So I was going to preach all the way through
chapters 5, 6, and 7 this morning. And the reason
for that is these three chapters fit together
really well as one pericope, as we say in theology,
one single cohesive story within the larger narrative
of the book. And I mentioned last week that we've
gotten to a place in this study where we've done
the hard work of of laying out the historical
and cultural context of the book such that we
can now bite off larger chunks as we go along.
And so I wanted to do that this week, but then
I dug in. And first of all, I thought, if I do
three chapters on a Sunday, you guys would all
die of a heart attack. I mean, that would be
the first time in the history of Oak Hill. But
more importantly, there would just be too many
application points for one sermon. So here's
what we're going to do. Chapters 6 and 7 in Esther
really are the pinnacle of the story. And I am
dying to get to them, but I'm going to be patient.
Today will be about setting that up, setting
it up well by getting through carefully chapter
five. Now, as I say that, here's the thing. If
you don't know, Tanya and I are about to get
on an airplane and go out of the country for
two weeks in Scotland. And yep, celebrating 35
years of marriage, she deserves a trip to Europe.
So over the next three Sundays, you're going
to have the privilege of hearing Adam continue
in his series in Ecclesiastes, which has been
amazing. And then I'll be back in the pulpit,
and I will be coming straight from a Reformation
tour in Scotland, Lord willing, standing in John
Knox's pulpit, and come here, and as we do every
year, spend a couple of weeks. celebrating the
Reformation and our historical roots. And this
year talking about the Reformation in Scotland
and England. So excited about all that. But the
point of me saying all this is after today, we're
not going to be back in Esther for a while. Not
until November. Right? It's scary, right? And
that means this morning we have to set up chapter
6 and 7 really well. We'll come back in November
right before we get into Advent and Christmas,
right? I mean... The calendar just flies by,
doesn't it? Or is it just me getting old? I don't
know, but it's coming up quickly. Okay, let's
look at chapter five. Where did we leave off
last Sunday? In chapter four, remember we looked
at this frantic back and forth communication
between Esther and Mordecai. Esther's inside
the king's palace, not able to leave. Mordecai
is out in the city of Susa wailing in sackcloth
and ash, and they're sending messages back and
forth by the king's servants. And of course,
the issue was Mordecai had become aware of Haman's
edict, this edict that had now gone out to every
province in the kingdom, promising a total and
complete annihilation of the Jewish people. And
in his grief and despair, Mordecai says to Esther
that you have to go into the king. This is our
only hope. You've got to go into the king. Remember,
she hesitates. She's like, yeah, but it's against
the king's law, and he hasn't called on me for
30 days, and she hesitates. And so you see Mordecai
get a little bit more aggressive, and he challenges
her to consider whether or not God has placed
her in this position as queen for such a time
as this. And so after ordering three days of
fasting and prayer, Esther comes out of that
and she counts the cost and she commits her life
to it. She says, I will go into the king and
if I perish, I perish. That's a dramatic moment.
So we pick up the story now in chapter five.
Now it came about on the third day that Esther
put on her royal robes and stood in the inner
court of the king's palace in front of the king's
rooms. And the king was sitting on his royal
throne. Can you picture it? Sitting on his royal
throne in the throne room opposite the entrance
to the palace. Now, how many times have we tried
to do this so far? As hard as it is, put yourself
in Esther's sandals here. Try to imagine the
fear and the anxiety that she must have felt
as she steps into this giant grand throne room
and makes eye contact with the most powerful
man in the world. And she's got to be thinking,
okay, is this a good time? Right? Have you ever
known I've got to have a hard conversation? Is
this a good time? Is he in a good mood? Am I
wearing something that is pleasing to him? All
these thoughts are going through her head. How
do I start this conversation? What do I say?
So there's a lot going on in this moment. And
my guess is, this is just my guess, that she
is shaking, both inside and out. She's shaking.
This is a big moment. Her life is literally hanging
by a thread. Remember, that's what she told us
back in the last chapter. She said, any man or
woman who comes to the king in his inner court
who is not summoned, the king has one law for
such a person, death. Oh, that's all, just death.
Unless, unless the king holds out to him the
golden scepter indicating that he's willing to
spare that life. So now here is Esther stepping
into this grand throne room uninvited. And she
knows she's breaking the king's law, but that's
just one small piece to this. Remember, the king
doesn't know that she's Jewish at this point.
She has hid that from him, but now it has to
come out. And she's going to have to confess
to the king, at least by omission, that she's
deceived him in not disclosing the full truth
about who she is, about her ethnic identity and
religious identity. And with a king like Xerxes,
How he responds to that, how he reacts to that
kind of deception is completely unpredictable.
And he can do as he pleases. He is the king.
Also, if she doesn't just die by coming into
the room, she's then going to have to go on and
convince the king that Haman, his chief vizier,
the man that he seems to trust more than anybody
else in the kingdom, is actually not trustworthy.
And he needs to trust her over Haman. So bottom
line, it's going to take something very dramatic
here and miraculous for this to succeed, for
the Jews to be saved. And so what a tense moment
for this young woman, right? We sometimes forget
these are three -dimensional characters. She's
a young woman. She's got to be absolutely out
of her mind with fear, having to work up the
courage to walk into that room, just hoping that
the first sign from the king will be a good one,
that he's going to receive her well. By the way,
before we move on to verse two, look at the very
precise language here in verse one about the
layout of the palace. I know this is a small
thing, but I'm a historical nerd on you for a
second. It says the inner court in front of the
king's rooms. Why add that? Why does that matter?
In the throne room opposite the entrance to the
palace. Well, it tells us that the author is
somebody who has been there, who has seen it
with his own eyes. He knows exactly how the rooms
of the palace were situated. By the way, it lines
up with all the archaeological work that was
done in the city of Susa in the 19th and 20th
century. I showed this picture a long time ago.
time ago to you guys and we've seen the this
is the artist's rendering of what the archaeological
dig has has shown us in susa on that spot and
we've looked at these various parts of the of
the the artist's recreation we've looked at the
king's gate multiple times we've looked at the
court of the garden the banquet hall where these
banquets have been taking place and now we're
talking about the inner court the very heart
of the palace That's where this scene takes place.
And I show that to you just so that you understand
that when we read a book like this, it lines
up with history. It lines up with archaeology.
And it gives us a greater sense of the veracity
of Scripture. It's very important. Okay, verse
2. When the king saw Esther, the queen, standing
in the court, that's the big moment, it says
what? She obtained favor in his sight. Right?
That's the moment. And the king extended to Esther
the golden scepter, which was in his hand. So
Esther came near and touched the top of the scepter.
How many times, you guys, have we seen already
in this story, Esther finding favor with people?
Over and over again, right? Everywhere she goes,
she finds favor in her relationships. In fact,
back in chapter two, it said, quote, Esther found
favor in the eyes of all who saw her. She's got
something about her. I don't know, call it the
it factor, whatever it is. Obviously, she's beautiful
on the outside. That's why the king chose her,
but beautiful inside as well. And it seems that
the Lord has gifted her in this way. And it was
found in the way that she carried herself, how
she related to people. Perhaps she had that sense
of humility, as Peter says, and a gentle and
quiet spirit. And once again, it's another evidence
of the unseen hand of God working behind the
scenes, gifting Esther to be this way, working
out his plans and purposes. So the key here is
that as she appears in the throne room, she makes
a connection with the king. She touches his heart
and he extends that scepter to her and spares
her life. Now the golden scepter is interesting.
This is, guys, this is not a made up, this is
not like King Arthur's sword. This is not some
made up legend. In fact, the scepter of the Persian
kings is depicted many, many, many times in their
own wall carvings and paintings. In fact, I'll
give you an example of this because we're going
to nerd out again. This carving is from the archaeological
dig at Apadana Palace in Persepolis in Iran.
What you see there is Xerxes' father, Darius
the Great, who we looked at before, seated on
his throne, and he's receiving a foreign... The
kings of Persia, even Assyria and Babylon, they
would depict these great events on their walls
of their palaces. And in his right hand, see
the arrow, is his scepter. And you see this all
the time in their pictures. They carry this scepter
in their right hand. And by the way, the gentleman
behind him is the crown prince, that's Xerxes,
in Darius' palace. So this is a very consistent
thing. Notice, by the way, how they make themselves
larger. than the foreign delegation they're receiving.
There's some propaganda here as well, right?
But that Xerxes behind him. So again, lots of
historical veracity to this particular text.
Let's look at verse three. Then the king said
to her, what is troubling you, Queen Esther?
He instantly sees that she is upset. Again, I
think she's probably shaking, and he sees it.
And what is your request, the king asks. Even
to half of the kingdom, it should be given to
you. Now, read that as a proverbial expression.
Don't take it literally. This is the king's way
of assuring Esther, I'm interested in fixing
whatever is bothering you, and how can I make
you happy again? He literally doesn't mean I'll
give you half the kingdom, but how can I make
you happy again? Verse four, Esther says, if
it pleases the king, may the king and Haman come
this day to the banquet that I've prepared for
him. So clearly Esther has thought this out.
After three days of fasting and prayer, she's
formulated a plan in her mind. And I think it
shows great discernment that she doesn't just
rush into the situation and blurt out her request.
And this is what fasting and prayer and asking
for guidance and asking for patience and all
that, that's the fruit of this. She shows discernment.
She just doesn't rush in there and go, I got
a problem. Remember, she told Mordecai in chapter
four, I haven't seen the king in a month. So
she can't even be sure she walks into the room
how he feels about her. So my guess is before
bringing up such a gigantic issue, she first
wants to see the king with her own eyes, engage
his heart and win his heart over again. And we'll
find out later that she definitely wants Haman
to be at this banquet so that she can ultimately
expose. His wickedness. So she's thought this
out. I think she's, again, Adam mentioned it
earlier. We were hard on Esther in the first
couple chapters because of some compromise we
see in her life. But now we're seeing her make
good and godly decisions. This is good. Verse
five. Then the king said, bring Haman quickly
that we may do as Esther desires. So the king
and Haman came to the banquet which Esther had
prepared. So picture the scene now. No doubt
Esther has put together an amazing spread. She
knows what the king likes. And she lays it out
for him. She knows how fond Xerxes is of banquets.
We've already looked at four banquets in the
first two chapters of this book. They like banquets
and they like wine, right? We've seen this multiple
times. So Esther's smart, right? Again. This
is discernment. This is wisdom. The king likes
these things, and I want to make sure that he
is being blessed by me, by his queen, by his
wife. And so she's just showing smarts, right?
And that's okay. The way God operates, that's
good. We can actually use the brain that God
has given us and be wise and be clever in the
way that we do things. Verse 6, as they drank
their wine at the banquet, a lot of wine. As
they drank their wine, the king said to Esther,
what is your petition? For it shall be granted
to you. And what is your request? Even to half
of the kingdom, it shall be done. So again, she
gets every assurance that he's ready to give
her anything. And this is where it gets interesting,
right? This is where all the scholars start scratching
their heads and going, what is happening here?
The wine is flowing. I'm sure things are getting
a bit looser. And this is the moment. you'd expect
Esther to say, Haman's trying to kill me. But
she doesn't. Verse seven. So Esther replied,
my petition and my request is if I have found
favor in the sight of the king and if it pleases
the king to grant my petition and do what I request,
may the king and Haman come to the banquet which
I will prepare for them and tomorrow, tomorrow
I will do as the king says. So for a second time.
Esther doesn't bring up the issue, even though
the king has assured her twice that she's on
a good footing. And so it raises the question,
what's going on here? Why the delay? Why the
dramatics, right? The intrigue. Now, it'd be
nice if the author took us into the mind of Esther,
but he doesn't. So we have to sort of speculate
on what's going on. And four different ideas
have been suggested about this. Number one, in
that moment, she just got cold feet. Right? She
got cold feet. The fear of the moment sort of
overwhelmed her. And maybe that's happened to
you. You go somewhere and you're like, I need
to have a hard conversation with somebody. And
then you get there and you chicken out. You're
like, oh, I got too scared and I didn't say it.
That's one possibility. Number two, Esther is
intentionally drawing this out to pique the king's
interest. Maybe she knows he likes the chase.
And the more she sort of teases him with it,
the more interested he is in giving her what
she wants, right? That he's more willing to grant
the request. That's number two. The third thing
is, in that moment, something just didn't feel
right to her, right? She just got that spidey
sense thing, right? She discerns that something
in the king's disposition or Haman's disposition
that caused her to think in that moment, you
know what, this is not the right time. I shouldn't
do this right now. And number four, and this
is my opinion, this was the work of God's spirit
guiding her. Because the Lord has a plan here
that's going to require this exact delay. And
we find this out later. It's during the period
between the first banquet and the second banquet
that the Lord is going to move in ways that nobody
could have expected. So I think this is just
the spirit guiding her in this. Remember. Recall
what Proverbs 21 says. This is a great verse.
The king's heart is like channels of water in
the hand of the Lord. He turns it wherever he
wishes. And we're going to find out that is exactly
what's going on. More than we even know, God
is going to turn the heart of the king. Okay,
now the scene changes as we come to verse 9.
The banquet is over. Haman is heading home. It
says, then Haman went out that day glad and pleased
of heart. So the effect of being invited to this
private banquet with the king and the queen has
made him so happy, so proud and arrogant. He
actually thinks at this point he's in good graces
with Esther, which is so interesting, right?
But when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate
and he did not stand up or tremble before him,
Haman was filled with anger against Mordecai.
So this shows us, you guys, what a miserable
man this is. Here's a guy who's just been honored
by the king and the queen of Persia, yet he allows
the disapproval of this one man to fill him with
rage. What a perfect description of how empty,
at the end of the day, how empty the applause
of the world is, right? Haman's deep -seated
insecurity, his need to be honored by absolutely
everybody, especially this one Jew, means that
he will never be happy. He will never be satisfied.
Like all of humanity apart from Christ, he's
got a corrupted soul. He's got a void in his
heart that needs to be redeemed. He needs new
life, or he's never gonna be satisfied. Verse
10, it says, Haman controlled himself, however.
Now, why would he do that? Because he gleefully
knows the day is coming. My Egypt has gone out.
It's not going to be taken back. The Jews are
going to be wiped out. Mordecai with them. So
he can control himself for now. And honestly,
this is, again, another evidence of God's handiwork,
right? He's not going to allow Haman's fury to
get out of control in that moment because God
is putting pieces on the chessboard to handle
this the way God purposes. Haman controlled himself,
however, verse 10. He went to his house and sent
for his friends and his wife Zeresh. Then Haman
recounted to them the glory of his riches and
the number of his sons and every instance where
the king had magnified him and how he had promoted
him above the princes and the servants of the
king. Haman also said even Esther the queen.
Let no one but me come with the king to the banquet
which she had prepared. And tomorrow also I'm
invited with her to the king. I mean, have you
ever known somebody like this? You get together
with them and they just want to recount their
glory. And you just sort of eye roll like, okay,
here we go again. That's what's going on. See,
Haman, he's gotten home to his own little palace,
right? And he's basking in the glory of the moment.
And his wife and his friends are willing to put
up with it again. My guess is he's done this
before. They're like, oh, okay. Yeah, you're
great. You're awesome. You're the man. So he
has to tell the story again of how honored he
is. I'm sure it was more detailed than this.
He boasts of his possessions, his sons, all this.
This is his moment, you guys. This is the pinnacle
of Haman's life. It's the moment of all who reject
the living God. This is the best it's ever gonna
get for Haman. It's never going to get better
for all eternity because what awaits him when
he passes from this life is judgment. So he needs
to enjoy it now. Finally, he boasts of yet another
banquet that he gets to attend. It's one glory
after another payment until what? Again, he remembers
Mordecai and you can see his countenance change.
Verse 13, yet all of this, look at, underline
it, does not satisfy me. Every time I see Mordecai
the Jew sitting at the king's gate, I'm dissatisfied.
So the day hasn't been a total success. Like
he said, there's still this issue of Mordecai
and the bitterness, the bitterness of this one
man refusing to honor him is eating him alive.
And the truth is, Haman is the archetype of every
man who lives from moment to moment based on
his emotions and his feelings. If things are
going his way, he's all smiles. I want to be
around a guy like that. He's so happy. But when
things don't go his way, he's a bear to be around
because he is going to whine and complain over
and over again. So there's a restlessness to
him, an instability to him. He's the type of
guy that when you approach him, and maybe you
know people like this, you first want to check
which version of this man am I going to get today?
The boastful happy one or the despairing angry
one? These are people that are difficult to be
around. Now Haman's wife and friends have an
easy solution. Verse 14, then Zeresh, his wife,
and all his friends said to him, have a gallows,
50 cubits high made, and in the morning ask the
king to have Mordecai hanged on it. Then go joyfully
with the king to the banquet. How dark is that,
by the way? How dark is that? Have this guy put
on this high stake, have him. Killed and then
go joyfully. As if nothing has happened, go to
the banquet and have a ball. The wickedness in
the heart. But for somebody with that mindset,
with that heart, this is not unreasonable. This
is a logical solution. Why wait for the appointed
day way down the road when the Jews are going
to get wiped out? Just handle it now. Get rid
of them tomorrow. Order your men to have the
platform built. Make it really, really tall and
really visible so that you can humiliate Mordecai
and his death so that everybody can see it. And
the advice pleased Haman, it says. So he had
the gallows made. Okay, so that's the setup for
six and seven. The great reversal, we call it,
right? You probably know something about what's
coming. But let's make some observations of what
we've seen in this chapter here. First of all,
we can talk about the obvious. This is the theme
that we have been pointing to throughout this
entire preaching series, right? The sovereignty
of God. The sovereignty of God in our world.
In every aspect of life, he is the monarch of
this universe. And he does as he pleases. Which
always brings us back to the verse you see on
the screen, Romans 8, 28. And we know, catch
that, Believers, we have to know this and believe
it and trust in it day to day, coming back to
it over and over again. We know that God causes
some things in life to work together for good.
Not all things. We know this, that God causes
all things to work together for good. To whom?
To everybody? No. to those who love God, and
to those who are called according to his purpose.
That's the people God is working for, all things.
And those who are called by the Lord are what
Scripture calls the elect, chosen before the
foundation of the world, was even laid and set
apart to glorify God in their lives. And then
within time and space, The elect are drawn into
relationship with the living God. He breathes
life into our dead hearts. He causes us to be
born again. And then, beauty of beauties, he
changes our affections from within such that
we turn to him and are saved. What a gracious
God. And we give our lives to him and we die
to ourselves over time in this process of sanctification
that will last in our lives until the very day
he calls us home and we get to be with him forever.
And for these, the scripture says, the Lord is
constantly and progressively working out his
plan in human history for our good. He was doing
it in the fifth century, B .C., in Esther's day.
He's doing it today. And sometimes, guys, how
often do we look at the Bible and go, well, we
see God working in the Bible, but is he really
doing this today? Yes. in our lives, in the lives
of those who he calls according to his purpose.
And what amazes me the most is how he uses unbelievers
like Haman, whose motives and actions are purely
selfish and wicked and totally contrary to everything
God stands for, but somehow God takes the sin
and the wickedness and the rebellion of men like
that, and he shapes it into his will for our
good. Don't ask me how he does it. The hard drive
God has to have. Right, to process billions of
people and to be shaping all things. Our God
is beyond what you can fathom. But aren't you
glad? He's shaping it all into his will and nothing
hinders his plan and nothing interrupts it. God
is in control from beginning to end. Even when
men who don't love him are doing their best to
try to defeat his promises. It won't work. Xerxes
is a great example of this. This guy's the most
powerful man in the world in that day. He is
as sovereign as human beings get. Yet again,
going back to Proverbs 21, his heart is in God's
hand. God turns the heart of the most powerful
man on earth in any way he chooses. It's amazing.
So sovereignty is number one. The second one
is providence. And we talked about this at the
beginning of the series. There is a slight difference
between those two terms. Providence refers to
the practical way in which God is working. It's
his invisible hand skillfully working behind
the scenes to order everything in every thought,
in every plan, in every action and reaction,
in every conversation, and at the end of the
day, in every single outcome. That's his providence.
And it's a wonder to behold. But guys, we have
to see it through the eyes of faith. This is
a great challenge for us. When we read Esther,
even though God's name isn't mentioned in this
book, we see his hand all over the place, right?
Why? Because of our faith. Because we trust God's
word. But the unbeliever would read this book
and not see God at all. Only see human beings
doing what they feel like they should do. They
would not see God at all. And sadly, this is
a warning for us. That condition can come upon
a professing believer if we're walking in the
flesh and not by the Spirit. When he or she isn't
seeing life through the eyes of faith, isn't
trusting the promise of Romans 8, 28, but instead
is agonizing and worrying and falling into despair
and trying to scheme their way out of their problem
rather than turning to the Lord who promises
that he will be our shelter and our guide through
the storm. But we've got to have eyes of faith.
We've got to walk in the spirit in order to see
God's hand in these things. Friends, God's word
will not let you down. So trust it. His purposes
will not fail. His promises to his chosen children
will always be fulfilled. Trust him. And let
the book of Esther be an example of these principles
that you can come back to over and over again
that show you that they're true. So God's sovereignty
and his provinces. Providence, that's the word.
Here's the third thing. God is sovereign. He
will providentially accomplish all that he's
decreed, but that doesn't mean that we can be
passive about the role that we play in living
out that plan. So many Christians fall into this.
It's the whole let go and let God thing, right?
No. No, we have a role to play in this. We don't
have the luxury of just sitting on the couch
and saying, I don't have to be concerned about
that. God will make it happen. We can get so
locked into sovereignty that we don't do anything.
We're like, oh, God will make that happen. Hey,
he wants to use you. So get off the couch. Don't
be passive in this. He works through secondary
causes. God is the great cause of all things.
He works through secondary causes within time
and space. That's us, his servants, those who
he loves, those who are called according to his
purpose. Paul tells us in Philippians 2 that
we are to work as God works in us. That's that
cooperative role that we play. So we strive to
obey his commands with the power that he gives
us. And so we pray and we preach and we witness
and we serve and we give and we proclaim, et
cetera, et cetera. We do all of those things
knowing that at the end of the day, it's not
our flawless works that are gonna bring about
God's purposes. We trust that he's gonna go way
beyond our efforts, even use them supernaturally
to direct all things for our good and his glory.
We work as he works in us. We can't be passive.
And you see this in the story of Esther. Mordecai
and Esther don't just grieve and then sit on
their hands. Mordecai says, you've got to take
action. Esther prays and goes, I've got to take
action. And she goes and does something. But
is the result in their hands? No. The result
is in God's hand. He determines them. But he
will use their striving by the power he gives
them. to bring about that result, amen? Good,
that's number three. Number four is this, God's
timing is always perfect. Oh, do we believe that?
This will come out more next time we're in Esther,
but every detail of this great reversal that's
coming is walking down a path in God's timeline.
The timing of Esther's entrance into the king's
presence, God orchestrated that. The timing of
the two banquets that she's gonna host, For the
king and Haman, he's put that together. The timing
of Haman's order to build the gallows, yes. That's
on God's timeline as well. See, one of the problems
we face as Christ followers is impatience. I
mean, I'm with you. Impatience. We want things
always to happen either more quickly than they
do or just in our own time frame. We say, God,
make it happen. And then we add, according to
your will. But what do we really mean? Yeah.
Come on, we all do this, right? So we want results
now. We don't want results over seasons of time.
That's not fast enough. We want things to get
better quickly, not learn the slow lessons that
God has for us sometimes. We like to hastily
check things off our lists. Not slow down and
pray over them and see how God might move. Sitting
quietly before him and watching. So let the book
of Esther be a comfort that God is always at
work, behind the scenes, his invisible hand.
His timing is good and perfect, such that Psalm
27, 14, one of my favorite verses, wait for the
Lord. Be strong and let your heart take courage.
So notice that, wait for the Lord. Don't be passive.
Don't be scared or in fear. No, be strong. Let
your heart take courage. Yes, wait for the Lord,
knowing he's always at work, right? And then
Adam read the call to worship from Psalm 37 earlier.
Look at the language. Be still before the Lord.
Wait patiently for him. While you're doing that,
refrain from anger and forsake wrath. Fret not
yourself because it tends towards evil. And evildoers
will be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord
shall inherit the land. God's timing is perfect.
Okay, last thing. I want to point to the character
of Haman for a moment and let it be a warning
for us. Let's talk about this idea of bitterness
because Christians can be susceptible to this
as well. Where is this bitterness leading Haman?
Well, bitterness has been defined as an emotional
state characterized by feelings of anger, resentment,
and a sense of being either let down or just
plain wronged by somebody. It's often distinguished
from anger alone because with anger, anger comes
up quickly, but sometimes it subsides quickly.
But bitterness tends not to go away unless it's
dealt with. It's a long -term thing that can
get stuck deep within the heart, and it causes
us to not be able to move past something. Have
you ever had this before? It's just, I can't
move past this thing. Instead, it does the opposite.
Not only won't help you get past it, it feeds
and nurses whatever is stuck in the heart, makes
it worse. And it manifests in all kinds of ungodly
ways, in flashes of anger, in despair, in paranoia,
in antagonism or hostility towards other, in
the holding of grudges. Does that not sound like
Haman? As an adjective, the word bitter means
sharp like an arrow or pungent to the taste.
It can mean venomous. Because if it's not dealt
with, it's something that over time, it corrodes
the heart from within. It eats away at a person's
soul. One author I read this week described bitterness
as a poison concoction that stays in the bloodstream.
A poisonous concoction that stays in the bloodstream.
You get the point, right? Haman's bitterness
towards Mordecai and the Jewish people was stronger
than all of the wealth and power that the king
had given to him. He just cannot enjoy everything
unless all the Jews are destroyed. That is what
a root of bitterness will do to a human heart.
And it's going to be his undoing. So be warned,
it's going to be his undoing. The biggest danger
you and I face in succumbing to bitterness and
letting it rule our hearts is that it ends up
in a spirit that refuses to forgive and refuses
to reconcile. And there is a... If you talk to
somebody in biblical counseling, they'll tell
you there's a recognizable pattern to this. It
starts as an infection that enters into the body
through a wound. And oftentimes, it doesn't have
to be a big wound, but something that gets in
there. Maybe it's a critical word from somebody
or it's a heated argument. It's a simple misunderstanding.
It's an injustice or a betrayal, but it's a wound.
And wounds that don't get dealt with fester,
don't they? One important thing to note about
wounds, they can also be real or they can be
perceived. Even imagine. Sometimes we get wounded
by something very obvious. Somebody says something,
boom, it just hurts us, right? At other times,
we get wounded about what we think someone did
or what we think motivated them, but we really
don't know the motive, but we perceive it, and
so that wound hits us, and then we don't deal
with it. When the wound isn't treated, it festers
and it gets worse. And it leads to disappointment
and anger and resentment and sometimes silent
hostility. Gossip and slander towards the person
who's hurt you. And like Haman, every time you
see that person or think of that person, you're
irked by it. It's that guy. And something rises
up within you that's so ugly. It's that person.
And then pretty soon you're plotting their downfall.
Or if you can't do anything about it, you're
wishing for it. Maybe someday they will feel
the pain that they've made me feel. It's ugly,
isn't it? It's a spirit of hatred and a spirit
of unforgiveness. And guys, it's something that
the devil loves to exploit in believers to try
to just cut off our sanctification, to make us
angry. Hatred and unforgiveness are two things
that mark the life of an unredeemed man or woman,
not a Christ follower. So my closing exhortation,
guys, is be on alert. Guard your heart diligently,
the scripture says, for from it flows the heart,
right? Guard your heart diligently. That means
not allowing any root of bitterness to get planted
in the heart or grow. Cut that off before it
does, right? Ephesians 4 .31 says that you and
I must get rid of all bitterness, all rage and
anger, brawling and slander, along with every
form of malice. And then you see on the screen
in the next verse, we get the complimentary truth.
Instead do this, be kind to one another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave
you. Man, is that not the key? How dare we withhold
forgiveness? Do we expect to be forgiven at the
judgment seat? How dare we withhold our forgiveness
this side of heaven? Be tenderhearted, forgiving
one another as God and Christ forgave you. We
extend lavish amounts of grace and forgiveness
towards others because that's what we've received.
And how much is God's forgiveness? Seven times
70? Ours should be the same towards everyone
else, right? So learn a lesson about Haman. Learn
a lesson about Esther. Fasting and praying, discernment,
wisdom, right? Trusting the Lord. She's taken
a really good and godly step, has she not? But
Haman's going the other direction, isn't he?
He's getting angrier and more bitter, and it's
gonna be his undoing. We're gonna learn a lot
from these two, amen? Let's pray. Father, you
are our master teacher. In a narrative like this
where we look at this story and we say, what
do you have for us here, Lord? There is so many
layers of application for us as we look at the
character of Esther and we look at the character
of Haman. You have so much for us here, Lord.
May we be on guard in our hearts, in our minds,
not to fall into this pit that we see described
here. May we do the opposite, Lord. May we be
like Esther with a gentle and quiet spirit, one
who is sensitive to your spirit's leading. May
we seek your face through fasting and prayer
when we get into a tough spot. Father, I pray
for myself, pray for my brothers and sisters
that we would constantly be on guard against
bitterness and against anger. And all these things,
Lord, that are not a fruit of your spirit, protect
us. Give us the strength to guard our own hearts,
Lord. Do a work in us for your glory. Thank you
for this time this morning. We pray in Christ's
name.