The Queen of Beauty
March 6, 2011 - Week 20
Sometimes I feel like my life is like a day in Vegas. My faith, my destiny is all wrapped up in the roll of the dice. Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you don’t. Would you be willing to roll the dice, knowing if you lost, you could lose more than you bargained for.
For example, if I roll and get a lucky 7, snake eyes or a boxcar you win. With only one die, I wonder what I’ll roll. A 3 and I win. If I win great, but if I lose, ouch. Don’t you feel that way sometimes? You get in the wrong line at the store. You buy gas after the price goes up. You slip and fall, on the only piece of ice. And the list goes on and on.
Now there are times when a set of circumstances unfolds and comes together where you experience either a colossal disaster or a great windfall. Some call this a coincidence, others call it luck. There’s still others who would say there’s someone working behind the scenes, working out my destiny. Chapter 20 of The Story is such a story. This is the OT story of Esther, which we’re looking at today.
We’re introduced to a guy named Haman, and early on we learn one important thing about him, he hates the Jewish people. It’s a full fledged hatred. Remember the southern kingdom of Judah was exiled to Babylon in 587 BC. Eventually, the Babylonians were overtaken by the Persians.
It is believed Haman had it out for the Israelites because he was an Amalekite. They were direct descendants of King Agag. Way back in chapter 10, God asked King Saul to wipe out all of the Amalekite people for 2 reasons. Their extreme and persistent wickedness, such as child sacrifice. And secondly, they tried to stop the Israelites from entering the land of Canaan. That means they were directly opposed to the unfolding of God’s upper story plan.
Saul didn’t destroy all of them, and 400 Amalekites survived; and 100's of years later, Haman holds a huge grudge against the Israelites.
Now by luck (or was it) Haman has received honor from the king and has a position of high honor, and lots of authority. So Haman decides to use his authority to come to completely exterminate the Jews. There’s one particular Israelite Haman has it out for. His name is Mordecai. We learn that as Haman parades through town, people would bow down to him, but Mordecai wouldn’t; and that really got to Haman. We also learn Mordecai is from King Saul’s lineage. And who was supposed to wipe out Haman’s ancestors? King Saul. So, we have an old feud, and ancient Hatfield and McCoys.
Haman goes to the king of Persia, a guy named Xerxes, and tells him the Israelites are a bad people and it would be in the best interests of the kingdom to get rid of them. Haman will issue an official decree, marked by the kings signet ring, that gives the people of Persia the legal permission to kill any Hebrew or Hebrew family.
In one day all of the Jews are to be killed. The incentive is the fact that it was legal and you got to keep all of their personal possessions. The king goes along with the plan; and in order to determine which day this would occur on, Haman rolls the dice. In ancient language, it would be the word p-u-r. We see it in the OT and NT as the casting of lots or the throwing of dice. Haman casts the pur or dice in order to determine which day the Jews will be destroyed. And the date is Adar 13th in the Jewish calendar. Or late February or early-mid March in our calendar.
Adar 13th, eleven months from when he rolled the dice, all Jewish families would be exterminated. The edict went out throughout the land of Persia with the kings signature, which made this irreversible. Can you imagine what it must have felt like to be an Israelite and learn that you had 11 months to live? The fear that must have overwhelmed them. The agony of knowing what was coming on Adar 13th. Lucky 7's for Haman.
But there was another story line occurring at the same time which would eventually collide with the Haman story. At the beginning of chapter 20, King Xerxes is holding a huge party, showing off his wealth and ego. Xerxes summoned the queen to come to him. You see, in those days, a queen couldn’t come into the presence of the king without first being summoned. And when the king summoned the queen, she didn’t ask when, because she knew it was now. For some reason, on this particular night Queen Vashti refused. This embarrassed King Xerxes and he asked his male counselors what should he do. In Esther 1:16-18 the king received this council from his friends,
16 Queen Vashti has done wrong, not only against the king but also against all the nobles and the peoples of all the provinces of King Xerxes.
17 For the queen’s conduct will become known to all the women, and so they will despise their husbands and say, ‘King Xerxes commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, but she would not come.’
18 This very day the Persian and Median women of the nobility who have heard about the queen’s conduct will respond to all the king’s nobles in the same way. There will be no end of disrespect and discord.
You know what I have to say about that principle? Absolutely nothing. I’m not touching that one. So, the king puts out a formal decree. Vashti loses her standing as the queen and is banished. So, the king needs a new queen and all the beautiful young women are brought to the palace, it’s kind of an ancient bachelor show. Now ladies I don’t know if you noticed what I noticed, but in Esther 2:12, we read,
Before a young woman’s turn came to go in to King Xerxes, she had to complete 12 months of beauty treatments prescribed for the women, six months with oil of myrrh and six with perfumes and cosmetics.
Not a bad way to spend the year. Even if you didn’t get picked, a years worth of free spa treatments doesn’t sound too bad. In fact, I might be willing to go for that myself. Well, as it turns out, the young woman who is selected rolled snake eyes. Her name is Esther, she’s a Hebrew who was raised by her cousin Mordecai. The same guy Haman has it out for. Nobody makes the connection because Esther keeps her nationality a secret.
We’re 3 months into her time as queen, and only 8 months until Adar 13th. Mordecai sends word to Queen Esther, telling her she must go to the king and plead for mercy for her people before it’s too late. Esther knows the protocol. So she sends word to Mordecai telling him ‘the king must request me, and if I approach the king without being summoned, and he refuses to receive me, not only will I lose being queen, but I might lose my life as well.
Mordecai responds to Esther, with these famous words found in 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?”
In essence, he said to her, maybe this isn’t the random rolling of the dice, and God has a plan to keep our people alive, and maybe this is part of His upper story plan. And one way or another, He will do this, and His plan can’t be thwarted, and maybe God has placed you in this unlikely position, not because of your beauty, but because God wants to use you to accomplish His purposes – for such a time as this.
So Esther responds to Mordecai~ 16 Go gather all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.
Three days later she went into the room the king was in and he extended the golden scepter to her. He even tells her to make any request, he was willing to give up to half his kingdom. Esther requested a small dinner with only 2 guests . . . the king and Haman. At that dinner she will give her request. Haman skips home like a happy kid, telling his family how great his life is, he’s got wealth and power, and now he’s the only person invited to a private dinner with the king and queen. Yet, he can’t get over the fact that Mordecai still doesn’t honor him.
So the family makes a plan, why wait 8 more months, take matters into your own hands. The plan is this – erect a pole 75 feet high and with the kings permission have Mordecai impaled on it. Then go enjoy your private dinner.
It just so happens, with the roll of the dice, that as the king goes to sleep that night, he couldn’t sleep. What do you do when you can’t sleep? Watch TV, listen to my sermon, have a snack or take a pill. Xerxes wants his servants to read him a story of the kings chronicles, which details all that happened under the kings reign.
As he’s listening, they come across a passage in which none other than Mordecai blew the whistle on 2 men who were plotting to assassinate the king. Xerxes pops up and asked if they did anything to honor Mordecai. They never did. In the morning as Haman comes skipping into the office and is about to share his plan to kill Mordecai, Xerxes asked Haman, ‘if there was someone who brought wonderful delight to the king, what should we do for them?’
Haman being full of himself – thinks the king is talking about him, so he builds up what should be done. Haman tells the king “I would dress him in royal robes and parade him through the town, praising his name.” The king says, “that’s a great idea, Haman, I want you to take this man dressed in my royal robes and parade him around town and praise his name. And by the way . . . his name is Mordecai. Now, what was it you wanted to tell me? Isn’t it great.”
Haman was furious. He makes it through the day and at night comes the dinner. Esther is finally going to make her request to the king. She tells the king she’s an Israelite, and her people are going to be exterminated in a matter of months. It’s the first time the king has heard that his queen is an Israelite. Xerxes wonders who would make such an outlandish request. Esther tells the king it’s the vile Haman, sitting next to you. The king’s furious, he gets up and leaves the room. Haman knows he’s in deep trouble and falls to the ground; weeping over Esther, begging for his life to be spared. But, Haman gets impaled on the same pole he erected for Mordecai. Talk about bad luck. No snake eyes or lucky 7's.
Mordecai is given Haman’s estate and his position within the kingdom. Because the edict to exterminate the Jews was irreversible, Mordecai gets the kings blessing to have all of the Jews stand up and defend themselves on Adar 13th.
Now fast forward to that day. The Israelites were attacked, but now they had the right to defend themselves. They also had the backing of many of the regional governors and none of the Israelites were defeated, instead they killed 75,810 of their enemies. The 10, those were the 10 sons of Haman.
Even today, the Jewish people celebrate the holiday called Purim. It’s a yearly feast which will be celebrated in just a couple of weeks. The name Purim, literally means the feast of lots or the feast of dice.
In this celebration you have a carnival with games, gifts are given to one another, you eat lots of food, read from the Book of Esther. And whenever Haman’s name is read, you boo and hiss. Let’s try it, Haman (Boo). Whenever Mordecai’s name is read, you cheer. Okay ready, Mordecai (cheers).
So what does this ancient story have to do with our lives. In Proverbs 16:33, King Solomon wrote these words, The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.
I don’t know if you thought about this when you read the story of Esther. But God’s name is not mentioned anywhere in the book of Esther. But that doesn’t mean He’s not working behind the scenes to make His upper story become reality.
God promised to the southern kingdom of Judah that they would one day return to their homeland and re-establish themselves and He promised that out of their tribe the Messiah would be born. And He would be the way for all people to come into an eternal relationship with God.
Haman rolled the dice, but God ultimately determined how the dice would land. And you know what, the same is true for our lives. Just like God watched over the Israelites, God has also promised to watch over His church, you and I.
Sin . . . rolled the dice and ordered the day of our death. But on the ultimate day of judgment in Revelation 20:14, instead of us being thrown into the lake of fire, sin and earth are thrown into the lake of fire instead. Just like the Haman and Mordecai story. With Jesus, the tables are turned.
So, let me ask you . . . what is the current fear you’re facing right now? What’s the current fear you’re facing which is stirring up in you the same kind of anxiety that was in the heart of the Jewish people as they anticipated Adar 13th?
What is it for you . . .
Maybe it’s illness
or the fear of aging
or you won’t have enough money to live on
maybe it’s a job or the loss of a job
or a foreclosure of your home
the breakdown of your family
the fear of being alone
the destructive path chosen by a child
maybe it’s the fear of failure
maybe it’s depression
maybe it’s the fear of death. What is it for you?
Today, we’ve learned from God’s word, that in Christ, He wants us to stand up with courage. To stand in the gap like Esther did, for what’s right. But we also learn that no matter what the situation is, for followers of Jesus Christ, God is in control.
He’s working behind the scenes, so that the dice ultimately falls in our favor. Did you hear that? God is working behind the scenes. He is in complete control. So that for those who follow Him, He promises that the dice will ultimately fall in your favor.
This does not mean everything will always roll your way. It doesn’t mean you are always going to get lucky 7 or snake eyes. Sometimes you roll a 3, and it gets no better than that for a time. But God promises us He will not abandon us, He will not fail us, He will be a constant presence with us . . . always wanting to give us His power, His grace, His courage and His hope.
We get so caught up in the devastation of sin, that I want to end with a word of hope, so let’s do this, when you hear the word sin, you should want to boo and hiss – sin. When you hear the name satan you should want to boo and hiss – satan. When you hear the word death, you should want to boo and hiss – death. And when you hear the name Jesus Christ you should want to celebrate . . . Jesus Christ.
Listen to these words from Romans 8 and respond appropriately ~
1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in CHRIST JESUS,
2 because through CHRIST JESUS the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of CHRIST? 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor satan, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,
39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in CHRIST JESUS our Lord.
Philippians tells us “I can do all things through CHRIST who gives me strength.”
I can do all things through Christ. . .
I can do all things through Christ. . .
I can do all things through Christ . . . who gives me strength.”
