Jew in the entire Persian Empire.(Hitler’s campaign was not original) This was an extreme response, but again, that is pride.

Have you ever met someone who is like this? Often the hate that we see is because of pride. These folks are so put off by someone who does not see things their way, that they are filled with rage to the point that the only appropriate response is to eliminate those that hold this kind of belief.

Haman put a blanket label on the Jews as rebels who were not good for the nation. In fact, he tells the king that these people have different values that do not reflect those of the king. And, because they have a different set of beliefs, they must be exterminated. Haman even planned to use his own money to finance the operation which would take place on a single day all across the land.

This is how Haman earns the author’s title of “enemy of the Jews” in v. 10.

For whatever reason, perhaps the king’s weakness or lack of character, the king agrees to let Haman do as he pleases. And out goes a command to all the provinces, that on this certain day, the Jewish people were to be destroyed. All of them- Man, woman, child...

This is absolutely horrifying. This is what a totalitarian looks like. They sit back and have a casual drink while the world around them is turned upside down. (15b)

As Christians, we must recognize that the sinfulness of man will always bring about sinister and evil actions. This, to one degree or another, is repeated throughout history. And we must see it for what it is. Haman was walking in darkness- His focus and world revolved around his own pride. That was his idol. And people fight to keep their idols. Our prayer must be that those who are walking in darkness today will see the light of the Gospel.

Discuss: Are you aware of any modern-day Hamans? Has your own pride ever led you to hate someone?

The villain’s plot was sinister. And, as you can imagine, this brought about quite the response. What we see in the first part of chapter 4 is:

Peoples’ Despair (4:1-3)

When Mordecai and other Jews learned about this, they were devastated! Mordecai was not being dramatic here with his wailing and tearing of clothes/ sackcloth wearing, etc. - this was how people mourned and grieved.

But I want you to imagine what this. This was not just a threat issued to people who disobey the king- as we saw in the book of Daniel. This is not merely a platform of exercise or some sort of discrimination that would lead to unfair treatment. This was not a sentence to a life of oppression (they already had that) or a law that legalized the murder of Jews. No, this was much more. This was a specific date that was set which called for heartless, gruesome genocide of all those who were of a specific people group.

It was as if their names were put on a list - on the 13th of Adar (we might call it February or March) you will be killed and your home plundered. Remember, this was not a group coming to your home on their own whim, but rather this was a command from the king’s office through Haman.

It’s as if the President signed an executive order directing the police, military, and anyone who wanted to help to come to your home and do whatever it took to ensure you and your family were eliminated.

There was no one to appeal to. There was no supreme court, no congressman to write a letter to. The Jews were put in a place where they had no human rescue.

And so they were in despair. Weeping not just for their own lives, but for the lives of those they loved.

But I want you to notice something about their mourning. I told you last week that God’s name is not mentioned in this book, but rather there were implied themes of His providence and worship of Him. Look at Esther 4:3

Their mourning was all encompassing- it was their clothes, their words, and it came with fasting. Fasting is a natural response to grief. When we are mourning the loss of a loved one, we often do not have the appetite to eat. But there is something more here, I believe. The picture we see with their mourning is that they were displaying their emptiness before God. In this act, the Jewish people were showing their vulnerability and weakness. They had nothing to offer. They were not lying to themselves or pretending that nothing was going on. They didn’t care what people around them thought- they were coming to terms with the horrible reality that awaited them… They might have believed this was God’s judgment- perhaps they were wailing and mourning as Jeremiah warned would take place on the great and terrible day of the Lord (Jer. 6:26).

And here is the picture you and I need to see. The Jews were a people who understood their position. They were as good as dead. And this is the reality for anyone who has not repented from their sins and turned in faith to Jesus Christ.

Unless you recognize your reality, you will never come to that place of salvation because you will believe you are good enough. You will believe that you deserve God’s grace and a place in His holy presence. But, as these Jews here demonstrated, Dead men cannot reach. They could not save themselves.

Discuss: How does despair lead us to truth? Have you experienced despair in such a way?

Our saga has led us into an evil plot which brought about despair for the Jewish people. It’s at this stage that we see Esther’s opportunity to move from fear to faith. We’re going to call this

Heroine’s Determination (4:15-17)

Now, Esther did not receive this memo first hand. She was hanging out in comfort and luxury when she heard that her cousin was running around in sack cloth, wailing and making a scene outside the king’s gate. It appears as though she is embarrassed for Mordecai, so she sends him some fresh clothes via one of her eunuchs. When he refused the clothes, she sent to ask what was going on. It was then that Esther learned of Haman’s horrific plot.

Mordecai not only shared the news, but demanded that Esther intervene before King Ahasuerus. You probably know what happens here: Esther is fearful- you can’t just waltz into the king’s chambers without being summoned. That meant death.

So, Esther is met with a dilemma. If she kept her head down, the Jews would be annihilated, but perhaps she would live. If she went before the king, she would likely be condemned to death.

Here is where the wisdom of Mordecai is displayed.

Esther 4:14 NASB95

“For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?”

Mordecai essentially says this: God is sovereign and faithful. He has promised to keep the Jewish people and if Esther chose self-preservation, then God would bring about some sort of deliverance anyway. But listen to what he tells her:

What if God has placed you as queen for this very reason? What if everything that has happened over the past few years- the favor you have found in the king’s eyes, the opportunity to become queen,- all of it is for the purpose of intervening on behalf of God’s people? Are you being obedient to God or are you trying to act in your own might and understanding?

We read that Esther responded with courage. She asked for Mordecai and the other Jews to fast for her- this was not out of grief like we saw before, but in order to seek God’s face. This is similar to the words the prophet Joel spoke.

Joel 2:12–14 NASB95

“Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “Return to Me with all your heart, And with fasting, weeping and mourning; And rend your heart and not your garments.” Now return to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness And relenting of evil. Who knows whether He will not turn and relent And leave a blessing behind Him, Even a grain offering and a drink offering For the Lord your God?

She determines to do what is right- to be the voice for the voiceless. Her determination is that even if she loses her life, she will have lost it in integrity, having faith that God placed her exactly where He wanted her in order for her to do His will.

Discuss: Where has God placed you? Are you allowing yourself to be an instrument of His grace?

As Esther shows us, trusting God does not mean inaction, but rather asserts the responsibility of the believer to act in accordance with God’s will. (think David, Moses, Paul, etc.) God is in control, but that does not mean that we are to lean upon a shovel and pray for a hole, you know what I mean?

In 2021, in the midst of a pandemic, in the midst of culture wars and political division and uncertainty, in the midst of a lost and sinful world, will you live in fear and self-preservation or will you live in faith that God has placed you where you are in order that you would be an instrument of His mercy and grace?

Listen and respond to the Lord’s call today.