Today we begin a journey through the Old Testament. One of the things that I’ve wanted to do is to take a look at the stories in the Old Testament in some sort of series. It’s tough to do a series in the summer because I don’t want you to miss a section. But since we are doing a series on the different stories in the Old Testament, you won’t miss any building block sermons.
The story that we are going to look at today is one of Rebecca and Anna’s favorites. Since today is graduation Sunday, I thought it would be appropriate to look at the story of Esther. The story of Esther is recorded in the book of Esther (now, doesn’t that come as a surprise.) The story takes place after the Babylonian captivity and after the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar. The Jews are still in captivity, only now they are in the hands of the Persians. Remember all of this happened because of the Israelites insistence on disobeying God and his commands. The story takes place during the reign of Xerxes (486-465 BC) who was the son of Darius, whom was the king of record in the Daniel and the Lion’s Den story.
How did it happen that a simple, ordinary, orphaned Jewish girl end up being the queen of the mighty Persian empire? When we pick up our story, we find that Xerxes is having a huge banquet/party for all the nobles and military officers of the empire. We are talking a six-month party in which no expense was spared. The scriptures record that Xerxes put on display his vast wealth. After he threw a six-month party for the nobles and military officials, he threw a week long party for everyone who was in the fortress of Susa (or his summer home.) Again no expense was spared and by edict of the king, no limits were placed on drinking, every man was to have as much as they wanted.
In another part of the fortress, the king’s queen, Vashti, was throwing a party for all the women of the fortress. On the last day of the feast, you can imagine that everyone was in high spirits. Xerxes summons Vashti to his party so all the men could look at her, because she was beautiful. Vashti didn’t want any part of being the king’s trophy wife and did not want to be put on display. She sent a message back to Xerxes and said “no way, Jose.” This made Xerxes very angry. He summoned his advisors to figure out what to do. They suggested that if word got out about this insurrection, that men all over the kingdom would be in trouble, for their wives would not listen either. So they suggested to ban Queen Vashti from the palace forever. Better yet they made it a law of the Medes and Persians, which meant it could not be revoked.
As usually happens, King Xerxes finally calmed down and wondered what he would do without a queen. His advisors suggested that a search be made of the entire kingdom (sort of like what happened in Cinderella after the ball) The young woman who pleased the king the most would be queen.
It so happened there was a young Jewish girl, named Esther, who’s parents had both died and she had been adopted by her uncle Mordicai, who was employed by the king in the fortress. Esther found favor in the sight of the servants because she was beautiful. After a year of living in the palace, she finally goes in with the king. The king likes her very much and soon requests her to come see him again and again and again. During one of these visits, Xerxes declares Esther to be his queen.
About this time Mordicai uncovers a plot to assassinate the king. He relays the message to Esther who in turn gives the message to the King, giving all the credit to Mordicai. The king investigates, finds out it true and then banishes the men to the Island of Perpetual Tickling (oops, sorry I forgot this isn’t the VeggieTales version) No, they are impaled on a pole for treason. These events were recorded in the king’s record book.
We need to fast forward a few months when Haman was promoted to second in command. As a result, all the king’s officials were to bow to Haman as a sign of respect and everyone did, except Mordicai. Haman even asked Mordicai why he disobeyed the king’s command. This angered Haman and when Haman found out that Mordicai was a Jew it made things even worse. Haman started making plans to rid the kingdom of all Jews. As you can see, genocide is nothing new. For centuries, man has been trying to get rid of the Israelites or the Jews. Haman cast lots and determined the day of action. The date set was about 11 months in the future. Haman decides to approach Xerxes and tell him about the people who refuse to pay tribute to the king. They obey there own laws. Haman requests, “That if it please the king, issue a decree that they be destroyed, and I will give 10,000 large saks of silver to the government administrators to be deposited in the royal treasury.” The king liked what he heard (again) and gave the decree that on March 7th of the next year, all the Jews in the kingdom would be killed.
It didn’t take long for Mordicai to find out. He put on sackcloth and ashes as a sign of mourning and wept. As the Jews found out, they followed in Mordicai’s footsteps. Esther found out about Mordicai’s weeping and sent servants to find out. Mordicai told her of the decree and asked her to beg the king for mercy.
Esther said, “If I go and see the king, I could be killed.”
Mordicai replied, “Don’t think for a minute that because you are in the palace that you will be saved. You will be killed as well.” And then Mordicai pronounces the famous line, “Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for such a time as this?”
Esther replies back and asks the Jews to fast and to pray for three days. She says, “That even though it is against the law, I will do it, for if I must die, I must die.”
Here is a story of incredible courage. After fasting for three days, Esther put on her royal robes and went to see the king. He sees her and holds out his scepter to welcome her. The king asks her request. He will give it to her up to half the kingdom.
She replies, “If it please the king, let the king and Haman come today to a banquet I have prepared for the king.”
The king, no stranger to feasting, says, “let’s party.” During the banquet the king says to Esther again, “Now, tell me what you really want. The original offer is still open.”
She replies again, “This is my request and deepest wish. If I have found favor with the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my request and do what I ask, please come with Haman tomorrow to the banquet I will prepare for you. Then I will explain what this is all about.”
Aha! But the plot thickens. Haman was a happy man after he left the palace, but he saw Mordicai and once again Mordicai refused to bow. Haman was feeling pretty proud of himself now and bragged to his wife and children about how he was the most important person in the kingdom, except for the king. But all was not well, Haman didn’t want to have to deal with Mordicai for another year. So his wife suggested Haman set himself up a pole and ask the king to impale Mordicai on it. Haman liked that idea and was happy.
But again, the plot thickens…It just so happens that the king had trouble sleeping that night. So he ordered that the royal record be brought and read to him. During the reading he discovered the account of the assassination attempt. He asked if there was any reward given to Mordicai. “Nothing,” replied the servant. It just so happened that Haman was just outside the room, so the king summoned him.
“What should I do to honor a man who truly pleases me?” Haman thought Xerxes was honoring him.
He replies, “If the king wishes to honor someone, he should bring out one of the king’s own royal robes, as well as a horse that the king himself has ridden—one with a royal emblem on its head. Le the robes and the horse be handed over to one of the king’s most noble officials. And let him see that the man whom the king wishes to honor is dressed in the king’s robes and let thorugh the city square on the king’s horse. Have the official shout as they go, ‘This is what the king does for someone he wishes to honor!’”
The king thought that was a great idea and told Haman to do exactly what he said – for Mordicai. Haman was humiliated by the ordeal. Just about this time, the servants came to bring him to the next day’s banquet for the king and Haman.
After the banquet the king requests Esther to tell him her request. She replies, “If I have found favor with the king, and if it please the king to grant my request, I ask that my life and the lives of my people be spared. For my people and I have been sold to those who would kill, slaughter, and annihilate us. If we had merely been sold as slaves, I could remain quiet, for that would be too trival a matter to warrant disturbing the king.”
The king was shocked. Who would do such a thing? It appears second in command Haman did. The king was furious. Through his servant he found out that Haman had set up a pole for Mordicai to be impaled on. Xerxes commanded that instead Haman be impaled for such a treacherous act. So Esther saved her people.
So what? Why would I take the time to tell you a story like this? Esther was an ordinary girl. She was very beautiful, but just an ordinary girl…but her life had great impact. So much so that she is honored to this day by the Jewish people. On March 7th every year, people of the Jewish faith gather to hear the same story I just told you. Esther was an ordinary girl, but she was used by God in an extraordinary way. One of the criticisms of the book is that God is not mentioned in a direct way. But I think it is telling that before she goes to see the king she asks all the Jewish people in the land to fast and to pray for three days. She tells Mordicai that she will do the same. So here we have a girl thrust into the spotlight of a great kingdom. She is faced with a difficult decision. We often wonder why we are placed in certain situations.
Perhaps the situation to you seems difficult. I’m sure Esther felt that she was between a rock and a hard place, yet she knew that she needed to ask God for His help. She also knew that she couldn’t be a lone ranger, so she enlisted the prayers of others of her faith. What situation do you face today that seems very difficult. Perhaps you are in this situation for such a time as this.
I’ve shared this before, in the day following David’s death, I had no idea what to say. I didn’t know how I was going to preach one message on Sunday, much less two. On top of all that we had a little fiasco with the students that Sunday morning. But as I began to preach on that Sunday afternoon, God’s Holy Spirit settled on me, and he said, “you are here for such a time as this.” That Sunday I knew I didn’t do it on my own. I knew that I couldn’t do it on my own. I knew it was because of your prayers. I knew it was because of prayers literally around the country. They were praying on my behalf, even when I couldn’t pray.
Maybe you feel quite ordinary today. If you go to our webpage, you’ll see this little sentence, “We are ordinary people who serve and extraordinary God.” Like Esther we can do great things for God. We have to seek him and see where he wants us. We need to join his team. It doesn’t matter if you are young or old, rich or poor. God’s kingdom isn’t about that stuff anyway. God calls us to seek him and pray, to follow his direction. When we do that we will be just simple, ordinary people, but when we team up with our extraordinary God, we can do great things. We can have courage in the face of great danger, just like Esther. We can do things we thought we would never be able to do. In our weakness, He is strong. We are children of the king.
If you are facing a mountain today, I encourage you to come to the altar this morning. Seek God. Seek His Kingdom. Lay your burden down at his feet. The altar is open.
