Esther 9:20-10:3 Licensed to Party

The Hidden Providence of God in Esther

Really, all that we have left in the book of Esther is just kind of the part that wraps things up. So, if you want to open your Bibles, please, to Esther, Chapter 9, we'll be looking at verses 20 all the way through the end of Chapter 10, which, if you notice, Chapter 10 is kind of a funny chapter.

There's only three verses in it, so it's a little bit shorter. Originally, I was thinking we were going to take two more weeks in Esther, and we're not because it was just, it's just these wrapping up parts here that are pretty easy to cover in one week.

But, I want to point out again at the start, before we come to worship and song this morning, that God has not graced us at all in the book of Esther with His personal appearance. His presence has not been there in word, in name, at all.

And I mention this multiple times, that just like our lives, we often see God work through our circumstances, through the behind-the-scenes things. How many of you, like I've said many times, you can look back on your life, and you can see the hand of God working in that thing in the past, that maybe in the circumstances when you were actually there, walking in it, you didn't know if He was there or not, and you might have been questioning His presence.

Have any of you experienced that, where you're just kind of like, I don't know where you're at? And then, hindsight's 20 -20, right? You look back and you go, oh, I get it now, I see you. And I think a lot of that is, the reason God isn't mentioned in the book of Esther is for that purpose.

Because we actually get to experience the book of Esther like the people who lived during that time, like Esther felt, like Mordecai felt, like the king felt. They didn't really know how God was tying into all of these things, and yet, is it clear when you read the book of Esther that God is present in it?

That He's working in all of these circumstances, these coincidences, if you will? He is there, and He's working. And He's not just working, but He's working behind the scenes to save His people from a desperate, very, very desperate situation.

Last week, we saw the final deliverance of the Jews from the Edict of Haman that was for their destruction. But that deliverance came as what amounted to a really gruesome slaughter of all of those who dared to attack the Jews.

We saw 75 ,000 people were slaughtered in the Empire of Persia in our text last week. And this week, our text explains the holiday celebration that was instituted to remember the deliverance of the Jews there in Persia, a celebration that still goes on today among Jews.

And the reality is, when we think about celebrating things, maybe some of you have encountered this, but there is a brand of Christianity that is out there that ultimately elevates and raises us to be somber, that says that the ideal of the Christian life is to kind of have a little bit of a downturn on the edges of your mouth, to be serious all the time.

Have any of you encountered that brand of Christianity that is constantly driving you towards seriousness and gravity and weight? And that would be fine if that's what Jesus modeled for us, if that's how Jesus acted, if that's what He wanted of us.

But I'm convinced that isn't what He wants. You see, we serve a God who has designated times of celebration, who has literally encouraged us, even in the Old Testament, mandated His people to celebrate.

He's the one who invented joy. Did you know this? He's the one who invented humor, okay? So that's okay. And for those who come into His kingdom through His Son, He is leading us to a new earth where there will be no pain, there will be no suffering, where joy and delight and rest in full peace will be ours forever and ever and ever.

That's God. That's the God that we serve. So hopefully you're already there. Esther chapter 9 verse 20, that's page 358 in the Bible that's in the seat back in front of you. So if you take that Bible out, it's page 358, easy to find.

And if you're here with us this morning and you don't own a copy of the Bible, please take that one with you. We strongly desire for everybody to have a copy of the word of God, but follow along. Let's jump into Esther chapter 9 verses 20 through the end of the book.

And Mordecai recorded these things and sent letters to all the Jews who were in the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, obliging them to keep the 14th day of the month of Adar and also the 15th day of the same year by year, as the days on which the Jews got relief from their enemies and as the month that had been turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday, that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, days for sending gifts of food to one another and gifts to the poor.

So the Jews accepted what they had started to do and what Mordecai had written to them. For Haman the Agagite, the son of Hamedatha, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them and had cast purr, that is cast lots to crush and to destroy them.

But when it came before the king, he gave orders in writing that his evil plan that he had devised against the Jews should return on his own head and that he and his son should be hanged on the gallows.

Therefore they called these days Purim, after the term purr. Therefore because of all that is written in this letter and of what they had faced in this matter and of what had happened to them, the Jews firmly obligated themselves and their offspring and all who joined them, that without fail they would keep these two days according to what was written and at the time appointed every year, that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation in every clan, province and city, and that these days of Purim should never fall into disuse among the Jews, nor should the commemoration of these days cease among their descendants.

Then Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew gave full written authority confirming this second letter about Purim. Letters were sent to all the Jews, to the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Asurus, in words of peace and truth, that these days of Purim should be observed at their appointed seasons as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther obligated them, and as they obligated themselves and their offspring with regard to their fasts and their lamenting.

The command of Queen Esther confirmed these practices of Purim and it was recorded in writing. King Asurus imposed tax on the land and on the coastlands of the sea and all the acts of his power and might and the full account of the high honor of Mordecai to which the king advanced him.

Are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Medea and Persia? For Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to King Asurus and he was great among the Jews and popular with the multitude of his brothers, for he sought the welfare of his people and spoke peace to all his people.

Purim and the Meaning of Holy Days

Let's pray. Father, I thank you that you are a God who encourages us to celebrate the great things that you have done. Father, you are not a God who longs for us to have long faces and sour demeanor, but God you are a God of joy who has done such amazing and awesome things that there should be a swing in our step this week.

We have so much to celebrate and even as we think about communion and the various celebrations that you give us in Father's Day and different days throughout the year to remember different things. Father, I ask that we would be a people that would constantly be remembering you and that as we sing these songs they would be out of gratitude and remembrance and genuine thought in our mind about the great and awesome gifts that you have given us.

Most importantly salvation through Jesus Christ and it's in his name that we pray. Amen. Amen. You can be seated. Thanks a lot to the band for leading us. Remember that I know we just took a break, but you can get more coffee or doughnuts or juice.

Bathrooms are back here if you need those at any time during the message. But my heart's desire is that we're able to focus on God's word this week with that open in front of you to Esther chapter 9, the end through chapter 10 there that we read earlier.

But just keep that open on your lap so that we can kind of reference that as we go through. But just to remind you from the get-go, Mordecai, who is one of our main characters in our text really, it's Mordecai and Esther.

The book is named after Esther, but as I've said, scholars kind of bounce back and forth over who is the main character and it really is a shared position. Both Esther and Mordecai serve greatly in this process of the redemption of the Jews and their salvation from the edict of Haman.

But Mordecai was a scribe at heart and so we get right here in verse 20, and Mordecai recorded these things. Remember, he was raised to royalty last week. He doesn't have to record anything anymore. But he's a scribe at heart so we have him recording stuff.

And he's recording the events of the deliverance of the Jews and sending out the details throughout this vast empire of Persia. And talking to them about the results of that day. Now if you think about it, if you lived in the outskirts, you don't really know what's going on now.

The people in Susa are getting reports of what's happened all throughout the empire in that 75 ,000 were destroyed and that the Jews have basically been delivered and vindicated and all of that stuff is going on.

But Mordecai is actually recording these events and then sending that information out through couriers through the Persian postal system to get information out to the rest of the Jews that this has happened.

And he writes a new edict that the Jews are now obligated to celebrate on the 14th and 15th of Adar every year as the day of deliverance from their enemies. An independence day if you will, a day of salvation, a day where they have been vindicated so to speak.

And verse 22 is a key to explaining what the nature is of that celebration. What is it that they're celebrating? The heart of the holiday is that their sorrow has been turned to gladness and their mourning was turned into celebration or their mourning was turned into a holiday.

And so they are required to feast and celebrate. Not too shabby command, right? Like a lot of times our minds gravitate towards God being kind of like the killjoy. I mean have any of you kind of been there at a place in your life where it just seems like at every turn God has a rule for you?

God has a law for you to hedge you in and keep you from having any fun? But here we actually have God mandating a celebration, a feast. And even a couple of specifics about the celebration are given. They are to feast, but they are also in the text to give gifts to one another, to basically provide meals for each other and in the end to even include, make sure, and I love it that the edict includes this, to make sure that they include the poor in this as well.

It's a great thing that the poor are included in this celebration so that all might rejoice, so that all might celebrate. How many of you know that if you're commanded to have a feast and you're having a hard time putting food on the table, that could put you under some duress, right?

And so you're just a share. It's like this big Jewish celebration where everybody shares with one another. And I'm really convinced that every holiday and every celebration has a heart or a core of significance.

It started with a meaning, right? It started with a purpose. Are you with me on that? There's a core kernel of something to do with our hearts that's engaged in every holiday that we celebrate. I just saw some things.

I didn't put it up here because I saw it on people's Facebooks and it didn't seem to be appropriate to necessarily share somebody's Facebook on the cover here. But there were some pictures that were going around Memorial Day.

Some of you who are on Facebook maybe saw this, but there was one that was really powerful to me. It was a picture of a young woman who was laid out on a grave of a soldier. And it was obvious that that was her husband.

And the caption underneath it said, lest we think that Memorial Day is a national barbecue. Did any of you see anything, any of those kinds that were kind of going around? It was really powerful to me when I saw that and it reminded me, it served a purpose of drawing me back to what's Memorial Day about?

Is it about getting together with family and having a barbecue or is it about remembering those who laid down their lives that we have freedoms? And how many of our minds turn to those kinds of thoughts about what is this day for versus just kind of doing our thing for the day.

And so that was powerful to me to think about what's the kernel of Memorial Day. Of course, we can get down to other holidays that we celebrate, right? Christmas and Easter, where to be quite honest, in our culture, the heart or the purpose are almost ripped out of those in our common culture.

Would you agree with that? Like the point, the meaning of Christmas, the point, the meaning of Easter. Now on the flip side of that, we might celebrate the fact that the heart, the core, the essence of Halloween has been ripped out, right?

The main purpose of that, do we really celebrate what Halloween was intended to actually mean in the first place? Do some research on that on your own if you want to get down to how did that thing start.

It can be kind of rough. So that's one holiday. I'm kind of glad we don't celebrate the heart of it. We get caught up in the candy and the trick-or-treating and all that stuff and that's a totally different thing.

But my point in all this is not to tell you what to celebrate or not to celebrate. This would be a great time to launch into don't do Halloween or do Halloween or whatever. That's not the point. I'll leave that up to you, okay?

The point is to say that we recognize this concept of having holy days. That's where we get the word holiday from. A holy day, holy is a word that's often misunderstood because it often, in our minds, we confuse holiness and righteousness.

So we think holy means righteous or perfect. Well, holy means technically, in Hebrew, it means set apart, distinct, different. One of my theology professors said that his mom growing up had a holy pair of scissors.

And if he was caught cutting something other than cloth with those scissors, he was going to be disciplined, okay? So he knew that there was a holy set of scissors in his family and he used that as a great illustration that stuck with me of what it means for something to be holy.

It means set apart. And we have days that are set apart, like today, a day to honor fathers. We have a day set aside to honor mothers. Some cool stuff in our culture, but we know what it means. And I would dare say that the majority of our holidays, if you think about this, the majority of them are set for the purpose of remembering something.

Isn't that really the point? The point, and what it really points to, is a common flaw in humanity, right? That we need things to remind us, because what is one of our biggest problems? Forgetfulness.

So that's why we have holy days, that's why we have holidays, days set aside to bring our attention to where it needs to be, to things that are maybe a little bit more important than other days, maybe just to raise them up.

Not that we shouldn't be thinking about the cross of Christ, don't only think about that on Good Friday or on Easter, should we be thinking about that throughout the year? Absolutely. Should we be honoring fathers throughout the year?

Should we be honoring mothers? Should we be remembering those who laid down their lives that we might have freedom throughout the year? Absolutely. But we take and set aside these days with intention, and that's what the Jews were doing here.

And so it is the purpose of Purim, this holiday that they're going to name Purim, that the Jews are to remember the deliverance of the Jewish race. And the Jews accepted, it says in the text, Mordecai's command to carry out what they had already begun.

It's possible that he writes this a couple of years down the road, and they've already started to institute this, and he's just basically saying, let's make this official. Let's get this done. There's nothing like ruining a good celebration by making it required.

Not really, because I mean, if we really think about it, how many of you reject and kind of balk at the notion of having some time off around Christmas? We actually like that, don't we? I mean, there's kind of some good things there, so we don't really resist.

Some rules are good, right? We like them. Like if somebody tells you you have to celebrate, okay, cool. Verses 24 through 26 explain the reasons why the new, really for the name of the celebration is Purim.

And what we get in verses 24 through 25 is a very brief summary of the entire book. And it's very brief, it's only two verses. And it is so simplified that if you read it, it may sound inaccurate, because we know a lot more detail than what's given in these two verses.

And not only that, but if you look down at verses 24 and 25, it's going to give the king, particularly verse 25, gives the king a lot more credit than he deserves. Like this is what it says about King Xerxes, but when it came time before, when it came before the edict, came before the king, he gave orders in writing that this evil plan that he had devised, Haman had devised, against the Jews, should return on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.

Is that how it went down? Those of you who have been here through the book of Esther, was the king really that involved? Was he that direct? And wasn't he kind of implicated in this? Didn't he sign Haman's edict into law, basically gave him the signet ring and let him have free reign?

So does anybody kind of struggle with this? What's going on here? Why so much credit? So it basically goes through and it says Haman plotted to destroy the Jews, and he cast a lot to determine the day on which they were to be crushed and destroyed.

But the king here, if you think about this, it was very common in ancient documents to boost the king's involvement in writing. Think about this. If you live under a king, a tyrant if you will, you're going to make him look as good as you can as a scribe.

That kind of preserves your life and keeps you going a little bit. So it was very common for ancient documents to do that, and it's likely that what we're seeing in verses 24 through 25 are taken as quotations from the actual document that went throughout Persia.

And so it's wise that Mordecai gives the king credit for those things that the king actually had a much more passive role in. Are you getting that? Does that make sense? So why is the king elevated to such a level in these two verses?

Because in reality, and by the way, if you read it just directly, nothing that Mordecai says in there is false. He had been given the signet ring with the power of the king and what he said, the king said, right?

And so when he issued these edicts, when Mordecai issued the counter edict to Haman's, was the king involved in that? Technically yes. He used his signet ring. The king signed that document, if you will.

And so it was pretty clear. But the name of the celebration, Purim, is given in verse 26, and it's a Persian word for lots. Now the singular is pur, and the plural is purim, and it's really kind of like the word for dice.

Now the way that lots were cast are maybe a little bit different, and some of you have heard me explain this before, but bear with me. A clay jar with some rocks or some stones with engraved words in them, like if you were trying to figure out what month of the year and you were trying to seek the god's direction for what month of the year they wanted you to do something, you would put in 12 little clay stones, flat little tablets, with the name of each month in the jar.

You would swirl the jar around until the first one flew out. The first one to fly out is the one that the gods have chosen. That's what it meant to cast lots. Now I'll use the word dice just because that's what we use, that's what we would use kind of in our culture, like as a chance cube or something like that.

But when it really comes down to it, that's the way that lots worked. So the first one to swirl out of the jar was the one that was selected. So you'll hear phrases like in the Proverbs where they'll talk about the lot being cast in the lap.

Well, it's the first one to come out and land on your lap, that's the one that is going to be used. Does that make sense? So you guys are kind of getting that, that's what it meant to cast lots. So I think the Jews had a pretty good sense of humor in the way that they named this holiday.

With all its twists and turns, really the book itself clearly highlights that God is in control of even the mundane things of life to get his will done. Even things like the casting of lots he's in charge of.

Somebody once said, a coincidence is a miracle in which God wishes to remain anonymous. If you're taking notes and you want to write that down, that's not original to me, but a coincidence is a miracle in which God wishes to remain anonymous.

And the name Purim highlights that God is in control even of the role of the dice. They could have named the celebration Providence, a little bit more of a religious sounding word, and it would have really meant the same thing.

But instead they humorously named it dice because this was the instrument that decided their day of deliverance. Ironically, the day that Haman thought was going to be the day of their destruction, the tables were turned and it became the day of their deliverance.

And I cannot help but include a quote from Proverbs 16 .33, if you're taking notes you can jot that reference down, you don't need to turn over there, it's short. Proverbs 16 .33 says, the lot is cast into the lap, but it's every decision is from the Lord.

I think that probably the Jews had that kind of in mind when they're calling the celebration Purim, they're kind of thinking, God's in charge of this thing, God's the one who's doing this. Now verses 27 -28 poured on thick, it just kind of gets repetitive, that the Jews are to never neglect this celebration, they are to constantly keep it year after year.

So listen to some of these terms, some of the phrases that you hear in these two verses, they firmly obligated themselves, they firmly obligated their offspring, they are to keep it without fail, they are to keep it every year, they are to keep it in every generation, in every clan, in every province, they are to never cease, are you getting the point?

This is just really poured on thick that they are to just make sure that they keep this and sustain this. And why pour it on so thick? Because forgetfulness is our greatest problem, it's one of my greatest failures, and I'm sure in all honesty, if you're honest with me, it's one of your greatest failures too, that you can leave this place and go out from this Sunday and forget God throughout the rest of the week, and then, oh wait, it's Sunday, I gotta get back to church and get my God fix, and then for like an hour you're here and you're engaged, and then we go off and kind of tank for the rest of the week.

Anybody relate to that? I'm telling you honestly, that's something I can easily do, as a matter of fact, I've said this kind of jokingly, tongue in cheek, but I genuinely mean it in one sense, I think that God calls some people to be pastors because he knows we would tank worse throughout the week, so he wants to make sure we have to stay in the word throughout the rest of the week so that we're actually engaging it and wrestling with it.

Isn't that right, Kyle? No, no, isn't that right, Kyle? Yeah, see, okay, thanks, thank you for that, we'll talk later. So I'm convinced that they pour it on thick because not only do we forget, but we also have a tendency to slide away from traditions, I mean, it depends on your personality, right?

Like how many of you would say you tend towards being a traditional individual, you like traditions, you like routine, you like kind of a handful of you, how many of you would say, no way, I am not a traditional person, I just kind of like to just go with the flow, and I'm not, those things are so rigid, and I would kind of lean towards that second one, and I noticed my wife raised her hand during the first, she's a lot more traditional, and I'm not, so it's kind of, we balance each other out with that, and I'm sure you can see that in some of your relationships as well, but that tendency to forget these things.

You see, when God blesses me, I'm excited, and I'm enthusiastic, and some of you can think back to when you first came to faith in Christ, and everything was new and fresh, and enthusiastic, and exciting, and wow, this is amazing, and then what happens over time is that fire kind of tends to get a little bit colder, and it starts to kind of flicker a little bit, and over time, we can become less and less enthusiastic, and less and less excited about these things, and the excitement wears off, and we tend to forget God throughout our day, and until we need Him for something, right, until something comes up, and we need some help, but forgetfulness, I believe, is the biggest hindrance to my relationship with God.

How many of you sitting out here can think of something amazing and joyful that God has done for you? Raise your hand if you can think of something amazing that God has done. How many of you would admit that you struggle to remember that thing that caused you to just raise your hand when your alarm goes off on Monday morning, or when your car won't start, or worse yet, when your boss calls you into the office and says, you're just not needed around here anymore, or when the medical test comes back bad, or when some of these serious, grave things happen, do we remember the blessings that God has given us in those times?

I think it's hard. We so quickly forget the past goodness of God, I stub my toe, and every good thing that God has ever done for me is gone for five minutes. You know what I'm saying? So to wrap up our tour through the text, Esther confirms this new edict with a follow-up letter to the Jews, giving her royal stamp of approval on the celebration.

We're basically seeing two letters that are going to go out, one from Mordecai, and then one from Esther, and so Mordecai bound them to the celebration, obligated them to it, Esther confirmed it, and then in turn, again, the people are said to have obligated themselves to it, and it was put down in writing for them.

And now we're going to find that these things, by the way, I didn't put this in my notes, but as I was reading it, I was like, I didn't even hit on this at the end of verse 31, and I just want to comment on it real quick.

It says, with regard to their fast and their lamenting, what commentaries see there is this notion, at first I was like, well, is part of Purim, part of the celebration to fast and to lament? Did you read that and kind of get a little confused with that, when you see that in there?

These days of Purim, verse 31, go ahead and follow along as I read it, that these days of Purim should be observed at their appointed seasons, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther obligated them, and as they obligated themselves and their offspring, with regard to their fasts and lamenting.

That phrase, with regard, is along the same lines as, or like. So in other words, the Jews had fasts and lamenting that were part of their holidays. They did that throughout the year. There were times when they fasted, there were times when they naturally lamented.

So they are supposed to celebrate with the same type of enthusiasm that they would celebrate a fast or a mourning. In other words, God is ultimately saying in this that there are sometimes for, there are sometimes for sobriety, for seriousness, for just taking things grave, right?

Is there time for that in our lives? But there are equally times to just rejoice and celebrate with our whole hearts and be fully engaged in it. And that's what he's getting at there at the end of verse 31.

So that was a little side note, but I noticed that I didn't address that in my message and I think that some people could be questioning that or thinking through that. But as we're wrapping this up, there's this, Esther basically gives her royal stamp of approval and it's all put down in writing, which was very, very important in Persian culture.

If it's in writing, it's done. And now things go back to normal. And how do we know that things go back to normal? Look down at verse one. The king imposes new taxes and nothing says business back to normal quite like taxation.

Okay. So we know, I mean, that's like in one phrase there, we know that things are getting back to normal in Persia because he's taxing people. The book began with the king of Persia and it ends with him, but it ends with a little bit more.

It ends with his relationship to Mordecai, the Jew. Now we have not uncovered this book that's mentioned here by title. There's a book mentioned here, the book of the chronicles of the kings of Medea and Persia.

We have not uncovered that, but I would anticipate that if and when we find it, we'll find Mordecai's name in it a lot. But I actually find it possible, and I didn't hear, this is kind of with me, but I find it possible that it may have been a source that was used in the writing of Esther.

It's possible that that book was available to the person who actually sat down and penned this book that we're reading, and I think that would in part account for its secular approach to the fact that it doesn't mention God, but it's taking significant quotes from this other book that would have recorded a lot of these similar and same events.

That's all speculation, that's neither here nor there though. Verse 3 wraps up the entire book by highlighting the great power of Mordecai as second to only the king in Persia. He was very powerful among the Jews, very popular it says in the text.

He sought their welfare and spoke words of peace to his people. Mordecai and Esther had both been used in their generation to do amazing and awesome things. But if ever there is a book that highlights that you do not need to be extraordinary to be used by God, it is this book.

Esther was an orphan, raised by her cousin. Mordecai was a scribe in the king's gate, middle class in that culture where there wasn't much middle class, but most concerned for the care of his adopted daughter, Esther.

But God brought about the salvation of his people through the amazing twists and turns of everyday mundane life in Persia in the life of Esther and Mordecai. Pretty common people in that culture and raised up for amazing things by God's choosing.

Were Esther and Mordecai faithful? Yeah. But if we end there, we've really settled for less than the deepest point in the book of Esther. God is capable of working in human history to preserve his people.

The wicked plans of evil, people cannot thwart the promises of our great and faithful God and that is the point. God is getting things done. And really that is worth celebrating. But God's preservation of his promise is not limited to the Old Testament.

About 5 ,000 years after the events of the book of Esther, God would make good on his promise. This promise that's being preserved through Mordecai and Esther, that promise that one would be raised up who would save people from their sins and be a blessing to all people, not just the Jews, but the new covenant spreads out across this world to people from all races, to people from all ethnicities, to people from all countries and languages.

And it's an awesome thing that this gospel, this good news that a Messiah has come and has paid the price for us. And so God made true on that promise 500 years after the events of Esther. He promised to bring a Messiah into the world and he promised that that Messiah would be born of a virgin in a small town in Bethlehem and he came.

And another man like Haman at that time of the birth of Jesus Christ would seek to thwart the promises of God, would seek to snuff out that promise once again. Herod the Great would issue an edict, an edict that all of the children in Bethlehem under two years of age were to be killed.

A horrible, horrible thing. But God preserved his son through an angel telling his father to move to Egypt. Later, Satan himself would seek to sideline Jesus by tempting him to take shortcuts, but Jesus through the power of the Spirit resisted with the word of God, keeping the plan on track.

And in the end, the Jews themselves, themselves who were disillusioned by the meekness of the Messiah, they thought Jesus would come and be a great and grand military leader and when he proved himself to be meek, and not only meek, but actually when he was most, when he spoke with the most anger, it was against their religiosity.

And that put them off. And so they had him put to death by the Romans. But the Father was bringing about redemption through what others meant to be defeat. God once again turning the tables just like he did in the book of Esther.

Once again preserving his plans, once again preserving his promise. And our redemption was brought about by the promise of God and he did not just promise it, but he carried it forward. He is the one who has done it.

Faithfully working through human history. If the Jews were called to celebrate their deliverance from Haman's plans, how much more should we celebrate the deliverance we have experienced through Jesus Christ?

We have not experienced just merely a deliverance from physical death. And we need to be a people who learn to celebrate. Of course, the challenge will always be to celebrate the right things, right? Isn't that something we struggle with?

Because we have a nasty tendency to slide off in two opposite ends of the table when it comes to celebration. Either we forget the reason we celebrate this thing over and over again and it just becomes a ritual or routine with very little meaning and sometimes we even forsake it altogether.

Or the opposite. We still forget the original meaning, which is our tendency to begin with, but we infuse it with new meaning. It was never intended to have. So we celebrate giving gifts to each other at Christmas, forgetting the main point is that we received a gift at Christmas time.