Esther 6-10 God Working Out His Purpose

we're in the book of Esther the nation of Israel came into the land through the leadership of Joshua and lived in the land led after the death of Joshua by men and one woman who were referred to as judges then after a few hundred years they began to long for a king and God allowed them to have a king in fact several kings but during the time of the Kings the people became disobedient and walked away from God and God was patient with them for a long long time but eventually he allowed the the nation of Babylon to come and conquer them and actually it started with the nation of Assyria who conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel and then Assyria got conquered by Babylon and Babylon eventually came and conquered the nation of Judah in the south and so they were taken captive for a period of 70 years after which the Lord moved upon one of the Persian kings to allow the Jews to return home to rebuild the temple later on they were allowed to rebuild the city walls these are the things that we read about and studied in Ezra and Nehemiah now just because the people were allowed to return home doesn't mean that they all did obviously when you live in an area for a while you get very accustomed to things and the people got very accustomed to living in the Persian Empire and many people stayed and the characters that come up in the book of Esther are some that stayed this is a long time after people the Jews had been allowed to return to their homeland who ever wanted to go but but there's a man by the name of Mordecai his his niece by the name of Esther which was her Persian name who had stayed in the land and Esther was a beautiful beautiful young woman after the king got angry at his Queen because she disobeyed him his visors encouraged him to gather a fresh harem of young girls and from that harem potentially to choose a replacement for the king that he had deposed Esther was chosen to be part of that harem because she was a lovely young woman and she impressed the King so much he made her his queen the King and this is our cast of characters is named a hasser as' or Xerxes he is the king of the medo-persian Empire the Medes and the Persians a collective conglomeration conquered the Babylonian Empire and he is a powerful King from the standpoint of how much territory he rules over the one of the other characters in our story that we were introduced to in the first five chapters is a man by the name of Haman he's a descendant of the people we know as the Amalekites he is also royalty a descendant of a malachite royalty and that's why he's referred to as an egg it-- the ag-gag was a title for their royalty he's a vengeful and egotistical man he and he's an advisor to the king we have then Esther are the beautiful Jewish girl that as I said was added to the Kings harem and then we have Mordecai Esther's uncle interesting I every time we come up to Esther and Mordecai I was thinking about our dumb cats but 10 years ago some of you may know we still have one of them we have a 10 year old cat her name is se but she was originally we got her with her brother and we and my kids wanted to name them Esther and Mordecai and so we called them Essie and Morty for short and Marty's not with us anymore he I don't know where Morty is he went off in search of a family I guess but SC is still with us and I forget sometimes that her given name was Esther but this is not about cats this is about real true characters and and and Haman hated Mordecai mostly just because Mordecai knowing that Haman was an Amalekite he refused to bow down to him or pay him homage in any way and so Haman plotted to destroy not just Mordecai but all of the Jewish people and Haman told the King that there were some people scattered in his kingdom who it was not beneficial to him to allow them to live and he basically asked for the King's permission to eradicate them to commit genocide and the King gave him permission and and that was obviously a sad situation but he then wrote a government issued edict stating that the Jews would be eliminated on a particular day now Mordecai persuaded Esther to speak to the King on behalf of the Jewish people and he reminded her of her unique place not only in the palace there but in history and essentially he he in one of the most beautiful biblical passages frankly that there is Mordecai speaks of the purposeful timing of her coming to this place of being Queen and he said to her you know who knows but that you have come to this position just for this circumstance or this situation and in other words he was kind of saying you know your beauty your god-given beauty is for more than just tantalizing the king and that God has brought you to this place for just such a time as this and he encouraged her not to let those things go to waste Esther of course knew that going into the King to speak to him without being summoned could potentially result in her death because in those in the Persian Kingdom anyone who came before a king without an invitation could be execute if the king did not extend to them his scepter and so before making this plea with the king Esther called for a fast among the Jewish people she and her maidens also did the same fasted for three days and after that she put on her royal robes and approached the King and sought an audience with him and she was received into his presence and after that she asked a request of the king that he and Haman would come to a feast she had prepared and after that first day of feasting the king asked her what is it that you want and she said you know let me ask one more thing that you and Haman would come again tomorrow for another feast and so they and that's essentially where we left the first five chapters except that it ended with Haman going home quite you know happy about you're receiving an invitation to a banquet or a feast offered by the Queen and being the only person to have been given that invitation but he was called by the fact that when he left the palace there was Mordecai who again wouldn't even recognize him wouldn't bow wouldn't pay homage or respect in any way so he went home spoke to his family and friends who encouraged him to build a gallows on his property so that he might go in the next morning and ask the King to give Mordecai to him that he might put him to death on that gallows and that's where we left and that is where we pick up the story Esther chapter six is fascinating because this is where it gets good it says on that night the king could not sleep and he gave orders to bring the book of memorable deeds The Chronicles and they were read before the king and it was found written how Mordecai had told about big thana and teresh two of the king's eunuchs who guarded the threshold and who had sought to lay hands or assassinate King AHA Souris so this is this is an interesting section stop just for a moment even though the book of Esther and we brought this out last week does not mention God this is one of those interesting passages in this book because it is a I believe a remarkable example of God's providence in the midst of this thing now it says that King Ahaz for us couldn't sleep now rather than trying countless other alternatives to finding a place of rest counting sheep I don't know if they counted their gold I don't know what Kings back in those days did but I'm sure there were a lot of things he could have done but he did something that you might do and that he got he got up to read but instead of reading himself how would you like to be one of the servants of the king the King can't sleep so neither do you so he calls for one of his servants to just grab the archives of the the kingly books if you will and to read to him and so again rather than doing any other countless number of things to possibly try to get to sleep he decided to have someone read out loud to him next this is interesting the person who chose the book could have brought I suppose any of the records of the kingdom but he just happened to bring this specific book and that book could have been open to probably any page before the King maybe yawned and nodded off but it was open to this exact story about how Mordecai saved the King from an assassination plot and lastly as if all that isn't weird enough all of this happened the night before Haman was going to come in and ask the King to give him Mordecai so he could kill him now that may sound like an incredible series of coincidences to you but I think not I think that God guided the process providentially every step along the way and I think that's one of the things that the book of Esther shows us but it says here in verse three that the king then said well what honor or distinction has been bestowed on Mordecai for this and the king's young men who attended him said nothing has been done for him and the King said who's in the court well obviously it's morning now now Haman had just entered the court of the outer Court that is of the king's palace to speak to the king about having Mordecai hanged on the gallows that he'd prepared for him crazy timing huh and the king's young men told him Haman is there standing in the court and the King said let him come in so Haman came in and the King said to him obviously before Haman could begin to speak what should be done to the man whom the King delights to honor and Haman thought to himself well who would the King to like to honor more than me he's obviously wants me to he's going to do something pretty spectacular for me so he's going to make this good here and Haman said to the King for the man whom the King delights to honor hmm let me think let robes be brought which the King has worn and the horse that the King is ridden and on whose head a royal crown is set and let the robes and the horse be handed over to one of the Kings most noble law officials and let them dress the man whom the King delights to honor and let them really diem on the horse through the square of the city proclaiming before him thus shall it be done to the man whom the King delights to honor the king said to him and I like that he says hurry take the robes and the horse as you've said and do so to Mordecai the Jew who sits at the Kings gate leave out nothing that you have mentioned can you imagine talk about crestfallen right this guy came in to ask for Mordecai his head and now he's going to have to honor the man so Haman took the row the robes and the horse and he dressed Mordecai and led him through the square of the city proclaiming before him blessed shall it be done to the man whom the King delights to honor then Mordecai returned to the Kings gate but Haman hurried to his house morning with his head cover in mourning in that interesting you know that word is usually reserved for when there's been a death yeah and something died didn't it yeah but it wasn't what Haman thought so Haman told his wife Suresh and all his friends everything that had happened to him and then his wise men and his wife Suresh said to him if Mordecai before whom you have begun to fall is of the Jewish people you will not overcome him but will surely fall before him that great when you have people telling you good news like that especially your wife she's basically saying to him dude you're toast you know if this guy ends up being a Jew you know and that's what the King called him Mordecai the Jew it's like dude you are in deep yoghurt yeah and it says while they were yet talking within the Kings eunuchs arrived and hurried to bring Haman to the feast that Esther prepared feast to day to Esther seven so the king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther and on the second day as they were drinking wine after the feast the King again said to ask her Esther what is your wish Queen Esther it shall be granted you and what is your request even to half of my kingdom it shall be fulfilled and then Queen Esther answered if I have found favor in your sight O king and if it pleases the king let my life be granted me for my wish and my people for my request for we have been sold I and my people to be destroyed to be killed and to be annihilated if we have been sold merely as slaves men and women I would have been silent for our affliction is not to be compared with the loss to the king then King Ahaz sir ascended to Queen Esther who is he and where is he who has dared to do this and Esther said a foe and an enemy this wicked Haman and Haman was terrified before the king and the Queen and the king arose in his raft from the wine drinking and went into the palace garden but Haman stayed to beg for his life from Queen Esther for he saw that harem was determined against him by the king and the King returned from the palace garden to the place where they were drinking wine as Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was and the King said will he even assault the Queen and my presence in my own house as the word left the mouth of the King they covered Heyman's face now you know what the king went out in the garden to do don't you to go get some guards to come and cover his head and carry him off because even as the king was speaking by the way the Jews had a tradition it's not a tradition III think it's probably a little bit more folklore but they used to say that there was an angel in the room that pushed Haman over on to the Queen just as the King was entering back into the room in fact they even said it was Gabriel you know who kind of gave him a little shove I don't know not sure where they got that information but there you go Bible doesn't say so would have been kind of cool though to be a an angel though and do stuff like that I think anyway don't you think I mean I've always thought about those things that happened in the Bible that just shouldn't have happened like you know when when the when the Egyptians were coming the Egyptian army was coming after the people of Israel when they were going through the Red Sea remember it said that their wheels start falling off their chariots and I'm I'm just thinking there's angels yank and wheels off which I thought would be great fun you know I was you like Lord I'd like to sign up for that thank you verse 9 says then harbona one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king said moreover the gallows that Haman has prepared for Mordecai whose words saved the king is standing at Haman's house 50 cubits high and the king said great hang him on that so they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai than the wrath of the King abated you know there's a beautiful saw my I don't have it memorized but it speaks how the the pit that the evil man digs you know he'll fall into himself and that's really what we kind of see here in the book of Esther is it not I mean these evil plans that that this man can Cox against Mordecai and the Jews actually come upon him chapter 8 on that day King AHA Souris gave to Queen Esther the house of Haman the enemy of the Jews noticed what Haman is referred to there and Mordechai came before the king for Esther had told what he was to her in other words family and the king took off his signet ring which he had taken from Haman and gave it to Mordecai and Esther sent Mordecai over the house of Haman so now Mordecai literally is master over the house of his enemy then Esther spoke again to the king she fell at his feet and wept and pleaded with him to avert the evil plan of haman the agagite and the plot that he had devised against the Jews stopped there for a moment you might say well what's going on here now I thought Haman was dead he is but remember the king foolishly gave his signet ring to Haman and wrote and edict with the Kings scribe saying that the Jews could be attacked on this particular day and annihilated by the other people of the kingdom and just because Haman is gone doesn't mean that that edict is gone and in fact in the Persian Kingdom whenever a king made an edict it was set in stone and it could not be reversed ever so how you like that I never thought that that was a smart rule to have exactly you know I've always thought you know when you're gonna do rules it's gonna make rules make sure your rules serve you and not you your rules you don't I mean and this is one of those things where you know because we all make dumb rules and and everybody needs the ability to go back and go you know what that was really dumb rule let's not do that and but in the Persian Kingdom they couldn't do it once a king established an that's it done that's the only thing happening so it says in verse four when the King held out the golden scepter to Esther so obviously she took her life in her hands a second time here Esther rose and stood before the King as she said if it pleased the King if I have found favor in his sight and if the thing seems right before the King and I am pleasing in his eyes let an order be written to revoke the letters devised by haman the agagite the son of hamid atha which he wrote to destroy the jews who are in all the provinces of the King for how can I bear to see the calamity that is coming to my people or how can I bear to see the destruction of my kindred then King ha Sura said to Queen Esther and a Mordecai the Jew behold I have given Esther the house of Haman and they have hanged him on the gallows because he intended to lay hands on the Jews but you may write as you please with regard to the Jews in the name of the King and seal it with the king's ring for an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king's ring cannot be revoked what is he saying he's saying I'm giving you again you've got my signet ring now yes there was a edict written on the destruction of the Jews now you write anything you want to - may be counterman - that i can't say no that's not an edict any longer but come up with something so he's basically giving them freedom to do whatever to try to respond to this situation verse 9 says the King scribes were summoned at that time in the third month which is the month of Savannah on the 23rd day and an edict was written according to all that Mordecai commanded concerning the Jews to the satraps and the governors and the officials of the provinces from India to Ethiopia 127 provinces to each province in its own script and to each people in its own language and also to the Jews in their script and their language and he wrote in the name of King hasser sealed it with the Kings signet ring and then he sent the letters by mounted couriers riding on Swift horses that were used in the King's service bred from the royal stud saying that the King allowed the Jews who were in every city to gather and defend their lives to destroy to kill and to annihilate any armed force of any people or province that might attack them children and women included and to plunder their goods on one day throughout all the provinces of King Ahaz Souris on the 13th day of the 12th month which is the month of Adar a copy of what was written was to be issued as a decree to every province being publicly displayed to all peoples and the Jews were to be ready on that day to take vengeance on their enemies now you need to understand something about the kingdom the the medo-persian kingdom remember it's this is not just Medes and Persians living in this kingdom these are people from all the surrounding lands I mean it says from India to Ethiopia which is meant to say this is a huge area covering more than one continent and so there are many people groups that the Babylonians and later on the Medes and Persians conquered who were enemies of Israel from years and years back so here's these enemies of Israel who are living in the medo-persian Empire who get this here this first edict saying on this day the King says wipe out the Jews and they're all thinking yeah this is these are our enemies from way back and they probably have these huge ancient axes to grind with these people and so they figure this is great and so you know the in other words there was rampant anti-semitism operating within the medo-persian Empire and there's plenty of people they don't care whether Haman is still alive they're bound and determined to carry out this edict and wipe out the Jewish people and this is people yet another chance of the enemy and I'm not talking about enemy as in man I'm talking about spirit enemies this is another satanic response of Satan in an attempt to wipe out God's people and to and to destroy the purposes of God and the promises of God I mean Satan's been trying to do that for some very beginning right from the very first temptation of Adam and Eve and and on through the kings I mean the the kings of Israel and particularly those of the Davidic line through whom the Messiah would come and and then even when Messiah was born the satanic Edict of of Herod kill all the baby boys in and around Bethlehem this has been going on for a long time and Satan wants nothing more but to eliminate every possibility of the promises of God coming to fruition and he will he will try it every opportunity now there's something else that you need to know that Satan is very actively attempting to do monition to trying to thwart the very promises of God which by the way he can't do he but he'll keep trying he will try desperately to get you individually to stop trusting and hoping in the promises of God because if the promises can't change maybe the promised can change their mind and that's you the promise err is never going to change right but the promised you and me the church we can lose hope we can lose the vision we can lose sight of it we can stop living for the promise we can stop living with our heart and our hopes directed to the promises of God we can we can do it for lots of different reasons the enemy can have he has lots of triggers he can pull related to getting you and I to Nagoya or release the promises of God it can come from flat-out discouragement we see so many discouraging things and finally we just we just kind of throw in the towel and give up and say well you know what is all a bunch of hooey or we can just get busy and distracted and stop thinking about the promises of God honestly one of the promises of God that I think the church well I think there's several we need to get back to but one of them is living our lives every day under the promise that Christ is returning we forget about it we just go on with our lives you know we just kind of go on and then all sudden we'll sing something about you know he's coming again there's summer anyway so I was like we get reminded like oh yeah yeah coming again forgot about that ah forgot about that we are never supposed to let go of that we forget about the role the Holy Spirit is supposed to play in our lives we forget or we lose sight of it the church in two thousand years has largely let go of God's promises related to the Holy Spirit the power that he promised us the ability to overcome to be more than conquerors victorious in his name to walk in the gifts and the power of the Holy Spirit we've let go of those things we've released them we've stopped hanging on to them and that's a and that's a great work of the enemy and we need to recognize that it's a work of the enemy and we need to go back and and refresh our hearts on the promises of God I used to love the way Corrie ten Boom would talk about the promises of God in her book for the Lord she she would talk about how Satan would come and and tell her that you know none of these promises were hers to to take and in so doing he would say to her that she was a popper he says she would say Satan would constantly tell me I'm I'm I have nothing I have nothing to depend on and she says I go to God's Word like it was my checkbook and I would write down the promises of God and rip out that cheque and lay it out there and say there I have an unlimited source you know and and she says that's what the enemy was constantly trying to do with her and in her ministry was get her to believe that the promises of God weren't applicable to her or just weren't going to be hers to enjoy or whatever and she said I'd have to constantly go back and remind myself this is what the Bible says this is God's promise he promised me you know and then to stand on it right not just to recognize it's a promise put your feet on it and get comfortable there and say God I am standing on this promise and I'm not moving from this from this place I like that I think God likes it too when his children stand on his promises and hold him to his word I think God thinks that's pretty cool so did I finish verse 13 I think I did maybe I even did 14 I'll read 14 again anyway so the courier's mounted on their Swift horses that were used in the King's service road out hurriedly urged by the king's command and the decree was issued in the soos of the Citadel then Mordecai went out from the presence of the king and royal robes of blue and white with a great golden crown and a robe of fine linen and purple and the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced the Jews had light and gladness and joy and honor and in every province and in every city wherever the king's command and his edict reached there was gladness and joy among the Jews a feast and a holiday and many from the peoples of the country declared themselves Jews for fear of the of the Jews had fallen on them and frankly it's hard know whether this means that they claim to be Jews just because they were afraid of the Jews or if they literally became proselytes to Judaism either way there was a huge shift of thought related to the Jews happening in the kingdom chapter 9 now in the 12th month which is the month of Adar on the 13th day of the same when the king's command and edik were about to be carried out this is the one that Haman had originally written on the very day when the enemies of the Jews hope to gain the mastery over them the reverse occurred the Jews gained mastery over those who hated them the Jews gathered in their cities throughout all the provinces of King AHA Souris to lay hands on those who sought their harm and no one could stand against them for the fear of them had fallen on all peoples and that is a work of the Lord all the officials of the provinces and thus at traps and the governors and the Royal agents also helped the Jews for the fear of Mordecai had fallen on them so in other words all these political officials were there to help the Jews because they knew that the number-two man in the kingdom was now a Jew for Mordecai was great in the King's house and his fame spread throughout all the provinces for the man Mordecai grew more and more powerful the Jews struck all their enemies with the sword killing and destroying them and did as they pleased to those who hated them in Susa The Citadel itself the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men and also killed and here's some really fun things to pronounced Parshin Dafa and dalfen an ass petha and paratha and a Daliah and arid atha and then that one to par masta and Aerys I and era died and Vyas otha the 10 cents of what names the sons of Haman the son of Hamad atha the enemy of the Jews but they laid no hand on the plunder that's an interesting comment that you should take note of which means the Jews had no interest in financial gain there was plunder to be had because these people who were killed obviously left the stuff behind but the Jews didn't didn't want it that very day the number of those killed in Susa the citadel was reported to the king and the King said to Queen Esther in Susa the citadel the Jews have killed and destroyed 500 men and also the ten sons of Haman what then have they done in the rest of the king's provinces now what is your wish it shall be granted you and what further is your request it shall be fulfilled and Esther said if it please the King let the Jews who are in Susa be allowed tomorrow also to do according to this day's edict and let the ten sons of Haman be hanged on the gallows meaning publicly displayed they've already been killed so the king commanded this to be done a decree was issued in Susa and the ten sons of Haman were hanged the Jews who were in Susa gathered also on the fourteenth day of the month of Adder and they killed three hundred men in Susa that's on this additional day granted by the King to avenge themselves but they laid no hands on the plunder now the rest of the Jews who were in the king's provinces also gathered to defend their lives and got relief from their enemies and killed look at this seventy five thousand of those who hated them but they laid no hands on the plunder this was on the 13th day of the month of Adder and on the fourteenth day they rested and made that day of feasting and gladness because they didn't have time to get the word you know that the thing was going to be extended another day these people in these outlying areas they were given their day they had a hay day and then they rested on the following day but the people in Susa in the citadel they got word that they were given yet another day to eliminate their enemies and they did on the 14th day as you're about to hear it says in verse 19 I'm sorry verse 18 but the Jews who were in Susa gathered on the 13th day and on the fourteenth and rested on the fifteenth day making that a day of feasting and gladness therefore the Jews of the villages who live in the rural towns hold the fourteenth day of the month of Adder as the day of gladness and feasting as a holiday and as a day on which they send gifts of food to one another and Mordecai recorded these things and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King a Souris both near and far obliging them to keep the fourteenth day of the month Adder and also the fifteenth day of the same year by year as the days on which the Jews got relief from their enemies and as the month that had been turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday that they should make them days of feasting and gladness days of sending gifts of food to one another and gifts to the poor so the Jews accepted what they had started to do and what Mordecai had written to them for haman the agagite the son of hamid atha the enemy of all the jews had plotted against the Jews to destroy them and it cast pur that is cast lots to crush and destroy them but when it came before the king he gave orders in writing that his evil planned that he had devised against the Jews should return on his own head and that he and his son should be hanged on the gallows therefore they called these days Purim after the term pour therefore because of all that was written in this letter and of what they had faced in this matter and of what had happened to them the Jews firmly obligated themselves and their offspring and all who joined them that without fail they would keep these two days according to what was written and at the time appointed every year that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation in ever clan province and city and that these days of Purim should never fall into disuse among the Jews nor should the commemoration of these days cease among their descendants then Queen Esther the daughter of a Bahia and Mordecai the Jew gave full written Authority confirming this second letter about Purim letters were sent to all the Jews to the 127 provinces of the kingdom of a hasser as' in words of peace and truth that these days of Purim should be observed at all appointed seasons as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther obligated them and as they had obligated themselves and their offspring with regard to their fasts and their lamenting the command of Queen Esther confirmed these practices of Purim and it was recorded in writing and then these last Esther chapter 10 you'll notice is just a very small three verses and it simply ends with this King Ahaz RS imposed tax on the land and on the coastlands of the sea and all the acts of his power and might and the full account of the high honor of Mordecai to which the king advanced him are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of media and Persia for Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to King a Souris and he was great among the Jews and popular with the multitude of his brothers for he sought the welfare of his people and he spoke peace to all his people interesting isn't it that we see such an incredible work that is done by these two Jews astron Mordecai for the sake of the Jewish people in the place that God had put them now what I want to end with here this evening is I want to give you essentially six lessons that I think we can take away these are takeaway lessons so let's put our notes up here six lessons from the book of Esther and you know what's interesting about the book of Esther is it's you know it's a story it's basically a story and stories confirm what we are taught elsewhere in the scripture one of the things we have to be careful with when it comes to stories in the Bible are assuming that because the story is there that whatever is in the story is something we're being taught right if that were the case then all of us men would have a harem I suppose if we could but that's just something that was going on in the medo-persian Empire it was I mean it happened among the Jews as well among their kings but obviously just because it's in the story doesn't mean it's something that's being taught for us well there's also a story in you know First Samuel that talks about how King Saul went to a witch a medium to try to bring forth the spirit of Samuel to consult him I've had people point to that passage to say see it shows right there that this is something we can do well no that's just in the story okay that doesn't mean that it's taught right so when it comes to the book of Esther we have to be careful drawing conclusions from it that are based solely on the story itself does that make sense what we have to do is we have to understand that that Queen or the story of Queen Esther confirms things that we see elsewhere in the Word of God but they're taught us in other passages of Scripture they are confirmed or exemplified in these stories okay so having said that here's the first thing I think that we learn through this study or this reading of the book of Esther and that is God wants to work through you you know Esther was a beautiful young woman she wasn't highly educated that we know of she just she was really really pretty and you know some women get that and some don't but her beauty ended up being something that God used and we we all don't have the same gift but whatever gifts we have God wants to use God wants to use you he wants to use you in his plan and along with his purposes and sometimes they're weird I mean I wouldn't have picked for Esther to be part of a harem right to be married to a pagan King but in God's providential plan to save the Jews from extermination this was his purpose and this was his plan and sometimes God's plan is something you kind of your head at a little bit you know and kind of go huh okay wouldn't have ever picked it myself but God wants to use you your life your giftings your abilities very important within the context of that the second thing is is that God moments can change and save lives we call these God moments this is a sum it's not a biblical term by any stretch something probably is fairly recent we call God moments those times in our lives when God orchestrates a meeting or a connection or an an event where he allows us to serve Him in a rather unique and an amazing sort of a way sometimes somebody will be sitting you know on a bus and they get seated next to someone or on an airplane with whom they get to share the gospel and they just say wow that was really a god moment and that just simply means the Lord orchestrated an opportunity you know and that's something that the book of Esther shows us God orchestrates opportunities it's our responsibility to be open responsive to those opportunities to be used now this book shows us that sometimes and we'll get into this as one of our other points sometimes those opportunities can be dangerous ones right and that's really the third point you know sometimes and this is a lesson courage is often required when it comes to that whole idea of God working through you and him creating those God moments sometimes those God moments are couched in these situations which might otherwise seem dangerous you know and you have to be willing Esther had to be willing she wasn't really willing at first when Mordecai sent word to her and said hey this is what happened with this Haman character you need to go and talk to the King she was like hey you know as well as I do you can't just waltz into the King's presence I'm the queen but I can't even do that if he doesn't extend the scepter to me I'm dead you know well I don't know if you've ever been faced with a situation where your actions could result in your death and it's kind of a 50/50 thing he could extend the scepter or not and if he does great but if he doesn't you're dead and so courage you know I remember reading in the first chapters of Joshua where God said again and again to Joshua be strong and courageous you know when God repeats something like that over and over again I don't think he's wasting his breath I think Joshua probably needed that reminder hey be strong and courageous be strong and courageous Josh be strong and courageous I'm with you I'm going with you and so forth you know next that we learn from this thing fourthly is that fasting in prayer is a key to the victory and this is something that I think is another one of those things that we lost largely in the body of Christ the whole idea of fasting in prayer fasting along with prayer I mean it's tough enough to get people to pray fasting is yet a further and and deeper sort of a aspect of prayer and if we are wondering among ourselves why we seem to not have as many victories as we otherwise should we'll read the Bible and think well gee why aren't we being victorious like them well maybe we're not praying and fasting like they did and there was a three-day fast in this book when all these things come together the fifth thing we learn is that obedience is required you know courage sure but then finally obedience to just obey you know I'm gonna do this because the Lord I see that the Lord has orchestrated my life for me to serve him in this way and I'm going to obey I'm going to obey and I'm going to keep obeying and and obey God and don't let go of obedience you know don't turn to the right or to the left to use the biblical phrase but keep pressing on keep walking in obedience to God and then lastly something that we learn elsewhere in the scripture and then we see here in Esther is that God works all things for his purpose I mean this is something the Bible tells us elsewhere but again we see exemplified that God works all things together according to the purpose of his will for those that love him and are his called his called and chosen ones that includes you tonight you are among his called and chosen ones and God is going to work out his purpose and his plan he's going to he's gonna work it out and that's a promise that you and I need to really lay hold of so the book of Esther good reminders good story good good stuff you

Channel: Calvary Chapel Ontario

Views: 48,170

Keywords: Bible, Bible teaching, Thru-the-Bible, verse by verse, Calvary Chapel, Bible study, Christianity, New Testament, Old Testament, The book of Esther, Esther 6, Esther 7, Esther 8, Esther 9, Esther 10, Queen Esther

Id: rRJDzR7gB3g

Length: 49min 29sec (2969 seconds)

Published: Thu May 19 2016