Through the Bible - Esther

In the Old Testament, once again, we turn to the book of Esther. How many of you read through the book of Esther this week? Some of you. How many of you have read through the book of Esther before? All right, most of you. That's good.

When it comes to Bible stories, the book of Esther is one of the all-time greats. It is one of those stories in the Bible that you can read through without needing a commentary to explain it. It is such a great book that speaks a wonderful message. However, it is interesting to consider that there have been debates throughout the years about whether this book should even be in the Bible. The book of Esther does not mention the name of God or discuss the worship of the Almighty. Because of this, some people have argued that while it talks about Jewish history and provides insight into a historical period for the nation of Israel, it does not really address God, so it should not be included.

But if you have read through the book of Esther, I believe you cannot read it without seeing the hand of God at work. It is very clear how God operates in and through the characters we will be introduced to in this passage.

It is also important to consider, as I just mentioned, that when you look at this book, like the others we have examined so far—whether it is 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, or now Esther—these are historical books. These events actually took place. This is a historical account of something that occurred around the 480s B.C. We can look back in even secular history and find some of these characters and individuals in the writings of different historians, whether they be Josephus or Herodotus.

Different ones wrote histories throughout the ages, and these things actually took place. In much the same way, we have considered that these events have application for us as God's people. In Paul's letter to the Corinthians, we have looked at 1 Corinthians chapter 10 many times. There, Paul says in verse 11, "Now all these things happened unto them, unto the children of Israel, for examples, and they are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come."

In one sense, that verse in 1 Corinthians is like a cipher for the Old Testament. It gives us insight into the Old Testament, showing that these things are written for our instruction. They are not just neat bedtime stories; they were written to teach us something and to direct us in our lives as believers. Over the last 19 weeks, as we have gone through each of these Old Testament books, you have seen how they can apply to our lives and how God can speak to us through them.

As we get into the book of Esther tonight, we will see that it is largely a story about a king and his queen. We have talked a lot over the last several weeks about kings. Whether we were in 1 Samuel, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, or 1 and 2 Chronicles, the king is the predominant picture in these passages of Scripture. We have considered, allegorically, how the king can speak to us about our lives and our souls.

We talked about the king being the soul of the nation of Israel and how the king represents our soul, choosing which way we are going to go. In the books of 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles, when the king chose righteousness, the nation followed in righteousness. Conversely, when the king chose wickedness and evil, the nation descended into corruption.

You can see how, when we, the king—the soul of our lives—choose the things of the flesh, Paul tells us that if you sow to the flesh, you will reap corruption and destruction. However, if you sow to the Spirit, you shall reap everlasting life. Over these last several weeks, we have considered how we, like the king of the nation of Israel, have the opportunity to choose between the things of the world, the things of the flesh, which lead to destruction and corruption, or the things of the Spirit.

The things of the Spirit that we looked at in Kings and Chronicles were the things of the temple. When a king like Hezekiah, or the good kings of Israel, would focus back on these things, they would lead the nation toward righteousness.

On rebuilding the temple and the spiritual things of the nation, the tide of the nation would change. However, when a king like Manasseh came to the throne and focused on the things of the world, the sway of the nation would inevitably lead towards destruction. Ultimately, the nation of Israel was led away into captivity.

First, the northern ten tribes were affected. After the reign of King Solomon, the nation of Israel split in two, and every single one of the kings of the northern ten tribes chose the wickedness of the world, leading them into captivity by the Assyrians. About 150 years later, the southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin were also led away into captivity, this time by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians.

As we saw at the end of 2 Chronicles, and as we studied last week and the week before in Ezra and Nehemiah, the nation of Israel, after 70 years in exile in Babylon, was restored to their land, just as the prophet Isaiah said they would be. In the middle of Ezra and Nehemiah comes the story of Esther. Although in our Bibles it appears after Ezra and Nehemiah, the historical account of Esther actually takes place before Nehemiah returned to the land of Israel. What occurs in the book of Esther sets the stage for the work of Nehemiah, the returning of the land, and the rebuilding of the wall.

This narrative speaks to us in our lives and has application as we look at this book. The king in this story represents the soul of man, which we have already considered. He is not the king of Israel; he is Ahasuerus, the king of the Persian Empire. Historically, if you looked up his name in other accounts, you would find that he is also known as Xerxes, the king of Persia, in modern-day Iran.

In addition to the king, we also meet the queen, starting with a queen named Vashti. In chapter 1, Queen Vashti refuses to comply with one of the requests made by the drunken king. The king's inclination towards drunkenness indicates his choice of the things of the flesh and the world. In the midst of this, he calls his beautiful queen Vashti to come before all of his princes and governors, essentially wanting to parade her in front of them in an immoral way. She refuses and does not want to be a part of that. Consequently, all the princes, the king, and his men gather together.

All of his princes said, "This isn't good. If the rest of the nation hears that the queen said no to the king, then all the women are going to say no to their husbands. You're going to have to deal with this, king." So, he got rid of the queen, Queen Vashti. In this book, she pictures the spirit of man, the one that didn't want to pursue the immoral things of this world. But just as we see in the book of Genesis, man chose the things of this world, and the spirit of man was separated; it was dead.

In chapter 2, we see another queen come on the scene. This queen, whose Hebrew name was Hadessa, had a Persian name: Esther. After Vashti was put off, King Ahasuerus still wanted to have a queen; he desired to have a queen. They decided to hold a big beauty pageant, basically like Persian Idol. They gathered the most beautiful women throughout all the kingdom of Persia and brought them to the palace at Shushan.

They pampered these women with spa treatments for an entire year. Most of you ladies would probably like that. They were given all the wonderful oils, daily massages, and probably enjoyed mud treatments and cucumbers on their eyes. This went on for a whole year before they even got to see the king. Then, one by one, in chapter 2, these women would be brought to the king, who was given the opportunity to choose who his next queen would be.

In the midst of this, there was a Jewish woman. She was born in Persia in the Persian Empire, but her parents were Jewish. Her parents had died, and her upbringing was entrusted to her cousin, a man named Mordecai. In this book, Mordecai pictures the spirit of God, and we will see that as we go through this story a little bit more.

So, you have the king, representing the soul of man; you have the queen, representing the spirit of man; and then you have Mordecai, representing the Holy Spirit in the book. However, as is always the case, man doesn't only have a soul and a spirit. If he did, things would probably be pretty good. Man also has what? The flesh. We are introduced to the flesh in Esther chapter 3. We read in verse 1, "After these things, did King Ahasuerus promote Haman."

Notice it says just a few words later that he was the Agagite. He was from the people or the tribe of Agag. As we've gone through the Bible over these last 19 weeks, you may remember the name Agag. We saw it back in 1 Samuel, specifically in chapter 15. God had spoken to the first king of the nation of Israel, King Saul, and He told him that he was to go and utterly destroy the Amalekites. The people of Israel were to remember what the Amalekites had done to them when they wandered in the wilderness and how they had come and attacked the children of Israel from the back. It was their job to go and destroy these people, who in the Bible picture the flesh. They are a type and a picture of the flesh because they came from the man Esau, ultimately. You may remember Esau from the book of Genesis.

In 1 Samuel chapter 15, verse 7, it says, "And Saul smote the Amalekites from Heviah until you come to Shur, which is over against Egypt." However, he took Agag, the king of the Amalekites, alive, and he utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. Saul spared Agag, as we are told in 1 Samuel chapter 15, verse 9. He didn't kill this man by the name of Agag, and it would appear that someone else didn't get killed either. Ultimately, Agag was killed by Samuel the prophet, but it seems that one of his children or perhaps one of his pregnant wives got away.

Many years later, after the exile of the children of Israel, we encounter a man by the name of Haman, the Agagite, a descendant of King Agag. This man is a type and a picture of the flesh, and you can see it in this book because he is probably one of the most prideful characters introduced in the Old Testament. Quite a character indeed! It says that he was given a seat above all the princes or above all the advisors in the land of Persia who were there with him.

When you read in the Old Testament about the princes in these kings' households, it doesn't necessarily refer to their children, the sons of the king. Typically, it speaks of the advisors to the king, the men who were his closest companions and provided him counsel. Here was one of those princes, a man by the name of Haman, the Agagite, and he was given a seat above all the other princes. The king, Ahasuerus, also known as Xerxes, chose to exalt this Agagite. He chose to exalt this fleshly man.

Many of you in this room know exactly what happens when you, as the king of your kingdom, your life, exalt the flesh. What does it lead to? Well, Paul tells us that if you sow to the flesh, you shall reap destruction. The flesh wars against what the New Testament tells us? Against the spirit. These two are contrary, so that you do not do the things that you want. Paul continues to tell us in his letter that the flesh wars against the spirit.

So, who do you think Haman the Agagite is going to war against in the Book of Esther? He is going to war against Esther, Mordecai, and the Jewish people. This story begins very quickly in chapter 3. It says in verse 2, "And all the king's servants that were in the king's gate bowed and reverenced Haman." Everybody in the kingdom bowed before this fleshly man, Haman, for the king had so commanded concerning him.

But here’s the big kicker for the story: Mordecai did not bow nor give him reverence. The Holy Spirit is not going to bow to the flesh, is it? Here, this one who pictures the Holy Spirit in this book refuses to bow or give reverence to the flesh because, in the presence of God, no flesh shall be justified. No flesh can stand. This man, Mordecai, takes a stand and says, "I'm not going to bow before this guy."

Then the king's servants, who were in the king's gate, said to Mordecai, "Why do you transgress the king's commandment?" It came to pass when they spoke daily unto him, and he hearkened not unto them, that they told Haman. They spoke to Haman and said, "Listen, this guy doesn't bow to you," to see whether Mordecai's matters would stand. He had told them that he was a Jew. He had obviously stated, "I'm not going to bow to this guy. There's no way that I'm going to bow before him because I'm only going to bow before the one true God. I'm a Jew."

So they told this to Haman. When Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not, nor gave him reverence, he was full of wrath. In verse 6, we see that Haman sought to destroy the Jews. Notice that he didn't only seek to destroy Mordecai; he wanted to destroy all the Jews throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai.

This man, Prince Haman, the advisor to the king, once given this exalted position, decided, "If you're not going to bow down before me, then you're going to die." And now begins this great battle, but of course, Haman doesn't know, and neither does...

King Ahasuerus had a queen named Esther, who was beautiful beyond everyone in the entire kingdom. No one realized that she was also a Jew, which would pose quite a problem for Mordecai as the story unfolds.

Before we move on from chapter 3, I want to make a quick note about Esther's appearance before King Ahasuerus. In Esther chapter 2, verse 17, it says that the king loved Esther above all the other women brought before him. She obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the other virgins, so he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.

This verse illustrates a profound correlation for us. We have received grace from the King. We have obtained grace and favor in His sight, and He has placed upon us a crown of righteousness. He has brought us into His presence and loved us more than any other because we have obtained His grace, not because of anything particularly great or special about us.

When you read about Esther, you find that she was not only beautiful in form and appearance, but the Hebrew wording in chapter 2, verse 7, also speaks about her character. She was a woman of great, lovely character. When the king saw this, it blessed him, and he desired that she would be the queen. Thus, she received grace and favor from him.

However, Haman now sets out to destroy the children of Israel in this book and passage. You can see the great conflict between the man of the flesh, represented by Haman, and the spirit, ultimately embodied by Queen Esther and her people, including her cousin Mordecai. Haman devises a plan to annihilate these people. He is so angry and indignant that this one man, Mordecai, will not bow before him.

Isn't it interesting how our flesh works, just like Haman? This man had everything the world could offer. He had every single person in the entire nation bowing to him, yet there was one man who refused to bow, and that became a thorn in his flesh that he could not overcome. He probably had friends telling him to let it go, saying, "Everyone else loves you. Everyone else bows to you." But every time he went out, the entire nation, everyone in the palace of Shushan, and everyone in the streets would not bow to him.

In the city, when he would walk around, everyone was bowing to him. But he always saw Mordecai—the one who wouldn't bow to him. This made him so angry that he devised a plan. He went to King Ahasuerus and said, "King, there is a group of people scattered throughout your kingdom who refuse to fulfill your commandments." The king did not like to hear that. He didn't think it was good that there was a people group not following the command of the king.

The only command that Haman could point to at that time was that Mordecai would not bow to him, which was the command the king had given to the people. Haman told the king, "I think we need to deal with this. We need to get rid of these people." If you read Chapter 4 carefully, you'll find that not only did Haman go before the king to say they needed to get rid of these people, but he also offered to pay for it. Haman declared that he would use his own money to destroy the Jews. It was such a big deal to him that he was willing to foot the bill to eliminate them.

As a result, the decree was given by the king. The king gave his signet ring to Haman, who wrote up a law stating that on a certain day, all of the Jews were to be killed. The people in the nation were to rise up against the Hebrew people on this one day—the 13th day of the 12th month. How did he determine that day? He simply rolled the dice, casting lots to figure out the perfect day to carry out his vengeance. He decided that the day to execute his plan was the 13th day of the 12th month, the month of Adar.

Since this was in the first month, Haman had a long time to wait and to see Mordecai not bow before him, which only upset him more as the year went on. A decree was sent throughout the entire nation, across the vast Persian Empire, which was the largest of the world empires at that time. The decree stated that on the 13th day of the 12th month, everyone in the kingdom of Persia was allowed to rise up and kill any Jew, and they were permitted to keep whatever spoils they obtained during this event.

to Mordecai. The word came to him that this was going to happen. So, we're told that he tears his clothes, puts on sackcloth and ashes, and mourns outside the king's temple. His cousin, Esther, who is the queen, hears about this. She sends one of her servants to Mordecai with a change of clothing and asks, "What's the problem? What's wrong?" He refuses, saying, "I refuse. I'm going to continue to grieve. I'm going to continue to go before the Lord because of this decree that the king has given."

Esther hadn't even heard about this decree yet. The servant of Esther returns from Mordecai and tells her that there has been a decree given from King Artaxerxes that all of her people are going to be killed. Mordecai says she needs to do something about this; she has to take care of it. However, there was a problem. There was also a law in Persia at that time that you were not allowed to go before the king unless he summoned you.

Esther sends her servant back to Mordecai and explains, "I can't do this because if I go before the king and he hasn't called me, if he doesn't stick out his scepter to me and accept me, then I'm going to be put to death on the spot. They'll kill me right there. I haven't even been called by him for 30 days," she tells Mordecai in chapter 4, verse 11.

Mordecai speaks something so beautiful to her, perhaps the most memorable passage of the book of Esther in Esther chapter 4, verse 13. He commands her, "Think not within thyself that you shall escape in the king's house more than all the Jews." He warns her not to think that because she is in the king's house, she will be safe when this decree takes place. He continues, "For if you altogether hold your peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise unto the Jews from another place." He emphasizes that if she doesn't say anything, God will deliver His people through another group.

"But you and your father's house shall be destroyed," he adds. "And who knows whether or not you have come into the kingdom for such a time as this?" Mordecai asks her how she knows that God hasn't placed her in this position for such a time as this, suggesting that this might be the very reason she has become queen—to save her people.

Then Esther bade them return to Mordecai in verse 15 and instructed them to gather together.

All the Jews that are present in Shushan are to fast for me. Neither eat nor drink for three days or nights. I and my maidens will fast likewise. So will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law. If I perish, I perish. Mordecai went his way and did according to all that Esther had commanded him.

As the plot thickens, it is the first month of the year, and Haman has made a decree that all the Jews are to be put to death on a certain day at the end of the year. Mordecai hears of this and shares with his cousin, "Listen, you've got to go in before the king and talk to him about this." She is a little apprehensive at first, but finally she says to him, "Go and gather all the Jews together in the city and fast and pray for me. I will fast and pray for the next three days, and after that, I will go before the king. Even though it's against the law, I'm still going to go before the king, and if I perish, I perish."

In chapter 5, verse 1, we read, "Now it came to pass on the third day," which is obviously important. I think you can see the significance of the third day here as well. Esther put on her royal apparel and stood in the inner court of the king's house, over against the king's house. The king sat upon his royal throne in his royal house, over against the gate of the house. When the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, she obtained favor in his sight. The king held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Esther drew near and touched the top of the scepter.

Then the king said unto her, "What do you desire that I do for you, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given unto you, even to half the kingdom." The king asks her what she desires, promising to give her whatever she wishes, up to half the kingdom, as she receives favor and grace in his sight.

Esther answered him in verse 4, "If it seem good unto the king, let the king and Haman come this day unto the banquet that I have prepared for him." Notice that she specifically mentions the banquet for Haman. The king then said, "Cause Haman to make haste, that he may do as Esther has said." So the king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared.

Now, I want you to consider Haman for a moment. He believes himself to be the king's golden boy.

He looks so highly upon himself. He's been exalted in the nation, and now not only does the king like him, but the most beautiful woman in all the nation, Queen Esther, likes him as well. She wants to throw a banquet in his honor, and so he gets to go and eat with the king and the queen. He doesn't quite understand yet what is going to take place at this point.

The king said to Esther, "What is your petition?" Now, they're at the banquet. In verse 6 of chapter 5, as they sat at the banquet of wine, he said to her, "What is your petition? You didn't just call me here for dinner. I know you didn't just want me to come here to have a meal and a banquet. So what is your petition? It shall be granted unto you. What is your request? Even to half the kingdom it shall be performed."

Then Esther answered and said, "My petition and my request is, if I have found favor in your sight and in the sight of the king, if it please the king to grant my petition and to perform my request, let the king and Haman come to the next banquet that I shall prepare for them tomorrow."

I don't know why she didn't just say, "I want this guy's head on a platter." Let me tell you what this guy's been doing. We don't fully know why she didn't say those things at this point in time. Why did she ask him again to come to another banquet tomorrow? Perhaps Esther perceived that this wasn't the right time, that it wasn't the perfect time. As we read the rest of chapter 5 and go on into chapter 6, I believe she was stirred by the Holy Spirit to say, "I want you to come to another banquet tomorrow."

Then Haman went forth, joyful with a glad heart. However, when Haman saw Mordecai at the king's gate, that he stood not up nor moved for him, he was full of indignation against Mordecai. He had just spent time having a meal, a banquet in his honor, with the king and the queen of the entire Persian Empire. He went out of the king's presence with joy and gladness, but as he walked outside the king's palace, who did he see? Mordecai.

Mordecai was just standing there, still in sackcloth and ashes, probably dirty and gross, just looking at Haman. All the other people were probably bowing down to Haman, giving him reverence, but Mordecai just stood there and looked at him. Haman went from there, nevertheless, feeling indignant.

We read in verse 10 that Haman refrained himself, and when he came home, he sent and called for his friends and Zeresh, his wife. Haman told them of the glory of his riches. Notice the pride of Haman here. He told them of the glory of his riches, the multitude of his children, and the things wherein the king had promoted him, advancing him above all the princes and servants of the king.

Haman said, "Moreover, yea, even Esther the queen did let no other man come in with the king unto the banquet that she had prepared but myself." He claimed that not only did the king love him, exalt him, and give him riches, but the queen also brought him into the king's presence and prepared a banquet for him. He added, "Tomorrow, I am invited unto the king's house again."

However, notice what he says in verse 13: "The flesh is never satisfied." He had everything he could ever want, yet he lamented, "All this avails me nothing so long as I see Mordecai, the Jew, sitting at the king's gate." He couldn't stand it. Despite having everything anyone could desire, as long as this one man, who would not give him reverence, remained at the king's gate, he would not be happy. Can you identify with this in any way?

Then Zeresh, his wife, and all his friends said to him, "Let a gallows be made fifty cubits high, and tomorrow speak thou unto the king that Mordecai may be hanged thereon. Then go in merrily unto the king at the banquet." This pleased Haman, and he caused a gallows to be made. His friends and his wife suggested that if Mordecai bothered him that much, he should just kill him. They reminded him that he had already been given the authority to issue a decree for the death of all the Jews.

They encouraged him to go to the king the next day and express his problem: "Listen, king, I have an issue with this Mordecai guy. He's bothering me, and I built a gallows. I want to put him to death." They believed the king would respond favorably, allowing him to go to the banquet with King Ahasuerus and Queen Esther, happy and free of his annoyance.

But notice this: the intervention of God. In chapter six, it says, "On that night, the king could not sleep, and he commanded that they bring to him the book of the records of the chronicles that were read before the king." Here, the king was tired and unable to sleep, so he ordered the record books to be brought to him. He thought that if anything could put him to sleep, it would be that. And so it was found...

It just happened that a guy brought the record books before the king, and it was found written therein that Mordecai had told the king about Bigthanat and Teresh, two of the king's chamberlains, the keepers of the door, who sought to lay a hand on King Ahasuerus. Now, what's this all about? Well, a few chapters before, back in chapter two, there was a point in time when Mordecai, as Esther was in the household of the king, was standing outside the palace. He caught wind of a rumor that two of the king's servants were devising a plan to assassinate King Ahasuerus.

Mordecai told Esther, "Listen, there's a plot to kill the king." She then delivered the word to the king, and finally, they apprehended the two men who had devised this plan against the king and put them to death. It was found that they were indeed trying to assassinate the king, and Mordecai never received anything for it. They simply wrote his name in the record books along with what had happened.

Now, this record is read in the hearing of the king, and Ahasuerus asks in verse three, "What honor and dignity has been done to Mordecai for this?" The king's servants who ministered to him replied that nothing had been done for him. The king said, "Listen, this guy's done a good thing. We want to reward this kind of behavior in the kingdom. We want people to tell us when there's a plan against the king's life. So, have we rewarded this guy for what he's done?" The servant of the king answered, "No, nothing's been done for him."

The king then asked, "Who is in the court? Where are my advisors? Are there any of my princes or advisors here to speak?" It just so happened that at that moment, Haman had come into the outer courtyard of the king's house to speak to the king because he wanted to hang Mordecai on the gallows he had prepared for him. The king's servant said to him, "Behold, Haman stands in the court," and the king said, "Oh, let him come in."

So Haman came in, and the king said to him, "Haman, what shall be done for the man to whom the king delights to honor?" What do you think Mordecai thought? The scripture tells us that Haman thought in his heart, "To whom would the king delight to honor more than me?" This has got to be one of the most comical things ever. Haman figured in his heart that there was nobody in the kingdom whom the king would want to honor more than him, so he assumed the king was speaking about him.

Some small thing to do? No, notice what Haman says. Haman answered the king in verse 7, "For the man whom the king delights to honor, let the royal apparel be brought, which the king uses to wear." Haman, figuring that the king is asking him because he wants to honor him, says, "This is what you need to do. Go get the princes of the king, get the clothes that the king would wear, the crown that the king would wear, the horse that the king would ride upon, and clothe that man that you delight to honor and parade him through the street."

So, the king said to Haman in verse 10, "Make haste and take the apparel and the horse as you have said, and do so even unto Mordecai the Jew that sits in the king's gate. Let nothing fail of all that you have spoken." Haman then took the apparel and the horse, arrayed Mordecai, and brought him on horseback through the street of the city, proclaiming before him, "Thus it shall be done unto the man whom the king delights to honor." All the while, Mordecai was probably thinking, "Man, Haman, I didn't know you liked me so much."

Mordecai came again unto the king's gate, but Haman quickly went to his house mourning and having his head covered. Just less than a day before, he had left the king's presence with joy and gladness; now he returned home mourning with his head covered. Haman told Zeresh, his wife, and all his friends everything that had befallen him. His wise men and Zeresh said unto him, "If Mordecai be of the seed of the Jews before whom you have begun to fall, you shall not prevail against him but shall surely fall before him."

All his advisors said, "Hey, Haman, this isn't looking good for you, buddy. You know, if Mordecai is of the people that you're trying to get rid of and the king is delighting to honor him, this just is not going to bode well for you."

All the while, while they were yet speaking, the king's chamberlains made haste to bring Haman unto the banquet that Esther had prepared.

Right as Haman's wife is saying to him, "This ain't good, buddy," there's a knock at the door. It's the herald of the king saying, "Hey, Haman, it's time to go to the banquet that Esther has prepared for you." So, the king and Haman came to the banquet of Esther, the queen. The king said again unto Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine, "What is the petition that you have, Queen Esther? I know that you haven't just called me here to have a good dinner. It shall be granted unto you. What is your request? It shall be performed even to the half of the kingdom."

Esther, the queen, answered and said, "If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition and my people at my request. For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish." I want you to notice the grace of this woman, Esther, in this next bit. She says, "But if we had been sold for bondmen or bondwomen, I would have held my tongue." She explains, "Listen, if we were going to be sold into slavery, I wouldn't have said anything. But we're not just going to be sold into slavery; we're going to be sold to be destroyed and to be put to death."

Then King Ahasuerus answered and said unto Esther, "Who is he and where is he that does presume in his heart to do so?" Esther replied, "The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman." At that moment, Haman was afraid. I think that's an understatement; he was afraid before the king and the queen.

The king, arising from the banquet of wine in his wrath, went into the palace garden. He could hardly contain himself. He stood up, stepped outside, and walked around the garden for a few minutes. Here has just got to be, again, the most comical part of the whole book. Haman stood up to make a request for his life to Esther, for he saw that there was evil determined against him.

When the king returned from the palace garden into the place of the banquet of wine, he found Haman had fallen over on the bed whereon Esther was. Picture it for a moment: Haman is begging and pleading for his life from Esther, saying, "Please don't let him kill me. He's going to kill me." In his excitement, he falls over, landing on top of Esther on her bed. Just then, the king walks in and says to Haman, "Will you force the queen also before me in my own house?" Basically, he asks, "Are you trying to rape my queen? What are you doing?" As the word went out of the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face. Harbona, one of the chamberlains, said before the king, "Behold, also the gallows."

Fifty cubits high, the gallows that Haman had made for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, stood in the house of Haman. Then the king said, "Hang him thereon." So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai, and then the king's wrath was pacified.

As we've talked about before, when we were considering the Amalekites back in 1 Samuel, the only way to deal with the flesh is to utterly destroy it; it must be put to death. You can never appease it. It's never happy, as we see here with Haman. He was never satisfied. He had everything, or so he thought. He had been given riches, glory from the king, and an exalted seat in the kingdom where everybody in the nation bowed down to him. But there was one man who didn't bow down, and because of that, Haman was not satisfied. In his pride, he built this gallows, and ultimately, as a result of it, he was killed on his own gallows. The principle stands: we must destroy the flesh, or it will destroy you.

On that day in chapter 8, King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman, the Jews' enemy, to Esther the queen. Mordecai came before the king, and Esther had told him what he was to her. Mordecai entered, and Esther revealed to the king that he was her cousin. The king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman, so everything that was Haman's was now delivered into the hands of Mordecai.

Esther spoke again before the king in verse 3. She fell down at his feet and besought him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman the Agagite and the device that he had devised against the Jews. The king held out his golden scepter towards Esther, so she arose and stood before the king. She said, "If it please the king, and if I have found favor in his sight, and the thing seems right before the king, and I be pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman the son of Hamadath the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in the king's provinces. For how can I endure to see the evil that shall come upon my people? How can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?"

Then King Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew, "Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and him they have hanged upon the gallows because he laid his hand..."

Upon the Jews, write also for the Jews as it liketh unto you in the king's name and seal it with the king's ring. For the writing which was written in the king's name and the seal with the king's ring may no man reverse. There was a law in Persia that if the king gave a decree, if he wrote a law, no one was able to reverse that law, not even the king himself.

He says, "Listen, you have the authority. I give you my signet ring. You've got to write a new law; you've got to write a law to reverse it." As you read through chapters 8 and 9, you see that Mordecai gathers together his advisors, and they come up with a plan. They set a decree in the kingdom of Persia that on the very same day when Haman's plan was to be executed upon the Jews, they wrote a new decree that said all the Jews were allowed to rise up and defend themselves. Every single Jew could avenge themselves upon their enemies on that day. If anybody would stand up to try and take their lives, then the Jews were told that they were to stand up and defend themselves on that same day, the 13th day of the month of Adar.

In chapter 9, in the 12th month, the month of Adar, on the 13th day, the same day when the king commanded and his decree drew near to be put in execution, the enemies of the Jews hoped to overpower them. Verse 2 states that the Jews gathered themselves together in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to lay hands on such as sought their hurt. No man could withstand them, for fear of them fell upon all the people, all the rulers of the provinces, all the lieutenants, all the deputies, and all the officers of the king. They helped the Jews because the fear of Mordecai fell upon them, for Mordecai was great in the king's house, and his fame went throughout all the provinces. Mordecai waxed greater and greater.

Thus, the Jews smote their enemies, as stated in verse 5, with the stroke of the sword and the slaughter of destruction. They did what they would unto those that hated them, and so they were able to withstand their enemies as they relied upon the word of Mordecai. All the people were able to stand against the enemy that came against them, and this set in place what is called the Feast of Purim. How many of you have heard of Purim before? The holiday of the Jews comes right around March or April in our calendar.

The celebration of this event marks the moment when the Jews stood up against their enemies. As you look at this book, you might see the correlation Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 10, where he tells us that all these things were written for our admonition and instruction. We observe the battle between the flesh, represented by Haman, and the spirit, represented by Mordecai and Esther. The king, who symbolizes the soul, is the deciding power; he is the one who gives authority and rule.

God has still given you and me free will. We have the ability to choose what we are going to do. Just as Moses told the children of Israel near the end of his life in Deuteronomy chapter 30, he said to them, "Choose this day." He set before them life and death, blessing and cursing, urging them to choose life so that they might live. Similarly, at the end of his life, Joshua addressed the people, saying, "Choose this day whom you will serve. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

In our day, the same truth remains for us as New Testament believers. We have the opportunity to choose whether we will sow to the spirit or sow to the flesh. We can choose the things of this world, the things of Haman, and exalt him. If we exalt Haman, he will destroy the spiritual life and vitality we have through the Holy Spirit. However, we also have the opportunity to sow to the spirit and reap everlasting life. We can see the life that is brought about when we do so.

It is interesting to note that some argue the book of Esther should not be in the Bible because we do not see the name of God or the worship of the Almighty in this book. Yet, do we not see the hand of God at work? It just so happens that Mordecai hears of a plan to assassinate the king and is able to bring it to the king's attention because his cousin was chosen to be queen. It just so happened that on the night before Esther was to reveal the plan to kill all her people, the king could not sleep. I wonder why that was.

It also just so happened that his chamberlain, his servant, turned to a specific place in the scroll and began reading at that very moment when Mordecai had informed the king. Coincidentally, Haman was walking in the king's court at that time, devising a plan to kill Mordecai. The king then asked, "What do you think we should do to a man that the king desires to honor?"

As we observe all these coincidences in the book of Esther, we can see the divine hand of God at work. We are reminded of what Paul told the Romans in Romans chapter 8: that all things work together for good.

Work together for good to those that love God and are called according to His purpose. That doesn't mean that all things are going to be good things, does it? Here we see that some difficult things took place in this book. Esther was taken from her family; she was taken from her people into the king's household. There was a possibility that if the king didn't choose her, she'd never see her family again. She would just be a part of the king's household, but maybe never even see the king.

There was a plan determined to execute the entire nation, all the people, the Jews. That wasn't a good thing, but ultimately, God is able to work all things together for good. We look back at our lives as well. Hindsight is 20/20; we can look at the lives we've led so far. Think about our lives once we get to heaven. Maybe you've experienced tragedy, or you'll go through trials in your life, and I will in my life. The sun shines on the just and the unjust; the rain falls on the just and the unjust. We are all going to go through similar trials in this life. We will all experience difficulty.

The joy that the believer has is being able to look back and see that God knows what He is doing. He is able to work all things together for good to those that love Him and are called according to His purpose. We see that so clearly presented in the book of Esther in such a beautiful way. Recently, another movie was made on the book of Esther called "One Night with the King." It was very well done, and this is one of those stories that could become a Hollywood classic just because it's such a great story as you read through it.

You see how God is able to weave things together, and He knows what He is doing. It's interesting to me that this book precedes the book of Job. When we get to Job next week, we will see another situation where there may not be an answer given as to the trials that people go through and the difficulties that people face. Sometimes it's something happening outside of time and space that we do not completely understand. God has a plan.

As we saw last week in Nehemiah, in the very beginning chapters, I believe it was Nehemiah chapter 2, verse 6, when Nehemiah went before the king seeking to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, it says in Nehemiah 2:6, "And the king said unto me, and the queen sitting by him." There is a very good possibility that that queen sitting next to King Xerxes in Nehemiah chapter 2 is Esther. Artaxerxes knew about the Jews.

What they were trying to do in Jerusalem was rebuild the wall. His wife, his queen, is a Jew. You see how God is able to prepare and ready things. God knew what He was doing; He had a perfect plan from the beginning. That same principle takes place in my life and in your life.

That's what we're going to see in the life of Job next week, because there are some pretty serious and heavy things that happen to him. But it all happens to him because of something that he knew nothing about—a discussion that God was having with the enemy, with Satan. You see, there are things happening in your life tonight. You may think, "I don't understand; I don't know why." There is a reason, though. When God has a plan, ultimately His plan is for our good.

I think it's important to understand and note that it's for our eternal good, not our temporal good. God does not desire that we live eternally here on earth. Part of the reason that our bodies break down, I believe, is God making it so we don't want to stay here forever. That is the same reason why God gave the children of Israel manna every single day in the wilderness for 40 years. He didn't want them to stay in the wilderness. He wanted them to complain about manna; He didn't want them to like it and say, "Oh, we want to stay here forever. Manna's really good." That's why He didn't give them In-N-Out Burger; they might have stayed.

There is a question that is often posed—one of the biggest questions given to Christians. No other religion deals with this problem: the problem of pain, the problem of sorrow and suffering. The only reason that we as Christians deal with this problem is because we believe in a God who is all-powerful but also all-loving. The question comes from philosophers throughout the ages: If there really is an all-powerful and all-loving God, then if He is all-powerful, He should be able to keep us from difficult, horrible, and wicked things that happen in our lives. If He is all-loving, He should want to do that. So how come there is pain? How come there is sorrow?

Have you ever heard that complaint? Muslims don’t deal with that because they believe in an all-powerful God, but He’s not all-loving, so they don’t have to confront that problem. The only religion that deals with that problem is Christianity. But you know what? There’s a big problem with that question, and it’s this: that question is based on the assumption that this is the world that God intends. People who say, "How come we deal with problems and suffering in this life?" assume that if God is all-powerful and all-loving, then He should be able to...

To keep it from us, they wrongly assume that this is where God wants us to be for eternity. But see, there's another world that God has created—a world where He'll wipe away every tear. There will be no more sorrow, and there will be no more pain. That's the world that the humanist, who asks such questions, is looking for. They say that our God is not true because they assume that this is His best.

How many of you have recognized that this isn't His best? This is just what He's preparing us for; He's using it to prepare us for His best. Amen. All things ultimately do work together for good.

Let's stand and pray. God, I thank You for the testimony of this book, the book of Esther. I pray that You would help us to take from it these truths that we've considered tonight. Lord, help us to see even in the difficulties that we might be facing right now, or the difficulties we'll face tomorrow or next year, that You still do have a plan. This world is not all there is.

Those who believe such things declare plainly that we seek a city, we seek a country whose builder and maker is God. We don't want to be here for eternity. Lord, the idea of the Jehovah's Witness just doesn't sound good to me—to stay here for eternity. God, I look forward to the day, and I'm sure that my brothers and sisters here do as well, when we'll stand before You. When we see You, we'll be like You, and we'll be in Your presence. In Your kingdom and in Your presence is fullness of joy, and we look forward to that day.

So we pray, Maranatha, come quickly, Lord Jesus, for we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you.