Esther 3 The Danger of Obedience

Well, good morning, welcome Welcome to recast Church. I'm Don Felsick. I'm the lead pastor here. And I just want to say thanks for coming

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If you fill that out, so we appreciate getting those back Now I'm really glad to be back. I missed you guys the last couple of weeks

Obviously I was here last week, but I wasn't in the pulpit preaching and I really missed that I'm glad to be back had a good vacation and this thing came with me

So like something grew on my face and it just stayed so here it is That's the kind of I think it's maybe the inner mountain man in me coming out from being down.

I don't know Okay, that's enough about that We'll see if that we'll see if it hangs around but um,

I really am grateful for Preachers willing to kind of step up while I was gone My brother -in -law coming from Ohio to bring the word.

Hopefully you guys enjoyed that and then also Very grateful very thankful for an elder team here who is willing to step it step up in my absence and is willing to bring the word

I Recognize and I experienced what a what a weight that can be sometimes bringing the Word of God and so very thankful for Zach Lloyd Presenting last week particularly on the topic of prayer a sermon that challenged me and hopefully challenged you as well

We're gonna shift gears Hopefully we're able to mentally shift gears and jump into worshipping God and at the beginning

I like to kind of introduce the text and so we're gonna be jumping back into the book of Esther We've been gone from that for a couple of weeks, but so let me catch us up to speed

We've seen the hand of God working through circumstances and events our sovereign God We're looking at his working in history in the life of the

Jews who have been exiled into a foreign land How many of you would like to be exiled into a foreign land like somebody conquers,

Michigan and drags you to Canada? Okay, I mean that's what that's just weird But would you enjoy that would you enjoy that I don't think so I don't think we'd like to be conquered very well

But that's what happened and we see God working through circumstances to raise up a Jew Who is among the minority of her people and she is raised up and elevated to the position of Queen?

over all of Persia an Amazing circumstance and we've done that already.

We've been there in the text and the setting is 500 years Those of you enjoy history 500 years before the life of Christ So that's when

Esther fits into chronology and they've been exiled like I said to a foreign land in our text this morning we're gonna see that persecution is real and that following God and taking a stand for the worship of God has ramifications for our lives now granted sometimes

When you take a stand like think about your workplace you take a stand for God and you speak about him Sometimes cool things happen like like Christians come out of the woodwork have you any of you ever had that experience where suddenly like like you're all nervous and You're like afraid to tell somebody you're a

Christian and then you tell them and they're like me too That's like awesome. Let's get together and pray at lunchtime.

Awesome. Great. Any have you been there? Okay, where it's like you're scared. They're scared and all of a sudden you're a brother and sister in Christ or brothers in Christ or whatever

But sometimes it doesn't go that way, right? Sometimes it's like I'm a Christian and they're like Christians suck and you're like, oh, oh no, you know

Have you any of you experienced that? Okay, and it's like now you're on their blacklist and things don't go well for you

So persecution is real and that's what we're gonna encounter here in this text but I would suggest to you that it's often in our lives at the darkest places and Sometimes in the darkest times that the glory of God shines the brightest when things feel and seem hopeless

Hold your breath and wait for God to break through. Have you experienced that part of life?

sometimes things have to get pretty dark before we see the shining of the glory of God and By the end of this text things will be pretty dark a little bit heavy

Things will seem relatively hopeless And so what we see here in Esther chapter 3 is actually the darkening before the dawn

It's like the grave before the resurrection and that's what we're gonna see in our text

The Jewish race will seem like it is on the brink of extinction and that God's great promises that a

Messiah one would come and be born of the Jews who would save all people and it's like how can one be

Born of the Jews if the Jews are extinct If they're done away with historically, how is

Jesus going to come to earth through a Jew if there are no Jews? Get it.

So that's what we're looking at. And that's a pretty dark time in history And for some reason God, I don't

I don't really get it, but I've experienced this in my own life I've seen it in other people's life, and I don't really know why but God loves to rush in at The best moment which is often the last moment and save the day

Have you experienced that? Last moment like when it's like I don't really know how this is gonna work out.

I don't and then God comes in You see our God is a rescuer and as we come to worship this morning and as the team comes to lead us

I want you to think about these things. God is a rescuer Our God is a Redeemer. He is a

Savior and he often does so in the darkest circumstances of life But I think first sometimes

We have to see the darkness we have to look in the mirror and see our own depravity and see our own sinfulness and see dark times in order to appreciate the light all the more and That's what we're gonna see in our text

So I want you to open your Bibles to Esther chapter 3 If you want to take the Bible that's in the in the in the seat back in front of you take that out

It's easy to find page 354 page 354 in that Bible and if you're here with us this morning, and you don't own a

Bible Please take that one with you. It's our desire that everybody owns a copy of Scripture but follow along with me as I read

Esther chapter 3, which is page 354 in that Bible follow along as I read after these things

King Asurus promoted Haman the Agagite the son of Hemeditha and advanced him and set his throne above the officials who were with him and All the king's servants who were at the king's gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman for the king and so commanded concerning him

But Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage Then the king's servants who were at the king's gate said to Mordecai Why do you transgress the king's command and when they spoke to him day after day and he would not listen to them

They told Haman in order to see whether Mordecai's words would stand for he had told them that he was a Jew And when

Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage to him Haman was filled with fury

But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone So as they had made known to him the people of Mordecai Haman sought to destroy all the

Jews the people of Mordecai throughout the whole kingdom of Asurus In the first month, which is the month of Nisan in the twelfth year of King Asurus They cast per that is they cast lots

Before Haman day after day and they cast it month after month till the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar Then Haman said to King Asurus There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of your kingdom

Their laws are different from those of every other people and they do not keep the king's laws so that it is not

To the king's prophet to tolerate them if it pleased the king let it be decreed that they be

Destroyed and I will pay 10 ,000 talents of silver into the hands of those who have charge of the king's business that they may put it into the king's treasuries

So the king took a signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman the agagite the son of Hamedatha the enemy of the

Jews and The king said to Haman the money is given to you the people also To do to them as it seems good to you

Then the king's scribes were summoned on the 13th day of the first month and an edict according to all that Haman commanded was written to the king say traps and to the governors over all the

Provinces and to the officials of all the peoples to every province in its own script and every people in its own language

It was written in the name of King Asurus and sealed with the king's signet ring Letters were sent by couriers to all the king's provinces with instructions to destroy to kill and to annihilate all

Jews young and old women and children in one day the 13th day of the 12th month which is the month of Adar and to plunder their goods a

Copy of the document was to be issued as a decree in every province and proclaimed to all the people to be ready for that day the couriers went out hurriedly by order of the king and the decree was issued in Susa the

Citadel and The king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was thrown into confusion

Let's pray father we come to a text historical fairly dark really talking about some heavy themes like genocide and Evil wickedness of pride in one man's heart that leads to his desire and hunger for the destruction of an entire people your people

And we can get lost in some of the details and Misunderstand that this applies to us that we that we can see ourselves in this text if we would open our eyes and see

That sometimes we go through the darkness and sometimes we have to recognize that we are in a hopeless state without you intervening

That we would be an enemy to our own souls that we would be Self -destructive and bring ourselves down to the grave if it was not for your grace and your mercy to us

And so father we are in desperate need of you to break into our circumstances today this week

That you would show us your power and your glory and that father as we sing these songs that we would we would exude

Praise to the one who has saved us the one who has provided a way through Jesus Christ. I Pray that you would be with us to turn our attention and our focus to you who sit

Sits on the throne of the entire universe this morning. I ask this in Jesus name. Amen Well big thanks to the band for leading us in worship

I appreciate the work and the time and the effort that they put into it Knowing that the point is that we worship God not that we just listen to good music or sing along.

So if you would If you need to at any time, it looks like maybe there's there's literally five donut holes left up here and maybe

Three back there. My wife is saying so help yourself To now

And there's some juice and some coffee so feel free to get up all I'm saying is just make yourself at home and feel comfortable to get up at any time if You need to during the next

Dozen minutes Several minutes Last time we were together.

We were going through the book of Esther and we saw a very short text This would have been three weeks ago now

Where we saw that there was a plot to kill King Xerxes now everywhere you see in the text of Esther the name a asuras

That's actually the the Hebrew form of the name Xerxes So like the ancient historical

King have any of you heard the name Xerxes before King over? So anybody here ever see the movie 300 gruesome

That's that King that was the king of Persia that was attacking Greece at the time. That's what that's all about Xerxes is the king and We saw that there was a plot

To assassinate him Two of his guards that guarded the threshold to the king's palace it guarded the gate into the king's palace had plotted together

They got angry at some policy that he had made or something They wanted him dead and one of his scribes named Mordecai a good

Jew who is also the adopted father of Queen Esther Foiled the plot he found out uncovered it some of you remember that from when we were together last time

So what you what would you expect kind of to happen if one of the servants of the king?

Foiled a plot to assassinate him. What would you think would logically flow from that? Some form of reward right wouldn't you expect him to get some kind of Commendation some kind of reward a metal pinned on his shirt or something, right?

And so it's ironic when we come to the beginning of Esther chapter 3 that we find somebody rewarded

And it is not Mordecai Somebody else is going to get promoted in his place.

He's not even remembered in this text for what he did it's like we've just moved on and we actually are introduced to an individual a vile and evil man named

Haman and This is the first time that we encounter Haman in the text and he's going to prove to be the bad guy throughout the remainder of the text

He's promoted it says in the text. He's advanced and set above all the officials of Persia He is in essence promoted to the position of prime minister of all of Persia this vast

Empire that goes all the way from modern day Pakistan all the way down into the middle of Africa a huge Empire and Haman is made the prime minister of that entire area and we're introduced to him in this text and he has become

Right away at verse verse 1 a very powerful dude in the text So Haman is identified as an agagite like that probably settles everything for you, right?

Like when you hear that Haman was an agagite, okay, I get that right No, like what in the world is an agagite?

Well, it is a reference to a former passage of Scripture 1st Samuel 15 if you're taking notes if you if you'd kind of like to follow up on this later or have some reading throughout

The week I encourage you to read 1st Samuel 15 You actually find an account of a king over the Amalekites named

Agag And that is the reference that we're seeing here. So it's a reference back to 1st Samuel 15

You don't need to go there and turn there but jot that down to look it up later and he's mentioned there But you have to go back a little bit in history

So the Amalekites had this king named Agag during the time of the life of King Saul over Israel but if you go back even further to the time of Moses the

Amalekites were a thorn in the side of the Israelites all along their history So you go all the way back to the one of the defining moments of the nation of Israel the

Exodus Way back with Moses. Remember they were captives in Egypt They were they were slaves there and God did a bunch of miracles and brought them out of Egypt And then what is the first intense most probably one of the most memorable miracles in the entire

Bible they go through the Red Sea walk through on dry ground and they come out the other side of the

Red Sea the Egyptians who are on their tail are destroyed and They meet a group of people called the

Amalekites who take war to them immediately before they get to the before they get to Mount Sinai and The giving of the law and all that they're attacked by the

Amalekites who want to eradicate them So the Amalekites were a thorn in the side of the Israelites all along in the process

And so then you fast forward a few centuries to the life of King Saul. They've now come into the land they've conquered under Joshua, which we studied last summer and They're in the land and the

Amalekites are still Constantly bringing war to them and God tells

King Saul. He says it's time Your military power is strong take don't stop letting them bring the battle to you

It's time for you to go take the battle to them and eradicate them destroy them. It's time

Okay, they've been a thorn in your side all along But in the end King Saul Disobeys God's command and he saves the life of their king

Agag and some of the other people Okay, and he disobeys God and you can read all about that.

Like I said in 1st Samuel 15 But some then think that Haman was a literal descendant of King Agag Some like me would believe after after some study that the term

Agagite came to be a phrase a word that meant in essence

Anti -semitic so it means you are opposed to the Jews that's what an agagite meant even during the time that we're looking at here of Esther and Just to give you a little tidbit of information about that.

The word agagite is still a Hebrew word that is used today Jew Jews in Israel will occasionally refer to a particular

Palestinian as an agagite that's a phrase that is actually used in politics today so you get this notion that Jews still have this this notion of and still tie into this history and See that as kind of an anti -semitic phrase

So that's still going on. So Haman is raised up to a high standing So high that the king issues a command that all are to bow and pay homage to him when they come into his presence which is something that's somewhat humorous as you study and I Do a lot of study every week and as you understand the culture and the history of Persia Okay, it was quite common like like think about in Japanese culture or Chinese culture or even in Indian culture today

East Indian culture What do they do to some for somebody who is higher than them in standing?

They'll bow right bowing is pretty common in the east It was in that culture too So that deference to a boss to a superior to a grandfather to a grandmother was to bow to them

So it was not like it was just a cultural norm you get that But the king here commands people to bow to Haman There's a little bit of irony in that because it implies that the king did not have confidence

That everybody was going to naturally bow in the presence of Haman.

I'm gonna make a law that you have to because Some people were not eager to bow in the presence of Haman And I think there's some probably some reasons for that as we get to know

Haman in this text Because it was a custom the fact that the king has to command it implies that I already said that Haman's character is gonna unfold in this text as we're gonna see it unfold

It's going to become apparent that there might be some very strong reasons because of pride and arrogance on his part that I believe was actually there before he was raised up to high position

How many of you know that sometimes given responsibility sometimes pushes out of us things that were already in there to begin with that pride or arrogance or things like that can sometimes be

Accentuated by being elevated or lifted up It was already there to begin with the the raising up to the position does not cause it.

It just gives Gives vent to it or gives a way for it to get out of us

And I think that's what we're seeing in Haman's case I'm confident that there were many in the Empire who were not very pleased at Haman's promotion

Now we know from previous chapters that Mordecai was a servant in the king's gate and he was required therefore to bow before Haman but verse 2 states emphatically that Mordecai the

Jew Did not bow and did not pay homage to Haman Now we're not told explicitly you can look in the text and try to find

Why did he not bow go ahead and go to look down at the at those verses for just a second verses 2 & 3 See if you can see it.

Is there any reason given why he didn't bow? There isn't one there

There's no reason explicitly given but since this is going to be a turning point a pivot point in the entire book of Esther Because Mordecai standing here is the reason

All the Jews are going to be in jeopardy So the fact that he takes a strong stand is going to be the point a centerpiece of the book

Are you understand what I'm saying? As far as a pivot point he makes a stand and now all the Jews are going to be in jeopardy because of one man's

Decision to defy the king in regards to bowing before one of his servants or the prime minister in this case and also, we're gonna see later in the text because Mordecai says the reason he refuses to bow down is

Because he is a Jew. I think it is safe to say that Mordecai refuses to bow because of his

Jewish faith So I would make I would make a case from kind of Implicit in the text is that he refuses to bow because he is a

Jew Are you getting what I'm saying in that and that is a pivot point? He's making a stand here and taking a strong stand against Something because of his

Jewish faith and we're gonna see what that is here in a minute Now I don't think that Mordecai was ignorant to the potential

Problems of disobeying the king's command. He had been around the king for a while. What does he stand to lose?

by disobeying the king's command his head Okay, like I'm gonna you know,

I mean kings and tyrants and people like that are very impatient with Disobedience to their edicts and their rules and commands.

I don't think Xerxes was any different so I think Mordecai has full understanding of what this could cost him for disobeying and not bowing to Haman and for the for that reason,

I don't think that Mordecai refused out of some general stubbornness or His own arrogance like I deserve to be promoted and Haman now is promoted and I'm jealous and so therefore

I'm just gonna Not bow. I don't think that's the the sum total of what we've got going on here

I don't think he's risking his life out of selfishness or out of a bruised pride I believe that Haman accepted the promotion of the king and Believed that he deserved genuine worship

That Haman himself is claiming some semblance of deity and is saying look at me

I am the second in command of the this largest Empire on the face of the planet. I am a god and And he takes the king's edict a step further and says don't just bow to me worship

And that's what is going on here. Haman is accepting worship from others

So Mordecai takes a strong stand and that should lead us to consider where we're willing to take stands in our own culture

Where do we stand? At what point do we cut our losses and say we can no longer run in this direction anymore?

We can no longer run with this crowd anymore. We can no longer do these things anymore Because things have started to solidify into cut and dried black and white

Categories with this group of people with this group with this type of behavior. Are you getting what I'm saying? but the reality is that How many of you have been had a group of friends come to you or somebody come to you and say hey

You know what? I'm Friday night. We're going out to worship some statues Would you like to come along? Have any of you had that because I mean that would be weird

But I'd like to talk with you if you've had that happen Things are a little bit more muddy in our culture than that, aren't they?

I mean when it comes to morality and what we worship and what we idolize in Idolatry in our hearts, isn't it a little bit fuzzier than that and a little bit harder to grasp and get our it's kind of slippery

Isn't it? The sins that we face and the things that tempt us to worship it are just different and it's hard So like at what point am

I no longer enjoying baseball and I'm worshiping it Is that is that a hard and fast line that I can just draw for you this morning?

No, I can't but I can tell you this I sat with I don't know I was 8 ,000 people that were at the program yesterday.

Is that what the number that they gave us? We went to this thing called home plate yesterday We got to watch a Tigers game and then we got to hear players

Testimonies and one thing just struck me as I was sitting there and I recognize all sure I understand where we're coming from But bear with me on this illustration

We're sitting there and we're hearing these players share about the glory of a changed life through Jesus Christ now they face some pressures in their lifestyle and the things that they have to face and see from other players and being on the road and being away from their wives and All the temptations that come into that and all that and we're seeing these players and they're getting up and they're testifying in the glory of Jesus Christ and at times while they're sharing

I'm just looking out over the crowd and you know, there's some watch checking and You could hear a pin drop and I'm thinking to myself

You put a bat in one of those players hands and have them go yard and hit the ball 400 yards

And what does the crowd do? Stands and shouts and cheers and we're excited and we're and that happened later in the day

But what are they doing standing up and proclaiming the glories of salvation through our

Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and we Sit back on our hands And I was challenged in my heart.

I mean part of me I recognize if I had stood up and did what my heart was telling me to do everybody but it's been like what in the

World is going on to call security and get this guy out of here Do you see what I'm saying though at what point would we stand up and worship and in essence?

Isn't that kind of an act of worship when we stand up and cheer and shout at somebody? I mean, that's a pretty cool thing to see a home run at a key clinch time in a game, but Really, I mean, are you getting what

I'm saying here? So I'm not trying to convict you I'm not trying to tell you what you need to do But I am just not trying to say but I want to let the

Holy Spirit settle on these things and help you out on it At what point do

I cease to be just shopping and I am beginning to worship stuff

I've crossed a line into materialism. Are you getting what I'm saying at that? We need to we need to work through these things in our lives

And the thing is I like posing questions But my job here

Despite what many pastors would think and I think what many would even think my job is

I don't believe my position is primarily to tell you what to do. I don't believe a pastor's job is to tell you how to live

I believe a pastor's job is to lighten this text to bring a light to this and Then I get the privilege of tapping out and letting the

Holy Spirit take you from there and rustle you to the mat and pin you On where you need to be.

Are you get what I'm saying? I could come up with a list. I could come up with a half a dozen things right now that I think you struggle with Right, and then

Seven of you would go whoo. He didn't hit mine Are you getting what

I'm saying It's not my job to tell you how to live It's my job to bring light to the text and then let the

Spirit rest with you So I I come here early in the morning on Sundays and I walk around this place and I pray that God's Spirit would be present with us and would come down in your hearts as you hear the word as Light is brought to it and that you in turn change

Because the Spirit is telling you to change not because pastor Don is standing up here saying shop less

Watch less baseball I mean, where do I draw the line on things like that the line looks different for you than it does for me and let's

Think about this from another perspective you struggle with things. I don't and I struggle with things that you don't right?

I Can tell you honestly, I um I've never been tempted. I think to shop too much

So I'm doing pretty good on that one so I could pat myself on the back on that You know what it is, and I pray that the

Spirit deals with you in regards to idolatry What is it that you are elevating above him?

What is it that when push comes to shove you would let him off the table and take this to yourself?

What is it? Let let God's Spirit do business with you this morning on those issues

And so check this out Mordecai doesn't just take a stand against idolatry and the things that were being worshipped in that culture but he does so and takes a strong stand in the face of persistent and significant peer pressure

So all of his friends and co -workers in the gate are bowing before Haman when he walks in everybody that he knew

Everybody around him Haman walks in the door and they're prostrate on the floor, right? You see that and not only that but they're actually challenging him.

They're like dude. What is up? You're going to get in significant trouble Everyone bows because the king commanded it so you need to get down to Right, do you see that in the text?

verse 3 and They don't leave it alone. It actually says in verse 3 day after day.

This is persistent peer pressure to cave in But Mordecai remains strong and refuses to be dissuaded from his stand against worshipping a mere mortal man

So what would any good co -worker do in that situation? Tattle on you

Go to the boss and say hey, did you notice that Mordecai doesn't bow Haman when you're around?

That's exactly what they do Apparently in the flocks of adoring masses

Haman hasn't noticed yet that Mordecai doesn't bow in his presence somehow He's avoided that situation

Mordecai maybe just has tried to avoid him to some degree or something, but he hasn't he hasn't noticed it

And it's an interesting phrase in verse 4 that the other servants wanted to see whether or not

Mordecai's words would stand That's a kind of testing word Something about Mordecai telling them.

He was a Jew and his refusal to obey the king Tempted them to test his words

So they were like well, let's put this to a test if Mordecai Mordecai was basically throwing down a gauntlet of some type and saying

I'm challenging this by his behavior. He was saying so it's not gonna. It's it's gonna be okay

This leads me to believe that Mordecai likely told them that he had a hope in his God to protect him in this circumstance in this situation

I Believe that Mordecai's stand was similar to that of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego now when I say those three names

Raise your hand if you've heard of them before Shadrach Meshach and Abednego some of you haven't heard that in those names

These are three guys who were basically Friends of Mordecai's great -grandfather, so we're talking about a couple generations a few generations older than him

They were actually wrenched from their land and taken to Babylon under King Nebuchadnezzar They were the ones who were exiled now

Mordecai is kind of like the son of the son of the son who was Brought over here and Mordecai and Shadrach Meshach and Abednego We're told there's a 50 -foot statue that King Nebuchadnezzar set up and they said when the music plays

We're gonna have musicians all over and it's a big festival It's gonna be awesome and when the music plays we're just gonna make this kind of a fun time

Music plays bow to the statue and worship it. Let's be fun. Let's be cool And so everybody does that but Shadrach Meshach and Abednego say by no means we will not we will not bow to this golden Statue that the king has set up The king like that No, the king doesn't like it.

As a matter of fact, he says come into my presence Okay, you guys have some kind of misunderstanding here. Something hasn't quite registered with you

So, let me let me say it in front of everybody you three stand here for a second when the music plays

Okay, are we good so far? Music like let's give a little sample here. There's some music Okay, when the music plays just like that you bow down to the golden statue

Okay Capiche or If you just let's say for example, and of course you wouldn't refuse my command

But in the event that you might refuse We've got this furnace. Okay, and it needs some stoking and We're gonna throw your bodies in there.

Okay, you're gonna burn and that's not pleasant so let's just let's just get this over with music plays and this is what the

Three say this is what Shadrach Meshach and Abednego say to King Nebuchadnezzar.

Oh Nebuchadnezzar We have no need to answer You in this matter

What? like to a king over Like the probably the most powerful man on the face of the planet.

We don't even need to answer you about this. Whoa These guys are kind of taking a strong stand wouldn't you say if this be so that is if it's so that you are

Gonna throw us into a furnace our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace and He will deliver us out of your hand.

Oh King We have trust in that we believe that we believe that we're gonna be delivered in this case

We're taking a strong stand against idolatry. We believe that you that our God can he's able

We trust that he will but even if not Still quoting scripture here, but even if not be it known to you

Oh King that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up So let's just get this over with They take a strong stand and I think somehow

I can't help but put these people in real life and real perspective. I believe Mordecai knew this story

I believe Mordecai had interacted with this story That this had been passed down just a couple of generations and if you have a couple stories from your great -grandma

Great grandpa some of you probably still have great -grandparents alive. You were able to hear about those things

Right, so I believe that that happened by the way, the story ends awesome

Okay, because what ends up happening is he throws the three into the furnace and then the king goes wait a minute

They're walking around in there and he looks closer and he's like they're not just walking around in there

Talks to one of his guards. How many did we throw in there? Because I see four I see

Shadrach Meshach and Abednego and I see one like a son of man Standing in the midst of the fire with them who was standing there in the fire with them

Jesus Christ was standing there in the fire with them protecting. He's like, hey calls in. Hey you guys come out and he bows before Their God the one true

God. It's an awesome story And some of you see the VeggieTales version in your mind, but it's it's more awesome if you just read it in Scripture I just recommend that like if you if all you know is the

VeggieTales version get in here and check this out So the servants want to see if Mordecai's God will indeed deliver him they're ready for a show, you know

They probably were somewhat aware of the circumstances as well and they're like, well, this will be cool to see this showdown

So they deliver the information to Haman and once Haman notices That Mordecai disobeys he is filled with fury.

He is himself on fire with rage You see I'm convinced that Haman readily accepted the worship of others

He was a powerful and arrogant man who was raised up to a very high position So Scripture actually warns of high position

I'm convinced that it takes a lot of strength and humility to be raised up to a high position and remain a servant.

I Venture to say that any level of leadership has the potential to poison our souls with imbalanced thinking about ourselves

Do you agree with that any level? It doesn't matter if you're raised up to the chairman of the

PTA Okay, any Elevation whatsoever has the potential to poison us into thinking imbalanced incorrect thoughts about ourselves

Especially in our culture in our day and age, isn't it the American way to claw your way to the top?

Isn't that what almost kind of defines the American spirit? Regardless of who you leave in your wake regardless of who you have to step on to get up to the next rung

But at what cost? Do we strive for high position? remember that the story began with a promotion go back at verse 1 a

Promotion and it quickly turns into an intro an intensely brutal abuse of power very quickly it turns

But Haman it says in the text considered it beneath his high standing to just deal with Mordecai like why would

I stoop down to just deal with one individual that's well beneath my Standing so in his arrogance.

He considers this affront requires more more dramatic measure because they've offended me So this is gonna.

This isn't just going to be dealing with Mordecai So Haman seeks his vengeance on Mordecai's people his entire race, and he sets his sight on the eradication of the entire

Jewish race So Mordecai, I'm sorry Haman and his people cast the purr that is the

Persian word for lot And so that's why you actually see it in parentheses translated in the in the old text

In the Hebrew text it actually has the the Persian word and so then they translated that into Hebrew for us, but the word purr is for lot a system of a way of casting we tend to think of dice

But what they're trying to do is determine The day and the month that this eradication is going to take place and what day are we going to commit genocide well here?

let's just roll some dice and see and so they set it out day by day month by month and Eventually land on the 13th day of the 12th month now you have to go down to verse 13 to find the whole date

Mentioned there, but in verse 7 you actually at least get the month of Adar there So this the date is set and determined and now

Haman seeks to give his sales pitch to the king He's gonna go to the king and say I got a plan here and try to sell this whole thing on him

How would you go to a king and tell him I want to eradicate a portion of your entire population? How would you set about doing that as the prime minister?

Well, he shows us how Haman tells some half -truths some truths and some lies to get his way

First he tells the king he says there is a people scattered throughout the Persian Empire true or false

True okay, so there's Jews. There's this people group, and they're scattered throughout, but then he uses another word

That sounds like it's the same as scattered But it's actually a different Hebrew word that has a significant meaning in the text

It says disperse now disperse scattered sound like the same to you Think that the translators could have maybe did a little bit of better job on that the word that's used for disperse is actually a word that means

Unintegrated it's a loaded word. It's actually a loaded word with a negative connotation.

They don't fit real well They're unintegrated. They don't get along with your people too.

Well. They're in essence kind of saying they're a little backwards He starts off saying Unintegrated they don't quite connect with others

You getting what he's getting at here. He's starting to flavor this argument a little bit They're on an unintegrated

Which is a half truth because some of them weren't some of them were as a matter of fact some of them were so well integrated

That one of them is the Queen over the entire Empire Pretty well integrated.

I think so He says their laws are different and distinct Which if that's true then that's a good thing right as a

Jew Shouldn't they stand out and stand apart according to Old Testament law if they're following their God They're going to be living a distinctive lifestyle

That's not that's not a bad thing But the wholesale comment that they do not keep the king's law is a generalization from one interaction with one person and if you think about this to implicate an entire people group based on interacting with one individual is

Evil Would you agree with that you meet one person and you generalize about all of them that is inappropriate behavior and That's exactly what's happening here

After this massive setup he appeals to the king's best interest flattering him buttering him up and basically saying

It doesn't even profit you king. It's not even to your benefit. You know really It's not good for you to entertain these people any longer doesn't really profit profit you to tolerate them any longer

So I picture the king at this point asking and so what do you propose? I do Haman. You know you bringing this to me

It's getting late in the workday, and I want to go have some fun as a king always does and so what do you want to do about this and Haman says oh he had a ready reply.

Well. Why don't we just destroy him? Why don't we just get rid of them and by the way King don't worry about it? I'll cover the cost

Here's 300 tons of silver To accomplish it when you see the number there in talents.

It's 300 tons of silver Haman we finally find out is a fairly wealthy guy 300 tons of silver was about 60 % by some historians estimates of the entire

Domestic product of the the nation of the Empire of Persia at the time

He's an extremely wealthy individual and not only that but what does that show about his animosity towards the

Jews at this point? He's willing to to part with some significant cash to Get rid of them

Well, I think he saw I think he got the king's attention Like something about 300 tons of silver all of a sudden the king's like wait a minute.

What were we talking about again got me? So the king without any apparent further questions

Gives Haman a signet ring 300 tons of silver here you go. Here's my signet ring the thing that Distinguishes me from all others the thing that it gives my royal decree and my royal signature you now can sign

Documents for me you can sign laws for me you have the authority of the king in your hand with the signet ring

It's a it's a ring that was used to impress wax at the end of a document or to seal a document that made it legal so you'd melt the wax drip it onto the onto the seal or the fold between two pieces of paper and then press it

In and it had a distinct marking That's a signet ring and it says the king signed this the king

Sealed this document and he has the power of the king in his hands and not only that But the king actually gives him back the cash as well and gives him the people he basically sells in Our text an entire segment of his population to death

He sells them And he says you can take the 300 tons of silver you can use whatever balance you want to Accomplish this the rest are gonna go back in the king's coffers at the end is what's implied

But whatever amount of that is necessary to accomplish your goals Have at it and you can have the people too

And there's there's a lesson in this phrase in verse 11 as it seems go out Haman and do as it seems good to you

Do you see that in the text look down at the verse for just a second in verse 11? Do you see that there go out and do as it seems good to you?

Whenever people are encouraged to do what seems good to them We get into trouble Because how many of you know that what seems good to me might be different than what seems good to you which might seem?

Good might see it might be different, but seem good to somebody else. Are you getting what I'm saying? We aren't kind of a

Vacillating wavy ground when we suggest that you do what is good to you. Is that a dangerous place to be?

It is Scripture never tells us to do what seems good. It tells us to do what is

Good How do we know what is good Glad you asked

Right here. This is how we know what is good Get in here dig in this figure this out study this to know what

God has told us is good and there is a lifetime worth of Things in here about relationship and by the way when

I talk about what is good What is good is a relationship with God that leads and drives us towards a desire to do good to others

Which is found in here the basis of this The basic goodness found in here is that God loves us and not only does he love us but he loves us so much that he sent his son to die on the cross to Reconcile us to bring us back into relationship with him that we then can live according to his

Regulations because he loves us. Do you see the difference? I'm not calling you to dig through here to find a bunch of laws and rules and checklists for you to accomplish

I'm calling you to a relationship. That is what is good in this text Relationship first and then that relationship out of that relationship and that love for God through Jesus Christ and his

Holy Spirit living in us That's when we go out and do good. Are you hearing me? Is that making sense?

That's really key it's not just Trying to find one good statement in here and then just go do that the fact of the matter is what seems good to humans is a huge range of things that includes giving to the poor and Genocide Like somebody thought that genocide was good

Okay, he tells Haman to go do what seems good and what is Haman do goes out and makes an edict of genocide against an entire people group

It's a pretty broad spectrum that we have to choose from in what seems good Haman immediately

Initiates his plan to do what seems good to him and he summons scribes to begin to record his dictation of an edict a formal

Persian law that is sealed with the signet ring of the king Xerxes himself and this edict allows for the legal genocide of an entire of the entire

Jewish race It allows Persians to destroy Kill and in case those two words didn't do it for you annihilate, you know, pick your verb.

Okay, they're all in there Destroy kill and annihilate like he wanted to die He wanted to you know cross all of his

T's and dot all of his eyes and make sure that everybody understood We want these people eradicated done with and not just the men

But why don't we go ahead and just in this edict as long as we're writing Why don't we spell it out clearly men women children old and young?

Okay, let's just cover all the bases and let's do this on one specific day the 13th day of the 12th month

Everybody just kind of a festival of genocide kill all your Jewish neighbors. It'll be fun. It'll be good Everybody everybody, okay

Yeah, that was shocking when I said that so I mean I get that okay And then he sends that out by a letter form to all of the entire

Empire in various languages because the Empire was so big and so broad that it didn't even have one common language and it had to be translated

And so you might be wondering what's that? What's the motivation for the average Persian to slaughter their Jewish neighbor?

Like I mean, you know boy I really hope that if somebody just kind of up and said anybody of Polish descent we're gonna slaughter them on a certain day

I hope the DeWitt's wouldn't be knocking on my door on that day going with a knife or something You know, it's like I'm 50 %

Polish just in case you wanted and the jokes can come later after the sermon, but um Do you see what

I'm saying? I mean I kind of hope that people who I have had a relationship with and people I bought stuff from the market with and stuff like That aren't gonna be just like eager to slay me in a moment's notice, right?

Is anybody with me on that besides Dave? Okay, four of you for the others of you and the rest are like thinking my

I don't know I might be motivated to take out my neighbor I'll be praying for you But What motivated them what would motivate the average

Persian to even make that to bring this into fruition Well, I think part of it is the freedom in the edict to plunder the goods of the

Jews Who they kill? You're free to kill them and then take their stuff and their land and their property and their farms and their cattle and their gold

And their silver and everything that they own in their jewelry. It's all yours if you kill them Now hopefully that wouldn't be a huge motivation for you or me

But if you lived in a society that was literally literally hand -to -mouth

No hope whatsoever of getting a higher education moving ahead getting anywhere

This could start to make some sense to some people, right? Getting what

I'm saying It might have been appealing to many in the common society to say, okay.

Well On that day will be lying in wait for Jews and taking their stuff getting them

The couriers went out rapidly carrying the king's command throughout Haman using the the the famed

Postal service the Persians with the first postal service an amazing thing and the text ends with a twist of irony

The text ends with Haman and the king knocking off work. It's been a rough day at work ruling the world Kicking back knocking back a cold one

Celebrating a hard day's work ruling the world while this the capital city of Seuss. It says is thrown into Confusion It's just chaos out on the streets and they're in drinking together celebrating see any anybody see any irony in that That's kind of the nature of what it means to have human kings in some sense

I'm sure that the confusion was because many in Sousa had friends who were Jews but I imagine that the significant confusion the prominent issue of confusion on the streets of Sousa would be

Recognizing that you could be next Can you imagine living in a society where an edict is posted all around the land that we're gonna eradicate a portion of your neighborhood?

How many of you might just kind of take the next logical step and go what keeps my people from being next?

Do you see what I'm saying? I Think that there was significant confusion just over that so that one need not love

Jews in Sousa during this time to be in confusion over this edict.

Are you getting what I'm saying? So in our text one man takes a stand and because of Haman's arrogant dark and wicked heart that stand

Ultimately becomes a cause for genocide The Jews are in genuine peril when we come to the end of our text and on the scope of Scripture The promises of God are on the razor's edge

It appears as though they're gonna fall off into darkness and that is real

Darkness for the lives of those who are living during that era in that time. The circumstances are dire

And so then let me apply that to us by pointing out that this darkness is a reality for all of us in our spiritual state

When the sin and corruption of our own heart is revealed and we actually come face to face with who we have been and who we are

Before God before a holy and righteous God When that sin is revealed we find ourselves in an equally hopeless and dark and dire and desperate situation

Anybody agree with me on that? Has anybody been to the edge and looked over at your own character and your own heart and said

I am wicked I am evil in here. Am I alone in that?

Have we done that? I know you don't want to raise your hands. I get that Okay, one one hand, thank you

But it's true and it's reality and whether we're willing to admit it or not We are in a hopeless and desperate situation without God.

We cannot fix our broken lives But it is in that state of fear and hopelessness that God has worked to save us

It is in the midst of that darkness when we were enemies of God He sent his son to die for us for his enemies for sinners who had transgressed his righteous law

Who pushed him away every time that he wanted to come close for relationship with us. We Pushed him away and said no, we don't want that And he is the one who has set in motion a plan to save even his enemies his wicked and evil people

Unless we recognize our condition as utter of utter sinfulness The concept of salvation makes really no sense.

Like like I think we need to think in terms of this question When people talk about salvation or being saved the question logically flows from that statement saved from What?

Right, isn't that a lot? Is that a logical question? Like if somebody talks about being saved it's like where you saved like your ship went under and a rescue boat came and got you or saved from the ocean saved from Peril saved from falling saved from say from what?

But to start with we're saved from ourselves Have any of you experienced that in your own life where you can't correct your own behavior?

You do things you don't want to do and it's like I don't want to do this, but I keep doing it We need to be saved from ourselves primarily

Saved from sin and its effects saved from the just and reasonable wrath of God towards sin

We have sin in our hearts and we are we are reasonably in his crosshairs in regard to our sinfulness so saved from his reasonable and just wrath saved from the power of evil and the plots and plans of Satan that we even see some of in this text against Esther's people against Mordecai's people

Saved from the darkness into light saved from death to life

Although our text ends in darkness and what seems to be hopelessness God is going to prove himself mighty to save both in the text of Esther but also on the cross

There on the cross Jesus took our punishment for sins He stood in the place of our punishment and without that cross we cannot be made whole we cannot be forgiven aside from the cross

Somebody proclaims to you the gospel and or says that they're proclaiming to you the good news and there is no cross in the middle

Of it. They have not shared good news yet Because there is no other religion

There is no other way given on the face of the planet by which our sins can be dealt with in the face of a holy

God it is that our sins have been punished. That is our hope is

That our sins have been punished on the cross and therefore we can be credited the righteousness of Christ An amazing transfer that makes just it's it boggles my mind that anybody would not embrace that Transfer you mean you mean to tell me

God from Scripture that what you're saying is I can take my sin riddled life my my crusty messed up life and lay it at the foot of the cross and You will credit to my account the righteousness of Jesus Christ himself

Anybody think that sounds like good news? Oh I I just stand in awe that that is the reality in my life.

I don't deserve that. I didn't do anything to get that God offers that freely to anybody who would receive it

It's a free offer The cross however was the darkest moment in history

Anybody want and anybody want to agree with that? The cross is the darkest moment in history as Jesus hung lifeless on the cross all hope seemed lost

What happened three days later God broke in with resurrection and as the as the

Sun dawned that first Easter Sunday The light of God shone into the darkest of circumstances and he raised by his power his own son whom he loves

And so as we pass out some juice and crackers to join together in communion Take it but take it only if you believe that Jesus is the risen

King And you have asked him to save you and I want to say that when I when

I say it's offered It's offered freely to those who would take it and how do you take it?

You take it by acknowledging that Jesus is King by saying you are Lord and I need you to save me

It's those two steps. It's in acknowledging something to be true about Jesus Christ that he is the rightful

King and master and then saying that extra step Would you save me

Would you save me doing something with that? I need you If you're here this morning, and you have not done that you haven't you haven't

Maybe maybe you've got part of it Maybe you've kind of studied Jesus a little bit and you're kind of trying to figure him out and you're like, okay

I recognize he's really important and God had a special hand in his life, but you haven't taken that step to say

I believe you And I want to ask you to save me maybe today as we're passing out the juice and the crackers you might at this point say

Jesus save me If you do that this morning, I'd like you to come and talk with me afterwards please come and talk with me or Zach or Rob or Bill after the service and let us know but as we come to communion if you are in that position then rejoice and contemplate and consider the

Beautiful the beauty of the light that breaks into the darkness Let's pray

Father I thank you That even in this even in this dark passage, we're talking about things like genocide and some really dire circumstances and where your promises seem to be about to falter and Yet in the midst of that desperate and dire circumstance

We recognize that we are about to experience you breaking into this text of Esther and father we

Rejoice because many of us here in this room are recipients of your breaking into our darkness And so father as those are here who have given their lives to you

I ask that you would break in even further by your spirit and convict in ways that I can't I can't even point out people's sins

Accurately and clearly but you can and you can point to things that were idolizing above you

But father if there are any here who have not Asked you to save them and recognize their need

I ask that you would move in their hearts to understand that and to embrace the cross of Jesus Christ and to be grateful and thankful Father as we take this

Juice that reminds us of the blood of Jesus that was shed for us May we contemplate and consider that it washes our sins away as we take the bread and we consider your body

That was broken for us. Our bodies deserve to be broken and eternally punished, but you took that on your son for us

Father as we enter into this time I ask that you would be honored and glorified and then go with us throughout the week Convicting us walking with us and bringing us deeper into a relationship with our