So Esther is, of course, the last of the historical books in the Old Testament. And it's really unique for a number of reasons. It is, with the exception of Ruth, the only book that's named for a female and with a female character as kind of the main figure, the main hero of the story, again, with the exception of Ruth. It's unique, though, in this way. And it was likely written a couple of decades after the events take place, and we're not really sure Who wrote it? Tradition tells us both ancient Jewish tradition as well as ancient Christian tradition would hold Mordecai as the author. And I'm just going to go ahead and lay my cards on the table for you guys. Unless really compelling evidence is presented to me, that's always where I'm going to default. Because I figure the people that were closer to it probably know better than we do. But that's just... my own general thought, although some other scholars think it could have been Ezra, who we looked at a few weeks ago. Augustine held that view, so it's not without pedigree, but the bottom line is we don't really know for sure who wrote the Book of Esther. On the surface, Esther is a chronicle of history that explains why the Jews celebrate the Feast of Purim. Purim is a feast that the Jews hold and it finds its story, as it were, in this book. But as we work through it together, you'll see it's much more than just an origin story, an explanation for a holiday. But that is one feature of it. Now, before we get into the narrative of the book, we want to take note of its historical context. We're technically still in exile, but it's no longer under the Babylonians. Instead, it's under the Persian king Ahasuerus, or if you have an NIV, it might say Xerxes. It's the same guy, just by multiple different names. But we know that that Babylon was conquered by the Persian king, and we can read of this in several places in the Old Testament. Would somebody please read for us Daniel chapter five and verse 30? As you're getting there, remember Daniel five is of course the passage where the king of Babylon, a son or probably a grandson of Nebuchadnezzar, is having this big party in the royal palace, and he's brought in all of the vessels of worship of the Lord of Israel, and he's basically mocking God. And this is the famous scene where the handwriting appears on the wall, and it says, mene, mene, tekel, ufarsin, which is, your time has been weighed, and you've been found wanting, and the Lord is telling him, your time is up. And so Daniel 5.30 says, who's got it? Miss Duncan? In a night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldean slain. Yep, and that night was Belshazzar, the king of the Chaldeans, or we would know them as the king of the Babylonians. He was slain and the kingdom was given over to the king of Persia. And we also, we skipped over this, but it's also mentioned in Ezra 1.1 and 2 Chronicles 36, 20 and 22. Why do you suppose there might be a change in who's running the kingdom that God's people are in exile under? Maybe, just maybe, what God told Abram all the way back in Genesis chapter 12 was true. Those who bless you, I will bless. And those who curse you, I will curse. The Babylonians not only took the people of Judah into exile, but they were even wicked to them as their masters. They were abusive. They treated God's people harshly. Would somebody please read Psalm 137 1 to 3. 137, 1 to 3. Mr. Cancino. By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion. On the willows there we hung our fliers. commenters were saying, sing us one of the great songs of Zion. Right. So this is the psalmist reflecting on we're in Babylonian exile. We've, we've hung up our instruments and our captors, the Babylonians, they're mocking us. They're saying, why don't you sing us one of those great songs of Zion? Why don't you sing for us one of the triumphant songs of, of your God. And obviously they can't because they're not in Zion. They're not experiencing his grace. And so it's basically being rubbed in. And why am I going through all this? To say that even at the outset of the book of Esther, even in the middle of the Babylonian captivity, or no longer the Babylonian captivity, God remains faithful to his people. God keeps his covenant promises. Those who afflicted his people will be cursed, will be judged. And so that's why the Babylonians are no longer in charge. We're not promised that everything in this life will go well. I actually just had coffee with a young man earlier this week who grew up in this church, and he was telling me that he found John 16, 33 to be absolutely true. John 16, 33, Jesus says, in this world, you will have tribulation. That's a fact, y'all. As you grow up and move out and live your life, you will face tribulation in this world. But John 6 33 doesn't end there. Jesus says, but take heart. I have overcome the world. And likewise, it's the case for the people of God, even in captivity, that they are experiencing tribulation. And yet God remains faithful to his promises and protects and watches over them. So before we get into the book of Esther, let me kind of get a feel for where you guys are at with this book. How familiar are we? Has anyone ever done a study of this book before? Does anyone feel confident that they know the outline, not like a formal outline, but like the basic flow of events of this book? I find it's often neglected. I see some nods and a lot of A lot of so-so's and blank stares, which I won't take personally. But the Book of Esther is a powerful book, and we're going to look at it in kind of three parts. It follows a classic three-part structure. And the first part is chapter one through chapter three in verse six. And the role of this section in the narrative is to introduce us to the main characters. We're going to meet all four of the main characters in this section. And then the main, the body of the story is from chapter three, verse seven to six, verse 13. And this is going to be the, this is act two, which is standardly in your story where you find the conflict. This is the problem. This is the situation that's being recorded. And it's a conflict with a man named Haman, who we'll meet shortly. And then the final section, chapter 6, verse 14, through the end of the book, which is chapter 10, is the redemption of the Jews. So we've got introduction, conflict, and restoration. It's a very traditional story arc. So let's go ahead and get started with, without further ado, with section one. In this section of the book, much like the opening act of any story, we're primarily meeting characters and getting introduced into the conflict. So the story begins in chapter 1, verses 1 to 9, and we learn there that there's this king Ahasuerus, also known as Xerxes, and this king likes to throw big parties. Like, really massive parties. We're talking half-year-long parties. Would somebody please read chapter 1, verses 4 to 5? While he showed the riches of his royal glory and the splendor and pomp of his greatness for many days, 180 days, and when these days were completed, the king gave for all the people present in Seuss of the Citadel, both great and small, a feast lasting for seven days in the court of the garden of the king's palace. 187 days. Dedicated to what? to show the riches of his glory and the splendor and pomp of his greatness. Uh, some commentators suggest that the actual feast only lasted the seven days and the rest was just a display of all of his accomplishments, which is probably true. Uh, but, but he's basically having a six month long look at how awesome thing I am going on in his kingdom. It's like, I mean, I won't get into political commentary here, but we think we have egomaniacs running around in our government. This is pretty egregious. But he was the most powerful man in the world at this point in time, and he could very easily do this. And by the way, this is a guy who we actually know a fair bit about historically. We know that Alexander the Great hated him, mostly because of his ego. It was out of control. But then we we get to the the capstone of the celebration how awesome he is would somebody please read verses 10 to 12 On the seventh day when the heart of the king was married with wine he commanded may whom is the her boner? I'm sorry, Francis, that's not fair. Let me just, I'll, I'll take it. All right. On the seventh, thank you for being willing. All right. On the seventh day, when the heart of the King was married with wine, he commanded may whom bid stop Harbona, big thought and Abba. Zethora and Karkis, the seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus to bring Queen Vashti before him. So this is the pinnacle of the celebration of his great accomplishments to bring forth Queen Vashti before him with her royal crown in order to show the peoples and the princes her beauty for she was lovely to look at. But Queen Vashti refused to come to the king's command, come at the king's command delivered by the eunuchs. At this, the king became enraged and his anger burned within him. Now, bottom line, what we know is this is the high point of the thing and she doesn't come and that makes him mad. Bottom line, that's what we know. And there's a lot of speculation as to why. I have my own thoughts, such as she may have something called self-respect and not see fit to be paraded as property. That's kind of where I land, but the text doesn't say that explicitly. All we know is that she doesn't come. So what happens? Well, this king, who's got an ego that's out of control, is now publicly humiliated and embarrassed by the queen. How does he respond? He kicks her out. He says, Out with you, in with a new queen. Under the auspices of not honoring her husband, she is deposed. Under the accusation of failing to honor her husband, she is cast out. Now just as a side note, it's absolutely true that wives are to honor their husbands. But it is also true that husbands are not to treat their wives as objects for their own praise and glory. They are to be treated with dignity and respect. They're not to be subject to acts of public degradation for the sake of their husband's ego. Nonetheless, despite what we think or don't think of Ashti's actions, she's gone and needs to be replaced. And that's where we meet Esther. We won't take the time to read chapter two, verses one to 11, but you can read about this there. And we also meet two more of our main characters. We meet Esther, who's a Jewish girl, and she neglects to mention that she's Jewish, but she's raised by this guy, Mordecai, who is her father's nephew, which I guess, is anyone an expert on like family, I think that makes them cousins, is that right? If it's her father's nephew, that would be his second, okay. A family connection here, but this guy Mordecai, who's older, raises her and watches over her, and because He views her as almost a daughter type to him. When she's taken to be the new queen, he wants to inquire about her and he wants to check in and make sure everything's going okay. And so the text tells us that he regularly goes to the Kingsgate to inquire how Esther is doing. And one day while he's there to inquire about Esther, he happens upon plot. He discovers a plan that's been hatched. And would somebody please read that for us to save my own voice? This should have no tricky names. Chapter 2, 19 to the end of the chapter. Miss Babington. Now when the virgins were gathered together a second time, Mordecai was sitting at the king's gate. Esther had not made known her kindred or her people, as Mordecai had commanded her. For Esther obeyed Mordecai just as when she was brought up by him. In those days, as Mordecai was sitting at the king's gate, Bigfan and Tresh, two of the king's eunuchs, who guarded the threshold, became angry and sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. I'm going to pause you there. All right. So Mordecai's there and he happens upon these two guys that serve in the king's guard who are fed up with the king. I get it. This guy's a jerk, and they maybe are overcorrecting because they're planning to off him. All right, that's where we are. So Ms. Babington, pick up. And this came to the knowledge of Mordecai, and he told it to Queen Esther, and Esther told the king in the name of Mordecai. When the affair was investigated and found to be settled, the men were both hanged on the gallows, and it was recorded in the book of the chronicles in the presence of the king. So Mordecai discovers the plot. He tells Esther. Esther tells the king that Mordecai told her, and it saves the king's life. And the king has this recorded in the annals of their history books for his reign. And so it's stashed away. And then there's one last character that we meet, Haman, in chapter 3. After these things, King Ahasuerus promoted Haman the Agagite, the son of Hamadathah, and advanced him and set his throne above all the officials who were with him. So he's elevated this guy to, he's the right hand man, right? We talk often about Joseph being elevated in Egypt to the Pharaoh's right hand. That's this kind of position. He's second in command. And all the king's servants who were at the king's gate bowed and paid homage to Haman for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage. Then the king's servants who were at the king's gate said to Mordecai, why do you transgress the king's command? And when they spoke to him day after day, he would not listen to them. They told Haman in order to see whether Mordecai's words would stand, for he had told them that he was a Jew. And when Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage to him, Haman was filled with fury." Another egomaniac here. But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone. So, as they had made known to him the people of Mordecai, Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus. So this guy Haman is elevated to the king's right hand and everyone bows to him except Mordecai. And this was not well received. He responded, verse five says, this filled him with fury. But Haman is afraid to lash out at Mordecai alone, because even he knows that's a relatively petty reason to kill somebody. So he concocts a plan rather to deal with the whole group, to destroy all of Mordecai's people. And we learn one other interesting thing about Haman in this passage. Did anyone else catch one other interesting factoid? Perhaps it's as early as verse one. He's an Agagite. That's significant. Does anybody know why? No, that's okay. It's relatively obscure, but it is significant. He's an Agagite. Agag was the royal house of this people called the Amalekites. In other words, just as Judah is the royal house of the, of the tribes of Israel, Agag was that for the Amalekites. And the Amalekites are ancient enemies of the Jews. In fact, when God was leading his people out of the Exodus, out of the Red Sea, the first people to attack them were the Amalekites. And this is an ongoing rivalry since that time. It's referenced in Exodus 17, eight to 14, Numbers 24, verse seven, Deuteronomy 25, 17 to 19. And what we see here is that there's this backdrop of the whole historical narrative of the Bible, even in this rivalry between Haman and Mordecai. The seed of the woman, right, Genesis 3.15, and the seed of the serpent are in enmity with one another. And Satan is always sending his agents to seek to destroy the people of the living and true God. And this feud, for lack of a better term, for lack of a more reverent term maybe, is evidence of that. And so now we're gonna move into this conflict with Haman, the body of the story, chapter 3, 7 to 6, 13. And so Haman comes up with a plan, which is much worse than the Grinch's no good, terrible, awful idea. Would somebody please read 3, 8 to 11? And then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, This is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of the kingdom. Their laws are different from those of every other people, and they do not keep the king's laws, so that it is not to the king's profit to tolerate them. And it pleased the king, let it be decreed that they be destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who have charge of the king's business, that they may put it into the king's treasuries. So the king took the signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman to aggregate. All right, so all because one guy doesn't bow to Mordecai He makes this plan Look King Ahasuerus. You've got this group of people in your kingdom. It's a pretty big group and They're distinct and they're different We should get rid of them King says, well, they might be a threat. Rather than investigate this or do anything like careful, yeah, let's just get rid of them. This, by the way, again, is the exact same reason given in Exodus. Why does the Pharaoh seek to slaughter the firstborn of all the women in Egypt? Lest they grow too mighty for us and fight against us. This thing happens all the time in the ancient world. So news of this decree gets out and it gets to Mordecai and Mordecai goes to seek help from Esther to see if she can put some influence as queen over this situation and get this thing overturned. And at first Esther resists because there's a law that she can only go before the king if summoned. She can only go before the king if he calls her to himself, and Mordecai responds with probably the one verse that everybody knows from the book of Esther. Esther 4.12. Everyone tends to know the latter part of this verse, but I'll read the whole thing. And they told Mordecai what Esther had said. Excuse me, not 4.12. My notes are wrong. I'll see myself out. Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, do not think to yourself that in the king's palace you will escape any more than the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise from the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish." Now this is the part that everyone knows. And who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this. Now the first half of verse 14 is really interesting because it expresses Mordecai's belief that God will always preserve his people. He says, if you don't do anything, we're going to be fine. God will protect us. But who knows whether or not you have been put in a position of authority just for a time such as this, when your people need you most. And so in chapter five, Esther decides, If I can't really come before the king without being summoned, maybe I'll invite him to a banquet. If I can't come and make a plea before him without being called, maybe I'll invite him to a special dinner party. After all, he does love to party. And so the king agrees, and he invites Haman to come with him. And at the banquet, the king is very pleased, and he offers to give Esther anything she wants. And in one of the more human moments of the book, What does she do? She stumbles and stammers and says, if it would please the king, I would like you to come to another dinner party tomorrow night. The Bible is not embarrassed about our human frailties here, y'all. She's the hero of the book, and that's a real, it's real pressure that she's under, and so she asks him to come again tomorrow. So here's the tension. He doesn't know she's a Jew. And there's this decree that says all the Jews are going to be wiped out. By asking for this, she's rolling the dice that she could be also wiped out. We know that the king views the queen as expendable already from earlier in the book. And so the clock is ticking and she's paralyzed with fear, which is understandable given the stakes. And Haman, meanwhile, is riding high. Haman said, chapter five, verse 12, even Queen Esther let no one come with the king to the banquet except me. He's feeling, he's living large and he celebrates by doing what we all do when we're celebrating. He has a gallows made on which to hang his great foe. But that all changes this very same night. Wasn't it like a spike? The ESV renders it gallows. There's something to kill him with publicly. All right? And so this all changes, though. There's a huge moment of change in this same chapter where the king can't sleep. Anyone else have trouble sleeping at night sometimes? Yeah? Not because you're distracted with things on your phone, like you legitimately just can't sleep. That's probably a little bit more weird. But nonetheless, the king can't sleep, so he calls his servants and he asks them, read me the history books. That's royal advice to all of you. If you have trouble sleeping, just grab your history textbook and you'll be out. The king has them read the annals, and it just so happens that they land on the portion of the annals about that time the king was almost assassinated and Mordecai saved his life. Which is an interesting choice to read to lull someone to sleep, because if you're telling me the time that I almost got killed, my ears are actually going to perk up. Nonetheless, that's what they read. And so now, in one of the funnier moments in the book, and really in the whole Bible, the king summons Haman. He says, there's this guy I want to honor. What should I do? And Haman, of course, says, well, he's talking about me. Like, who would he like to honor more than me? And so he lists all this big, grandiose stuff about what the king should do. He says, Haman says, In verse 6, Haman came in, and the king said to him, What should be done to the man whom the king delights to honor? Whom would the king delight to honor more than me? And Haman said to the king, verse 7, For the man whom the king delights to honor, let royal robes be brought, which the king has worn, and the horse that the king has ridden, and on whose head the royal crown is set, and let the robes of the horse and the horse be handed over to one of the king's most noble officials, Let them dress the man the king delights to honor, and let them lead him on the horse through the square of the city, proclaiming before him, thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor. Who does the king delight to honor? Mordecai. And so Ahasuerus says, great, that sounds awesome. You're my most noble official. You're going to lead Mordecai the Jew through the town square and say, thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor. The Bible knows humor. And so that's what happens. And what do you think this does to a man like Haman? Yeah, he's angry. He's not humbled yet. He's angry. And so verse 13, he pleads to his wife. He whines to his wife, Zerash, about all this stuff that's going on. And his wife actually gives him very good advice. If Mordecai, this is chapter six, the second part of verse 13, if Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of the Jewish people, you will not overcome him, but you will surely fall. Don't oppose God's people, she said. And of course, we know where the story goes from here, and I've got to wrap up quickly. This is the turning point of the whole story. They're at the second feast now. They're at Esther's second banquet, and they're eating, and they're drinking, and they're making merry, and the king asks her, all right, you've thrown two parties. What is it that you would like me to do for you? I'll give you anything you want, even up to half of the kingdom. It's yours. What would you like? And so she says, I would like to live. What do you mean? Who's threatening your life? And she says, that wicked Haman. posed a decree to slaughter all of my people. And the king is flabbergasted, to say the least. And he leaves. And Haman recognizes he's left because he's angry. And that's not good news for Haman. So Haman is begging and pleading for his life to Esther. And again, in another kind of humorous and ironic twist, he trips over the couch on which she's sitting and is begging for her. As King Ahasuerus walks back in, he says, and now he's going to try to violate my wife in front of me. Dead. Hang on the very gallows that he had proposed for Mordecai. But the problem still remains. The laws of the Persian king are irrevocable. He can't take back the decree. That's just not how the system is set up. But he can add to it and Mordecai proposes that he add to it that the Jews can defend themselves. And that's really the rest of the book is the Jews. successfully defeating all of their foes and what's of note is actually at the end of chapter 8 we see that that this this delivery is so obviously effective that in chapter 8 verse 17 and in every province and in every city wherever the king's command in this edict reached there was a gladness and a joy among the jews a feast and a holiday, and many from the peoples of the country, so not Jews, declared themselves to be Jews, for the fear of the Jews had fallen upon them." He said, whatever's going on here is bigger than us, we're with you now. That's a complete reversal. Now that's the gist of the story, and that's where this holiday of Purim came in, was to celebrate and commemorate this event. But I'm gonna leave you all with this. There's one other really interesting thing and famous thing about the Book of Esther, and that's what's not mentioned. Does anybody know what that is or who that is? Mr. Cansino. God. His name is not mentioned once in the whole book. Why is that? Because what's really unique about the Book of Esther is it plays out the providence of God as we actually experience it in our lives. Very rarely are we like Jeremiah or like Zechariah, who you'll hear about in the morning sermon, that get a direct word from an angel telling us what the Lord said. Rather, we watch his providence play out just like it does in this book. Otherwise, we're left to believe that it just so happens that Queen Vashti doesn't answer the king's call. And it just so happens that Esther, a Jew, is put in her place. And it just so happens that Mordecai discovers the plot. And it just so happens that the King doesn't reward him immediately, but it waits until the opportune time. And it just so happens that Haman is exposed. And it just so happens. And it just so happens. And it just so happens. And so the lesson for you guys to take from this today is that even when it looked so dark and that Haman had everything he wanted in the back, even when it looks like your trial is insurmountable, God is still at work in and through those very things. Now, we're not always promised an earthly deliverance like is experienced here, though that will be the case sometimes. But we are promised that God, as the Confession of Faith puts it so well, God doth in general reach, his providence doth in general reach to all creatures, but it takes special care of his church and disposes all things to the good thereof. God is always at work on our behalf. even when it appears like he isn't. And that's one of the many lessons that we can take from the book of Esther. Let me pray for us and we'll be dismissed. God in heaven, we thank you for your providence. We thank you for your sovereignty that even though we don't always see it or experience it in the moment, I pray Lord that you would bless these young people to be those who would look back after many years and see the ways that you have worked in their lives, even for such a time as this. In Christ's name we pray, amen.