Unchangeable Laws
My wife came home from the market a while back and asked me to unload the car. We have an SUV, and when I opened it, one bag fell out to the ground. Now there were maybe ten bags inside which were full of cans, vegetables, boxes, etc. And in one bag, a carton of eggs. So which was in the bag that fell out? The eggs of course. Why is that?
It’s an unchangeable law. No, not the law of the “Medes and Persians.” It’s the law of Murphy! “If anything can go wrong, it will, and usually at the most inopportune moment.”
Seriously though, there are real laws that do not change. For example:
• The law of gravity. Discovered by Newton it basically states that things tend to be pulled downward. Or simply put, “What goes up, must come down.”
• The law of thermodynamics. “All things are breaking down,” or “You will have aged more by the end of this message!”
• The biblical law of sowing and reaping. Galatians 6:7–8 says, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the spirit will of the spirit reap everlasting life” (NKJV). Or in the modern vernacular translation: “What goes around comes around.”
We will clearly see that principle illustrated in this story before us: the dramatic story of Esther.
A Quick Review
In Part 1 of this message, we saw that Xerxes, the king of the reigning superpower of the time (Persia), was throwing a huge feast for all of his subjects. He gave the command for his beautiful queen, Vashti, to be brought in. She was to be paraded before his drunken lords and advisors. Many commentators believe the text implies he wanted her to do so naked.
The king was cruelly treating his wife like some object. To her credit, Queen Vashti refused, and a national crisis broke out. She was removed as queen and it was decided a new queen would be selected. So it was decided a “Miss Persia” beauty contest would be held.
A young Jewish girl named Hadassah, whose parents had died, was being raised by her godly older cousin Mordecai and his family. Hadassah, also known as Esther, was summoned into the presence of the king, and much to the chagrin of all the other Persian girls, won the contest and became queen.
If this were a fairy tale, it would have ended here with the phrase “And they lived happily ever after.” But this is not a fairy tale; it’s a Bible story. And, as we will see, this story was just getting started. God was simply setting in place His people for the work He was about to do.
The villain of this story emerges: the prime minister, Haman. One day he is strutting about and one man refuses to bow: the godly Jew Mordecai. Haman is so outraged that he hatches a plot to eliminate Mordecai and the Jews. He wants the king to sign a law that would exterminate the Jewish people. The plan was that the Kingdom of Persia would seize all Jewish assets, so the king agreed. Little did he realize he was signing the death warrant for his beloved queen.
Here’s now a twist in this story: Esther had not told the king she was Jewish (at the advice of Mordecai). This could seem to be a compromise. Perhaps if the king knew she was Jewish, this foolish decree would have never happened. Then again, if he knew she was Jewish he probably would have never married her. Thus, she could not have saved her nation.
Whatever the case, we know this: Esther came through in the end. Some start well and finish horribly. Think of King Saul, Samson, and others. Some start poorly but finish with flying colors, like Nicodemus. Others start and finish well, like Caleb. That seems to be the case with Esther, who was a true heroine.
Back to our story. Signs were posted through the kingdom telling the Jews they would be exterminated. This was to happen in one year (just to torment them beforehand). Mordecai covered himself in sackcloth and ashes and mourned outside the palace. Esther seemed embarrassed by this and sent a set of fresh clothes. Talk about missing the point!
Mordecai sends a message to the queen, who is sitting in the lap of luxury in the palace: “Don’t think for a moment that because you’re in the palace you will escape when all other Jews are killed. If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?” (Esther 4:13–14).
Esther decides to approach the king, at risk to her own life, and plead this case.
A Diabolical Plot
Before we see how this dramatic story ends, we might wonder, why did Haman want to kill all the Jewish people? We could say that his pride was wounded, or it was a personal grudge, but there is another, more significant, overriding reason:
Satan was behind this because he hates the Jewish people.
Why? Because they are God’s chosen people, and whomever God blesses, Satan opposes. It’s the same reason he hates Christians too! Satan hates what God loves.
But there is another reason that goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden. After Eve ate the forbidden fruit, and judgment came, God said to Satan that there would come One “shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel” (Genesis 3:15 NKJV). This is the first messianic prophecy to be found in the Bible. God was putting Satan on notice: “The Messiah is coming, and He will defeat you!”
So Satan tried to stop the Messiah, who would come from the Jewish race, from arriving.
• He tried when he inspired the Pharaoh to kill all the Jewish baby boys.
• He tried again as King Herod murdered the baby boys in Bethlehem.
• He tried again when Jesus Christ was born and was crucified.
But the devil unwittingly played into the perfect plan of God. As the Lord had said to Satan, “He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” Indeed, Jesus was “bruised.” Isaiah 53:5 states, “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed” (NKJV). But it was all part of God’s plan for the redemption of mankind.
And here, Satan, working through Haman, was attempting to ultimately stop Messiah. This decree, signed by the king, was to be distributed through the entire kingdom. The Jewish people were devastated.
The Character of the Queen
Esther was prepared to put it all on the line: “Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: ‘Go and gather together all the Jews of Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will do the same. And then, though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. If I must die, I must die” (Esther 4:15–16).
Yes, Esther was a legendary beauty. Attractive on the outside, without question. But she had inner character to match. And that character was about to be revealed.
Character is not made in crisis—it is only exhibited.
She was not a mere beauty queen, she was a Hebrew warrior! But she was wisely waiting upon the Lord for the right time, place, and words to say to the king. So she called her friends to fast and pray for her.
Perhaps you have a big decision to make. Or someone you need to confront. Or someone the Lord is leading you to share the gospel with. Get your friends praying, and go for it. There is power in praying together.
Esther waits on the Lord, and three days later, she makes her move.
Esther 5:1–8:
“On the third day of the fast, Esther put on her royal robes and entered the inner court of the palace, just across from the king’s hall. The king was sitting on his royal throne, facing the entrance. When he saw Queen Esther standing there in the inner court, he welcomed her and held out the gold scepter to her. So Esther approached and touched the end of the scepter. Then the king asked her, ‘What do you want, Queen Esther? What is your request? I will give it to you, even if it is half the kingdom!’ And Esther replied, ‘If it please the king, let the king and Haman come today to a banquet I have prepared for the king.’ The king turned to his attendants and said, ‘Tell Haman to come quickly to a banquet, as Esther has requested.’ So the king and Haman went to Esther’s banquet. And while they were drinking wine, the king said to Esther, ‘Now tell me what you really want. What is your request? I will give it to you, even if it is half the kingdom!’ Esther replied, ‘This is my request and deepest wish. If I have found favor with the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my request and do what I ask, please come with Haman tomorrow to the banquet I will prepare for you. Then I will explain what this is all about.’”
This is really quite amazing. Some would criticize Esther for not pleading her case then and there. But she was wise. And as we will see, if she had moved, a certain irony that would later take place would not have happened. As Solomon once wrote, there is “a time for every activity under heaven . . . A time to be quiet, and a time to speak” (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 7). This was the time to be silent, but not for long.
A Time to Speak
We all have a “King Xerxes” in our life—someone who totally intimidates us. Perhaps it’s someone in authority over us, like a boss or a professor. You are afraid to even speak to them. It might be a wife trying to reach an unsaved husband. It might be that person who seems so together, so above you, so tough.
But no one is unreachable.
When young Stephen was brought before the Jewish Sanhedrin, he boldly preached the gospel. He probably reasoned, “Imagine if one of these guys came to the Lord!” But then he was martyred, in the prime of youth.
“How tragic!” some would say. “What a waste!” others would say. But there was a man listening to Stephen that day. A man that seemed to be in charge. A man that after this went on a rampage hunting down Christians, and his name was Saul of Tarsus. You know the rest of that story.
Saul was not too powerful or important for God to reach. No one is beyond the reach of God. No king, queen, prime minister, or president has ever intimidated God—no husband, parent, boss, or for that matter, any person. Proverbs 21:1 says “The king’s heart is like a stream of water directed by the Lord; He guides it wherever He pleases.”
So Esther, bold as a lioness, does not cringe or cower. She stands, confident in the Lord. “When he saw Queen Esther standing there in the inner court, he welcomed her and held out the gold scepter to her” (verse 2). So Esther approached and touched its tip.
This royal beauty standing regally before the king takes his breath away. “What do you want, Queen Esther? What is your request? I will give it to you, even if it is half the kingdom!” (verse 3).
Esther is wise. She isn’t in a hurry. Why? She has been waiting on the Lord.
She waits for the right time and the right words. As Proverbs 25:11 says, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver” (NKJV). Esther responds, “If it please your majesty, let the king and Haman come today to a banquet I have prepared for the king” (verse 4).
Haman’s “Triumph”
The king agrees to attend with Haman, and Haman leaves with such glee. He’s thinking, “All my scheming, plotting, undermining is finally coming to fruition! The queen herself has invited only me along with the king to a banquet! Verse 9 says “Haman was a happy man as he left the banquet!” He was experiencing “pure joy”—100% pure twisted-evil joy.
It is bizarre to see how some people can actually take delight in the suffering of others. To see their plans of treachery succeed, to see the downtrodden stepped on even more, brings a perverted pleasure to their wicked hearts.
As Haman leaves the palace, bursting with pride, he sees Mordecai. Once again, the godly and defiant Mordecai does not cower in fear before Haman, and it makes his blood boil. But Haman restrains himself, vowing vengeance on him. Haman goes home, boasts of all of his good fortune, his power, his sons. But there is a pebble in his shoe, a burr in his saddle, named Mordecai.
So Haman’s wife, Zeresh, and his friends suggest building a gallows that would stand 75 feet high, where Mordecai could be hung publically for his rebellion. (Yikes! Haman’s wife was as creepy as he was!) Haman loved the idea and set it into motion. The work crew went immediately to it, hammering and sawing into the night. It was music to the twisted Haman’s ears, the sound of death for Mordecai.
Seemingly, everything was going Haman’s way. The Jews, whom he hated. were going to die, and now Mordecai would die even sooner. Or so Haman thought.
God Is at Work.
God was not absent nor napping. Man has his will, but God has His way! Remember, Esther had asked the people of God to “fast and pray” and they were doing so. The Lord was working “behind the scenes.”
Now something Mordecai had done before would come back to bless him. Again, the Bible says that you will reap what you sow. “For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. (Galatians 6:8 NKJV).
Earlier in this story, Mordecai had uncovered a plot against the king and reported it. The plot was averted, but Mordecai had never been thanked or rewarded for this. Now, God would work through some small but significant events.
A Restless Night
It started one night when the king could not sleep. We have all had nights like that, where either we can’t get to sleep, or we wake up in the middle of the night and begin to worry about something. There are all kinds of remedies, from drinking warm milk to counting sheep. The king tries another oft-used remedy: reading a book. The History of the Persian Empire ought to do it!
But as it’s being read to him, a story is told of the deed of Mordecai that saved him. “How did we repay him for this?” the king asks. “We never did, your majesty!”
“Something needs to be done about this!” the king says. Perhaps you are like Mordecai. A decision or plan of yours caused someone else to be promoted. They got the glory, the status, the salary, the celebrity, the credit, and you got nothing. Listen: the Lord knows what you did. Jesus promised, “Your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly” (Matthew 6:6 NKJV). Maybe not sooner, but later. But you will be rewarded for every act of kindness and word of testimony. Hebrews 6:10 says, “God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for Him and how you have shown your love to Him by caring for other believers, as you still do.”
God will not forget! There will come a day when every little thing you have done for Him will be rewarded! As Esther, Mordecai, and the Jewish people were asleep, God was at work. “He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep,” (Psalm 121:4 NKJV) and “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5 NKJV).
Early the next morning, filled with hatred and vengeance, Haman show up at the palace. Haman is waiting to speak with the king in the outer court. He can’t wait to talk to the king about the gallows he’s built for Mordecai. But the king has other things on his mind. After reading the history of Persia, he wants to reward the man who saved his life.
He asks Haman how to honor a man like this publically. The self-centered always-narcissistic Haman, thinking it’s himself, says, “Dress this man in one of the king’s royal robes and lead him through the city on one of the kings’ royal stallions with a crown on his head and proclaim ‘This is what happens to those the king wishes to honor!’” The king says, “Great idea. Go do it for Mordecai!”
Now, isn’t that a beautiful twist of irony? The very plan he had for himself is not only done for another, but for his mortal enemy. For Haman, this was almost a fate worse than death.
Esther 6:11–13:
“So Haman took the robes and put them on Mordecai, placed him on the king’s own horse, and led him through the city square, shouting, ‘This is what the king does for someone he wishes to honor!’ Afterward Mordecai returned to the palace gate, but Haman hurried home dejected and completely humiliated. When Haman told his wife, Zeresh, and all his friends what had happened, his wise advisers and his wife said, ‘Since Mordecai—this man who has humiliated you—is of Jewish birth, you will never succeed in your plans against him. It will be fatal to continue opposing him.’”
Loose paraphrase: “You’re dead meat Haman. Nice to have known you. Buh-bye!”
Everything is falling apart for the wicked Haman, and justly so. The “chickens have come home to roost.” Haman could have repented and said, “God has taught me a valuable lesson here! I messed up, but I have learned a lot!”
But no, it’s always everyone else’s fault. Instead of learning our lesson we will say things like “If it hadn’t been for him . . .” or “If they hadn’t done this. . .” or “It’s not my fault; it’s everybody else’s.” Not a word about his own responsibility and culpability in what has happened.
From Bad to Worse for Haman
Haman is going from the frying pan into the fire. There was a knock at the door.
Esther 6:14–7:10:
“While they were still talking, the king’s eunuchs arrived and quickly took Haman to the banquet Esther had prepared. So the king and Haman went to Queen Esther’s banquet. On this second occasion, while they were drinking wine, the king again said to Esther, ‘Tell me what you want, Queen Esther. What is your request? I will give it to you, even if it is half the kingdom!’ Queen Esther replied, ‘If I have found favor with the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my request, I ask that my life and the lives of my people will be spared. For my people and I have been sold to those who would kill, slaughter, and annihilate us. If we had merely been sold as slaves, I could remain quiet, for that would be too trivial a matter to warrant disturbing the king.’
“‘Who would do such a thing?’ King Xerxes demanded. ‘Who would be so presumptuous as to touch you?’ Esther replied, ‘This wicked Haman is our adversary and our enemy.’ Haman grew pale with fright before the king and queen. Then the king jumped to his feet in a rage and went out into the palace garden. Haman, however, stayed behind to plead for his life with Queen Esther, for he knew that the king intended to kill him. In despair he fell on the couch where Queen Esther was reclining, just as the king was returning from the palace garden. The king exclaimed, ‘Will he even assault the queen right here in the palace, before my very eyes?’ And as soon as the king spoke, his attendants covered Haman’s face, signaling his doom. Then Harbona, one of the king’s eunuchs, said, Haman has set up a gallows that stands 75 feet tall in his own courtyard. He intended to use it to hang Mordecai, the man who saved the king from assassination.’ The king ordered, “Then hang Haman on it!’”
So they hanged Haman on the gallows he had set up for Mordecai, and the king’s anger was pacified. On that same day King Xerxes gave the estate of Haman, the enemy of the Jews, to Queen Esther.
So what do we learn from the story of Esther?
1. God is always present and at work, whether we feel Him or not.
As I mentioned in Part 1 of this message, the name of the Lord is never mentioned in this book. Yet the Lord is present in every scene and in the movement of every event, moving everything toward His intended purpose. The same is true in your life.
The Lord is often working through the humdrum, day-to-day circumstances of life. In this story, He worked through such ordinary human events as insomnia, the reading of a book, the anger of a man, and the timing of events.
2. God can take impossible situations and turn them around for His glory.
Things looked bleak in the beginning of this book: an indifferent king, a wicked Haman, and a paralyzed people. Haman was in power, Mordecai headed to the gallows, and Esther and her people condemned to a certain death by the decree of the king himself.
But the people prayed, and God intervened. And how does the story end? Mordecai is in Haman’s position, with all his wealth and power, the Jews are saved and even in charge, and Haman is swinging by his own rope. Now that’s justice!
I read the story of a man shipwrecked on an uninhabited island. He painstakingly built a little hut for protection from the elements where he could keep the few items he had salvaged from the wreck. For weeks he lived in this little hut, with only the hot sun and cold nights to keep him company.
Prayerfully, he scanned the horizon for the approach of a ship, but nothing. Then one evening, when he returned from a search for food, he was terrified to find his little hut in flames! He tried to put the fire out, but it was too late. Everything he had in this world was gone up in smoke. He went to sleep that night listening to the pounding of the surf, amazed at his misfortune.
The next morning, he awoke to find a ship anchored at the shore! It was the first ship he had seen in all the weeks he had been marooned. Still trying to believe his eyes, he heard footsteps, and then heard the captain’s voice: “We saw your smoke signal, and came to rescue you!”
What can seem like a disaster may be the very thing leading to your deliverance!
3. You will reap what you sow.
“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life” (Galatians 6:7–8 NKJV).
Or as we would say in the modern vernacular, “What goes around comes around.”
As a Christian who has sown to the spirit over the years, you too are reaping what you have sown.
• While others “sowed their wild oats,” you sowed spiritual seed.
• While others pursued fun, you pursued faith.
• While others pursued parties, you pursued prayer.
• While others pursued sexual pleasure, you pursued sexual purity.
• While others pursued this world, you pursued the next.
Now, while others reap corruption, you reap life. While others feel used, you feel new!
But when we “sow to the spirit” which means to put Jesus and spiritual things first, it directly impacts every area of our lives. “To be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Romans 8:6 NKJV).
2 Corinthians 9:6 tells us, “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously” (NIV).
Every day, from the time we get up in the morning to the time when we lay our heads on the pillow at the end of the day, we have made hundreds, even thousands, of decisions of sowing to the flesh or the Spirit!
• Every time we intentionally expose ourselves to areas we are weak in.
• Who we choose as our close friends.
• What TV programs and movies we watch.
• What books or magazines we read.
• What music we listen to and what websites we visit.
With every choice, we are either sowing to the flesh or to the Spirit!
Sow a thought, reap an act. Sow an act, reap a habit. Sow a habit, reap a character. Sow a character, reap a destiny.
What crop have you been planting lately? Have you been “sowing to the flesh or to the Spirit?” Maybe you have been reaping the results of bad decisions lately. You have been “reaping corruption.”
Let’s close with this thought:
Esther was willing to lay her life on the line for her people. She said “If I die, I die!” As it turns out, she did not die, but lived. Jesus was also willing to lay His life on the line. And He did have to die. In doing so, He purchased our salvation at the cross of Calvary.
