Esther - Chapters 3-4

okay we are in chapters three and four of the book of Esther and you're going to get some material here right up front that you will not find in any other commentary to my knowledge it turns out that an Egyptian cleric by the name of Safa Higa claims that the logo used by the coffee company Starbucks is actually the image of Queen Esther of the Persian Empire 2,500 years ago and the Islamic cleric wants the Muslim world to boycott Starbucks throughout the Arab world you know the only thing is more shocking than the violence and hate that Islam promotes is the ignorance that they also demonstrate and it would continue the Egyptian cleric says Starbucks can be found in Mecca and Medina the two most holy cities in the Muslim world and it's inconceivable that in these Islamic holy cities the picture of the Jewish Queen Esther should be on display and you know I I had never really been a Starbucks booster but I think I just became one yeah okay Queen Esther was the wife of King hazardous when the Persians ruled the world was married to this Jewish woman who actually stopped the complete annihilation of the Jews from the hands of those who wanted to destroy the Jewish people Starbucks reaction to this equal time right equal time Valerie O'Neill the Starbucks spokeswoman said the logo is an image of a twin tail siren that's a siren of the Greek mythology loge has been significantly streamlined over the years in the first version which gave the impression of an authentic 15th century European woodcut Starbucks sirens topless and that fully visible double fishtail and image all said it ruff textual a visual texture the second version which used from 87 to 92 her breasts were covered by her flowing hair but her neighbor was still visible and the fishtail was crop slightly that's the way it evolved if you will on the left is the original woodcut at the beginning of September 2006 and then again in 2008 Starbucks temporarily reintroduced the original Brown logo on paper hot drink cups Starbucks has stated that this was done to show the company's Arty's from the Pacific Northwest to the celebrate 35 years of the business so the vintage logo course sparked some controversy due to the partners sirens bear breasts but the temporary switch garnered little attention from the media they drawn similar criticism when they reintroduced the vintage logo back in 2006 so much for that first that's our Starbucks moment ok but that crossed my desk I couldn't resist just letting Esther to stick it in our commentary what it's worth so anyway let's get back to the thing book of Esther is actually relatively obscure book to most New Testament readers in any case and least spirit for spiritual reasons I mean why is it why is it so obscure spiritually why is it in the Bible there were a number of people Luther Calvin others felt that shouldn't even be in the Canon and the name of God doesn't even appear it also some other characteristics will take the name of God has appear and by the way it also never mentions prayer it says fasting you never mentions prayer it's almost as if it had been edited to not I have that alert there the name esther believe it or not means something hidden according athenaeus is one of the great most respected Hebrew lexicon lexicographers but the real story is the story behind the story and that story will be you and me how does it fit with us because in any of these Bible studies the real dialogue isn't within the narrative it's between us and the author of that narrative and we'll see what that mean we're going to discover there are hidden codes behind the text that will satisfy the curiosity of some here and we'll get at that when we can get at it but first there's I want to give you some historical background that is often omitted when you study the book of Esther I want to talk a little bit about Amalekites but amalek fought Israel a trifa demon and this is Exodus 17 at the time of Israel's exit from Egypt they attacked God's worried people in the rear ranks of the marching that you know they nipped him in the back and that Moses talks about that God told Moses to write in a book that he had declared war on the Amalekites ooh God not Moses God and would one day utter destroy them because of what they had done to his people okay in fact Saul was given the order to do just that thing we'll get into that in a minute you're Dave Ave or Yahweh or however you want to pronounce the unpronounceable name Yahweh will have war with Emelec from generation to generation that's a quote from Exodus 17 will quote from it several times this evening when King Saul shows up Samuel Commission saw to go and smite a Mallick and utterly destroy all that they have and spare them not men women and children all of them that was Samuels charge to King Saul did he do it not quite so failed to carry it out he spared a gag who was the king of the Amalekites so God took the kingdom from Saul that's sort of decisive that's all for samuel 15 for those that have you done your homework first samuel when he discovered that spared no one he thought he showed a gag no mercy unfortunately I'll say some of his children escaped okay in fact it was an Amalekite who claimed that he puts all to death in the battlefield well that's in 2nd samuel chapter 1 so there are still Amalekites around it turns out despite the fact that God through Samuel had ordered Saul to erase them okay I know it'll bother many of our many readers but that's there so okay 600 years later a royal Amalekite not only an Amalekite but one from a gag from the raw line by the name of Haman is going to be a major player in the drama that's unfolding before us and Haman would pursue a plot to destroy all the Jews in the known world at that time in attempt to thwart God's plan of redemption that's what we're really going to plunge into here I want to tell you another story different guy this is Jimmy I he was son of Gera a Benjamite of Saul's house he's also of Saul's Lynott lineage when David was fleeing from Absalom he reached the edge of a valley between the road and Jimmy's house shimai ran along the ridge over against the road cursing throwing stones in the dust and his mighty men at both at David and his mighty men as he went and what he kept saying come out come out foul bloody man thou man of Belial the Lord hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul and the LORD hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son and the old thou art taken and I miss ship because thou art a bloody man he's a an early version of what we call a protester today huh Abba shy one of the mighty men would have taken off his head right then and there as a dead dog presuming to curse the king in other words David's men were upset that this guy was doing all this but David felt it was God's doing let him curse for the LORD hath bidden him it may be that the Lord will look upon Ongina affliction and requite me good for his cursing Jimmy I wisely was the first of the house of Joseph to meet David on his victorious return old Jordan is's later with a thousand Benjamite since eben is 15 sons and 20 servants were with him he had yet plenty of people with him he fell down before the king confessing his sin and begging David not to impute iniquity to him or to remember or take to heart his perversity but again Abba Shai having a good memory would have slain Jimmy I right then and there but David again felt his day of restoration to the kingdom was no day for avenging wrongs and said thou shalt not die now there is an incident occurs much later that does finally call Jimmy I it does get killed but not at David's request so the said genealogical ironies here Saul spared a gag and that resulted 600 years later in a Haman David's paired shimmy I and that resulted in a Mordecai it's interesting as you see this drama unfold between Haman and Mordecai to realize it has roots of each of them had been spared in the past one that should have been spared when it shouldn't have been and so now when the book of Esther is read at all B's at Purim in the Jewish counter whenever Haman's name is mentioned everybody stamps their feet and and boos and hisses and whatever and of course Mordecai is the good guy so you hissed the villain and Cheer their heroes so we're in Chapter three now chapter three is a couple of years break from the last chapter when we studied before so let's realize that chapter 3 verse 1 after these things did king of hazardous promote and Haman the son of Hama Dafa the aggregate and advanced him and set his seat above all the princes that were with him so Haman and who knows for what reason except he was ambitious and conniving and manipulative he gets promoted to be in the Bezier the big guy the big gun the Grand Vizier are what we would call a prime minister under the king and you could substitute a lot of names for Haman Pharaoh Hitler Arafat achma Nejad it's interesting that everything about Haman God hated if you go to proverbs 6 starting at verse 16 these six things defecate yay seven are an abomination unto Him a proud look a lying tongue hands that shed innocent blood a heart that devises the wicked imaginations feet that be swift and running to mischief a false witness that speaketh lies and he that soweth discord among brethren that's Haman not limited to him obviously but very descriptive I'm moving on verse two and all the king's servants and that were in the Kings gate bowed and reverenced Haman for the King had so commanded concerning him no way that's that king is set this up but Mordecai bowed not nor did him reverence so see hum hey miss promotion meant that everybody else all the other Nobles had to kneel down to him they had to pay him special respect and this is very similar to what Nebuchadnezzar commanded the three young Jewish in the Jewish young men in Daniel chapter 3 you may recall but Mordecai bowed not boy is that guy a troublemaker Mordecai or Haman take your pick all right I'm kidding okay all but one unyielding old man insignificant and unacknowledged what do I mean by I acknowledge you know it's really interesting to notice God's timing one of the things that we discover as we go through Esther is there are all kinds of subtle little details that have been woven into this tapestry clearly God is very invisible and yet very very manifest in another sense behind the scenes God's timing is perfect all this occurred after Mordecai had saved the King from assassination you may recall there was that incident where Mordecai was tipped off was a plot against the king he told Esther Esther told the King the two guys were caught crucified impaled actually and by some oversight that was never acknowledged it was recorded in The Chronicles of Persia but for some by some bureaucratic oversight nothing was ever done for Mordecai so that the the guys that the two guys that were planning to kill the King worth were executed now you can imagine in your own mind how Mordecai felt about that he would have thought there would be some acknowledgement for a reward for his effort on behalf of King but no reward was given and we assume doesn't tell us we assume because of some bureaucratic oversight because there obviously that was unusual even there now this neglect will surprise and appalled the king the Kings going to discover this but you know as they say timing is everything God's timing is perfect because the king happens to discover this and exactly the most interesting time possible I'm getting ahead of the story it couldn't happen a better time God's timing is always perfect I think the lesson for us is here to be very dramatic but we need to recognize that's always true God's timing is always perfect never early never late third verse then in the King's servants which were in the Kings gate said in the Mordecai why transgresses now the Kings commandment he's violating what the King said why not just go with the crowd why make waves anyone ever said that to you by the way the Jews obviously don't want to violate the second commandment but they don't really do that when they bow down before people Authority any more than Christians do today when they show respect to the leaders that's not the same thing as worship that is not necessarily in conflict with the second commandment so don't misunderstand that Abraham bowed down to the sons of Heth when he negotiate with them for Sara's grave in Genesis 23 Joseph's brothers bowed down before Joseph when he was the prime minister of the world through Egypt David even bowed down to Saul first Sami 24 Jacob his family bowed before Esau justice 33 the Jews even bowed to one another in 2nd Samuel 14 and 18 and their other places however there's another line you need to understand Haman was an Amalekite and the malachite the scripture had declared war on the Amalekites so so that was a special situation here apparently civil disobedience though is is all through the scriptures let's not be misunderstood misunderstand this Hebrew midwives Biss obeyed pharaoh's orders yet when he refused to kill the Jewish babies that was a form of civil disobedience Daniel three friends refused to eat the King's food and Daniel one the three friends and the fiery furnace refused to bow down to Nebuchadnezzar's image the Apostles refused to stop witnessing in Jerusalem we must obey God rather than men the next five so these are all familiar to the to the biblical reader by the way the Greeks occasionally refused to prostrate themselves before the great king himself the person he saying was not their custom to worship men so there's exceptions here the Spartan ambassadors declined to bow down before our tech services Longy - that's the son of vertices so there are cases like this that it doesn't cause it's not doesn't bring down cosmic doom necessarily and Mordecai seems to have had the same feeling of these guys prostration was he thought an act of worship and it was not proper to worship anyone accepting God is his what revelation 22 9 suggests now it came to pass seeing in Revelation 49 even John does not bow before an angel see thou do it not the angel says anyway verse 4 it came to pass when they spake daily unto Him and he hearkened not unto them that they told Haman to see whether Mordecai's matters would stand before he told them that he was a Jew now Mordecai has told that revealed the fact that he's Jewish he advised Esther before not to let anyone know that it wouldn't be convenient but he apparently told him he was Jewish and it may be and and and the advisers told Haman and Haman is going to be a court case out of this thing Mordechai is a Jew he's a judge in the gate that's one of the and the judgment against one of the most despised captives risking all he is risking everything here no longer the manipulator of chapter 2 he takes his stand as one of God's chosen he no longer hides his heritage he cannot bow to the blatant enemy of your day Bobby he is indeed politically incorrect in the extreme let's see what happens there he sided with God who is who has perpetual indignation against Malik ramlak the X is 17 14 through 18 key verse all through this section and when Haman saw that Mordechai bowed not nor did him reverence then then was Haman full of wrath you could say this is a measure of his smallness and I came across a great quote I had to include here when little men cast long shadows it's a sign that the Sun is setting in that great I had to weave that in here and he thought scorned lay hands on Mordechai alone for they had shown him the people of Mordechai where for Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of a hazardous even the people of Mordechai Wow this is where Haman isn't satisfied just to say to Mordechai off with his head or whatever he now vows to kill all the Jews and this is not in a small locality the Persian Empire here was very extensive you could label it the known world and very substantial this of course is a satanic strategy through which Haman becomes clique Haman in enraged by Mordecai's refusal set out to find a way to kill all the Jews not just Mordecai as the point that would include the Land of Israel that would include the Jews that had returned from Babylon under Ezra this is roughly the time of Ezra chapter 6 to give you a rough time since here the book of Esther is after Nehemiah but it's time he is about Ezra 6 it predates the book of Nehemiah actually but in any case they're trying to rebuild the temple if Haman had succeeded that would enter the temple it would have broken the Messianic chain these latter Jews were faithful to the Lord worshiping the rebuilt temple and living according to the stipulations of the law all anti-semitism all and all prejudice racial prejudice is bad but anti-semitism is distinctively satanic to the Satan's attempt to thwart specifically the plan of God what a mess couldn't this one obstinate Jew have kept his convictions to himself and kept out of harm's way he endangered the whole nation by his obstinance a it didn't he couldíve simply conformed and this prevented the jeopardy of the entire people of Israel that's a view isn't it doesn't he know that things are different now from what they were in the days of Moses of the time of the judges of Samuel a lot of years have gone by since those things are written Moses judges saying you know we're way ahead of that we're after the monarchy we're after the Babylonian captivity and all here though he trusted the Lord and this would this is what always distinguishes the men of God in all generations even today if this spirit that sustained Noah in his testimony against the corruption living world that mocked him as he built this barge in his drive we had this barge in his driveway for a hundred and twenty years he imagined the taunts he got saying was gonna rain then every experienced ran up to him he was his confidence in faith that Moses forsook Egypt that whole saga man it was in this energy of faith that Caleb took on the nephilim numbers 13 the Amalekites and the Anakin all the Nephilim those were not the only ones it was this foot spot you know what hutzpah is that's a Jewish word of course and there are books written trying to define it husba is and you can fill out all these while of explanation let's put hood Spezza when a guy kills his parents and then throws himself on the mercy of the court because he's an orphan that's what there dozens of those many one it was this hutzpah that led Gideon's war lamps and pitchers and David's fight with the armored giant and the Shepherd's sling in stones Goliath it was his confidence that Daniel opened his babylonian windows to pray to jerusalem twice a day also to drive paul and his life of ordeal and devotion to his lord this whole life is full of this in fact paul details this for us in Hebrews 11 these who through faith subdued kingdoms wrought righteousness obtained promises stopped the mouths of lions quenched the violence of fire escaped the edge of the sword out of weakness were made strong waxed valiant in fight turned to flight the armies of the aliens women received their dead raised to life again others were tortured not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection and others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings jay moreover of bonds and imprisonment they were stoned they were sawn asunder who were tempted were slain with a sword they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins being destitute afflicted tormented they wandered in deserts and in mountains and in dens and caves of the earth of whom the world was not worthy any volunteers to follow these people anyone ready to volunteer to to endure any of this you're going to get a chance you're going to get a chance you may not realize it but you will all you have to do is watch the news that's coming some of us you and me will have this opportunity that they had and what and if you do praise God for it what a privilege anyway Haman the product that was brought it was but a mere puppet in the hands of Satan who sought to make void the promises of God Satan had a plan from the beginning that from David's house would rise the one who was to bruise his head the one was to destroy him that had the power of death that is the devil and deliver them who through the fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage Hebrews again the entire Bible can be mapped as a drama of Satan stratagems repeatedly foiled you going Bible from cover to cover from Jesse's one we're always trying to and keep seeing Satan's attempts and how they get Satan's attempts to thwart God and how God thoughts Satan's attempts the death of Abel at Kings hand was part of that the corruption of Adam's line in Genesis 6 the Nephilim and all of that that's why the flood of Noah came the attacks of Abraham seed injustice 12 20 and 50 and so on the destruction of the babes by Pharaoh in Egypt and then subsequently Pharaohs pursuit through the Red Sea in population of Canaan God had told Abram you got four in four centuries your guys are going to come back that heap Satan for centuries to plan the minefield of Nephilim all through Canaan and so that's a denial of the right to the land that continues to this day by the UN and especially by as long as God declared that he would accomplish his program through the house of David as he focuses his prophecies on David the entry's continue against David's line specifically Saul's javelin beautiful David joram kills his brothers and second chronicles 21 the Arabians kill them all except they miss one and if I F Alya kills all but Joe actually they always they try to wipe out the line they always miss one praise God when Hezekiah salted it so forth even they emphasize that babes in Bethlehem we talked about a Christmas it was a continuation of Satan's attempts and he's going to continue that all the way to Armageddon now I understand the time of Esther if the Jews had been killed throughout the whole world in time of Xerxes that would include those in the Land of Israel rebuilding the temple but God cannot be thwarted job reminds us in the climax of that book God can always overturn man's diabolical efforts sometimes by miraculous acts dramatic interventions and sometimes through these little subtle acts of what we call coincidence coincidence is when God is working undercover God is always working on behalf of his people and the ester he is hidden behind the scenes and yet his name will be found underneath the text we'll get to that after we've been through the book verse 7 in the first month that is the month of Nisan in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus they cast poor that's lots like dice if you will that is the lot before Haman from day to day and from month to month to the twelfth month that is the month of Adar they did this anyway that's the way they made their count I mean their calendar they would go through each year and throw a lot to appoint those periods that would be fortuitous for whatever reason they're very superstitious that was the whole Persian way month of Nisan that is a Babylonian name for what Hebrew is called a beep nor Aviva and it was superseded the old name the Hebrew name was superseded after Babylon captivity so in the Sun is the way you normally hear today a dar that is the the 12th month is also a babylonian label that was adopted by the Jews after the Babylonian captivity the poor is an old Persian word for the lot or like dice if you will to decide when the Jew should be killed in this case and remember proverbs 16 33 the lot is cast in the lap but the whole disposing there of his of the Lord I've come back to that in a minute but a little more than four years had gone by since Esther had become Queen so that was about in 478 on the first day of the year of the Sun they proved to me in arts calendar that's four years later 434 that was the beginning of artaxerxes 12th year and the poor was cast to select the day and month payment along with many people in the Persian Empire Wars extremely superstitious the whole Persian religious system stressed faith and chance kismet and all that and Haman was allowing fate the casting of a lot to dictate his move against the Jewish people and it came out very very late in the year and that turns out to be good news the court dye of Persia was drawn up in the first month of each year with the help of dice which indicated the propitious dates for various events the word pour it's an old Persian term meaning of a lot has come to light on a die from the reign of a shaman easer the third in Assyria they've actually found you know archaeological confirmation of this so this dependence on fader or kismet whatever is over the centuries good and bad omens determining what actions should be taken the month that was chosen by the lot that Haman who was the 12th month call it February March it's almost a year later that's good news you see this was the 13th of month the poor was the basis of the feast of Purim they don't become at the in chapter 9 of this book it'll become the basis of a Jewish celebration that they celebrate to this day but there are two imputed concepts that we have in mathematics that we cannot find in the physical universe we study we study this in several times I just give you a summary of this again one concept that we talk about in school and in mathematics is infinity but we've discovered we're indebted to 20th century science to discover that the universe in this largeness is finite not infinite maybe expanding but it's finite that's a that was a huge discovery in the 20th century science if you look at the microcosm the smallness we discover that things can only get so small they can't get smaller because they get small enough they lose locality we are made up of everything length mass energy time are all made up of indivisible units units that can't be divided that's why they call in quanta that field is called quantum physics or particle physics so we're bounded in a digital simulation defined it by the Planck constant and the smallness and the finite universe on the other so that's one concept that deserves a lot of attention but there's another concept that may surprise you is also illusive we can't find it we have substitutes for it but we can't get true randomness any algorithm you have means it's no longer out it is no longer random there are stochastic and deterministic prime you and I have been grown up on deterministic mathematics two plus two is four period but stochastic variables ask the question how accurate do you know the two and the two is a 2.0 is the two point zero zero zero zero one in other words 2+2 is probably pretty close to 4 but not exactly and the the distribution and the study of that is just as a stochastic that's only part of it I'm not trying to define all that so when in science and in engineering we can deal with what are technically pseudo-random numbers one of the key uses of a computer is to generate a random number for Monte Carlo simulations but the way it does it is by a procedure and bite because it's a procedure is not truly random and to demonstrate that and there's all that is the study of the absence of randomness is a new field of mathematics called chaos theory and I won't go to that here but in the information sciences randomness the term is entropy the more random it is the more entropy it has the RAND Corporation granddaddy of the think tanks back in 1955 published a book called a million random digits and if you pick that up you would laugh at it you say that someone's lost their mind I usually have a copy I don't carry it with me all the time obviously but you open that book and you'll find it's full of random numbers and you think it's a put-on you think it's a joke here's a book of random numbers they published that got money for that it was a breakthrough at the time why because they use supercomputers as Rand was expert in using and it's not as trivial as it sounds what is the defining characteristic of this book there is no symmetry there is no predictability they use computers to make sure there was no patterns there's total absence of design I mention this because it's an important fundamental concept that's lacking in the most astonishing places in this in our culture randomness and design are opposites randomness is the absence of design we live in a culture that has chosen to ascribe the most elegant designs you've ever encountered to the operation of randomness that is utter that is probably the defining absurdity in in in logic but enough of that scripture says the lot is cast in a lab but the whole disposing their lives of the Lord Einstein said the same thing God does not play dice do you know why if you did it win for the reasons we talked about in terms of faith verse anyway onward okay verse eight Haman said to the king of hazardous there is a certain people knows he doesn't say who they are identifying there's certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people and all the provinces of my kingdom and their laws are diverse from all the people neither keep they the Kings laws therefore tis not for the Kings profit to suffer them or to allow them to permit them that's his assertion what's his plan he's exploiting his access to the king and his intimacy with him apparently to present his plan and he falsely accuses the few the Jews of refusing to obey the Kings laws that's not true and he suggested the king that he'd be better off with the Jews scattered throughout the Empire including those attempting to build the temple were exterminated note that he doesn't even have to name of the Pete he doesn't even name the race that he's after here talk about a I know people have spend trillions of dollars and don't even read the high thousand page bill that does it when they sign it can you imagine such thing verse nine if it please the King let it be written that they may be destroyed I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the hands of those that have the charge of the business to bring it into the Kings Treasuries Wow they say gee a lot of commentators jump to the conclusion boy Haman must been really wealthy ten thousand talents is a lot the entire budget of Persia was about fifteen thousand talents this is two thirds that number is Haman that rich no but the Jews are see the King may very well have exactly went through all those battles last time and the King may well have exhausted his resources and his disastrous in that disastrous Greek war that's been going on and may have been desperate to replenish his treasury the annual income of the entire Persian Empire was estimated about fifteen thousand taels of silver that's I wrote up this book read fortunately roadless wrote a lot about Tallis we learn a lot from him Hema said he himself was willing to bear the costs so he may have had immense wealth because he was the highest official and he also was a corrupt politician put it all together and so he had but he also factored in the wealth that he would be confiscating from the Jews he planned to exterminate got the picture whenever the government spends money you realize whose money they're spending yours at that time Persia used silver by the way his monetary standard silver was more rare than gold in those days that's a surprising discovery but it's true it was very it at that widely used standard a town of silver contained about three thousand shekels which is about equal to about ninety four and three sevens pounds of board upon the Greek talent was as in the Septuagint was only thirty two and a quarter pounds a town of gold was double the weight of a talent of silver just too peculiar way that things went that second segment well of course there's parable town talents if you and I think of a talent think of it above an annual wage in your clothes what does a guy earn for a whole year sort of the flavor of it ten thousand talents of silver weighed over thirteen million ounces and over the closing prices today that's over 12 billion in today's market of course that's small potatoes into way our government spending money but we'll go on here the king took his ring from his hand and gained the signet ring see and gave it to him in the son of Hamor Dafa the a guy the Jews Enemy five times in this book he will be called the Jews enemy by giving the signet ring to Haman Xerxes was allowing the enemy of the Jews as Haman was now called to stand out and to send out a proclamation to the Empire in the King's name and the signet ring see when pressed on the clay would be recognizable it made a special imprint that would be like a signature and represent the Kings Authority and the King stupidly gave him the ring do what he liked with it Herodotus corroborates this by the way so you know we notice all along last time that Xerox was easily influenced by his advisors he didn't seem to ask the right questions or check anything out so he accepted Haman's advice and acquiesced this dis regarding the human lives involved and he didn't even know who would be affected they weren't defined it's probably more misery caused by irresponsibility and one of thought than by evil intention and all you have to do is watch our own politicians to get a grasp of how many lives have been destroyed and matter a few months by just being irresponsible 5 times the book of Esther Haman called the Jews enemy and the king said unto Him and the silver is given to thee the people also do with them as seemeth good to you there's a guy washing his hands King Norda that Haman could do with the people as he pleased the silver of the people is given to thee so he gave it granted the confiscation of the proceeds to Haman and that would occur the confiscation it would would accompany the execution that the same thing has gone through history well it was the Spanish Inquisition or Nazi Germany you name it that's standard practice and of course in the in the ancient East human life didn't count for much and the caprices of absolute monarchs seemed to determine the course of history and be a general massacre of the magi on the accession of darest apis the father of Xerxes wiped out the magi there's a whole thing about magic study and we'll get into that here and there's also a massacre of the skiffins a century before all this is recorded in Herodias and later won by their own massacre of the Mithra knights in 85 ABC and the King of course didn't know at this point didn't realize that his Queen Esther was a Jewess and would be included in Haman's hideous plan even Haman may not have realized this at the time he's going to find out next time verse 12 and where the Kings scribes called on the thirteenth day of the first month were written according to all that Haman had commanded into the under the Kings lieutenants and the governors that were over every province to the rulers of every people of every province according to the writing thereof and to every people after their language in the name of the king of hazardous was written and sealed with the Kings Rin ring and the letters were sent by posts into all the king's provinces to destroy to kill and to cause to perish all Jews both young and old little children and women in one day even upon the 13th day of the 12th month which is the month of Adar to take the spoil of them for a prey now from this as you study this letter if you study the language here the excess legal details in the language seems to substantiate this always written as a quote from the edict all through yester there are subtle indications that it was an eyewitness and or copied from documents there's a it's a it's a seems to be a very authenticated document here Haman's Proclamation was sent out in the King's name all the problems they had a a system similar to what we think of as Pony Express and so this edict goes out calls for the death of all Jewish people including women and children so he's trying to get rid of all the covenant people all the executioner's were ordered to confiscate property owned by Jews now this postal system was quite elaborate according to Herodotus and others they had fresh horses and riders day at day distanced and conveyance even going through the night they were able to get information throughout the empire with amazing rapidity for its day and then very Swift communication Herodotus talks about that in detail verse 14 the copy of the writing of a commandment to be given to every province was published on to all people that they should be ready against that day the decree was dispatched in March 474 BC they had almost a year to get ready on both sides on both sides think about that for a minute the post went out being hastened by the Kings commandment the decree was given in Shushan the palace of the king and he sat down to drink but the City of Shushan was perplexed can you imagine sky he's got this Authority I was gonna slaughter all these people he's gonna sit down with a king and have a drink pretty cool but the city was shook which is surprising that edict bewildered the people of Sousa apparently such a degree had never come from the royal court these are tough days but this was a strange decree net nonetheless Hamer's bloodthirstiness along with Xerxes seeming indifference to such atrocities appeared incredible to a society which was used to cruel behavior even for them this was a surprise you sort of wondered that other minority populations within the Empire would probably feeling pretty insecure at this point for a lot of reasons and as we think about this where was the outcry from the pulpits when the Waco atrocities were carried out by our own government what are the world's or even the United States is concerned over the PLO commitment to do the same to present-day Israel there are people willing to do the same thing today what are we doing about it are we alarmed are we concerned do we take action what's the difference today from Haman's plan back then provocative issue chapter 4 for such a time as this that's where the expression comes from first versus Jeb for Mordecai perceived all that was done Mordecai rent his clothes put on sackcloth and ashes and went out into the midst of the city he couldn't be in the palace that way he'd have to be on sea and he cried with a loud and bitter cry see sackcloth and ashes crying publicly signified mourning that's a the universal thing all through the scripture whatever had been Mordecai's reasons for not bowing to him and he was now in great mourning he probably realized his boys somehow triggered all this his feud with Haman whether legitimate or not that caused the great crisis for the whole nation and he feared now that God's chosen people would be destroyed and God's program averted and he by the way turn out here he knows the exact amount of money that Haman had agreed to spend on this past project he had a copy of the edict somehow see he was a gate keeper he was promoted he apparently had access to these documents he may have been remorseful that he was a party in causing all this endangerment came even before the Kings gate for none might enter into the Kings gate clove the sack cloth and every province with us so ever the Kings commandment is decree came there was great mourning among the Jews and fasting and weeping and wailing and many lay in sackcloth and ashes they knew they were under the sentence of death but what they didn't realize probably that God was working behind the scenes and it's fun to see how God is gonna work this out Esther's maids and her Chamberlain's came and told it to her see she was in the harem and she wasn't in the normal traffic so she didn't all this going on she finds out though then was the Queen exceedingly grieved and she sent raiment to clothe Mordecai that way you could enter get in this way and take away his sack law from him but he received a nod he wouldn't do that he wouldn't go for that so she had not will discover in a couple of few more verses that she had not been in the presence of the King for a whole month that doesn't mean that she fallen from favor and as his queen she had many luxuries she was waiting on by maids and eunuchs who told her what was going on here then called Esther for hatachi one of the Kings Chamberlain's whom he had appointed to attend upon her so she's got a Chamberlain assign to her and gave him a commandment to Mordecai to know what it was and why it was what's going on that's what she wants to know so because here's Mordecai carrying along in these public places and she apparent at this point isn't aware of the edict yet she knows there's a commotion thus went forth the Mordecai under the street of the city which was before the Kings gate or the square okay and Mordecai told him of all that had happened unto him of the sum of money that Haman had promised to pay the Kings Treasuries for the Jews to destroy them money apparently was a key motive and you can understand that too because you can visualize that desert sees was really clobbered by the green at thermo-pile is all louis selamat hadn't happened yet i don't think but any case he's obviously been he sends out two million troops and brings back five thousand that's called a loose you know so and they obviously used up the treasury so here's the here's that money is a motive here and he gave him a copy that mordecai gives hey to attach a copy of the writing of the decree that was given at Shushan destroy them to show it to esther declare it under her and the charger that she should go into the of the King to make supplication unto him and to make request before him for her people her people he's also in effect telling her to let her let the King know she's Jewish that's contrary when he told her before that would reveal incidentally the Hitoshi he may not have read the itíd himself but a Chamberlain now knows when he says that that she's Jewish if you didn't know it before he knows it now Natasha came and told Esther of the words of Mordechai again Esther speaking Natasha and gave him commandment in the morning see they can't talk directly cuz she's in the harem but if Tosh is able to make the connection so she gave him commandment unto Mordechai and see without some reprieve from the King Esther and Mordecai and all their people would die all the king's servants and the people the king's promises do know that whosoever whether man or woman shall come unto the king into the inner court who has not called that's what she's displaying the Mordecai who is not called there is one law of his to put him to death except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden scepter that he may live but I've been not called to come in unto the king these thirty days they had a rule that was enforced by the security people if someone's there that isn't invited by the king they get killed unless the King intervenes by holding out a scepter strange law to us we need to understand this is a court procedure well-established for lots of reasons and scary here to realize the risk she's in that's why she's trying to communicate to Mordecai it's not a simple thing here but it also implies by the way she's probably not the only wife she was the queen but did not maybe not the only wife so she reminds him that she couldn't just walk in ok unannounced the king had the power to execute anyone that disturbed him without an appointment for the King to extend that golden scepter to someone showed that he proved for the visit and that the person was welcome and not in danger of death wouldn't that be reassuring Hirota --this by the way records the law accepted six persons but confirms the general rule in other words though clearly was a rule there were six people that were regarded as exceptions you would think the Queen would be one of them but apparently not and said she had not been summoned by him for a month she did not know whether his attitude would be favored or not you it's kind of nice to know what Moody's in anyone got a clue you know they told to Mordecai Esther's words and Mordecai commanded to answer Esther this is what his command return is faint not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house more than all the Jews he's saying you're gonna get it one way or the other if you don't go in you get killed if you do get any alight might not he got a chance you know such as response was not encouraging to Mordecai Heyman's edict wouldn't even reach to the throne verse 14 for if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place interesting that Mordecai assumes God's going to take care of this one way or the other Mordecai is you know it's interesting we don't see the terms faith we don't see them praying we don't it seems to be expurgated of any religiosity here but it's interesting you see his faith seep through here we're fowl all together holds thy peace at this time then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place but thou and thy father's house oh that's interesting she's obviously not an only child but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this you see the enlargement mean literally a breath or respiration a breather if you will now in my father's house that tells us that she probably did she was not an only child of Abigail but mortified this is where that phrase comes from if Mordecai says who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this he recognizes that all the circumstances that got vastly replaced by what she was chosen and given favor and in all that was all part of preparation for this particular moment Wow that's a key lesson to every one of us we're entering totally uncharted waters ourselves everything that you think you know about the history of our country and what it stands for is at this point history behind this what's coming down the pike and I don't want to get into that here it's not the appropriate venue for that but just understand that most people have no grasp of what's forthcoming that represents opportunity it may be scary financially it may be scary in terms of our personal liberties it may be scary from a number of very valid points of view however the important thing to understand it's going to be the biggest opportunity of our lifetimes forthcoming you and I are going to have the opportunity to make a stand for the coming King in ways that we couldn't possibly predict and every one of us sitting in each of these seats hearing my voice right now can be hearing that same thing that Mordecai said Esther you don't know that this isn't that you are where you are for such a time as this heavy light heavy language so he it was a compact is it surprises here's a good fashioned of faith work I knew that in some way God would protect his people deliverance would arise from another place if Esther would not approach Dirk's he's about the fuse of the Jews play people said gee Chuck aren't you worried about Israel no I'm not the psalmist tells me he that keepeth Israel will neither slumber nor sleep the one that's watching over is those far more powerful than we are America is or whatever no God is well that's God's problem and he's laid it all out in advance when I worry I worry for our country because it's also laid out that's pretty gloomy outlook actually it's interesting though Mordecai even though he's alluding to divine provision here doesn't name God the name of God is hidden under the text we'll get to that another time and some conjecture that the absence of the name of God Nestor's the deliberate design by the holy spirit or for some special local purpose it's clear that God chose to be in hiding so to speak let's continue verses 15 16 then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer this is Esther's classic fabulous answer to this challenge she says go gather together all the Jews that are present Shushan in the meadows in the past and fast G for me and neither eat nor drink three days night or day I also my maintenance will fast likewise and so will I go in unto the King which is not according to the law and if I perish I perish see fasting implies prayer she looks to God not man for her deliverance but that's the famous that's the other line that is so that echoes out of the book of Esther if I perish I perish that sounds like Luther before the diet of worms I can do no other he says fasting do you fast do we fast is that a New Testament yes it is that's I'm not gonna make a big study I could fill in the hole some time here's a big study on fasting I'm not gonna do that to you but you Jesus said that his disciples would fast the Lord Himself fasted for 40 days in the wilderness Matthew 4 the early Christians observed fast in acts 13 and 14 and 2nd Corinthians 6 some examples why 3 days why three days that's an interesting issue why did she want everybody to to fast and pray for three days because one greater than Esther gave his life that we all might have everlasting life that's a pointer in my mind to mushiya let's move on and so Mordecai went his way and did according to all that Esther had commanded him praise God for that and it is so hard it is so it requires such heroic restraint on my part to stop right here I just want to go into chapter five and six so badly so badly Mordecai went his way too according to all that Esther commanded him and his influence would have led to general fasting and prayer among the Jewish community of course that goes without saying but in our next session you see what I really wanted to preserve you're about to encounter I won't claim that I'm a well-read guy on fiction per se you understand the difference in fiction and nonfiction fiction has to make sense you didn't get it okay alright you're thinking about that it is alright I wouldn't consider myself a literary expert but I can I do not know of any series of events that lead to a more dramatic ironic twist of plots as you're going to encounter as you go everything you've had up till now is what we would call the set up you've got the villain of villains Haman and he's got the ultimate weapon of mass destruction in his hands from the king himself and you've got Esther vulnerable given this impossible errand and what's going to happen here and I'm going to assign you two chapters in the knowledge that you won't be able to just read two chapters you won't be able to put it down we're going to encounter what I think are those a series of the most dramatic scenes in any literature you'll find I want you to read chapters five and six and stop if you can but I'm sure you'll want to go on and read seven you won't be able to put it down we're going to talk about two banquets not one couple and I'm going to argue that you this is one of those places that you if you're on a chapter a day kind of reading schedule you're going to blow it because you're going to read at least three of them you will not be able to put it down so with that let's stand for a closing word prayer

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Length: 57min 17sec (3437 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 27 2020