WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.059 There are moments in history when it seems that 00:00:04.059 --> 00:00:08.599 the world stands still. A single decision is 00:00:08.599 --> 00:00:12.140 made, a single conversation takes place, a single 00:00:12.140 --> 00:00:15.179 action on a given day, and the course of human 00:00:15.179 --> 00:00:19.559 history changes forever. In recent history, we 00:00:19.559 --> 00:00:22.940 think about things like the day that the Japanese 00:00:22.940 --> 00:00:25.059 bombed Pearl Harbor and nothing was the same 00:00:25.059 --> 00:00:27.820 in this country. We think about 9 -11 when New 00:00:27.820 --> 00:00:31.399 York was attacked by Islamic terrorists. On a 00:00:31.399 --> 00:00:33.719 more personal level, we think about those great 00:00:33.719 --> 00:00:35.960 days in our lives, the day we get engaged or 00:00:35.960 --> 00:00:38.840 the day of our wedding, the day a child is born. 00:00:39.299 --> 00:00:41.539 Or most importantly, the day that we first trust 00:00:41.539 --> 00:00:44.740 in Christ. Momentous days in our lives. And there 00:00:44.740 --> 00:00:47.799 are many momentous days recorded for us in the 00:00:47.799 --> 00:00:50.820 Bible. The day that Noah entered the ark, for 00:00:50.820 --> 00:00:53.640 example. Big day. The day that Moses and his 00:00:53.640 --> 00:00:56.140 people crossed the Red Sea. The day that David 00:00:56.140 --> 00:00:59.240 became king over Israel. And as we look at the 00:00:59.240 --> 00:01:01.020 New Testament, we have the big three. The day 00:01:01.020 --> 00:01:03.979 that God's son was incarnated, took on flesh 00:01:03.979 --> 00:01:06.959 in the fullness of time. The day of his death 00:01:06.959 --> 00:01:09.599 on the cross. The glorious morning of his resurrection. 00:01:10.579 --> 00:01:13.459 We sometimes underestimate what God can do in 00:01:13.459 --> 00:01:17.099 just one day. Or in just one moment when everything 00:01:17.099 --> 00:01:19.659 changes. Scripture reminds us that with him, 00:01:19.680 --> 00:01:23.290 time is never ordinary. And so when he sovereignly 00:01:23.290 --> 00:01:27.129 moves, ordinary days become divine turning points. 00:01:27.409 --> 00:01:29.390 In fact, that's part of what we know about as 00:01:29.390 --> 00:01:32.230 we wait for Christ to return. We know that someday 00:01:32.230 --> 00:01:35.370 his eschatological timeframe is gonna begin to 00:01:35.370 --> 00:01:38.170 unfold and we will never be the same. This earth 00:01:38.170 --> 00:01:40.799 will never be the same. when that happens. So 00:01:40.799 --> 00:01:43.719 we look forward to that day when God will sovereignly 00:01:43.719 --> 00:01:45.920 move. Well, in the passage we're gonna look at 00:01:45.920 --> 00:01:47.879 this morning, we're gonna see one very important 00:01:47.879 --> 00:01:50.920 day in the history of God's people, Israel, a 00:01:50.920 --> 00:01:55.200 day of reversal, a day of rescue, a single moment 00:01:55.200 --> 00:01:57.299 that took place in the royal court of Persia 00:01:57.299 --> 00:02:00.540 when Queen Esther stood before her husband, the 00:02:00.540 --> 00:02:02.900 king, the most powerful man on earth at that 00:02:02.900 --> 00:02:06.879 time, and she named Haman, the man who was also 00:02:06.879 --> 00:02:11.550 there in that room, as the enemy. Esther had 00:02:11.550 --> 00:02:13.770 no idea at that time how the king was going to 00:02:13.770 --> 00:02:16.990 respond to that accusation. She had no control 00:02:16.990 --> 00:02:19.370 over the outcome of it all. In fact, perhaps 00:02:19.370 --> 00:02:22.330 it would lead to her death. What she did know 00:02:22.330 --> 00:02:24.949 was that remaining silent was no longer an option 00:02:24.949 --> 00:02:28.110 if the Jewish people living in Persia were going 00:02:28.110 --> 00:02:32.389 to survive. And on that big, momentous day, God's 00:02:32.389 --> 00:02:36.090 unseen, sovereign hand guided her path and turned 00:02:36.090 --> 00:02:39.159 the tables. on what Satan wanted to do, which 00:02:39.159 --> 00:02:42.400 was to destroy the Jewish people. One big decision, 00:02:42.659 --> 00:02:46.620 one huge conversation, one very important day. 00:02:47.180 --> 00:02:50.219 Grab your Bibles. We are indeed back in the book 00:02:50.219 --> 00:02:55.360 of Esther. Okay, just checking. I know it's been 00:02:55.360 --> 00:02:58.500 a while. I did the math last night. The last 00:02:58.500 --> 00:03:05.110 time we were in Esther was September 28th. That 00:03:05.110 --> 00:03:08.169 is not how you draw it up as a pastoral team. 00:03:08.509 --> 00:03:10.810 But here we are, right? This was, of course, 00:03:10.849 --> 00:03:13.509 that was right before Tanya and I left for Scotland. 00:03:13.569 --> 00:03:15.509 And then we came back. We went straight into 00:03:15.509 --> 00:03:18.310 our annual Reformation study. And then the holidays 00:03:18.310 --> 00:03:21.310 came. And I'm so grateful in between all that, 00:03:21.430 --> 00:03:25.210 Pastor Adam brought us a couple incredibly insightful 00:03:25.210 --> 00:03:27.710 and important messages from the book of Ecclesiastes. 00:03:27.909 --> 00:03:31.250 Thank you, Adam. But if my calculations are right, 00:03:31.289 --> 00:03:34.569 that means it's been 14 weeks. since we were 00:03:34.569 --> 00:03:36.509 last in Esther. And that means before we just 00:03:36.509 --> 00:03:38.909 dive into chapters six and seven this morning, 00:03:38.990 --> 00:03:41.789 we have to do some recapping and some summarizing 00:03:41.789 --> 00:03:44.129 so that we get your brains and your hearts back 00:03:44.129 --> 00:03:47.110 in the flow of the narrative of the text. So 00:03:47.110 --> 00:03:50.009 let me first reintroduce you to our main characters. 00:03:50.250 --> 00:03:52.370 And of course, you remember that I... I found 00:03:52.370 --> 00:03:54.750 these great AI images of them, so I'll put them 00:03:54.750 --> 00:03:56.590 on the screen because I think it's helpful to 00:03:56.590 --> 00:03:59.090 just have images as we look at the flat page 00:03:59.090 --> 00:04:01.310 to just sort of think about what these folks 00:04:01.310 --> 00:04:03.270 might have looked like. First, we have the king 00:04:03.270 --> 00:04:06.569 of Persia in this day. His name is Ahasuerus. 00:04:07.349 --> 00:04:09.409 That's how he's described in the Hebrew text. 00:04:09.789 --> 00:04:12.030 He's better known by what his enemies called 00:04:12.030 --> 00:04:14.770 him. The Greeks, they called him King Xerxes. 00:04:15.580 --> 00:04:18.379 He was the fourth king of the great Achaemenid 00:04:18.379 --> 00:04:21.660 dynasty of Persia, following after Cyrus the 00:04:21.660 --> 00:04:25.620 Great and his father Darius I. And Xerxes ruled 00:04:25.620 --> 00:04:28.420 over the Persian kingdom for 21 years in the 00:04:28.420 --> 00:04:31.500 5th century BC, a very historical and important 00:04:31.500 --> 00:04:33.980 character. Then there's the second man. We have 00:04:33.980 --> 00:04:36.720 Mordecai, the Jew. That's what he is called throughout 00:04:36.720 --> 00:04:39.519 the text. In case you didn't realize, his ethnicity 00:04:39.519 --> 00:04:42.319 as a Jew is very important to this part of the 00:04:42.319 --> 00:04:46.560 story. Mordecai served as a palace official in 00:04:46.560 --> 00:04:50.160 the Persian capital of Susa. He worked at the 00:04:50.160 --> 00:04:53.180 king's gate, which was sort of that front -facing 00:04:53.180 --> 00:04:56.319 gate of security between the city and the palace. 00:04:56.899 --> 00:04:59.220 And of course, then we have Esther, right, whose 00:04:59.220 --> 00:05:02.560 Hebrew birth name was Hadassah. A young woman 00:05:02.560 --> 00:05:06.839 who was Mordecai's orphaned younger cousin, having 00:05:06.839 --> 00:05:09.339 been raised by Mordecai after the death of her 00:05:09.339 --> 00:05:14.339 parents. And then finally we have... Very good. 00:05:15.180 --> 00:05:17.259 You guys, after 14 weeks, you haven't forgotten 00:05:17.259 --> 00:05:20.060 that. Good job. We have the great villain of 00:05:20.060 --> 00:05:23.139 the story, the wicked vizier of Persia, Haman, 00:05:23.240 --> 00:05:26.079 whose lineage, by the way, also matters. He was 00:05:26.079 --> 00:05:31.019 a descendant of King Agag, who was a Amalekite. 00:05:31.660 --> 00:05:35.279 This bitter enemy from Israel's past during the 00:05:35.279 --> 00:05:37.959 time of the Exodus. That matters as well. So 00:05:37.959 --> 00:05:39.699 I'm going to give you, we've done five chapters 00:05:39.699 --> 00:05:41.180 in Esther. I'm going to give you really quick 00:05:41.180 --> 00:05:43.680 summaries of those five chapters so that you 00:05:43.680 --> 00:05:46.180 feel like you're in the flow of the story. Chapter 00:05:46.180 --> 00:05:48.360 one, we're just going to call the removal of 00:05:48.360 --> 00:05:51.040 Queen Vashti. Remember, this takes place at one 00:05:51.040 --> 00:05:54.160 of two extravagant banquets thrown by the king 00:05:54.160 --> 00:05:57.660 in his capital city of Susa. The first banquet, 00:05:57.800 --> 00:06:00.740 do you remember how long it was? It lasted 180 00:06:00.740 --> 00:06:06.040 days. That is a party. And it was designed to 00:06:06.040 --> 00:06:08.600 display his wealth and power to his nobles in 00:06:08.600 --> 00:06:11.000 his kingdom. Then he held a much shorter seven 00:06:11.000 --> 00:06:13.560 -day feast for all the citizens of the city. 00:06:13.660 --> 00:06:15.600 And on the final day of that second banquet, 00:06:15.860 --> 00:06:19.800 the queen, probably a little inebriated, orders 00:06:19.800 --> 00:06:23.420 his queen, whose name is Vashti, to appear before 00:06:23.420 --> 00:06:25.620 all the guests at the banquet wearing her crown 00:06:25.620 --> 00:06:29.259 in order to showcase her beauty, but for his 00:06:29.259 --> 00:06:33.620 glory, right? What does Vashti do? She says, 00:06:33.660 --> 00:06:36.480 I'm not coming out. She refuses and she publicly 00:06:36.480 --> 00:06:39.980 embarrasses the king. And after consulting with 00:06:39.980 --> 00:06:43.259 his advisors and hearing them warn him, look, 00:06:43.399 --> 00:06:46.139 if Vashti gets away with this, all the Persian 00:06:46.139 --> 00:06:48.879 women in the kingdom are gonna begin to be, gonna 00:06:48.879 --> 00:06:52.160 be defiant against their husbands. After getting 00:06:52.160 --> 00:06:54.860 counsel from his advisors to depose her and replace 00:06:54.860 --> 00:06:58.839 her, King Xerxes issues this edict and sends 00:06:58.839 --> 00:07:01.759 it out across the entire empire. So that's chapter 00:07:01.759 --> 00:07:04.160 one. Chapter two, we'll just call Esther becomes 00:07:04.160 --> 00:07:08.019 queen. So Vashti is banished. And the king begins 00:07:08.019 --> 00:07:11.139 a new search for a queen. And he sends his servants 00:07:11.139 --> 00:07:13.899 far and wide across the kingdom to find every 00:07:13.899 --> 00:07:17.379 most beautiful virgin to fill his harem. And 00:07:17.379 --> 00:07:19.759 this is where we're introduced to Mordecai. And 00:07:19.759 --> 00:07:22.519 we find out that Esther has been chosen as one 00:07:22.519 --> 00:07:24.939 of those women who may replace the queen. And 00:07:24.939 --> 00:07:27.500 she is brought to the palace. And she wins the 00:07:27.500 --> 00:07:31.399 favor of the king's chief eunuch, which was very 00:07:31.399 --> 00:07:33.399 important because this guy was in the center 00:07:33.399 --> 00:07:36.689 of the politics of Susa. And following the advice 00:07:36.689 --> 00:07:40.689 of Mordecai, Esther conceals her Jewish identity. 00:07:40.970 --> 00:07:43.949 That is incredibly important to understand. Conceals 00:07:43.949 --> 00:07:47.209 her Jewish identity. And after a year of preparing, 00:07:47.470 --> 00:07:50.430 of getting ready to meet the king, she goes in 00:07:50.430 --> 00:07:53.129 to see him. She captivates the heart of King 00:07:53.129 --> 00:07:56.529 Xerxes, and he crowns her queen at a grand banquet. 00:07:57.230 --> 00:07:59.290 And you might recall that I spent some time discussing 00:07:59.290 --> 00:08:01.990 some of the cultural factors involved in all 00:08:01.990 --> 00:08:06.269 this because this concept of a beauty pageant 00:08:06.269 --> 00:08:08.889 and a harem, this is all very foreign to us in 00:08:08.889 --> 00:08:11.949 modern days. And I talked about what I see as 00:08:11.949 --> 00:08:14.670 some of the spiritual compromises on the part 00:08:14.670 --> 00:08:18.209 of both Mordecai and Esther as Jews. And I won't 00:08:18.209 --> 00:08:20.009 rehash all of that because I know some of you 00:08:20.009 --> 00:08:23.019 are still recovering. from having me destroying 00:08:23.019 --> 00:08:25.959 your vision of Esther. And you might recall that 00:08:25.959 --> 00:08:31.420 Josh C. put this meme up on Church Center. Still 00:08:31.420 --> 00:08:33.039 one of the funniest moments in the history of 00:08:33.039 --> 00:08:36.840 our church. of me destroying their childhood 00:08:36.840 --> 00:08:39.240 memories of Esther. But no, there's spiritual 00:08:39.240 --> 00:08:42.340 compromise throughout this story. These are Jews 00:08:42.340 --> 00:08:44.120 living in Persia. They have not returned to the 00:08:44.120 --> 00:08:46.799 Holy Land and they're participating in this process. 00:08:47.059 --> 00:08:48.980 You can go back and listen to those messages. 00:08:49.159 --> 00:08:52.659 I won't put them back in your head. Meanwhile, 00:08:52.820 --> 00:08:55.039 as Esther's being hailed as the new queen of 00:08:55.039 --> 00:08:57.860 Persia, Mordecai, who's working at the king's 00:08:57.860 --> 00:09:01.580 gate, overhears two fellow officials plotting 00:09:01.580 --> 00:09:05.419 to assassinate the king. So he informs Esther, 00:09:05.620 --> 00:09:09.340 Esther alerts the king, and that plot is foiled, 00:09:09.379 --> 00:09:12.059 and then the story of that plot being found out, 00:09:12.100 --> 00:09:15.019 it gets recorded in the Royal Chronicles. That's 00:09:15.019 --> 00:09:17.720 chapter two. Put that, get that down. Chapter 00:09:17.720 --> 00:09:20.539 three, we call Haman's plot against the Jews. 00:09:20.740 --> 00:09:23.539 The king promotes this man Haman to the position 00:09:23.539 --> 00:09:27.100 of chief vizier, which means he's basically the 00:09:27.100 --> 00:09:29.919 number two man behind the king, the second most 00:09:29.919 --> 00:09:33.909 powerful man in the entire Persian kingdom, Everybody 00:09:33.909 --> 00:09:36.110 is told, every official is told, you must bow 00:09:36.110 --> 00:09:39.350 down before this man, Haman. But because he's 00:09:39.350 --> 00:09:42.309 an Amalekite and because he's an arrogant leader, 00:09:42.649 --> 00:09:46.149 Mordecai refuses to honor him, refuses to bow 00:09:46.149 --> 00:09:49.309 down. And being enraged by this, Haman finds 00:09:49.309 --> 00:09:51.809 out, first of all, that Mordecai is a Jew. That 00:09:51.809 --> 00:09:54.789 stirs up all of his ancient hatred. And he goes 00:09:54.789 --> 00:09:57.830 into the king and he cleverly convinces Xerxes 00:09:57.830 --> 00:10:01.929 that the Jews are a disloyal people. Disloyal. 00:10:02.269 --> 00:10:04.649 They're a threat to the Persian kingdom. And 00:10:04.649 --> 00:10:07.389 he secures permission from the king and 10 ,000 00:10:07.389 --> 00:10:10.250 talents of silver to annihilate the Jewish people. 00:10:10.629 --> 00:10:13.750 On the 13th day of the 12th month, which had 00:10:13.750 --> 00:10:16.570 been chosen by what? The casting of lots, which 00:10:16.570 --> 00:10:19.529 are called purr in Persian. That's going to come 00:10:19.529 --> 00:10:22.769 up later when we talk about Purim, right? So 00:10:22.769 --> 00:10:25.009 Haman drafts this death warrant to the Jewish 00:10:25.009 --> 00:10:27.929 people in a decree that once again is sent across 00:10:27.929 --> 00:10:31.370 the entire kingdom to every province. That's 00:10:31.370 --> 00:10:34.789 chapter three. Chapter four, we call Mordecai 00:10:34.789 --> 00:10:38.909 urges Esther to act. When Mordecai becomes aware 00:10:38.909 --> 00:10:41.809 of this wicked decree and the imminent death 00:10:41.809 --> 00:10:44.690 of the Jewish people, he goes into a state of 00:10:44.690 --> 00:10:47.830 public mourning and sackcloth and ash. Inside 00:10:47.830 --> 00:10:51.090 the palace, Esther hears that her older cousin 00:10:51.090 --> 00:10:53.669 is doing this in the city streets, and she wants 00:10:53.669 --> 00:10:56.389 to fix the problem, so she sends him some clothes. 00:10:56.629 --> 00:10:59.710 He refuses to receive them, and then he tells 00:10:59.710 --> 00:11:02.590 the messenger, go back to Queen Esther and tell 00:11:02.590 --> 00:11:05.690 her what's going on. Tell her to plead with the 00:11:05.690 --> 00:11:09.350 king to reverse this decree. And he exhorts her 00:11:09.350 --> 00:11:11.809 very firmly. He says, look, if you stay silent, 00:11:11.889 --> 00:11:14.470 Esther, yes, Yahweh is faithful. He will find 00:11:14.470 --> 00:11:17.080 another way to rescue us. But then he adds that 00:11:17.080 --> 00:11:20.519 famous line. He says, but perhaps you have attained 00:11:20.519 --> 00:11:25.080 to royalty for such a time as this. That's a 00:11:25.080 --> 00:11:27.299 great challenge, right? And so Esther goes into 00:11:27.299 --> 00:11:29.820 fasting and prayer for three days. She considers 00:11:29.820 --> 00:11:32.419 all that might happen to her. If she goes into 00:11:32.419 --> 00:11:35.000 King Xerxes without being invited, she could 00:11:35.000 --> 00:11:37.940 be put to death. She considers all that. And 00:11:37.940 --> 00:11:40.960 then she courageously says, look, if I perish, 00:11:41.159 --> 00:11:44.649 I perish. And she resolves to approach the king 00:11:44.649 --> 00:11:47.570 in order to save her people. That's chapter four. 00:11:47.769 --> 00:11:50.610 Then last time we looked at chapter five, Esther's 00:11:50.610 --> 00:11:53.389 banquet invitations. This is where the whole 00:11:53.389 --> 00:11:56.309 story gets very intriguing. This was back in 00:11:56.309 --> 00:11:59.570 October. We looked at this chapter. Esther approaches 00:11:59.570 --> 00:12:02.809 the inner court of the king with fear and trembling, 00:12:02.970 --> 00:12:05.669 but he doesn't reject her. In fact, he extends 00:12:05.669 --> 00:12:08.580 to her the golden scepter. to accept her and 00:12:08.580 --> 00:12:10.899 to have this conversation with her. And the king 00:12:10.899 --> 00:12:14.279 entreats Esther to ask him whatever she wants. 00:12:14.379 --> 00:12:16.940 And he promises up to half of his kingdom. He 00:12:16.940 --> 00:12:21.179 loves this woman. But to our surprise, in that 00:12:21.179 --> 00:12:23.139 moment, we would think at that moment, Esther 00:12:23.139 --> 00:12:25.500 would just blurt out, Haman's trying to kill 00:12:25.500 --> 00:12:29.600 me. But she doesn't, does she? Instead, she invites 00:12:29.600 --> 00:12:33.360 him, the king, and Haman to a banquet that day. 00:12:33.960 --> 00:12:36.759 And they arrive at the banquet. And Xerxes repeats 00:12:36.759 --> 00:12:39.200 his offer. I'll give you anything that you want. 00:12:39.320 --> 00:12:42.919 And for a second time, Esther asks them to another 00:12:42.919 --> 00:12:46.039 banquet that will take place the next day. And 00:12:46.039 --> 00:12:48.139 the reader is left kind of puzzled by this. Why 00:12:48.139 --> 00:12:51.360 is she delaying this? We'll find out later. As 00:12:51.360 --> 00:12:53.320 Haman is returning to his home that afternoon, 00:12:53.559 --> 00:12:56.240 he once again sees Mordecai who will not bow 00:12:56.240 --> 00:12:59.440 down to him. And he's enraged by this. And he 00:12:59.440 --> 00:13:02.159 tells his wife, this Mordecai has got to go. 00:13:02.279 --> 00:13:03.700 And she says, well, why don't you do something 00:13:03.700 --> 00:13:06.610 about it? Why don't you build a gallows where 00:13:06.610 --> 00:13:08.990 you can put him to death, go to the king and 00:13:08.990 --> 00:13:12.269 ask for permission to execute this man? And that 00:13:12.269 --> 00:13:15.529 pleases Haman. And that's where we left off on 00:13:15.529 --> 00:13:18.389 this cliffhanger back in October of chapter five. 00:13:18.450 --> 00:13:21.990 We're now up to speed. Now, 14 weeks ago, I said 00:13:21.990 --> 00:13:24.730 chapters five, six, and seven are basically one 00:13:24.730 --> 00:13:27.559 pericope, one unit of thought. But we only had 00:13:27.559 --> 00:13:30.100 time for chapter 5 back then, so today we're 00:13:30.100 --> 00:13:32.740 going to read through all of chapter 6 and 7 00:13:32.740 --> 00:13:35.080 to sort of close the loop on this particular 00:13:35.080 --> 00:13:36.679 unit of thought, which means we're biting off 00:13:36.679 --> 00:13:39.340 more than usual in terms of reading, so you need 00:13:39.340 --> 00:13:41.259 to stick with me. By the way, our plan is to 00:13:41.259 --> 00:13:44.059 finish Esther here in January, and then for those 00:13:44.059 --> 00:13:45.700 of you who may be visiting this morning, beginning 00:13:45.700 --> 00:13:48.679 in February, we're going to start what is going 00:13:48.679 --> 00:13:51.399 to have to be a multi -year study in the book 00:13:51.399 --> 00:13:55.049 of 1 Corinthians, which will be fun. Okay. Still 00:13:55.049 --> 00:14:01.029 got your Bibles open to Esther chapter 6? Let's 00:14:01.029 --> 00:14:05.529 take a look at verse 1. During that night, the 00:14:05.529 --> 00:14:08.690 king could not sleep. So he gave an order to 00:14:08.690 --> 00:14:11.409 bring the book of records, the chronicles, and 00:14:11.409 --> 00:14:14.450 they were read before the king. Now, how many 00:14:14.450 --> 00:14:17.950 of us have done this before, right? You can't 00:14:17.950 --> 00:14:20.110 sleep. You're tossing and turning in bed. You 00:14:20.110 --> 00:14:22.100 start punching your pillow. You're like, why 00:14:22.100 --> 00:14:23.759 can't I fall asleep? For me, it's usually because 00:14:23.759 --> 00:14:25.860 I got too much on the brain and these thoughts 00:14:25.860 --> 00:14:27.799 are all running through my head. So what do you 00:14:27.799 --> 00:14:30.620 do? It makes no sense to stay in bed. You get 00:14:30.620 --> 00:14:33.080 up and you move, right? And if you really want 00:14:33.080 --> 00:14:36.360 to get sleepy again, you read a book. That seems 00:14:36.360 --> 00:14:38.419 to work every time. Only when you're the king, 00:14:38.639 --> 00:14:41.019 you don't read a book. You wake up your servants 00:14:41.019 --> 00:14:43.840 and say, hey, read the book to me. And that's 00:14:43.840 --> 00:14:46.679 what Xerxes does. Now, here's the thing. I'm 00:14:46.679 --> 00:14:48.960 sure there was an unlimited number of books that 00:14:48.960 --> 00:14:51.490 Xerxes could have asked to be read to him. He's 00:14:51.490 --> 00:14:54.429 got a massive library. But he chooses his own 00:14:54.429 --> 00:14:57.250 chronicles, which record the details of the most 00:14:57.250 --> 00:15:00.190 recent events of the royal court. In verse 2, 00:15:00.269 --> 00:15:03.429 it was found written in those chronicles what 00:15:03.429 --> 00:15:06.809 Mordecai had reported concerning Bigthana and 00:15:06.809 --> 00:15:10.149 Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs who were doorkeepers 00:15:10.149 --> 00:15:13.289 at the king's gate, that they had sought to lay 00:15:13.289 --> 00:15:18.490 hands or assassinate King Ahasuerus. So he reads 00:15:18.490 --> 00:15:20.980 about the assassination attempt. And you can 00:15:20.980 --> 00:15:22.980 sort of picture him. He's sitting in the chair. 00:15:23.340 --> 00:15:25.039 You know, he's listening to this. Maybe he's 00:15:25.039 --> 00:15:27.159 starting to get a little bit sleepy. But then 00:15:27.159 --> 00:15:28.919 he hears the story of this attempt on his life, 00:15:29.000 --> 00:15:31.620 which will wake any man up, right? There's people 00:15:31.620 --> 00:15:34.799 that want to kill me. And suddenly, he holds 00:15:34.799 --> 00:15:36.740 up his hand to the serpent. He says, hold on 00:15:36.740 --> 00:15:39.659 a second. Hold on. And his brain begins to spin. 00:15:39.879 --> 00:15:42.059 In verse 3, he says, and the king said to them, 00:15:42.200 --> 00:15:45.799 what honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai 00:15:45.799 --> 00:15:49.519 for this? Okay, good, so this is not an accident, 00:15:49.639 --> 00:15:52.480 right, that that's come to his mind. And he says, 00:15:52.519 --> 00:15:55.960 wait a second, did we not honor Mordecai for 00:15:55.960 --> 00:15:59.940 saving my life? And then verse three goes on. 00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:01.759 Then the king's servants who attended him said, 00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:04.500 and you picture the king's servants kind of going, 00:16:04.539 --> 00:16:07.600 uh -oh, don't get mad at me, but nothing has 00:16:07.600 --> 00:16:11.299 been done for him. You can almost see the king's 00:16:11.299 --> 00:16:14.100 countenance fall as he hears this news. How could 00:16:14.100 --> 00:16:17.960 such an outstanding deed of loyalty have gone 00:16:17.960 --> 00:16:20.940 unrewarded. This is going to reflect poorly on 00:16:20.940 --> 00:16:24.360 his rule. So Xerxes is going to take action on 00:16:24.360 --> 00:16:27.059 this. But then we come to verse 4, and you get 00:16:27.059 --> 00:16:29.480 a sense now that some time has passed, maybe 00:16:29.480 --> 00:16:32.379 hours since the king had first got up and heard 00:16:32.379 --> 00:16:35.940 about this oversight. And apparently he can't 00:16:35.940 --> 00:16:38.139 go back to sleep because this is really bothering 00:16:38.139 --> 00:16:41.070 him. It's now early in the morning and he hears 00:16:41.070 --> 00:16:43.669 somebody arrive at the palace. Clearly somebody 00:16:43.669 --> 00:16:45.710 has come bright and early at the crack of dawn 00:16:45.710 --> 00:16:48.610 to present something to him. Verse four. So the 00:16:48.610 --> 00:16:51.269 king said, who's in the court? Who's making that 00:16:51.269 --> 00:16:54.830 racket out there? Who's arrived? Now Haman had 00:16:54.830 --> 00:16:57.110 just entered the outer court of the king's palace 00:16:57.110 --> 00:17:01.110 in order to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai 00:17:01.110 --> 00:17:03.710 on the gallows, which he had prepared for him. 00:17:04.190 --> 00:17:07.589 The king's servant said to him, Behold, Haman 00:17:07.589 --> 00:17:10.289 is standing in the court and the king said, all 00:17:10.289 --> 00:17:14.349 right, let him come in. My guess is, I can't 00:17:14.349 --> 00:17:16.829 prove this by the text, but my guess is Haman 00:17:16.829 --> 00:17:19.990 had a whole script prepared for this meeting. 00:17:20.349 --> 00:17:23.269 He was probably up half the night rehearsing 00:17:23.269 --> 00:17:26.490 it. He is fully prepared to convince the king 00:17:26.490 --> 00:17:29.869 that Mordecai is this massive threat and he needs 00:17:29.869 --> 00:17:33.269 to die. So of course he's anxious, he arrives 00:17:33.269 --> 00:17:35.630 at the crack of dawn, he's excited to lay out 00:17:35.630 --> 00:17:39.089 his case, but then the unexpected happens. Before 00:17:39.089 --> 00:17:41.670 he can say a word, the king brings up what's 00:17:41.670 --> 00:17:44.890 on his mind, what he just heard from his own 00:17:44.890 --> 00:17:47.410 chronicles that Mordecai hasn't been rewarded. 00:17:47.809 --> 00:17:50.569 Verse six, so Haman came in and the king said 00:17:50.569 --> 00:17:53.049 to him, what is to be done for the man whom the 00:17:53.049 --> 00:17:55.930 king desires to honor? Ooh, doesn't mention a 00:17:55.930 --> 00:17:59.029 name. The man that the king desires to honor. 00:17:59.789 --> 00:18:02.109 And Haman is thrown off by the king's question, 00:18:02.230 --> 00:18:04.109 right? But because of the pride in his heart, 00:18:04.230 --> 00:18:07.390 who does he think the king's talking about? Obviously 00:18:07.390 --> 00:18:11.490 himself. He's the man to be honored. The verse 00:18:11.490 --> 00:18:15.490 tells us, Haman said to himself, whom would the 00:18:15.490 --> 00:18:19.230 king desire to honor more than me, right? As 00:18:19.230 --> 00:18:21.809 he pounds his chest, more than me. I'm the man. 00:18:22.630 --> 00:18:25.529 So he's got visions of applause dancing through 00:18:25.529 --> 00:18:27.910 his head, right? Cheers from the crowds, right? 00:18:28.589 --> 00:18:31.690 It's all dancing through Haman's mind. It never 00:18:31.690 --> 00:18:34.589 occurs to him that the king could be talking 00:18:34.589 --> 00:18:36.710 about somebody else. And get this, the king is 00:18:36.710 --> 00:18:40.710 now asking him how he wants to be honored. Literally, 00:18:40.990 --> 00:18:44.390 Haman's dream is coming true here. This is the 00:18:44.390 --> 00:18:47.150 best day of his life. He gets to basically say, 00:18:47.289 --> 00:18:49.369 this is how I want to be honored. So he starts 00:18:49.369 --> 00:18:51.890 to rattle off this list of ways that the king 00:18:51.890 --> 00:18:54.430 should honor him. Verse 7, Haman said to the 00:18:54.430 --> 00:18:57.309 king, For the man whom the king desires to honor, 00:18:57.809 --> 00:19:01.349 hmm, let me think. Well, let them bring a royal 00:19:01.349 --> 00:19:05.849 robe which the king has worn. Oh, interesting. 00:19:06.029 --> 00:19:09.809 I want to play king. And the horse on which the 00:19:09.809 --> 00:19:13.130 king is ridden and on whose head a royal crown 00:19:13.130 --> 00:19:15.529 has been placed. In other words, make me look 00:19:15.529 --> 00:19:18.410 like the king. And let the robe and the horse 00:19:18.410 --> 00:19:21.089 be handed over to one of the king's most noble 00:19:21.089 --> 00:19:24.440 princes. Let this important guy do this. And 00:19:24.440 --> 00:19:26.180 let them array the man whom the king desires 00:19:26.180 --> 00:19:28.880 to honor and lead him on horseback through the 00:19:28.880 --> 00:19:32.480 city square and proclaim, announce before him, 00:19:32.619 --> 00:19:35.240 thus it shall be done to the man whom the king 00:19:35.240 --> 00:19:38.980 desires to honor. Now, look closely at that list 00:19:38.980 --> 00:19:43.079 of things, how ridiculous it is. It's all pomp 00:19:43.079 --> 00:19:45.819 and circumstance. It's all superficial. It's 00:19:45.819 --> 00:19:49.319 all self -glorifying. He doesn't ask, for example, 00:19:49.500 --> 00:19:52.619 to give any recognition to his family or any 00:19:52.619 --> 00:19:55.559 recognition to his fellow officials at the court, 00:19:55.640 --> 00:19:58.680 to even maybe lift up somebody who got him to 00:19:58.680 --> 00:20:01.380 this place. He's thinking of nobody but himself. 00:20:01.720 --> 00:20:05.980 This is a tragic tale as old as time itself. 00:20:06.039 --> 00:20:09.339 The pride of mankind just oozing out of this 00:20:09.339 --> 00:20:12.869 man. Haman. In fact, Solomon says in Proverbs 00:20:12.869 --> 00:20:17.269 26 that he who digs a pit will fall into it. 00:20:17.369 --> 00:20:21.390 And he who rolls a stone, it will come back on 00:20:21.390 --> 00:20:23.970 him. This is what Haman is doing in this moment 00:20:23.970 --> 00:20:27.150 because of his pride. And how often in our daily 00:20:27.150 --> 00:20:29.869 lives we hear about wicked people like Haman 00:20:29.869 --> 00:20:33.359 who they appear to be prospering. But we don't 00:20:33.359 --> 00:20:35.960 know the full story. We don't know how God is 00:20:35.960 --> 00:20:38.519 working behind the scenes, giving that man over 00:20:38.519 --> 00:20:41.980 to his devices, over to his pride, and that really 00:20:41.980 --> 00:20:44.700 what that man is doing, even as we see him prospering, 00:20:44.720 --> 00:20:48.220 this man is setting a trap and digging a pit 00:20:48.220 --> 00:20:51.039 that someday he is gonna fall into. That is just 00:20:51.039 --> 00:20:53.599 a reality. We have to remember this when we see 00:20:53.599 --> 00:20:55.960 people that we think don't deserve any goodness 00:20:55.960 --> 00:20:58.839 because of their wicked hearts when we see them 00:20:58.839 --> 00:21:01.519 prospering. Trust what God is doing behind the 00:21:01.519 --> 00:21:04.400 scenes. But you can picture the glow on Haman's 00:21:04.400 --> 00:21:07.160 face as the king now starts to issue the command 00:21:07.160 --> 00:21:09.920 that he thinks is going to be applied to him. 00:21:11.019 --> 00:21:14.079 But this is a day of great surprise. Verse 10. 00:21:14.359 --> 00:21:16.940 Then the king said to Haman, take quickly the 00:21:16.940 --> 00:21:20.740 robes and the horse, as you have said, and do 00:21:20.740 --> 00:21:27.900 so for Mordecai the Jew. Dum, dum, dum. Right? 00:21:28.259 --> 00:21:30.339 Who is sitting at the king's gate right now. 00:21:31.000 --> 00:21:35.160 And do not fall short in anything of all that 00:21:35.160 --> 00:21:41.680 you have said. Do all of it for Mordecai. Can 00:21:41.680 --> 00:21:45.779 you imagine the shock on Haman's face? The color 00:21:45.779 --> 00:21:49.940 draining from his face as he hears the name Mordecai. 00:21:49.980 --> 00:21:52.319 His most hated enemy is now going to get all 00:21:52.319 --> 00:21:55.039 the glory that he just suggested to the king. 00:21:55.480 --> 00:22:00.059 And he, Haman, is the one who has to carry it 00:22:00.059 --> 00:22:03.569 out. The pain of this must have been awful in 00:22:03.569 --> 00:22:05.690 his prideful heart. It's Mordecai, that Jew, 00:22:05.890 --> 00:22:10.410 ooh, that Jew. He's gonna be dressed in a royal 00:22:10.410 --> 00:22:12.630 robe. He's gonna be the hero in front of the 00:22:12.630 --> 00:22:16.230 city. Mordecai, the same man that Haman thought 00:22:16.230 --> 00:22:19.990 he was about to have executed. This is the ultimate 00:22:19.990 --> 00:22:25.470 reversal of fortune, isn't it? Verse 11, so Haman 00:22:25.470 --> 00:22:30.019 took the robe and the horse. And he arrayed Mordecai 00:22:30.019 --> 00:22:32.000 and led him on horseback through the city square. 00:22:32.299 --> 00:22:36.240 Picture it. And proclaimed before him, thus it 00:22:36.240 --> 00:22:38.079 shall be done to the man whom the king desires 00:22:38.079 --> 00:22:40.920 to honor. Like, you can picture him not saying 00:22:40.920 --> 00:22:45.740 that with all of his, you know, energy. Imagine 00:22:45.740 --> 00:22:50.460 the pain for a prideful man. Verse 12. Then Mordecai 00:22:50.460 --> 00:22:52.259 returned to the king's gate. The show's over. 00:22:52.559 --> 00:22:54.859 He's like, I'm going back to work. Goes back 00:22:54.859 --> 00:22:58.440 to the king's gate. But Haman, it says, he hurried 00:22:58.440 --> 00:23:04.039 home, mourning with his head covered. This day 00:23:04.039 --> 00:23:07.980 has not gone well. The day before he had come 00:23:07.980 --> 00:23:10.140 home, remember, he was swelling with pride. He 00:23:10.140 --> 00:23:12.460 was gushing with words of his own greatness and 00:23:12.460 --> 00:23:15.759 glory. Now he's coming home with his head covered. 00:23:15.940 --> 00:23:18.259 And in ancient Near East culture, basically that 00:23:18.259 --> 00:23:22.299 is a sign of mourning and dejection and humiliation. 00:23:23.140 --> 00:23:25.400 It's as if someone close to him had died, but 00:23:25.400 --> 00:23:28.259 really what's died is his pride -filled heart. 00:23:28.940 --> 00:23:31.900 And as he walks in the door, at least he expects 00:23:31.900 --> 00:23:33.960 to be consoled by his family and friends, right? 00:23:34.339 --> 00:23:38.539 He's not even going to get that. Verse 13, Haman 00:23:38.539 --> 00:23:41.140 recounted to Zeresh, his wife, and all his friends 00:23:41.140 --> 00:23:43.839 everything that had happened to him. And how 00:23:43.839 --> 00:23:47.079 do they react? With sympathy? With encouragement? 00:23:48.279 --> 00:23:52.220 No, they prophesy to him. This is wild. It says, 00:23:52.279 --> 00:23:55.619 then his wise men, his advisors, and Zeresh's 00:23:55.619 --> 00:23:59.779 wife said to him, If Mordecai, before whom you 00:23:59.779 --> 00:24:05.980 have begun to fall, is of Jewish origin, you 00:24:05.980 --> 00:24:08.819 will not overcome him, but you will surely fall 00:24:08.819 --> 00:24:11.500 before him. Now, why would they say, what do 00:24:11.500 --> 00:24:13.980 these Persian people know of the Jews? Well, 00:24:13.980 --> 00:24:17.839 they know that Yahweh is Israel's protector and 00:24:17.839 --> 00:24:19.980 redeemer. They know this from their own history, 00:24:20.140 --> 00:24:23.000 right? From the days of Cyrus the Great. They 00:24:23.000 --> 00:24:25.980 know how Yahweh protects his people. And so Haman's 00:24:25.980 --> 00:24:28.400 counselors, even his wife in this moment, begin 00:24:28.400 --> 00:24:31.019 to move away from him. The unseen hand of God 00:24:31.019 --> 00:24:33.819 is moving them away from Haman. They know something 00:24:33.819 --> 00:24:36.720 bad is coming. And really, guys, this is an amazing 00:24:36.720 --> 00:24:40.079 thing to see unbelievers prophesying. Gentiles, 00:24:40.200 --> 00:24:43.380 Gentiles are the ones here in this story, ironically, 00:24:43.400 --> 00:24:46.400 who proclaim Yahweh's eternal love for the Jewish 00:24:46.400 --> 00:24:49.099 people. Now, there's other places in the Bible 00:24:49.099 --> 00:24:51.079 where we see this. Balaam, right, in Numbers 00:24:51.079 --> 00:24:54.569 22. Right, when unbelievers, when pagans do this. 00:24:54.630 --> 00:24:57.210 Think about another famous wife, Pilate's wife, 00:24:57.410 --> 00:25:00.950 who has a dream and then prophesies to Pilate, 00:25:00.970 --> 00:25:03.230 have nothing to do with this man Jesus who's 00:25:03.230 --> 00:25:06.769 on trial. So interesting parallel there. But 00:25:06.769 --> 00:25:09.710 Haman is in trouble and he's out of time because 00:25:09.710 --> 00:25:12.109 look at verse 14. While they were still talking 00:25:12.109 --> 00:25:15.509 with him, the king's eunuchs arrived and hastily, 00:25:15.569 --> 00:25:19.349 quickly brought Haman to the banquet which Esther 00:25:19.349 --> 00:25:23.190 had prepared. Is God moving? The kingdom of heaven 00:25:23.190 --> 00:25:25.049 is moving against the kingdom of earth right 00:25:25.049 --> 00:25:27.490 here. This is amazing. Let's go over to Esther 00:25:27.490 --> 00:25:32.869 chapter 7. Now here's where we're going to see 00:25:32.869 --> 00:25:35.289 Esther begin to shine. I know I've been hard 00:25:35.289 --> 00:25:37.650 on her in this series, but this is going to be 00:25:37.650 --> 00:25:41.329 her shining moment where she is going to grow 00:25:41.329 --> 00:25:43.509 in courage and what we're going to see, grow 00:25:43.509 --> 00:25:47.180 in shrewdness, cleverness. This has been a trajectory 00:25:47.180 --> 00:25:49.660 she's been on since chapter four. When she first 00:25:49.660 --> 00:25:52.140 came to terms with the fact that she has an important 00:25:52.140 --> 00:25:54.740 role to play to save her people, it started there. 00:25:54.960 --> 00:25:57.359 And then once she successfully navigated that 00:25:57.359 --> 00:25:59.539 first appearance before the king and she got 00:25:59.539 --> 00:26:02.079 the golden scepter and she wasn't killed, she 00:26:02.079 --> 00:26:05.099 began to grow in her trust in Yahweh, in her 00:26:05.099 --> 00:26:08.339 resolve to put her life on the line. So by the 00:26:08.339 --> 00:26:10.420 time we get to chapter seven, we're going to 00:26:10.420 --> 00:26:13.740 see that she becomes a very wise and shrewd negotiator. 00:26:14.160 --> 00:26:16.420 Look at verse one. Now the king and Haman came 00:26:16.420 --> 00:26:19.059 to drink wine with Esther the queen. By the way, 00:26:19.079 --> 00:26:22.799 how worried do you think Haman is at this moment? 00:26:24.200 --> 00:26:26.660 His wife and counselors have just prophesied 00:26:26.660 --> 00:26:29.480 his downfall. But in that setting, does he think 00:26:29.480 --> 00:26:32.680 he's safe? I think he does. And this is what 00:26:32.680 --> 00:26:35.039 pride will do. It will blind you to reality at 00:26:35.039 --> 00:26:37.039 times. But I don't think he has at this point 00:26:37.039 --> 00:26:40.359 any concerns about Esther. In fact, he may very 00:26:40.359 --> 00:26:43.500 well see her as an ally. After all, she's invited 00:26:43.500 --> 00:26:45.539 him now to two banquets to dine with the king, 00:26:45.720 --> 00:26:49.660 and he believes that he has Xerxes in his pocket 00:26:49.660 --> 00:26:53.660 as well. This is my close friend. He feels pretty 00:26:53.660 --> 00:26:56.500 good about this. I don't think he has any concerns 00:26:56.500 --> 00:26:59.200 about Esther. So rather than feel threatened 00:26:59.200 --> 00:27:01.240 in this moment, I think he lets his guard down, 00:27:01.339 --> 00:27:04.819 and then with a little bit of wine, I think he 00:27:04.819 --> 00:27:07.359 is not worried at all. But don't forget this 00:27:07.359 --> 00:27:10.220 important fact. He still doesn't know that Esther 00:27:10.220 --> 00:27:14.750 is a Jew. Right? Verse two. And the king said 00:27:14.750 --> 00:27:16.950 to Esther on the second day also, as they drank 00:27:16.950 --> 00:27:19.190 their wine at the banquet, what is your petition, 00:27:19.529 --> 00:27:22.450 Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what 00:27:22.450 --> 00:27:24.869 is your request? Even to half of the kingdom, 00:27:24.890 --> 00:27:28.309 it should be done. So the subject of Esther's 00:27:28.309 --> 00:27:30.269 request is once again brought up by the king. 00:27:30.529 --> 00:27:33.490 It's he who is now eager to hear what's going 00:27:33.490 --> 00:27:36.990 on. Now, he might be just curious or perhaps 00:27:36.990 --> 00:27:39.650 he senses in Esther that she's troubled by something, 00:27:39.809 --> 00:27:42.869 but he's anxious to get to the mystery behind 00:27:42.869 --> 00:27:46.390 these multiple banquet invitations and this long 00:27:46.390 --> 00:27:49.329 drawn out petition that she has. And I think 00:27:49.329 --> 00:27:51.130 it's obvious from the narrative that Xerxes really 00:27:51.130 --> 00:27:54.630 loves this woman. He really does. So whatever 00:27:54.630 --> 00:27:58.390 concerns her is a concern of his. And once again, 00:27:58.430 --> 00:28:00.569 he assures Esther that, look, I'm going to grant 00:28:00.569 --> 00:28:04.200 your petition, just ask it. And look, we know 00:28:04.200 --> 00:28:06.119 that the king trusts the people closest to him. 00:28:06.200 --> 00:28:08.640 This is a pattern in Xerxes' life. Remember back 00:28:08.640 --> 00:28:11.299 in chapter three, when he handed his signet ring 00:28:11.299 --> 00:28:14.259 to Haman and gave him all the royal authority 00:28:14.259 --> 00:28:16.759 of the Persian kingdom to do whatever he wants. 00:28:17.220 --> 00:28:19.839 This is a pattern in his life. He's willing to 00:28:19.839 --> 00:28:22.480 give Esther up to half the kingdom. He trusts 00:28:22.480 --> 00:28:26.299 both Esther and Haman, but now what's about to 00:28:26.299 --> 00:28:29.339 happen? What happens when these two people that 00:28:29.339 --> 00:28:31.599 you trust, you've got to make a choice between 00:28:31.599 --> 00:28:33.569 the two of them. That's what's coming, right? 00:28:34.509 --> 00:28:37.650 Verse three, then Queen Esther replied, if I 00:28:37.650 --> 00:28:41.109 have found favor in your sight, O king, and if 00:28:41.109 --> 00:28:45.950 it pleases the king, let my life be given me 00:28:45.950 --> 00:28:50.109 as my petition and my people as my request. Underline 00:28:50.109 --> 00:28:55.849 those two phrases, my life and my people. This 00:28:55.849 --> 00:28:59.009 is what Esther has been building up to, my life 00:28:59.009 --> 00:29:02.759 and my people. Now, when she says that, can you 00:29:02.759 --> 00:29:07.559 picture Xerxes' face? Puzzled, right? What does 00:29:07.559 --> 00:29:10.799 that mean, he's thinking? Verse four, she explains, 00:29:10.980 --> 00:29:14.299 for we have been sold, I and my people, to be 00:29:14.299 --> 00:29:17.539 destroyed, to be killed, to be annihilated. She 00:29:17.539 --> 00:29:20.799 puts it in three distinct ways to send the message 00:29:20.799 --> 00:29:24.079 of how horrible this is. Destroyed, killed, annihilated. 00:29:24.180 --> 00:29:28.440 We are sold into Haman's hatred for Mordecai 00:29:28.440 --> 00:29:31.920 and for the Jewish people. And then she shows 00:29:31.920 --> 00:29:34.500 great wisdom. Her next statement shows incredible 00:29:34.500 --> 00:29:38.319 wisdom. Look what she says. Now, if we had only 00:29:38.319 --> 00:29:41.980 been sold as slaves, men and women, I would have 00:29:41.980 --> 00:29:44.880 remained silent for the trouble would not be 00:29:44.880 --> 00:29:48.059 commensurate with the annoyance to the king. 00:29:49.240 --> 00:29:52.960 Isn't that surprising? Here's what she's doing. 00:29:53.500 --> 00:29:58.130 This is, she's employing submissive. you know, 00:29:58.130 --> 00:30:00.849 court language. You don't come in front of the 00:30:00.849 --> 00:30:03.250 most powerful man in the world and drop a request 00:30:03.250 --> 00:30:06.710 without flattering him. And this is what she's 00:30:06.710 --> 00:30:08.750 doing. So in effect, she's saying, look, king, 00:30:08.930 --> 00:30:12.210 your wellness is my number one concern. So if 00:30:12.210 --> 00:30:14.710 this were just about slavery, I wouldn't waste 00:30:14.710 --> 00:30:18.470 your time. I wouldn't dare do that. But in this 00:30:18.470 --> 00:30:21.930 case, someone intends to kill me and my people. 00:30:23.180 --> 00:30:25.759 Now, don't forget, Esther's been hiding her Jewish 00:30:25.759 --> 00:30:29.299 identity this entire time. Xerxes doesn't know. 00:30:29.500 --> 00:30:32.819 This is the pivotal moment, right? She's not 00:30:32.819 --> 00:30:37.039 been truthful before her husband. And in this 00:30:37.039 --> 00:30:40.000 very tense moment, she has to come clean. Honestly, 00:30:40.119 --> 00:30:42.160 you guys, things could have gone south really 00:30:42.160 --> 00:30:45.440 quickly here. Had the king decided, you know 00:30:45.440 --> 00:30:47.920 what? You've not been truthful to me. Why drop 00:30:47.920 --> 00:30:51.940 this bomb on me right now? Why do this? He could 00:30:51.940 --> 00:30:53.680 have been offended by her lack of disclosure. 00:30:53.880 --> 00:30:56.059 He could have sent her off just like he did with 00:30:56.059 --> 00:31:00.859 Vashti or worse. Now stop and think about Haman 00:31:00.859 --> 00:31:04.519 in this moment. What is Haman thinking? Esther 00:31:04.519 --> 00:31:07.640 drops this bomb about her people. How do you 00:31:07.640 --> 00:31:11.000 think he reacted? He is caught off guard. He 00:31:11.000 --> 00:31:14.720 never imagined that Esther was a Jew. Apparently 00:31:14.720 --> 00:31:17.059 never dawned on him. He's sitting, he's all chummy 00:31:17.059 --> 00:31:20.339 with the king. But he's just been accused of 00:31:20.339 --> 00:31:23.920 trying to murder the king's wife. The three of 00:31:23.920 --> 00:31:26.059 them in this room, oh, to be a fly on the wall, 00:31:26.220 --> 00:31:29.660 to feel the tension in the air. But guys, Esther 00:31:29.660 --> 00:31:33.160 has played this beautifully, hasn't she? She 00:31:33.160 --> 00:31:35.319 successfully aroused the anger of her husband 00:31:35.319 --> 00:31:38.799 with her enemy right there in the room. And now 00:31:38.799 --> 00:31:42.440 all the king has to do to satisfy his wrath is 00:31:42.440 --> 00:31:45.259 to be given a name and where this traitor can 00:31:45.259 --> 00:31:50.970 be found. Verse five. Then King Ahasuerus asked 00:31:50.970 --> 00:31:56.029 Queen Esther, who is he and where is he? Who 00:31:56.029 --> 00:31:58.990 would presume to do this? And here comes the 00:31:58.990 --> 00:32:02.009 moment, right? Esther finally blurts it out. 00:32:02.609 --> 00:32:07.250 Verse six, a foe and an enemy is this wicked 00:32:07.250 --> 00:32:11.250 Haman. Right there in the room, points at this 00:32:11.250 --> 00:32:15.390 guy. And then Haman became terrified. That's 00:32:15.390 --> 00:32:19.029 probably a great understatement. But the wisdom 00:32:19.029 --> 00:32:22.470 here, listen, again, she's clever here. She doesn't 00:32:22.470 --> 00:32:25.890 say, he's trying to kill me. She frames the statement 00:32:25.890 --> 00:32:29.730 in the idea of the security of the king and the 00:32:29.730 --> 00:32:33.049 kingdom. She basically says, that wicked man 00:32:33.049 --> 00:32:35.450 is actually not your faithful servant. He is 00:32:35.450 --> 00:32:42.509 a foe and an enemy of Persia. Verse seven, how's 00:32:42.509 --> 00:32:44.930 the king gonna react? The king arose in his anger 00:32:44.930 --> 00:32:49.470 from drinking wine. Puts his glass down. And 00:32:49.470 --> 00:32:53.609 he went into the palace garden. Can you picture 00:32:53.609 --> 00:32:56.950 it? He's got to clear his head. He's probably 00:32:56.950 --> 00:32:58.809 had a couple glasses on. He's got to clear his 00:32:58.809 --> 00:33:01.170 head. He's got to process what he's just heard. 00:33:01.329 --> 00:33:04.569 He has a very difficult judgment to make in this 00:33:04.569 --> 00:33:06.869 moment. And it's not clear what he's going to 00:33:06.869 --> 00:33:09.390 do. At that moment, does he realize that Haman 00:33:09.390 --> 00:33:12.579 has been deceiving him for a long time? Is he 00:33:12.579 --> 00:33:15.759 willing to turn on this guy who is his most trusted 00:33:15.759 --> 00:33:19.440 advisor? Or is he going to blame Esther for hiding 00:33:19.440 --> 00:33:23.799 her identity from everybody in the court? He's 00:33:23.799 --> 00:33:26.059 got a lot to think about before he returns, right? 00:33:27.019 --> 00:33:29.259 Meanwhile, the text says this, but Haman stayed 00:33:29.259 --> 00:33:33.180 to beg for his life from Queen Esther, for he 00:33:33.180 --> 00:33:35.420 saw the harm had been determined against him 00:33:35.420 --> 00:33:39.319 by the king. He saw the anger of Xerxes. And 00:33:39.319 --> 00:33:41.519 now what does he do? He's terrified, rightfully 00:33:41.519 --> 00:33:44.839 so. And maybe at this moment, he's remembering, 00:33:44.960 --> 00:33:48.180 oh, the prophecy. Didn't my wise men just tell 00:33:48.180 --> 00:33:51.140 me that I'm gonna fall? Maybe he remembered it 00:33:51.140 --> 00:33:53.019 right here. So with the king out of the room, 00:33:53.160 --> 00:33:56.019 he turns to Esther and he pleads for her mercy. 00:33:56.480 --> 00:33:58.519 By the way, the very thing that he didn't want 00:33:58.519 --> 00:34:01.759 to show Mordecai. Isn't it amazing, humankind, 00:34:01.960 --> 00:34:04.099 when the shoe goes on the other foot, we all 00:34:04.099 --> 00:34:07.819 cry out for mercy, don't we? But do we show mercy? 00:34:08.940 --> 00:34:11.800 And in his panic, and perhaps because he's had 00:34:11.800 --> 00:34:14.960 some wine, Haman falls towards Esther on the 00:34:14.960 --> 00:34:17.980 couch where she has been reclining, and that 00:34:17.980 --> 00:34:24.000 is a big mistake. Verse 8. Now when the king 00:34:24.000 --> 00:34:26.380 returned from the palace garden into the place 00:34:26.380 --> 00:34:28.699 where they were drinking wine, Haman was falling 00:34:28.699 --> 00:34:31.320 on the couch where Esther was, and of course 00:34:31.320 --> 00:34:34.360 he assumes the worst, right? It says, then the 00:34:34.360 --> 00:34:37.579 king said, will he even assault the queen with 00:34:37.579 --> 00:34:44.280 me in the house? Gulp. Uh -oh. It's possible 00:34:44.280 --> 00:34:49.099 that Haman, and there's been lots of things written 00:34:49.099 --> 00:34:51.820 by rabbis on this, that it's possible that he 00:34:51.820 --> 00:34:54.599 had just fallen on his knees before Esther and 00:34:54.599 --> 00:34:57.239 was like grasping at her legs, trying to beg 00:34:57.239 --> 00:35:00.880 for mercy. But to touch the queen is a grave 00:35:00.880 --> 00:35:04.869 offense. And regardless of how Xerxes had decided 00:35:04.869 --> 00:35:07.050 to judge as he walked back in the room, and we 00:35:07.050 --> 00:35:09.429 actually don't know what his judgment would have 00:35:09.429 --> 00:35:12.949 been. This scene obviously seals Haman's fate. 00:35:13.190 --> 00:35:15.929 And Xerxes orders his guards to arrest Haman. 00:35:15.969 --> 00:35:18.969 End of verse 8, it says, as the word or the order 00:35:18.969 --> 00:35:21.070 went out from the king's mouth. Interesting, 00:35:21.230 --> 00:35:24.199 they covered Haman's face. And again, ancient 00:35:24.199 --> 00:35:26.219 Near East scholars say basically what that was 00:35:26.219 --> 00:35:28.440 was they arrested him, they covered his face. 00:35:28.579 --> 00:35:30.940 It was something you did with a traitor who no 00:35:30.940 --> 00:35:33.480 longer had the privilege of looking at the king 00:35:33.480 --> 00:35:38.179 anymore. They covered his face. Verse nine, the 00:35:38.179 --> 00:35:40.860 irony here. Then Harbanah, one of the eunuchs 00:35:40.860 --> 00:35:43.920 who were before the king said, behold, indeed 00:35:43.920 --> 00:35:47.579 the gallows standing at Haman's house, 50 cubits 00:35:47.579 --> 00:35:50.099 high, which Haman made for Mordecai who spoke 00:35:50.099 --> 00:35:53.349 good on behalf of the king. This guy understands 00:35:53.349 --> 00:35:56.010 the moment, right? The irony of the moment. And 00:35:56.010 --> 00:35:59.110 I can't prove this again from the text, but how 00:35:59.110 --> 00:36:02.889 likely is it that this Harbinah had no love for 00:36:02.889 --> 00:36:06.369 Haman? The guy's arrogant. The guy's a terrible 00:36:06.369 --> 00:36:09.190 leader, a terrible boss. And so he jumps on this 00:36:09.190 --> 00:36:11.570 opportunity to say, I know what you should do. 00:36:13.550 --> 00:36:17.710 And the king said, okay, hang him on it. So they 00:36:17.710 --> 00:36:20.570 hanged Haman on the gallows, which he had prepared 00:36:20.570 --> 00:36:23.969 for Mordecai. and the king's anger subsided. 00:36:25.570 --> 00:36:29.010 What a story. What a story. I can't think of 00:36:29.010 --> 00:36:32.469 a better example of what David writes this in 00:36:32.469 --> 00:36:36.469 Psalm 7. Behold, the wicked man conceives evil 00:36:36.469 --> 00:36:40.449 and is pregnant with mischief and gives birth 00:36:40.449 --> 00:36:44.389 to lies. He makes a pit, digging it out, and 00:36:44.389 --> 00:36:47.210 falls into the hole that he has made. His trouble 00:36:47.210 --> 00:36:50.590 returns upon his own head and on his own skull. 00:36:51.889 --> 00:36:55.929 his violence descends. It's a perfect description 00:36:55.929 --> 00:36:59.710 of what happens to Haman. Now, let's wrap up 00:36:59.710 --> 00:37:01.829 with a few important observations. Guys, there's 00:37:01.829 --> 00:37:04.590 so many principles that we can draw out of this 00:37:04.590 --> 00:37:06.889 story. I'm gonna save some of them for the coming 00:37:06.889 --> 00:37:08.530 weeks because we have a lot more to talk about. 00:37:10.769 --> 00:37:13.409 But for this morning, let's focus on really the 00:37:13.409 --> 00:37:16.429 primary theme that has run throughout this preaching 00:37:16.429 --> 00:37:19.909 series, which is what? God's providence in dark 00:37:19.909 --> 00:37:23.630 times. That's long ago when the elder team planned 00:37:23.630 --> 00:37:25.570 this series. We called it God's Providence in 00:37:25.570 --> 00:37:28.309 Dark Times. And you might recall in the very 00:37:28.309 --> 00:37:31.150 first message in the series, we talked about 00:37:31.150 --> 00:37:33.550 the difference between sovereignty and providence. 00:37:33.590 --> 00:37:35.969 Those words matter. They're very, very important. 00:37:36.590 --> 00:37:39.849 Sovereignty is best understood as God's absolute 00:37:39.849 --> 00:37:43.190 right and power to do all that he purposes to 00:37:43.190 --> 00:37:47.090 do. His supreme authority to do whatever he pleases. 00:37:47.789 --> 00:37:51.320 Providence is how he carries that out. Does that 00:37:51.320 --> 00:37:54.119 make sense? How he carries it out in a wise and 00:37:54.119 --> 00:37:56.880 loving way. So when we talk about God's providence, 00:37:56.920 --> 00:37:59.019 we're talking about the Lord actively guiding 00:37:59.019 --> 00:38:02.159 all things, all the affairs of men and women 00:38:02.159 --> 00:38:06.559 on the earth to his appointed ends. Now, here's 00:38:06.559 --> 00:38:08.219 the thing. If you were to hand the book of Esther 00:38:08.219 --> 00:38:12.159 to your unbelieving neighbor, say you do that 00:38:12.159 --> 00:38:13.940 tomorrow and you say, read this book. It's a 00:38:13.940 --> 00:38:16.349 really great story. they would spend some time 00:38:16.349 --> 00:38:18.030 reading it and they would come back to you, hand 00:38:18.030 --> 00:38:19.989 it back to you and say, boy, there's a lot of 00:38:19.989 --> 00:38:24.630 coincidences in this story. Right? But as believers, 00:38:24.690 --> 00:38:27.369 we know better. We know that this story is being 00:38:27.369 --> 00:38:29.590 relayed to us under the inspiration of God's 00:38:29.590 --> 00:38:33.530 spirit and it is designed to show us how God 00:38:33.530 --> 00:38:36.289 providentially moves behind the scenes, how he 00:38:36.289 --> 00:38:38.690 manages the affairs of men and women to bring 00:38:38.690 --> 00:38:41.889 about his purposes. So we know Esther wasn't 00:38:41.889 --> 00:38:46.699 lucky to become the queen. Right? Mordecai wasn't 00:38:46.699 --> 00:38:49.599 lucky to have been in the right moment to overhear 00:38:49.599 --> 00:38:52.900 this assassination plot. We know that the king's 00:38:52.900 --> 00:38:55.739 sleepless night was not an accident. Neither 00:38:55.739 --> 00:38:57.940 was the choice of which book to be read to him. 00:38:58.340 --> 00:39:01.539 God is moving, isn't he? We see Esther doing 00:39:01.539 --> 00:39:05.300 something so strange, inviting Haman and Xerxes 00:39:05.300 --> 00:39:07.519 to a banquet and then putting them on a hold 00:39:07.519 --> 00:39:09.539 and saying, well, no, let's do a second banquet. 00:39:09.739 --> 00:39:12.929 And we all go, why? Well, More time so that God 00:39:12.929 --> 00:39:15.829 can move the chess pieces around the board to 00:39:15.829 --> 00:39:18.369 put things in place to accomplish his purposes. 00:39:19.030 --> 00:39:21.650 There's no coincidence that Haman came into the 00:39:21.650 --> 00:39:24.889 king's court at just the right moment. Neither 00:39:24.889 --> 00:39:27.070 was it a coincidence that the king wanted to 00:39:27.070 --> 00:39:32.070 honor Mordecai in that moment. See, in spite 00:39:32.070 --> 00:39:34.690 of the limitations of our physical eyes, in this 00:39:34.690 --> 00:39:37.469 story, there is no luck. There is no accidents. 00:39:37.650 --> 00:39:40.599 There's no coincidences. What's happening is 00:39:40.599 --> 00:39:43.840 God's sovereign purposes are unfolding to deliver 00:39:43.840 --> 00:39:47.280 his people and not just to deliver the Jews in 00:39:47.280 --> 00:39:50.199 that time, but to assure future generations of 00:39:50.199 --> 00:39:54.699 believers like us that he is in control. Sometimes 00:39:54.699 --> 00:39:57.559 we read these books of the Bible which are so 00:39:57.559 --> 00:40:00.280 concentrated in a particular time of history 00:40:00.280 --> 00:40:02.460 and we go, this is such a great lesson for the 00:40:02.460 --> 00:40:06.780 Jewish people. This is for us as well. He's reassuring 00:40:06.780 --> 00:40:12.000 us, hey. Hey, Santa Claridans in 2025, see this 00:40:12.000 --> 00:40:16.000 lesson. I'm in control of things. I am managing 00:40:16.000 --> 00:40:19.840 the affairs of men and women for your good. Do 00:40:19.840 --> 00:40:23.380 we trust what Paul says in Romans 8? That God 00:40:23.380 --> 00:40:25.800 is working all things together for those who 00:40:25.800 --> 00:40:27.820 love God, who are called according to his purpose? 00:40:28.699 --> 00:40:31.199 We should trust in that, right? It was happening 00:40:31.199 --> 00:40:34.260 in the days of Esther. It's happening today. 00:40:34.559 --> 00:40:38.480 God is providentially at work. And yes, by the 00:40:38.480 --> 00:40:40.980 way, that includes hard things and difficult 00:40:40.980 --> 00:40:43.179 things. Sometimes we read a story like this and 00:40:43.179 --> 00:40:45.280 we're like, oh, it's so good that God was doing 00:40:45.280 --> 00:40:47.599 good things for Esther. But what about the hard 00:40:47.599 --> 00:40:49.039 things? What about the difficult things? Yes, 00:40:49.320 --> 00:40:52.159 even the tragic things, the pain, the sorrow, 00:40:52.219 --> 00:40:55.079 the trials of this life, they too are for our 00:40:55.079 --> 00:40:58.440 good. We have to accept that from God's hand. 00:40:58.739 --> 00:41:00.960 They're shaping us. They're molding our character 00:41:00.960 --> 00:41:04.099 as we walk with the Savior. They are for our 00:41:04.099 --> 00:41:06.690 good. And this book shows us that principle. 00:41:06.989 --> 00:41:09.929 Listen, this story, this was not all rainbows 00:41:09.929 --> 00:41:12.989 and unicorns for Mordecai and for Esther. They 00:41:12.989 --> 00:41:15.349 struggled, didn't they? They mourned, they suffered. 00:41:15.550 --> 00:41:18.389 They were forced into making decisions harder 00:41:18.389 --> 00:41:20.469 than anything you and I will probably ever have 00:41:20.469 --> 00:41:23.750 to face. But God was working through all of it. 00:41:24.010 --> 00:41:26.829 In fact, God is so sovereign, he's using an Amalekite. 00:41:27.690 --> 00:41:30.510 To bring about his purposes. A man whose entire 00:41:30.510 --> 00:41:33.230 character is rooted in rebellion and wickedness. 00:41:33.369 --> 00:41:37.570 He's using a man as powerful as Xerxes to accomplish 00:41:37.570 --> 00:41:40.190 his will. Yes, even the most powerful man on 00:41:40.190 --> 00:41:45.469 earth, our president, right? Any world leader. 00:41:45.730 --> 00:41:49.650 God is using those men and women to further his 00:41:49.650 --> 00:41:51.849 purposes. That's the point of this verse. How 00:41:51.849 --> 00:41:54.409 often do we quote this verse from Proverbs 21, 00:41:54.750 --> 00:41:58.329 right? The king's heart is like channels of water 00:41:58.329 --> 00:42:01.650 in the hands of the Lord. God can move it any 00:42:01.650 --> 00:42:04.829 direction he desires. And he does this with Xerxes. 00:42:05.650 --> 00:42:07.849 Yahweh's in control of every breath, every choice, 00:42:08.070 --> 00:42:11.750 every word, every action, and nothing and no 00:42:11.750 --> 00:42:15.510 man, no matter how impressive he looks, can hinder 00:42:15.510 --> 00:42:19.409 God's purposes. And friends, this is a huge truth 00:42:19.409 --> 00:42:23.190 for us today. that we have to see and learn from, 00:42:23.269 --> 00:42:25.750 right? How often do we, we have our eyes fixed 00:42:25.750 --> 00:42:28.989 on Christ and then things happen in life, circumstances 00:42:28.989 --> 00:42:33.210 happen, and we drop our eyes down to the world 00:42:33.210 --> 00:42:36.170 and we forget what scripture tells us about God's 00:42:36.170 --> 00:42:39.030 providence. And we start to worry and we start 00:42:39.030 --> 00:42:41.469 to scheme. We think, well, maybe I can control 00:42:41.469 --> 00:42:43.889 the situation. Maybe I can manipulate people 00:42:43.889 --> 00:42:47.130 involved in this. It's something we all need 00:42:47.130 --> 00:42:50.969 to grow in and learn from. Now, as we grow in 00:42:50.969 --> 00:42:52.670 our trust that God's working behind the scenes, 00:42:52.769 --> 00:42:55.550 does that mean we can be passive? It doesn't. 00:42:56.289 --> 00:42:59.210 God has given each of us commands to obey. He 00:42:59.210 --> 00:43:02.429 has given us works, good works to walk in. And 00:43:02.429 --> 00:43:05.070 we need to be about our Father's business in 00:43:05.070 --> 00:43:07.409 these days that He's given us. But here's the 00:43:07.409 --> 00:43:10.409 good news. Here's the good news. It's not our 00:43:10.409 --> 00:43:14.110 performance that ultimately produces God's results. 00:43:15.570 --> 00:43:18.170 It's not our performance. He goes way beyond 00:43:18.170 --> 00:43:21.010 our efforts, moving and intervening in such a 00:43:21.010 --> 00:43:24.530 way that every single time his desired result 00:43:24.530 --> 00:43:26.670 comes to pass. And aren't you glad for that? 00:43:27.349 --> 00:43:31.809 Imagine if it was up to you or me. But God does 00:43:31.809 --> 00:43:35.110 way more than we can imagine. Notice, by the 00:43:35.110 --> 00:43:36.969 way, not only God's providence in this part of 00:43:36.969 --> 00:43:39.630 Esther's story, but how perfect his timing is. 00:43:39.889 --> 00:43:44.119 How many of us struggle with timing? Yeah. Why 00:43:44.119 --> 00:43:48.360 wasn't Mordecai honored back when he saved the 00:43:48.360 --> 00:43:53.059 king's life? God's timing. Why did the king suddenly 00:43:53.059 --> 00:43:57.760 get insomnia on that night? God's timing. Why 00:43:57.760 --> 00:44:00.460 did Haman appear in the king's court just as 00:44:00.460 --> 00:44:02.840 Xerxes realized that Mordecai hasn't been honored? 00:44:03.039 --> 00:44:06.219 God's timing. Why did Haman order the building 00:44:06.219 --> 00:44:09.139 of that platform for execution the night before 00:44:09.139 --> 00:44:13.969 all this went down? God's timing. Why did he 00:44:13.969 --> 00:44:16.809 fall onto Esther's couch and grab at her legs 00:44:16.809 --> 00:44:19.789 just as the king was coming back into the room? 00:44:21.210 --> 00:44:25.110 God's timing. And so we have to learn from this. 00:44:25.269 --> 00:44:27.690 Last Sunday, Elijah brought us this great convicting 00:44:27.690 --> 00:44:30.170 message about prayer. But how often do we as 00:44:30.170 --> 00:44:32.889 Christians, we either don't pray about important 00:44:32.889 --> 00:44:35.829 things or we pray about them and then we stop. 00:44:36.230 --> 00:44:38.849 We give up. Why? Because we say, well, I asked 00:44:38.849 --> 00:44:40.710 God for that and it didn't happen in the timing 00:44:40.710 --> 00:44:43.969 that I thought it should happen. Learn from this 00:44:43.969 --> 00:44:48.230 story. God's timing is always perfect. Do we 00:44:48.230 --> 00:44:51.809 trust that he's sovereign, first of all? Do we 00:44:51.809 --> 00:44:54.590 really believe that he's in control? Absolute 00:44:54.590 --> 00:44:57.750 supreme authority. Do we trust that he's providentially 00:44:57.750 --> 00:45:01.730 at work? In your life, right now, all day today, 00:45:02.010 --> 00:45:05.570 this week, next month, he's providentially working 00:45:05.570 --> 00:45:08.550 to accomplish his will. Do you believe that? 00:45:08.730 --> 00:45:11.070 Do we trust that he's good and loving in those 00:45:11.070 --> 00:45:13.869 purposes? That may be the most important question. 00:45:14.989 --> 00:45:16.750 Because when we go through hard things, we doubt 00:45:16.750 --> 00:45:20.190 that. Is everything that he's doing providential 00:45:20.190 --> 00:45:23.210 in your life for your good and his glory? Believe 00:45:23.210 --> 00:45:26.989 that. And lastly, do we trust that he will accomplish 00:45:26.989 --> 00:45:31.769 his will in his timing, not ours? These are big 00:45:31.769 --> 00:45:34.630 questions, you guys. And this is why God gives 00:45:34.630 --> 00:45:37.469 us a book like Esther, to see these things. What 00:45:37.469 --> 00:45:41.630 a difference a day makes, right? This day, this 00:45:41.630 --> 00:45:43.510 momentous day in the course of history in the 00:45:43.510 --> 00:45:45.710 life of the Jewish people. Imagine, look how 00:45:45.710 --> 00:45:48.349 big this was for our main characters. One day 00:45:48.349 --> 00:45:51.010 Haman is rich and powerful and he is sitting 00:45:51.010 --> 00:45:53.110 down and drinking and eating with the king and 00:45:53.110 --> 00:45:55.789 queen of Persia. He is swelling with pride and 00:45:55.789 --> 00:45:58.710 overflowing with talk of his own greatness. And 00:45:58.710 --> 00:46:03.349 the next day, they're covering his face and leading 00:46:03.349 --> 00:46:07.349 him away to the gallows. The same goes for Esther 00:46:07.349 --> 00:46:09.630 and Mordecai. One day they're facing extermination. 00:46:11.369 --> 00:46:15.010 And the next day they're spared. The perfect 00:46:15.010 --> 00:46:17.989 living out of the passage we read from in Isaiah 00:46:17.989 --> 00:46:21.409 41 comes to pass. Remember our call to worship 00:46:21.409 --> 00:46:24.050 from earlier this morning? Listen to it again. 00:46:24.510 --> 00:46:28.690 God says to Israel, you're my servant. I've chosen 00:46:28.690 --> 00:46:32.389 you. I've not cast you off. Fear not for I am 00:46:32.389 --> 00:46:35.750 with you. Be not dismayed, for I am your God. 00:46:35.889 --> 00:46:38.650 I will strengthen you. I will uphold you with 00:46:38.650 --> 00:46:40.829 my righteous right hand. Why would they doubt 00:46:40.829 --> 00:46:43.349 that God would come to the rescue with that promise? 00:46:44.190 --> 00:46:47.409 And then that passage ends. Behold, all who are 00:46:47.409 --> 00:46:51.489 incensed against you, like Haman, shall be put 00:46:51.489 --> 00:46:55.150 to shame. And those who strive against you shall 00:46:55.150 --> 00:46:59.690 become nothing and shall perish. Let the reader 00:46:59.690 --> 00:47:11.710 understand, amen? Let's bow our heads. Father, 00:47:11.769 --> 00:47:15.190 as your people this morning, gathered in your 00:47:15.190 --> 00:47:17.630 name, gathered for your glory, gathered to be 00:47:17.630 --> 00:47:19.690 in fellowship with one another and to celebrate 00:47:19.690 --> 00:47:22.570 who you are and your love for us and your goodness, 00:47:22.750 --> 00:47:26.030 we say this morning with one voice, thank you 00:47:26.030 --> 00:47:29.289 for your sovereignty. We praise you for your 00:47:29.289 --> 00:47:32.969 providential moving behind the scenes. And we 00:47:32.969 --> 00:47:35.389 ask, Lord, that by your spirit, you would continue 00:47:35.389 --> 00:47:40.400 to help us grow in our trust. in your perfect 00:47:40.400 --> 00:47:44.219 wisdom that we would not drop our eyes. We would 00:47:44.219 --> 00:47:46.639 keep our eyes fixed on Christ and not drop our 00:47:46.639 --> 00:47:49.780 eyes and start to worry and start to scheme and 00:47:49.780 --> 00:47:52.539 start to try to find our own ways out of things. 00:47:52.679 --> 00:47:56.559 But we would go to you in prayer. We would obey 00:47:56.559 --> 00:47:59.699 your word and we would trust that you are providentially 00:47:59.699 --> 00:48:02.500 working. So Lord, help us learn this lesson from 00:48:02.500 --> 00:48:06.340 the life of Esther, from the life of Haman. Help 00:48:06.340 --> 00:48:08.440 us learn all of it, Lord, so that we might be 00:48:08.440 --> 00:48:12.119 more fruitful servants for your kingdom. Thank 00:48:12.119 --> 00:48:13.539 you, Lord, for bringing us back into the book 00:48:13.539 --> 00:48:15.400 of Esther. We look forward to the next few weeks 00:48:15.400 --> 00:48:17.960 as the rest of this book unfolds. Thank you, 00:48:17.980 --> 00:48:20.599 Lord Jesus, for the fellowship of this church 00:48:20.599 --> 00:48:23.019 and for a chance to be together. We praise you 00:48:23.019 --> 00:48:23.780 in Christ's name.