Esther’s Story
Opening thoughts to the series - “BC justice league” – God’s biblical super heroes before Christ.
Over the last few weeks we have been sharing the power of the story! We have been looking at how a person’s life can make a difference in the eternal realm of God.
http://www.whatsyourstoryonline.com/: Quote: Stories are powerful. Stories give meaning to who we are and how we became who we are. Stories help us understand how life happens, and they give value to our experiences. Some of the most powerful testimonies to Christian faith come not from lists of accepted doctrinal beliefs (though they’re important) nor from recitations of biblical principles (also important), but from the enlivened re-telling of how God has acted, overtly or covertly, in each of our lives.
We have learned about Hannah, Samuel, David, about Easy Eddie and Ace Butch O’hare. We have seen and learned that God can use us to make a difference for eternity. Today we are going to look at a couple of women, one you may have heard about from the Bible her name is Esther. We will learn more of Esther’s story in moment. But there is another Biblical hero whose name is Bethany Hamilton (a soul surfer) who I would like to introduce you to today. She is a current day biblical hero of the faith.
Soul Surfer is the inspiring true story of teen surfer Bethany Hamilton. Bethany lost her left arm in a shark attack and courageously overcame all odds to become a champion again, through her sheer determination and unwavering faith in Jesus Christ.
Bethany was born to surf. A natural talent who took to the waves at a young age, she was leading an idyllic life on Kauai, participating in national surf competitions with her best friend Alana, when everything changed. On Halloween morning 2003, a 14-foot tiger shark came out of nowhere and seemed to shatter all her dreams.
Soul Surfer reveals Bethany's fight to recover from her ordeal and how she grappled with the question of her future. Strengthened by the love of her parents, Tom and Cheri, and supported by her church youth group leader Sara, Bethany refuses to give in or give up, and begins a bold return to the water.
Her story will inspire you and challenge you in your own faith in God.
Video Clips: Soul surfer.
1st clip: Trailer for movie: wingclips.com
2nd clip: I can do all things through him who gives me strength: wingclips.com
There is also a book out about her life called “Soul Surfer” and also her own movie documentary called “The Heart of a Soul Surfer.” See http://bethanyhamilton.com/
In her documentary her mom shares how at age 15 which was 3 years after the shark attack they started praying for the Lord to show Bethany what the will of God was for her life. She has now been featured on prime time TV shows, talk shows and she has spoke at a host of Christian events. She states in her documentary that her divine calling is “to share her faith, tell her story” and to help others with disabilities by inspiring them that with God all things are possible.
The movie “Soul Surfer” much like the story of Esther from the Bible inspires us to fulfill God’s divine destiny for our life.
So can I ask you a few questions today based on our subject today:
• “Do you know what the divine will of God is for your life?”
• “Are you fulfilling your divine purpose for God?”
• “Are you making a difference in such a time as this with your life?”
We need to remember that for our own stories to make a difference for eternity it requires us to know our divine purpose and then to fulfill our divine purpose for the Lord.
Bethany is doing this and Esther as well did this as role models for us to follow.
Thesis: Esther became a hero because she responded to the call on her life to become an intermediary for the people of Israel. She is a Bible super hero because she was teachable, she knew when to call on God for His help, she became courageous in the face of death and she became obedient to fulfill the call of God on her life.
Can I say and remind you that Esther was normal person just like you and me yet because of her faith in God and her willingness to follow His purpose and plan for her life she saved 10,000’s of her people’s lives.
T.S. - Let’s look at the historical background of the book of Esther:
The most important words of the Bible are missing in this book, “The name of the Lord!” God is never mentioned in the text. He is inferred but never mentioned by name!
This historical narrative takes place during the reign of Ahasuerus (Xerxes I) 486-465 B.C. This specific event is believed to have occurred in his third year reign which was 483 B.C.. This time frame fell between Ezra 6 & 7. This book is believed to have been written by Ezra or Mordecai for the Persian historical records. (One reason why God's name is not mentioned but definitely inferred.) The primary teaching of this book is the concept of God's Divine Providence. The book also reveals how the Jewish Festival of Purim (lots) originated.
The Festival of Purim is considered a minor holiday. It is one of the most joyous festivals though in the Jewish year. Purim is one of only two festivals commemorating an event taking place in the post-biblical period and the only one that occurred during the Diaspora. This Jewish Festival even today teaches how God intervenes to avert a terrible calamity to the Jewish nation, it promotes the triumph of good over evil, and the victory of the Jewish people over their enemies. (Eckstein, 130).
This Festival was inaugurated by Queen Esther, and Mordecai and was to be celebrated annually on the 14th day of the 12th month, Adar (page 130).
Therefore, Purim celebrates God's miraculous hidden way of working through the natural process. This means that God works through the four characters in Esther. It's important to note that they all had their own wills and desires, and even though they were all doing their own thing, God was at work orchestrating a miracle for the Jewish nation through the events of life.
Morgan states, "They all went their own way, had their own will. They were left absolutely to work out their own purposes. Yet, while they were absolutely free to work out their own will, the sphere of the operations of will is God, and they could not escape Him." (page 276)
Key verse of the book is Esther 4:14:
“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. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?"
Summarize the book!
Xerxes gets drunk
Queen Vashti refuses his unresonable request
Xerxes confers with his men advisors and removes her to keep control of the empires women.
They seek a new queen.
Esther rises to the top and wins the position.
Xerxes falls in love with her.
Mordecai saves the kings life.
Haman rises to a powerful position and demands that all bow to him.
Mordecai refuses.
Haman becomes enraged and seeks the favor of Xerxes to destroy all the Jews of the realm.
Haman becomes prideful and conceited with power.
Mordecai mourns
Esther inquires
Mordecai responds what she is to do
She fears
She listens
She becomes courageous
She addresses the king wisely
Mordecai is remembered for saving the kings life
Haman stumbles into the trap set by God
Esther pleads for her people and exposes Haman
Haman makes another mistake falling on the queen
Haman is hanged
The people of Israel are sparred
Esther is honored for her bravery
The legend lives on to this day in the nation of Israel.
Introduction:
Esther was where God wanted her to be and she responded as directed by the Lord and the result was she saved 10,000’s of lives. Esther responded appropriately to her God given opportunity to rescue her condemned nation. She was ready to step into “such a time as that!”
We need to remember that Esther was a woman placed in a leadership position by God for a specific task and time.
Esther was placed in her position by the Lord to be the solution to the problem created by Haman enemy of God’s people.
T.S. - Esther had 4 character traits that were imperative to her becoming a Biblical OT Super Hero. These are the traits of hero’s. These character traits reveal how to become part of the solution to the problems we and others face in life.
1) Esther was teachable
a) She listened to others' advice. She was teachable: Esther 2:10, 20
i) She was beautiful and won favor with Xerxes because she listened to Godly advice.
(1) Mordecai had instructed her on how to succeed at becoming queen and how to be a great wife and she listened to his instruction.
(a) Martin Luther's comment: "Let a wife make her husband glad to come home, and let him make her sorry to see him leave."
b) She learned her character traits well from her stepfather.
(1) She was instructed to be a woman of faith by Mordecai.
(a) She willingly learned and listened and received the blessing of God.
c) Bethany Hamilton was willing to relearn how to do something she was good at – to re-surf. She asked her dad for help and others and her teachability set her on the path that she is now walking for the Lord as a testimony to courage and inspiration.
i) To be a biblical super hero means you must be teachable!
(1) Definition of TEACHABLE from Webster’s Dictionary:
(a) capable of being taught
(b) apt and willing to learn
(c) favorable to the teaching from others
ii) John Maxwell shares 10 principles for personal growth.
(1) In “Your Road Map for Success,” Maxwell shares 10 principles for improving your personal growth:
(a) Choose a life of growth
(b) Start growing today
(c) Be teachable
(d) Focus on self-development, not self-fulfillment
(e) Never stay satisfied with current accomplishments
(f) Be a continual learner
(g) Concentrate on a few major themes
(h) Develop a plan for growth
(i) Pay the price
(j) Find a way to apply what you learn
d) Article by Josh Hirsch:
i) Teachability = Able and Willing To Listen And Learn From Others.
(1) First: It shows that love is active in your life. Love reveals the Holy Spirits work in you. Read I Corinthians 13 (The Love Chapter) in the bible. A loving spirit is perhaps the most teachable.
(2) Second: It allows you to reach your leadership potential. Great leaders have been good followers at some point, which means they had to be teachable at some level. It is probably a person’s teachability that has been the driving force behind their promotions and advancements. It has worked that way for me.
(3) Third: It shows that you walk humbly. James 4:6 “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. I have never met a truly humble person that was not teachable.
(a) God used one of the most humble men to have ever lived (Moses), to lead His people out of bondage. Moses even took advice from his father-in-law (Jethro:)) God promotes in due time, and I believe God promotes the humble. Your competence may take you to the top, but true Godly humility will keep you there. Remember, it is what is eternal that will last.
(b) The world sees everything externally, but God looks much deeper within us, to a teachable heart.
(4) Fourth: You may just receive the healing that you need. Remember God uses some of the most unusual conduits for his miracles. I think He wants to test us, to see if we are really teachable.
(a) Example II Kings 5:1-14: A man named Naaman was a great military leader with leprosy. He heard about a prophet named Elisha. Rather than give Naaman an impressive meeting, Elisha gave his servant instructions for Naaman. Naaman was mad at the instructions the servant gave him. In other words, Naaman was not teachable, and struggled with pride. He was told to go wash in the Jordan for his healing. He was not going to do it. Lack of teachability! His servant convinced him to go anyway, because after all, Naaman was going to die, so why not give it a chance? When he did, he was healed. It paid to be teachable!
(i) Struggle to be teachable? Is it pride? Repent, ask God to give you a teachable spirit, and let Him begin to do the miraculous in your life (from:http://jasonhirsch.wordpress.com/2010/05/18/why-is-being-teachable-so-important-3-jason-hirsch/).
ii) Can I be honest with you today – some of you here are not walking in the will of God for your life because you are not teachable!
(1) You think that you know everything when in reality you know nothing. Why because your heart and mind are not open to the instruction and direction from the Lord and from others.
(2) Many people today in our society are stuck in a cycle of failure because they have not learned the character trait of being teachable!
(3) Do you want to attain a leadership position, fulfill the divine will for your life then be teachable.
T.S. – Esther fulfilled her destiny because she was teachable – she got in her leadership position because of her teachable spirit and still remained teachable as a national leader. It made all the difference in her life and her story. Not only was she teachable but she also knew the importance of taping into the spiritual realm of the Lord for His help and intervention.
2) Esther taped into the power of the spiritual realm of God before she stepped out into her divine mission and calling.
a) She knew how to handle the king but she made sure that the people of God were praying and fasting for God's intervention, God’s favor, God’s direction (Esther 4: 15-17 - 5:1-7 - 7:1-10).
i) She looked for strength and favor from God. She knew that she needed His divine assistance.
(1) Bethany in her documentary shares that same truth that she continually looks to the Lord for His help and strength. She prays and asks the Lord to give her the right words in public appearances and she knows the power that comes from taping into the spiritual realm of God.
(a) She knows that the Lord has used her to make a difference in 10,000 of lives.
(2) Esther knew that God intervened into the hearts and lives of His people and that He could orchestrate a miracle through this situation.
(a) She realized as did Bethany Hamilton, “That all things are possible with God.”
(i) Do you believe all things are possible in your life?
1. Notice the God ordained coincidences in this book:
a. Esther becoming queen.
b. Mordecai’s insight and direction of the queen.
c. Haman coming into the court at the right time.
d. The king being unable to sleep and reading the annuals and the discovery of how Mordecai saved his life from assassins.
e. The misunderstanding of Haman thinking the king was thinking of him.
f. The falling into the lap of the queen and it looking like he was trying to seduce the queen.
2. How about in your life – are their divine coincidences – are you paying attention to them or ignoring them?
(ii) Quote: The name of the book, "Esther" itself relates the message of this book. Her name means, "Hiddenness". Since the name of God does not appear in Esther and the very name Purim denotes "lots" which reflects the capriciousness of events to mere chance. The point becomes clear though, when you observe the book's teachings. These coincidences of events form an inescapable pattern of Redemption and reveal that even though God's name is not mentioned, He is at work in every action and event in Esther and in history. (Eckstein, 134).
1. Eckstein adds, "Nachmanides, along with other Jewish thinkers, suggests that there are two basic categories of miracles - those which are supernatural and which transcend and defy the laws of nature, such as Purim, in which God's redemptive actions take place through nature in the course of normal events." (134)
ii) More men and women need to learn this principle of praying and fasting before taking their step of faith into the divine will of God.
(1) This is a lost discipline today in the church and we need to rediscover it.
(a) Floyd stated, “When we fast and pray, God steps in and frees us from the perceived alienation with Him that has kept us immobilized, fearful, and disobedient for so long (66).
(b) He also adds, “If we are going to come to Him, we must get on His ground, operate on His terms, and let God do what God wants to do.”
(c) Floyd defines fasting as, “The abstinence from food with a spiritual goal in mind or for a spiritual purpose” (3).
(2) The Bible is full of individuals who knew the importance and power of prayer and fasting for God’s intervention.
(a) Jehoshaphat the warrior king had this same character trait.
(i) He too realized when it was time to fast and pray.
(ii) Floyd states, “Jehoshaphat knew that to fast before God was the best way to show his complete helplessness and humility before God. He learned something you and I must never forget: he renounced the natural to invoke the supernatural” (11).
(3) Esther and Mordecai’ knew that this action of the physical realm impacted the spiritual realm.
T.S. – Esther knew that for her to be successful she needed to be teachable and taped into the power of the spiritual realm of God. But she also needed to be willing to take the step of courage, the step of faith to put her life on the line.
3) Esther was courageous
a) Bethany Hamilton is also a role model of success in overcoming fear, would you get back into the water where you were attacked by a shark?
i) She faced her fear and God has used that testimony to encourage 10,000’s of others.
ii) Quote: “We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.” Martin Luther King, Jr.
b) Esther too was bold in the midst of her possible life and death situation. For her addressing the king on a sensitive political matter like this could cost her everything.
i) She risked her position and her very life, interceded for her people and saved her people from being wiped out. (Barker, 102)
c) Definition of courage: The state or quality of mind or spirit that enables one to face danger, fear, or vicissitudes with self-possession, confidence, and resolution; bravery.
i) Mordecai as an example to Esther of courage – he focused on saving others and taught Esther to do the same.
(1) Navy SEALs known as very courageous also succeed in their missions by focusing on saving others:
(a) The elite team of Navy SEALs that killed Osama bin Laden on May 1, 2011, is still largely shrouded in mystery. But in a recent article in The Wall Street Journal, Eric Greitens, a former Navy SEAL, divulged the one quality that makes for a successful SEAL—the ability to think about other people and a higher purpose. Here's an excerpt from his article: The rigors that SEALs go through begin on the day they walk into Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training in Coronado, Calif., universally recognized as the hardest military training in the world. BUD/S lasts a grueling six months. The classes include large contingents of high-school and college track and football stars, national-champion swimmers, and top-ranked wrestlers and boxers, but only 10-20 percent of the men who begin BUD/S usually manage to finish ….What kind of man makes it through Hell Week? That's hard to say. But I do know—generally—who won't make it. There are a dozen types that fail: the weight-lifting meatheads who think that the size of their biceps is an indication of their strength … the preening leaders who don't want to get dirty, and the look-at-me former athletes who have always been told they are stars …. In short, those who fail are the ones who focus on show. Some men who seemed impossibly weak at the beginning of SEAL training—men who puked on runs and had trouble with pull-ups—made it. Some men who were skinny and short and whose teeth chattered just looking at the ocean also made it. Some men who were visibly afraid, sometimes to the point of shaking, made it too. Almost all the men who survived possessed one common quality. Even in great pain, faced with the test of their lives, they had the ability to step outside of their own pain, put aside their own fear and ask: How can I help the guy next to me? They had more than the "fist" of courage and physical strength. They also had a heart large enough to think about others, to dedicate themselves to a higher purpose.
1. From Preaching Today: http://www.answers.com/topic/courage#ixzz1O8Z8cCVl
ii) Another Story of courage:
(1) On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson became pro baseball's first black player when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers. But there's an amazing story of faith and courage behind Robinson's entry into baseball. Branch Rickey was the Dodger's baseball executive who eventually signed Jackie Robinson. Rickey's pastor was Wendell Fifield, from the Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims in Brooklyn. (This church, at one time pastored by Henry Ward Beecher, had a history of working with the "underground railroad" to help free slaves.) While Rickey was trying to decide if he should sign Jackie Robinson, he paid a visit to Rev. Fifield. He barged into the pastor's study and told Fifield, "Don't let me interrupt. I just want to be here. Do you mind?" According to an eyewitness report written by Fifield's wife June, the two men passed the time without words. The pastor continued his work and Rickey energetically paced the floor, stopping occasionally to look at the pastor's window. For forty-five minutes he continued pacing, pausing, pacing, and then pausing. Finally, Rickey broke the silence by pounding his fist on the pastor's desk as he shouted, "I've got it!""Got what, Branch?" the minister asked. June Fifield said that Rickey finally relaxed on a chair and told his pastor, "This was so complex, fraught with so many pitfalls but filled with so much good, if it was right, that I just had to work it out in this room with you. I had to talk to God about it and be sure what he wanted me to do. I hope you don't mind." "Wendell," he said, "I've decided to sign Jackie Robinson." Then Rickey straightened his bow tie, donned his hat, and left the room as he said, "Bless you, Wendell." In a couple of interviews from 2011, people who knew Rickey reflected on this story. Rickey's grandson said that when a well-known journalist told Rickey that "all hell would break loose" when Jackson took the field, Rickey quietly countered, "I believe all heaven will rejoice." Also, Jackie Robinson's widow Rachel had this to say about Rickey's need to pray about the decision: "He knew he was going to be pretty well isolated in making it, so he needed all the strength he could summon up, to be able to take the step."
(a) http://www.preachingtoday.com/site/utilities/print.html?type=article&id=91671
d) Quotes on Courage:
i) Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex... It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.
Albert Einstein
ii) Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.
Winston Churchill
iii) Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.
Winston Churchill
iv) Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities... because it is the quality which guarantees all others.
Winston Churchill
v) You cannot build character and courage by taking away a man's initiative and independence.
Abraham Lincoln
(1) From:http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/courage.html#ixzz1O96t8HXP
T.S. – Esther was teachable, willing to tap the power of the spiritual realm and then willing to step out in courageous faith in God to fulfill her divine destiny. Her willingness to obey the call of God set her up to become an eternal Biblical hero of the faith.
4) She was obedient to her call – she listened to God rather than to the fear of men and the rest is history!
a) Her faithfulness to her people and to God won her the prize of being remembered forever as one of God’s hero’s.
i) The Jewish nation still celebrates this great deliverance today in the Feast of Purim.
(1) Her legacy lives on!
ii) JAMES A. FOWLER shares the meaning of the word “OBEDIENCE.”
(1) Biblical references to "obedience"
(a) Old Testament - Heb. word shama - "to hear, listen, obey”
(i) Exod. 19:5 - "if you obey My voice ..., you shall be My possession.”
(ii) Exod. 24:7 - "All that the Lord has spoken we will do; we will be obedient"
1. I Sam. 15:22 - "to obey is better than sacrifice.”
(b) New Testament - Greek word hupakouo - "to listen under, to obey;" opposite is parakouo - "to listen around, beside, disobedience" (Rom. 5:19)
(i) Rom. 1:5 - "obedience of faith among the Gentiles"
(ii) Rom. 16:26 - "obedience of faith.”
1. II Cor. 10:5 -"taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ
2. II Thess. 1:8 - "those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
3. Heb. 5:9 - "He became to all who obey Him the source of salvation"
4. I Pet. 1:2 - "that you may obey Jesus Christ"
5. I Pet. 1:14 - "As obedient children...be holy"
(c) The NT Greek words peitho and peitharcheo - "to persuade, convince;" opposite is apeitheo -"unconvinced, disobedient" (cf. Eph. 2:2; 5:6)
(i) Acts 5:29 - "we must obey God rather than men"
(ii) Acts 5:32 - "the Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him"
(2) Defining "obedience"
(a) Base words - English word "obedience - Meaning: "to hear or listen towards" - English usage: "to follow, heed, comply with commands or injunctions within a sphere of jurisdiction."
(3) Our example: The historical obedience of Jesus Christ!
(a) Heb. 5:8 - "He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.”
(b) Phil. 2:8 - "He humbled Himself becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross"
(c) Rom. 5:19 - "through the obedience of the One, the many will be made righteous.”
(i) Jesus' obedience was not… legalistic compliance with Law; keeping the rules but precise in performance of a programmed plan.
(ii) Jesus lived by the obedience of faith
1. He listened to God through trials, hardships, suffering.
2. He continued to listen to God unto death on a cross.
3. Such listening to God unto death allowed Him to take our death and invest His life in us.
b) Esther was obedient to the call of God on her life and the result was she was blessed, her people spared and evil was overthrown.
i) Let’s be reminded of our key verse of this book:
(1) Esther 4:14: “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. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?"
(2) Esther obeys and she was eternally blessed and honored for her obedience but what if she had not obeyed?
(a) Read the verse – your family will perish and God will rise up someone else to deliver His people and fulfill His divine will!
(b) Can we miss the divine plan for our life?
(i) The answer is yes we can!
c) Bethany has been obedient to the call of God on her life and she is impacting an entire world with her story of faith, and courage. How about you?
In Conclusion: The book of Esther teaches us:
1. We may have to confront the enemies of God, but that God and the forces of good, will ultimately triumph over those of evil because God is at work in the background of life.
2. This book inspires us to have courage in the face of danger and adversity with the knowledge that God is working all things out to fulfill His plan and purpose
3. We also learn "not to be silent" in the presence of evil but confront it in God's guidance to eliminate it. We must be willing to confront evil.
4. We must be men and women who possess the Godly character traits of.
a. Faith in God – The belief that He is sovereign.
b. A teachable spirit
c. Determination to teach Godly principles to others
d. Integrity in all scenarios
e. Humility in our lives
f. The ability to hear the wisdom from God and live by it.
g. People who know when to pray and fast
h. Courage to stand against evil and trust God 100% for deliverance
Answers to the questions first proposed: Yes, God does have a specific plan and purpose for your life! How can you be ready to be used by God?
• Be teachable
• Tap into the power of the spiritual realm of God
• Be courageous in your faith
• Be obedient to the call God has on your life
Altar Call
