In recent weeks, we have been introduced to a
man named Haman. In English, we call him Haman,
the chief vizier and the right -hand man of the
Persian king Xerxes. And yes, you did a great
job last week booing him. Go ahead, get it out
of your system. OK, good. It's like Pavlov's
dogs, right? You see an image, you boo. That's
good. We've just scratched the surface of analyzing
Haman's character and his intent toward the Jewish
people. But today we're going to go all the way
down that very dark and evil path. Before we
do, I want you to try to imagine a scenario in
our day, today, where we live. Imagine that the
governor of California persuaded the president
of the United States that... No, there's no picture
of Gavin. Sorry. Again, we're going to boo, I
know, right? I mean, he's not my favorite guy,
but he's no Haman, right? Okay. But imagine the
governor persuaded the president that Bible -believing
Christians had become a dangerous, subversive
group of people who were detrimental to the future
of America. And imagine if that president issued
an executive order Giving all the believers around
us express permission to hunt us down and round
us up for execution. And then permission to confiscate
all of our property and all of our assets. And
as you consider that nightmare scenario, don't
just think about your own life. Think about your
mom and dad being targets for this. Think about
your children being snatched from the streets,
kidnapped. Think about your closest friends,
your fellow church members, either having to
go into hiding or running for their lives. How
would you feel? How would you live in the midst
of all that? What would you do? Now, I know that
sounds a little far -fetched for us because we're
Americans, right? It just seems impossible that
that could ever happen in our country. So let
me give you another scenario that might be more
realistic. Imagine you had to go overseas for
a job. And you found yourself moving to a kind
of unstable, potentially dangerous land, say
a Muslim country, where Westerners are looked
at with suspicion and where the gospel of Christ
isn't allowed, isn't allowed by law to be publicly
spoken of. Imagine that you lived in that country
and you decided for your own security, for the
safety of your family, that you were not going
to promote your identity or speak publicly about
your faith. But at every turn, you find yourself
being harassed by the majority population, by
the governing authorities. You can never really
relax in the land that you live in. You're always
wondering if that harassment might turn into
threats of actual physical violence. You think
about a late -night knock on the door, or worse,
a mob forming outside your home. The question
is, how would you function in that kind of environment?
If you're able to truly consider one of those
scenarios, then perhaps you can slip on the ancient
sandals of Esther and Mordecai or any Jew who
was living in the Persian Empire in the 5th century
BC. See, walking in the footsteps of an ethnic
and religious minority in a country where there's
no limits on the king and his government is a
foreign idea to us. We can't even fathom what
that feels like because we're so blessed to live
in America in the 21st century. But imagine living
in that type of place. So it's easy for us to
read the book of Esther, read it on a flat page,
and then really not be able to grasp the threat
of terror that they faced under the reign of
Xerxes. But if you're able to get outside of
yourself as an American, if you're able to put
on those sandals and walk in their shoes, you
may be able to see why this story in the book
of Esther is such an important story to the Jewish
people, even today. And the reason I wanted us
to read from Psalm 31 together is because we're
headed down that road today, and I want you to
listen again to the words of David from that
psalm. He says, Yahweh, you are my strength.
Into your hands I commit my spirit. My times
are in your hand. Deliver me from the hand of
my enemies and from those who persecute me. Save
me in your loving kindness and let the wicked
be put to shame. Let the wicked be silent and
chill. So grab your Bibles if you haven't already.
Let's go to Esther chapter 3. I want you to look
for verse 5. That's where we're going to start
this morning. Last Sunday, we took a deep dive,
if you were with us, and I know some of you students
are back for the first Sunday. That's great,
but you might need to catch up a little bit.
We took a deep dive into the reason or reasons
why Mordecai would not bow before Haman. And
we asked the question, was he just being prideful?
Was that the issue? Was it an issue of crossing
the line into worship, a line that was asking
too much of Mordecai as a Jew to bow down before
this man? Or was the ancient hostility with the
Amalekites behind all of it? And while all those,
I think, are logical possibilities, all we can
know for sure is what the text actually told
us in verse 4, that Mordecai would not bow down
because he was a Jew. Whatever that entails,
it becomes the pivotal moment in this story in
the book of Esther. So we pick up in verse 5.
So from this point forward now, we're going to
get this character profile of this man Haman
and what drives his thoughts and what drives
his actions. And we see here in verse 5, he has
a massive ego, doesn't he? Who else goes into
a rage when he finds out just one man out of
hundreds of palace officials, just one man will
not bow down to him? And what this tells us is
that Haman lives to be exalted by others. He's
the kind of man who's always seeking after status
and position in the eyes of other people. In
fact, he enjoys life the most when people are
bowing and scraping before him. And that kind
of power over other people who have to bow before
you is like a drug. And he can't get enough of
it. But he's touchy, isn't he? Right? Very touchy.
The Hebrew word there for rage is chema. And
it's the word that's often used to describe a
person's wrath, a person's fury. Sometimes the
word is brought together to describe burning
anger. And get this, once in Psalm 58 and twice
in Deuteronomy 32, that word is translated venom.
The venom of serpents. So there's a poisonous
rage that lives within Haman. There's no question
there's a connection there with our ancient spiritual
enemy, right? There's a poisonous rage inside
of him, and he embodies the worst of two character
traits. On one hand, narcissism, and on the other,
insecurity. And that's a deadly combination.
His narcissism demands approval and veneration
from all the people below him on the pecking
order, and his insecurity causes him to be deeply
wounded when he doesn't receive all the applause
and veneration that he thinks he deserves, that
he thinks he's entitled to. But here's what really
makes him dangerous. While other people might
struggle with those two things a little bit,
when stuff happens, they can laugh, they can
brush it off, but not Haman. He plots revenge.
This is what makes him truly lethal. And that's
the thing about narcissistic vengeance. Over
time, empathy begins to disappear, empathy for
other people, and it's replaced with cruelty.
And there's no end to what the human being can
do to other human beings when this happens. We've
seen it all throughout human history. And this
is what we see in verse 6. It says, to lay hands
on Mordecai alone. And that translation in the
NAS reads kind of strange. The NET puts it this
way. The thought of striking out against Mordecai
alone was repugnant to him. Basically what it
means in the Hebrew is this. He despised the
idea of taking out just Mordecai. That's too
small of a goal. Haman wants much more than just
Mordecai's scalp. He wants everybody's. And the
question is why? Well, we're told in the next
phrase. For they, the other palace officials,
had told Haman who the people of Mordecai were.
Hey, boss, did you know that that guy who won't
bow down to you, guess what he is? He's a Jew.
And you can picture Haman's face when he learns
that this one rebellious man who he cannot tame,
one of his palace servants, belongs to that ancient
tribe, the Jews. The rage that comes across his
face. Therefore, the text says, Haman sought
to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai,
who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus.
We talked about it in the last two weeks. Probably
three quarters of a million Jews living in the
Persian Empire at this time. It's a pretty over
-the -top reaction, isn't it? Slightly. A personal
insult from one lone Jewish man. That is hardly
a justifiable reason to exterminate a race of
people. There's something going on. This can't
just be an issue of workplace insubordination.
There's more than that going on here. It's true
Haman is insecure, but come on, that alone cannot
explain this kind of reaction. I'm still convinced
that at the root of this is that ancient feud
we talked about several weeks ago, the spirit
of Amalek, rooted in the conflict that goes back
to Jacob and Esau. In the cowardly attack on
the Israelites leaving Egypt through King Agag,
through the prophet Samuel. It's the renewal
of this ancient spiritual battle between the
kingdoms of the world and the kingdom of God.
Jacob I love, but Esau I hated, the Lord says.
And I will be at war with Amalek from generation
to generation, God said in Exodus 17. It's the
spirit of genocide against the Jewish people
that seems to raise its ugly head. In age after
age, generation after generation, it keeps coming
back. And we're seeing more of it even today.
And so getting permission from the king just
to execute Mordecai is just not going to satisfy
Haman. It's not going to satisfy his wrath. And
in his mind, look, an opportunity has now come
my way, and I'm not going to waste it. This is
an opportunity for vengeance against an old enemy.
Haman is Amalek, and Amalek is defined as irrational
hatred and existential evil. And the fact that
such a man can come to power within the Persian
Empire is exactly what makes living in the diaspora
so dangerous for the Jewish people. You have
to see this. This is why I gave you the example
of you having to live in a Muslim country and
always feeling the sense of that threat. I'm
fine today, but I have no idea what's coming
tomorrow. It could all turn on me. And that's
what it feels like to be a part of the diaspora.
You have these unstable, unpredictable rulers
who surround themselves with sycophants like
Haman, and they will do anything, go to any extreme,
in order to grab power. There's a good reason
why editorials and newspaper articles from the
period of the Nuremberg trials after World War
II, they called the Nazis the son of Haman. Okay.
Was that ominous enough to start? I want to bypass
verse 7 for now. We'll come back to it. But for
now, I want you to drop down to verse 8 because
we need to look at this accusation that Haman
has against the Jewish people. And friends, this
is the verse that should send shivers down your
spine, especially in the atmosphere we live in
today. The world is right now turning against
Israel, turning against Jewish people all around
the planet. So this ought to be disconcerting.
Look at verse 8. Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus,
there is a certain people. There is a certain
people scattered and dispersed among the peoples
and all the provinces of your kingdom. Their
laws are different, different from those of all
the other people, and they do not observe the
king's laws. And then underline this last phrase.
So it is not. in the king's interest to let them
remain. Now, catch the serpent -like cleverness
of Haman here. He carefully cloaks his words
so as to not set off any alarm bells in the king's
mind. Notice he completely avoids mentioning
which people he's talking about. He doesn't mention
them by name. No mention of the Jews. And by
the way, we know from history, that the Jews
had a productive and positive relationship with
the Persian kings, right? Going back to Cyrus
the Great and Xerxes' own father, Darius. So
Haman knows, I'm not going to mention them by
name, lest the king be sympathetic towards them.
And then he uses a mixture of truth and exaggeration
and lies to describe this people group. And I'll
give you a list of these things. First of all,
he says they're scattered and dispersed among
the peoples in all your provinces, and that is
true. They were scattered all over the Persian
Empire. Second, their laws are different from
those of all other people, and that's an exaggeration.
It's true, the Jews had the Torah, and they had
to live by that, and there are certain religious
ceremonies that go with that, but still, as an
ancient Semitic people, they shared a number
of cultural ways and values with all the people
groups that lived in Persia, so they didn't stick
out that much. But then comes the lie. And this
is the one that hurts. They do not observe the
king's law. That is a lie. But Haman is clever,
right? He knows that that is the accusation that
is going to grab the king's attention. Because
listen, you can say, look, oh, king, there's
a certain kind of people. Everybody thinks they're
a little bit odd because they do things a little
differently or they stick out a little bit or
they keep to themselves. They have their unique
customs. You can say that about a people group
and the king will go, eh. Okay, so they're a
little bit different. But this one, now we're
in a whole different situation. There are rebellious
people who will not obey your laws. That gets
the king's attention because now we find, oh,
they're a dangerous people. They're a rebellious
people, a threat to the security of your empire.
And do you remember how the logic went with Vashti's
rebellion? Back in chapter one, oh, not only
is she rebelling, but she could cause every wife
in the kingdom to rebel against their husbands.
So the idea here is, well, there's this people
group. They won't obey your laws. What if they
lead other people groups in your empire to stop
obeying your laws? King Xerxes, these people,
they're not good for you and they're not good
for the kingdom. They've got to be dealt with.
The best English translations put it one of these
three ways. It is not to the king's profit to
tolerate them. It is not in the king's best interest
to tolerate them. It is not appropriate for the
king to allow them to remain. And you've got
to dig a little bit deeper, but these are ominous
statements. You can't tolerate these people.
What are we going to do with them then? They
can't remain. Well, where do we send them? Think
about this. It's not unlike what we see happening
around college campuses and at pro -Palestinian
protests these days where you hear these chants,
Intifada, Intifada. From the river to the sea,
Palestine will be free. Friends, those are violent
physical threats against Israelis. What they
mean is every inch of the land belongs only to
the Palestinian people. No Jews should be tolerated.
They are not to be allowed to remain. And then
you ask the question, well, okay, but how do
we get rid of seven and a half million Jews who
live in Israel? And that's when the smirk comes
across their face. And they say, well, if they
won't leave, we'll slaughter them. That's the
reality. If they won't leave, we will slaughter
them. And the implication here in Esther has
that same spirit. The Jews cannot be tolerated.
They cannot be allowed to remain, and Haman is
about to now present his plan to fix that problem.
So that's the accusation. Let's go back up to
verse 7 now, and we'll talk about the casting
of the lots. Look at verse 7. In the first month,
which is the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year
of King Ahasuerus, Pur, that is the lot, was
cast before Haman from day to day. And for month
to month until the 12th month, that is the month
Adar. Okay, notice that according to this verse,
first of all, there's been an advance in the
historical timeline of what's going on. You see
there it says in the 12th year of Xerxes reign.
What does that mean for us? Timeline, of course,
yes. Of course it means a time. We're required
by some kind of Oak Hill law to look at a timeline
when we see this in scripture. So let me remind
you of the dates here. 486. is the year of Darius
the Great's death. Xerxes becomes king. Three
years later, in 483 BC, that's when the Book
of Esther opens, and we read about that series
of banquets being held in the city of Susa, including
the banquet where Queen Vashti rebels against
the king, and she is basically deposed from her
throne. In 480, remember, Xerxes leads his army
to invade Greece. but fails in his attempt to
subdue the city -states of Athens and Sparta.
And then in 479, a year later, he returns home
to Susa, and he begins to search for Vashti's
replacement, which of course leads to Esther
being chosen. That's in 479. So we're told in
chapter 2 that that took place in the seventh
year of Xerxes' reign. And then sometime after
that, we're not told how much. That's when Haman
is promoted to this... position of chief vizier,
and Mordecai refuses to bow down. And now we've
moved forward a few more years. Now we're in
Xerxes' 12th year, which would be the year 474
BC. Everybody caught up to speed? Good. So this
is the moment now in 474 when Haman decides to
finally deal with the problem of Mordecai and
the Jews. In the month of Nisan, which is month
number one on the Hebrew calendar, we'll look
at that in just a second. Haman had his magicians
cast the lots before him to see if fate or his
pagan gods would determine the best time possible
to exterminate the Jewish people. So he gathered
all of his sorcerers, his magi, all of them,
cast lots, and they interpreted the lots and
said what? We had the perfect date. Now, in the
ancient world, these lots, about the only picture
I could find, These lots would have been small
objects made of wood or stone, similar to like
dice that we would throw today. By the way, interesting,
just because you know I'm a history nerd, interesting
historical connection here. Two Greek historians,
very famous, Herodotus and Xenophon, both talk
about Persian customs of casting lots at the
highest level of government in order to determine
what a lucky day might be for something to take
place. So this is historically accurate. And
in the case of Haman, the lots are cast before
him, and it falls on the last month of the Hebrew
calendar, the month of Adar, specifically the
13th day of Adar. And that day became the day
that Haman planned his vengeance. Now, catch
this. This is the key to understanding how God's
sovereign hand is behind all of this. The 13th
of Adar is way down the Hebrew calendar. In fact,
let's look at this. It's almost a full year away.
A full year. So here are the 12 months of the
Hebrew calendar. The first month being Nisan,
the last being Adar. What does that mean? That's
going to provide the Jews with more than 11 months
of time, ample time to prepare for what's coming.
Thank you, Lord, right? What if it showed up
30 days later? But God is overseeing the lots.
They can defend themselves. They can begin to
pray and hope that Yahweh might reverse the king's
decree. But in Haman's pagan mind, the lots have
been cast. That's the lucky day. And he must
have felt confident because fate is with him.
His gods are with him. So he's willing to wait.
But as we know, this is not fate. This is not
the work of false gods. Yahweh is in control
of all of this. Listen, God declares this in
his word. Look. Psalm, or Proverbs 16, 9, the
mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs
his steps. Proverbs 19, 21, many plans are in
a man's heart, but the counsel of the Lord will
stand. And my favorite, Psalm 37, verses 12 and
13, the wicked plots against the righteous and
gnashes at him with his teeth. The Lord laughs
at him, for he sees his day is coming. How perfect
is that for Haman? I love the way Spurgeon describes
this. Spurgeon just has a way with words. He
preached a sermon back in 1874. This is what
he said. But oh, in that secret council chamber
where sit the sorcerers and the man who asks
counsel at the hands of the infernal powers,
the Lord himself is present, frustrating the
tokens of the liars and making diviners mad.
I could never write that. But that is fantastic.
So that's what's going on. That's what's happening
as these lots are cast. Now, I thought I would
take a moment now, and this is the perfect time
to talk about the Jewish holiday of Purim, right?
Because what we just read is its starting point.
Now, I'm going to say it's Purim. I know we always
say Purim, right? How many of you guys just say
Purim? I know, and it frustrates Hebrew speakers.
But it comes from the word Pur, like in verse
7. By the way, that word is probably, linguists
have looked at it, it's probably a carryover
from ancient Akkadian, a really ancient word
that would have been spoken by the Assyrians
and the Babylonians and then brought into the
Jewish vernacular. In Hebrew, it's translated
as lot. And whenever you see a masculine plural
in the Hebrew language, you see the suffix on
the end, I am. The letters I am on the end of
the word. So if you have kohen, which is the
word for priest, it becomes kohenim. Or melech,
which is the word for king, it becomes melechim.
And with per, it becomes not perim. It becomes
perim, right. Okay, anyway, just so that you
understand that. Now, earlier this week, I reached
out to our resident expert in Orthodox Judaism,
Yael. And thank you, Yael, for being willing
to be embarrassed on so many Sundays in this
series. But again, Yael grew up in an Orthodox
Jewish home. So this is very, very powerful and
very real in her childhood. And I asked her,
I said, can you share with me some of your recollections
of Purim and what that meant to your family?
And you could tell by her response how much she
enjoys this holiday, even today. And why not?
It's filled with costumes and food and sweets
and songs. And of course, the traditional reading
of the book of Esther. Yael told me that because
of the unique history of the Jewish people, they
absolutely love to celebrate holidays where it's
clear Yahweh came to the rescue of the Jewish
people and saved them. So primarily Passover
and Hanukkah and Purim. And while Purim falls
on the 14th day of Adar, the celebration, she
said, begins on the first day of the month. So
they have two weeks to get ready. And there's
a saying that gets sung in Hebrew that in English
translates to, when the month of Adar arrives,
we increase in joy. And I love that. Sort of
like our Advent. We count down to the birth of
Christ and we increase in joy as we go along.
Well, that's true about Purim. We get excited
to study this story. And it's a common tune that
everybody in the community knows in Jewish schools.
They will dress up in costumes and go from classroom
to classroom, and they will sing this song with
great joy. Yael told me that the book of Esther
is studied in school, in Jewish schools leading
up to Purim, and it's taught that God is hidden
in the story but always working sovereignly behind
the scenes. Now, the Sabbath day that lands before
Purim is called the Sabbath of Remembrance. And
on that day, the passage from Deuteronomy 25
that we read together several weeks ago is read
and declared. Do you remember? It says, remember
what Amalek did to you when you came out from
Egypt. And the reminder to blot out the memory
of Amalek from under heaven on the Shabbat of
remembrance. And so both of those days, that
Shabbat and Purim, are to emphasize the principle
of Zachar, the Hebrew word for remember. Remember.
focusing on the resilience of the Jewish people.
So on Purim, you have this combination of this
collective joy of God's deliverance, but also
with a reminder to remember the historic and
ongoing threats that the Jewish people face.
The day of Purim is a fast day. It starts at
dawn and continues until the scroll of Esther
is read in the evening, the Megillah, it's called.
And as you probably know by now, whenever Haman's
name comes up in the story, the audience does
what? Very good. And they spin their groggers.
See that little thing in the front? It spins
around, and it's the Yiddish word for noisemaker.
And they spin that, and they boo every time Haman's
name comes up, which sounds really fun. After
the Megillah is read, it's customary to celebrate.
Families get together for a meal. They share
treats together. And then the next morning is
still Purim because it goes from sundown in the
evening until sundown the next day. So the Megillah
is read again in the morning at synagogues. That's
important. Twice the book of Esther is read.
And then it's customary in the morning to give
friends and family food and treats. Families
will oftentimes hop in the car and drive around
the community and drop off baskets of food on
the doorsteps of others. And one of the great
treats, and you see the picture of it right there
on the plate, and Yael will correct my pronunciation,
hamantashan? Hamantashan. Oh, hamantashan. There
you go. Or aznehaman? There it is. Very good.
And that translates to the ears of Haman. Did
he have triangular ears? I don't know. But it's
the ears of Haman, right? Okay, good. And Yael
says that she still bakes these with her boys
every year, which is really sweet. So if you
want something to do, it's in March, right? Yeah,
mid -March. Ears of Haman. So Purim is a beloved
holiday. It's also a day of remembrance. It brings
about reflection for the Jewish people, because
here's the thing. The accusation that Haman makes
in verse 8, again, is repeated so many times
in human history. So it's a celebration of resilience
and strength, and most of all, a celebration
of the hope that in the end, Yahweh will have
the victory over his enemies. Amen? Amen. Okay,
let's go back to our text. Verse 9. I thought
that would be a lighthearted break in the midst
of a difficult passage. Thank you, Yael. Haman
has just made the accusation. It's not in the
king's interest to let them remain. Therefore,
verse nine, if it's pleasing to the king, let
it be decreed that they what? Be destroyed. So
catch that now. This is subtle, but when people
tell you who they are, believe them, goes the
saying. When you see things on your TV screen
and people are chanting code, believe them. Because
it's easy to go from they can't be tolerated
to what? They must be destroyed. That happens
in a split second. This is human nature and human
history, is it not? The wickedness of man. When
hatred grows in the heart and the enemy gets
in there and there's this poisonous. The Hebrew
verb there for destroyed, avad, is the same word
used to describe what happened to the Egyptian
army at the Red Sea. Let them perish. Let them
be utterly destroyed. And again, remember, Haman
still hasn't mentioned which people he's talking
about. And before the king can think too much
about it, look what he does. He sweetens the
deal with a financial incentive. How clever and
wicked is this? Let it be decreed that they be
destroyed, and I will pay 10 ,000 talents of
silver into the hands of those who carry on the
king's business to put into the king's treasuries.
So, King Xerxes, trust my judgment on this. Not
only will you be rid of this rebellious people,
but we will prosper the empire financially. And
here's where history matters. Remember, Xerxes
had just gone to Greece with an army of some
300 ,000 people. Do you think that might have
drained the coffers of the empire? Absolutely.
And with no glory or victory to show for it,
he's wasted that money. And so now here's Haman
going, hey, I got a way to replenish your treasury.
It's a win -win for the king. And who cares?
Okay, some people have to die for it, but at
least we'll replenish. The treasury. Can you
imagine that kind of wickedness to say, don't
even tell me who it is. If it's going to fill
the coffers back up, let's go. How's Haman going
to pull this off? Well, scholars speculate he'd
already gone out, calculated the number of Jews
in the empire, and calculated the amount of plunder
he could confiscate from them after they're dead.
That's his plan. It's going to fund the operation.
It's a self -funding operation. Verse 10 says,
What a cruel and wicked man. Not just Haman,
but Xerxes. What a cruel and wicked man. Now,
we shouldn't be surprised based on what we know
about the ancient Near East kings of this period,
but wow. He's not even going to ask any more
questions about who. There's no inquiry into
the matter. There's no hearing that is offered
to people to come to defend themselves. He just
says, here's my ring. Even with Vashti's rebellion,
he turned to his princes and nobles and said,
hey, can I get some wise counsel here? He doesn't
do this here. Guys, this is spiritual wickedness.
This is the enemy at work. Through these men.
There's no other way to explain this. Here's
my ring. Do as you wish. And oh, how Haman must
have been celebrating, right? Can you picture
the smirk on his face? I've done it. I've done
it for my people. And he knew what to do. How
to wield the king's authority. Verse 12. Then
the king's scribes were summoned. On the 13th
day of the first month, and it was written just
as Haman commanded to the king's satraps, to
the governors who were over each province, and
to the princes of each people, each province
according to its script, each people according
to its language, being written in the name of
King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king's signet
ring. Letters were sent by couriers to all the
king's provinces to destroy. To kill and to annihilate
all the Jews, both young and old, women and children,
in one day. In one day. Can you imagine the mass
slaughter that's being planned here? The 13th
day of the 12th month, which is the month of
Adar, and to seize their possessions as plunder.
A copy of the edict to be issued as law in every
province was published to all the peoples so
that they should be ready for this day. Now it's
official, approved by the king, translated and
spread far and wide so that every person out
there, every non -Jew in the empire knows exactly
what to do when this day arrives. Take a deep
breath and imagine. What this edict is saying,
11 months from today, folks, millions of citizens
of the Persian kingdom are hereby given a license
from the king, like bounty hunters, to go out
and to kill every Jewish man, woman, and child,
and to take their stuff. And imagine how this
would have appealed. Say you've got people in
your kingdom that already are prone to violence.
Right? Or prone to greed. Appealing to the basest
instincts of people. Imagine people are out there
going, I have a beef with my Jewish neighbor.
Oh, nice. I can take his stuff. I have permission
to kill him. You can imagine how many men started
sharpening their knives and making plans to grab
hold of everything they possibly could. And understand,
friends, how the wickedness of the heart of man
never changes. and how wickedness becomes cyclical.
Guys, the Nazis used this exact tactic in 1938.
Hitler issued the decree, this is the title of
it, the Decree for the Reporting of Jewish -Owned
Property, which required Jews to register all
of their assets and all of their property so
that, as the Nazis knew in the near future, all
those assets, once they were exterminated, could
be transferred to non -Jews and to the state.
And in order to enforce that decree, you know
what Hitler did? He incentivized the populace
to spy on the Jews and to report on the Jews,
to talk about all their movements and all what
they owned so the state would have a good handle
on what they could take. You guys, this is only
80 years ago. We look at the story of Esther,
we say, oh, that's so ancient. That could never
happen. It's only 80 years ago, right? And we're
already forgetting. And remember, we said never
again will this happen. And yet, the world is
already forgotten. Verse 15. The couriers went
out, impelled by the king's command, while the
decree was issued at the citadel in Susa. Now
listen to this. And while the king and Haman
sat down to drink, the city of Susa was in confusion.
What a portrait of evil this is, right? The king
is confident that he's taken a wise step, no
matter the cost, that this is in his best interest.
In fact, he's grateful to Haman that Haman brought
this to his attention. So much so that he says,
hey, dude, let's grab some drinks and let's celebrate
what we've done. The level of wickedness is beyond
what you can imagine. Xerxes is the archetype
of all the tyrants in history who have completely
disregarded all of the human misery and suffering
that they have inflicted on their own people
sometimes. Able to sleep at night, able to go
about their daily activities, even sitting down
to drink as if nothing was happening. This is
Stalin -esque. This is Hitler -esque. As if their
own subjects were living in confusion and fear
that they themselves have created. It's stunning,
isn't it? So, what do we say here? We're going
to stop there for today, but how do we wrap this
up? There's a lot of talk about genocide these
days in the news and in the streets about the
war in Gaza. And that word is thrown around so
casually now by people who either, A, don't know
what it actually means and don't know what it
actually would look like, or B, they're just
using political talking points in order to sway
public opinion and try to win foolish arguments.
If you really think what's happening in Gaza
is a genocide, come talk to me after the service.
And we can talk about what genocide really is
because Esther 3, this is what an actual genocide
would look like. And that's not happening in
Israel. What's happening in Israel is a war,
but I'll save that for another day. And yet as
terrifying as it must have been for every Jew
living in Persia at that time, remember Psalm
37 remains true in that moment, the wicked plots,
and yet the Lord laughs. Haman's magi cast the
lots, but God determined the outcome, didn't
he? Haman thought he was so clever, but Yahweh's
counter moves had been decreed in eternity past.
Haman stood no chance whatsoever. You have to
know that. This wasn't even God reacting to human
movements. God had decreed this. Haman had no
chance. And once again, the book of Esther shows
us that even when we think God is absent, where
are you, Lord? He's always right there. working
all things together for his glory, even if he's
not obviously named or given credit in the text.
He's always at work in his providence. Now, perhaps
you're wondering at this point, based on what
we've already shared in this sermon series, considering
the fact that Esther and Mordecai really seem
not to be much more than cultural Jews and not
particularly godly, why would God rescue them
from Haman? And here's the good news of the gospel
of grace, right? This grace is, by the way, God's
grace is found in the Old Testament just as it's
found in the New. And this is the good news.
God doesn't save people because they're good
or godly or worthy of his love. God draws people
and saves people like you and me because he's
a sovereign and merciful God. That's it. He's
a God who demonstrates extraordinary love for
people who by nature have no interest in seeking
after him. Again, like you and me. And the God
of the scriptures is faithful to fulfill every
one of his promises. And friends, that means
working through the Jewish people. Through Abraham
and Isaac and Jacob. Working to preserve the
line of Judah. Working to preserve the line of
David. All leading up to the ultimate blessing
and gift to the Jewish people. Their own Messiah.
And to do that, it meant sparing the Jewish people
from being destroyed by Haman and Xerxes. See,
God's word will not fail. And he's willing to
work behind the scenes, even in silence, to carry
out the things that he has promised to do. And
so he saves even people like Esther and Mordecai
for his purposes. And you may be thinking, why
should I care about Purim? It's a Jewish thing.
Friends, that's our heritage too. You Gentiles,
this is part of our heritage. How, you ask? Well,
it's part of the story of redemption that's woven
through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation,
from old to new. This is the story of God's providence
and love for his elect, both Jew and Gentile.
It's part of what Paul refers to in Romans 11
as the olive tree that is Israel. We are Gentiles
who are wild olives. who've been grafted in among
the natural branches of that olive tree, being
partakers of the rich root of that olive tree,
which is Israel. Go home and read Romans 11.
Read it again and see what God says about this.
And that's good news. Thank you, Lord, for sparing
the Jewish people in the days of Xerxes. Thank
you, Lord, for protecting the line of Judah so
that Gentiles like you and I can turn to our
Jewish Messiah who came to suffer and die and
be raised to life. for wild olive branches like
us. Amen? We'll continue with the story two weeks
from now. Let's pray. Father, the level of wickedness
in this story is so hard. for us to fathom. I
pray, God, that we won't just read this on a
flat page and then just go about our life and
think that, oh, this is normal. Because it's
not. Because that ancient serpent was at work
in these men, Haman and Xerxes, to try to destroy
your people, to destroy the line of Judah, to
disrupt the coming of the Messiah. And you laugh.
And you laugh at them. because of their foolishness,
because of their blind ignorance, Lord. And so
we thank you today that as we gather as Gentiles
grafted into the olive tree of Israel, that we
enjoy all the privileges and all the blessings
of being found in Abraham. We praise your name,
God, that you had a plan from eternity past to
bring us to this point. Let us not be arrogant,
Lord. Let us not be prideful. That we're here
today and found in you. It's because of you.
It's because of your mercy and grace. It's because
when we didn't want to seek after you, you sought
after us. And you drew us to yourself and you
saved us. Let us remember that as we continue
in the story of Esther. Lord, thank you, thank
you, thank you for time and your word. May we
now praise your name in song as you deserve.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.