A Time to Shine

The Background of Esther

The Book takes place in the capital city of Elam called Shushan or Susa in the Greek.

The king at this specific point and time is Ahasuerus or Xerxes I as he is referred to in the Greek. He is the fourth king in the great Achaemenid Empire and his father is Darius the Great which we have read some about already.

Ahasuerus ruled over the Persian Empire from 486 to 465 B.C. during which time the empire reached its apex of territorial reign.

You can read of this in the first verse of the Book of Esther which tells us that Ahasuerus reigned from India even unto Ethiopia, over 127 provinces. An area of roughly 2.1 million sq miles!

Now, last week we read in the Book of Zechariah about how the Jews who had returned to Jerusalem had begun to rebuild the temple of God but because of opposition from surrounding peoples, they had left off with completing the project.

After roughly 16 years, I believe it was, the prophets Haggai and Zechariah came along with a word from God telling them to basically get back to work building His temple!

The people listened and in the sixth year of Darius’ reign the temple was completed.

Now, this brought us up to the sixth chapter of Ezra which is where chronologically, Esther should be inserted. The last four chapters of Ezra along with the Book of Nehemiah don’t take place until the reign of Artaxerxes, which is the son of Ahasuerus the king we’re about to read of here now in the Book of Esther.

Now that we have a clear understanding of where we are chronologically, I want to speak to you for just a moment on the Beauty of Esther.

And when I say the Beauty of Esther I’m speaking of the Book, not the Queen, although as we will read here in a few minutes, she was apparently beautiful as well.

The Beauty of the Book

So, what is it about the Book of Esther that is beautiful you ask?

Why was it even written and what contribution or benefit does it give to us it’s readers?

Let me ask you all something…did anyone find anything interesting while reading through the Book of Esther that stood out to you?

Someone tell me this…how many times was God mentioned in the Book of Esther?

How many times was someone seen praying to God or making a request to God?

Absolutely zero!

Well, Bro. Bobby, if God isn’t even mentioned in the Book of Esther, why is it in the Bible?

That, my friend, is the beauty of the Book that I want to take a moment and speak to you about!

You see, even though God isn’t mentioned in the Book of Esther, there is no denying that He is at work behind the scenes, working all things out for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose!

Just because God isn’t spoken of, doesn’t mean He’s not on the throne and still in control, Amen!

Just because you and I quit talking about God doesn’t make Him any less God!

He is the same yesterday, today and forever and therefore, whether He is acknowledged by man or forgotten by man He always was and always will be the creator and sustainer of life!

Romans 1:20 – For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

Whether He is spoken of or not, there is no denying that He is still at work all around us, day in and day out, keeping this whole thing we call life held together!

The galaxy continues in perfect unison because God is still in control!

The planets continue to rotate around the sun in perfect orbit because God is still in control!

The world doesn’t spin out of control into oblivion because God’s still in control!

The sun, the moon, and the stars continue to shine because God is still in control!

The grass grows, the rain falls, the seasons change because God is still in control!

The sparrows fly, the cows graze, the fish continue to swim because God is still in control!

You and I wake up and go about our day and lay our heads down each night because God is still in control!

Your heart beats, your blood flows, your mind thinks, your muscles react, your lungs expand and contract because God is still in control!

Friend, just because God isn’t spoken of in the Book of Esther doesn’t mean that God wasn’t at work in the Book of Esther and that, my friend, is the Beauty of the Book!

When you read through the Book of Esther, and you zoom out to take a birds eye view of what is really going on behind the scenes, you will find that there is a cosmic war going on between good and evil, between right and wrong, between the good guys and the bad guys, between God’s people and the people of the world, and ultimately between Satan and Christ!

Satan through one man is trying to wipe God’s people off the map and have them completely annihilated but God, in all His majesty and wonder, has an ulterior plan!

And I’m here to tell you this morning friend, when it seems like evil is prevailing, when it looks like nothing good can come of the bad situation going on around you, even when it seems as if all hope is lost, never forget, God is still in control and we know how this whole thing is going to end!

God and His people win! Just go read the end of the Book of Revelation and you will see that that ole serpent the devil, the adversary of God, is a defeated foe!

He will try once again to overcome God but with simply the speaking of His word, the devil and his armies will be defeated!

Isn’t it amazing that with a word this world was created and with a word it will be brought to an end!

Oh, the power of a word when spoken through the lips of our God!

The Book of Esther is a beautiful Book when you truly understand the meaning behind it and my goal this morning, is to take just a few moments of your time and walk you through a couple chapters here and hopefully help you grasp the whole underlying story of the Book of Esther.

Now in order for you to understand the whole book I’m going to give you a condensed version of Chapter 1 which I’ve entitled The Brooding over Queen Vashti.

The Brooding over Queen Vashti — (Ch. 1)

We pick up here in Chapter one with king Ahasuerus making a feast for his military leaders and his nobleman to show off the riches and might of his kingdom.

Some historians have said that this feast was to show his support for the conquest he was about to ask them to partner with him in, which was to try and accomplish what his father Darius had not and that was the overcoming of Greece.

Whether this was the case or not the Bible only speaks of him making a feast and inviting many “royals” as we would call them to the banquet.

The Bible does give us some insight though into the beauty of the palace where Ahasuerus resides in Verses 5-7.

This was a very elaborate affair with no dime spared on detail!

At the end of the feast, the Bible tells us that king Ahasuerus, when he was merry with wine, which means he was feeling pretty good, he commands his servants to bring his queen, Vashti, before the crowd to show her off because she was fair to look upon the Bible says.

Queen Vashti refuses to be showed off like some rare prize and this infuriates the king!

Not only does it infuriate the king but his counsellors also have a major problem with it!

They begin conjuring amongst themselves and basically say that if the Queen’s disobedience to the king’s command isn’t dealt with promptly and harshly, then there’s nothing stopping all the women across the footprint of Persia from acting out accordingly!

These men were scared to death of the consequences that might arise at their own houses with their own wives if not dealt with promptly!

They understood what the writer of Proverbs meant when he wrote...

Proverbs 21:19 — It is better to dwell in the wilderness, Than with a contentious and an angry woman.

So they come up with this elaborate plan to basically take away the queenship of Vashti and banish her from the presence of the king forever.

The king agrees to the plan and it was enacted and a letter sent to all provinces speaking of the consequences that ensued if a woman listened not to the commands of her husband.

And this is how Chapter 1 ends. Now let’s move on to Chapter 2 where we will see the Beauty of Esther come into play.

The Beauty of Esther — (Ch. 2)

In Chapter 2 we pick up with the kings servants coming up with a plan to find a replacement for the queen.

They suggest that a decree be made throughout all the provinces, that beautiful virgins be sought for the king and be brought to Shushan the palace and whoever the king chose would take the place of Vashti.

Here is where we are introduced to a Jew by the name of Mordecai and his cousin Esther.

Now, Mordecai’s father’s had been taken into captivity in the siege by Babylon of Jerusalem and therefore chances are, the only life or at least the majority of the life that Mordecai has ever known has been in bondage.

Somehow though, he has made his way into the kings palace as a servant of sorts. The Bible tells us in Verse 21 of Chapter 2 that he “sat at the kings gate” which often means he is some form of official in the kings court.

And because of his position as an official, he hears about the kings request and decides his cousin Esther would be the perfect candidate.

Now, the Bible tells us that even though Mordecai was Esther’s cousin he basically raised her is the way I take it. It says after her mother and father died, Mordecai took care of her so we can only assume that there was a pretty good age gap between Mordecai and Esther and that she looked to Mordecai as a father figure.

So, Mordecai brings her to the chamberlains in charge of getting the women ready for the king’s viewing and the Bible tells us that Esther pleased Hegai who was in charge of the women’s preparations and that she obtained kindness of him and he speedily, the Bible says, gave her all things needed for her purification along with seven maidens to basically be at her beckon call, and even gave them the best part of the house to live in!

She was blessed and highly favored of Hegai to say the least!

Now, while all of this is going on, Mordecai checks in every day to see how things are going. And before she had presented herself, he had told her not to tell anyone of her background as far as being a Jew.

So time passes on and the purification phase now having ended, it’s time for Esther to present herself before the king.

This is the moment!

There is honestly no telling how many women were presented before the king but this was it! It’s now or never. As they say, it’s do or die.

Not literally, but she would have more than likely been sent to the concubines house never to be remembered again if things hadn’t of turned out the way they did.

But the Bible tells us that king Ahasuerus, upon seeing Esther, loved her above all the women and that she obtained grace and favor in his sight!

So much so that he sets the royal crown upon her head and makes Esther queen!

King Ahasuerus was smitten! It was love at first sight! He was head over heels for Esther and this unabating love he has for her will be seen more as we move through the following chapters.

Chapter 2 ends in a little bit of a weird way but Mordecai, while sitting in the gate one day, overhears two of the kings chamberlains hatching a plot to overthrow the king and kill him!

Upon his hearing of the plot, he immediately goes to Esther and tells her to tell the king and she does so and tells the king that Mordecai was the one who told her.

The king inquires of the plan and upon verification, has the two men killed for their insurrection!

And that’s how Chapter 2 ends. A little odd but of great significance later on, so keep that in your mind.

So, Chapter 1 we have The Brooding over Queen Vashti, and in Chapter 2, we see The Beauty of Esther.

Now, I want you to see the Brazenness of Haman and the Boldness of Mordecai in Chapter 3 and this is where we are going to pick up our reading because the next few chapters are short.

This is where the getting gets good and we come to the meat of our lesson today that I want you to see!

The Brazenness of Haman & The Boldness of Mordecai — (Ch. 3 Vs. 1-6)

Chapter 3 begins here by telling us that Haman was an Agagite.

Does anyone know what that means?

Does name “Agag” ring a bell?

If you will remember back in our reading plan, we read in 1 Samuel 15 about a king Agag, king of the Amalekites.

Everyone remember that?

Do you remember what happened in that chapter?

God had told Saul to go and utterly destroy the Amalekites but instead, Saul kept king Agag alive, remember?

Samuel came along and asked Saul why he had not listened to the commandment of the Lord and then Samuel, not Saul, hacked Agag into pieces.

Remember now?

Now, with that being said, Saul’s disobedience of not completely destroying the Amalekites is having repercussions generations later because as we see, here before us we have a descendant of Agag and as we are about to read, they are still causing God’s people problems!

The Amalekites were sworn enemies of the Jews and the Bible goes as far as to say in...

Exodus 17:16 — For he said, Because the Lord hath sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.

But I want to take a moment here just say this…when God says to do something a certain way, make sure you do it just the way He instructs you to because a lack of completion will lead to a compilation of problems later on if not completed precisely!

But this man Haman has now been promoted to basically the second in command and look what starts taking place here in Verse 2.

For whatever reason not only does Haman rise to power as second in command but the king also commands that people are to show him pomp by bowing in his presence but Mordecai bowed to but one and that was his God!

This section reminds me of that old Aaron Tippin song that said — “You’ve got to stand for something or you’ll fall for anything.”

I love what Warren Wiersbe said about Mordecai not bowing here...

Mordecai didn't want to make the same mistake his ancestor King Saul had made in being too lenient with God's enemies (1 Sam. 15). Because Saul compromised with the Amalekites, he lost his crown; but because Mordecai opposed them, he eventually gained a crown (Est. 8:15). — BEC

This morning, we need more Christians standing for God than ever before in spite of the consequences, Amen!

While the world cows down to every sin under the sun God’s people need to stand!

The other servants ask Mordecai here why aren’t you bowing when Mordecai comes along and look what Mordecai tells them in Verse 4.

Mordecai was a Jew!

Now this is where the picture begins to come together.

The king without knowing the history of Haman or Mordecai’s descent, has commanded that all people should bow in Haman’s presence but Mordecai knowing Haman is a descendant of the Amalekites and a sworn enemy of the Jews, said I don’t think so!

Here is a picture of God’s people standing in stark opposition to the prideful people of the world and ultimately, a picture of God standing in opposition of Satan!

Now, Doug brought out something lat Sunday night that I didn’t see but I want you all to see it here today.

Look at Verses 5-6.

Haman sought recognition. Haman sought reverence the Bible says. Haman sought pride and power and prestige!

Now, who does that sound like?

We have before us here a picture of Satan that great adversary of God!

The Bible says of Satan in...

Isaiah 14:12–14 — 12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

Satan sought pride! Satan sought power! Satan sought pomp and prestige! And his search for these things caused him to rebel against his God and lose his position in heaven forever!

The verses that follow tell us of the consequences of his rebellion!

Isaiah 14:15–17 — 15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. 16 They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; 17 That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; That opened not the house of his prisoners?

The mighty was brought low! The prideful was humbled! The pomp was done away with! The perpetrator had been put in his place!

And so it shall be with Haman before our story ends!

Not only was Haman a prideful person but his agenda was also aligned as one with the adversary of God’s people.

Getting rid of Mordecai wasn’t enough, if you read through the rest of the chapter, you’ll find that Haman enacts a plan to get rid of all of the Jews and without knowing that the kings wife was a Jew, even cons king Ahasuerus into signing a decree enabling him to bring it to pass on a certain day in the future!

Who does that remind you of?

Most recently, Hitler right?

But here, I believe Haman knew the history between his people and the Jews and once he understood that Mordecai was a Jew, that only fueled his rage and made him want to annihilate the Jewish race that much more!

And now that he was in the second most powerful position in the land, he seen his opportunity to make his desires come true and planned to use his position as an opportunity to bring about the absolute end of God’s people!

Sounds just like the devil doesn’t it?

But just like when the devil wanted to overthrow God in heaven, God had different plans and we will see these plans come to pass here in just a moment!

Never forget, the Bible says in...

Proverbs 16:18 — Pride goeth before destruction, And an haughty spirit before a fall.

So, in Chapter 3 we see The Brazenness of Haman and the Boldness of Mordecai.

Next, in Chapter 4, I want us to look at The Benevolence of Esther.

The Benevolence of Esther — (Ch. 4)

Now, there are two things I want to point out here in the text before us that will bring us to a close here today.

First off is this...

Mordecai tells Esther there in Verse 14 “who knows whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this!”

Esther, God works in mysterious ways!

Esther, God has allowed you to find grace in the eyes of a the king for a reason.

Ever since you have come unto the kings palace, you have been blessed and highly favored!

You have been treated with dignity and respect in a world where that is lacking.

Who knows Esther, maybe God has raised you up and exalted you to this position at this very time for such an occasion as this right here!

Maybe this is your time to shine!

This is your chance to leave your mark on history for God!

This is your chance to save your people!

Man, talk about an encouragement!

And the thing I want you to ask yourself this morning as we finish this message up is this...

Why am I here?

Why did God allow me to be born at this point in history — “HIS STORY!”

What is God’s purpose for my life?

Why has God allowed me to endure the trials, heartaches and hardships along the way that I have?

What has every moment in my life led me up to this point for?

How can I leave my mark on history for furtherance of the kingdom of God?

You see, I believe each and every person sitting here this morning has a purpose to be fulfilled that is part of God’s higher plan.

I believe each of you play an integral part in history and more importantly “HIS STORY” but I also believe many people ramble through life never giving this any thought at all!

What does God want from me?

What is His purpose for my life?

What am I doing with my life for God?

How can I be more of an impact in this world for God?

Simple questions that we so often never think of and because of our willful blindness, we miss out on the rewards that God wants to give us!

Mordecai’s words spurned Esther to make an extremely bold decision, one that could be to her demise and detriment or could lead to her people’s deliverance!

Now, let me say something here real quick as a side note…Esther could have just said… “Mordecai, I love you and you’re like a father to me but you know I’ve got it made here in the palace and I don’t think the king would ever harm me so I’m going to just keep my mouth shut and play nice.”

She could have been passive and set and watched her people be destroyed without saying a word but she chose otherwise!

And I believe God is spurning someone here this morning to do the same!

I believe God is speaking to some of you and saying… “you know what… you’ve set by on the sidelines for far too long now! It’s time to get up and get in the game! It’s time to get busy doing something for all the people out there that are perishing every single day!

I’ve brought you to such a time as this so that you could help me in my endeavor of leading the lost to me!

I’ve called you, saved you, sanctified you and set you free so that you in turn could help me tell others how I can do the same for them!

Won’t you help me?

This is your time to shine! You have but a short time on this side of eternity so make the most of it for me!”

I believe that is the message God is wanting preached here today!

Just as this was Esther’s time to shine… This is your time to shine!

Won’t you get on board today?

Won’t you tell someone how much God loves them?

Won’t you tell someone that God sent His one and only Son Jesus to die for their sins so that they could inherit eternal life and spend eternity in heaven with Him?

Today is your day, this time is your time that has been given you by God above! Make the most of it!

The last thing I want you to see is the selflessness of Esther here.

Look at Verse 15.

She says, “OK Mordecai, here’s the deal… you and all the people fast for me for three days and I will do the same and then I will go in unto the king.”

And then she says this… “if I perish, I perish!”

Those words stood out to me in a profound way when I was reading through this wonderful Book!

If I perish, I perish!

She was willing to lay down her life for her people so that maybe they might be saved!

Oh, when I read that verse I couldn’t help but to think of our wonderful Savior!

How He, the Lord Jesus Christ, laid down His life for not only His people but also for the many millions who would never accept Him but rather ridicule, mock, and scorn His mighty name!

A name that is above all names!

That at His glorious name ever knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord!

For there is no other name under heaven among men whereby we must be saved!

When we were yet without strength, in due time, Christ died for the ungodly!

God commended His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us!

A selfless love!

A love that knows no bounds!

A love that has saved countless of men, women, boys and girls throughout the ages and continues today to save as much as it ever has!

Esther is a picture of the coming Christ who died for you!

She was willing to put her life on the line for her people, knowing that it might cost her her life.

But where she survived, Christ died for you and for me!

He gave, let me make that very clear this morning, they didn’t take His life from Him but rather He, the one and only Son of God, gave His life for sinners like you and I so that we might be saved!

And the question I have for you today is this…have you accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?

If not, won’t you come today, seeing the price He paid on Calvary so that you might be gloriously saved and accept Him as your Lord and Savior?

You see, when you read through the rest of the Book of Esther, you’ll find that God worked things out for Esther and Mordecai and all of His people.

Esther put her life on the line but it was God who delivered and always will!

And what I want you to know is this…God wants to deliver you from a devil’s hell and prosper you this morning just as He did Esther and Mordecai but you have to be willing to let Him!

He wants you to be saved.

He wants to use you to further His Kingdom.

He wants to use you to make the most of your time to shine.

He wants you to be an integral part of His Story and the question I have for you this morning is this…won’t you take Him up on His offer?

What’s stopping you from getting busy for the cause of Christ?

What’s stopping you from searching and seeking His will for your life?

What’s stopping you from asking God to show you how He wants you to leave your mark on history for Him?

And if you’re lost, what’s stopping you from giving your life to God and trusting in His Son?

As we give the invitation here in just a moment I want you to think about the life that God has given you.

Do you know what His will is for you?

Are you using the gifts He’s given you to the best of your ability for Him?

Are you making the most of your time to shine?