Waiting Series

For Such a Time as This: Esther Sets the Trap

Esther 5

Pastor Jefferson M. Williams

Chenoa Baptist Church

8-30-2020

For Such a Time as This

At the end of last week’s sermon, we were left on the edge of our seats.

Mordecai had challenged Esther with these famous words:

“Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. (Esther 4:13-14)

Esther lived in two different worlds. She is Hadassah, the cousin of Mordecai. And she is Queen Esther, the wife of the king.

Mordecai tells her that the days of trying to straddle that line are over. She must choose, the fate of the Jewish people depends on her.

Mordecai understood the stakes. The entire Jewish population was at risk of being annihilated. This was no time for half-hearted excuses.

First, he reminds her that the palace will not protect her. Sooner or later, someone will discover her identity and she will be slaughtered like all the rest.

If she someone manages to go undetected, then her heart is as good as dead. She has betrayed her family legacy and her people.

Mordecai tells Hathak in no uncertain terms that deliverance will come, whether through Esther or from “another place.” This is as close as the book of Esther comes to saying the name of God.

Mordecai knows the covenant promises of God to protect his people and he is trusting that God is working behind the scenes to get them out of this mess.

He then utters some of the most famous words in all the Bible:

“And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14)

God had been working quietly behind the scenes, moving Esther into place as queen, to bring rescue His children from Haman’s plans of genocide.

Will she step into her purpose and fulfill her destiny?

She tells Mordecai to gather the Jews and fast for her. She will also fast with her attendants, which means they will know that she’s Jewish, and at the end of three days, she will go before the king uninvited.

She understand the gravity of the moment.

If she doesn’t intercede for her people, 15 million men, women, and children, including her, will die.

If she takes the risk, breaks protocol, and the king doesn’t raise the golden scepter, she will have her head cut off.

What a choice!

But she has made her choice. Hadassah answers Mordecai with these courageous, faith filled words “If I perish, I perish.”

What’s going to happen? Last week, I promised you the rest of the story.

We are going to cover two chapters this morning, so let’s dive right in.

Turn with me to Esther 5.

Prayer

Esther Survives

“On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the palace, in front of the king’s hall. The king was sitting on his royal throne in the hall, facing the entrance. When he saw Queen Esther standing in the court, he was pleased with her and held out to her the gold scepter that was in his hand. So Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter.” (Esther 5:1-2)

Three days of fasting and waiting before the Lord had passed and Esther put on her royal garments, literally she “put on royalty.”

The king’s hall was a magnificently adorned with 36 pillars that were 65 ft high. The hall provided an unobstructed view of the king sitting on his royal throne.

When you entered the hall, you were to prostrate yourself before the king because, after all, he was known to be a “god.”

Notice that he saw “Queen Esther.” For the rest of the book, the author will call her Queen Esther.

When Xerxes saw her standing in the court, he was “please with her.” She received grace and obtained his favor from him.

Remember, he hadn’t seen her in 30 days. Maybe he thought to himself, “Wowza! I had forgotten how beautiful she is when she’s in her royal robes!”

After holding out the scepter to spare her life, Esther approaches and follows protocol, and touches the tip of the scepter.

She is being respectful of protocol and the king. She is not a cowering young girl but a calm, confident queen who is setting a plan in motion to save her people.

The Invitation

Then the king asked, “What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be given you.”

“If it pleases the king,” replied Esther, “let the king, together with Haman, come today to a banquet I have prepared for him.”