Faithful In A Secular World (Esther)
November 3, 2019
Tonight we are going to be looking at the final book in our post-exile period that we have been studying. We have looked at Haggai, Ezra, Nehemiah, Malachi, and Zechariah. These books have shown us how God's people respond to their return from captivity. Cyrus issues a decree that the people are allowed to return to Jerusalem and build a temple for God. They start zealously building the temple for the Lord under Zerubbabel and Jeshua. Then everything falls apart as they face opposition. God eventually sends in his prophets Haggai and Zechariah to encourage the people and complete the temple during the reign of Darius. After the completion of the temple and after the rule of Darius, we find the book of Esther. So Ezra, Nehemiah, and Malachi were all taking place sometime after the book we will study tonight.
I want to start by considering this. All of the events that take place in this book of Esther make it possible for Ezra and Nehemiah to accomplish the great work that they did. Esther, at least on some level, fulfills the promises of blessings given by Haggai and Zechariah. This is a book that does not need a roadmap. Let's understand the story and talk about what it means.
The Story
1 - Feast of Masculinity
Our story begins in the city of Susa, the capital of the Medo-Persian empire. King Ahasuerus, also known as Xerxes, has been on the throne for three years. History tells us that he has squashed the opposition of Egypt and Babylon against him after the death of his father, Darius. Now he holds a feast with his officials and servants that will last for six months. When this feasting was over, seven days were given for all the people of Susa to feast and rejoice. This party contained all of the alcohol anyone could want. While the men were feasting, the women were also feasting under the leadership of queen Vashti. But on the seventh day of the feast, the king wanted the queen to come before him. He wanted to let all of his officials behold her beauty. She refused to show the drunk men her splendor. Consequently, she was removed from being queen, and an edict went out to all the families in the kingdom, saying, "All women will give honor to their husbands, high and low alike."
2:1-18 - Esther Selected As Queen
After this decree goes out, king Xerxes goes out to fight against the Greeks. He fails to conquer the Greeks, and when he returns, he seeks a distraction. His attendants recommended that he find a new queen from all the virgins of the land. This is where our story finally introduces the two main characters. Mordecai, a descendant of the same house as Saul, is bringing up his orphaned cousin, Esther. Esther was a beautiful young virgin who is taken to try out as queen. She finds favor among everyone, and eventually, her time to go before the king comes. She uses great discretion and wisdom by not revealing her Jewish heritage (Many hated the Jews) and by doing everything just as the head eunuch had recommended. The king appreciated her submission and obedience, and she was selected to be the queen of Persia.
2:19-23 - Mordecai Saves the King
After Esther was chosen, the virgins were all gathered together. The news of Esther's selection seems to provoke some of the king's eunuchs so that they wanted to kill the king. Mordecai heard of their plot and told Esther, who also told king Ahasuerus. The king investigated it and had the two men killed for conspiring to kill the king.
3 - Haman, The Enemy of the Jews
In Chapter 3, for some reason, a man named Haman was promoted to be the top official. King Ahasuerus has commanded that all the people must bow to Haman, but Mordecai refuses to bow. So Haman seeks to kill all of the Jews. Why would Mordecai refuse to bow? This is not about worshipping a foreign god. Mordecai, Daniel, and every other Jew would bow before the king. But Mordecai refuses to bow before Haman. The reason if found in Haman's description. He was an Agagite. Our study of 1 Samuel on Wednesday nights, makes the name Agag familiar to us. Agag was a king of the Amalekites, an ancient enemy of Israel. Saul was supposed to kill off all of the Amalekites and devote everything they had to destruction, but he failed and Amalekites remained. So we have a descendant of Saul and a descendant of Agag in our story. Is it any surprise that they don't like each other? Haman approaches the king and tells the king about people who are different. The people refuse to keep the king's laws, and Haman wants to wipe them out. The king gives him his signet ring (which lets him make any rule he wants to make as though he were king). But before he approaches the king, he seeks advice by casting lots (die used to determine the will of the gods) to decide which day the Jews should be killed. The lots reveal that Haman should have the Jews eliminated nearly a year later. So Haman makes the decree that all the Jews are to be killed on March 7th of the following year.
4 - Mordecai Exhorts Esther To Act
When Mordecai learns about all of this, he mourns and puts on sackcloth. He finds a way to communicate with Esther, and he reveals all that has happened. Then, Mordecai commands her to approach the king and intercede on behalf of the people. Esther resists saying, "All the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law - to be put to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter so that he may live. But as for me, I have not been called to come into the king these thirty days." It seems as though Esther wanted to wait until she was called before the king to present this information. Going into the throne room of the king could be suicide.
Mordecai tells Esther that she better not trust in the security that she thinks she possesses. She and her family will not escape from this mass murder of the Jews. Mordecai then says something that shows his tremendous faith in God. He says, "If you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this." Mordecai sees God working in this secular society. He believes that, whether Esther stands up and tries to intercede for these people or not, the Jews will be saved from this destruction because God is faithful.
Can you imagine this? Here is a Jew in Susa, about one hundred years after Jerusalem has fallen, believe that God is working to restore his people in this horrible news. The nations have raged against the Lord's people, and Mordecai knows that God is able and willing to deliver his people. But God's name is not mentioned once. There is an unspoken understanding of who is going to bring about this great deliverance through Esther or by some other means.
5:1-8 - Esther Enters the Throne Room
The story reaches a climax as Esther enters the throne room. Will she be put to death? Will she provide salvation for her people that is so needed? No, neither of these things happen. She is given the king's golden scepter so that she will not be put to death, and when asked what her request would be, she asks the king to go to a banquet with her. She also invites Haman. They go to the banquet together. We expect Esther to reveal this to the king at the banquet, but instead, she asks them to join her for another banquet the following night. There she will make known her request to the king.
5:9-14 - Haman's Joy is Almost Complete
At this point, we think that Haman will never be killed. Why is Esther waiting so long? That night Haman goes home rejoicing and bragging to all of his friends and family. He thinks that he is the most loved man in the kingdom because queen Esther has invited him to her banquet two nights in a row. But he is not totally satisfied because Mordecai is still at the king's gate, looking at him. His wife and his friends tell him to go ahead and put Mordecai to death. Have a pole stood up 75 feet in the air and impale him on it.
6 - The Rise of Mordecai
It is at this point that everything takes a drastic turn. The king could not sleep, so he has the record of how he was saved from the assassination attempt read to him. There he finds out that Mordecai saved his life, and nothing was done for him. So he finds Haman coming to ask him about impaling Mordecai, and he asks him a question, "What should be done to the man whom the king delights to honor?" Haman thinks that the king is speaking of him, so he recommends parading the man through the streets of Susa in one of the king's robes, riding the king's horse, and wearing the king's crown. He even says that a great official of the king should go before him proclaiming, "Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor." The king loves the idea! He tells Haman to go and do all of this for Mordecai, and he does. Afterward, his family tells Haman that he is in big trouble. He should not have messed with the Jews. About that time, the king's eunuchs come and bring Haman to the banquet of Queen Esther.
7 - The Death of Haman
Esther finally asks the king to spare her life and the life of her people from the enemies who are seeking to kill them. To this, the king asks who is seeking to kill his queen. She says, "A foe and enemy! This wicked Haman!" Then, Haman was terrified before the king and queen. He begs Esther to save his life, the king sees it as molesting the queen, and he finds out that Haman was planning to impale Mordecai who had saved his life. So, Haman was impaled on the pole he had set up for Mordecai.
8 - Esther and Mordecai Save the Jews
This seems like a happy ending. Haman is dead. Mordecai receives great honor. He is placed in Haman's position and given Haman's estate. The king even gives him the signet ring. But the Jews are still going to be killed in about nine months unless something is done to stop it. So Esther again enters the throne room of the king and begs him to revoke the letters that were previously sent out by Haman under the king's authority. The king can't do it. It is a law of the Medes and Persians, and it cannot be revoked. However, the king allows Mordecai to make a decree, as well. Mordecai creates a decree that allows the Jews to defend themselves against their enemies on the same day that they are supposed to be attacked. This decree went out all over the kingdom. The Jews were then rejoicing, and many of the people decided to become Jews because they were afraid of what had happened. They sensed that there was something extraordinary going on.
9:1-19 - The Jews Succeed
In Chapter 9, we see that many of those who were hoping to kill the Jews were killed themselves. All of the Jews were joined by officials, satraps, and governors who helped them kill their enemies because they were afraid of the newly appointed second in command, Mordecai. The Jews had tremendous success against their enemies. But one fact is repeated three times, which goes back to Saul's disobedience. Esther 9:10, 15, and 16 reveal to us that they laid no hand on the plunder. They killed over 75,000 people and didn't touch the plunder. Remember how Saul allowed the people to pounce on the plunder? They refused to do it. Why? Because they saw this as the ultimate deliverance from God. Amazingly, they could keep from saying the name Yahweh anywhere in this book.
9:20-10:3 - The Feast of Purim Inaugurated
The book ends with the Jews making sure to keep a feast in remembrance of these events. The feast is called Purim because Haman had cast lots (or pur) to decide what day the slaughter should happen. This was considered a blessing from God. If the day was any sooner, the word might not have gone out, and Mordecai might not have been able to influence the governors to help him.
What Does This Mean?
This book is an amazing story. It shows how God poured out tremendous blessings on God's people who had been dispersed across the world. He was able to take care of them even though it didn't seem like he was present in their society. Everyone around them worshipped many other gods, but the Jews were remaining faithful to the one true God. This would have a tremendous influence on those around them. The nations would rage and seek to kill God's people, but those who trust in the Lord found grace and help in their time of need.
This story explains how the Jews were able to go back to Jerusalem under Ezra and Nehemiah to rebuild the city and why Ezra and Nehemiah were in such high positions, to begin with. As Daniel falls out of the picture, here come Esther and Mordecai.
How does this story help us to see Jesus and the gospel more clearly? As Esther goes into the throne room, laying her life on the line, aren't we tempted to see a high priestly figure who offers their own body to save their people? As Mordecai goes from being a nobody who is clothed in sackcloth to a kingly figure who is given all authority and feared, do we see a Jewish king lifted up, unexpectedly triumphant over his enemy? It could be said that Mordecai was raised from death and given all glory and honor and praise over his enemies. The king even forces his enemy to proclaim, "This is what will be done to the one to whom the king delights."
Application
We do not have a king over us who can make a decree like Ahasuerus. We don't live in a society that would allow this kind of mass killings, nor would we be feasting over killing our enemies. But there are several similarities in this story to our lives. We all suffer the consequences of living in a secular world. People around us are focused on self-exaltation and self-glorification. They would do anything to make other people bow down to them. It may be that some of us have enemies who have stood against us. They would run us over to keep us from being happy. Like Haman, they conspire and design ways to hurt us while appearing righteous. What happens to those who rise against us? Notice the message of this book. God seeks to bring down the proud and arrogant while lifting the humble. He can do it in a day if he so desires. Our God can give us victory over all of those who rise against us.
Where do we fit in this story? We could be Mordecai. We could be paraded around in front of our enemies while they say, "This is what will be done to the one to whom the king delights." We could be Esther. Maybe an opportunity reveals itself for us to let go of our security and step out in faith. But without any doubt, we are Israel, who the great accuser is planning to wipe out. We need a savior to come and intercede for us. We need a plan that will give us power and enable us to conquer our enemies. This is what Jesus has done. The significant reversal in this story is only topped by the greatest reversal of our lives from being cursed to being children of the living God.