Destination: Esther 1-10 | Skip Heitzig

[Music] behind me is the Temple Mount this is the scene for many of the stories in the Old Testament from Abraham to Zechariah before we begin our next flight of the Bible from 30,000 feet let's get this background the word Esther it means star and this Jewish woman certainly lived up to her name the dramatic events in this book illustrate that even when God is not named he is at work behind the scenes orchestrating events and frustrating the forces of evil his purposes will always come to pass as the book of Esther demonstrates the book of Esther one of only two books in the entire Bible named after a woman the other is the Book of Ruth Esther in the Persian language which is interestingly similar to Spanish means star Estrella how many of you knew that already yeah I I found that out a few years ago Esther de estar Esther star in Persian that that is her name her Hebrew name as will see is Hadassah which means something entirely different it means a myrtle tree but she has given a Persian name in this book there's a question a lot of people live with as they go through life questions like why do I have this crummy job what is the purpose of life getting up going to work I work cutting hair or I work as a as an engineer or I work in an office or a work doing law what what great purpose is there in that how could God use that I hope that Esther will answer that question once and for all because we see somebody who was just another Jewish girl in an empire being placed strategically by God to be as we heard even earlier in the right place at the right time god never wastes a life and when a life is dedicated to him a life is converted when you say lord I give you my life God takes you up on his word any mold you in shape too but he'll make sure that your life once given to him is never wasted you may never see dramatic overt miraculous visible things happen but God can strategically move you for his kingdom sake as we'll see tonight in this book the book of Esther is part of a little section of Hebrew literature called and if you have a pen I'll spell it Meggy looked Mickey looked it looks like megalith m EG g IL o th Meggie looked and it means the five Scrolls these are five little books or Scrolls in the original that are of special importance to the Jewish nation in fact on five different occasions throughout the year the Jews will recite read one of these books so every year at Passover the book the Song of Solomon is read every year at Pentecost the Book of Ruth is read and recited in the synagogue the Book of Lamentations is read once a year on a very special date called T Shabbat which is the celebration annually or the commemoration of the destruction of the Jewish temple every feast of tabernacles the book of ecclesiastes is read and this book the fifth book the book of Esther is read at a feast called poram poram how many of you have heard of that feast Purim okay hands down I'm gonna actually just get real honest how many if you have never heard of that feast before Purim okay great a lot of you hands down we're gonna change that tonight the introduction and the explanation of that feast is found in this book in fact at the very end of the book it will explain how that feast came about without this book we would have absolutely no idea what the captives who stayed back and didn't go to Jerusalem under Ezzor Ezra zerubabbel and Nehemiah we wouldn't have known what life was like for them but now in reading this book we have a little snapshot of life in Persia in the persian court especially we don't know who wrote the book of Esther we can only guess there's three good guesses I would say it's either Mordechai a relative of hers who's mentioned in the book Ezra or Nehemiah simply because whoever wrote it had to be Jewish because there's a lot of references to Jewish dates in the calendar the Hebrew calendar and had to have knowledge of the Persian court and Nehemiah and Mordecai had intimate knowledge of that so I would say one of those two in my opinion wrote this book Esther is a book of crisis the book unfolds a crisis and the resolution of that crisis and and what what's great about that to me is that God isn't just the God of calm oh gods in this it's all calm and peaceful as if to say it's a crisis God can't be in this and I often hear people say God's not a God of confusion I know he's not the author of confusion but understand God can hop right in the middle of your crisis and confusion and give you peace even though you don't see it outwardly there's still moorings and bearings and a great sense of peace and calm in the midst of a crisis interesting thing about this book as we mentioned this last weekend is the name of God is not mentioned in this book not even once although the pagan king is mentioned a hundred and ninety-two times in this book prayer is never mentioned in this book obviously if God hasn't mentioned nobody's praying to him and so it has a book that has puzzled people Martin Luther even said he wished this book never would have been written he really had problems with this at first but to me that's what makes it so special because you don't have to have the name of God but as Nate even said earlier on you have the thumbprint or the fingerprint the evidence of the working of God one of the reasons you don't see God in this book is because we're dealing with Israel in their backslidden state they're not really thinking about God they're not obeying God in Persia remember they didn't go back only fifty thousand went back the rest of them stayed back in Babylon and now taken over by Persia so they're not interested in furthering the kingdom they're not interested in Jerusalem they're not interested in God's program they have largely stayed back and forgotten all about God and become very much like the world around them but here's the beauty of the book though they may have forgotten about God God hasn't forgotten about them and this is where Providence comes in if you've never thought about that word or that concept I want you really to get that message tonight this book shows the Providence of God how God moves ordinary events and strings them together just perfectly so that his will will ultimately be done and I think God moves that way most of the times that God is moving there's a lot of different ways God has acted in the past as it says in Hebrews 1 verse 1 God who at sundry times and in divers manners spoken times passed to our fathers through the prophets for example number one appearance God made the heaven and the earth appear out of nothing he just made it happen and then to Adam and Eve God appeared it says God walked with them in the cool of the day and then throughout biblical history you have certain times where God will speak to his people speak to a prophet or have an apparition of sorts that's very rare that is not a common everyday occurrence second way God moves as an appearance but maintenance he maintains what he created in Colossians chapter 1 he Jesus is before all things and in him all things are held together he's the super glue that keeps everything running like clockwork in this universe so appearance maintenance here's a third way works historically interference sometimes God will decide and it is rare but he'll do it and throughout the Bible he did it a lot interference God will interrupt or supersede natural law with a miraculous event but forth and this world brings us to Esther this is by and large how God moves most of the time is by Providence not appearance maintenance all the time not always by interference but Providence so here we are going God show me a miracle and God doesn't have to do the miracle he can if he chooses to but by and large he just takes natural events and puts them together in such a way that his will will ultimately be done John Nelson Darby put it this way God's ways are behind the scenes but he moves all of the scenes which he is behind see God isn't always overt always visible always audible Jesus said the kingdom of God does not come with outward observation but he's all over this book providentially now a quick outline and we're gonna be reading probably more in the front and summing up more in the back but there's only ten chapters no problem we'll cover it chapters 1 & 2 form a unit chapters 3 4 & 5 form a second unit and the rest of the book is the third division so first of all we have supernatural Providence and I'll explain more as we go supernatural Providence God's gonna set things up you ever walked into a situation say this is a setup that's what God does it's a setup supernatural Providence chapters 3 4 & 5 division number 2 satanic plot we see a counter move like a chess game in fact I believe Satan thought he was saying check to God of course you'll see how God does a checkmate and after the satanic plot the third division the rest of the book is sovereign protection sovereign protection how God protects the Jewish people so let's go to chapter 1 verse 1 supernatural Providence it came to pass in the days of a hasshu heiress this is was the hazu heiress who reigned over a hundred and twenty seven provinces from India to Ethiopia so if you're wondering well I wonder which a has aware as he means that's the one that guy he was the ruler over the empire aha shoe heiress or Xerxes his Greek name will be the father of artaxerxes the guy who gives a command and nehemiah to go back the border of the empire on the East India the border of the empire on the west Ethiopia at that time in those days when King Ahasuerus by the way it means mighty his name might means mighty or lion so this is the first Lion King this is the Lion King this is a hasshu heiress The Lion King he sat on the throne of his kingdom which was in Shushan the Citadel that in the third year of his reign he made a feast for all of his officials and servants the powers of Persia and media the nobles the princes of the provinces being before him when he showed the riches of his glorious Kingdom and the splendor of his excellent majesty for many days yeah I would say 180 days in all all I can say is this guy knew how to party this is a six-month party a six-month festival and here's why he's doing it we know historically he's trying to sell these guys on a war plan he's getting 127 provinces all the leaders we don't know how many from each province that could have been 2,000 people in his banquet hall and for six months he's getting them together he's whining him he's dining him and he's trying to sell him on a war plan and here's why over in the West at that time a new empire is gaining strength it's called Greece Philip of Macedon and his son Alexander who thought he was really great and he was is starting to gain power and influence and will eventually take over the world so what seeing here already is Providence there's going to be a power shift in the world a power shift from the east to the West right now the East Persia they're in charge pretty soon Alexander the Great will conquer the world and there will be a great power shift from east to west the Greeks will build roads the Romans will expand them by the New Testament time the whole world will speak the most exact language ever produced the Greek language so that the New Testament will be given to us in Greek it's all a perfect setup for the coming of the Messiah I did a whole study on this in Galatians chapter 4 verse 4 and when the fullness of the time had come or it was just the perfect time God sent forth his son born of a virgin born under the law so God is starting here to set up the players for not just what is imminent but what is ultimate in the future in verses 5 and following after the six-month party he throws party number 2 this is a seven day feast thanking all of his palace officials for all of their help on the first party I mean telling you this guy is just like mr. party animal party hardy dude all the way well we're done with that party let's have a party for the people who threw the party it was much smaller verse 9 Queen Vashti that's his wife also made a feast for the women in the Royal Palace which belonged to King Ahasuerus now according to social custom men and women did it separately there were separate gatherings a few years ago I was in Thailand I didn't know protocol I didn't know protocol it was at a leaders conference we were in northern Thailand we were out in the fields I'm used to pulling out a chair for a woman to sit down the women you've served first and then then them then the men said oh no not there the men eat first and are served by the women and the younger folks and I'm sitting around and I invite some of the young folks and some of the women to have a seat next to me and next to us and boy did I get in trouble for that it's just a very different protocol well that's how Persia was run separate different events going on verse 12 but Vashti refused to come at the king's command brought by his eunuchs therefore the king was furious and his anger burned with him the men are having a feast feast number two the women are having a feast the king says I want to show you my beautiful trophy wife way do you get a load of her calls for Queen Vashti now we don't exactly know why she refuses to come possibility number one the King wanted her to perform some lewd sensual act she refused to do it or number two she was pregnant at the time with little Xerxes art exerts ease and she didn't want to go she refused to go Queen Vashti refused to come at the king's command it says notice at the end of verse 12 his anger burned within him history tells us this guy had an anger problem first of all he's the king so he can get angry whenever he feels like it right who's gonna say don't do that but he really flew off the handle there's a story in history that says he had 300 men of Persia build a bridge somewhere down by the Persian Gulf a huge storm came in and destroyed the bridge that the 300 men had built he flew into a rage went out to the water and started hitting beating the water I don't know why he's but he's King he beat water whenever he wants so he's hittin the water then he goes and kills the three hundred men who build him the bridge because it wasn't good enough just crazy you know kind of out there and so when it says he became angry it's like Oh King 'he's mad what do we do now a Hodja where US had never faced this before he had never faced feminism in the Persian Empire he'd never had his wife or anybody say no I'm not going to do that and he doesn't exactly know what to do so he calls in a few wiseguys and one of them who's named here memucan says this is what you got to do you got to put an end to this right now you got to take her kick her off the throne get her out of the palace and put out an edict throughout all of the empire that says women don't do that to their husbands we have to set order here so he does exactly that and the first women's liberation movement was stopped by the Persian Empire now there's a gap between chapter 1 and 2 and notice how chapter 2 begins after these things let me tell you what these things are what's going on there's a gap between chapter 1 and 2 where King Ahasuerus aka Xerxes goes and fights a battle out west with the Greeks it's one of the most famous battles in history some of you've heard of it the Battle of Thermopylae he's defeated in this battle even though he has a lot more men than the Greeks Thermopylae is in a little canyon area and only a few people can get through this little kind of an islet of a land at a time when the Greeks trained their soldiers they put stock in the individual and they had a saying one Greek soldier is worth 10 Persian soldiers and so though they had a lot more men on the Persian side the Greeks were better trained and though they had a smaller army the Greeks defeated the Persians it was humiliating and so now a has awareness comes back home he's back home he doesn't have his wife anymore he can traverse the ADAC because it's a Persian edict the law of the Medes and the Persians is irrevocable so he's pouting around the palace doesn't know what to do so after these things when the wrath of King Ahasuerus subsided he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what had been decreed against her then the King's servants who attended him said LED beautiful young virgins be sought for the King so now we have the first recorded beauty contest ever and it takes place here now there's a there's a guy around the palace in those days named Mordecai the uncle of Esther her dad and mom died she's orphaned uncle Mordecai raised her there's a beauty contest to get the most beautiful young woman verse seven and Mordecai had brought up Hadassah her name means Myrtle that is Esther which means star by the way it's possible that the Babylonian Ishtar and Esther are similar there's a gate in Babylon I have a picture of a called the Ishtar Gate and there's one of their goddesses so it could be that in taking over the Babylonian Kingdom that these names got put together Mordecai brought up Hadassah that is Esther his uncle's daughter for she had neither father nor mother the young woman was lovely and beautiful interesting both of those words together lovely probably in her personality and beautiful and her physical appearance when her father her mother died Mordecai took her as his own daughter we have a problem Mordecai is gonna let Hadassah aka Esther get into this beauty contest the Mosaic law the Jewish law of Moses forbade taking marriages but Mordecai Esther all of these Jews they're not really walking close with the Lord there's no mention of God in the book there's no mention of prayer in the book it's just very pragmatic at that time but again God is behind the scenes verse 12 each young woman's turn came to go into King Ahasuerus after now get this after this you couldn't go see the king right away and just say what do you think look at this after she had completed 12 months preparation according to the regulations for women for thus were the days of their preparation apportioned six months with oil of myrrh and six months with perfumes and preparations for beautifying women okay heads up men don't complain if your wife spends a few hours at the salon or half a day at a spa this was a year this is 12 months at the spa okay six months was all about you know oil spa day six months of smelling good perfumes then you can see the king it's interesting it's interesting how much value the Persians put on outward beauty and it's interesting how much our culture puts on our beauty and it's not just our culture practically every culture in the world had some value on on making the best out of what we have you know sometimes there are legalistic Christians who say women should never wear makeup and you know in men and women should dress plain and whatever you know I think you do the best with what you got you know Jay Vernon McGee used to somebody asked Jay Burnham beguine I was reading this this week he was a pastor he spoke here but he was out in Los Angeles years ago and somebody came up to him says do you think women should wear makeup it was a trick question and he said it depends what woman it is is a good answer I'm not gonna touch that or even go any further with that I'm just giving you his answer but women don't feel bad if you make yourself look nice but I'm gonna ask you for something okay this isn't too unreasonable equal time not not for me or for the church but for God whatever time you spend and getting ready and getting prepared and making yourself beautiful just maybe calculate that and give God at least equal time that's how much time you're gonna spend in prayer and in the word and in fellowship and seeking Him that's not too much to ask Peter said in 1st Peter chapter 3 do not let your adornment be merely outward arranging of the hair and putting on gold and putting on fine apparel but let it be of the hidden person of the heart so give God at least equal time verse 16 so Astro was taken to a king ahasuerus in to his royal palace in the tenth month which is the month of Tibet in the seventh year of his reign the king loved Esther more than all the other women she obtained Grace and favor in his sight more than all of the versions so he set the royal crown upon her head and made her Queen instead of Vashti here's the setup okay here's the supernatural providence God is setting all of the places on the chessboard in just the right place now she's Jewish the King doesn't know she's Jewish and won't know she's Jewish for quite a while Mordecai her uncle says whatever you do don't tell the King you Jewish we keep it a secret here so it's gonna be at a very providential strategic time that she lets that out now she must have used her position as the new Queen to put Mordecai into a prominent position because suddenly it says Mordecai was at the gate of the palace and that means he was in a position of authority he was like an elder at the palace a bigwig uncle Mordecai Mordecai being at the palace gate overhears a plot by two guys to kill the king to overthrow the government he hears about it he puts an end to it but he gets no reward for it yet yet and this what I want to say about that is it was a long time before anybody found out he did something good and honorable nobody saw it nobody gave him a reward yet when you decide to do something good and honorable and and obedient to God don't always it don't live for the accolades don't live for the applause don't say nobody saw me good God saw you and interestingly his deed is recorded in the Persian Chronicles and the king will find out about it soon enough it's written down but the king at this point doesn't know anything about it so chapter 3 now through five here's the second part of the book a satanic plot this is where the story gets really good verse 1 chapter 3 after these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman bad dude the son of Hama death ah the ag-gag gate say that 20 times rifice I got guy and advanced him and set his seat above all the princes who were with them and all the king's servants who were within the Kings gate bowed and paid homage to Haman for so the King had commanded concerning him but Mordecai would not bow or pay homage question why would the scripture and now let me give attribution why would the holy spirit think it's important that the readers of this book find out that this guy was in Agra Gaiden to show you how far disobedience can take you let me explain the Agra gate family was the royal family of a group called the Amalekites herd of the malachite s'right they were the group that when Moses and the children of Israel were going through the land and trying to get in the Amalekites chased them down and killed the old people and the weak people and really it was an enemy of Israel for a long time amalek was the son of esau from way back they've always been against the Jewish people King Agag was the king that Saul refused to dispose of when the Lord gave a command to Saul to go wipe out the Amalekites he wouldn't do it he brought the best of the spoil and brought King Agag back right and Samuel said ha did you obey God oh yes praise God I obeyed God well then how come I hear sheep noises and you got King Agag here oh well you know he's the King and I wanted to bring the best animals to sacrifice to the Lord it was it was just smoke and mirrors it was a skin of a reason stuffed with a lie that's what an excuse is he didn't kill him he didn't wipe out all of the Amalekites as God had said now in hearing that command you might what a mean God to order the extermination of this people group had Saul obeyed we never would be reading this there wouldn't be an egg a kite they would have been gone they posed a perpetual threat even in another Kingdom this guy turns out to be a hater of all things Jewish and wants to exterminate them verse 6 he disdained to lay hands on Mordechai alone get this for they had told him of the people of Mordecai instead Haman sought to destroy all the Jews who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus the people of Mordecai now he goes to the king and he says King I just want you to know I'm Haman you love me I'm a good guy you've promoted me so there's a group of people there a problem we have to solve the Jewish problem we have a group of people in the kingdom they're Jewish people and they're rebels if you just give me the permission I'll give you a whole lot of money to let me carry it out let's kill them all so look at verse 9 if it pleases the King let it decree be written that they be destroyed and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who do the work to bring it into the Kings Treasuries now maybe about now you're thinking I don't know if I buy this I mean it sounds a little fishy that a guy could just go to the king and say hey we got a several thousand people in this kingdom can we just kill them all well sure dude here's my signet ring get it done you would think well maybe he will do a little bit of investigation first right before he makes that order until you understand he has just lost the Battle of Thermopylae he's down a lot of troops down a lot of money down a lot of resources very despondent he's just suffered defeat and now his finances are way down if you eliminate a group of people that are taking some of the resources away from your people we'll survive maybe it would make sense if he did that so he sends letters out to and 27 different leaders in these provinces and says on a certain day of the month let's exterminate every single Jew in the entire kingdom now what what makes this amazing is now you have anti-semitism legalized legalized this is pretty easy to see a satanic plot right it's a satanic plot because if his plot is carried out it will change the course of redemptive history there's not going to be a Bible there's not going to be a savior there has to be a nation of Israel for those two things to come about right so think of this as a battle plan from Satan's own little weird head if God's plan of salvation depended on the existence of a nation of a people group if his plan of salvation depends on a the existence of a group if you eliminate that group you will have four does God's plan now when you understand that a lot of the Bible makes sense you understand the Satanic battle plot in the scripture you understand why Pharaoh says kill every Jew in this kingdom every boy who's born kill him but what's a girl drown it you go why so harsh it's a satanic plot destroy the nation destroy redemptive history may God a liar now it's easy to understand why you have a folia in second Kings chapter 8 who says destroy all of the royal seed of David or a King Herod kill all the babies in Bethlehem it's part of that satanic plot so Mordecai hears the news and he reacts he's reactive and proactive he reacts emotionally but he's proactive decisively he tears his clothes it's horrible but he has a plan by God verse 13 Mordecai told them to answer Esther go tell this to the Queen do not think in your heart that you will escape the kings in the king's palace any more than all the other Jews for if you remain completely silent at this time relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place but you and your father's house will perish yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this now God has not mentioned but certainly implied in this verse hmm who knows but this isn't a setup and you happen to be here at just the right time for this purpose maybe the whole reason God allowed you to be queen is to save the Jewish people so number one Mordecai saying the plan of God will not be thwarted if you say no to getting involved Queen Esther to stop this vicious plot if you say no to it God's plan won't be thwarted deliverance will come from somewhere else I don't know where else but that's a statement of faith it's a statement of faith and all I can imagine is maybe he was thinking maybe that you know I don't remember much scripture but I remember Genesis 12 God said if you touch my people you touch the apple of my eye and I'm a promises to them and I'm gonna stand up for them maybe he remembered that so this is a statement of faith you say no to what God wants you to do or this going to the king deliverance will come from somewhere else number two being queen he would intimate here is not accidental it's providential who knows but maybe you've come to the kingdom for such a time as this Esther sweetheart this could be your finest hour you got to do something you got to talk to this to the king well she gives a response verse 16 to Mordecai her uncle go gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan fast for me notice not pray but fast for me neither eat nor drink for three days day or night my maids and I will fast likewise and so I will go to the King which is against the law and if I perish I perish you hear what she's saying okay I'm gonna go to the king it's against the law and the story tells you that if you walked into a Persian king and he didn't hold out his golden sceptre they'd just cut your head off you're just dead you know you have to be invited well he hadn't been invited for over a month so she knows his risky business just to go into the king but she says I'll do it and if I perish I perish now it's really good reasoning because she's thinking okay he's right I'm Jewish they're gonna find out eventually they're gonna kill me because I'm Jewish so if I don't do anything they'll kill me because I'm Jewish if I go in and he doesn't find favor and didn't lift up his scepter he'll kill me either way I'm gonna die it's do or die I'll die cuz I'm Jewish I'll die because he's not placed here goes if I perish I perish now God is behind the scenes moving the players setting up the events providentially so that it's a predetermined outcome that's Providence there's two words that are put together for the English word Providence pro PR Oh means before and then video VI d EO video which means to see Providence simply is a word that means to see something before it happens Providence so in your own personal life picture this way God has a I can't say a filmstrip I can't even say a VCR or video of your life but he has a DVD of your life and he's got the Macintosh program all set up and he can cut and splice so here's your life and God goes I don't want that I'm going to cut that piece out boom and add this little piece foomp right here I'm gonna set it up as I want it to happen cuz I see everything in advance so chapter 5 Esther goes to the king and asked for favor the King said to her what do you wish Queen Esther what is your request get this it shall be given to you up to half the kingdom she might be tempted say I'll take half the kingdom so Esther answered if it pleases the King let the king and Haman come today to the banquet that I have prepared for him what we what do you want let's have a party now he's into parties as we can see he's thinking dude good idea but she didn't tell her the whole tell him the whole thing let's just have a party I'll tell you the rest later so Haman feels very special gets invited but hates seeing Mordechai he's just obsessed with that Mordecai guy won't bow down to me verse 9 so Haman went out that day joyful with a glad heart he's going to the party but when Haman saw Mordecai in the Kings gate and that he had not did not stand her tremble before him he was filled with indignation against Mordecai so he goes home talk to his wife I can't stand the Mordecai guy but I got invited to a party I'm so happy because I got a party I'm gonna be with the King I'm special but I hate that Mordecai guy so she gives really warped advice build a huge Gallo 75 feet tall so you can hang Mordecai and then go to dinner verse 14 his wife is eros and all of the friends said to him let a gallows be made fifty cubits high that's 75 feet and in the morning suggested the king that Mordecai be hanged on it then go merrily with the King to the banquet and the thing please Taemin so he had a gallows made probably on a public building already maybe like on a city wall with a Gallo on top of it so that the total height was 75 feet interesting the word for gallows could be translated a stake for impaling a person on not just hang noose but up impaling a person on or crucify this is interesting crucifixion was invented not by the Romans but by the Persians it is thought that this was some kind of an a stake to either impale or crucify Mordecai the Jew on so chapter 6 through 10 we have the third and final swath of this we have sovereign protection chapter 6 verse 1 okay so gallows is made he's going to come into the king and ask for permission to hang Mordecai get this this is Providence chapter six verse one that night the king could not sleep providentially so one was commanded to bring the book of the records of the Chronicles and they were read before the king that's how you cure insomnia you read legal briefs right you read board minutes chronicles of the kingdom and it was found written that Mordecai had told big thana and tarish two of the king's eunuchs door keepers who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus so he's reading this and he discovered wait a minute this Mordecai dude is a hero an unsung hero nobody's rewarded him so he's sitting there thinking huh what can I do to reward Mordecai and and he's thinking I'll ask somebody who's in the palace and so it says who's in the palace it happened to be Haman just walks right in the palace as he's thinking that now he's going into the palace thinking I'm gonna get permission to kill Mordecai I'm gonna hang him not knowing what the king is discovered so verse six Haman came in the king asked him what shall be done for the man to whom the King delights to honor and Haman thought in his heart whom would the king delight to honor more than me he's totally unaware that the King is referring to Mordecai his enemy so he says well let a Royal robe be brought which the King has worn and a horse on which the king has ridden which as a royal crest place on its head then let this robe and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the Kings most noble Prince's that he may array the man whom the King decides to honor then parade him on horseback throughout the city square and proclaim before him thus it shall be done to the man to whom the King delights to honor let him be king for a day that's what you do let it be king for a day King said to Haman or hurry and take the robe and the horse as you have suggested and do so for Mordecai the Jew who sits within the Kings gate leave nothing undone of all that you have spoken how did he feel at that moment it's hard just when now it's time for the feast Esther has a feast King comes in as aware as Haman comes in he's the honored guest she hadn't told what the king what she wants yet it's chapter 7 verse 2 the king says ok what do you want ask anything up to half my kingdom now the King didn't know she was Jewish Haman did not know she was Jewish she's about ready to drop that bomb chapter 7 verse 4 for we have been sold my people and I to be destroyed to be killed and to be annihilated had we been sold as male and female slaves I would have held my tongue although the enemy could never compensate for the king's loss so has you whereas answered and said to Queen Esther who is he and where is he who would dare presume in his heart to do such a thing and Esther said the adversary an enemy is this wicked Haman so Haman was terrified before the king and the Queen remember this King kills three hundred dudes who didn't build a bridge right and here's this going oh this is like the worst day of my life in terms of chess we call this checkmate whatever Satan tried to do go check there's Haman God goes oh really Mordecai Esther's checkmate it's over it really is God hedges Satan in so King hears this he it's too much to handle he goes out to the garden to process what he just heard he comes back in the palace and at that time Haman who's like begging for his life has leaned over and has fallen over on the couch toward or the bed toward Queen Esther the King sees this thinking these guys trying to make a pass at my wife so they arrested in verse 10 so they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai and the King's wrath subsided so this Haman guy was a pain in the neck and he got one right had a lot of hangups okay so we still have a major problem still have a major problem to solve in in in nine minutes eight minutes and chapter eight nine and ten show this sovereign protection of God here's the problem the king has already sent out an order in edict to 127 different provinces in his kingdom kill all the Jews on a certain day it's an irrevocable edict how do you revoke that chapter eight is the first time in record where this king goes out and supersedes that command with another command stating that it was done in ignorance because of Haman so in Chapter eight he gives a ring I just took off my ring as a prop I don't know why but he took off his signet ring and he gave his ring to to Mordecai now the ring of a king was in a wedding ring it was a signet ring and wherever that ring was pushed into wax it was an official statement that you do whatever this thing says because the King has sealed it with his own seal the signet ring he had already given his ring once to Haman who made the first edict and then now he's giving it to Mordecai this guy was pretty free with Hannah and his ring out to people right sort of like the Lord of the Rings and and Haman Haman is like he's like I'm Smeagol you know he's like he's me he's like the bad guy it's all about the power of the Ring so Mordecai now has he's the good guy is the ring and and Haman's going okay sorry my minds were little work tonight okay so what he does in chapter 8 forgive me chapter 8 he sends out his fastest steeds as fast as horses and another edict to cancel out the first one chapter 8 verse 17 and in every province and city wherever the king's command and decree came the Jews had joy and gladness a feast and a holiday then many of the people of the land Jews they proselytized into the Jewish religion because the fear of the Jews fell upon them now please understand the importance of that statement we're talking about Persia Iran on that day a whole bunch of Iranians became Jews that's monumental that's that's a piece of Middle Eastern history you rarely hear it happened but in chapter 9 there's still a problem back at headquarters shoosh and the palace there's five hundred conspirators because of Haman that want to carry out the plot of killing the Jews plus there's the family members of Haman so Mordecai has given all of the goods all of the house all the palace of Haman and they take and they kill his ten sons they're hanged on the same gallows that he had made for Mordecai in Chapter 9 verse 20 and Mordecai wrote and now here's a letter to the Jews everywhere in the kingdom to establish among them verse 21 to establish among them that they should celebrate yearly the 14th and the 15th days of the month of Adar as the days on which the Jews had rest from their enemies as the month which was turned from sorrow to joy for them from morning to a holiday that they should make them days of feasting and joy of sending presents to one another and gifts to the poor verse 26 so they called these days Purim Purim is the plural now you understand and now you've heard of the feast of Purim so next time I ask that those hands won't go up here it is you read it so they call these days taurine after the poor the name P you are which is it's an Akkadian word it's a persian ancient persian word for the lot that was cast therefore because all of the words of this letter what they had seen concerning this matter and what had happened to them chapter 10 verse 3 notice it's a very short chapter for Mordecai the Jew was second to King Ahasuerus and was great among the Jews and well-received by the multitude of his brethren seeking the good of his people and speaking peace to all of his countrymen to this day Purim is still celebrated I first went to Israel when I was young and living on a kibbutz when I walked into the dining hall on my kibbutz in Israel and I saw this kind of ghoulish figure of a man hanging there I said who's that they said that's Haman yeah well they the kids beat him you know like pinatas and they poked they they they call names out to him and they have a big celebration they have candy and sweets they give a portion of the poor it's a huge celebration today in Israel a lot of fun now I had planned and tried Tracy and a couple others on staff tried to to get the little pastries that they have on Purim to get him here for tonight but we couldn't get a maid in time so in a few weeks to celebrate Purim we'll have the special treats that are available we'll have him here in a Wednesday night so tell all your friends we get a lot more people in Wednesday night to come by the way the little pastries are called Haman's ears Heyman's ears hamantaschen and the hamantash or the Haman's ears it's a beautiful little triangular pastry with fruit and nuts and and the raisins etc and we'll have some for you in a few weeks anyway here is the feast of Purim and that's how its celebrated and why God delivered the Jews from an attempted annihilation like with Pharoah years earlier and set them high and honored them he was providential they may not be praying to him they may not be concerned with him but God will keep his word keep his covenant to David honor his people and work in such a way that well the drama look at it this way the drama of Esther is over but the blessings continue the blessing of we have the Bible the blessing of we have a savior I'll tell you what the the fitting closing is to the book of Esther allow me to read to you just a couple of verses out of Romans chapter 9 he talks about the Israelites listen to these two verses who are Israelites to whom pertain the adoption the glory the covenants the giving of the law the service of God the promises whose are the fathers and of whom concerning the flesh Christ came who is over all God blessed forever amen God was preserving his people so as to provide the lineage so that the books could be written that formed this book and the Messiah could come to save the world that is how Christ is seen in the book of Esther so picture the book like again that chess game and the two invisible players are God and Satan and they're moving real kings and queens and Nobles on the chessboard and so Satan sets up Haman that says check and God puts in Mordecai and Esther and says checkmate and the story of redemption goes on

Channel: Skip Heitzig

Views: 1,583

Rating: 4.625 out of 5

Keywords: How to study the Bible, How to read the Bible, Jesus, Skip, Skip Heitzig, How to know God, Esther, threat to the Jews, Haman, eradicate, Jewish, Jewish people, Persia, triumph of the Jews, faithfulness

Id: PsEqTwhTR8c

Length: 52min 37sec (3157 seconds)

Published: Mon May 13 2019