WEBVTT

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We're about to take another extended journey

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through the Old Testament this morning. We're

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gonna be, yeah, thank you. We're gonna be everywhere

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from Deuteronomy to Ezra in one sermon. I know

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what you're thinking. I thought we were in the

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book of Esther. We are. But believe it or not,

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last Sunday's 55 -minute sermon was not enough

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to fully set the context for the story of Esther.

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So there's so much more we need to understand,

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and I hope to finish that today. But first we've

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got to finish where we left off last week. So

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open your Bibles. We're going to jump right into

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it. By the way, I promise we're not going to

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do this every week of the series, where we just

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do massive history and maps and timelines. We'll

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build the foundation over a couple of weeks,

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and then we will not wear you out each and every

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week. But this is going to be a long one again

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today, but I think an important one. All right,

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Esther, chapter 1, verse 13, we're going to go

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through. chapter 2, verse 8, and introduce our

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main characters. By the way, if you missed last

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Sunday's message, you've got to go back and listen

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to it on Spotify, on Apple Podcasts, on YouTube,

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whatever you have, because that is so critical

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to understanding this entire book. And I'm not

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going to have time to recap all the details today.

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Also, several of you asked for the slides from

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last week. And I understand why, because I was

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constantly pointing to visuals, and I'm sure

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it's frustrating to listen to the message and

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go, what is he talking about? So my hope is to

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get those uploaded onto the resources tab on

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Church Center under All Church sometime today

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or tomorrow, and also to maybe upload the slides

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from this morning's sermon as well. So watch

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for those. Okay, we abruptly quit last week at

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verse 12. So we're going to pick up there. Let

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me first remind you what happened in these first

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12 verses. We read about three banquets that

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took place in the third year of the reign of

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King Xerxes, who is the king of the Medes and

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the Persians. That would be the year 483 BC.

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Three banquets were held in the city of Susa

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at his winter palace in that year. The first

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lasted for how long? 180 days, six months of

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partying and talking and planning. And we looked

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at that and we said, probably what's going on

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there is Xerxes was meeting with his nobles and

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his army officers for war planning because he

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is planning this audacious invasion of Greece.

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And so he needed to spend a considerable amount

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of time, up to six months, doing that planning

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for that, launching that invasion. But then we

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see a second banquet, and this one lasts only

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seven days. How many of you guys have held a

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seven -day party? Only seven days. And it is

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for all the men present there in the palace,

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including the nobles and princes of the kingdom.

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And it appears simultaneously his wife, Queen

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Vashti, is also holding her own banquet at the

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palace, that one for the noble women of the kingdom.

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So you've got these things happening at the same

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time. Now, as I shared last week, The book of

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Esther is a book of crisis. It moves from one

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situation to another, one crisis to another.

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And last week we saw the first crisis pop to

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the surface. It happens in verses 10 through

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12. On the seventh day of Xerxes' banquet, when

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he is at least, at least mildly drunk, he turns

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to his eunuchs, his servants, and he snaps his

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fingers and he asks for what? Go get my wife,

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the queen. Drag her out. No, I didn't even say

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drag her. Bring her out before me and all of

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these men so that we can see her what? Her beauty.

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That she would display her beauty. Now, we're

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not told specifically why the king requested

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this, what prompted it, but it seems logical

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to assume what we know about Xerxes and his ego.

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He wanted to boast in how good his life was as

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the king and what better way than to say, look

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how beautiful my wife is. So Vashti is ordered

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to appear in order to look her best in front

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of all these men who, yes, have been feasting

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and drinking for seven days. Now, that would

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make any woman in any culture at any time period

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extremely nervous and uncomfortable. But as I

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said last week, Vashti's job in that moment was

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to what? Obey. This is the ancient Near East.

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She was to obey, to publicly display her royal

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beauty in order to glorify her king and her husband.

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That's what she needed to do. But in verse 12,

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we're told that the queen refuses the king's

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command. Let me say that again. She refused the

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king's command, which was a bold and risky move,

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right? She had to know that she was putting not

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just her crown, but possibly her life at risk

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because that choice was a public defiance of

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royalty. Public. And for a young king like Xerxes,

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we looked at that, he's at this point about 35

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years old, he's trying to prove himself to all

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the noble princes of the kingdom. This is a public

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embarrassment. He looks weak in front of these

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men. But there's a great irony in this, and maybe

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you noticed it last week. Here's the most powerful

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man on earth. He commands armies and conquers

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nations, but there's one seemingly simple thing

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he can't do. He can't control his wife. He cannot

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command his wife to obey him. And so in verse

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12, we read the obvious, the king is furious,

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right? That's where we left off. Now, before

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we go on, this is a good time to pause in the

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story and point out something that's very important.

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And this will be true the rest of this series.

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In the world of biblical genres, the book of

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Esther is what we call historical narrative.

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And historical narrative can be... tricky to

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interpret because they're notorious for leaving

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out details that we as readers wish we had. They're

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just not given to us, right? For example, we'd

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like to know precisely what was it that motivated

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Xerxes to call his wife out to display herself.

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And we'd love to know precisely why Vashti refused,

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but those details aren't given to us. Those details

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would help us to define these two characters

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in a moral sense, but the author, for whatever

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reason, doesn't give them to us. Because here's

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the thing, sometimes the author of a historical

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narrative is more interested in the situation

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than he is in the motivation of the characters,

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and that seems to be the case here. The author

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just doesn't take the time to tell us why these

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decisions were made, but we're going to find

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out in just a moment what those decisions led

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to. And that is what the author wants us to note

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here. So it can be fun to step back from a story

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like this and speculate about motivations and

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decisions of the characters. And we can look

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at culture and context. That's all fine. But

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we have to be careful not to get too dogmatic

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and say, this is absolutely what's going on unless

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the text itself explicitly tells us what's going

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on. Does that make sense? Okay, so I'll try to

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make that clear when we're speculating or this

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is possible, but we're not gonna be dogmatic

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about everything. So beginning in verse 13, the

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story moves past why Vashti refused the king's

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command to the question of how her insubordination

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is now gonna be handled by the king. Verse 13,

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then the king said to the wise men who understood

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the times, for it was the custom of the king,

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so to speak, before all who knew law and justice

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and were close to him. And he gives the names,

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Karshana, Shethar, Admetha, Tarshish, Meris,

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Marsana, Memukan, the seven princes of Persia

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and Media who had access to the king's presence

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and sat in the first place in the kingdom. These

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are important men, aren't they? Very important

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men. Verse 15, according to law, the king asks,

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what is to be done with Queen Vashti? Because

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she did not obey the command of King Ahasuerus.

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delivered by the eunuchs. So this actually shows

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a little bit of wisdom, doesn't it? A little

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bit of patience on the part of Xerxes. He's angry,

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and yet he doesn't pronounce some hasty judgment.

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He turns to his nobles, these important men,

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and he asks them for legal counsel. And one of

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the men steps forward in verse 16. In the presence

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of the king and the princes, Memucon said, Queen

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Vashti has wronged not only the king, listen

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to this now, She is wrong, not only the king,

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but all the princes and all the people who are

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in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus. Now that's

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three alls if you didn't catch that. That is

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a wide and sweeping indictment. Now listen to

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his reasoning and keep in mind that Vashti was

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the most prominent and visible woman in the kingdom.

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Verse 17, for the queen's conduct will become

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known to all the women, causing them, You can

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almost hear the fear in this guy's voice, right?

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Like, he's nervous. What if all of our wives,

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Start refusing us in our homes. It's chaos. And

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what's gonna happen? We're all gonna be angry.

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Everybody's gonna be grumpy in the whole kingdom.

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It's actually kind of humorous, isn't it? Again,

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this is the most powerful empire in the world

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and they've got this silly problem, don't they?

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Verse 19, he goes on. If it pleases the king,

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let a royal edict be issued by him and let it

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be written in the laws of Persia and Media, listen,

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so that it cannot be repealed. That's important.

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that Vashti may no longer come into the presence

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of King Ahasuerus and let the king give her royal

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position to another who is more worthy than she.

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In other words, don't let us down, king. This

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insubordination has to be dealt with firmly and

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harshly. Make sure that every wife understands

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she cannot disobey her husband and get away with

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it. Now, this is what is going to open the door

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to what the author is really concerned about.

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How this insubordination opens up the position

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of queen for Xerxes, right? And what the king

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is going to look for is someone who is more worthy

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than Vashti, meaning what? More submissive than

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Vashti. And then Momucan. Wraps up his logic

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in verse 20. When the king's edict, which he

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will make, is heard throughout all of his kingdom,

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great as it is, oh great king, right? Butter

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up the king. Then all women will give honor to

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their husbands, great and small. And this word

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pleased the king and the princes. Of course it

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did. Of course it did. And the king did as Memucan

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proposed. He sent letters to all the king's provinces,

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to each province according to its script and

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to every people according to their language,

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right? Because it's a vast kingdom of multiple

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languages. That every man should be the master

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in his own house and the one who speaks in the

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language of his own people. So this is an obvious

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sign. Husbands, take control of your households

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and wives remain in submission. And as I read

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this, I find this so interesting because, again,

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we're talking about 2 ,500 years ago in the ancient

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Near East. You would not think there would be

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even a hint of proto -feminism at that time in

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that place. You know, wives that were pushing

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back against the patriarchy of that day. But

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we should not forget what happened in the garden,

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right? In Genesis 3 .16, part of the curse given

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to the woman was your desire will be for your

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husband's. role, but he will rule over you. And

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that struggle was still happening in Persia in

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the 5th century BC. Now, how many of you are

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grateful for how the New Testament picks up on

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this and gives us a very clear and balanced view

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of this issue of leadership and submission in

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marriage? Raise your hand. Are you grateful?

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I am. While the wife in the New Testament is

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called to be subject to her husband and to show

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him respect, Simultaneously, the husband is called

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to love and cherish his wife as Christ loves

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his bride, the church. That is an incredibly

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high calling. And to live with her in an understanding

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way. And when both husband and wife live out

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those commands, not demanding the other fulfill

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their role, but focusing on what God has commanded

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them to do, doing that at the same time, well,

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then marriage is beautiful, isn't it? It's beautiful.

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But these are obviously things that Xerxes and

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these nobles had no clue about. What they want

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are wives that will simply cower and obey. Okay,

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so now the stage is set with those ironic, funny,

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kind of scary stories of three banquets. We now

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get the introduction of our main characters.

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Turn over to chapter two. Now, let's start with

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a historical note. Drop your eyes in chapter

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two down to verse 16. And in the very end of

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the sentence, you will see that the events of

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chapter two take place in the seventh year of

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Xerxes' reign. Here's what that means. Between

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chapter one and chapter two, we're jumping ahead

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four years. Four years, that's important to know.

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And during that time, during those four years,

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what happened? Xerxes did launch this invasion

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of Greece in the year 480 BC. We know this historically.

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He launched this evasion, and as I explained

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last Sunday, he had some initial success. He

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actually sacked the city of Athens and burned

00:13:57.549 --> 00:14:01.710
it and felt like, oh, I got some revenge for

00:14:01.710 --> 00:14:04.210
my father having been defeated by the Athenians,

00:14:04.250 --> 00:14:07.950
but ultimately, he lost the battle. His armies

00:14:07.950 --> 00:14:10.750
were pushed out of Greece. So as we come to chapter

00:14:10.750 --> 00:14:16.070
two now, Xerxes is back in Persia and he is licking

00:14:16.070 --> 00:14:18.830
his wounds from this loss, which again must have

00:14:18.830 --> 00:14:22.149
been humiliating before his fellow nobles. Now

00:14:22.149 --> 00:14:23.950
he's seeking to cheer his heart through other

00:14:23.950 --> 00:14:27.330
means. So look at chapter two. After these things,

00:14:27.470 --> 00:14:29.990
that's sort of the author's way of saying time

00:14:29.990 --> 00:14:34.009
advanced, when the anger of King Ahasuerus had

00:14:34.009 --> 00:14:37.409
subsided, he remembered Vashti and what she had

00:14:37.409 --> 00:14:41.529
done and what had been decreed against her. Now,

00:14:41.570 --> 00:14:43.870
interestingly, the Jewish historian Josephus,

00:14:43.870 --> 00:14:46.590
in his work, The Antiquities of the Jews, he

00:14:46.590 --> 00:14:49.509
writes that, at least in his day, the Jewish

00:14:49.509 --> 00:14:52.250
community believed that Xerxes was still in love

00:14:52.250 --> 00:14:55.629
with Vashti, and he grieved over the fact that

00:14:55.629 --> 00:14:58.210
he had to separate from her, but he felt bound

00:14:58.210 --> 00:15:00.669
to the law. He decreed it. Remember, it said

00:15:00.669 --> 00:15:03.309
the law cannot be repealed. He had decreed it,

00:15:03.370 --> 00:15:06.509
and so it must be so. What that means is we have

00:15:06.509 --> 00:15:10.460
a deeply unhappy king. He's licking his wounds

00:15:10.460 --> 00:15:13.820
from a loss on the battlefield and he's missing

00:15:13.820 --> 00:15:16.860
his queen and there is nothing worse than an

00:15:16.860 --> 00:15:20.379
unhappy, unstable king, especially for the servants.

00:15:20.580 --> 00:15:23.360
And so they cook up a plan to help Xerxes get

00:15:23.360 --> 00:15:26.399
out of this funk. Verse two, then the king's

00:15:26.399 --> 00:15:28.960
attendants who served him said, let beautiful

00:15:28.960 --> 00:15:31.980
young virgins be sought for the king. Let the

00:15:31.980 --> 00:15:34.519
king appoint overseers in all the provinces of

00:15:34.519 --> 00:15:37.039
his kingdom that they may gather every beautiful

00:15:37.039 --> 00:15:40.639
young virgin to the citadel of Susa, to the harem,

00:15:40.639 --> 00:15:44.419
and into the custody of Haggai, the king's eunuch,

00:15:44.539 --> 00:15:46.940
who is in charge of the women, and let their

00:15:46.940 --> 00:15:50.200
cosmetics be given to them. Then let the young

00:15:50.200 --> 00:15:53.500
lady who pleases the king be queen in place of

00:15:53.500 --> 00:15:57.440
Vashti. And not surprisingly, this matter pleased

00:15:57.440 --> 00:16:01.909
the king and he did accordingly. So, good news.

00:16:02.190 --> 00:16:05.169
We're gonna hold a Miss Persian Empire pageant.

00:16:06.509 --> 00:16:08.549
That's what's gonna happen. We're gonna parade

00:16:08.549 --> 00:16:10.629
this endless number of beautiful women before

00:16:10.629 --> 00:16:14.029
the king. By the way, Herodotus says it was more

00:16:14.029 --> 00:16:16.490
than 400 women, ultimately, that came before

00:16:16.490 --> 00:16:19.149
the king. And whichever young lady he fancies

00:16:19.149 --> 00:16:22.049
the most, she'll be the queen. And the servants

00:16:22.049 --> 00:16:24.610
think this is gonna keep the king busy and happy

00:16:24.610 --> 00:16:27.409
for quite a while. And finally, here in verse

00:16:27.409 --> 00:16:29.509
seven, we're now introduced to our main characters.

00:16:30.159 --> 00:16:32.679
And then we'll stop here and do some historical

00:16:32.679 --> 00:16:35.879
work. Verse five, now there was at the citadel

00:16:35.879 --> 00:16:39.100
in Susa a Jew whose name was Mordecai, the son

00:16:39.100 --> 00:16:42.379
of Yair, the son of Shammai, the son of Kish,

00:16:42.440 --> 00:16:45.980
a Benjamite. Now remember that lineage there,

00:16:46.039 --> 00:16:48.960
that's important. Who had been taken into exile

00:16:48.960 --> 00:16:51.820
from Jerusalem with the captives who had been

00:16:51.820 --> 00:16:55.480
exiled with Jeconiah, king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar,

00:16:55.519 --> 00:16:59.200
the king of Babylon, had exiled. Love those two

00:16:59.200 --> 00:17:01.720
verses, just chock full of history, which we'll

00:17:01.720 --> 00:17:04.680
break down. Verse 7, he was bringing up Hadassah,

00:17:04.680 --> 00:17:09.259
that is Esther, his uncle's daughter, and I actually

00:17:09.259 --> 00:17:11.299
had to Google that. What does that mean? It's

00:17:11.299 --> 00:17:13.299
basically an older cousin, right? Am I right?

00:17:13.619 --> 00:17:17.460
Your uncle's daughter? Okay, it's an older cousin.

00:17:20.960 --> 00:17:23.099
I mean, I had to look that up. That was so confusing.

00:17:23.119 --> 00:17:24.799
I don't know why. My pea brain just couldn't

00:17:24.799 --> 00:17:27.740
process it. Okay. So he's bringing up Esther,

00:17:27.900 --> 00:17:31.279
his younger cousin, for she had no father or

00:17:31.279 --> 00:17:33.660
mother. Now the young lady was beautiful of form

00:17:33.660 --> 00:17:36.480
and face. And when her father and mother died,

00:17:36.839 --> 00:17:40.160
Mordecai took her as his own daughter. Okay,

00:17:40.259 --> 00:17:43.160
so here's the controversial question of the day.

00:17:43.319 --> 00:17:47.759
How did we get here? How does a man of Judah

00:17:47.759 --> 00:17:51.819
from the tribe of Benjamin end up living in a

00:17:51.819 --> 00:17:55.690
royal Persian city like Susa? And what does that

00:17:55.690 --> 00:17:59.430
say about his identity and about his faith as

00:17:59.430 --> 00:18:02.309
a Jew? Those are the questions we want to answer

00:18:02.309 --> 00:18:03.789
today. And to do that, we're going to go back

00:18:03.789 --> 00:18:05.809
to the Torah and we're going to talk about the

00:18:05.809 --> 00:18:08.569
roots of the Babylonian exile. I want to take

00:18:08.569 --> 00:18:11.569
you back to the fifth book of the Old Testament,

00:18:11.869 --> 00:18:14.890
the book of Deuteronomy. And I want you to think

00:18:14.890 --> 00:18:17.950
about what's the most famous chapter in Deuteronomy.

00:18:18.910 --> 00:18:22.200
Every biblical student knows this. Answer that

00:18:22.200 --> 00:18:24.579
question. If you want to look at the future of

00:18:24.579 --> 00:18:27.200
Israel, the most famous chapter is Deuteronomy

00:18:27.200 --> 00:18:31.480
28. In Deuteronomy 28, that is where, now this

00:18:31.480 --> 00:18:34.519
is written 1 ,000 years before the story of Esther.

00:18:34.680 --> 00:18:37.880
In that chapter, Yahweh establishes through Moses

00:18:37.880 --> 00:18:41.400
a conditional covenant with his people Israel.

00:18:41.819 --> 00:18:45.019
And he promises them what? Future blessings if

00:18:45.019 --> 00:18:51.730
they obey and future curses. for idolatry and

00:18:51.730 --> 00:18:55.230
disobedience. It's very simple. And among the

00:18:55.230 --> 00:18:57.329
promised blessings in that chapter are prosperity

00:18:57.329 --> 00:19:00.289
and security in the land, right? And they're

00:19:00.289 --> 00:19:02.009
about to go into the land under the leadership

00:19:02.009 --> 00:19:06.430
of Joshua. And God says to Moses, if I give you

00:19:06.430 --> 00:19:08.589
the land and you continue to obey me, you will

00:19:08.589 --> 00:19:12.450
be blessed in every way. But, and by the way,

00:19:12.450 --> 00:19:14.309
that'll be a promised land flowing with milk

00:19:14.309 --> 00:19:17.130
and honey. It'll be great. But it's conditional.

00:19:17.309 --> 00:19:21.950
But, he says, It shall come about if you do not

00:19:21.950 --> 00:19:24.910
obey the Lord your God to observe all of his

00:19:24.910 --> 00:19:27.109
commandments and his statutes with which I charge

00:19:27.109 --> 00:19:29.970
you today that all of these curses will come

00:19:29.970 --> 00:19:33.650
upon you and overtake you. Now, if you were an

00:19:33.650 --> 00:19:35.410
Israelite at this moment, would your ears perk

00:19:35.410 --> 00:19:38.710
up and go, oh, I should watch, I should be careful

00:19:38.710 --> 00:19:40.990
about these things because the word cursing from

00:19:40.990 --> 00:19:43.769
Yahweh is a bad thing, right? And it goes on.

00:19:43.809 --> 00:19:47.589
One of the sections of this chapter says this.

00:19:47.750 --> 00:19:51.210
The Lord shall cause you to be defeated before

00:19:51.210 --> 00:19:54.750
your enemies. You will go out one way against

00:19:54.750 --> 00:19:57.829
them, but you will flee seven ways before them,

00:19:57.970 --> 00:20:01.250
and you will be an example of terror or horror

00:20:01.250 --> 00:20:06.150
to all the kingdoms of the earth. That's just

00:20:06.150 --> 00:20:09.190
one among a whole list of curses. Look at that

00:20:09.190 --> 00:20:12.329
again. You will be defeated by your enemies.

00:20:12.569 --> 00:20:15.369
You'll go out one way to fight them, but you'll

00:20:15.369 --> 00:20:18.910
flee seven ways away from them. Now, what does

00:20:18.910 --> 00:20:20.869
that mean exactly? Well, there's an interesting

00:20:20.869 --> 00:20:23.710
history behind this, a history of Bible translation.

00:20:24.029 --> 00:20:26.910
Look at the last phrase. You will be an example

00:20:26.910 --> 00:20:29.490
of terror or horror to the kingdoms of the earth.

00:20:29.589 --> 00:20:32.170
The Hebrew word there for terror is za 'ava.

00:20:32.869 --> 00:20:35.269
And it's meant to convey this meaning. This is

00:20:35.269 --> 00:20:38.069
important. That when Israel disobeys the Lord,

00:20:38.799 --> 00:20:42.599
And he punishes them by using invasion from foreigners

00:20:42.599 --> 00:20:45.799
and then exile to foreign lands. The point is,

00:20:45.819 --> 00:20:48.539
they will become an example of humiliation for

00:20:48.539 --> 00:20:52.619
all the nations to see. And as the nations look

00:20:52.619 --> 00:20:56.380
at the people of Yahweh and realize that Yahweh

00:20:56.380 --> 00:20:58.619
himself has punished them for their disobedience,

00:20:58.779 --> 00:21:02.339
the conclusion of the nations will be, ah, Yahweh

00:21:02.339 --> 00:21:07.420
should be obeyed. That's the whole point. Israel

00:21:07.420 --> 00:21:09.750
will get, remember this, Israel was given every

00:21:09.750 --> 00:21:12.269
advantage in knowing the God of creation. Every

00:21:12.269 --> 00:21:14.450
advantage. The patriarchs, the covenants, the

00:21:14.450 --> 00:21:18.730
law, the prophets, and more. But with great advantage

00:21:18.730 --> 00:21:21.849
comes great responsibility. And the promise in

00:21:21.849 --> 00:21:25.890
Scripture is that judgment always starts in the

00:21:25.890 --> 00:21:30.009
household of God, right? God looks first and

00:21:30.009 --> 00:21:32.529
foremost at his people when they disobey. And

00:21:32.529 --> 00:21:35.369
by the way, it'd be wise for us to remember that,

00:21:35.450 --> 00:21:37.789
right? Because he disciplines those that he calls

00:21:37.789 --> 00:21:40.990
his own when we sin against him. And with Israel's

00:21:40.990 --> 00:21:45.509
repeated cycle of spiritual adultery, the ramifications

00:21:45.509 --> 00:21:48.930
are very, very severe. Now, here's the interesting

00:21:48.930 --> 00:21:50.970
twist in the story of this verse in Deuteronomy

00:21:50.970 --> 00:21:54.890
28. In the Septuagint, which is the Greek translation

00:21:54.890 --> 00:21:58.400
of the Hebrew Old Testament, that last sentence

00:21:58.400 --> 00:22:00.779
reads a bit differently. Here's what it says

00:22:00.779 --> 00:22:03.680
in the Septuagint. You will flee seven ways before

00:22:03.680 --> 00:22:07.339
them and you will be a dispersion among the nations

00:22:07.339 --> 00:22:11.359
of the earth. So the translators use the word

00:22:11.359 --> 00:22:14.880
diaspora there for za 'ava. And the question

00:22:14.880 --> 00:22:17.950
is often asked why? The Septuagint is translated

00:22:17.950 --> 00:22:21.349
in the 3rd century BC, and that word at the time

00:22:21.349 --> 00:22:24.329
reflected what the translator saw happening in

00:22:24.329 --> 00:22:26.869
the world. Yes, the Jews had been disobedient,

00:22:26.869 --> 00:22:30.190
and yes, God had been faithful to punish them

00:22:30.190 --> 00:22:32.670
just as he had promised. He had taken them out

00:22:32.670 --> 00:22:35.849
of the promised land and dispersed them, scattered

00:22:35.849 --> 00:22:39.630
them across the world, and Mordecai and Esther

00:22:39.630 --> 00:22:44.059
are part of that dispersion. So when you look

00:22:44.059 --> 00:22:46.339
at biblical history and you look at intertestamental

00:22:46.339 --> 00:22:49.940
history, you see that historically the Jews were

00:22:49.940 --> 00:22:52.859
dispersed in a series of stages because of their

00:22:52.859 --> 00:22:55.680
repeated cycles of sin. I'm going to give you

00:22:55.680 --> 00:22:59.720
some timelines here. It starts in 722 BC, right?

00:22:59.799 --> 00:23:02.359
The Assyrian destruction of the northern kingdom

00:23:02.359 --> 00:23:06.819
of Israel. 10 of the 12 tribes of Israel are

00:23:06.819 --> 00:23:09.880
deported out of the land. And they go through

00:23:09.880 --> 00:23:12.119
a process of ethnic cleansing at the hands of

00:23:12.119 --> 00:23:15.480
the Assyrians, essentially disappearing 10 of

00:23:15.480 --> 00:23:19.480
the 12 tribes of Israel. You talk about a dispersion,

00:23:19.480 --> 00:23:22.660
it's even worse than that. They essentially ethnically

00:23:22.660 --> 00:23:25.839
disappear. Then the fall of the southern kingdom

00:23:25.839 --> 00:23:29.119
in 586 at the hands of the Babylonians, right?

00:23:29.220 --> 00:23:32.519
Three waves of deportation to Babylon. And it's

00:23:32.519 --> 00:23:35.039
in Babylon that we really find the first true

00:23:35.039 --> 00:23:38.119
diaspora community outside the promised land.

00:23:38.589 --> 00:23:41.549
And it's in Babylon during 70 years, the Jews

00:23:41.549 --> 00:23:44.690
as a diaspora now have to start building synagogues,

00:23:44.690 --> 00:23:47.750
not to replace the temple because you can't replace

00:23:47.750 --> 00:23:50.430
the temple. You can't do sacrifices anywhere

00:23:50.430 --> 00:23:53.089
else. But the synagogue gave the community a

00:23:53.089 --> 00:23:55.910
chance to gather together, to pray and to read

00:23:55.910 --> 00:23:58.950
Torah and Tanakh. And that was important in Babylon.

00:23:59.569 --> 00:24:03.930
And as we saw last Sunday, then in 538, Persian

00:24:03.930 --> 00:24:07.440
King Cyrus. conquers Babylon and decrees that

00:24:07.440 --> 00:24:09.740
the Jews can return to their homeland, but many

00:24:09.740 --> 00:24:12.640
Jews choose not to. And we're going to dig into

00:24:12.640 --> 00:24:14.859
that more today. The majority stay in Babylon,

00:24:14.940 --> 00:24:17.940
or they move even further east into Persian lands,

00:24:18.140 --> 00:24:21.180
and many of them actually relocate to Egypt as

00:24:21.180 --> 00:24:24.000
well. And we find later during the Hellenistic

00:24:24.000 --> 00:24:27.059
period, the biggest Jewish diaspora community

00:24:27.059 --> 00:24:31.329
is in Alexandria, Egypt. Now, for the Jews who

00:24:31.329 --> 00:24:33.529
return to the land and rebuild Jerusalem and

00:24:33.529 --> 00:24:35.930
build the second temple, they have to remain

00:24:35.930 --> 00:24:39.589
under Persian rule for more than 200 more years.

00:24:39.750 --> 00:24:42.170
But after that, they fall under the power of

00:24:42.170 --> 00:24:44.890
the Greeks, first under the Ptolemies of Egypt

00:24:44.890 --> 00:24:48.150
and then under the even worse Seleucid Empire

00:24:48.150 --> 00:24:51.289
of Damascus. And so they're under Greek rule

00:24:51.289 --> 00:24:54.509
for a time. And then comes this glorious period

00:24:54.509 --> 00:24:56.529
of Jewish history, what we call the Maccabean

00:24:56.529 --> 00:24:59.710
Revolt. Great study, intertestamental period,

00:24:59.869 --> 00:25:02.549
the Jewish War of Independence. And that gave

00:25:02.549 --> 00:25:06.829
the Jews 100 years of independence from Gentile

00:25:06.829 --> 00:25:10.069
domination. But sadly, and this is the great

00:25:10.069 --> 00:25:12.470
tragedy of the Maccabean Revolt, after all that

00:25:12.470 --> 00:25:15.170
fighting for independence, the Jewish kings and

00:25:15.170 --> 00:25:18.130
queens who came to power during those 100 years,

00:25:18.289 --> 00:25:20.670
more wicked than the Gentile rulers that had

00:25:20.670 --> 00:25:23.970
ruled over them. More wicked and more corrupt.

00:25:24.009 --> 00:25:26.250
They're called the Hasmonean kings and queens.

00:25:27.630 --> 00:25:31.309
That awful period sparked an even greater punishment

00:25:31.309 --> 00:25:35.150
from God, the arrival of the Romans. And that's

00:25:35.150 --> 00:25:37.130
the critical turning point in the history of

00:25:37.130 --> 00:25:40.109
the Jewish diaspora. Roman General Pompey rolls

00:25:40.109 --> 00:25:44.609
into the promised land in the year 63 BC, and

00:25:44.609 --> 00:25:46.710
within 100 years of being under the thumb of

00:25:46.710 --> 00:25:49.670
Rome, the Jews rise up in revolution. Now, most

00:25:49.670 --> 00:25:52.269
of us know that story that takes place, and now

00:25:52.269 --> 00:25:56.789
we've turned over to AD, right? AD 70. This time,

00:25:57.240 --> 00:25:59.380
They think they've got another Maccabean victory

00:25:59.380 --> 00:26:01.539
coming, but it doesn't happen this time. There's

00:26:01.539 --> 00:26:04.619
no glorious victory. In AD 70, the Roman army

00:26:04.619 --> 00:26:07.660
sacks Jerusalem. They tear down and burn the

00:26:07.660 --> 00:26:10.400
second temple, and they either kill or carry

00:26:10.400 --> 00:26:13.000
away into slavery. Some accounts say a million

00:26:13.000 --> 00:26:16.319
Jews, but at least hundreds of thousands of Jews

00:26:16.319 --> 00:26:20.940
are killed in that revolt in the year AD 70.

00:26:21.480 --> 00:26:24.369
And yet... God's not done with his people. They

00:26:24.369 --> 00:26:27.250
slowly begin to filter back into the land. And

00:26:27.250 --> 00:26:30.210
then there is one final catastrophe. And this

00:26:30.210 --> 00:26:33.950
revolt is not known quite as well in year 132

00:26:33.950 --> 00:26:37.670
to 135, known as the Bar Kokhba revolt. Another

00:26:37.670 --> 00:26:40.970
half a million Jews are killed in that particular

00:26:40.970 --> 00:26:44.390
war. And from that point forward, Rome is done

00:26:44.390 --> 00:26:47.259
with the Jewish people. They expel every Jew

00:26:47.259 --> 00:26:49.380
from Jerusalem, will not allow Jews into the

00:26:49.380 --> 00:26:52.180
city. They actually rebuild the city of Jerusalem

00:26:52.180 --> 00:26:56.400
as a Roman city and rename it, Alia Capitolina.

00:26:57.299 --> 00:26:59.920
And then with the intent of poking the Jews in

00:26:59.920 --> 00:27:03.299
the eye, the Romans said, let's rename the whole

00:27:03.299 --> 00:27:06.740
region. And they said, well, who are the Jews'

00:27:07.279 --> 00:27:10.400
most famous enemy? And somebody said, the Philistines.

00:27:10.400 --> 00:27:13.059
And they said, fine, we will rename the region

00:27:13.059 --> 00:27:18.559
Palestina. Does that sound familiar? That argument

00:27:18.559 --> 00:27:21.359
is still happening today in so -called Palestine.

00:27:22.099 --> 00:27:25.019
So it's estimated that soon after the Bar Kokhba

00:27:25.019 --> 00:27:27.759
revolt, mid -second century, get this now, 80

00:27:27.759 --> 00:27:30.680
% of the Jews across the world are now living

00:27:30.680 --> 00:27:33.819
in a diaspora community outside the promised

00:27:33.819 --> 00:27:36.589
land. And those communities begin to grow in

00:27:36.589 --> 00:27:38.750
different parts of the empire, in parts of the

00:27:38.750 --> 00:27:41.470
Middle East, in North Africa, even west into

00:27:41.470 --> 00:27:44.609
European lands. And in every place the Jews go,

00:27:44.730 --> 00:27:48.289
they develop a unique culture and unique practices,

00:27:48.410 --> 00:27:51.150
and they adapt to the language issues that they're

00:27:51.150 --> 00:27:53.829
forced to deal with. And in spite of constant

00:27:53.829 --> 00:27:56.650
persecution, every place the Jews go, they are

00:27:56.650 --> 00:27:59.970
a religious minority who is under constant persecution,

00:28:00.069 --> 00:28:03.289
and yet somehow, by God's grace, they survive.

00:28:04.779 --> 00:28:06.819
Today, there are generally three categories of

00:28:06.819 --> 00:28:09.240
Jews scattered across the world, many of which

00:28:09.240 --> 00:28:12.599
have now migrated into the modern state of Israel.

00:28:12.720 --> 00:28:17.339
We have Mizrahi Jews who come from various Middle

00:28:17.339 --> 00:28:21.079
Eastern communities. Yes, Jews from Iraq and

00:28:21.079 --> 00:28:25.779
Iran and Yemen and Syria and Egypt. Sephardic

00:28:25.779 --> 00:28:28.380
Jews who originally came out of the Iberian Peninsula,

00:28:28.539 --> 00:28:31.640
which is modern -day Spain, but then spread through

00:28:31.640 --> 00:28:33.519
North Africa and the Middle East, places like

00:28:33.519 --> 00:28:37.039
Turkey and Morocco and Algeria and Tunisia and

00:28:37.039 --> 00:28:41.940
Libya. And then in today's Israel, about 25 %

00:28:41.940 --> 00:28:45.099
of the population, Ashkenazi Jews, mainly from

00:28:45.099 --> 00:28:47.819
Eastern Europe, places like Poland and Russia

00:28:47.819 --> 00:28:51.339
and Germany and Ukraine and Hungary and Romania.

00:28:52.589 --> 00:28:54.670
And while there has always been a presence of

00:28:54.670 --> 00:28:56.829
some Jews in the land from the time of Joshua

00:28:56.829 --> 00:29:01.329
until today, since the Roman period, being part

00:29:01.329 --> 00:29:04.109
of a diaspora became the norm rather than the

00:29:04.109 --> 00:29:07.589
exception for the Jewish population. Until when?

00:29:09.990 --> 00:29:12.730
Until the 20th century, right? Until the Zionist

00:29:12.730 --> 00:29:15.150
movement of the early 20th century, until the

00:29:15.150 --> 00:29:18.369
Holocaust of World War II under the Nazis and...

00:29:18.809 --> 00:29:20.970
the establishment and the defense of the modern

00:29:20.970 --> 00:29:24.730
state of Israel in 1948. So catch this now. That

00:29:24.730 --> 00:29:27.549
was a very fast lesson on the diaspora. Catch

00:29:27.549 --> 00:29:31.490
that, 1 ,800 years of diaspora living for an

00:29:31.490 --> 00:29:34.470
ancient people whom God has sovereignly sustained

00:29:34.470 --> 00:29:38.009
and now planted back in the land. Guys, that's

00:29:38.009 --> 00:29:41.410
why 1948 was such a big deal. It had been 1 ,800

00:29:41.410 --> 00:29:44.769
years. Now, I could go into all kinds of politics

00:29:44.769 --> 00:29:49.240
on that. We'll do podcasts or something like

00:29:49.240 --> 00:29:52.400
that. But that's important to understand that

00:29:52.400 --> 00:29:55.420
history, that God has been sovereignly sustaining

00:29:55.420 --> 00:29:59.369
his people Israel. So, wow. Back to the curse

00:29:59.369 --> 00:30:02.309
of Deuteronomy 28. I know last week we talked

00:30:02.309 --> 00:30:04.490
briefly about the 70 -year exile to Babylon,

00:30:04.589 --> 00:30:07.150
but I want to dive a little bit deeper this morning

00:30:07.150 --> 00:30:09.890
because I want to paint the picture of how Mordecai

00:30:09.890 --> 00:30:12.609
and Esther ended up in the situation they're

00:30:12.609 --> 00:30:15.150
in. How did they end up living in Persia? Well,

00:30:15.210 --> 00:30:19.630
we know that in the 6th century BC, God's patience

00:30:19.630 --> 00:30:23.730
with disobedient Judah ran out. And here's what

00:30:23.730 --> 00:30:27.960
God said through his prophet Jeremiah. The word

00:30:27.960 --> 00:30:30.480
that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people

00:30:30.480 --> 00:30:33.539
of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the

00:30:33.539 --> 00:30:36.319
son of Josiah, king of Judah, the word of the

00:30:36.319 --> 00:30:39.460
Lord has come to me and I, Jeremiah, have spoken

00:30:39.460 --> 00:30:43.599
it to you again and again, but you have not listened

00:30:43.599 --> 00:30:48.680
nor inclined your ear to hear. Therefore, thus

00:30:48.680 --> 00:30:51.539
says the Lord of hosts, because you've not obeyed

00:30:51.539 --> 00:30:54.519
my words, I will send to Nebuchadnezzar, king

00:30:54.519 --> 00:30:58.569
of Babylon, my servant. Now we saw last week

00:30:58.569 --> 00:31:02.289
how Cyrus was called my anointed servant, right?

00:31:03.190 --> 00:31:06.589
Nebuchadnezzar similarly is called Yahweh's servant

00:31:06.589 --> 00:31:09.609
because God has a task for him, a role for him

00:31:09.609 --> 00:31:12.910
to play and it's an important role. He says,

00:31:13.029 --> 00:31:16.029
Nebuchadnezzar, my servant, I will bring him

00:31:16.029 --> 00:31:18.210
against this land and against its inhabitants

00:31:18.210 --> 00:31:21.130
and I will utterly destroy them and make them

00:31:21.130 --> 00:31:25.980
a horror and a hissing. Moreover, I will take

00:31:25.980 --> 00:31:29.440
from them the voice of joy and the voice of gladness

00:31:29.440 --> 00:31:31.579
and the voice of the bridegroom and the voice

00:31:31.579 --> 00:31:34.019
of the bride, the sound of the millstones and

00:31:34.019 --> 00:31:36.220
the light of the lamp. This whole land will be

00:31:36.220 --> 00:31:39.400
a desolation and a horror and this nation will

00:31:39.400 --> 00:31:44.279
serve the king of Babylon 70 years. Deuteronomy

00:31:44.279 --> 00:31:48.839
28, right? Consequences, the cursing. Did the

00:31:48.839 --> 00:31:52.440
Jews, did they deserve it? Absolutely. Had God

00:31:52.440 --> 00:31:55.960
been gracious? Absolutely. But the patience had

00:31:55.960 --> 00:31:57.720
run out. Now, you could say this sounds really

00:31:57.720 --> 00:31:59.940
harsh, but the ground rules had been laid out.

00:32:00.460 --> 00:32:03.339
And it's not as if God hadn't sent prophet after

00:32:03.339 --> 00:32:06.920
prophet to the Jewish people to warn them. But

00:32:06.920 --> 00:32:09.759
in every case, they were ignored. And at this

00:32:09.759 --> 00:32:12.140
point, the consequences of Deuteronomy 28 are

00:32:12.140 --> 00:32:14.619
brought to bear upon both the people and the

00:32:14.619 --> 00:32:18.200
land. Now, most of the people of Judah who weren't

00:32:18.200 --> 00:32:21.519
killed in the invasion were carried off to Babylon

00:32:21.519 --> 00:32:24.329
as captives. And that's a process we talked briefly

00:32:24.329 --> 00:32:26.269
about last week. It happened in three waves.

00:32:26.549 --> 00:32:30.549
We have a first wave in 605 BC during the reign

00:32:30.549 --> 00:32:34.630
of Jehoiakim. This was a time when Judah was

00:32:34.630 --> 00:32:37.650
a vassal state to Babylon. What that means is

00:32:37.650 --> 00:32:41.069
we pay you money to leave us alone. We pay you

00:32:41.069 --> 00:32:44.430
money every year so you don't smash us like a

00:32:44.430 --> 00:32:47.869
bug. And Jehoiakim made the foolish mistake of

00:32:47.869 --> 00:32:52.230
rebelling against his overlords. General Nebuchadnezzar

00:32:52.230 --> 00:32:55.109
at the time said, fine, I'm coming with my army.

00:32:55.210 --> 00:32:57.910
And he came to the promised land and he could

00:32:57.910 --> 00:33:00.789
have wiped them out in 605, but something happened

00:33:00.789 --> 00:33:04.069
while he was invading Israel. His father, the

00:33:04.069 --> 00:33:06.730
king of Babylon, died. And so Nebuchadnezzar

00:33:06.730 --> 00:33:09.690
had to go back to Babylon and secure his seat

00:33:09.690 --> 00:33:12.289
on the throne. But before he left, he captured

00:33:12.289 --> 00:33:15.529
Jehoiakim and he took back to Babylon some of

00:33:15.529 --> 00:33:18.410
the treasure from Israel and he took the best

00:33:18.410 --> 00:33:20.869
and brightest. of the young Jewish men at that

00:33:20.869 --> 00:33:24.089
time, including who? Including Daniel and his

00:33:24.089 --> 00:33:27.769
three friends. That happens in 605. Now you think,

00:33:27.789 --> 00:33:30.029
why would God allow that? Why would God allow

00:33:30.029 --> 00:33:32.529
his best and brightest to be taken away? Well,

00:33:32.569 --> 00:33:35.089
it turns out it's a grace for his people. Because

00:33:35.089 --> 00:33:37.690
of Daniel's presence in Babylon, the exile the

00:33:37.690 --> 00:33:40.250
Jews are gonna suffer through is not nearly as

00:33:40.250 --> 00:33:43.019
bad as it could have been. Because by the time

00:33:43.019 --> 00:33:45.960
Judah is completely wiped out and all the people

00:33:45.960 --> 00:33:48.400
are brought into captivity, Daniel has become

00:33:48.400 --> 00:33:51.559
the second most important man in the entire empire.

00:33:52.059 --> 00:33:55.059
And he's able to bless the people and actually

00:33:55.059 --> 00:33:58.079
give them prosperity in the land. So Daniel in

00:33:58.079 --> 00:34:02.619
Babylon becomes similar to Joseph in Egypt. A

00:34:02.619 --> 00:34:05.259
gift of mercy from God to his people, even in

00:34:05.259 --> 00:34:07.700
the midst of hardship. That's important to know.

00:34:08.320 --> 00:34:11.679
Then we have a second attack in 597 for the same

00:34:11.679 --> 00:34:15.260
reason. The next king, Jehoiakim, also rebels

00:34:15.260 --> 00:34:19.139
against Babylon, refuses to pay the annual tribute

00:34:19.139 --> 00:34:21.739
to them. And so Nebuchadnezzar says, fine, I'm

00:34:21.739 --> 00:34:24.559
coming back and I will punish you again. And

00:34:24.559 --> 00:34:27.059
this time he takes back with him 10 ,000 Jewish

00:34:27.059 --> 00:34:32.199
captives, including the prophet Ezekiel. And

00:34:32.199 --> 00:34:36.090
in one of his visions in Babylon, which you can

00:34:36.090 --> 00:34:38.789
read about in Ezekiel chapters 10 and 11, Ezekiel

00:34:38.789 --> 00:34:42.170
describes how the glory of the Lord departs from

00:34:42.170 --> 00:34:45.329
the temple in Jerusalem. Why? Because of the

00:34:45.329 --> 00:34:49.349
sin of the people. And because the temple's about

00:34:49.349 --> 00:34:52.469
to be destroyed. In anticipation of its destruction,

00:34:52.750 --> 00:34:56.530
the glory of the Lord leaves the temple. And

00:34:56.530 --> 00:34:59.789
that happens in 586. The new king of Judah, who,

00:34:59.829 --> 00:35:01.630
by the way, Nebuchadnezzar had personally put

00:35:01.630 --> 00:35:05.949
on the throne, Zedekiah, as a puppet ruler, Nebuchadnezzar

00:35:05.949 --> 00:35:08.309
didn't want to destroy Jerusalem, but he puts

00:35:08.309 --> 00:35:10.070
this guy on the throne and says, now be a good

00:35:10.070 --> 00:35:15.789
puppet. And within months, I mean, the foolishness,

00:35:15.789 --> 00:35:18.090
it's only supernatural. The foolishness is so,

00:35:18.150 --> 00:35:22.190
so bad. Within months, Zedekiah is doing the

00:35:22.190 --> 00:35:26.010
same thing, rebelling against the Babylonians.

00:35:26.170 --> 00:35:29.909
And so in 586, Nebuchadnezzar says, that's it.

00:35:30.230 --> 00:35:33.230
He rolls into town. This time he... destroys

00:35:33.230 --> 00:35:37.769
Jerusalem. He levels Solomon's temple. Think

00:35:37.769 --> 00:35:40.170
about that. And he carries off the majority of

00:35:40.170 --> 00:35:42.489
the population into exile. Who does he leave

00:35:42.489 --> 00:35:45.650
behind? Only the poorest people, only the least

00:35:45.650 --> 00:35:48.030
valuable people. Everybody else he takes away.

00:35:48.489 --> 00:35:50.969
Interesting story about Zedekiah. He tries to

00:35:50.969 --> 00:35:53.309
flee. He's the one who caused this whole thing.

00:35:53.510 --> 00:35:56.409
He tries to flee the city at night to escape

00:35:56.409 --> 00:35:59.289
punishment, but he's caught in the plains of

00:35:59.289 --> 00:36:01.730
Jericho and he's brought to King Nebuchadnezzar.

00:36:02.300 --> 00:36:05.019
And do you remember the story? Nebuchadnezzar

00:36:05.019 --> 00:36:09.179
executes his two sons right before his eyes and

00:36:09.179 --> 00:36:13.219
then puts Zedekiah's eyes out so that the last

00:36:13.219 --> 00:36:16.340
thing he sees in life was the death of his sons

00:36:16.340 --> 00:36:19.570
and takes him away in chains. By the way, today,

00:36:19.650 --> 00:36:21.449
if you go to Israel, you can actually watch.

00:36:21.550 --> 00:36:23.590
These are called Zedekiah's Cave. It's one of

00:36:23.590 --> 00:36:25.289
the least known things in Jerusalem that you

00:36:25.289 --> 00:36:28.849
can tour. They have actually marked out the path

00:36:28.849 --> 00:36:31.889
that Zedekiah took under the city of Jerusalem.

00:36:32.010 --> 00:36:34.630
You go right under the Temple Mount in order

00:36:34.630 --> 00:36:37.269
to try to escape the city. It's an amazing place.

00:36:37.389 --> 00:36:39.469
So if you ever go to Israel, go to Zedekiah's

00:36:39.469 --> 00:36:43.250
Cave. So the curse of Deuteronomy 28 is laid

00:36:43.250 --> 00:36:46.289
upon the people. You have to understand the tragedy

00:36:46.289 --> 00:36:49.670
involved here in 586, you guys. Remember, the

00:36:49.670 --> 00:36:51.889
northern kingdom is gone. Now the southern kingdom

00:36:51.889 --> 00:36:55.550
is gone. There is no Israelite kingdom in God's

00:36:55.550 --> 00:36:59.329
promised land. There is no temple. There is no

00:36:59.329 --> 00:37:03.710
place for sacrifice. This is the greatest national

00:37:03.710 --> 00:37:07.250
tragedy in the history of Israel. I think it's

00:37:07.250 --> 00:37:11.050
today. Tisha B 'Av is being celebrated in Israel

00:37:11.050 --> 00:37:13.630
today. This is a national mourning over the loss

00:37:13.630 --> 00:37:16.130
of their temple. I didn't even plan that, but

00:37:16.130 --> 00:37:18.110
it's actually happening on August 3rd this year.

00:37:20.030 --> 00:37:23.289
Psalm 137 sort of sums up the feelings of the

00:37:23.289 --> 00:37:26.030
people. In Psalm 137, it says, by the rivers

00:37:26.030 --> 00:37:29.230
of Babylon there, we sat down and we wept when

00:37:29.230 --> 00:37:33.030
we remembered Zion. Upon the willows in the midst

00:37:33.030 --> 00:37:35.869
of it, we hung our harps. For there are captors

00:37:35.869 --> 00:37:38.829
demanded of us songs, saying, sing us one of

00:37:38.829 --> 00:37:41.730
the songs of Zion. You hear the dripping sarcasm.

00:37:41.949 --> 00:37:45.230
The Babylonians say, hey, Jew, sing me a song.

00:37:45.389 --> 00:37:48.710
Sing me one of your songs. And it says, how can

00:37:48.710 --> 00:37:52.889
we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land? That's

00:37:52.889 --> 00:37:56.710
the state of mind in 586. Now, had God left his

00:37:56.710 --> 00:38:00.519
people? No, the promise remains, right? He had

00:38:00.519 --> 00:38:02.579
not left his people. He's still at work. He's

00:38:02.579 --> 00:38:04.719
still speaking through his prophets. Remember,

00:38:04.860 --> 00:38:08.159
Jeremiah had given the people this faithful hope,

00:38:08.239 --> 00:38:12.280
70 years in captivity, only 70 years. And then

00:38:12.280 --> 00:38:15.019
God had Daniel working inside the Babylonian

00:38:15.019 --> 00:38:18.280
government, prophesying, seeing to the people.

00:38:18.579 --> 00:38:21.340
He had Ezekiel out in the fields with the common

00:38:21.340 --> 00:38:24.400
people, giving him visions, prophesying, encouraging

00:38:24.400 --> 00:38:27.599
the people. And all three of those men were subtle

00:38:27.599 --> 00:38:30.000
reminders that in spite of what the Jews saw

00:38:30.000 --> 00:38:32.360
with their eyes, Yahweh had not abandoned them.

00:38:32.420 --> 00:38:35.280
Yahweh was still at work. The Babylonians aren't

00:38:35.280 --> 00:38:38.659
actually in charge. Yahweh is. And he would soon

00:38:38.659 --> 00:38:42.059
rescue his people. Now, I won't go into the details.

00:38:42.159 --> 00:38:44.380
We talked about it last Sunday. This is the moment

00:38:44.380 --> 00:38:46.840
where God raises up Cyrus the Great, king of

00:38:46.840 --> 00:38:48.860
the Medes and the Persians. And he's going to

00:38:48.860 --> 00:38:53.909
use this man to free his people. In 539 BC, Cyrus'

00:38:54.130 --> 00:38:58.090
army takes the city of Babylon. This great kingdom

00:38:58.090 --> 00:39:00.110
that Nebuchadnezzar had built after his death,

00:39:00.190 --> 00:39:04.030
it falls hard. And Ezra now picks up the story.

00:39:04.130 --> 00:39:05.750
I'm going to give you some of Ezra. Ezra chapter

00:39:05.750 --> 00:39:09.469
1. This is how he describes the decree of Cyrus

00:39:09.469 --> 00:39:11.909
that we looked at last week. Now, in the first

00:39:11.909 --> 00:39:14.869
year of Cyrus, king of Persia, in order to fulfill

00:39:14.869 --> 00:39:16.889
the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah.

00:39:17.739 --> 00:39:20.500
You see the connection? Jeremiah said 70 years.

00:39:20.679 --> 00:39:23.519
God raises up Cyrus and says, this is the fulfillment

00:39:23.519 --> 00:39:27.179
of Jeremiah's prophecy. The Lord stirred up the

00:39:27.179 --> 00:39:30.320
spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, so that he sent

00:39:30.320 --> 00:39:32.860
a proclamation throughout all this kingdom and

00:39:32.860 --> 00:39:36.360
also put it in writing. So who's responsible

00:39:36.360 --> 00:39:41.400
for this? Is it Cyrus or is it Yahweh? God providentially

00:39:41.400 --> 00:39:44.599
stirs the heart of this pagan man to rescue his

00:39:44.599 --> 00:39:49.000
people. Amazing. What does the decree say? Thus

00:39:49.000 --> 00:39:52.840
says Cyrus, the king of Persia, the Lord, the

00:39:52.840 --> 00:39:54.860
God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms

00:39:54.860 --> 00:39:57.739
of the earth and he's appointed me to build him

00:39:57.739 --> 00:40:01.519
a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever

00:40:01.519 --> 00:40:04.519
there is among you of all his people, may his

00:40:04.519 --> 00:40:07.179
God be with him. Let him go up to Jerusalem,

00:40:07.360 --> 00:40:09.420
which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the

00:40:09.420 --> 00:40:11.639
Lord, the God of Israel. He is the God who is

00:40:11.639 --> 00:40:14.440
in Jerusalem. Now, it's tempting to read that

00:40:14.440 --> 00:40:17.579
and go, oh. Cyrus was a believer. He was a follower

00:40:17.579 --> 00:40:20.380
of Yahweh, but don't be fooled. This is typical

00:40:20.380 --> 00:40:23.480
of ancient Near East kings. They're polytheists.

00:40:23.920 --> 00:40:26.880
They want every single god of the ancient Near

00:40:26.880 --> 00:40:30.059
East to bless them. So honestly, Cyrus thinks

00:40:30.059 --> 00:40:32.800
by doing this, he's somehow going to win Yahweh's

00:40:32.800 --> 00:40:36.199
favor as much as he wins the favor of Bel and

00:40:36.199 --> 00:40:39.159
Marduk and all these other gods. So don't be

00:40:39.159 --> 00:40:41.920
fooled by this. Cyrus is fishing for the blessing

00:40:41.920 --> 00:40:44.679
of Yahweh. Even though he doesn't know Yahweh

00:40:44.679 --> 00:40:46.840
at all. Remember Isaiah last week made that plain.

00:40:47.139 --> 00:40:50.000
And yet God calls Cyrus, his anointed servant,

00:40:50.079 --> 00:40:53.159
to accomplish all that Yahweh wants to accomplish.

00:40:54.099 --> 00:40:56.739
This is the sovereignty of God in human history.

00:40:57.179 --> 00:41:00.360
So what happens next after this Cyrus decree

00:41:00.360 --> 00:41:03.420
is issued? Ezra continues, then the heads of

00:41:03.420 --> 00:41:06.300
father's households of Judah and Benjamin, remember,

00:41:06.420 --> 00:41:10.219
12 tribes. 10 are gone, two remain, Judah and

00:41:10.219 --> 00:41:12.739
Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites arose,

00:41:13.019 --> 00:41:16.440
even everyone whose spirit God had stirred to

00:41:16.440 --> 00:41:18.900
go up and rebuild the house of the Lord, which

00:41:18.900 --> 00:41:21.659
is in Jerusalem. Again, make sure you see the

00:41:21.659 --> 00:41:25.280
language here. Who was stirred to go back to

00:41:25.280 --> 00:41:29.139
the land? Those whom God worked in their heart,

00:41:29.219 --> 00:41:32.559
who stirred them up, right? So God has sovereignly

00:41:32.559 --> 00:41:36.130
stirred Cyrus. to issue the decree, and now he's

00:41:36.130 --> 00:41:39.210
stirring the right people among the Jews to respond

00:41:39.210 --> 00:41:42.510
and go back to the land. Now, we saw last week,

00:41:42.530 --> 00:41:44.409
not all the Jews did. In fact, the majority of

00:41:44.409 --> 00:41:47.130
Jews did not return. And there are many reasons

00:41:47.130 --> 00:41:50.429
for that. Some would have just been too old to

00:41:50.429 --> 00:41:54.909
make that journey. By the way, map time. That's

00:41:54.909 --> 00:41:58.889
a 900 -mile journey. Talk about getting your

00:41:58.889 --> 00:42:02.800
steps in. Okay? You can't go straight across

00:42:02.800 --> 00:42:05.380
the desert there. You'll die. So you've got to

00:42:05.380 --> 00:42:08.719
go along the Euphrates River. So blue is Jerusalem.

00:42:08.960 --> 00:42:11.000
The red is Babylon. You've got to go along the

00:42:11.000 --> 00:42:13.199
Euphrates River around what we call the Fertile

00:42:13.199 --> 00:42:16.039
Crescent down through Syria into the land. That's

00:42:16.039 --> 00:42:19.239
how you get there. 900 miles. So if you're old,

00:42:19.380 --> 00:42:22.059
if you're infirmed, if you're disabled, that's

00:42:22.059 --> 00:42:23.519
probably not a journey you're going to be able

00:42:23.519 --> 00:42:25.659
to make. You will die along the way. So that's

00:42:25.659 --> 00:42:29.110
part of it. Others would have looked at this

00:42:29.110 --> 00:42:31.449
and said, not only is that a brutal journey filled

00:42:31.449 --> 00:42:34.170
with dangers, but when I get there, the condition

00:42:34.170 --> 00:42:37.969
of the land is going to be what? Desolate. How

00:42:37.969 --> 00:42:40.090
many of you guys would up and leave where you're

00:42:40.090 --> 00:42:42.329
living now and say, let's go to a super desolate

00:42:42.329 --> 00:42:46.829
place that's just been destroyed and squatters

00:42:46.829 --> 00:42:49.150
have moved in and we'll start building from scratch.

00:42:49.409 --> 00:42:53.010
That sounds great. Only people who are stirred

00:42:53.010 --> 00:42:55.389
up by the Lord were going to do that. Many said,

00:42:55.469 --> 00:42:58.440
no, thank you. Let's be honest, many of the Jews

00:42:58.440 --> 00:43:02.699
were just comfortable in exile, right? In Babylon,

00:43:02.780 --> 00:43:04.559
in Persia, because they had built communities

00:43:04.559 --> 00:43:07.820
during the 70 years. They'd built synagogues,

00:43:07.820 --> 00:43:10.940
they had jobs, they had businesses, right? Some

00:43:10.940 --> 00:43:13.360
of the Jews had been in exile all their lives.

00:43:13.460 --> 00:43:16.380
They'd never even seen Jerusalem. They only heard

00:43:16.380 --> 00:43:18.480
their parents and grandparents talk about it.

00:43:19.260 --> 00:43:21.380
So why go back? They hadn't even seen it before.

00:43:22.579 --> 00:43:26.900
And yes, We can say with confidence that a percentage

00:43:26.900 --> 00:43:29.639
of the Jews in Babylon were just living in disobedience.

00:43:30.000 --> 00:43:32.380
They weren't practicing Judaism. They weren't

00:43:32.380 --> 00:43:34.820
participating in synagogue life. And they'd have

00:43:34.820 --> 00:43:37.699
no interest in going back because Judaism wasn't

00:43:37.699 --> 00:43:40.539
a reality in their day -to -day life. That's

00:43:40.539 --> 00:43:44.079
true as well. Now, I find this interesting. God

00:43:44.079 --> 00:43:47.260
is a God of order and balance. Remember, it took

00:43:47.260 --> 00:43:52.809
three waves of Jews leaving into exile. God ordains

00:43:52.809 --> 00:43:54.750
that the return of the land will also happen

00:43:54.750 --> 00:43:58.050
in three waves. Three waves out, three waves

00:43:58.050 --> 00:44:01.150
back. The first is described in Ezra chapters

00:44:01.150 --> 00:44:05.289
one through six under, and Yael set me straight

00:44:05.289 --> 00:44:06.989
on how to pronounce the name last week. Thank

00:44:06.989 --> 00:44:12.610
you. Zerubbabel. Not Zerubbabel, not Zerubbabel,

00:44:12.769 --> 00:44:24.809
Zerubbabel. Did I get it? I said to her last

00:44:24.809 --> 00:44:26.809
week, it's one thing to take seminary Hebrew.

00:44:26.969 --> 00:44:30.070
It's another to grow up speaking it, and so I'm

00:44:30.070 --> 00:44:32.210
going to defer to her. Talk to Yael afterwards.

00:44:32.409 --> 00:44:35.909
She'll get it right. Okay, so he returns with

00:44:35.909 --> 00:44:39.010
50 ,000 Jews. That's the first return, okay?

00:44:39.329 --> 00:44:41.409
And when they arrive after months of travel,

00:44:41.590 --> 00:44:45.110
like you'd expect, things were not great. They

00:44:45.110 --> 00:44:46.989
get back to the land, and the community pulls

00:44:46.989 --> 00:44:49.989
together, and they build a foundation for a second

00:44:49.989 --> 00:44:52.869
temple. Great news, right? Only the people who

00:44:52.869 --> 00:44:54.849
had seen the first temple are super disappointed

00:44:54.849 --> 00:44:57.329
in it. It's much smaller. It's not impressive.

00:44:57.610 --> 00:45:00.030
And it says that those who had seen Solomon's

00:45:00.030 --> 00:45:02.949
temple are weeping because this temple is so

00:45:02.949 --> 00:45:05.570
unimpressive. And then they run into all kinds

00:45:05.570 --> 00:45:08.429
of opposition from their enemies. There's threats

00:45:08.429 --> 00:45:11.150
and there's legal challenges and there's discouragement.

00:45:11.849 --> 00:45:14.710
And Israel's enemies succeed. And this is sometimes

00:45:14.710 --> 00:45:17.909
confusing to us, right? Here we are. We put ourselves

00:45:17.909 --> 00:45:20.730
out there. We follow God's will. And all we do

00:45:20.730 --> 00:45:23.750
is bump into problems and opposition from God's

00:45:23.750 --> 00:45:26.150
enemies. And we start asking questions. Well,

00:45:26.210 --> 00:45:28.269
why would this happen? We're doing God's will.

00:45:28.829 --> 00:45:30.869
But this is exactly what happens to the Jews.

00:45:31.030 --> 00:45:33.889
The enemies of God sort of prevail. Work stops

00:45:33.889 --> 00:45:37.119
on the temple for quite a few years. And then

00:45:37.119 --> 00:45:39.659
during that time, another enemy sets in, distraction.

00:45:40.119 --> 00:45:43.900
The people go, eh, you know what? We can't get

00:45:43.900 --> 00:45:45.599
the temple done, so I'm going to go work on my

00:45:45.599 --> 00:45:48.000
own house. And I'm going to farm my land. I'm

00:45:48.000 --> 00:45:50.579
going to focus on myself. And suddenly the priority

00:45:50.579 --> 00:45:54.699
of the temple is completely gone. Well, God responds

00:45:54.699 --> 00:45:58.019
to that. In his mercy, he sends prophets, Haggai

00:45:58.019 --> 00:46:00.519
and Zechariah, to shake the Jews out of their

00:46:00.519 --> 00:46:03.059
spiritual laziness. Start building the house

00:46:03.059 --> 00:46:06.340
of God, they say. And they do. They finish the

00:46:06.340 --> 00:46:09.579
temple in 516. The second temple is actually

00:46:09.579 --> 00:46:14.139
completed. Now, I'm gonna show you one more timeline.

00:46:14.260 --> 00:46:16.719
This is where it gets interesting. Between Ezra

00:46:16.719 --> 00:46:20.239
6 and Ezra 7, there's a long gap, 58 -year gap.

00:46:20.460 --> 00:46:22.079
So I know this is a lot, but I'm gonna put this

00:46:22.079 --> 00:46:25.659
up. There's a gap of 58 years. So 586 is the

00:46:25.659 --> 00:46:30.199
final exile into Babylon. 538 is the first return.

00:46:31.119 --> 00:46:33.920
Okay, 516, the second temple is finished. Ah,

00:46:34.119 --> 00:46:36.760
here's the book of Esther. We've finally gotten

00:46:36.760 --> 00:46:40.559
there. Esther begins before the second and third

00:46:40.559 --> 00:46:44.460
returns under Ezra and Nehemiah. The gap of 58

00:46:44.460 --> 00:46:48.139
years is the same in both of those sections of

00:46:48.139 --> 00:46:51.980
time. So Esther is right in the center of all

00:46:51.980 --> 00:46:56.199
of this material. During that gap of 58 years,

00:46:56.340 --> 00:46:58.630
this is where... all of these things we're going

00:46:58.630 --> 00:47:00.650
to read about over the next few months take place.

00:47:01.210 --> 00:47:03.829
The same amount of time, 58 years had passed

00:47:03.829 --> 00:47:06.489
since the first return of the Jews to the land,

00:47:06.630 --> 00:47:09.030
and in spite of Esther and Mordecai having the

00:47:09.030 --> 00:47:11.489
freedom to go back to the land, they say what?

00:47:11.610 --> 00:47:14.829
No, thank you. I'm good here in Susa. They choose

00:47:14.829 --> 00:47:18.230
to remain. Now, go back in your mind. We read,

00:47:18.309 --> 00:47:20.309
if you want to look at it, Esther 2, verse 5.

00:47:21.210 --> 00:47:23.630
Remember, it refers to Mordecai as the great

00:47:23.630 --> 00:47:27.769
-grandson of a man named Kish. It was Kish who

00:47:27.769 --> 00:47:31.750
was taken into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar in

00:47:31.750 --> 00:47:36.630
586. That means two generations of Mordecai's

00:47:36.630 --> 00:47:41.190
family after Kish had been raised in exile. His

00:47:41.190 --> 00:47:45.469
grandfather Shammai and his father Yair. So by

00:47:45.469 --> 00:47:50.590
then, look, exile was all Mordecai knew. And

00:47:50.590 --> 00:47:53.170
he was living relatively comfortably in the diaspora

00:47:53.170 --> 00:47:56.460
life. And we're going to find out that Mordecai

00:47:56.460 --> 00:47:59.840
is a little bit of a social climber. He becomes

00:47:59.840 --> 00:48:02.320
an official in the Persian royal court there

00:48:02.320 --> 00:48:05.659
in Susa. And so like most exiles, he and Esther

00:48:05.659 --> 00:48:08.340
were basically, they were living sort of a double

00:48:08.340 --> 00:48:11.440
life, citizens of two communities. One more hidden,

00:48:11.539 --> 00:48:14.800
their Jewish identity and community, and the

00:48:14.800 --> 00:48:18.460
other Persian. And what's interesting here is

00:48:18.460 --> 00:48:21.070
they'd taken on Persian names. And these are

00:48:21.070 --> 00:48:22.809
the names that are given to them throughout the

00:48:22.809 --> 00:48:24.909
book, and their names are interesting. Mordecai

00:48:24.909 --> 00:48:28.469
is the Hebraic form of the name Marduka, which

00:48:28.469 --> 00:48:33.809
comes from the pagan god Marduk, who's the chief

00:48:33.809 --> 00:48:37.550
god, the patron god of the city of Babylon. And

00:48:37.550 --> 00:48:41.670
yet he's known as Mordecai, a Jew. Hadassah's

00:48:41.670 --> 00:48:44.409
Persian name Esther is likely based on an Akkadian

00:48:44.409 --> 00:48:48.650
word for star, which was istar. which scholars

00:48:48.650 --> 00:48:51.190
believe is connected to, again, the fertility

00:48:51.190 --> 00:48:54.949
goddess Ishtar. So they've taken on these names

00:48:54.949 --> 00:48:58.909
that are definitely connected to Persian gods,

00:48:59.090 --> 00:49:02.929
to Babylonian gods, to pagan gods. So this is

00:49:02.929 --> 00:49:05.429
a possible sign that their desire was to assimilate

00:49:05.429 --> 00:49:08.269
with Persian culture rather than to stand out

00:49:08.269 --> 00:49:10.710
as Jews. Now, you may look at that and go, I

00:49:10.710 --> 00:49:13.590
get it. Maybe they're doing this out of fear,

00:49:13.769 --> 00:49:18.329
or maybe they just prefer Persian culture. We're

00:49:18.329 --> 00:49:20.309
not given the answer to that question, but we

00:49:20.309 --> 00:49:22.550
should at least observe that this is true of

00:49:22.550 --> 00:49:24.690
them, right? It could also be that they just

00:49:24.690 --> 00:49:26.610
at this point in their lives, having been raised

00:49:26.610 --> 00:49:29.269
in exile, they have very little connection to

00:49:29.269 --> 00:49:32.829
Jewish practice, to Judaism as a whole. Maybe

00:49:32.829 --> 00:49:36.309
no connection at all to synagogue life. We don't

00:49:36.309 --> 00:49:39.050
know. But here's one of the things that makes

00:49:39.050 --> 00:49:42.010
the book of Esther stand out. Among all the post

00:49:42.010 --> 00:49:45.170
-exilic writings, this one thing stands out,

00:49:45.210 --> 00:49:47.949
and it's an unavoidable fact. It's the only book

00:49:47.949 --> 00:49:50.170
in the collection that has nothing to do with

00:49:50.170 --> 00:49:53.909
going back to the land. All the others do, all

00:49:53.909 --> 00:49:57.510
of them. Ezra and Nehemiah both have a single

00:49:57.510 --> 00:50:00.750
-minded agenda, rebuilding and reestablishing

00:50:00.750 --> 00:50:03.130
Jewish life in the land. Their hearts are there.

00:50:04.200 --> 00:50:06.559
Haggai and Zechariah are focused on motivating

00:50:06.559 --> 00:50:09.300
the Jews to rebuild the temple, to reestablish

00:50:09.300 --> 00:50:12.219
worship in the land. Even Daniel, although he

00:50:12.219 --> 00:50:14.179
is an official in the royal court, just like

00:50:14.179 --> 00:50:17.940
Mordecai is, his concern is still for the Jewish

00:50:17.940 --> 00:50:23.460
community in the land, but not Esther. This is

00:50:23.460 --> 00:50:26.719
important, but not Esther. It stands alone in

00:50:26.719 --> 00:50:29.619
its Jewish characters, Mordecai and Esther, not

00:50:29.619 --> 00:50:34.170
voicing any concern about Jerusalem. Not any

00:50:34.170 --> 00:50:36.889
concern for the temple or for the Jewish exiles

00:50:36.889 --> 00:50:39.969
who 58 years before had gone back to the land.

00:50:40.949 --> 00:50:43.590
Not even curious about it, according to the narrative.

00:50:44.570 --> 00:50:48.670
So, as we wrap up, what can we say about Mordecai

00:50:48.670 --> 00:50:50.769
and Esther? What can we say about their identity

00:50:50.769 --> 00:50:54.449
and their faith? I said it earlier, we've got

00:50:54.449 --> 00:50:56.250
to be careful we don't go too far because the

00:50:56.250 --> 00:50:59.190
narrative doesn't give us all the details. But

00:50:59.190 --> 00:51:01.530
because of the absence of anything related to

00:51:01.530 --> 00:51:06.239
Jerusalem, Anything related to the temple, because

00:51:06.239 --> 00:51:08.900
of the absence of any appeal to Yahweh by name,

00:51:09.059 --> 00:51:11.840
the absence of prayer, the absence of a mention

00:51:11.840 --> 00:51:15.079
of Torah, because there's no description of either

00:51:15.079 --> 00:51:17.739
Mordecai or Esther participating in synagogue

00:51:17.739 --> 00:51:22.019
life or even just basic Jewish rituals, it's

00:51:22.019 --> 00:51:24.519
hard for the reader to come to the conclusion

00:51:24.519 --> 00:51:28.440
that these are practicing Jews. Cultural Jews,

00:51:28.599 --> 00:51:32.550
yeah. Practicing Jews, no. They're simply two

00:51:32.550 --> 00:51:36.170
people who are part of the diaspora, part of

00:51:36.170 --> 00:51:38.469
this religious minority community focused on

00:51:38.469 --> 00:51:42.650
surviving. Focused on surviving in this foreign

00:51:42.650 --> 00:51:46.670
political context. Now that's not to say that

00:51:46.670 --> 00:51:48.869
later in the story we're not going to see traits

00:51:48.869 --> 00:51:51.849
of humility and wisdom and faith and courage.

00:51:52.510 --> 00:51:56.369
Things that we can emulate and admire. But my

00:51:56.369 --> 00:51:58.510
assessment of this as I've been studying this

00:51:58.510 --> 00:52:01.929
for I don't know how many hours. is that Esther

00:52:01.929 --> 00:52:03.909
and Mordecai are very similar to so many people

00:52:03.909 --> 00:52:07.309
in America today who say, oh, I'm a Christian,

00:52:07.449 --> 00:52:11.230
but there's no evidence to actually prove that.

00:52:12.110 --> 00:52:16.030
We call them cultural Christians. And I think

00:52:16.030 --> 00:52:18.909
Esther and Mordecai are cultural Jews. Sure,

00:52:18.969 --> 00:52:22.730
they recognize their ethnicity as Jews who came

00:52:22.730 --> 00:52:25.389
from Jerusalem, but there's no evidence to show

00:52:25.389 --> 00:52:29.179
that they're practicing their faith. Now as I

00:52:29.179 --> 00:52:30.840
wrap up, I don't want that to discourage you

00:52:30.840 --> 00:52:34.119
because this is a historical narrative and the

00:52:34.119 --> 00:52:36.519
reality of historical narrative is, you ready

00:52:36.519 --> 00:52:39.179
for this? I'm gonna drop the bomb. Neither Esther

00:52:39.179 --> 00:52:41.940
or Mordecai are the main character in the story.

00:52:42.699 --> 00:52:46.699
God is. We have to remember that. God is the

00:52:46.699 --> 00:52:49.019
main character. And as we progress through this

00:52:49.019 --> 00:52:53.199
book, what we're gonna see is God being sovereign,

00:52:53.340 --> 00:52:56.099
his providential hand working through the lives

00:52:56.099 --> 00:52:59.070
of Mordecai and Esther. Not because they deserve

00:52:59.070 --> 00:53:04.869
it. Not because they're godly Jews. But because

00:53:04.869 --> 00:53:08.349
of his mercy. Because of his grace. That's the

00:53:08.349 --> 00:53:14.329
only reason. Amen? Okay. Last Sunday and today,

00:53:14.510 --> 00:53:18.010
we now have our foundation, right? I won't do

00:53:18.010 --> 00:53:20.469
this to you again, I promise. Let's bow our heads

00:53:20.469 --> 00:53:31.070
and pray. Blessed are you, Father, creator of

00:53:31.070 --> 00:53:33.989
heaven and earth. You are a good God, and you

00:53:33.989 --> 00:53:36.050
have blessed your people in so many ways, and

00:53:36.050 --> 00:53:41.070
we sit here today as your people in Santa Clarita,

00:53:41.130 --> 00:53:44.650
California, and we stand in awe of your goodness

00:53:44.650 --> 00:53:48.070
and your mercy. We are not that different from

00:53:48.070 --> 00:53:50.530
the characters in this story who at times, Lord,

00:53:50.690 --> 00:53:53.489
we just want to assimilate into our culture,

00:53:53.550 --> 00:53:57.579
and we don't show evidence or fruit of of godly

00:53:57.579 --> 00:54:00.719
faith in our lives. So we are so grateful that

00:54:00.719 --> 00:54:03.199
you are merciful, that you are gracious to us.

00:54:03.659 --> 00:54:06.039
And even as you will not leave us or forsake

00:54:06.039 --> 00:54:08.860
us, you will not let us slip away. You continue

00:54:08.860 --> 00:54:11.539
to shower us and lavish us with your mercy and

00:54:11.539 --> 00:54:15.579
grace and hold on to us and continue to motivate

00:54:15.579 --> 00:54:18.599
us and encourage us by your spirit to walk by

00:54:18.599 --> 00:54:21.900
faith. Lord, thank you for the lessons that we

00:54:21.900 --> 00:54:23.559
have learned already today and what we're going

00:54:23.559 --> 00:54:26.039
to learn in the future. Continue to seal these

00:54:26.039 --> 00:54:28.619
truths in our hearts as we seek to glorify you

00:54:28.619 --> 00:54:31.179
in our study. We love you. We praise you in Jesus'

00:54:31.280 --> 00:54:32.179
name. Amen.