This sermon explores God’s amazing providence, wisdom, and grace as revealed in the book of Esther, highlighting how God works through seemingly impossible circumstances to protect His people and fulfill His promises. It also connects these themes to the ongoing work of ministries like the Gideons.
Transcript
If you would open your Bible to the book of Esther chapter 8. We’re going to continue in this book. But I think I’m going to begin by reading a verse that we began with in Sunday school this morning. Because this is what this book, the book of Esther, the book that never mentions the name of God, is all about the glory of God. It’s all about His wisdom and His understanding. And so this morning Matthew began his Bible study looking at Romans 11, verse 33. He read several verses. I’m going to read just verse 33.
Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways.
God is amazingly wonderful in His wisdom and in His sovereign workings and in the providence and His care for people. And so as we’ve been studying the book of Esther, the book is all about the providence of God. It’s all about God’s abundant grace to His people, the Jewish people, and His provision for them in the most difficult of circumstances. And it is the book is filled with so many amazing things that God has done that people, a lot in academia, there are a lot of people who doubt the veracity of the book because there are so many amazing things that happen in this book that it stretches the credibility in their minds. I’m going to have something more to say about that toward the end of this, but God is amazingly wonderful in what He has done.
God’s Providence and the Reversal of Haman’s Plot
Chapter 8, so far we’ve looked at the plot of Haman to put Haman, who was a descendant of one of the enemies of the Jews. He happened to be put in charge of all of Persia. Xerxes was the king. He was basically the prime minister of Persia. He was in charge of the government. He was upset because a man by the name of Mordecai, who identified himself as a Jew, wouldn’t bow down to him. He was offended because if Jews don’t bow down to him, then he wants all Jews dead. That was an ancient enemy anyway. And he has in the position to be able to do it. And so he plots the death of all the Jews. This is what the story is about. And then of course, he plots Haman’s Haman plots Mordecai’s death as well. As chapter 8 opens, God has already done the most remarkable things. And Haman is the chapter opens as these events open, Haman is literally hanging from the gallows that he had had built for Mordecai. God has already worked that reversal. So I’m going to read chapter 8 and then we’ll discuss it briefly. But we’re the focus again is on the abundant grace and wisdom and power of God as He works providentially for the good of His people.
So, chapter 8, this is God’s holy inerrant word.
On that day King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews, to Queen Esther. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had disclosed what he was to her. The king took off his signet ring, which he had taken away from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman. Then Esther spoke again to the king, fell at his feet, wept, and implored him to avert the evil scheme that Haman the Agagite and his plot, which he had devised against the Jews. The king extended the golden scepter to Esther, so Esther arose and stood before the king. Then she said, “If it pleases the king, and if I have found favor before him, and the matter seems proper to the king, and I am pleasing in his sight, let it be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman, the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the king’s provinces. For how can I endure to see the calamity which will befall my people? And how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?” So King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, I have given the house of Haman to Esther, and him they have hanged on the gallows because he stretched out his hand against the Jews. Now, you write to the Jews as you see fit in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s signet ring. For a decree which is written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s signet ring may not be revoked.” So the king’s scribes were called at the at that time in the third month, that is the month of Sivan, on the 23rd day, and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded to the Jews, the satraps, the governors, the princes of the provinces, which extended from India to Ethiopia, 127 provinces, to each province according to its script and to every people according to their language, as well as to the Jews according to their script and their language. He wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus, sealed it with the king’s signet ring, and sent letters by the couriers on horses, riding on steeds sired by the royal stud. And them, the king granted the Jews, who were in each and every city, the right to assemble and to defend their lives, to destroy, to kill, to annihilate the entire army of any people or province which might attack them, including children and women, and to plunder their spoil. On one day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, the 13th day of the 12th month, that is the month of Adar. A copy of the edict to be issued as law in each and every province was published to all the peoples so that the Jews would be ready for this day to avenge themselves on their enemies. The couriers hastened and impelled by the king’s command went out, riding on the royal steeds, and the decree was given out in the citadel of Susa. Then Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal robes of blue and white, with a large crown of gold, and a garment of fine linen and purple, and the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced. For the Jews, there was light and gladness, and joy and honor. In each and every province, and in each and every city, wherever the king’s commandment and his decree arrived, there was gladness and joy for the Jews, a feast and a holiday, and many among the peoples of the land became Jews, for the dread of the Jews had fallen on them.
May I ask God to bless His word this morning. Father, we thank You for the richness of Your grace. We thank You, Father, for preserving this account for us in Your word. And we thank You, Father, for all that we can learn from it this morning. Open our hearts to be able to see Your glory through this page from Your word. We ask this in Christ’s name. Amen.
The Unrevokable Law and Esther’s Plea
This chapter begins with the reversals that are taking place. And in the first two verses, what you see is the place that Queen Esther and Mordecai have risen in authority over in the Persian Empire. That’s what is called to our attention as this chapter opens. King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman, all the property, all the estate of Haman is given over to Esther, Queen Esther. And so all that he owns, which is pretty significant, is given over and entrusted to Esther. It’s interesting because it says that apparently Xerxes doesn’t know what’s going on much yet. His eyes have been opened in the last 24 hours. And he’s learned that his wife is a Jew. And she tells him that Mordecai, this man that he has recently honored, who had some years before had literally saved his life by informing him about a couple of assassins, is actually her older cousin. And so he, realizing that, brings him into his presence. He used to be an official for the king, never entered the palace. He was out there something like an accountant, sitting at the king’s gate, sitting at the gate of the city. But here he is actually brought into the palace. The king takes off the signet ring that he had taken from Haman, his own seal, and he entrusts that to Mordecai. So Mordecai is now basically the prime minister of all of Persia, the greatest empire in the world by far. Some say the greatest empire to ever have existed in terms of political power, military might compared to the rest of the world. So it’s an interesting, interesting development.
So you have all of this great blessing, turnaround that has just taken place. So it’s a time for Haman, for Esther, I mean for Mordecai and for Esther, seeing the justice that’s just taken place with Haman. It must be a time of joy for them. And yet, it’s not over. It’s not complete. And the reason that it’s not complete is because the order that the king had signed that Haman had written is the law of the land, and it is a law that not even the king can revoke. And so that is still before them. What is still before them is that when the month comes, when the day comes, as it stands right now, it is still the law of the land to kill all the Jews. And Mordecai may be safe in the capital, and Esther may be safe in the capital, but all their people are not safe at all.
And so what happens next is that Esther falls before Xerxes, pleading before for her people. It reminds you of Romans chapter 9 and 10 when the Apostle Paul cries out for his people. When he identifies with his own people, crying out for them. It’s one thing to be saved as Paul was, and to be able to look at all of your people and realize that they are lost. He looked at the Jewish people and he realized that they were lost. The same thing has happened here in a very physical sense. Esther may be safe, Mordecai may be secure inside that palace, but all their people are lost, and their heart goes out to them. Look at the words. Esther spoke again to the king, fell at his feet, wept, implored to avert the evil scheme of Haman the Agagite. And she does this by going into his presence unbidden, which means that she once again put her life on the line to do this. She falls before she falls before Xerxes.
The Motif of Falling and God’s Reversal
Now, I’m going to just mention this because I found it quite interesting, so I’m going to take just a minute to talk about this. But one of the interesting themes in this book that I haven’t talked about is there are several little motifs that the writer, probably Mordecai, included as he wrote this book. And one of them was this thing about falling. You remember how the story began? Haman was upset because he expected Mordecai to bow in his presence. He wouldn’t bow in his presence. And so the very next thing that happens in chapter 3 is that is the casting of the pur. And the very language that God uses as He inspires this book is very interesting there because Haman wouldn’t bow before Haman, but they made this little pur, this dice, this little lot. They made that fall before Haman. The word is used very deliberately. The Hebrew word is naphal. And it means to fall. They made that little die fall before him. They cast the lot. It fell before them. They did that multiple times, once for each day of the month, once for each month of the year. So they picked the day when all the Jews would be killed, annihilated, and destroyed, as the language goes there.
And so that was deliberate. The language used there is not a coincidence. The writer intended that, to call attention to this word fall. And that’s picked up again and again through the book. Haman doesn’t get his way as he expects. He expects to have to go to Xerxes and have Xerxes tell him that he can put Mordecai to death. But instead, he finds out he has to exalt Mordecai, parade him through the city, dressed in royal robes. And it’s humiliating to him. He goes back to get some encouragement from his dear wife. And his dear wife says, “Before Mordecai, this person whom you are falling, about to fall.” Same word, the same word naphal is used there. “You’re about to fall before this man.” The next chapter, Haman literally falls at the feet of Esther. So you see the shift? He wants Mordecai to bow down to him. He’s falling at Esther’s feet. And why is he falling at Esther’s feet? Because he’s pleading for his own life. He’s desperately pleading for his own life. Xerxes doesn’t spare his life. But then in chapter 8, Esther falls at the feet of the king. And she doesn’t do so to plead for her life. She does so to plead for the life of all her people. She’s concerned about her people.
You know, we need to be concerned about our people. We need to be concerned about the loved ones, our brothers and sisters, and our cousins, and our friends who don’t know the Lord Jesus. We need to be concerned the way the Apostle Paul was concerned about his people. The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans chapter 9, verse 1,
I’m telling the truth in Christ, I’m not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom belong the adoption as sons and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the law and the temple service and the promises.
Do you hear what he is saying here? This is what is the right of the Jewish people. This is their heritage. The heritage of the Jewish people, his kinsmen, is Israelites who belong the adoption of sons. I mean, that should be the natural thing. And the glory and the covenants. They received the covenants of God, the promises of God, the law and the temple service, and the promises. Whose are the fathers? Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob. And yet, they’ve rejected the Messiah, and they are lost. He goes on to say, “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is for their salvation.” And he wants to see them come to faith. He wants to see them saved. That’s the right response for anyone. If you’ve received the Lord Jesus, what a wonderful blessing it is. You can be safe in the palace, but what about everyone else?
And so it’s right for us to be praying for and witnessing to and sharing the gospel and giving out Bibles worldwide to see people come to faith. So the king responds in the next few verses, and he says basically, “Well, I’ve done everything already.” He says, “I’ve given you, I’ve put Haman to death because of his of what he has done. I have entrusted his estate to to you, Esther, and Mordecai is given given the ring. Write the law any way you want it. I can’t revoke the law. Write a law any way that you wish and send it out.” And so he has given Mordecai the ring. So Mordecai has the authority to do it. And so that’s basically what unfolds next. Haman has written a decree. The decree is in chapter 3, verses 12 through 14. You can go and read that later. But the interesting thing there is that when Mordecai writes this decree, his counter decree, he uses exactly the same language. He picks up the decree that Haman has already written, and he writes he writes essentially the same thing, using the same kind of wording throughout there. The same, you know, the same destroy, kill, and annihilate. All that language exactly. Where did that come from? It came from Haman’s decree. You can read it in chapter 3. In fact, it’s the same structure. It’s the same wording. It’s sealed with the same signet ring. It’s translated into the same languages, and it’s carried by the king’s the same king’s couriers throughout all the parts of the kingdom. But the purpose is exactly the opposite. It gives the Jewish people the right to defend themselves, and it gives the support of Persia to the Jewish people. And it makes all the difference.
Transformation and God’s Enduring Promises
And so as as this decree goes out, you have huge transformation that takes place. It’s just incredible. When Haman wrote his decree, they get the word in Susa, in the citadel of Susa, the the palace, the kingdom, the the capital city of Persia there. And all of Susa is in confusion. This time when Mordecai’s decree is sent out, all of Susa is rejoicing. There’s rejoicing throughout the city. It’s throughout all the provinces, throughout all the all the places where this is carried out. There is great rejoicing throughout the the kingdom of Persia. And so Mordecai is now not wearing his sackcloth and ashes that you saw him in earlier in chapter 3 and 4. Instead, he’s dressed in these royal robes. There’s not mourning and fasting. They were mourning and grieving. But now there is feasting and rejoicing in verses 16 and 17. The despair that they had is now turned to joy. The mourning, the grief to light and gladness and honor. That’s what that’s how this is. And you know, you know how this can happen? Such a radical turnaround? The only way for this to happen is for God to do it.
This story is all about the transformation that God makes. He is the one who takes ashes and turns them into the joy. He’s the one who transforms misery. He’s the one that takes us out of the kingdom of darkness and translates us into the kingdom of light to give us joy and hope and eternal life. He’s the one that makes these radical changes. So at the beginning of the book, the Jews are oppressed. They’re marginalized. It’s dangerous for if you’re a Jew to let people know that you’re Jewish. And so Mordecai tells Esther, “Don’t tell anybody you’re Jewish.” That’s the world they lived in. It was an oppressed world. It’s like some missionaries where you don’t see their picture when you read about them because it’s too dangerous for them to be revealed to their government would do something about it if they if they knew who they were. And so that’s the way it was. How does this chapter end? Well, look at it. Look at verse 10 of chapter 8, verse 17, I’m sorry.
In each and every province, and in each and every city, wherever the king’s commandment and his decree arrived, there was gladness and joy for the Jews, a feast and a holiday, and many among the peoples of the land became Jews, for the dread of the Jews had fallen on them.
Before you didn’t want to identify as a Jew. Now everybody wants to be a Jew. For the dread of the Jews had fallen on them. You notice that little word naphal? What fell? Fear of the Jews on all the people. Really, the fear of the Lord.
God’s Faithfulness to Israel Throughout History
You know, I began by saying that in a lot of academia, you read and people are skeptical of this book because so many reversals, so many amazing things happen. It just seems incredible to them. I was thinking about that this week. And one of the things I realized is that I don’t care where you look in Jewish history, you see exactly the same thing. It’s not just it happened here. It happens again and again and again. It happens to this day to the Jewish people. That’s the truth. And I’m going to try to take the five minutes I might have left here and convince you of that. I mean, it’s God’s glory and His character and His wisdom is revealed in His care for His people. And that’s true of the people of Israel.
So look at Israel’s history, and let’s take a look at the same things that happen. God called, I mean, God called Abraham, and from that time to the present day, God blesses the Jewish people, and He continually delivers. He continually delivers them from disasters. That’s one thing. That’s just one side of this. They survive. You don’t find many ancient peoples existent today, but you find Jewish the Jewish people existent. That ancient people of Israel still here, still here in the world. When you look at history, many of the greatest nations in history, many of the greatest empires attacked the Jews with the intent of destroying them. Many of them. Beginning with the Egyptians. Thinking about the Egyptians, the Egyptians, they were slaves in Egypt. They come out under the hand of Moses, under the power of God with all those miracles. The last miracle is the the death of the firstborn in Egypt. They chased them out to the Red Sea where they’re trapped. Do you think that the Pharaoh would have spared any of them? Of course not. They were doomed there, except for God opening up the way. And exactly the opposite happens. The waters open up for the children of Israel, that closes over the Egyptian army. Egypt.
The Assyrians attacked them, would have destroyed them. God stopped them from entering into Jerusalem. He but they took the northern kingdom. The Babylonians, same thing. They destroyed Jerusalem. They destroyed the temple, carried them away. The Persians with Haman in this in this account. We have all of that. The Greeks did the same thing. Do you remember the story of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, trying to destroy the Jewish people? How God turned that around miraculously. It’s not in the Bible. It’s in that little 400-year period between the Testaments. The Romans coming in in 70 AD. European powers doing the same thing. The Spanish Inquisition trying to wipe them out. The Nazi Germany, 6 million of them put to death, and who knows how many were lost in all of that. They returned to the land of Israel in 1948. I mean, incredible. They’re the I mean, back in their homeland after after being carried away in the Babylonian captivity. They they are actually a nation, not until 1948. That’s when they’re under they’re an autonomous nation again.
And then today. Back you might remember back in October 7th, this past October 7th, 1,200 of them were murdered. They took 250 people hostage. You remember the Hamas attack on them. Do you remember what happened on that the day after that in the United States and in in New York City and in cities all over the world as liberal people who I’m not going to say anything else. They they celebrated saying from the river to the sea, asking saying death to the to Israel. You remember all of that? Do you know what happened since then? 19,000 missile attacks on Israel. 19,000. And they’re here today. God is still protecting them and preserving them. Do you know how many Jews there are in the world? Not many. Not many. 2/10 of 1% of the world’s population is Jewish. 2/10 of 1%. Not a big number, is it? About 15 million people who are practicing Jews out of a world of 8 billion.
And yet God continues to keep His promises to the Jews. One of the things that came up in Sunday school this morning is can God bless His people even through unregenerate people? He can bless He chooses. He actually does that through common grace ordinarily. And He blesses the world today through the Jewish people. He blesses the world through the Jewish people. They’re 2/10 of 1% of the world’s population. When I was when my kids were young, we they became interested in classical music, and they all studied classical music. And my two sons studied both of their one cello and one violin. They both studied their teachers were Jewish. And I thought it was interesting, but as I began to learn more about classical music myself, I realized that’s really kind of interesting. The classical world’s filled with Jewish people. And you know, composers, at least at least 10% of famous classical composers are Jewish, like Felix Mendelssohn and Gustav Mahler and Schoenberg and Gershwin and Copland and Bernstein. And great violinists like Isaac Perlman and Isaac Stern. It’s Perlman and Isaac Stern. They’re and and on and on. I mean, the list is is long. That’s just classical music. 2/10 of 1% of the world population, at least 10% of classical composers. Does that make sense?
And if you look at most any part of the music world, jazz musicians, it’s the same thing. Benny Goodman, King of Swing, Charlie Parker, and Miles Davis, and Stan Getz. It’s kind of interesting, isn’t it, that people that rise to the top of these things, so many of them are Jewish. My kids play chess. We competed in scholastic chess. All of my kids play chess. It was kind of it was it was a fun time. But you know what’s the chess world is like? Half of the chess masters in the world are Jewish. 2/10 of 1% of the population of the world. When when it when the when you’re looking at grand masters, about 20% of them are Jewish, of the grand masters in the world. And and you have either Jewish or of Jewish descent. So you have Garry Kasparov, and Bobby Fischer’s father was Jewish. You have Botvinnik, and Lasker, and Polgar, and long list of names there. Why is that? Why is it that these people who come to the top of these things, so many of them are Jewish when you’re talking about 2/10 of 1%? Does it make sense? Scientists. When you look at scientists, Nobel Prize winners. If you look at the list of Nobel Prize winners for the hard sciences, for medicine and physiology, 26% Jewish. Does that make sense to you? Not statistically, it doesn’t make sense. But from the promise of God, who promised and said, “Abraham, through your people, all the nations of the world will be blessed.” It makes sense. God does not has not revoked His promises. He doesn’t revoke His promise to the Jewish people. He’s still holding that out. Why do the world hate them?
They hated them in and was trying to destroy them in the Old Testament because Satan wanted them destroyed. He wanted to prevent the Messiah from coming. Why do they hate them now? In the book of Romans, the Apostle Paul says the most amazing thing. He says, “If the Jewish people in their falling away, in their rejection of Christ, opens up blessing to the Gentile, how much more it will be when God brings them back?” That’s my paraphrase. How much more, how much more blessing it will be when God restores Israel? And the way he talks in chapter 10 and 11, it doesn’t look like there’s much much of an alternative to that. He will restore. In other words, think of it this way. The first time they’re preventing the coming of Christ, the second time they’re hindering the second coming of Christ. And they’re trying to do it both times through the Jewish people. Satan is opposed to them. You can look at all this stuff, all these blessings. You have to see it as God’s blessing His people. God’s blessing the nations. You know how it’s perceived? Why are these people so privileged? It’s not that they’re privileged. It’s that when they invent a new cure for cancer or something that is helpful, or a treatment for heart disease, it’s a blessing to the world. That’s a blessing to the world. It’s not their the only thing there is that God is using them to complete His promises. The glory is God’s. God is the one that’s doing the work. And God will bring deliverance and salvation to to to His people ultimately. He he will bring national Israel back to Himself. I believe He will.
Just look at it. Think about it. How in the world can you say that God has given up on the Jewish people when you just look at any part of it or any part of their history? No, the book of Esther continues. God’s providential care continues. It continues for His people. It continues especially for the people of God who love Him. And He works all things to their good, bringing about their sanctification, their the their the work bringing them to better reflect the person of Christ. So let’s I’m way over, so let me pray for us.
Father, I thank You for for being such a gracious and wonderful and wise God. I thank You that no matter what, You keep Your promises. As Paul writes in Romans 11, You they may be our enemy according to the gospel, but You love them because of the fathers, because of the promises that You made to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. Father, I thank You that You have shown Your great love to us as well through through through all that took place in the coming of Christ and His crucifixion and and His resurrection and the blessing that we receive. Father, I thank You that You care about our cares for those around us. Please bless us, Lord, and enable us to faithfully take Your word, Your gospel, to those around us who need it. Give us the opportunities. Father, give us the heart. And may we weep as Esther wept at the feet of Xerxes. May we we weep before You, Father, for those loved ones that we have who need Your grace and mercy. Please bless us, Father. Help us to see many come to faith in Christ. Please do a great work through Your people. We ask that, Father, for for for Mayflower Hills, for the Mayflower Hills community, and for the city of Roanoke, and our nation, and Father, for the nations of the world. Please bless Your word as it goes forth. We thank You, Father, for Your kind graces. Praise You in the name of our Savior, the Lord Jesus. Amen.