Introduction:
A. The story is told of a man who had just undergone a very complicated operation on his intestines, but kept complaining about a bump on his head and a terrible headache.
1. Since his operation had been on his abdomen, he couldn’t figure out why he had such a headache, but he kept bringing it up with the hospital nurse who was taking care of him.
2. Finally, fearing that the man might be suffering from some post-operative problem, his nurse spoke to the doctor about it.
3. The doctor assured the nurse, “Don't worry about a thing. He really does have a bump on his head, and I’m not surprised he has a headache. About halfway through the operation we ran out of anesthesia.”
4. That would be just my kind of luck, right?
B. Have you ever felt beat up by life? Have you taken your share of lumps on the head and perhaps the lumps of others as well?
1. Here’s a statement I think we all would agree with: Life is hard and sometimes it just hurts.
2. Charles Swindoll wrote: “Life and pain are synonymous. You cannot have one without the other.”
3. As you know, Job knew a lot about how much life can hurt.
a. In Job 14:1, he said, “Man born of woman is of few days and full of trouble.”
4. You all are familiar with beautiful tapestry weaving.
a. In many ways life is a lot like a tapestry.
b. Stop for a moment and consider the tapestry of life.
c. Consider the fact that suffering is woven through the fabric of life.
d. Feel the underside where all the knots and ugly threads are.
e. In many respects, we can only see the underside of the tapestry, but God sees the top side and He knows the beautiful picture He is weaving using the knots and mess that is on the underside.
f. When our lives are over, we will be able to see the picture God has been working on all along, but in the meantime, we have to trust God.
5. The truth of the matter is that before Adam and Eve sinned, the world was a better place and much of our suffering is the result and consequence of sin.
a. With the coming of sin came the curse of pain and suffering, and ultimately, the sorrow of death.
6. Because pain and suffering are a part of this fallen world, and we cannot escape it, then our goal needs to be to learn to endure it and triumph over it with God’s help, while learning the lessons only pain can teach us.
C. You might be asking: So, what does all this have to do with our story of Esther?
1. Well, even in Esther’s lovely Cinderella story, evil is about rear its ugly head.
2. As you will recall, everything in the story was turning out so well.
a. King Xerxes is happy - He has found a new queen, Esther, the young woman who is beautiful inside and out.
b. Esther, the orphan girl has been crowned the queen and no doubt she is happy.
c. Mordecai is happy and the nation is rejoicing.
d. So all is well, right?
3. It is at this very good and happy point that evil is about to interrupt everything.
a. Should any of us be surprised by that?
b. Isn’t that the way Satan often works? When good is winning, that’s often when he strikes.
4. Let’s move into the next part of the story of Esther and see what we can learn from it.
I. The Story
A. While the majority in the kingdom were pleased with the way things were going, a secret conspiracy was growing in the minds of two men.
1. The Bible says: During the time Mordecai was sitting at the king's gate, Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's officers who guarded the doorway, became angry and conspired to assassinate King Xerxes (Esther 2:21)
2. We notice several important things from this verse.
3. First, it appears that Esther might have had Mordecai appointed to a minor position in the elaborate hierarch of the Persian officials.
a. Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, which often was the place where magistrates heard their cases and made their judgments.
4. Meanwhile two of the king’s other officers, whose job was to guard the doorway, became so angry with the king that they conspired to assassinate the king.
a. These two men are like our president’s secret service detail whose job is to protect the king.
b. Obviously, because of their position, if they wanted to kill the king, it would not be hard for them to do it.
c. Many monarchs have died at the hands of their own servants.
d. What had upset them to the point that they would make such a drastic plan? The Bible doesn’t tell us.
B. What the Bible does tell us is that Mordecai found out about their plot.
1. The Bible says: But Mordecai found out about the plot and told Queen Esther, who in turn reported it to the king, giving credit to Mordecai (Esther 2:22).
2. Mordecai certainly was in a position to overhear what was being said by palace officials, but we must not forget that God is behind the scenes working things out for His purposes, so surely God had something to do with Mordecai discovering the plot.
3. Now Mordecai had a decision to make.
a. Remember Xerxes is not a very good or godly man, (Xerxes is a Jerksies).
b. How many of you, if you were Mordecai might think: “well, Xerxes is not a nice guy, and he did take my daughter into his harem, along with 400 other girls. Two guys want to kill him? Okay go ahead, don’t let me stand in your way!”
c. Mordecai might have been tempted to feel that way, but now Xerxes was Mordecai’s pseudo son-in-law, and so it was probably best to keep the king around for Esther’s sake.
4. So Mordecai told Esther about the assassination plot (“There’s a hit out on your husband”) and Esther told the King about it, making sure that Mordecai got the credit for uncovering the plot.
5. The Bible says: And when the report was investigated and found to be true, the two officials were hanged on a gallows. All this was recorded in the book of the annals in the presence of the king (Esther 2:23).
a. In those days, they didn’t mess around with a lot of time in a courtroom.
b. A quick investigation was conducted and the guilty ones were quickly put to death.
c. The kind of gallows used in that time were not the modern type of gallows where people are hanged by a rope, rather these men were probably impaled on a stake or post.
d. In ancient times, they stopped at nothing to create fear in the hearts of every citizen so all would know that crime does not pay.
C. So what did Mordecai receive as a reward for saving the king’s life? Nothing.
1. Verse 23 tells us that all this was recorded in the annals of the king.
2. The reason the Bible records this whole incident is because it is going to play an important role later in the story.
3. But for now, all Mordecai got was a little ink in the king’s book.
4. Do you remember how the same thing happened to Joseph back in Genesis 40? Joseph had helped the butler know that he was going to be restored to his position of service to the king, Pharaoh, but when it came about the butler forgot all about Joseph.
5. And this king, Xerxes, forgot all about what Mordecai had done for him.
6. Surely Mordecai deserved something for what he had done – a promotion, an award, a gold star, or a lifetime supply of jellybeans. Something, right?
D. Well, after these things, an even greater evil was about to enter the scene.
1. The Bible says: After these events, King Xerxes honored Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, elevating him and giving him a seat of honor higher than that of all the other nobles (Esther 3:1).
2. Now wait a minute, you might be thinking, shouldn’t Mordecai be the one getting the promotion, not Haman?
a. So why is Haman getting the promotion and not Mordecai?
b. Oh, I forgot to mention in the introduction of today’s sermon: “Life’s not only painful; it’s also unfair.”
3. So, Haman the Agagite got the promotion.
a. When you hear Haman’s name do you think to yourself: “I just know from his name that this guy is going to be the villain?”
b. He’s an Agagite, the son of Hammedatha – sounds like a bad character, right?
4. So, who were the Agagites? They were the enemies of the Jewish people.
a. The Amalekites had attacked Israel right after God led the people out of Egypt.
b. So later when Israel was a strong nation under King Saul, God had told Saul to kill all of the Amalekites, including their king Agag, but Saul disobeyed God and did not kill them all.
c. The Agagites are descendents of the Amalekites and got their name from the King that Saul didn’t kill - Agag.
d. All this should be an excellent reminder that when God tells us to do something, we had better do it, because God always has a reason.
5. So Mordecai saved the king’s life, but now his new boss was Haman the Agagite enemy of the Jews – can you feel the tension in the story?
E. The story continues: All the royal officials at the king's gate knelt down and paid honor to Haman, for the king had commanded this concerning him. But Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor. Then the royal officials at the king's gate asked Mordecai, “Why do you disobey the king's command?” Day after day they spoke to him but he refused to comply. Therefore they told Haman about it to see whether Mordecai's behavior would be tolerated, for he had told them he was a Jew (Esther 3:2-4).
1. So what do you think is going on here with Mordecai? Why won’t he show respect for Haman by bowing to him like everyone else?
2. You might say, “He can’t bow to him because he is a Jew and Jewish people are not to worship anyone but God.”
a. You would be right in saying that both the Jews and we, Christians, are not to worship anyone but God, but this kind of bowing is not worship.
b. We see many other Jews in the OT bowing down to others to show respect or gratitude.
c. Jacob bowed down to Esau in Genesis 33. David bowed down to Jonathan in 1 Sam. 20.
d. It is still a part of Eastern courtesy to bow in recognition of age and honor.
e. In the military, you salute, right. When someone comes along of higher rank, you salute them as a sign of respect.
f. Even if you can’t respect the person, you respect the uniform and their office.
3. But here we see that Mordecai stubbornly refused to submit for any reason to Haman.
a. Now, we note that there may have been a general lack of respect for Haman, otherwise there should have been no need for a royal command that people should bow down to him.
b. Other people might have conformed, but Mordecai was no “yes” man.
4. I find it interesting that Haman had not even noticed Mordecai’s lack of respect until it was pointed out to him.
5. But notice Haman’s response once he is made aware, the Bible says: When Haman saw that Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor, he was enraged (Esther 3:5).
a. Haman’s life was going so good at this point – he’s got a throne, he’s ruling and reigning, and everyone bows down to him except this one guy.
b. And what does he become obsessed with? The one guy.
c. Why is it that everything can be going great except for one thing, and we obsess about the one thing?
d. So now that the other officials have pointed out Mordecai’s lack of bowing to Haman, it begins driving Haman nuts. Mordecai is like a rock in his shoe.
F. So what did Haman do? The Bible says: Yet having learned who Mordecai's people were, he scorned the idea of killing only Mordecai. Instead Haman looked for a way to destroy all Mordecai's people, the Jews, throughout the whole kingdom of Xerxes (Esther 3:6).
1. Haman was not satisfied simply to kill Mordecai or to make his life miserable, rather he saw this as an opportunity to kill all of Mordecai’s people, the Jews.
2. If we didn’t know the history of the animosity between the Jews and the Agagites, then Haman’s drastic measures would seem very much like overkill.
3. Ultimately, behind Haman’s hatred and evil plan is Satan himself.
a. Satan is always seeking to destroy God’s people and Satan usually uses the same script and just changes the names.
b. Satan handed the script to Pharaoh which said, “Hate God’s people, the Jews and seek to commit genocide and destroy them. So Pharaoh said, “Yes, Master” and put a plan in place to kill all the Hebrew boys, but God protected them and carried them out of Egypt.
c. Satan handed the script to Haman which said, “Hate God’s people, the Jews, and seek to commit genocide, and destroy them.” Haman said, “Yes, Master” and put a destructive plan in place.
d. As you know, many years later, Satan handed the same script to Hitler, “Hate God’s people, the Jews, plan genocide, use the government, and try to destroy them all.” And you know very well what Hitler did!
e. There are places on earth where Satan continues to use nations to persecute and eliminate God’s people – who today are the Christians, as well as Jews.
G. Look at the next verse, verse 7: In the twelfth year of King Xerxes, in the first month, the month of Nisan, they cast the "pur" (that is, the lot) in the presence of Haman to select a day and month. And the lot fell on the twelfth month, the month of Adar (Esther 3:7).
1. Our story from the book of Esther now comes to the subject, which according to many scholars, constitutes the main theme of the book – the origin of the feast of Purim (or Lots).
2. The casting of lots was a common practice throughout the ancient East and in certain specified situations it was employed by Israel as a means of guidance from the Lord.
3. Haman was also seeking guidance, but not from the Lord.
a. Through divination Haman was asking the spirit realm of demons to guide the dice and pick the perfect, lucky day for the destruction of God’s people.
b. Can you see how Satan is always involved in evil?
c. In Ephesians 6, Paul reminds us: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Eph. 6:12).
H. Our story continues: Then Haman said to King Xerxes, “There is a certain people dispersed and scattered among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom whose customs are different from those of all other people and who do not obey the king's laws; it is not in the king's best interest to tolerate them” (Esther 3:8).
1. What we are witnessing before our own eyes is the very escalation of evil.
a. What began as anger has turned to prejudice.
b. Hatred has grown to murder in Haman’s mind – the extermination of an entire people.
2. Notice how Haman told the king what he wanted to hear, but he didn’t tell the king the whole story.
a. Notice that Haman never mentions his personal vendetta against Mordecai, nor his longstanding anti-Semitism that goes back to his Amalekite roots.
b. No, Haman deliberately hides his real motive while acting as if he has only the king’s good at heart.
c. Notice how Haman discouraged the king from trying to verify the facts by omitting any specific details, especially the name of the trouble-makers.
3. So the king fell for Haman’s plan hook, line and sinker.
a. The king loved his idea. It appealed to his superstition, his conceit and his greed.
b. Haman knew which of the king’s buttons to push, so he sweetened the pot.
4. Haman said to the king: “If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them, and I will put ten thousand talents of silver into the royal treasury for the men who carry out this business” (Esther 3:9).
a. Ten thousand talents of silver is a lot of silver – that was 375 tons (12 million ounces) of silver, which represented a lot of loot.
b. Where would Haman get that much money? Probably from the homes and possessions he would confiscate once he killed the Jews.
I. How did Xerxes respond? The Bible says: So the king took his signet ring from his finger and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. “Keep the money,” the king said to Haman, “and do with the people as you please” (Esther 3:10-11).
1. The giving of the signet ring gave Haman the power to put any plan into motion and authorize it with the king’s signature mark.
2. This was like giving Haman the power of attorney or giving him the MasterCard.
3. It’s hard to believe that Xerxes had become so evil and calloused that with a wave of the hand he could say, “Just finish them all off.” It’s almost more than our minds can imagine.
J. Haman pressed on without hesitation, without a hint of restraint or a glimmer of guilt.
1. The Bible says: Then on the thirteenth day of the first month the royal secretaries were summoned. They wrote out in the script of each province and in the language of each people all Haman's orders to the king's satraps, the governors of the various provinces and the nobles of the various peoples. These were written in the name of King Xerxes himself and sealed with his own ring. Dispatches were sent by couriers to all the king's provinces with the order to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews--young and old, women and little children--on a single day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods. A copy of the text of the edict was to be issued as law in every province and made known to the people of every nationality so they would be ready for that day (Esther 3:12-14).
2. So Haman ordered the annihilation of all the Jews throughout the Persian kingdom – notice it was all the Jews, young and old, men, women and little children!
a. The plan was put in writing and was sealed with the king’s ring.
b. King Xerxes ruled like a god, and when he said something it was like inerrant Scripture, so the scribes wrote it down and translated it into all the languages of the people.
c. This was done in the first month of the year, but the destruction of God’s people was not to be carried out until the twelfth month.
d. Surely Haman thought: “Let them live in the misery of knowing what awaits them.”
e. Did you notice the order: “destroy, kill and annihilate”? The threefold expression is a stylistic feature of official, legal terminology.
K. Today’s chapter and story ends with verse 15: Spurred on by the king's command, the couriers went out, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa. The king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was bewildered (Esther 3:15).
1. How disturbing! After hatching such a treacherous plan how can the two of them have a drink?
2. They are acting like a couple of powerful business people who have just closed a big deal.
3. Over a drink they say: “What a great day! Boy we really made some money today. We are so powerful! We really destroyed some people! I’ll drink to that!”
4. While the collaborators celebrated, the city of Susa was stunned!
5. The people must have wondered what lay behind such a drastic decree?
6. You can imagine their objection: The Jews are our neighbors, our friends, our coworkers – they are decent people and good citizens!
L. This is where we are going to leave our story until next time.
1. This is quite a captivating mini-series, isn’t it?
2. The king has given away his authority and power to a madman and now God’s people are in great danger. Esther is in great danger.
3. Tune in next week for the next thrilling installment in the saga of God’s people in the time of Esther.
II. The Application
A. I have about run out of time, but I want to leave us with a few things to think about and try to apply to our lives.
B. First of all, I want you to think about God’s actions or lack of them at this point.
1. How many of you were expecting God to stop this evil plan before it got this far?
2. Why didn’t God intervene with a miracle or an angel or a prophet?
3. Why didn’t God speak or act? Why did God allow it to go this far?
4. Answer: God has a wonderful plan and will bring an amazing ending, but to learn the lessons God wants us to learn, He has to lead us through turbulent and trying times.
5. That’s why we can and should trust God through the challenging and painful times we face.
6. For when we think God isn’t acting on our behalf, we can know for sure that He is.
C. Second, I want us to wrestle with our own depravity.
1. How different from Xerxes and Haman are we? Without God’s grace we are not that different.
2. Do we make rash decisions? Do we harbor grudges, prejudice and hatred in our hearts?
3. Let me ask a strange question: Who would you kill if you could? If each of us received a free “whack one person” coupon, would you use yours?
4. Do you remember how Jesus taught in Matthew 5 that hatred and murder are on the same highway, only one’s just a little further down the road than the other? That’s why we must stay off the hatred highway.
5. We must keep bitterness, resentment and hatred out of our hearts, or it will lead to our own harm or the harm of others.
D. Finally, I want us to see the seed of hope that God has planted for His people.
1. Whenever we are up against an impossible situation or tremendous suffering, God gives us seeds of hope, we just need to look for them.
2. In this case, the seed of hope was the official day that was set for the annihilation of the Jews – it was a memorable day to any Jew because it was the eve before Passover.
3. So long ago God instituted the Passover and delivered His people from Pharaoh’s evil control.
4. Would God again deliver His people from Haman’s evil plan – it was to take place at Passover!
5. May God help us to look for His seeds of hope when life is full of evil, hardship, and suffering.
6. God sends us those seeds of hope that signal: “I’m here. Don’t worry or fear. I will get you through this. Just trust me.”
Resources:
Esther: A Woman of Strength and Dignity, by Charles Swindoll, Word Publishing, 1997.
Jesus Is A Better Savior, Sermon by Mark Driscoll, http://marshill.com
Esther, by Joyce Baldwin, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, IVP, 1984
