Haman’s Magnificent Fall | Sunday, July 4, 2021

Hey, welcome, and thanks for tuning in to Cross Connection Church today. We're so glad that we get to bring you church at home. I'm Pastor Garrett, and here at Cross Connection Church, we're all about living life in connection with God, one another, and the world through Jesus Christ.

Before we get into the broadcast today, I just want to encourage you. If you're looking for ways to get connected at Cross Connection Church, check out our website, lifeinconnection.com. Stick around after the broadcast for all the announcements and ways that you can personally get plugged in here at Cross Connection Church.

If you came prepared to give today, there are a few different ways that you can do that. First, you can go on our website, of course, at lifeinconnection.com or give.lifeinconnection.com and give right there through our website. Second, you can text the number 84321 on your cell phone, and it will walk you right through all the steps on how to give. Third, you can show up either on a Sunday at 10:30 here on campus, or you can simply mail in your tithe or offering to 1675 Seven Oaks Road in Escondido, California.

So with that, let's go ahead and worship the Lord together. The weapon may be formed, but it won't prosper. When the darkness falls, it won't prove it, because the God I serve knows only how to triumph. For my God will never fail, and my God will never fail. I'm gonna see a victory; I'm gonna see a victory, for the battle belongs to You. I'm gonna see a victory; I'm gonna see a victory, for the battle belongs to You. There's power in the mighty name of...

Jesus, every war He wages, He will win. I'm not backing down from any giant. I know how this story ends, and I know how this story is going to unfold. I'm going to see a victory. I'm going to see a victory. I'm going to see a victory. I'm going to see a victory, for the victory belongs to You.

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights. Among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. To secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it and to institute a new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers accordingly.

In such form as to them shall seem most likely to affect their safety and happiness, prudence indeed will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light or transient causes. Accordingly, all experience has shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer while evils are sufferable than to write themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.

But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right; it is their duty to throw off such government and to provide new guards for their future security.

It is July 4th, 2021. Most of you who will hear those words will know that they are the opening words of the Declaration of Independence. Those words were published 245 years ago today. I think it is safe to say that those of you who live under this Declaration of Independence and the Constitution that followed it are grateful for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Those of you who live under these founding documents agree that it is self-evident that all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with such unalienable rights. But imagine if you did not have those rights. Imagine that your people had those rights, but then those rights were taken from you. They were taken from you when your people were exiled from your homeland to be prisoners and slaves in a distant land.

Most of your relatives were killed in the battles that led up to that exile. Your land was destroyed, your capital was obliterated. Many of your relatives, once exiled, were forced to change their names, to speak in a new language, and to worship different gods, often in horrific circumstances.

Or immoral ways and to pray to these false gods, and to not pray to the God that you previously served. If they refused to do those things, they were thrown into fiery furnaces or cast to hungry beasts. However, that wicked nation that destroyed your nation and enslaved your people was overcome by another nation. You and your people were, in many respects, liberated and given the opportunity to return to your homeland. Some of your people returned, but many of them didn't. They had built lives, homes, and families in their land of exile, so they chose not to return.

For the next forty or so years, they lived lives like most of the rest of the people. They integrated with the rest of the population, blended in, and lived their lives. This is the setting of the book that we are studying right now in the Old Testament, the Old Testament book of Esther.

If you've been following along with us through the text, you know a little bit of this history. You've heard some of these stories. If you lived at that time, you would have known the basis of all the things that had happened in the previous seventy years and the time before that. You knew about your people and their time in Egypt as slaves, and you knew about their deliverance from that bondage and slavery. You were aware of your people's wanderings in the wilderness and the miraculous ways they survived during that time.

You knew about the conquest of the homeland of your people and the establishment of the nation, as well as the early monarchy. Names like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, Samuel, Saul, David, Solomon, Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and then Daniel were familiar to you. Those were the names you were raised hearing about and knowing all about. You and your community, a people among other peoples, were freed exiles living your lives as peacefully as possible until one day a decree from the king arrived.

The place where you live had a decree read and posted publicly in the marketplace. The decree stated that on the 13th day of the 12th month of this year, everyone among your people, the Jewish people, is to be destroyed, killed, and annihilated throughout all the provinces of this place, Persia. Both young and old, little children and women, are to be wiped out in one day.

You think back to your history as a people. You remember names like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Saul, David, and Solomon. You recall Nebuchadnezzar, who took your people and brought them into Babylon. During that period, you lived as exiles and slaves in Babylon, until you were set free by the Persian king, Cyrus. Decades passed, and everything seemed to be returning to a rather good state. Your people were back in the homeland, and you were living your life.

But now, there is this decree given to destroy, to kill, to annihilate your people. Once again, you find yourself in a difficult place. You have to wonder: why such hatred? Why such hatred for this people? Why such hatred when they were in Egypt? Why such hatred when they were in the wilderness? Why such hatred when they came into the Promised Land? Why such hatred when they were carried away captives by the Babylonians in 586 BC?

This hatred for these people is not just a relic of 2,500 or 3,400 years ago. It was present 80 years ago in Europe, 200 years ago in Russia, and in Spain in the 15th century AD. It existed in Rome during the first and second centuries AD, and it persists today in the Middle East. Why such hatred for this people?

It is a fascinating thing to consider that the Jewish people are still a people today, after all they have gone through—not just for centuries, but for thousands of years. They have faced all the hatred and all the times that people have come against them, trying to destroy them or carry them away from their land, whether under the Babylonians in the sixth century or the Romans in the first and second centuries.

In the first century A.D., all these things came against the Jewish people. They were exiled from their land for 1,900 years, and even still today, there is so much animosity and hatred directed toward them. So, why such hatred for these people, and yet they remain a people? Why such blessing for these people?

If you have been a part of Cross Connection Church for any length of time, then you have probably noticed that I am something of a lover of history. History amazes me, especially the histories surrounding the things of the Bible and the people of Scripture. When you study history and view the world today through the lens of the history of the Bible, it becomes clear that there is something more to history than what is seen on the surface. This has been one of the points that I, along with Pastors Mark and Jason, have been returning to and driving home throughout this summer series.

As we have been going through the Old Testament book of Esther, we keep coming back to the idea that there is something more to history, something more to reality, and something more to life than what is just apparent on the surface. When you look at all these things and study the stories of the children of Israel during the time of the Exodus, the conquest of the land under Joshua, or the time of the judges, you see the enemies that came against them. You can also look at the time of the prophets, when the Assyrians tried to destroy the children of Israel in the eighth century B.C., or when the Babylonians attempted to destroy the Jewish people in the fifth and sixth centuries B.C.

Now, we are looking at Persia and a man named Haman, which we will get to in a moment. You have to ask the question: why such hatred? Here we are in 2021, and the most free nation in the Middle East is the nation of Israel. The Jewish people are in a homeland they returned to after 1,900 years of separation, dispersed during the diaspora that happened in the second century A.D. After all that time, they come back to that land and seem not just to be a hated people, but a blessed people. Why such hatred? Why such blessing?

Imagine that you are in Persia around 473 B.C.

These things were taking place, at least that's what we believe when we look at history. It's about 473 BC, and you have received word in your small Jewish community that a royal decree has been given from the king of Persia. It has been handed down from the prime minister, Haman, that you and all of your people are to be destroyed.

Why such hatred? Why can't your people seem to get out from underneath this oppression? Why can't you seem to get ahead in all of these things that are going on? Well, it goes back to Abraham, the father of the nation of Israel—not Abraham Lincoln. It goes back to the calling of Abraham when he lived not very far from the place that Esther lives in this book that we've been studying. She was in Susa, or Shushan, the capital of the Persian Empire, and just about 200 miles away from there was a place called Ur. Ur was the place that Abraham, the father of the Jewish people, was from. He was born in that place about 1,500 years before Esther.

When Abraham was 75 years old, we are told in Genesis chapter 12—if you have a Bible, you could actually look there—that God called Abraham. In Genesis chapter 12, beginning at verse 1, we read these words: "Now the Lord had said to Abraham, 'Get out of your country and from your family and from your father's house to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great, and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse him who curses you, and in you all of the families of the earth shall be blessed.'"

Why, 4,000 years after Abraham, is there still a Jewish people in the world? Why is it that nearly half of the people alive today—there are nearly 8 billion people on the planet today, about 7.8 billion—look back 4,000 years to Abraham as an important figure for their lives?

Their faith raises important questions: Why is there so much hatred for the people that descended from Abraham? The answer to those questions is found in three verses in Genesis, chapter 12, verses one through three.

Why is there a people that has been blessed and, in many ways, has been a blessing wherever they have gone? They look back to Abraham, thousands of years ago, as their father. This people exists because God said to Abraham, "You follow me by faith, and I will make you a great nation. I will bless you."

The name Abraham is significant for more than 4.2 billion Jews, Christians, and Muslims around the world. All of the monotheists look back to Abraham. Why is that? Because God said to Abraham, "Follow me by faith, and I will bless you. I will make your name great."

However, why is there such hatred and cursing directed at Abraham and his descendants? It is because God said to Abraham, "Follow me by faith, and if you do so, I will bless you. You shall be a blessing, and in you, all the families, all the nations, and all the people of the earth shall be blessed."

Let me clue you into something really important: the blessing of Abraham and the hatred and cursing of Abraham and his descendants is not about Abraham himself. It is not solely about his descendants, the Jewish people. It is about the one who would come through and from Abraham.

There is something going on behind the scenes, which is one of the insights we gain when we study a book like Esther. The Scriptures open our eyes to see that there is more to reality than what is visible on the surface. There is something more happening in what I would refer to as the unseen realm. This hatred is not about Abraham; it is not necessarily about his descendants, the Jewish people.

It is about the God of Abraham, and it is about God's working in this world. It is also about the enemy, the enemy of God, who is at work opposing the working of God in this world. The blessing of Abraham is not just about Abraham; it is not solely about Abraham's descendants. It is about the most important descendant of Abraham: Jesus. The opposition against Abraham is actually opposition against the God of Abraham, against the working of God through Abraham in the form of Jesus of Nazareth, who would come many centuries after Abraham—thousands of years after Abram.

So why is there such hatred? As they would say a number of years ago, it's all about Jesus. That is why there is this great hatred of Abraham and of the descendants of Abraham. This is also why there is opposition to Abraham, because God is working through Abraham to bring about Jesus. That is ultimately the basis of all of these things that we are looking at in a story like the Book of Esther.

As I said at the end of my message last time, in this battle with God and the devil, the devil always overplays his hand. You can be absolutely certain about that as you see these things manifesting in the seen realm of things that are happening in the unseen realm. It is important for us to recognize that there is an opposing force to the working of God in this world. That enemy, the adversary, the devil, always overplays his hand.

Before I can go any further, I just need to emphasize this: God is at work behind the scenes. This is what I have been coming back to quite a bit as we have been going through the Book of Esther. You need to hold on to this truth: God is at work behind the scenes, and the devil, the adversary working against God, always overplays his hand. This is so important because there is not a week that goes by, especially right now, where I don't get an email or have a conversation with some stressed-out Christian who is looking at all of the chaos and confusion in the world. They are freaked out.

Maybe you right now find yourself in a place where you are a little uneasy about the things that are going on. You look at the stuff you keep hearing in the news, or listening to on podcasts, or seeing on social media, and all this information is coming at you.

Constantly, especially over the last 18 months or so, you may find yourself stressed and anxious because of the chaos and confusion in the world. You might feel a little freaked out. It is at times like these that we get to find out if we really believe what we say we believe. I believe it was a great Bible teacher named Warren Wiersbe, who passed away recently, that said, "A faith that cannot be tested is a faith that cannot be trusted."

The Apostle James, in the New Testament book of James, writes that the testing of our faith produces endurance and patience. Ultimately, through the testing of our faith and the endurance that comes on the other side of it, we achieve maturity in our lives. God is at work behind the scenes, and the devil is opposing the work of God. However, the devil always overplays his hand.

In our story that we've been going through in the book of Esther, we will be in Esther chapter 7 today. Over the previous six weeks, we have been examining a chapter each week. If you remember back to Esther chapter 1, the story begins with the fall of Queen Vashti. The book of Esther is set in the fifth century BC and revolves around the king of Persia and his queen, Vashti. Vashti disobeyed the king, leading to her removal from her office, which is detailed in Esther chapter 1.

Then, in Esther chapter 2, about four years after the fall of Queen Vashti, we see the rise of Queen Esther, who was secretly a Jewish woman, a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Following the rise of Queen Esther, we have the ascent of Haman, the magnificent, which occurs about five years later. There is a time gap between Esther chapter 1, the fall of Queen Vashti, and the rise of Queen Esther, followed by another time gap before Haman becomes the new prime minister of Persia. His name means "magnificent," and when he was elevated to his new office, all the people in Persia were commanded to bow down to Haman. However, there was one man who refused.

To bow, his name is Mordecai. Mordecai just so happens to be the older cousin and guardian of Esther before she became queen. Mordecai refused to honor Haman, and Haman was then filled with wrath, anger, and hatred. He wanted to destroy Mordecai because Mordecai would not bow to him and honor him. However, Haman's hatred did not stop at Mordecai; he wanted to destroy all of Mordecai's people.

Haman's hatred moved him to develop a plot against Mordecai and all the Jewish people. In the midst of that, we see Mordecai's declaration of faith. We saw this just a few weeks ago. This is the storyline of the Book of Esther: Queen Vashti is removed, Queen Esther is raised up, and then Haman comes. He is angry at Mordecai because Mordecai won't bow, and he declares that all of the Jewish people will be destroyed.

Mordecai is devastated. He begins to cry out for his people because he feels responsible for all the calamities that are coming. In Esther chapter four, he sends word to his cousin, Queen Esther, urging her to take action regarding the situation. He speaks with faith in Esther chapter 4, beginning at verse 13. Mordecai told them to answer Esther, "Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king's palace any more than all the other Jews. For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place."

Let me emphasize that again because it is so important. This is the word of the faith of Mordecai: "For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"

Mordecai was overcome with sadness and distress when he heard about Haman's plot. Ultimately, Mordecai felt responsible; it was because he refused to bow before Haman that this decree was given to wipe out all of the Jewish people, all of his people. In the realm of humanity and the realm of men, it was Mordecai's refusal to bow down that led to this crisis.

Before Haman, there was the wrath and indignation of Haman. Of course, there's more going on behind the scenes in the unseen realm, where the enemy of God, the devil, was at work to destroy the plan or work of God. The plan or work of God is given to us hundreds of years later, or hundreds of years before. In Genesis chapter 12, the plan of God through Abraham was going to bring a blessing to all peoples. Through Abraham, Jesus would come.

In the middle, between Abraham and Jesus, we have this story in Esther, where the devil is trying to destroy the work of God. God is doing something in this world much bigger than Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Esther, and Mordecai—much, much bigger. God is working in this world to bring about the redemption of all people through a descendant of Abraham, Jesus. The enemy, the adversary, the devil, is trying to destroy that work. That's what we're seeing in this book and in other books in the Old Testament.

So, the devil is at work to destroy the plan and work of God. But in time and space, as these things were happening 2,400 to 2,500 years ago, Haman's wrath was the result of Mordecai's refusal to bow. Now, listen, this is really important. I want you to pay attention. If you have been drifting off as I've been giving you these settings of these things going on, I want you to pay attention to this. This is really, really important.

There are times when we will have to refuse to follow the dictates of the authorities. That's what Mordecai did 2,400 years ago. The command was given that Mordecai and all the people needed to bow down and honor, and effectively worship, before Haman. But Mordecai wasn't going to do that because Haman was an enemy of God and God's people. So, he refuses to bow.

There are times when we will have to refuse to follow the dictates of the authorities. There's been a lot of talk about this lately in our culture because of all the things that have been going on, not just in our nation but throughout the world in the last 16 to 18 months because of COVID. You remember all the shutdowns. Praise God, we're not in the midst of shutdowns right now, and we're not wearing masks. We've been liberated from all those things.

We're gathering together here at Cross Connection for church services. We've been doing that together for a while now. If you've only been watching online and you live here in North San Diego County, we want to invite you to come out on Sunday mornings at 10:30. If you're watching this on Sunday morning, you still have time to join us.

Make your plans to come here and join us on Sunday morning. We have been living under challenging circumstances, and in the midst of these challenges, there has been a call among many people, whether they are in churches or not, to push back against the authorities.

There are times when we find ourselves wondering if this is the moment to resist the dictates of the authorities, much like Mordecai did 2,500 years ago. There has been a lot of discussion about these same issues in our culture. I want to highlight four very important considerations regarding what we would call civil disobedience.

When people say they will no longer follow the dictates of the government, we can look back 245 years to when our forefathers in the United States wrote the Declaration of Independence and sent it to King George to declare that they would no longer comply. So, when do we disobey? This is the essence of civil disobedience.

The first important point to consider is that we disobey the authorities when they command us to do what God has forbidden. This is crucial. If the civil authorities command us to do something that God forbids, we have both the right and the responsibility to disobey.

The second point is that we disobey the authorities when they forbid us to do what God has commanded. This is the opposite scenario. If the governing authorities command us to do what God has forbidden or forbid us to do what God has commanded, we have the right and the responsibility to say no. We will obey God rather than men.

These are the first two important considerations regarding civil disobedience. I know there has been a lot of discussion about this topic in our culture over the last 16 months. It is essential to remember that if civil authorities command us to do what God has forbidden, we have the right and responsibility to refuse. Similarly, if they forbid us to do what God has commanded, we also have the right and responsibility to resist. This leads us to the next two important points.

Important things to consider when thinking about civil disobedience include several key points. The third important thing to remember is that we only disobey the authorities when we are prepared to suffer the consequences of our actions. We only do so when we are ready to accept the repercussions of our choices. Finally, the fourth point is that we only engage in civil disobedience when we are prepared to trust God for the outcome.

These four important considerations require that we be very clear-headed about when civil disobedience is valid and when it is something we should engage in. I would suggest that if you cannot check off these four boxes, then you put yourself under Romans chapter 13, which states, "Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God."

On the last two points—being prepared to suffer the consequences of your actions and trusting God for the outcome—I began this message today with the opening words of the Declaration of Independence, which was first published 245 years ago today, on July 4th. The closing words of the Declaration say, "And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."

Notice what the Founding Fathers were saying when they signed that Declaration of Independence. They were expressing their trust in the divine providence of the Almighty and pledging to one another their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor. They were acknowledging that they might die for what they were doing because one must be prepared for the consequences.

In our story, Mordecai and Esther could check off these boxes. They were not going to do something that was forbidden by God; they were only going to do what was commanded by God. Mordecai told Esther that she would not be safe in the palace, and Esther responds in Esther chapter 4, verse 15.

Then Esther told Mordecai and all the people who were writing to her, "Go and gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, or Susa, and fast for me. Neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. I will go to the king, which is against the law. Civil disobedience! I will go to the king, and if I perish, I perish."

Right there, once again, she is willing to accept the consequences, and she is trusting. Even though God is not explicitly mentioned in this passage, she is trusting in the Lord. She is saying, "You guys go fast and pray. I'm going to fast and pray, and then I'm going to go in before the king, which is against the law. Civil disobedience! If I perish, I perish."

It has taken me quite a bit to get to the passage where we are for today. Esther goes before the king on behalf of her people in Esther chapter five, which we looked at a couple of weeks ago. As she is before the king, he accepts her into his presence. She invites the king and Haman, the man who is devising the plan to destroy her and all of her people, to a banquet. The king and Haman come to the banquet, and that is where we were last week.

Esther has this banquet, and as she is gathered with the king, he is having this great feast with her and Haman. The king says, "What do you want from me? I know you want something from me more than just to have a little party." He says, "Whatever you want, up to half of the kingdom." Esther responds, "King, I want to invite you to a second banquet." One banquet was not enough; she invites him to another banquet. She knew that the king liked parties and enjoyed drinking. In fact, the word for banquet in this passage refers to drinking, so it is kind of like a drinking banquet.

That night, after the first banquet, the king could not sleep. This is what we looked at last week in Esther chapter six. That night, the king could not sleep, and Haman, wicked Haman the magnificent, was restless as well because of his anger and fury against Mordecai. As Haman was leaving the banquet with the king and queen, he went outside of the king's palace, and there was Mordecai, who would not bow. Haman was filled with fury and anger.

He goes home, and his friends and his wife say, "Just kill him! Just kill Mordecai." While Mordecai is unwilling to bow to Haman, Haman is now planning Mordecai's execution. At the same time, the king is being reminded of something that happened years before when Mordecai, the man who will not bow to Haman, by God's providence saved the king's life. They never did anything good for Mordecai for his good deed, and now the king is planning to honor Mordecai, the very same guy that Haman is planning to kill.

Haman comes back to speak with the king about his plan to kill Mordecai, but he is interrupted by the king. The king asks, "What should we do for the man that the king wants to honor?" Haman thinks to himself, "Of course, the king would only want to honor me. I'm the only person he'd want to honor." He plays it up, but then the king says, "All right, go and do this for Mordecai."

In Esther chapter 6, instead of executing Mordecai, Haman is required by the king to honor him before all of the people. Just as I have been saying, the devil always overplays his hand, and God is working behind the scenes. Even though Haman doesn't know what's going on behind the scenes, and Mordecai and Esther don't understand what's happening either, we have the opportunity to see with the eyes of faith and understand that God is working throughout this whole story.

From Abraham in Genesis chapter 3 all the way to Jesus, a descendant of Abraham in the Gospels, God is working in everything in between. God is working in this situation with Mordecai, Haman, Esther, and the king of Ahasuerus. The devil is trying to oppose the working of God, but the devil always overplays his hand as God is working behind the scenes.

This brings us to Esther chapter 6, where we were last week. I want to pick it up today in verse 12. We read this: "Afterward, Mordecai went back to the king's gate after Haman had taken him through the whole city and honored him before all the people." But Haman hurried back to his house, mourning and with his head covered. When Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened to him, his wise men and his wife Zeresh said to him, "If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall..."

Note that the word "fall" there, if Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish descent, you will not prevail against him, but you will surely fall. There it is; you will fall before him.

They were still talking with him when the king's eunuchs came and hastened to bring Haman to the banquet which Esther had prepared, the second banquet. So now Haman goes home after he has honored Mordecai. He wanted to kill Mordecai, but now he has had to take him before all the people in the nation and say, "Here's the man that God, or the king, wants to honor." Haman goes back to his house and tells everybody what's going on, and they say, "You're done. You're toast."

While they were talking with him, the chariot driver, the king's messenger, shows up and says, "Hey Haman, it's time to go to that banquet with Esther and the king."

We read in Esther chapter seven, verse one, "So the king and Haman went to dine with the queen, with Queen Esther." On the second day of the banquet of wine, the king again said to Esther, just as he had said before, "What is your petition, Queen Esther? What is it that you want? I know you don't want to just have a meal with me and Haman, so what do you really want? Obviously, you're setting me up for your request, so what is your request? What is your petition? It shall be granted to you, and what is your request? Up to half of the kingdom, I'll give you whatever you want. It shall be done for you."

Then the queen, in this spectacular verse three, answered and said, "If I have found favor in your sight," which, if you go back to the very beginning when Esther was selected in Esther chapter two, it says that she found grace and favor in the eyes of the king when he first selected her to be his queen.

So she says, "If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me at my petition and my people at my request. For we have been sold, my people and I, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated." Those are the exact words of the decree that Haman had developed to kill the Jewish people, to kill Mordecai and all of his people, the Jewish people.

So my people, it has been decreed to be destroyed, to be killed, to be annihilated. "Had we been sold as male and female slaves, I would have held my tongue," she says. "If it was just that we were going to be put back into slavery, which we've been liberated from when Cyrus, king of Persia, delivered the Jewish people from the Babylonians, if we were just to be sold back into slavery, I would have kept my..."

Mouth shut, but we're not going to be sold back into slavery. We're going to be destroyed, annihilated, killed, and destroyed. If it had just been slavery, I would have held my tongue, although the enemy could never compensate for the king's loss.

So, the king of Hajjawaris answered and said to Queen Esther, "Who is he, and where is he who would dare to presume in his heart to do such a thing?" Esther said, "The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman." Haman was terrified before the king.

There are some more things to think about in this amazing story. Imagine the picture; it's an incredible scene with the king, the queen, and Haman. The queen is treating Haman and the king to this huge spread, this banquet. In the midst of it, the king says, "All right, listen, Esther, I know you have a bigger request than just that we come have dinner with you. So, what is it?"

Esther responds, "I petition you; I request that you save my life and save the lives of my people because we have been sold to be put to death, destroyed, killed, and annihilated." The king says, "What are you talking about? I have no idea what you're talking about. Who has sold you to be killed?" She replies, "This wicked Haman."

There are some things to think about here. The first thing to consider is that God is working even when I think He is inactive. This is so important, especially in the context of everything we find ourselves going through right now. There is a lot of anxiety and stress. I know that this last year and a half has been a chaotic and challenging time. We've been through many ups and downs.

Even though things have been relatively okay within the church, there is still this weight of anxiety and concern. You look around at the politics of the world, the health of the world, and the injustices or inequities and unfairness that people are constantly talking about. You can feel the burden; you can feel the weight and anxiety of all these things.

In that, I want to remind you, especially if you are a believer in the God of the Bible, that God is working even when I think He is inactive. In the story of Esther, that's one of the things we see. The second thing we see is that God is working, but there is an enemy working against Him. I think that one of the things we fail to recognize sometimes is that...

There is a very real foe, a very real enemy of God. This foe, this enemy of God, is not the equal opposite of God. He is not equal in power, intelligence, resources, or in any way to God. This devil is a created being, as you begin to see him revealed in the Scriptures. However, there is an opposing force to the working of God at work in this world. You can see that all the way back in Genesis chapter 3 and all the way through all 66 books of the Bible. There is an enemy that is working against God. God is working even when I don't think He is active, but there is an enemy working against Him.

The third thing that I think is really important as we read through Esther chapter 7 today is that God is working, but Esther still had to put herself on the line. This is really important because when we get into the discussion—one of the discussions that Christians have a lot of times—it revolves around the providence of God, the sovereignty of God, and the responsibility of man. Christians often divide themselves into two different groups: those who believe in the sovereignty of God and lean upon it, and those who lean towards the free will or the responsibility of man.

One of the things that you find when you read through the Scriptures is that both of these things are true. They are not set aside as one being better than the other. God is working; God's providence and sovereignty are evident. We see Him working. It wasn't Esther that made it so the king could not sleep that night. It wasn't Esther that made it so that, just so happened, when the king couldn't sleep, they would read him the story about Mordecai saving his life. That's the providence of God; that's the working of God. God is providentially working in the world, and we see that when we open the pages of Scripture.

So, God is working, but Esther still had to put herself on the line. She still had to fast, pray, and go before the king when it was against the law for her to do so. She still had to set up this banquet and petition the king for herself and for the people of her time. This is really important for us to remember: God is working even when we think He is not, even when it seems like He is inactive. God is working, but He still has something for you to do.

This is really important because a lot of times we want to just say, "Well, God will work it out; God will sort it out." But sometimes God is saying, "No, I have something that I want you to do in this situation," which is a challenge.

Have you considered that maybe God has something He wants you to be doing right now that you're not doing? It's something to think about. You can trust that God will work His plan; His plan will come about, but God wants you to be involved in that.

In Esther chapter 7, verse 7, we read that the king arose in his wrath and went from the banquet of wine into the palace garden. The king hears Esther say to him, "I want you to save me and my people because we have been decreed to be put to death and annihilated." He asks, "Who possibly would have done this? I don't know what you're talking about." Esther responds, "It was Haman; Haman did this."

The king is so angry that he can't even stay there; he gets up and leaves the room. Meanwhile, Haman stands before Queen Esther, pleading for his life, for he realizes that evil has been determined against him by the king. The king, filled with wrath, leaves the room, and Haman understands that he is finished. He is on the ground, pleading before Queen Esther, "Please save me." This pitiful Haman, who once thought himself magnificent, is now seen for what he really is, and he is pleading with the king.

When the king returns from the palace garden to the place of the banquet of wine, he finds Haman fallen across the couch where Esther was reclining. This is beautiful irony; it is comedy in the midst of tragedy for Haman. Throughout the story, Haman has been pompous and arrogant, thinking himself magnificent, with a high-handed plan to destroy Mordecai. Now, his plan is falling apart because the devil always overplays his hand, and God will accomplish His work.

As the king enters the room, seething with wrath, Haman starts crying out, "Please save me, Queen Esther!" He falls upon her, and this does not look good, especially as the king is coming in. The king then says, "Will he also assault the queen while I am in the house?" As the words leave the king's mouth, they cover Haman's face. It is as if the king has returned with some of his executioners, and as the words are leaving his mouth, they cover Haman's face.

Harbonah, one of the king's eunuchs, said to the king, "Look, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman has made for Mordecai, who spoke good on the king's behalf, is standing at the house of Haman." Then the king said, "Hang him! Hang Haman on it!" So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai, and then the king's wrath subsided.

God is working even when we think He is inactive. God is not explicitly mentioned in the Book of Esther, but as we see the fall of Vashti and the rise of Esther, as we see the ascent of Haman the Magnificent and the refusal of Mordecai to bow before Haman, and then Haman's plan to destroy Mordecai and all the Jewish people, in all of these things, the king couldn't sleep. They just so happened to read to him how Mordecai had saved his life. In all these things, God is working even when we think that He is inactive.

Here is the interesting thing: with the death of Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai, he ends up being killed by the very same thing that he had created to execute Mordecai. With the death of Haman here at the end of Esther chapter 7, you might think that the story is done. However, if you look just a couple of pages to the right, you will notice that we still have three chapters left, which lead us to one more very important thing for us to think about.

In all this, what we've seen so far this morning, one very important thing is that God is at work, but there is still much for us to do. You see, hundreds of years after Esther, the blessing of Abraham would come to this world. In Genesis chapter 3, it is stated, "In you all the nations of the earth shall be blessed." The blessing of Abraham is Jesus. God was bringing about the ultimate incarnation—God coming to the world, Jesus coming to this world. All this stuff between Genesis chapter 3 and the Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, even the story of Esther—is all a part of that story.

That is why the enemy is coming against the working of God through the Jewish people, the descendants of Abraham. But Jesus came 2,000 years ago. The story is told to us in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and He was crucified. Again, that would seem like an end to the story. He even says on the cross, "It is finished." But why, if it is finished?

Are we still here, 2,000 years after Jesus, because God is at work? There is still much for us to do. To see the conclusion of the story, you'll have to join us next time.

As I close today, I want to give you a few final things to think about as we wrap this up. There’s a reason why I believe God led us to the Book of Esther this summer to study through. As we conclude today, there’s a lot of chaos and confusion in our broken and fallen world all the time, but it has been especially noticeable for us in the last year. The chaos and confusion can weigh on us and stress us out.

In the midst of all this anxiety and stress, I hear sirens going by—more chaos and confusion. But we need to take a step back and ask ourselves, in the midst of all this, do I really believe what I say I believe? Do you really believe that God is and that He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him? That’s what we read when we talk about faith in the New Testament Book of Hebrews: that God is and He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Do you really believe that God is? Do you really believe that He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him? That’s what the life of faith is all about. The Book of Esther is just another reminder that God is working even when we don’t see His plan clearly.

So, stepping back from all the things that are stressing you out and causing you anxiety right now, you have to ask yourself: Do I really believe that God is? Do I really believe that He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him? If I really believe that God is, then we begin to understand that God has something bigger He is doing than the things we are experiencing right now.

As you start to get to know God as He is revealed in the Scriptures, you start to realize that, in the end, He wins. It doesn’t matter. I was talking with a friend this week, and he said this to me.

It doesn't matter what the score is in the third quarter if you know the conclusion of the game: that you win. Even if you're down in the third quarter, it doesn't matter if you know the final score and you know that you win in the end. When Jesus said on the cross 2,000 years ago, "It is finished," He was speaking about future history that has not yet come to pass.

If you know that in the end Christ wins, then all the things that are going on around us may still cause anxiety and stress, but we can roll those things over to the Lord and say, "God, I know that You're working." Even though the enemy, the adversary, the devil, is coming against Your work, I know that You're working, and I know that in the end, You win.

So the question is, if you believe that God is working and that He's going to win in the end, what part does He have for you to play? This is a really important thing for us to think about this week. What part does God want you to be a part of today and this week in His working? It just may be that you are where you are—in the house that you live in, the neighborhood that you live in, the workplace that you work at, on the construction site, or in the classroom—because God has placed you there for such a time as this.

The question is, are you fulfilling the purpose for which God has placed you in that place? This is where you need to say, "God, help me to see what it is that You want me to do."

Father God, I pray as we close today on this Independence Day that You would help us to be in that right space—mind space, really—to come before You with our anxieties, our concerns, and our fears, and to cast our cares upon You, trusting that You do care for us. In that place, we ask, "Lord, what do You want me to do?"

Maybe that might require, just like with Esther and the Jewish people in this passage of Scripture, taking a few days to pause and to pray, to fast. Maybe that's what we need to do this week: to pause and pray. Maybe it's not three days; maybe it's just an afternoon to pray, "God, what do You want me to do in this situation?" Because it just may be that You've placed me here for such a time as this.

God, help us to have the faith enough to see that You're working, to trust in Your working, and to step into the work that You have for us. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. We believe.

You take what the enemy meant for evil, and you turn it for good. You turn it for good. You take what the enemy meant for evil, and you turn it for goodness. You take what the enemy meant for evil, and you turn it for good.

The Lord belongs to you. Yes, and I'm gonna see a victory. I'm gonna see a victory for the battle. You take what the enemy meant for evil, and you turn it for good.

Thank you for joining our broadcast today. We want to take a moment and invite you to join us live in person here at our Escondido campus at 10:30 on Sunday morning. Check that out if you can make it; we'd love to have you here live in person at 10:30. If you'd like to find any more information about Cross Connection Church, be sure to check out our website, lifeinconnection.com. God bless you all.

As you saw, we had a great time. Congratulations to the people who got baptized; what an awesome time that was! It was just fantastic. We are getting ready very soon for more exciting events.

To start putting together another service, we are going to need some more people. I am going to need more people in the children's ministry, more people in hospitality, and more people in security. Pretty much every ministry we have will need to be beefed up if we are going to be able to pull off another service.

This is your opportunity to jump in and help. You can do that at serve.lifeinconnection.com. I would love to see you guys get involved. Even right now, we will give you a special dispensation during the service to get on your phone and go on the internet. Please visit serve.lifeinconnection.com. We could use you all over the place!