A Turn of Events...

God at Work Behind the Scenes: Message Eight of Esther Series

Esther 6:1-14.

ETS: God worked through ordinary events to change the story of Esther.

ESS: We should be grateful that God changed our stories through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

OSS: [MO:devotional] [SO: I want the hearers to express thanks to God for changing our stories.] Cognitive: I want the hearers To know of the change of events in Esther and how they relate to our lives. Affective: I want the hearers to feel gratitude towards God for the change in our stories. Psycho-Motor: I want the hearers to reflect on the sacrifice of Jesus as we are reminded of the impact it has on our lives.

PQ: What are the ironic pieces of this text?

UW: Pieces

Intro.:

TS: Let us examine the ironic pieces of this text, now:

The ordinary event of insomnia. (6:1-3)

Through a rather insignificant event, the king was reminded of a heroic act of Mordecai.

Notice: This was not an event that any person had control over. The only answer is God.

APPLICATION: God is at work behind the scenes of seemingly insignificant acts to change the trajectory of our stories.

The timing of Haman’s approach. (6:4-9)

The time of day (most speculate early morning) was unusual.

The nature of this event is ironic: Haman is coming to request the hanging of Mordecai; yet, the king is asking how to honor Mordecai.

APPLICATION: God is always up to something good when it relates to His people. When it seems that, according to man’s plan, Mordecai is going to be hung- God changes the heart of the king and even uses an enemy of Mordecai to honor him.

The turning of events. (6:10-14)

Mordecai is honored.

Haman is grieved.

Haman’s wife, Zeresh, predicts his downfall.

Notice that Esther is not really mentioned in this chapter, yet it is the turning point of the story. Notice, also, that the turning point of the story was not in the highest climatical moment, but in a seemingly insignificant event of insomnia. This is to prove that it is not according to man’s work or plan, but according to God’s that His people are spared. Derek Prime wrote, “When it seems God is not active, He may be most at work. He may be most present when he seems most hidden.” (Prime, Unspoken Lessons, 103)

Application:

Conclusion and transition:

[1] Karen Jobes explained the irony of this text connecting it to our own stories. She wrote, “The literary structure of peripety found in the book of Esther and its pivot point in an ordinary and insignificant event mirror on a small scale the structure of all of redemptive history. Because of our sin, we are not living in the Garden of Eden where the Lord walks and talks with us in the coolness of the day. Rather, we live in the exile of history, in a world where God is unseen. God has pronounced a sentence of death on us (Gen. 3), and every evidence of human circumstances demonstrated its efficacy. We should expect nothing but death, but we have seen the ultimate peripety, the ultimate reversal of exceptional ends, in another seemingly ordinary human event: the birth of a baby in Bethlehem and the execution of that man on a cross. The ordinary and the miraculous intersect in Jesus Christ. Because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our destiny has been reversed from death to life against all expectation. The cross of Jesus Christ is the pivot point of the great reversal of history, where our sorrow has been turned to joy.” (Jobes, Esther 161).

[2] Thus, as we understand the events in the life of Esther, Mordecai, and the others… God is ALWAYS at work behind the scenes- just as He was in our lives through the seemingly ordinary events of Jesus’ life and teaching.

[3] As we transition to observe the Lord’s Supper, I want us to take this unique time to respond to the text today- thanking God for the turn of events in our story made possible through the blood of Jesus shed on the cross and His body broken for us.

Paul wrote about the observance of the Lord’s Supper in 1 Cor. 11:23-26.

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 CSB

23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

As we partake of the Lord’s Supper together today, I want us to do so reflecting on the sacrifice of our Lord, Jesus Christ, with hearts full of gratitude. Because of Jesus, our stories took a turn in events.