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welcome to Sunday hey good to hear you all say good morning may notice my voice sounds a little bit off today I think I’m coming down with a little cold or something like that so if I cough at all hopefully it won’t destroy your eard drums but I’ll do my best today and Lord willing that won’t happen but welcome back to Sunday school we are halfway through the fourth quarter of the second year of the answers Bible curriculum and our quarter theme has been God protects and restores we’ve been seeing a lot of that last week we looked at the first half of the book of Ezra how God brought some of his people back into the land and he caused them to restore the sacrificial system and Temple worship and it was God working the whole time remember the phras is he stirred up the heart of so and so or he stirred up the hearts of the people our theme continues today as we pause in Ezra and we turn over to the Book of Esther the title for today’s class is God uses Esther now you may be wondering why are we shifting over to Esther why don’t we finish Ezra well that’s because Esther and then also part of the Book of Daniel actually takes place during the middle of the period that Ezra describes and since our curriculum is a Chronological Study Through the Bible we need to examine those other passages before we come back to Ezra now the precise timing of the depends on the identity of the Persian king azerus now most say azerus is what historians know as or who historians know as Xerxes the first hazus is Xerxes the first though some would also assert that actually hazus is another name for a different King like Darius the first or even Artis Xerxes the first we’re going to go with Xerxes for today’s class but whatever the case the account of Esther after these things when the anger of king of hazus had subsided he remembered vashi and what she had done and what had been decreed against her then the king’s attendants who served him said let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king let who pleases the king be Queen and place of asashi and the matter pleased the king and he did accordingly now there was at the Citadel in Souza a Jew whose name was Mori son of jir the son of shim the son of Kish a benjamite who had been taken in Exile from Jerusalem with the captives who had been exiled of Janiah king of Judah whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had exiled he was bringing up hadisa that is Esther his uncle’s daughter for she had no father or mother now the young lady was beautiful of form and face and when her father and her mother died morai took her as his own daughter so it came down when the command and decree of the king were heard and many young ladies were gathered to the Citadel of Souza into the custody of hii that Esther was taken to the king’s Palace into the custody of he guy who was in charge of the woman now the young lady pleased him and found favor with him so he quickly provided her with her cosmetics and food gave her seven Choice Maids from the king’s Palace and transferred her and her maids to the to the best place in the heram Esther did not make known her people or her Kindred for Mori had instructed her that she should not make them known every day morai walked back and forth in front of the court of the Herm to learn how Esther was and how she fared now when the turn of each young lady came in to go into king azerus after the end of her 12 months under the regulations for the women that the days of their beautification were completed as follows 6 months with oil of myrr and six months with spices and the Cosmetics for women the young lady would go into the king in this way anything that she desired was given her to take with her from the heram to the king’s Palace in the evening she would go in and in the morning she would return to the second heram to the custody of Shaz Gaz the king’s unic who was in charge of the concubines she would not again go into the king unless the king delighted in her and she was summoned by name now in the turn of Esther the daughter of according to the king’s Bounty all right this is our first passage let’s observe notice a number of different things first notice we’re not told how much time has gone by since vas’s removal this could be right after or it could even be SE several years later notice the plan to replace the queen beautiful virgins are brought from throughout the Empire remember this is a huge Empire Persian Empire and added to the king’s Harum that is the King’s house of women they’re probably added as concubines these women are then to undergo beautification afterwards present themselves one by one to the king king favors will become the new Queen notice the city in which these events take place Souza one of the four capital of the Persian Empire The Citadel or Palace at Souza is going to be the backdrop for most of the events that take place in this book notice morai morai is a Jew and a great grandson of Kish who was a benjamite taken under the Exile jeah jeah is another name for jein which means Kish was exiled in which Step of judah’s Destruction first second or third not the first the second so the first the first king that um at the Exile takes place is jeak Kim then the second king is jeho kin and then the Third King is zedi so second step of Destruction means BC now why is that important well remember in the second destruction which group of people were taken it was the great and great and skilled men and their families so that means that Kish was probably someone of importance and that there may be a Heritage passed down to morai now how are morai and hadisa related they are cousins that’s right she is his uncle she is his uncle’s daughter mori’s uncle’s daughter which means that morai and Esther are cousins but morai must have been a bit older than Esther because says he took her into his own care when her parents died and the two of them live in Souza which is deep in Persian territory think Iran think pretty far to the east now notice that hadisa is also called Esther Hadas say’s Jewish name meaning Myrtle and it refers to a kind of shrub but Esther is a Persian name and it’s refer it refers to either the goddess Ishtar or to the Persian word for star notice that hadisa that is Esther is described as a young lady beautiful in form and in face and unsurprisingly due to her beauty notice that Esther is taken along with the rest of the beautiful virgins of the Empire to be part of the king’s herum text doesn’t give us any clues as to whether she went voluntarily or whether she was forced but she did go notice her treatment in the king’s Palace she finds favor in the eyes of HEI the unic overseeing the women and is given special attendance and a special place in the house in the King’s house for women notice though that per mori’s instructions Esther keeps her Jewish Heritage secret does not reveal that she is Jewish Mori continues to be concerned for Esther’s welfare and visits the front of the court of the heram daily which indicates that morai must be a man of some ability or position in the government that he would have access to this prestigious area it’s not like everybody can just walk up to the front of the court of the Herm so he may have been a scribe or have some other position in the government notice how long Esther is beautified before she is allowed to see the king 12 whole months and then Esther has to wait it’s the seventh year of a hazus Reign before Esther gets to meet the king that’s more than four years since vashi was deposed meanwhile verse 15 says of chapter to Esther found favor in the eyes of all who saw her when Esther’s turn finally does arrive she takes with her exactly what HEI advises though again we’re not told what that is it perhaps was an article of clothing or a piece of jewelry that HEI knew would please King azerus Esther takes it she goes to meet the king for the first time and how does the king respond he loves her more than any of the other women and he makes her Queen and even gives a banquet in her honor and for the third time we see the phrase in the passage she found favor all right with these observations let’s pause and interpret a little bit why does hadisa go by the name Esther that seems to make the most sense right that Hada is an obviously Jewish name Ester is not a Jewish name so this is part of her concealing her identity according to mori’s instructions very good but why is morai so intent on keeping Esther’s jewishness a secret why might that be H he saw a place for to save the Jews that would be very forward thinking uh of morai I’m not sure if you’d be able to see that far ahead but maybe he he was thinking if I reveal her Jewish identity maybe she won’t be as successful won’t be able to get into a position that would be good for her or good for the people as a whole so maybe there’s something to that though that would that would require incredible foresight by morai there could be other reasons what might be another reason why conceal her Jewish identity it could be because or somebody about to say something yeah um is that Shan oh okay yeah thanks sh actually referring back to the previous comment right if we connect Esther’s keeping her Heritage a secret with her going in before the king now I see their previous comment that she might have a position that would help her people though this keeping her jewishness of secret seems to have happened before even going in to the king’s Herm I mean she’s called Esther she’s not called hadisa so this seems to be uh the way that she lives the the whole experience of her living in Exile that she’s constantly keeping her Heritage a secret but yes it’s also kept a secret before the king but now back to what you’re saying Shay maybe it’s because being a Jew could bring her hostile treatment from the king or from others and that’s certainly a possibility we know that from the book of Ezra there were people in the Persian Empire who did did not like the Jews yeah we also know from The Book of Daniel that there are people who feared the Jews and they feared the Jewish god so perhaps those two things are connected people fear the Jews but and because they fear them they also dislike the Jews so morai may have been trying to protect Esther from any disadvantage he might have by being known as a Jewish both from the King and from the king’s officials and the other people of the Empire so it could be a practical measure it could be one out of fear of hostility now you might ask does this show a lack of faith in God why are they trying to hide that they are God’s people that they are Jewish Daniel never hit his Heritage he was praying openly even when the law forbid that well it’s possible that morai and Esther are not exercising great faith some even suggest that they were more secular Jews that there’s not a lot of evidence in this book of their great Devotion to Yahweh but we actually don’t have very much evidence in this book to say either way don’t really have enough details to make a strong judgment but in any case morai wanted Esther’s Heritage to remain a secret probably from some sort of practical consideration well what happens next let’s move to our next section in Esther 3 this one’s going to be a little bit longer Esther 3:7 to chapter 5:8 um hold on just one second okay so let me summarize what happens at the end of chapter 2 going into chapter 3 end of chapter 2 it just so happens that Mori overhears a plot to kill King azerus the plot or he makes it known the plot is foiled the conspirators are executed and mori’s name is noted in the king’s Chronicle but he’s not given any reward in the beginning of chapter 3 we hear about the rise of a certain hmon an agagite in the king’s court King azerus promotes hmon to a high position and all people customarily bow down and give hmon honor whenever he passes by all people accept morai that is who will not bow the text does not tell us exactly why morai does not bow except that when asked to relate why he’s not bowing to some other people he mentions that he is is a Jew what’s what does being a Jew have to do with not bowing down to this person we’re left to try and figure out that connection mori’s thinking may have something to do with Hon’s Heritage because it says the text says that hmon is an agagite and remember we actually know who AAG was or AAG was in the Bible he was King of the amalekites he was part of an ancient enemy of the people of Israel and God commanded Saul to Anni this people along with their King so AAG if hmon is an agagite it goes back to it goes back of centuries to an ancient enemy of Israel so hmon is exalted hymon is enraged by mori’s not giving honor to hmon and he determines to destroy both morai and mori’s people now that he knows that morai is a Jew I bring this up to Esther 37 let’s read this next passage into 5:8 so follow along with me in the first month which is the month Nissan in the 12th year of King azerus purr that is the lot was cast before hmon from day to day and from month to month until the 12th month that is the month Adar then hmon said to King azerus there is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom their laws are different from those of all the other people and they do not observe the king’s laws so it is not in the king’s interest to let them remain if it is pleasing to the king Let It Be decreed that they be destroyed and I will pay 10,000 talents of silver into the hands of those who carry on the king’s business to put into the king’s treasuries then the king took a signant ring from his hand and gave it to hmon the son of hamadaa the agagite the enemy of the Jews the king said to hmon the silver is yours and the people also to do with them as do you please then the king’s scribes are summon on the 13th day of the first month as it was written just as hmon commanded the king to the king satraps and it was written just as hmon commanded to the king satraps to the governors who were over each province and to the princes of each people each province according to its script each people according to its language being written in the name of King azerus and sealed with the king’s signant Ring letters were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces to destroy to kill and to annihilate all the Jews both young and old women and children in one day the 13th day of the 12th month which is the month Adar and to seize their possessions as plunder a copy of the edict is to be issued as law in every Province oh a copy of the edict to be issued as law in every Province was published to all the peoples so that they should be ready for this day the couriers went out impelled by the King’s Command while the decree was issued at the Citadel in Souza and while the king and came and sat down to drink the city of Souza was in confusion when morai learned all that had been done he tore his clothes put on sackcloth and Ashes and went out into the midst of the city and wailed loudly and bitterly he went as far as the king’s gate for no one was to enter the king’s gate clothed in sackcloth and each and every Province where the command and decree of the king came there was great mourning among the Jews with fasting weeping and wailing and and many lay on sackcloth and Ashes then Esther’s maidens and her Unix came and told her and the queen R in great anguish and she sent garments to clothe Mori that he might remove his sackcloth from him but he did not accept them then Esther summoned hathak from the king’s unic whom the king had appointed to attend her and ordered him to go to morai to learn what this was and why it was so hathak went out to morai to the city Square in front of the king’s gate morai told him all that had happened to him in the exact amount of money that hmon had promised to pay to the king’s treasuries for the destruction of the Jews he also gave him a copy of the text of the edict which had been issued in Souza for their destruction that he might show Esther and inform her and to order her to go into the king to implore his favor and to plead with him for her people at that came back and related mori’s words to Esther then Esther spoke to hathak and ordered him to reply to morai all the king’s servants and the people people the king’s provinces know that for any man or woman who comes to the king to the inner Court who is not summoned he has but one law that he be put to death unless the king holds out to him the golden scepter so that he may live and I have not been summoned to come to the king for these 30 days they related Esther’s words to Mori then morai told them to reply to Esther do not imagine that you in the king’s Palace can escape any more than all the Jews for if you remain silent at this time relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you in your father’s house will perish and who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this then Esther told them to reply to morai go assemble all the Jews who are found in Souza and fast for me do not eat or drink for three days night or day I and my maidens also will fast in the same way and thus I will go into the King which is not according to the law and if I perish I perish so Mori went away and did just as Esther had commanded him 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 in the throne room opposite the entrance to the Palace when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court she obtained favor in his sight 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 then the king said to her what is troubling you Queen Esther and what is your request even to half of the kingdom it shall be given to you Esther said if it pleases the king May the king and hmon come this day to the banquet that I have prepared for them or prepared for him then the king said bring hmon quickly that we may do as Esther desires so the king and hmon came to the banquet which Esther had prepared as they drank their wine at the banquet the king said to Esther what is your petition good shall be granted to you and what is your request even to half of the kingdom it shall be done 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 to do what I and do what I request May the king and hmon come to the banquet which I will prepare for them and tomorrow I will do as the king says I’ll stop there okay bigger section here let’s observe notice hmon casts purr or lot remember what casting lot means it means to determine the answer to a question by randomly throwing certain objects and seeing what turns up think something like dice hmon cast per and it yields the 12th month after casting purr hymon presents his request to the king that a certain annoying people be destroyed from the Empire hmon claims that this people does not obey the king’s laws and he even offers to pay the king 10,000 talents of silver remember that’s about 75,000 lb or 37 tons of silver if the king will agree to the order and notice that hymon at least not initially does not mention to the King which people he has in mind mind the king agrees and the command goes throughout the Empire to every province that the people should destroy kill and annihilate and plunder the Jews on the 13th day of the confusion while the Jews and every Province morai included are devastated notice the descriptions In this passage of their reaction they are mourning weeping wailing fasting and laying on sackcloth and Ashes imagine experiencing this yourself the government has just decreed that your whole people both young and old men and women should be exterminated on a certain day 11 months from now because you are supposedly a rebellious people and all your goods will be taken from you after your dead this would be devastating and furthermore this command this law of the king is a law of the mes and Persians and what do we know about their laws that’s right the laws of the PE or the decrees of the king of the mees and Persians cannot be revoked once it’s decreed you can’t go back that just makes the situation even worse morai informs Esther of the dark news and asks Esther commands Esther to plead for the Jews before the king but tells morai that going before the king without being summoned is against the law violating that law means death it’s a capital crime unless the king extends the golden scepter to the one who comes in moreover the King has not summoned or seen Esther for 30 days but then notice mori’s poignant response to Esther it says three three things one don’t think that because you’re in the palace you will escape two because say if you don’t do anything Deliverance will arise for the Jews in another place but you and your father’s house will perish and then three and who knows maybe you were elevated to this Royal position to rescue your people you notice Esther’s reply she determines to do exactly as morai says but asks the Jews and Souza to fast for her three days she and her maids doing likewise fasting usually includes prayer there doesn’t actually say prayer there on the third day she does as Mori says she breaks the law and goes before the king what does the king do he extends the golden scepter and notice that phrase again she found favor in his sight King asks excuse me King asks Esther what her request is and she surprisingly tells the king that she would like the king and hmon to come to a banquet she has prepared I know as a reader you probably were expecting something else but no that’s what Esther that’s what Esther says to The King The King grants a request and the king and hymon come quickly to the banquet when the King asks her again what her request is at the banquet she still doesn’t present her real request she says please come again to another banquet tomorrow and then I’ll tell you what I really want okay oh thanks just take a little water here all right for what was hmon casting purr yeah Rob that’s got to be it because that’s what appears right before he goes to the king to Grant the request he’s trying to determine presumably to get Divine s Divine forces on his side the best day for carrying out the extermination of the Jews and he determines it’s in the 12th month apparently on the 13th day of the month now consider mori’s words to Esther this whole thing about the the the three things he says in response to her being uh mentioning that she might die if she goes before the king now just because what he says there don’t think you’re going to escape if you don’t do anything there will be Deliverance but you’ll perish and maybe you were meant for this time just because someone says something like that in narrative doesn’t make it true but we should ask are mori’s claims those three things that he says are they true I would say that they are true how do we know that they’re true not just because morai said and mor could be wrong but we know something else that’s not mentioned here why can we why can we say that the the things morai says to Esther are true well if we think about or you’re about to answer answer oh somebody in the back I think is raising a hand for right yeah so if we just look at the rest of the Old Testament we see evidence for the claims that morai makes here as you were saying Dwayne excuse me first of all we know that um God promises to punish those who do evil or who refuse to do good and so that would go along with his claim to Esther if you don’t do anything know that you’re going to perish but as we was saying God also promised to preserve his people he says even when he judged Israel I’m not going to make a complete end of you and he has a whole bunch of promises that has to be fulfilled in the future including things involving the Messiah so when morai says there will be Deliverance for our people he’s going back to God’s promises that God says I’m not going to allow you to be cut off I may allow you to be chasen but I’ll never let you be destroyed so he’s going back to the promises of God in the Old Testament or in the rest of the scripture so what then do these words since they are true what do they reveal about mori’s beliefs yeah he has at least some faith in yway he believes in the faithfulness and sovereignty of God on behalf of his people both to preserve and Save but also to judge those who do evil because he says Esther you don’t do anything you’re going to be judged so morai stresses so even though and this I think is valuable too even though morai says our people will be delivered he stresses to Esther her responsibility as one given unique opportunity to help her people she must act or face the consequences Esther seems to demonstrate some Faith as well both in her fasting and her request for the people to fast so praying to God inter looking to U go to God in faith and in Hope and then and actually putting that faith into action by appearing before the king she didn’t know what would happen but she knew what her responsibility was and she knew that God could preserve her and God did but why does Esther not present her petition right away why does she stall twice we’re not told but what could be one of the reasons is there any advantage to not presenting the request right away we could perhaps think of a couple reasons why she might do this one she might Simply Be Afraid there are a number of things that could go wrong things working against her this is the powerful King she’s about to accuse and uh contradict one of the decrees made by the king and one of the most powerful rulers under the king she’s a Jewish young woman if she reveals her Heritage what will the king think so maybe she’s afraid or maybe she thinks she just needs more time not everything is in place yet that needs to be in place and so she she needs a little bit more time or maybe it’s a strategy a purposeful strategy to get the king more and more interested and we’re going to see that as as he’s Banquets go on that the king really does become concerned as to what Esther’s request is and when she finally makes it known he is very emotionally invested and we’re going to see just how he reacts But ultimately can’t know the reason that Esther doesn’t present her request right away but it is essential that she doesn’t because of what happens next in the text she probably didn’t know what was about to happen but we’re going to find out we’re going to see that it was very important that it did look over to Esther 7 now and I’m going to summarize the rest of chapter 5 and six after being invited to the banquet hmon boasts to his family and his friends this is hmon he boast to his family and his friends by all his greatness and good fortune but he also mentions that he hates that morai never will bow to him and his wife and his friends recommend that hmon build a Gallow from morai which hmon does hmon then goes to visit the king to ask that morai be executed he’s not going to wait for the Jewish Day of Doom he’s going to execute morai immediately at least that’s his plan but that night this is the night in between the two Banquets the king can’t sleep and he asks someone to read the chronicle to him and he hears from the king’s Chronicles that morai saved the king but was never rewarded for his service while thinking about what kind of reward to give morai the king notices that hmon is in the court and he calls hmon in and he asks what hmon would suggest as a reward now hmon thinking that he’s the one getting the reward the king doesn’t mention who’s getting the reward but hmon thinks it’s Him He suggests giving the man a horse and a robe that belonged to the king for one day give him those things for one day and have the men LED through the city the city Square by one of the king’s great princes announcing to all who see thus shall it be done to the man whom the king desires to honor the king replies great idea go do all that for morai and the next day that’s what hmon does hmon intended to exalt himself and kill morai but that’s not what happens instead H or Mori is the one exalted and hmon is the one who has to lead him around this is a very bad chart of events for hymon he tells it to his wife and uh friends and when they hear that morai is a Jew they say hmon if you’re opposing a Jew you’re going to fall this is just the beginning of your downfall which is a very portentous word because just then hymon is promptly escorted to Esther’s second banquet which is where we pick up the account and Esther 7 so let’s look at Esther 7 1 to 8:14 now the king and hmon came to drink wine with Esther the queen and the King said to Esther on the second day also as they drank their wine at the banquet what is your petition Queen Esther it shall be granted you and what is your request even to half of the kingdom it shall be done then Queen Esther replied if I have found favor in your sight O King and if it pleases the king let my life be given me as my petition and my people as my request for we have been sold I and my people to be destroyed to be killed and to be annihilated now if only we had been if we had only been sold as slaves men and women I would have remained silent for the trouble would not be commensurate with the annoyance to the king then King azerus asked Queen Esther who is he and where is he who would presume to do thus Esther said a foe and an enemy is this wicked hmon and hmon became terrified before the king and and queen the king arose in his anger from drinking wine and went into the palace Garden but hmon stayed to beg for his life from Queen Esther for he saw that harm had been determined against him by the king now when the king returned from the palace Garden into the place where they were drinking wine hmon was falling on the couch where Esther was then the king said will he even assault assult the queen with me in the house as the word went out of the king’s mouth they covered Hon’s face then harbona one of the Unix who were before the king said behold indeed the Gallow standing at Hon’s house 50 cubits High which hmon made from morai who spoke good on behalf of the king and the King said hang him on it so they hanged hon on The Gallows which he had prepared from wakai and the King’s anger subsided on that day King azus gave the house of hmon the enemy of the Jews to Queen Esther and Mori came before the king or and Mori came before the king for Esther had disclosed what he was to her the king took off his signant ring which he had taken away from hmon and gave it to morai and Esther set morai over the house of hon then Esther spoke against the king fell at his feet wept and implored him to avert the evil scheme of hmon the agagite and his plot which he had devised against the Jews the King extended the golden scepter to Esther so Esther arose and stood before the king then she said if it pleases the king and if I have found favor before him and the matter seems proper To The King and I am pleasing in his sight Let It Be written to revoke the letters devised by hmon the son of hamadaa the a agagite which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the king’s provinces for How Can I Endure to see the Calamity which will befall my people and How Can I Endure to see the destruction of my Kindred so King azus said to Queen Esther and to Mori the Jew behold I have given the house of hmon to Esther and to him they have hanged on The Gallows and him they have hanged on The Gallows because he had stretched out his hand against the Jews now you write to the Jews as you see fit in the king’s name and seal it with a king’s signant ring for a decree which is written in the Name of the King and sealed of the king’s sign ring may not be revoked so the king’s scribes are called at that time in the third month which is the month cvon on the 23rd day and it was written according to all that morai commanded to the Jews the SAT traps the governors and the princes of of the provinces which extended from India to Ethiopia 127 provinces to every Province according to its script and to every people according to their language as well as to the Jews according to their script and their language he wrote In The Name of King azerus and sealed it with the king signant ring and sent Letters by couriers on horses riding on steeds sired by the royal stud in them they King granted the Jews who were in each and every city the right to assemble and defend their lives to destroy to kill and to annihilate the entire Army of any people or province which might attack them including children and women and to plunder their spoil on one day in all the provinces of King of hazus the 13th day of the 12th month that is the month Adar a copy of edict to be issued as law in each and every Province was published to all the peoples so that the Jews would be ready for this day to avenge themselves on their enemies the corers hastened and impelled by the King’s Command went out riding on the Royal steeds and the decree was given out at the Citadel in Souza all right let’s observe this last section when Esther reveals her petition in situation notice the king’s great indignation he demands to know who has schemed against her and her people when he hears that it is hmon the king becomes enraged and goes into the garden for a moment probably to think notice Hon’s response he’s terrified begs for Mercy from the queen falling on her couch and presumably onto her a little bit cuz the king interprets Hon’s actions to be assault and then notice the turnabout who is hung on the Gallows meant for Mori why hmon himself the builder of the Gallows and notice who replaces hmon in his position before the king morai himself that household of hmon is given to Esther and Esther gives it to morai when the king’s anger subsides Esther again begs the king to save her people but what can be done since the law of the king cannot be revoked but the king gives morai and Esther authority to write a new edict and morai comes up with a clever plan order that the Jews be allowed to gather and defend themselves on the day of the attack that has already been decreed did you notice anything about the wording of mori’s counter decree something similar something similar to the first decree I I can’t see if someone’s raising a hand nobody you may have noticed the repetition of a certain phrase destroy kill and annihilate and also the inclusion of women and children and the command to plunder the spoil so basically whatever was decreed against the Jews is now decreed on behalf of the Jews they can do that to their enemies and the command goes out speedily to every Province now we don’t have time to read the rest of Esther but I’ll summarize the results the Jews throughout the Empire rejoice when they hear of the new edict and the dread of the Jews comes upon the people throughout the Empire and some even convert and become Jews after they hear this new decree from Mori and also see morai being exalted in position before the Persian king the Jews prepare for this day the 13th day of the month of Adar the 12th month as do their hardened enemies and on the appointed day there is Battle the Jews assisted by the leaders and governors in every place they destroy their enemies 75,000 people 75,000 enemies are killed with 800 killed just in Souza over two days including Hon’s 10 Sons poly though the Jews do not take any of the plunder but after the victory they do celebrate and feast all the next day the day of Doom then becomes a day of salvation instead of Israel’s enemies destroying Israel Israel destroys them Esther and Mori command the Jews to commemorate the feast days as permanent holidays the 14th and 15th days of the 12th month become the Feast of pum which means Lots going back to what hmon did and this Feast is still celebrated by Jews around the world today let’s ask some interpretation question one more time based on this passage and what we’ve seen before throughout this whole account of Esther who strangely has not been mentioned at all say it again God that’s right we haven’t heard God’s name at all not Yahweh not Adon not anything but God is clearly here in this story how do we know this how can we say that though God’s not mentioned he is certainly here uh Craig exactly if we look at what happens in the story you would say wow that was lucky or wow what are the chances but it just keeps on happening like that and all towards a purpose that benefited God’s people this is not random this is not the mere casting of a lot this is purposeful someone is bringing all these things to pass though unseen and it is God and I think we can supply a reason as to why the author has chosen to do this why is the author chosen to show that God is clearly active even though he doesn’t mention God at all why does the author do that yeah yeah I mean that’s true the author doesn’t have to say the word God to give the to give the impression that or to to indicate that God is clearly at work but he’s chosen purposefully not to mention the word of God Esther is one of I think just a couple books in the Bible that don’t mention God at all I think maybe Song of Solomon is another one that doesn’t explicitly mention God so he’s done that on purpose and I think he’s trying to say something about something related to God by doing that namely about Providence I wants to emphasize that even though you might not see God you might not see his presence any manifestation of his presence you might not see any miracle from God nevertheless God is still acting in a amazing way he’s still acting according to his promises and still bringing about his good purposes this is all about the Providence of God you don’t have to see God to realize that God is at work invisibly secretly in the circumstances and even by not mentioning God’s name name but showing that God is clearly the author reinforces that idea to us this is about God’s Providence I think someone once said that God’s simple Providence is just as powerful and amazing as any of God’s spectacular Miracles me just look at what he brought to pass for the Jews in the days of Esther and there was no fire from heaven there was no vision of a prophet and yet there was this amazing result this is God’s simple Providence his astonishing Providence at work thinking about the rest of the scriptures why was Hon’s plan of genocide doomed to fail well actually I think we’ve already answered this question we we know that Hon’s plan contradicted exactly what God promised to Israel and not just Israel but going back to Eve going back to Abraham going back to David a messiah and Redeemer had to come from the people of Israel for the people of Israel and his people had to be preserved there have been many times throughout Israel’s history where someone sought to destroy the people of Israel you can think back to the Egyptians Pharaoh sought to stop the multiplication of of the people of Israel and just keep them as slaves or when aad tried to destroy the Royal House of David and in the New Testament we have hon who tries to kill all the the babies in Bethlehem there’s been efforts throughout history even in the Bible and since then to destroy the Jews or destroy the line of David but God’s not going to let that happen either miraculously or providentially God will make sure that does not happen because he’s going to keep his promises God may allow Israel to be temporarily Afflicted but he would never let them be destroyed so you see how this all fits in with the the holiday pum pum is the Feast of lots what’s more random than throwing Lots but scripture says the lot falls into the lap but it’s every decision is from the Lord nothing is random God is in control and this Feast of lots actually turns that idea of Randomness on its head it was actually God’s Providence at work and that was commemorated you may have noticed a certain pattern in this account three times we see the same event take place what’s the pattern in this book first it happens with people and then it happens with a nation what’s the pattern yeah Rob and what’s the flips side of that exactly we see this pattern of divine reversal and it’s all based I think Rob on what you were saying about pride and humility were being outside of God’s promises and those who are part of God’s promises CU consider we have Esther and vashi we have Mori and hmon and we have the Jews and their enemies vashi is suddenly taken from a position of exaltation and brought low while Esther this seemingly random Jewish young exiled woman is put into her place and you have morai this Jew who is going to be murdered by hmon he takes Hon’s place and hmon is the one who’s executed but it’s their enemies who are destroyed and the Jews experiened the victory so just just as you are alluding to this reversal is all part of what God expresses in his law we could go into many verses but go back to the abrahamic Covenant what did God promise to Abraham those who bless you I Will Bless but those who curse you I will curse if you go back to any of the promises or the many promises of God to deliver Israel I’m going to destroy your enemies even when God was promising exile to Israel number of times he said I’m going to allow you to be threshed I’m going to allow you to be chastened but then I will destroy your enemies and I will exalt you again and we’re seeing that principle being played out in in a instance here in the Book of Esther God destroys the wicked proud he brings them low suddenly but for the righteous who wait for his people who wait they are exalted at the right time this is something that the writer Vester wants to emphasize to us God according to his promises is in the business of Su reversals the proud will be brought low The Humble will be exalted and so whoever the writer of Esther was is telling the exiled Jews or the newly returned Jews do not despair when you see the Wicked prospering the Lord sees the Lord knows at the right time he will bring reversal those who mourn now will be comforted to borrow some of the Beatitudes and those who laugh now will wail and due time God will make everything right and give himself the glory that he is due there will be a reversal according to God’s promises so what does all this mean for us well certainly you can see that these principles that we’ve just discussed they go beyond the days of Esther or even the days of the Jews returning from Exile they are for us they for us who have been brought into the people of God so here are a few questions to get us thinking about what applying Esther means for our lives number one are you humble before the Lord or are you proud this whole account is a dramatic illustration of God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble so which one are you number two do you take comfort or Security in prosperous circumstances I urge you don’t be so naive cuz God can turn your situ upside down in a moment just as he demonstrated here number three are you Afflicted seemingly doomed because you belong to God because you are following God do not despair God will vindicate you at the proper time he can reverse your circumstances in a moment and we already know that he will reverse them in eternity those who mourn now they will be comforted number four do you rest on God’s Providence in your life seeing that every circumstance is being mysteriously and perfectly arranged by God for your good and God’s glory you know Romans the passage in Romans let’s not try to interpret God’s will through our circumstances but let’s remember that that we can trust God despite what we see in our circumstances because of his Providence and then finally number five do you use God’s Providence as an excuse to disobey his commands do you say to yourself God’s will is going to happen anyway so I don’t have to do anything well remember what Mori said to Esther because those words were true God will accomplish his will despite your Disobedience but then you and your house will perish do not neglect your responsibility in light of God’s sovereignty you are called if you’re a Believer you are called to good work works you are called to gospel witness you are called to glorify God if you obey you’ll experience the blessing of being the means of God’s Sovereign will but if you neglect the good you want to do God will still glorify himself but it will be at your expense you won’t get to enjoy it any final comments or questions well if you think of anything that you wouldd like to share with me or if you have a question feel free to email me uh make a point of responding to the emails because I I still want to serve Calvary even though I’m over here so don’t feel like oh I don’t want to bother him it’s not a bother and this concludes our brief study on the Book of Esther next week we’ll take a look at the Book of Daniel one more time as we consider Daniel’s visions of the Future Let’s close in prayer Our Lord You’re Providence is so great it is so mysterious and Beautiful Lord we can think as Believers in your son we can think back to how your Providence has already been at work in amazing ways in our lives and Lord that’s a great comfort because we know that you’re never going to let things get out of control nor are you going to let us be um abandoned you’ll always provide even through the fire even through the water even through the trials Lord you will be with us and you will eventually bring about reversal you will vindicate those who wait upon you so Lord help us to wait upon you Lord help us not to be weak Deliver us from our weak flesh God that we would trust you glorify you and display your light to the world let us not be passive but embrace our responsibility while taking comfort in your sovereignty I pray that you bless the rest of Calvary service today in Jesus name amen all right guys I’ll see you next week for