Time magazine covered the extravagance of the Shaw Of Iran
back in 1971. It was the 2500th year anniversary of the founding of
the Persian Empire by Cyrus the Great. Nine kings and five queens
were there, along with princes and princesses, and 16 presidents. It
was a high class elegant affair that cost $100,000 dollars. As
extravagant as it was, however, it could not hold a candle to the
banquet thrown by his predecessor many centuries early. Esther
begins with an account of possibly the greatest most plush banquet
of all time. It will probably never be excelled until the redeemed
enter into the marriage supper of the Lamb.
King Ahasurus, better known as King Xerxes, had a banquet for
all of his princes, military leaders, and political leaders. It lasted for
180 days, or one half of a year. Now that is what you call a party, it
was a six months smorgasbord. Then he topped that off with a
seven day banquet for all the people in the capital city of Susa.
Xerxes, like most absolute rulers, could be very cruel, but you can be
sure of one thing, nobody ever called him a party pooper. The one
thing wealthy people have in common is a love for parties. This is
their way of revealing their wealth and status. Mrs. Cornelious
Vanderbuilt use to spend three hundred thousand a year on
entertainment.
Scholars are convinced that Xerxes is trying to make a big
impression. He has an ambition to conquer the Greeks, and rule,
not just most of the world, but all of the world. This half-year
banquet was to get all of his leaders together to persuade them to
cooperate, and plan the strategy. Verse 4 stresses that Xerxes
paraded his riches and glory before them, and you get the
impression it is like may day in Russia, when all of the big rockets,
tanks, and other weapons are paraded before the leaders, in order to
build the ego, and say to all, look at how great and powerful we are.
You can be sure that everyone was impressed with the power and
glory of Xerxes. He had wealth beyond our imagination, and we will
never see as much gold as he had until we look down as we walk the
streets of the heavenly city.
There is no point in trying to describe the splendor of his
kingdom. The point we need to see is that the story of Esther takes
place in an environment of pleasure and treasure without measure.
Almost the entire book takes place in the palace of the king. It is in
the midst of glory that we see only in fairy tales. Esther, the Jewish
girl, was a mere nobody, and she was exalted into this atmosphere of
elegant royalty. It is a true Cinderella story. It is important that we
see the environment in which the story takes place. That is the only
way you will be able to grasp why things in this book seem to be
acceptable that would be totally unacceptable in any other context,
for both Jews and Christians.
Martin Luther never could enter into the context of Esther, and
see it from the perspective of ancient Eastern royalty. The result is,
he despised the book of Esther, and felt it was immoral, and ought
not to be in the Bible. You don't have to like what went on in the
palace of king Xerxes, but the fact is we can learn a lot of relevant
truth about God's working in history by taking advantage of this
behind the scenes peek. We are privileged to get an inside view of
what is happening in the palace that affects the people of the whole
world. We get to follow God into the most exclusive setting, and see
how He providentially works behind closed doors in the decision
making centers of world governments. Just to be aware that God
works in such ways is a valuable revelation that can change your
world view.
The first thing the book of Esther does for us is it forces us to
broaden our perspective on the sphere of God's working. God is not
limited to Israel. He is not limited to His chosen people. God is the
God of the whole world, and His providence works even in the
pagan world. Mal. 1:5 says, "Great is the Lord, even beyond the
borders of Israel."
In verse 11 God says, "My name will be great among the nations, from
the rising to the setting of the sun." Esther brings us into a Persian
setting, where we see the whole history of God's people bound up in
what happens in Persia. God did not start working in Persia just
because Esther and the Jews were there. He had been providentially
working in and through the Persians from the start of their
kingdom.
Cyrus the Great conquered the Medes and the united them with
the Persians to form the Medo-Persian Empire. He was a master
strategist who figured out ways to conquer the unconquerable.
Mounted Lydian spearmen blocked the road of his forward march.
It was like a man with a bebe gun going against a tank. But he sent
his baggage camels in front of his lines, and the sight of these beasts
frightened the Lydian horses, and they ran off in disorder, and
Cyrus marched on to victory.
When Cyrus marched into Babylon, and made it a part of the
Persian Empire in 539 B.C., he had some reason for pride. He got a
bit heavy on the titles, however, when he proclaimed, "I am Cyrus,
king of the universe, great king, mighty king, king of Babylon,
king of Sumer and Akkad, king of the world." That just about
covered it. He was the richest most powerful man in the world, and
he was a pagan. So we write him off as of no value to the purpose of
God in history-right? Wrong! He played a major role in God's
plan, and that is the point we want to stress, for if we limit God in
the sphere of His providence in history, we fail to see Him as the
God of all history, and all people, even the pagan people's of the
world. There is only one God, and He is the God of all, whether they
know it or not.
In the case of Cyrus, the Bible is so clear in its revelation that we
cannot miss it. 22 times the Old Testament refers to Cyrus the
Great, and everyone of them is positive. Some are so positive as to be
shocking. Daniel served under Cyrus, and his successor, Darius,
and he was greatly blessed. Darius was the Persian king who had
him thrown into the lion's den, and who was so grateful that Daniel
was spared. The Persians played a major part in God's plan for
Israel. God said of Cyrus the Great in Isa. 44:28, "He is my
shepherd and He shall fulfill all my purpose." God used this great
pagan ruler to get his people back into the promise land. He sent
them back, and he paid for the rebuilding of God's temple in
Jerusalem. He also sent back with them all the treasures that had
been carried away in Babylon.
God used him like he was an Abraham, Moses, or a Joshua. But
the fact is, he did not even know the God of Israel who was using
him. Isa. 45:1 says, "Thus says the Lord to His anointed, to Cyrus,
whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him,
and ungird the loins of kings, to open doors before him that gates
may not be closed: I will go before you and level mountains, I will
break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut asunder the bars of
iron..." After other promises of guidance, God says, "I call you by
your name, I surname you, though you do not know me."
Now I don't want to go on studying Cryus, for it could take a full
message just to look at the text dealing with this man's role in God's
plan. I share this brief glimpse so we can see the close
interrelationship of Persia and the people of God. They were
intertwined from the beginning. The book of Esther is just one
chapter in the context of their interrelationship. Here again it is the
king of Persia who is the power who will either destroy or deliver
the Jews. They will perish or prosper depending upon his choices.
So we see God again working behind the scenes to lead this king to
fulfill His purpose in history.
Do not think that God does not work in the pagan governments of
the world. Do not put God in a box by thinking that pagan leaders
will never do anything good in the world, and never make decisions
to further the cause of God in the world. This is not only narrow
thinking, it is anti-Biblical. God never did pull out of Persia. When
we come to the New Testament, the very first people to receive the
message of the Messiah's birth were the three wisemen, or the Magi
of Persia. John Chrysostom, the great golden mouthed preacher of
the fourth century, wrote, "The Incarnate Word on coming to the
world gave to the Persians, in the persons of the Magi, the first
manifestation of his mercy and light-so that the Jews themselves
learned from the mouths of Persians of the birth of their Messiah."
St. Thomas brought the Gospel to Persia, and there has been a
continuous history of Jewish and Christian influence in Persia. We
cannot cover this whole history, but let me share some highlights, for
it relates to what we see God doing in Esther. Esther is just a peek
into a vast world of God's providence. It cannot all be a part of
Scripture, or the world could not contain the acts of God in history.
The point I want to make is that God has been working in Persia
from its beginning, and we will know many people in heaven who
came to Christ in Persia. In the third century many of the famous
doctors of Persia were Christians. In 485 A.D., the chief advisors to
the king of Persia was a Christian. Some of the kings of Persia
married Christian women, and so you have other stories like this of
Esther, where a Jew becomes queen of Persia, married to a pagan
king. Christians were among the best educated, and so even when
the Arabs conquered Persia in 632, the Christians continued to get
the key positions in government and institutions of higher learning.
In the 1200's when Marco Polo visited Persia he found a
flourishing Christians community. The Christians had become the
favored minority over the Muslim majority. There is much more
that is positive, but we need to look at the negative side also, which
explains why Christianity is not a power in Iran today. Iran is, of
course, the modern name of Persia. God's providence is to give His
people a chance to do His will. He does not force them, and if they
chose to disobey they can lose His blessing.
The Christians had it made by their wise living, and they could
have won the whole nation. But when Christians refused to be
Christian, the message of the Gospel does not work. The first
mistake of Christians in Persia was their refusal to use the language
of the masses. They had their Syriac Bible, but would not use the
Arabic, the language of the people. When the Arabs took over, and
used Arabic, the masses became a part of Islam instead of
Christianity. Today the church goes into all the world to give people
the Bible in their own language. Christians have learned from
history, if you don't give people the Bible in their own tongue, you
will not be able to build on a lasting foundation. Persian history is a
perfect example.
Christians were very well educated. They were leaders in the
land. Instead of being loving toward the masses, they mocked their
ignorance, and despised their pagan customs, and deliberately
drank wine on their holy days to show their contempt. You don't
have to know much history to know what is the inevitable result of
such folly. In 1369 Tamberlane, a descendant of Genghiz Khan,
came to power in Persia. He unleashed a reign of terror on
Christians. They were rounded up and murdered, and the churches
were destroyed, and Christianity never recovered from this scourge.
Yes, there will be many in heaven from Persia, but the sad fact is,
there will be many less than there should be, because God's
providence is not the only force in history.
We need to see this side also, lest we be superficial and conclude,
that sense God is providentially working in history, we don't have to
worry about anything. Not so, for man is still responsible for his
decisions and choices, and what he does can make a big difference in
the course of history. Not everything that is, is just how God wants
it. Man is constantly making choices that are foolish. God's people
can get a break and then blow it, and all can be ruined.
Mordecai made this clear to Esther in 4:14 where he warned her
when she toyed with the idea of not getting involved. He said, "For
if you keep silence at such a time as this, relief and deliverance will
rise for the Jews from another quarter, but you and your fathers
house will perish." In other words, Esther still had to make a free
choice to go along with the providence of God. She could have said
no, and blown it, and gone down in history as a famous traitor
rather than a heroine. In all our study of providence, let us never
lose sight of the full responsibility of man to follow and obey the will
of God. If God opens the door, and I do not go through it, I will not
experience the providence of God, and the blessing is lost.
Now, having looked at all this history surrounding and growing
out of the book of Esther, the question is, how is all of this to have an
effect on our lives today? It is to have this effect in us, that we never
write off politics as a sphere where God is not active. No matter
how dirty, corrupt, and scandalous politics can be, it is a key area of
life where God is at work to accomplish His purpose in history. Yes,
government is secular, but that is the point of the book of Esther.
God is active in the secular world. God so loved the world, not just
the church, and His own people. God loved the world, and still does,
and He works in the sphere of that secular world He loves. Esther
has no reference to God, or anything religious. It is a secular story
from beginning to end. It is in the Bible to make it a clear revelation
to all people for all time, God is the God of the secular world as well
as the religious world. Grasping this can change your whole outlook
on life, and make all of life and history more exciting.
Do not ever assume that a non-Christian leader or politician
cannot be a channel of God's purpose in history. To do so is to be
blind to the record of God's actual working. God used the pagan
rulers of all the great empires of world to achieve His plan. The
Babylonians, Persians, Greeks and Romans, everyone of them
played a major role in God's plan, and many of them came to be
true believers in each of these great empires. But whether the
leaders did or not become believers, God used them. He used
Caesar Augustus to make a decree to tax the world. This fulfilled
the prophecy of the Messiah being born in Bethlehem. Pagan kings
and Centurions were constantly playing roles in Paul's life and
ministry. When he ended up in Rome, the pagan authorities gave
him great freedom to teach and preach about Jesus. Without God's
providential leading in the lives of pagan authorities, Paul would not
have gotten to share the Gospel in the capital of the world, and
impact all of world history.
We see it so clearly in Esther, how God used pagans for His
purpose, but it was not new. God has always worked outside of
Israel, for His providence is universal. Moses was one of the
greatest leaders in the history of Israel, but who had a major
influence on his life? It was Jethro, his father-in -law, who was a
priest of Midian. He was not a part of Israel, but Moses married his
daughter, and got to know him well. They became good friends, and
it was Jethro that Moses turned to for advice when the burden of
judging Israel too heavy. In Ex. 18 we read of how Jethro told him
to set up many lower courts with good men to judge, and he would
then be the supreme court where the hardest cases would come.
Moses gave heed, and this outsider changed the course of Israel's
history.
Melchizedek was such a godly priest in Salem that even though he
was a Gentile outside of the people of Israel, he was chosen of God to
be a type of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is called a priest
forever after the order of Melchizedek. He was not called a priest
after Aaron, or after Israel's priesthood, but after the Gentile
Melchizedek. Abraham, the father of Judaism, even paid tithes to
this Gentile priest. God was working in a powerful way outside
Israel.
We tend to focus on men, for men have, all through ancient
history, been the leaders and decision makers. Esther has a balance
of male and female cooperation. It took both Esther and Mordecai
to fulfill the plan of God for Israel. God used both female and male
for the Gentile world as well. Vashti by her refusal to do what was
immoral, set the stage for the whole drama that brought Esther to
the throne. God is an equal opportunity employer in His
providential guidance of history. We will see more of this as we
continue our study.
The queen of Sheba came to visit Solomon, and she was so
impressed by his wealth and wisdom, she became a believer. She
took her faith back to her Gentile land, and only eternity will reveal
how God's providence worked through her, but we will know, for
Jesus said she will be in heaven judging those who refuse to see the
light Christ brought, which was even greater than that of Solomon.
We read in Matt. 12:42, "The queen of the South will arise at the
judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from
the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold,
something greater than Solomon is here."
It is hard for us to grasp that God is working in the lives of
people outside the church. It was hard for Peter to comprehend this
when in Acts 10 God was working in the life of Cornelius, and
Italian Gentile who had never heard the Gospel. God had to use a
vision, and speak to Peter directly, to get him to go to Cornelius.
But finally, Peter became a believer in God's providence in the lives
of those outside the people of God, and he said in Acts 10:34-35,
"Truly I perceive that God shows no partiality, but in every nation
anyone who fears Him and does what is right is acceptable to Him."
Peter became aware that God so loved the world, and so was at
work in all the world to seek and to save.
Jonah not only could not grasp this truth, he hated it. He
expected God to wipe out the pagans of Ninevah. Instead, God used
the message He brought to bring them to repentance, and He had
mercy on them. They were a nation of pagans, and yet God loved
them and spared them. Numerous are the examples of God sparing
pagan peoples. There are no people that God does not care about.
Those who would be truly Christlike must be world conscious
people. There must be a love and concern for all people to truly
fulfill the will of God. Never has this been more true than today
when our world has become so small, that whatever happens to any
people can affect all people. We need to be aware of, and be excited
about the fact that God is providentially working in all the world.
