LIVING FOR GOD IN A GODLESS CULTURE
Dealing with Destruction in the Bible
ESTHER 9:1-19
INTRODUCTION
-Many people are unaware the President Abraham Lincoln had a short lived military career.
-One story relates that Lincoln was marching his company and encountered an open gate, through which his men needed to pass
-But Lincoln could not remember the proper command to get his men through the gate!
-He had a whole company of troops but they were being held up by a simple gate.
-So Lincoln called "Halt!" and ordered the men to fall out for two minutes and then reform on the other side of the gate.
-Did I mention that Lincoln started out as captain and rose to the rank of private?
-His troops were nearly stopped because of a barrier they ran into
-Our passage today is like that.
-We are going to look at one of our last passages in Esther and it’s the kind of the passage that is a barrier to many people’s faith.
-At this point in the story:
• Haman was been killed.
• Mordecai was promoted.
• The Jews were granted permission to defend themselves.
ESTHER 9:1-19
So on March 7 the two decrees of the king were put into effect. On that day, the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but quite the opposite happened. It was the Jews who overpowered their enemies.
-As we’ve discussed there was a stunning turn of events in Persia.
-Haman had issued a decree ordering that the Jews could all be killed, and the people who killed them could steal their stuff.
-One of the key details in this story is that Haman’s decree was given in April for March 7th of the following year.
-So they rolled dice to determine the extermination date.
-So they would have had to wait eleven months to be wiped out.
-That would be like having a year in prison before your death sentence is carried out.
-You can imagine how sad, how depressed, how fearful they were.
-And what do you suppose the enemies of the Jews were doing all this time? You have to put yourself in this story and imagine a bit.
-You can see them eyeballing your property and looking at your stuff with greedy eyes. Measuring tape…
-We can only guess about the kinds of remarks and threats they were making as they waited for March 7th.
• I’m coming for you. I’m going to get you.
• I’m going to take your land.
• I’m going to take your daughter and your wife.
• You can see those enemies bullying, and intimidating, and giving menacing looks to those 15 million Jews who’d been sold for destruction.
-But then God intervened on behalf of his people.
-In late June Mordecai got Haman’s old job, he’d come into power and he made a new edict.
-He gave the Jews official permission to fight back….but not until March 7th. The same date as the other edict.
-Both edicts were put into effect on the same day but they contradicted each other.
-One said that the Jews could be wiped out.
-One said that the Jews could fight back.
-And here’s how it played out.
2 The Jews gathered in their cities throughout all the king’s provinces to attack anyone who tried to harm them. But no one could make a stand against them, for everyone was afraid of them. 3 And all the nobles of the provinces, the highest officers, the governors, and the royal officials helped the Jews for fear of Mordecai. 4 For Mordecai had been promoted in the king’s palace, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces as he became more and more powerful.
-The deciding factor really was Mordecai. He was the key.
-When word spread throughout the kingdom that the highest official in the land was a Jew…people suddenly got religious.
-Those enemies got nervous. People started changing their tune.
-They switched sides and said, “I was for the Jews all along.”
-The people who were powerless suddenly had power.
-The people who were picked on were now promoted.
-The intended victims became the victors!
-It’s a great story; it’s a happy ending story.
-This is the kind of story we like to see in a movie; the man, or woman, or people that survive against all odds!
-It reminds us of Braveheart. Gladiator. The Patriot. Earnest goes to Camp. What? He won in the end!
-We love it when the good guy wins and bad guys are killed!
-Except…in the Bible. People don’t like to read stuff like that in the Bible. They complain about it. They don’t like it. Take that part out
-Critics use it against Christians…look what your loving God did.
-Pastors like to skip over these passages…not politically correct.
-Christians scratch their heads when they read these, maybe even recoil and wonder if there is something they aren’t getting.
-There must be some explanation.
-WHAT ARE WE SUPPOSED TO THINK ABOUT DESTRUCTION IN THE BIBLE?
-There is no spin to put on this…
-The enemies of the Jews were wiped out on March 7th…
5 So the Jews went ahead on the appointed day and struck down their enemies with the sword. They killed and annihilated their enemies and did as they pleased with those who hated them.
6 In the fortress of Susa itself, the Jews killed 500 men.
-All those people who had threatened them…
-All those that had bullied and intimidated them…
-All those that conspired to kill them…were killed.
-500 men in the city where Esther and Mordecai lived.
-Let’s call it what it was: It wasn’t nice. It wasn’t civilized. It was men with swords killing other men with swords.
-Vicious, bloody, gruesome, massacre. There’s more:
-They found the 10 sons of their enemy Haman and killed all of them.
-That sounds scandalous to our modern ears but that was Standard Operating Procedure in ancient times.
-They did to their enemies what their enemies had wanted to do to them.
-It’s like the Golden Rule says, “Do unto others, before they can do unto you.” That seems wrong somehow?
-It seems as though God’s people and God’s enemies intended to do the same things. Kill each other.
-Was one group morally superior to the other?
-The only distinction in the end of verse 10 is that:
But they did not take any plunder.
-That’s commendable. It does show that they were out for justice and not just trying steal their enemy’s stuff.
-But that’s little consolation to their enemies after their dead!
-And it even gets a little bit uglier.
11 That very day, when the king was informed of the number of people killed in the fortress of Susa, 12 he called for Queen Esther. He said, “The Jews have killed 500 men in the fortress of Susa alone, as well as Haman’s ten sons. If they have done that here, what has happened in the rest of the provinces? But now, what more do you want? It will be granted to you; tell me and I will do it.”
-Notice this time that Esther did not sneak in to see the king and risk her life again, this time she was called into his presence.
-And he says, “what else can I do?”
-And here it seems like Esther got into the spirit of things.
13 Esther responded, “If it please the king, give the Jews in Susa permission to do again tomorrow as they have done today, and let the bodies of Haman’s ten sons be impaled on a pole.”
-It’s gone so well today…so let’s do it all again tomorrow!
-And let’s put Haman’s sons on display just like their father was…let’s do to them what they intended to do to us.
-Let it serve warning to those who even think about trying this.
14 So the king agreed, and the decree was announced in Susa. And they impaled the bodies of Haman’s ten sons. 15 Then the Jews at Susa gathered together on March 8 and killed 300 more men, and again they took no plunder.
-So 800 men were killed in Susa but it’s even worse than that.
16 Meanwhile, the other Jews throughout the king’s provinces had gathered together to defend their lives. They gained relief from all their enemies, killing 75,000 of those who hated them. But they did not take any plunder.
-75,000 people being wiped out is no small matter.
-That’s twice as many people in our town. All killed in 2 day’s time
-And it was done by God’s people, seemingly with his approval.
-That makes us stop and wonder about the God we call Father.
-It makes some question God’s goodness?
-And it serves as a barrier to some people’s faith.
-So how do we explain stories like this? You should be able to answer those who object to such things.
-And I want to give you a couple of thoughts on how to do that.
-When you read stories like this in the Bible you need to stop and consider the…
-Immediate Context: What is going on in the story?
-In Esther we know that millions of Jews were targeted for elimination.
-If you just read ch 9 you might be shocked at the slaughter of thousands. But it could have been millions of innocent Jews.
-Some of these scenes in the OT aren’t as clear as this one…but it doesn’t sounds as shocking when you consider the full details.
-In the Old Testament we see people put to death for things and it seems very harsh.
-But if you think about the immediate context you realize things like this: they had no penal system. No jails. No ability to rehabilitate prisoners. There were factors you have to consider.
-The Jews took thousands of lives to save millions.
-You have to think through some of the details in these accounts.
-Historical Considerations: What do we know from history?
-When you read about the Israelites fighting and killing the Amorites and the Edomites and the Amalekites remember to get the history. There are historical factors to consider.
-The Amalekites attacked Israel while they were wandering…
-The Edomites were descendants of Esau…they knew about God, but attacked his people and at one point looted the temple.
-In our story it’s important to remember that the Jews were not from Persia. They were attacked, wiped out, God’s temple destroyed, and they were deported to Persia.
-They were brought to Persia against their will and mistreated.
-That changes how you read the story.
Spiritual Perspective: What role does sin and wickedness play?
-It’s hard for us to accept sometimes, but even harder for non-believers to accept the wickedness of those who do not believe.
-We believe that there are two types of people in this world; there are sinners who are doomed and sinners who are saved.
-Put differently there are people working with God and people working against God.
-The enemies of the Jews were not just one side in a two sided affair. This isn’t just one group who hates another group.
-The enemies of the Jews were acting as enemies of God.
-There are no neutral parties in heaven’s Great War.
-There is no spiritual Switzerland…not choosing sides is choosing sides. Non-Christians do not like this. They don’t want to hear it.
-Christian do not like this, they don’t want to say it.
-But this is what we believe. This is what our Bible says. There are sides. This is what Jesus taught.
-Matthew 25:46 “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”
-Those who stood against God and his people then…were ultimately destroyed because of their own wickedness.
-Those who stood against God and his people now…will be ultimately be destroyed because of their own wickedness.
-And that’s what happened in Persia. Wicked people received the fate that God says wicked people deserve; destruction.
-They weren’t that wicked…how could bad could they be?
-The Bible says we are all people wicked, have wicked tendencies and commit wicked deeds. That’s the bad news.
-It’s not a joy to hear that. We should never boast in that.
-We should be cautious and gentle as we explain this to people; but we must not hesitate to speak this because it’s the truth.
-But there is at least one more thing to consider.
Messianic Implications: What does this have to do with Jesus?
-Why was God so preferential in his treatment of the Jews?
-Why was he willing to see other people groups destroyed in order to save the Jews?
-They had an important function: they were the line that Jesus would come from.
-How many thousands lost their lives in all those OT wars?
-Too many thousands to count. Men, women, & children.
-But how many were millions have gained eternal life because Israel survived and did what they were supposed to do?
-From Israel came the Savior Jesus Christ our Lord.
-In 1945 President Harry Truman authorized the use of atomic weapons on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
-One of the most brutal military attacks in history.
-But they believed that taking those loves would save many more.
-And so it is with God and his special relationship with Israel.
-Many were destroyed but countless more have been saved.
-God allowed some to perish so that many could be saved.
-You might be tempted to overlook these passages in Scripture
-Evangelistic overtones: Why should we care?
-Whenever we read about destruction in the Bible there is an immediate and pressing application.
-2 Peter 3:9 “He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.”
-What do we do with passages like this? Some of you are trying to read the Bible to be encouraged and challenged.
-When we come across a passage like this in your daily reading what are we supposed to do with it? What are we to think?
-These passages should remind us of the sinners that we know who are not saved…yet.
-It should remind us that as we go about our work there is a man or woman next to us heading for destruction.
-It should remind us as we’re sitting around opening presents at CHRISTmas that some of our family doesn’t yet know Christ.
-It should remind us that when we’re dealing with people who are mean, or stubborn, or atheists, against our faith…that they are heading for destruction.
-And in some cases the only thing between them and the fires of hell is you and I.
-We’re the only ones they may know who have some Good News for those who are walking away from God.
-Our job isn’t to judge them…they are judged.
-Our job isn’t to look down on them…we’re no better. Just saved.
-Our job isn’t hurry them to hell it’s to plead w/them to be saved.
“Oh my brothers and sisters in Christ, if sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies and if they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay, and not madly to destroy themselves. If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for.” Charles Spurgeon
-There are people headed for destruction, have you warned them
-There are people headed for destruction, have you prayed for them?
-There are people headed for destruction, have you invited them?
-There are people headed for destruction, have you told them the Good News about Jesus?
