All right, as of today, we are four weeks into
our series in the book of Esther, and if you're
one of those returning students, you may need
to go online and listen to some of the past couple
of weeks worth of messages that will help to
bring you up to speed, but we are four weeks
in, and we are moving fast. As I've shared in
recent weeks, this is one of those books that
moves quickly. It jumps from scene to scene.
It jumps from crisis to crisis, and in some places,
we're gonna see this soon, it jumps years ahead
in advance. But what the author is doing throughout
the book of Esther is leading us toward a really
important conclusion about the way he operates
behind the scenes in our world, how he defends
his people, how he sustains us, how he guides
his people, even when, and we should be thankful
for this, even when we're not as obedient as
we should be. And perhaps you've noticed something
already in the first two chapters of the book.
It's subtle, but it's sitting there in the back
of the text. There is a spiritual war going on
in the book of Esther between two kingdoms. Adam
just talked about it, the kingdom of darkness
and the kingdom of light. On the one side, you
have Persia, the dominant empire on the earth
in that day, and you have a ruler in Xerxes who
we're told rules over the entire known world,
127 provinces, it said, from India to Ethiopia.
And Xerxes claims ownership over all the power
and all the wealth in his domain. He issues sovereign
decrees that cannot be challenged in any way.
In fact, we read this a few weeks ago. And we
sort of went through it quickly, but it's important
to listen to the language we hear. This is chapter
1, verse 4. We're told of Xerxes, are you ready
for this? Royal glory. His great majesty. And
I'm convinced that those terms are used to grab
the attention of the reader to help us understand
the arrogance of kings like Xerxes. Men who claim
for themselves things that belong to God alone.
Glory and majesty. The Persian kingdom is obviously
visible and tangible. It puts its wealth and
opulence on display for human beings to marvel
at. It loudly proclaims how magnificent it is.
And in contrast, from the standpoint of human
senses, the kingdom of God is the opposite. It
is silent and invisible, operating behind the
scenes. Both kingdoms make ultimate claims on
their citizens. Xerxes over his Persian subjects,
Yahweh over his elect children. Both kingdoms
claim the power to declare their decrees and
laws to be binding and immutable. Both rulers
possess the power of wrath. We also saw this
in chapter 1, verse 12. It talked about Xerxes'
wrath. And the word there in the Hebrew is hemah,
the same word that's found in many Old Testament
passages and used almost exclusively to speak
of God's wrath. So the challenge is being laid
before us. This king of Persia claims for himself
glory. and sovereignty and law -giving and wrath.
And yet, and this is another subtle part of the
story we've already seen, but it's there, this
boastful king is actually quite self -deceived.
He's not nearly as powerful as he thinks he is.
Remember, first he struggles just to get his
own queen in his own palace to obey his commands.
It's one thing to say, oh, I have 127 provinces.
What about your own palace? He can't make that
happen. And then when he wants to make a ruling
about her rebellion, what does he do? He has
to turn to his legal counselors for advice. That's
very different than Yahweh. In the kingdom of
God, Yahweh governs in ways that he can move
the hearts and minds of any human being on earth,
including kings. And Yahweh is all -powerful.
He's all -knowing. He has no equal. And so, therefore,
he has no need of any counselor or advice. So
this is the contrast that the author of Esther
is setting up for the reader right from the get
-go. It is the contrast between the highly visible
but ultimately fragile kingdom of Persia versus
the kingdom of God, which silently and effectively
accomplishes everything that Yahweh wants it
to accomplish. And then we have our main characters.
And they each, Mordecai and Esther, have a foot
in both of those two kingdoms, right? On the
one hand, they're trying to hide their Jewish
identity from those in power. Even though they
can't escape it, at the core of who they are,
they are Jews. That is the core of who they are
in terms of identity. But on the other hand,
they're obviously trying to find a way to become
successful in diaspora living there in Persia.
So they've got one foot in Susa. and one foot
through their ancestors still in the land of
Judah. Now today we're going to dip our toes
into chapter 3, and we're going to find a massive
development take place. So far, Mordecai and
Esther have done a pretty good job navigating
the culture that they're living in, albeit with
some spiritual compromise. We saw that last week.
But in today's passage, the kingdom of Persia
is going to become openly hostile. toward the
kingdom of God and its citizens. We're about
to be introduced to Xerxes' chief vizier, his
right -hand man, as we might call him today,
a uniquely vicious man who has historical roots
that go back to a unique people who are the sworn
enemy of the Jews. And no longer are we going
to be talking about, oh, well, there's cultural
differences here. Now we're talking about genocide.
We're talking about the darkness of the Persian
kingdom about to be exposed. So grab your Bibles.
And we're going to dive into it. Let's go to
Esther chapter 2. Esther chapter 2. We left off
at verse 18 last Sunday, but we're going to back
up to verse 17. We'll start reading from the
point where Esther is chosen as queen to replace
Vashti. And again, for those of you returning
from break. You might need to go back and listen
to the first three messages. It'll be super helpful.
By the way, I know for some of you, I'm just
going to, we're going to put something on the
table here this morning. For some of you, last
week's message was really hard. It was really
hard. Because we talked about the sin and the
compromise of both Mordecai and Esther. Got some
really good feedback from a bunch of you guys.
I love getting feedback. Got a few objections
from people too, which is fine. And then there
was the thread that appeared on Church Center.
If you didn't see it, it's this. So thanks to
Josh C. for the best meme of 2025. Well done.
Listen, we have to remember that even our greatest
biblical heroes were sinners that fall short
of the glory of God, right? It's true of all
of them. Abraham, right? The sin of Abraham,
Jacob, David, both Peter and Paul. Right? All
of them had serious sin in their life, and that
is true of the women in the Bible as well. You
have Sarah, and you have Leah, and Rachel, and
yes, Esther, she is one of us. She is in need
of grace, right? And even though each of those
women I just mentioned, I know, because one of
the objections was, well, they live under a patriarchal
system. I understand that, but that doesn't mean
we take away the agency of women, right? Because
they live in that difficult situation. You know,
we don't take away their responsibility before
a holy God. So as we go through the narrative
of Esther, we're going to keep calling out sin
where it's appropriate, and also we're going
to keep calling out where we see Esther begin
to grow in her courage and her faith. As we say
in the sports world, we're going to call balls
and strikes as we see them, based on the text
that we have before us. Amen? Okay, verse 17.
I'm going to take that off the screen. Yeah.
This is too funny. Verse 17, the king loved Esther
more than all the women, and she found favor
and kindness with him more than all the virgins.
Now, last week we noted that this seems to be
one of two things that Esther had going for her.
First of all, the Lord had gifted her with exquisite
beauty. But secondly, there was something about
her character. probably developed in her upbringing,
maybe even through the suffering of losing both
of her parents, that brought about in her a measure
of humility and a measure of submissiveness.
And the combination of those two things, external
and internal attractiveness, caused her to find
favor among all the people that she comes into
contact with, whether it's the chief eunuch in
the harem or the king himself. If you were an
outside observer, you might look at Esther and
say, man, that girl has a natural charm about
her. She's pretty inside, she's pretty outside.
And clearly, Xerxes thought the same thing, right?
The verse continues. So that he, the king, set
the royal crown on her head and made her queen
instead of Vashti. Now, poor Vashti. Historically,
we have no firm evidence of what happened to
her when she was replaced. There are some sort
of fictional tales within rabbinical, you know,
the Talmud and stuff, but we have no good historical
evidence about what happened to her. Imagine
the scene now. We have a Jewish queen in Persia.
Now, that hasn't been disclosed yet, but we have
a Jewish queen in Persia. Verse 18. Then the
king gave a great banquet, Esther's banquet,
for all his princes and his servants. He also
made a holiday for the provinces and gave gifts
according to the king's bounty. So he spoils
his new queen. Now, on to the passage for today,
verse 19. So she's going to continue to be submissive
to Mordecai's wisdom as her older cousin, even
as queen of Persia. So this is basically a reset
of the situation. Mordecai is operating in some
official capacity in the royal court. He is sitting
at the king's gate. Remember this image we put
up a couple weeks ago? This is a recreation of
what the palace at Susa would have looked like
based on archaeology. And that gate there at
the front is where Mordecai would be sitting.
That is the security gate that runs from the
palace to the king's gate. Remember, that is
the place where business was often transacted
or legal matters were dealt with. So we're reminded
that here in this passage that Esther is Jewish,
but she's kept it quiet, following the instructions
of Mordecai, who has some good reason. It's unstated,
but must have some good reason why they should
hide their ethnic background. But note the word
yet in verse 20. Esther had not yet. made known
her identity as a Jew. Soon that's going to have
to come to the surface. We're going to see that
take place. Now in verses 21 to 23, we're given
a very short but important historical anecdote
that takes place once Esther becomes queen. Verse
21, in those days while Mordecai was sitting
at the king's gate, Bigthon and Teresh, two of
the king's officials from those who guarded the
door, Guarded the door, became angry, and sought
to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. So these two
guys are part of the king's security team at
the king's gate there. And listen, for any ruler
in history, there's nothing more dangerous than
when your security turns against you because
they protect you. History is replete with stories
of kings and emperors being assassinated by their
own bodyguards. Philip of Macedon, Alexander's
father, was killed by his bodyguards. Caligula
was killed by his. In fact, the Roman Praetorian
Guard is well known. They grew so powerful as
a unit that if they came to distrust or lose
favor with the particular emperor, they would
just take care of the problem by assassinating
him. And as a reminder, historically, at this
point in the story, Xerxes is about 14 years
away. from being assassinated himself by a man
named Artabanus who was one of his chief officials.
So this fits right in line with the history of
the time. Verse 22, but the plot became known
to Mordecai and he told Queen Esther and Esther
informed the king in Mordecai's name. Now the
narrative here is so brief that we're not told
how Mordecai discovered the plot. And did he
overhear a conversation he wasn't supposed to
hear? Did he watch these two guys whispering
in the corners of the gate over and over again
and sort of get suspicious? I'm actually wondering,
is it possible that they approached him to see
if he might be a part of this conspiracy? Whatever
the manner, though, God sovereignly has Mordecai
in the right place at the right time to save
the king's life for God's purposes. And keep
this in mind as well. Mordecai had to know that
by saving the king, he was probably saving Esther
as well. Because again, most assassinations,
when an empress is killed, they kill his entire
family, which would have included Esther. And
even if they just killed the king, it's likely
the next king would reject Esther as queen. So
Mordecai realizes by saving the king, he's saving
his own cousin. But he saves a day and he allows
Esther to be the conduit. for reporting the plot.
And you can imagine that would have endeared
Esther to the king more than ever because she
now is the one who's able to go in and say, hey,
my older cousin found this out. Verse 23, now
when the plot was investigated and found to be
so, they were both hanged on a gallows and it
was written in the book of the Chronicles in
the king's presence. So Mordecai's name, the
names of the would -be assassins are written
down in the annals of the king. And by the way,
that was something that was huge in the ancient
Near East. If you know anything about archaeology
and all these sites that we find throughout the
Middle East, oftentimes we dig up these books
that are called annals and they record all the
events and accomplishments in the lives of these
kings. And so again, another really interesting
historical tidbit in the narrative. And so Big
Thon and Teresh were publicly executed as a warning
to others. Now, there's a bit of interpretive
work being done in the word gallows here in verse
23. The word there in Hebrew for gallows is actually
just the standard word for tree. But because
these men were hung on a tree, the English translators,
they think, well, we understand what being hung
looks like on a tree. It probably was a platform
with a noose around their neck. But that actually
doesn't line up well with what we know about
how the Persians did things. It's likely these
two men were killed in a much more gruesome fashion.
They were probably impaled on a stake. Ooh. Impalement
in the Achaemenid dynasty was well documented,
both in Persian and Greek sources. And Darius,
Xerxes' father, was famous for executing... traitors
in this way. In fact, they were proud of this
method of execution. They actually carved it
on their palace walls. There you go. You find
this carved on their own palace walls. You see
how they always, on the left, how they portray
themselves as kings and then their enemies being
impaled on stakes on the walls. You can imagine
the deterrent effect this would have had on everybody
living in Susa to see these bodies hanging on
these stakes. And looking at that image, it helps
us maybe become more empathetic to Mordecai,
to put on his ancient sandals and to think, you
know, maybe I shouldn't tell everybody I'm a
Jew. Because who can I really trust? I don't
want to end up like this. Does that make sense?
Okay, let's go over to chapter 3 now. As we do,
I want you to stop and consider the situation
that Mordecai and Esther find themselves in.
Life in the Jewish diaspora was looking pretty
good at that moment. Think about this. One of
their own was now queen of Persia, and one of
their own had just saved the king's life and
was certain to be rewarded for that. So if you
think humanly, this is about as secure as life
in exile could be for Jewish people. But as every
Jew even today will tell you, Things can change
very, very quickly. Very quickly. And that's
about to happen. Verse 1, chapter 3. After these
events, okay, so after the events of the plot,
here comes this surprising new development. King
Ahasuerus promoted Haman, the son of Hamadathah,
the Agagite, and advanced him and established
his authority over all the princes who were with
him. Now, this is surprising for this reason.
In a typical narrative like this, we would think
the previous story would bleed into this one,
that the guy getting promoted would be Mordecai.
After all, he just saved the king's life, right?
But instead, we're told about this man, Haman.
And we'll just call him Haman. That's fine, because
that's the way we sort of pronounce his name
in the English. Haman seems to appear out of
nowhere, and he's given this super high position,
higher than all the princes we just heard about.
In chapters one and two, right? Essentially,
he makes Haman his, in that culture, we call
the chief vizier, his right -hand man. He becomes
the second most powerful man in the entire Persian
Empire. So with Haman, we now have our four main
characters. And if you've missed this, I've been
putting these pictures up just so you can sort
of imagine maybe what some of these folks look
like. We have King Xerxes, we have Mordecai,
and we have Esther. And now... We have Haman.
Oh, yes. Right? Okay. I mean. Okay, so who is
this man? Haman the Agagite. Well, his name comes
from a Persian word, Hamayun, which means, get
this, illustrious or magnificent. And today we
know he's anything but that. In fact, throughout
the rest of the book, in this chapter, chapter
7, 8, and 9, he is going to be described with
these chilling words, Haman, the enemy of the
Jews. And the reason for that is found in his
ethnic and national background as an Agagite.
Now, for you Old Testament scholars, does the
name Agag ring a bell? You may know the story,
right? Agag, the king of the Amalekites. And
we mostly know his name from a chapter, 1 Samuel
15. It's a familiar story to many of us. Once
we dive in, it'll probably stir your mind. But
before we get there, to understand that story,
we first have to go all the way back to the book
of Exodus. Did you all listen to Kenny read the
call to worship this morning? Good. We've got
to go back to that passage in Exodus 17 to fully
understand what's happening in Esther. So let
me just summarize this story for you just a bit.
This story takes place after Moses leads the
Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. Remember,
Pharaoh lets them go, and Moses sets out for
the promised land of Canaan with the entire nation
behind him. And remember, it says God himself
is leading the people in a pillar of cloud during
the day and a pillar of fire at night. And they
miraculously escape, Pharaoh changing his mind
and charging at them at the Red Sea. They escape
that. Then they journey into the wilderness of
Shur. Later into the wilderness of Sin. They
struggle to find drinkable water. And as they
go on, they start to grumble about a lack of
food as well. And the Lord meets all of their
needs. He provides drinkable water. And he provides
quail and manna for them to eat. And then we
come to Exodus 17. And this is where the passage
becomes important. The entire nation of Israel
now is camped at a place called Rephidim. It's
about one day's march away from Mount Sinai where
Moses is going to go up on the mountain and meet
with Yahweh. Now think about this. Up until that
point, the Israelites had not fought an enemy
in a combat sense. Remember? It was the Lord
himself who rescued them at the edge of the Red
Sea. But now they're about to face a new threat,
and this time they're going to have to pick up
weapons and defend themselves. And the threat
comes from this semi -nomadic tribe known as
the Amalekites. And they are named for their
descendants of a man named Amalek, who was the
grandson of Esau. Dun, dun, dun, right? So look,
all of these folks in these stories, they're
all kissing cousins, aren't they, in some way.
They're related to each other in some way. So
the Amalekites are actually genealogically linked
to Israel, but they're on the enemy side of the
Jacob -Esau divide. The Amalekites were known
to live on the edges of agricultural society.
They weren't big on building their own settlements.
What they liked to do was raid and plunder other
people groups. And in Exodus 17, they launched
this unprovoked attack on the Israelites, and
Moses and Joshua have to spring into action.
Remember the story? Moses climbs a nearby hill,
and he takes with him God's staff. And he looks
down on the battlefield. Joshua leads the Israelites
into combat. And the text says when Moses held
up the staff, Israel would prevail. But whenever
he got weary and his arms dropped, the Amalekites
would prevail. And the whole point of that was
the staff represented the power and the presence
of Yahweh. And so Aaron, his brother, and a man
named Hur go up and they hold his arms up. And
they prop him up so that... His arms will continue
to stay up, ensuring Israel's victory. And following
the battle, God instructs Moses to document the
event in this way. And this is important for
our study in Esther. This is what Moses should
say. Write down on a scroll as a reminder and
recite it to Joshua. I, the Lord, will completely
blot out the memory of Amalek under heaven. God
was particularly offended by this attack. And
this begins an ongoing biblical theme of hostility
between Israel and Amalek. Chapter 17 ends this
way. The Lord will be at war with Amalek from
generation to generation. This is going to continue.
Now, this account. It's very short. You heard
Kenny read it this morning, just nine verses.
But later on in Deuteronomy 25, we get more details
about that particular attack and about the cowardly
nature of the Amalekite people. Here's what it
says in Deuteronomy 25. Remember what the Amalekites
did to you on the journey after you left Egypt.
They met you along the way and attacked all your
stragglers from behind when you were tired and
weary. They did not fear God. So this group of
people targeted the weakest members of the caravan
of the Israelites, those who were lagging behind.
And they didn't do it because they were defending
their lands. They did it simply to raid and to
kill and to plunder. So this is what Moses says
to the people then almost 40 years later as they
stood now on the outskirts of the promised land.
Moses says, when the Lord your God gives you
rest from all the enemies around you in the land
the Lord your God is giving to you to possess
as an inheritance, here's what I want you to
do. Blot out the memory of Amalek under heaven.
Do not forget. If you have any Jewish friend
or family and they know their history, they know
that verse. Do not forget. That echoes down through
the centuries. Do not forget what Amalek has
done. And rabbinic sources since that time have
portrayed that name as an expression of pure
and irrational hatred for the Jewish people,
a cruel and irrational anti -Semitism that has
endured across the generations. In fact, some
of you guys may know this. When Hamas blasted
their way out of Gaza and attacked southern Israel
on October 7, 2023, all the comparisons to Amalek
became obvious. That attack on October 7th was
not limited to just a military operation. What
did Hamas do? They went after the most defenseless
members of the Jewish community. They went to
an open -air music festival where there were
no weapons, and they slaughtered and they raped
and they killed. They attacked families living
by nearby kibbutzes, butchering men and raping.
and beheading women and children. And so it felt
very much like the Amalekite attack. And almost
immediately, Prime Minister Netanyahu explicitly
mentioned that name in multiple press conferences.
He quoted from Deuteronomy 25, said, do not forget
what Amalek has done. So this still lingers even
today. Now, let's get to our story of Agog. Fast
forward about 350 years from the days of Moses.
to the monarchy of Israel, to the time when Saul
is being crowned king over Israel. And who is
it that crowns Saul? The prophet Samuel. So when
you open up 1 Samuel 15, I'm going to put it
on the screen. Here's what it says, 1 Samuel
15. Samuel told Saul, the Lord sent me to anoint
you as king over his people Israel. Now, listen
to the words of the Lord. By the way, when a
prophet says that, you should listen. This is
what the Lord of armies says. I witnessed what
the Amalekites did to the Israelites when they
opposed them along the way as they were coming
out of Egypt. Now, Saul, go and attack the Amalekites
and completely destroy everything they have.
Do not spare them. As harsh as that might sound
to our modern ears, Yahweh is fully just. in
punishing this utterly wicked people. He wants
none to survive to continue in their sin. He
wants them scraped from the earth. No mercy is
to be given, no spoils of battle were to be taken.
And so the text tells us Saul puts together an
army of more than 200 ,000 men and he sets an
ambush for the Amalekites in a wadi or a valley
outside their camp. And Yahweh gives Saul his
great victory in battle. Not only did they overwhelm
the Amalekite army and put them to the sword,
but they capture the king of the Amalekites,
whose name is? Say it, Agag. Agag. Now remember,
what was the command from God? Completely destroy
this people. Do not spare them. What does Saul
do? He does not annihilate them entirely. Survivors.
happen. He thought it would be advantageous to
have the Amalekite king in his hands, a little
toy to play with. So he spared his life. Oh,
and he kept all of the best of the livestock
as well. So Saul directly disobeys the Lord's
instructions for his own selfish reasons. And
for that, God is going to reject him and remove
him as king. That's for another day. Here's the
point for our story in Esther. Because Saul would
not obey, Samuel the prophet has to take matters
into his own hands. He calls for King Agag to
be brought into his presence, and then Samuel
delivers what I think is the coldest line in
the entire Bible. He says to Agag, it is up there,
as your sword has made women childless, so your
mother will be childless among women. And the
next verse says, then Samuel hacked Agag to pieces
before the Lord. Now, here comes Haman. Haman
the Agagite, a surviving descendant of Amalek.
And adding to the intrigue, do you remember how
we talked about Mordecai's lineage two Sundays
ago? Both Mordecai and King Saul have a descendant
in common. An ancestor, I should say. It's Kish,
the Benjamite. So in this spiritual battle that's
now revolving around Xerxes and Esther in 479
BC, you have the renewal of this conflict between
Saul and Agag, now being waged by Mordecai and
his brand new boss, Haman. Everything comes full
circle. And look at what's expected of Mordecai
now. Go back to verse 2 in our text, Esther 3,
verse 2. All the king's servants who were at
the king's gate Bowed down and paid homage to
Haman, for so the king had commanded concerning
him. Ah, but Mordecai neither bowed down nor
paid homage. Can you understand why? Now, I'm
going to resist commenting on the morality of
that further this morning. That is going to be
the subject of next week's message. And it's
perfect for Family Worship Sunday. This is a
great message. Parents, great message for your
kids. Don't miss this. Mordecai refuses to bow
down. Good thing or not? Ah, stay tuned. Okay,
that's the tease. Did you catch that pregnant
pause there? Be good for us. Good for adults,
good for kids. Okay, verse 3. Then the king's
servants who were at the king's gate said to
Mordecai, why are you transgressing or disobeying
the king's command? Now it was when they had
spoken daily to him and he would not listen to
them that they told Haman to see whether Mordecai's
reason would stand. And here's the key now. For
he, Mordecai, had told them, his fellow officials,
what? That he was a Jew. Uh -oh. Words out. So
the other men at the king's gate, who I'm guessing
Mordecai thought had become friends of his, they
noticed that, you know, dude, why do you have
a problem with Haman? What's going on there?
And it seems that they wanted to warn him, this
is not going to end well, but Mordecai's mind
was made up. I will not bow to that man. And
it seems that he told his fellow officials the
reason. He's like, look, I'm a Jew, and I'm not
going to bow down to an Agagite. I'm not going
to do it. And so these weasels, these rats, run
to Haman to see, hey, boss, is this a legitimate
reason not to bow down to you? Now, up until
this point, we don't think Haman's even noticed
this, but now he does. And guess what? This doesn't
end well. Verse 5. When Haman saw that Mordecai
neither bowed down nor paid homage to him, Haman
was filled with rage. Of course he was. This
is a fragile guy. This guy's ego, right? This
is a personal insult. It's an affront to his
ego. And now he recognizes this isn't actually
an attack upon my own ethnic identity. He gets
it. Verse 6. All of the Jews, the people of Mordecai,
who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus.
Instantly, so Haman has this, it's not just a
personal response in mind. He knows, hey, look,
I can handle Mordecai anytime I want to. I want
more than this. I want historical vengeance.
I want to annihilate this old enemy. By the way,
historians have looked at the numbers here. It's
likely at this point there's about 750 ,000 Jews.
living in the Persian Empire. So that's three
quarters of a million Jews about to face what?
Being rounded up, put to death for no other reason
other than their ethnic and religious identity.
Does that sound historically familiar? The old
hostilities had resurfaced and the ancient spiritual
battle between the kingdoms of this world and
the kingdom of God was about to spill out right
there in the citadel of Susa. and Esther is caught
in the middle of it. And it all goes back to
Exodus 17. The Lord will be at war with Amalek
from generation to generation. So we're going
to wrap up our message today by talking about
how this same ancient truth is spilling out today,
how it's affecting our culture, even here in
America, the spirit of Amalek, anti -Semitism
all around the world and in our country. So on
every page of human history, you will find men
like Haman. Men who are moving up in the ranks
of power, but secretly they're filled with this
deadly combination of ambition and wickedness
and hate. And one of the threads that runs consistently
through human history is an incredibly unique
hatred for this one people group. This one people
that Yahweh set his eye upon 4 ,000 years ago.
Moses describes God's particular love for Israel
as they're gathered outside the promised land
in Deuteronomy 7, and it's worth looking at the
language here so that you understand the depth
of God's love for his people Israel. Here's what
it says. You are a holy people belonging to the
Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you
to be his own possession out of all the peoples
on the face of the earth. The Lord had his heart
set on you and chose you, not because you were
more numerous than all peoples, for you were
the fewest of all peoples, but because the Lord
loved you and kept the oath he swore to your
ancestors. He brought you out with a strong hand
and redeemed you from the place of slavery, from
the power of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Know that
the Lord your God is God, the faithful God. who
keeps his gracious covenant loyalty for how long?
A thousand generations with those who love him
and keep his commands. But, listen carefully
now, he directly pays back and destroys those
who hate him. He will not hesitate to pay back
directly the one who hates him. A strong language
about God's love for his people. Now, you recognize
some of these faces, don't you? Haman, Antiochus
Epiphanes, Adolf Hitler, Yasser Arafat, Louis
Farrakhan, Yahya Sinwar, all archetypes of genocidal
Jew hatred. Century after century, anti -Semitism
has risen its ugly head in nearly every single
place that the Jews have tried to lay their heads.
Whether that's all throughout the Middle East,
whether it's North Africa, whether it's Europe
as well, the history is unmistakable. Think about
this, crusader mobs, crusaders with crosses on
their shields, attacking Jewish communities all
across Europe as they head towards the Holy Land,
raping, slaughtering, forcing conversions among
Jewish people. Jews routinely labeled by so -called
Christians as Christ killers. Medieval accusations
of blood libel, the absurd claim that Jews capture
and murder Christian children for their own ritual
purposes. During the Black Death of the 14th
century, Jews accused of being the ones who caused
the plague by poisoning the water system, sparking
torture and executions by villagers who didn't
know better, living in fear. And you think about
all these stories, and that's just, I mean, I'm
just touching the surface of it. Is it any wonder
that evangelism is nearly impossible among Jews
who understand their own history? Is it any wonder
that when Jews even today in Israel hear the
name of Christ, the images they conjure up are
despicable? Since the 7th century then with the
rise of Islam, Jews have been targeted by Muslim
societies as well in every place in the world
that the Muslims have conquered. Forced legal
discrimination, social segregation, forced Islamic
conversions, sporadic massacres, and over the
past 100 years, the expulsion of nearly a million
Jews from places that they are indigenous to
in the Middle East. A million Jews taken away,
just pushed out of those lands. As an example,
75 years ago, the population of Jews in Iraq
was 150 ,000. Today, it's a few dozen. The Jewish
population in Egypt today is less than 20. Same
in Syria and Lebanon. Why? Because it's too dangerous
for them. They live constantly under the threat
of Islamic retaliation. So where have they gone?
Well, most of them have trickled into Israel.
It's the only place left in the Middle East where
they can live in safety. supposedly until one
of the 17 neighboring Islamic countries commits
to fulfilling its fantasy of a Palestine from
the river to the sea, and they start lobbing
missiles, and they start trying to attack the
land, which they've tried to do in 1948, 1956,
1967, 1973, 1987, 2000, and 2023. That's the
history. Now, sadly, anti -Semitism is on the
rise again in 2025, and it's not just among Muslims.
It's among Western countries as well. Now, part
of that is due to the war that's going on right
now and the fact that Israel is losing the media
propaganda war. They're trying to eradicate Hamas
from the territory of Gaza to try to get their
hostages back. It's an almost impossible war
to win, both combat -wise and in the media. But
for me, the saddest development right now goes
beyond just what's happening in the West. The
spirit of Amalek, anti -Israel, anti -Jewish
sentiment is growing within the church again.
Covenant theology, amillennialism among some
of our brothers and sisters has in some cases
morphed into extreme cases of what we call replacement
theology where it's claimed that all of God's
promises In both the Old and New Testaments have
now been given to the church and that Israel
has been completely and forever rejected by Yahweh.
That's becoming so common in the church today.
And so there's this massive spiritual battle
going on over eschatology and the future of the
Jewish people. And it's raging all over Christian
Twitter and Christian YouTube and in churches
even in our own backyard. A lot of it is born
out of our country's current temperature about,
hey, we should just pull out of all foreign wars,
and I understand that. I get the whole idea that
we want peace, that we don't want to send our
own kids into battles. But a lot of it's born
out of that we just need to get out of Israel,
even if they get wiped out by the neighboring
Islamic countries. Far too much of it is coming
from conspiracy theorists, theories that are
being pushed by monetized personalities on social
media, Twitter, and YouTube. And so my warning
this morning to all of us is to make sure that
we're careful. Do not be influenced by the loudest
and most controversial voices that you hear out
there. But instead, in every case, when you hear
something, check the facts. Make sure there's
clear evidence for what you're hearing, not just
a tantalizing opinion, because there are many
out there. We all know, right? If you're on YouTube
or Twitter, the things that you can hear. Are
you listening? Are you discerning? Are you not
just ingesting that as facts without looking
for real evidence? Because, guys, the misinformation,
the just plain bad history, it is everywhere
today. So here's how I'm going to wrap up. Since
I've been asked this question countless times
by you guys. By the way, I'm really glad that
you asked questions rather than, you know. just
go off onto YouTube and spend a day and a half
trying to figure it out for yourselves. Most
of this stems from a ridiculous podcast confrontation
that took place about a month ago between Tucker
Carlson, who recently has revealed a deep -seated
hatred for Israel, and Senator Ted Cruz, who
has a well -meaning but poorly informed understanding
of the scriptures. Some of you guys know exactly
what I'm talking about. You can look it up for
yourselves. Many of you asked me about it. Here's
the thing. The current spirit of Amalek keeps
posing a few questions as a way to divide the
church and to foster hatred of Israel and the
Jews inside the church. And here are the three
questions. I'm going to give you really short
answers, but this can be really good in sort
of fodder for future conversation and debate.
Number one, are the Jews God's chosen people
today? That is being asked at every quarter of
the church right now. Number two, are those in
the modern nation state of Israel the same Jews
as those in the Old Testament? And number three,
must we as Christians unconditionally support
Israel lest we be cursed by God according to
Genesis 12? We should know answers to these questions
because they're being asked a lot today. So I'm
gonna give you about short seven, eight minute
answers to those questions. Adam's already looking
at me going, this should be a whole sermon, I
know. If you wanna talk more about it, Get on
my Calendly page. We can have a FaceTime or a
phone conversation. If you want to debate me
on it, love it. These are good conversations.
So the answer to the first question depends on
definitions. And this is so important, guys.
What do you mean by the word chosen? And in what
context? Okay? Clearly, Israel was chosen by
God. We literally read that just now in Deuteronomy
7. We say, the Lord your God has, what? Chosen
you. To be his own possession. The Lord has.
had his heart set on you and chose you. That
is not in dispute. But having said that, in this
context, we have to be really careful with our
definitions. Does chosen mean the same thing
as saved? Does chosen mean the same thing as
elect? Paul is very clear about this in Romans
9. Not all Israel is Israel, correct? In other
words, physical descent as an Israelite or a
Jew does not save anybody. Salvation is a matter
of circumcision of the heart, not of the flesh.
In all times, it is only by grace that anyone
is saved, Jew or Gentile, through faith and that
not of ourselves. It is an unmerited gift of
God. Amen? So Israel was chosen by God in the
past, and they remain greatly loved by God as
a nation and a people today. Paul was very clear
about that as well. And guys, go home and read
Romans 11. Read it three times. Here's what he
says in Romans 11. From the standpoint of God's
choice, the Jews are beloved for the sake of
the patriarchs. That's Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Listen now, for the gifts and the calling of
God on the Jews' lives are what? Irrevocable.
God will not revoke those promises that he's
given to Israel. But Paul also relays this important
truth to us in that same chapter. He says, I
do not want you to be uninformed of this mystery,
he says. that a partial hardening has come upon
Israel until the full number of the Gentiles
has come into the kingdom. That's right now.
So God's ultimate plan for the Jews is irrevocable,
but for a time, their hearts have been hardened
while the gospel goes out to the Gentile nations.
And so today in what Luke calls the time of the
Gentiles, under the new covenant, the chosen
people of God in a salvific sense are those who
are found in Christ. Let me say that again. Today,
in what Luke calls the time of the Gentiles,
under the new covenant, the chosen people of
God, in a salvific sense, are those who are found
in Christ. They are true believers, both Jew
and Gentile, who are a part of the invisible
universal apostolic church. Now, here's the big
question. And by the way, a lot of covenant theology
guys, a lot of amillennialists will agree with
that statement. But here's the key. Does the
fact that Christians today are God's chosen people,
does that nullify his plans and intentions towards
Israel? Absolutely not. Because the gifts and
the calling of God are irrevocable. Friends,
there are many, many promises in the Old Testament
given to the Jews which remain unfulfilled. And
unless you want to make God a liar, or a deceiver
in his promises, we would do well to look to
the future and anticipate that God is going to
faithfully fulfill every single one of them to
his people Israel. Rather than write off the
Jews and say, ah, they rejected the Messiah,
they don't matter anymore. That is a terrible,
terrible mistake to make. Okay, answer number
two. This is easier and shorter. Yes, the vast
majority of Israelis who live in the modern nation
state of Israel have Jewish blood and Jewish
DNA that go back many generations to those who
are scattered all over the region. Survey after
survey has proven that fact. Yes, they are Jews.
In addition to that, we have to remember that
the land of Israel matters to God. How many times
in our series in the Psalms did we see that God
has a passion for Zion? He loves Zion. The land
matters. And don't forget that in Genesis 17,
God told Abraham that all of the land of Canaan
would be for him and his descendants, what? An
everlasting possession. Everlasting. Will not
be revoked. It's a possession given to the descendants
of Abraham. And I don't think the Lord, and this
is maybe the objection you would get. Some would
say, well then, the land of Israel has been given
to the church. Really? I don't know any Christian
that's claiming that, that we should all get
up from Los Angeles and move to our land that
belongs to us. That land is for Israel. Always
has been, always will be. By the way, it's the
place where Christ is going to return someday.
Zechariah prophesies his feet will stand on the
Mount of Olives. And the expectation of Scripture
is that on that day, when his feet are on the
Mount of Olives, there will be an unbelieving
nation called Israel in the land. And they will
collectively, according to Zechariah, look upon
the one whom they have pierced, and they will
mourn for him as one mourns for an only son.
And when that happens, Paul says in Romans 11,
all of Israel will be saved. When the deliverer
comes from Zion and removes ungodliness from
Jacob. That is the future plan that God has for
the Jewish people in the land, and it will be
glorious, but, big but, it comes through tribulation.
Great tribulation. Final answer to number three.
No, as Christians, we dare not support Israel
unconditionally. That's not how we make decisions
because we're never called upon to support wicked
things and the Israeli government sometimes does
wicked things as every single government, including
our own, does wicked things. Do we unconditionally
support any president? I hope not. Because all
governments do wicked things. So we need to be
discerning. Now, is it wise to generally support
Israel in a geopolitical way? Of course. They're
the closest thing to a democracy in that neighborhood
of the Middle East. And all of their Islamic
enemies that they're at war with, they're our
enemies too. So that makes sense generally. But
be reminded, and I don't know how many times
I've said this from this pulpit, Israel today
is a disbelieving nation. It is not believing
Israel. Less than 2 % of Israelis have trusted
in their own Messiah. So we cannot unconditionally
support what an unbelieving government like that
does. Just unconditionally say, well, whatever
they want to do, we approve of it. No, no, no,
that's not how we operate as Christians. Amen?
Friends, do not let the spirit of Amalek, the
spirit of Haman, infect your thinking. in these
difficult days. There is a lot of confusion out
there. So if you have to, turn off the podcast.
Be discerning. Go back to Scripture. Look at
some of these chapters I've mentioned today.
If you need more, I can give you plenty. Go back
to Scripture. Turn off the noise. And may the
Lord bless your studies as you seek what is true
and what is good. Amen? Let's bow our heads.
Father, heavy subject for this morning, but we
know something that is so important to you, so
much your heart for the way you're operating
in this world, Lord. As a mostly Gentile church,
Lord, we are so grateful that we have been grafted
into the great olive tree of Israel, and you've
saved us, and you've broken off branches in order
to save us, and we are... We don't always understand
why you would do that, Lord, but we're grateful
that we're here and that we know you and we know
your son. But Lord, help us to be humble about
that. As Paul says in Romans 11, not to be arrogant
towards those branches that were broken off.
Help us to submit our minds and our hearts to
what you say in scripture about this time of
the Gentiles where we've been brought into the
kingdom, not because of anything good in us,
but because of your mercy. And Lord, help us
have a right perspective on the end times to
look to see what your plan is to bring your people
Israel back front and center in your plan. It's
a mystery to us, Lord. We don't understand it
all, but we trust you because we know that you're
a faithful God who both makes promises and fulfills
promises. So Lord, work in our hearts, sear these
truths, help us to process well, even when we
process with each other over difficult subjects
and be glorified in our conversations. We love
you and we praise you in Jesus' name. Amen.