Posts
o The
first week in our study of Esther we saw contrasting characters & we
learned that our loyalty & obedience make us available for God's purposes.
o In
our second week we saw our hope is in God's overruling mercy within all of
life's messy circumstances.
o In
our third week, we saw that everything proceeds according to God's purpose & plans.
o Proverbs
10:25 declares, "When the storm has swept by, the wicked are gone, but the
righteous stand firm forever."
o The
events of the book of Esther are leading up the 13th day of the month of Adar,
an approaching storm.
o & what we see in Esther is exactly what this proverb declares: when the storm is
over those who hate the Jews are eliminated & the righteous receive
stability & relief.
o Let's
observe what happens in these last four chapters of Esther.
o In
the interest of time, I'm not going to read all four chapters, rather I'll
leave that for you on your own later.
o As
we look at chapter 7, we see that there are really two main events, the second
banquet & then the hanging of Haman.
o I
want to share with you verses 3 to 10 from the Message.
o “If
I have found favor in your eyes, O King, and if it please the king, give me my
life, and give my people their lives.
o 4 “We’ve
been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed—sold to be massacred, eliminated.
If we had just been sold off into slavery, I wouldn’t even have brought it up;
our troubles wouldn’t have been worth bothering the king over.”
o 5 King
Xerxes exploded, “Who? Where is he? This is monstrous!”
o 6 “An
enemy. An adversary. This evil Haman,” said Esther.
o Haman
was terror-stricken before the king and queen.
o 7-8 The
king, raging, left his wine and stalked out into the palace garden.
o Haman
stood there pleading with Queen Esther for his life—he could see that the king
was finished with him and that he was doomed. As the king came back from the
palace garden into the banquet hall, Haman was groveling at the couch on which
Esther reclined. The king roared out, “Will he even molest the queen while I’m
just around the corner?”
o When
that word left the king’s mouth, all the blood drained from Haman’s face.
o 9 Harbona,
one of the eunuchs attending the king, spoke up: “Look over there! There’s the
gallows that Haman had built for Mordecai, who saved the king’s life. It’s
right next to Haman’s house—seventy-five feet high!”
o The
king said, “Hang him on it!”
o 10 So
Haman was hanged on the very gallows that he had built for Mordecai. And the
king’s hot anger cooled.
o What do we see in
Queen Esther?
o Esther understood
that when we experience injustice & unfair treatment we should never resort
to vengeance.
o She understood that
when we find ourselves in situations where there is deception or wickedness
that must be exposed, that we must do so with humility & honestly without
exaggeration.
o She waited for the
right moment patiently, knowing that God's timing is perfect.
o Esther also
remembered that our responsibility is to serve God & others, displaying his
love, knowing that God himself is our best defense.
o As
we look to chapter 8, we see that immediately the king hands over Haman's
estate to Esther & Esther places Mordecai in charge of Haman's estate
depriving Haman's 10 sons of their inheritance.
o Esther
reveals her family relationship with Mordecai to the king & the king
confers upon Mordecai the authority he had granted Haman signified by giving
his signet ring which contained the royal seal.
o Esther
pleads on behalf of her people before the king once again & the king
extends to Esther his scepter but pardons himself of any responsibility because
Haman's edict received the royal seal & was irrevocable.
o But
the good news is that because the king has given Mordecai royal authority then
whatever edict Mordecai chooses to make to offset or combat the edict of Haman
is fine with the king.
o So
Mordecai drew up a royal order in the name of King Xerxes & sealed it with
the royal signet ring & sent out couriers on horses sired by the royal
stud.
o "The king's
order authorized the Jews in every city to arm and defend themselves to the
death, killing anyone who threatened them or their women and children, and
confiscating for themselves anything owned by their enemies" (8:11, MSG).
o Under
Haman's order the Jews were powerless to protect themselves, but under
Mordecai's edict the Jews were empowered to take up arms; they were given the
right to defend themselves against their enemies.
o After
Haman's exposure, something very interesting happens.
o The
Jews, beginning with Mordecai & Esther, ascend to great prominence
throughout the vast Persian Empire.
o The
ascendance of Mordecai to the position once occupied by Haman appears to have been
the deciding factor.
o The
robes & crown described as being worn by Mordecai represented the authority
conferred upon him by the king.
o Now,
whereas the previous edict of Haman caused confusion in Susa, the new edict of
Mordecai & his new position caused great celebration in the king's capital
of Susa.
o Because
of the rise of the Jews across the Empire, many Gentiles converted because now it was dangerous not to be a Jew.
o We
may wonder about the sudden rise of
Mordecai to prominence in the royal court, but as we look at the story & recall the events we can see that it's not as sudden as we might think.
o During
the first part of the story we saw the loyalty of Mordecai to Esther, raising
her as his own daughter, & checking up on her each day after she was taken
to the king's harem.
o We
saw his loyalty to God in his unwillingness to bow down to Haman.
o We
saw his loyalty to the king in reporting two of the king's eunuchs who had
plotted to assassinate the king.
o & we saw his loyalty to his people as he grieved over the edict of Haman, & convinced Esther that she alone was in a position to plead with the king on
behalf of the Jewish people.
o Mordecai
was an honorable man.
o Mordecai's
rise in importance is also not surprising when we consider that when the king
was reminded how Mordecai foiled the plot to assassinate him; the king
sought the advice of a trusted counselor to see what should be done for him.
o When
that trusted counselor proved to be a genocidal maniac, the king could think of no one more worthy than Mordecai: loyal, honorable,
& cousin to his queen, what more could the king want?
o As
we consider chapter 9, I'd like to read the first four verses.
1-4 "On the thirteenth day of the twelfth
month, the month of Adar, the king’s order came into effect. This was the very
day that the enemies of the Jews had planned to overpower them, but the tables
were now turned: the Jews overpowered those who hated them! The Jews had
gathered in the cities throughout King Xerxes’ provinces to lay hands on those
who were seeking their ruin. Not one man was able to stand up against them—fear
made cowards of them all. What’s more, all the government officials, satraps,
governors—everyone who worked for the king—actually helped the Jews because of
Mordecai; they were afraid of him. Mordecai by now was a power in the palace.
As Mordecai became more and more powerful, his reputation had grown in all the
provinces."
o Haman's
edict depended on others hating the Jews.
If no one other than Haman hated the Jews, then nothing would've
happened.
o In
the nine months that followed Haman's execution & Mordecai's appointment,
we see a political shift in the Empire.
o The
whole governing hierarchy helped the Jews & everyone feared them.
o All
the bureaucrats & government officials sought to align themselves with
Mordecai as his reputation grew.
o Well
what else happens in chapter 9?
o While
Mordecai's royal edict stated that the Jews could take any plunder, we see it
mentioned three times in chapter 9 that they
took no plunder.
o Why
is that? Why is it important that they took no plunder? What is the author of
Esther reinforcing for his readers?
o Although
they were allowed to take plunder, they took no plunder because the Jews were not interested in personal gain;
rather they were only interested in defending themselves against their enemies.
o For
the Jews at that time, it was never about money or possessions, but for relief
from oppression & injustice, hatred & genocide.
o The
writer wanted to make that absolutely clear to his readers that it was never
about personal gain.
o What else do we
notice?
o In
verses 13 & 14 we notice that Esther asks the king for a second day just
for the city of Susa, & to have the bodies of the 10 sons of Haman put up
on public display to deter any who might question the royal authority of
Mordecai the Jew & Queen Esther.
o Obviously,
the second day was necessary because the Jews in the city of Susa, right under
the king's nose, killed 300 more enemies of the Jews, & Jews throughout the
other provinces gathered to protect themselves also on that day.
o 75,000
enemies of the Jews were killed between the 13th & 14th of Adar.
o This
report was not to brag, but to prove the truth of the need for the Jews to
defend themselves against widespread anti-Semitism throughout the empire.
o Although
the majority did not hate Jews, a large minority planned to take advantage of
Haman's original royal edict to wipe out the Jews.
o The
Jews needed protection & relief, & they received it.
o Immediately
after those days, we read about the rest, feasting, & rejoicing of the
Jews.
o Let
me read for you verses 17 to 19 of chapter 9.
o "The
next day, the fourteenth, they took it easy and celebrated with much food and
laughter. But in Susa, since the Jews had banded together on both the
thirteenth and fourteenth days, they made the fifteenth their holiday for
laughing and feasting. (This accounts for why Jews living out in the country in
the rural villages remember the fourteenth day of Adar for celebration, their
day for parties and the exchange of gifts.)"
o Now
Mordecai wrote all this down & called on all Jews throughout the empire to
keep these two days as an annual celebration, the feast of Purim, naming the
feast days after the lots Haman had cast to choose which day the massacre was
to occur.
o Esther
chose to throw in her royal authority behind her cousin Mordecai's, issuing a
letter of her own in support of the feast of Purim, giving them a permanent
place on the calendar.
o The
people liked the idea & they did it. Every year on the 13th & 14th of
Adar (sometime in March by our calendar), the Jews celebrate Purim remembering
the evil plot of Haman, the fasting of their ancestors, & the heroism of
Esther & Mordecai.
o Speaking
of Mordecai, as we read the story, it would be easy for us to come to the end
of chapter 9 & conclude that the story was over, that it had reached a
satisfactory ending, but that was not the case for the writer of Esther.
o No,
the writer of Esther adds a handful of verses, three to be exact, which are
sectioned off for us into a chapter by itself.
o In
this little chapter at the end of Esther, the writer looks to the heroism of
Mordecai, & although some part of us wonders why, the answer, at least to
the author, is obvious.
o & we find the answer in verse three of chapter 10 where Mordecai's rank & authority is repeated & his popularity is restated, & then why is revealed.
o "For he sought
the welfare of his people and spoke peace to all his people" (10:3, ESV).
o Mordecai
sought the good of his people & the welfare of his people above power &
position; he was loyal & honorable above all things.
o Mordecai
understood that we are responsible to become the kind of people that God can
use for his glory.
o Haman
let glory go to his head, which filled him with pride & hatred, but
Mordecai understood that all the glory belongs to God.
o Mordecai
understood as a human being made in God's image he will one day have to give an
account to God of his words & deeds.
o Mordecai
understood that he was responsible to become the kind of man God can use for
his glory.
o God
wants us to put his glory, including his plan & purpose, above our own
lives.
o Mordecai
understood that, as Esther understood that, which is clear from her words,
"If I perish, I perish."
o The
Lord Jesus said, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and
take up his cross daily and follow me" (Luke 9:23, ESV).
o We
are responsible to become the kind of people that God can use for his glory.
o We
are called to die to ourselves, & the things of this world, so that the
resurrection power of Jesus Christ might be revealed in our lives.
o We
are called to be light shining in the darkness, the light of Jesus Christ.
o King
Xerxes glorified Mordecai because he
followed the path of ordinary loyalty & daily faithfulness, which humbly
honored others above himself.
o In
the same way, the Lord Jesus Christ, our King will glorify us because we follow
the path which he has marked out for us of ordinary loyalty & daily
faithfulness that humbly honors others above ourselves.
o We
are responsible to become the kind of people that God can use for his glory.
o Who
we are has a direct influence on what we do.
o If
we know that we are responsible to become the kind of people God can use for
his glory, then we will do something about it.
o E.g.,
We can help out with the seniors meals.
o Our
witness in that ministry is having an impact in our community, if we consider
the note from Sheldon & Shirley Trail.
o They
pointed out that it is a rare thing that people today do something for nothing.
o What
we know is that while it looks like we're doing something for nothing, what
we're really doing is storing up treasures in heaven.
o Another
e.g., we can continue to support Paradise Baptist Church in their vision to
support a refugee family fleeing the dangers of ISIS, coming to this country
without any English, with hardly anything more than the clothes on their backs,
& what they can carry.
o We
are responsible to become the kind of people that God can use for his glory.
o The
book of Esther highlights the contrast between Haman and Mordecai; it is the
contrast between the wicked and the righteous, a contrast that Psalm 1
represents well.
o Let
me share it with you (see Psalm 1).
o We
are responsible to become the kind of people that God can use for his glory.
