Esther #1 The Providence of God 11 Oct 2020
Hello I'm Pastor Greg of Calvary Reformed
Church in the Texas Corners area of Michigan.
I am so excited we're going to be starting a new
series on the Old Testament book of Esther. A book that is about a beauty pageant. It's about a king who
is swayed by his advisors. It's about a nation that's
struggling and yet it's ultimately about the sovereignty and the providence of God.
Before we get into the beginning of this I’d like to have a word of prayer. Father God as we come before You we give You thanks and praise for
Your word. In scripture, Your word written through
Esther, the story of Esther, 2400 years ago Lord… which still is relevant today. We give you thanks for
that Lord. We ask all this in Your name, amen.
Well sometimes people wonder why we need to look back at history. Why can't we just simply take the New Testament. But that's history, too. Why can't we have the Bible and just what does it mean right now for us today?
I always chuckle at myself when I hear people say they don't want to hear about history. If that was the case, why does any NFL football team, baseball team, soccer team, or hockey team watch their opponents to see how they play? They're looking at history. They're looking at to see how the team played against somebody else and they learned from that. I don't know who said it and I’m sure
lots of people have said it, but unless we study history we are bound to make the same mistakes that our four parents did. So we study history.
The book of Esther is a story of history that is set
in the land of Persia. It's set during the time of the Jewish people in 200 and 605 BC. The last two tribes of Israel were taken into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar. After that there were two more times that an exile took place to Babylon. We know about 70 years later Babylon was overthrown by the Medes and the Persians…Cyrus the Great. Out of the Medes and the Persians the one country that rose to the top was Persia.
It's interesting that within the book of Esther it is the grandson who has the story that's going on. He becomes king around 486 until 464. Persia at that time was the largest then known country in the world
from India all the way over to Greece and down into Africa. A lot of us have seen the fabled movie ‘300’.
During this time the Persians were going in and facing the 300 soldiers. This is a story about God's
providence and it's also a story we're going to get
into it in a couple weeks. Esther's uncle asked her
a question…overall it's the story of God's providence.
Many of us have that question today…what's going on in our society? What's going on within the political world? Lord, what's happening with churches? What's happening with churches being
able to worship, not able to worship… all of the issues that are pulling Christians apart. We as
Christians should be bonded together. I'm not talking about all the different laws that are going on. What I'm talking about is bonded together as the Body of Christ.
We ask that simple question when we say, ‘God, what is going on? Are you in control with all of this God? It sure doesn't seem like it. Haven't you ever felt like that in your own life? Where are you God? Why did you allow this accident to take place to a loved one that I thoroughly loved? They have passed away Lord. Why did you allow this other event to take place and now somebody is maimed
Lord? Why have you allowed my business to go bankrupt and now I don't know what I’m doing Lord. Why after these years of working have I been fired from my position and what am I going to do now
Lord? Are you really in control?
Friends, the book of Esther says emphatically: yes, God is in control and as the seasons we are so
blessed here in Michigan. The seasons change from winter to spring to summer to the beautiful colors of fall.
We know God is in control. Let’s look at Esther chapter one today. In the next weeks as we do the series on Esther we're going to look at five figures. One, Yerxis, who is the king who follows the not too wise suggestions from his wise leaders. Vasti, his first queen gets deposed…but we're told in other non-biblical writings even after she's deposed
she still has an influence within the country Medes
or the Persian country. We're going to see Hammond, not a good man. We're going to see
Mordecai, a Hebrew of the tribe of Benjamin and
we're going to see Esther.
For such a time as this, Esther became queen of the Persian country. If you've got your Bibles I encourage you to open them up to Esther chapter one. This is what happened during the
time of Jerksies who rule over Persia. As I already said, all the way from India over to the land of Greece, all the way down into Egypt…the third
year of his reign, he’s about 39 years old. It's believed at this point that the third year of his reign he gave a banquet for all of his nobles and his
officials. The military leaders of Persia and Meda and the princes and the nobles for the providence and this banquet lasted 180 days. Imagine that friends, 180 days of being fed by the king and having a banquet…a festival.
We go on and read here these days were over after the 180 days. Then the king gave another banquet
lasting seven days in the enclosed garden of the king's palace for all the people from the land from
the greatest to the least. They were all invited to come there. The author of Esther goes on and writes about all of the opulence of this king, his wealth, everything that he has within his life. It's interesting that he is feasting for seven days
with all the people. He's in a good mood. We actually read that they all could drink the same wine, even the king's wine. It is believed he was in a very merry mood. The we read in verse nine that Queen Vasti also gave a banquet for the women of the royal palace of the king. On the seventh day when King Irxes was in high spirits from wine (as a side
note…nothing good comes from people if they've been drinking too much. Nothing good comes from drunkards). All through scripture it talks about how
he was in high spirits from the wine. He commanded the seven eunuchs who served him to bring the queen before him so that she could wear her royal crown in order to display her beauty in front of all the other people that were there. The queen refused to do it. She refused to parade herself. Some people say that she was going to be dressed with her crown. Other historians say that, no, the king wanted to parade her just with her crown on her head
that she had no clothes on. We really don't know. But what we do know is that the queen stood up and said no, this is not right. This is not a dignified way
for you to treat me as your wife.
If you know the story of Esther you know what happens. The king becomes enraged. He gets so mad he says you know what Queen Bastia you are no longer going to be my queen and he talks to his wise men and they said no you need to dispose of
her and find another queen. He does just that. He disposes of her. But then there's an interlude that takes place when we read from chapter one to chapter two. When we read Esther it sounds like it's just flowing very smoothly and quickly. Then King
Yerxis goes off to war against the Spartans and the Persians are defeated. They had some wins
but overall they were defeated.
He came back home…a defeated king without a queen. Which leads us into what we're going to
talk about next week. This week I want to set the stage for what's going on. Sometimes within our lives we don't actually feel like maybe there is a God. Where is God in the midst of what's taking place within our lives? Where is God in the midst of
the struggles that I have?
We're going to actually see that throughout the whole book of Esther. That question is being asked by the Hebrew people who are in the land of Persia.
But also, those who have gone back already to the land of Israel who were allowed by king Irksy's
grandfather Cyrus to go back to repopulate Jerusalem. Where's God in the midst of all of this
friends? Is God's arm, is his hand not so short as it cannot save us? I love that phrase. I’ve got a couple of great phrases here. God's hand is not so short that it cannot save nor His ear so heavy that He cannot hear.
Friends, whether we see Him or not at work, He is always at work in our lives. He is always at work within nature. He is always at work within our nation. God specializes in turning the mundane into the meaningful. That's a great one. Don't you feel like your life is mundane sometimes? Maybe you’re saying, what's the use? What's going on? I’ve got all these issues that are taking place in my life.
We're going to see next week how Esther is brought
to the king. How she becomes part of the Persians.
Do you want to marry a king contest. You're probably wondering Yahweh God where are you through all this? Yet God uses the mundane to turn things meaningful. God not only moves in unusual ways, He moves in uneventful days. At times, our days may be uneventful and yet when we walk with
Jesus Christ, God is in control. He is as involved in the mundane as what He is in the miraculous.
We're going to see in the book of Esther there is no
miracle that takes place except the reality that God is sovereign, friends. God is sovereign in my life, God is sovereign in Esther’s life. God was sovereign for the Jewish people. He is sovereign overall. He is! I bank on it! That's what I put my faith in, my trust in.
God is so often working behind the scenes we may not always see it. We may not always understand how He’s working behind the scenes. And yet
through a 180-day party that king Yorkshire had and through seven more days a party in which they have a lot of libation going on…calling the queen and disposing the queen. Going off to war, getting defeated by the Greeks, coming back a defeated king…we see how God's providence is leading him to an action.
If you want to read ahead, read ahead to chapter 2 and chapter 3. God's providence leads him, an ungodly man, one who is not following Yahweh God. Yet God still leads him friends. Sometimes we may
wonder God what are you doing? What are you doing with this person's life? Who is in leadership of us within political offices nationally or within the state? God is what’s going on.
Friends, God can still lead that individual and God does his providence. The sovereign quality of God
in our lives, mark it down, you can take this to the bank…God is always at work. You and I may question that sometimes. Yet the reality is we need to take a step back. Too many of us at times right now are getting too upset and too frustrated. Like Chicken Little saying the sky is falling.
Friends, as the body of Christ we can take a step back. Take a breath. Go back to Isaiah, another old testament book. The prophet Isaiah says this:
‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor my ways your ways declares the Lord God Isaiah 8. My thoughts are not your thoughts nor my ways your ways declares the lord.
God is at work for as the heavens are higher than the Earth. So are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts greater than your thoughts. Friends there's a lot of struggles going on today within our society. We have a lot of issues that are taking
place. But my prayer is that as the body of Christ,
as the bride of Christ, the church…Christians, we would stand firm and take it to the bank knowing that God is always at work. Knowing that Jesus Christ desires to be always at work within my life and desires the best in our lives.
We're going to see that next week with Esther.
I would imagine she didn't feel the best of her life and yet God desired the best for her and for the Hebrew people.
So, too, my ways are not God's ways, my thoughts are not God's thoughts. He's God and I am not and I give him thanks for just that.
I encourage you all, before next week's video, to read chapters 2, 3, and 4. Really read all the chapters of Esther. Get a feel for the story and see the providence…the working of God throughout the entire story.
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit may the Lord bless you and keep You. May the Lord lift up His grace and strength upon you and may we take it to the bank knowing that God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit is in control of all.
Amen
