The God of justice will do what is right (Esther 9-10)

I can’t tell you how difficult I have found the doctrine of hell to accept.  I doubt I am the only Christian who feels this way.  A friend of mine packed in his faith after someone he knew died without trusting Jesus.  It can be very difficult to understand how the Jesus of love will come back one day and condemn all those who have refused his offer of grace and mercy.  It is particularly difficult to accept when so many of our friends see absolutely no need for Jesus in their lives.

I should say that if you struggle with the doctrine of God’s judgement you are in good company.  You do not struggle with this doctrine on your own.  You struggle with Jesus, who wept over Jerusalem when he considered the judgement that was coming to it, and who reminded them that while God longed to gather them under his wing, they were not willing (Matthew 23:37-39).  You also struggle with the apostle Paul, who saw the unbelief of his people, the Jews, and said that he felt great sorrow and unceasing anguish in his heart (Romans 9:2).   There are times when it is appropriate for the doctrine of God’s judgement to make us miserable!

God’s judgement comes on those who refuse his grace and mercy

Maybe we should begin by remembering that God’s judgement comes upon those who refuse his grace and mercy.  In our last reading we saw that many people turned to God when they realised that he was coming in judgement (8:17).  There was a way to escape the judgement, but many people refused to take it.

The Bible tells us that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but would rather they repent and live (Ezekiel 33:11).  But people continue to try to justify themselves and refuse to come to Jesus in repentance and faith.  In the gospels, Jesus doesn’t seem to be shocked by the existence of hell, but he is dismayed over people’s stubborn turn to him for rescue.  To people who don’t want to accept God’s mercy and live for Christ as their king, God says, ‘have your way!’  The New Testament places the responsibility for being judged firmly in our court.  Paul explains that people perish because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved’ (2 Thessalonians 2:10).

God’s judgement will be seen to be just

As we move on to this morning’s reading, we see God’s people killing over seventy-five thousand people in one day.  That is enough to upset the sensitive reader.  But they were not acting out of spite or malice.  They knew that they were being used as an instrument of God’s justice.  You may have heard the repeated emphasis on the fact that the Jews did not lay a hand on the plunder (10, 15 and 16).  When God sent the Israelites into the Promised Land, God was very clear that this was a judgement on the wicked nations that lived there, and so they were not to take the plunder.  There is an echo of that here!

The fact that what is happening is a judgement of God is further emphasised by another repeated emphasis.  Again and again we read that the people they killed were their enemies, who planned to gain mastery over them and who hated them (1, 2, 5 and 16).  This judgement was being carried out on the very people who had planned to annihilate them.  These verses may be severe, but they are unquestionably fair.

God no longer sends his people out as his agents of judgement.  Indeed, Jesus forbids the use of the sword as a means of extending his kingdom (Matthew 26:52).  But there is a day of judgement coming when Jesus will punish sin.  Those is heaven will look at the existence of hell and agree that the judge of this world has done what is right (Genesis 18:24).  Indeed, even those in hell will not be able to deny that their punishment is just.

Those who have been rescued will celebrate

While the Israelites may have been the instruments of God’s justice, the battle truly belonged to the Lord.  No-one could stand against them because fear of the Jews overtook them (2).  The officials of the provinces helped the Jews because fear of Mordecai had come upon them (3).  This victory did not depend on the military power of a people that had been scattered across the nations.  The Lord was rescuing his people from annihilation.  So what should a rescued or saved people do?  They should celebrate!  That is why they instituted the feast of Purim. 

In the second half of chapter 9 we have the arrangements for Purim.  The feast is called Purim because the wicked Haman had cast the lot (or ‘pur’) to determine the day that he would kill all the Jews.  Yet God had turned the tables and that day become the time of their deliverance.

Purim was celebrated on the last day of February and the first day of March this year.  If you had been in one of the suburbs in north London where there are large Jewish populations you might have witnessed the party.  Children would have been running around in fancy hats, dressed up and waving swords.  There is plenty of food, including funny little triangular cakes called Haman’s ears.  Mock beauty contests are held.  The story is acted out—with heroes like Esther and Mordecai being cheered, and Haman being booed and hissed.

We too are a rescued people.  The doctrine of judgement leaves us with nothing to boast about.  It was for our sin that Jesus bled and died.  We are not good people whose lives have made us worthy of heaven.  We are forgiven people whose Saviour endured the punishment we deserve.  We will spend all eternity celebrating a greater Purim—Jesus came and rescued his people!  

The kind rule who cares for his people (10)

This wonderful book finishes with a picture of Mordecai.  Mordecai is given the position that Haman had once held.  He is made second in power in the empire.  But notice how different a ruler he is!  He was great among the Jews and popular with his people, for he sought the good of his people and spoke up for the welfare of the Jews (3).

Given the role that Mordecai had in delivering the people and his subsequent rule, I think it is fair to see here a picture Jesus here.  Jesus is indeed great amongst his people and he does indeed work to ensure our temporal and eternal welfare.  Jesus is wonderful to save you from the coming judgement.  He is also wonderful to care about our every need as he watches over us as our loving ruler.

Conclusion

I want to finish by looking to a verse that I came across recently.  In Isaiah, God says to the enemies of his people, ‘I am not angry … let them come to me for refuge, let them make peace with me, yes let them make peace with me’ (Isaiah 27:4-5).  Our God delights to make peace with his enemies (Romans 5:10).  He gives those who have set themselves against him opportunities to repent (Revelation 2:21). 

Thomas Chambers, a Scottish pastor of the 1800s, speaks on these verses in Isaiah and explains that "the tone of God's invitation is not a tone of anger - it is a tone of tenderness.  The look that accompanies the invitation is not a look of wrath - it is a look of affection ... it may well be said of God to all who are now seeking His face and favour, that there is no fury in him.”

Yes, there is a day of judgement when Jesus will come back and condemn those who have spurned his mercy.  But the Jesus who will return as judge looks at the world in love and invites all people to come to him.  Now is the time for the wicked to ‘forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts.  Let them turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on them, for he will freely pardon’ (Isaiah 55:7).  Tell people that you were his enemy but are now a beloved child.  Show them the way of rescue and of peace.

A victory worth celebrating (Esther 8)

What causes you to celebrate?  I celebrate in Thomond Park when the Munster Rugby team win a big European Cup match.  After the final whistle the crowd erupts into our anthem of ‘Stand Up and Fight’.  The team comes out and applauds the crowd, and we applaud them.  I am tempted to hug people I have never met before.  Then I go home and look up the match reports and players ratings.  I then can’t wait to dissect the victory with some of my fellow rugby fans in the next day or two.

However, I suspect it does my faith more good when the Munster team lose a big game.  You see then I am reminded that it is only sport.  Despite all the talk of legendary players and historic matches, it will be all soon forgotten.  It is after all about thirty men running around an overly manicured pitch chasing an imitation leather ball.  I have been known to get into my car and pray, ‘thank you for reminding me that this doesn’t really matter, it’s not life and death, and it is of zero eternal significance.  Thank you that I have something so much more significant to live for.’  What makes us most happy says a lot about us. 

This morning we are going to look at an ancient story in the book of all books.  We are going to see God’s people celebrate a magnificent victory.  We are also going to see that the victory recorded in this chapter points ahead to the greatest victory that has ever being seen.

1.     Celebrate the fact that your life is not in the hand of blind faith 

In the Old Testament period, God had a special relationship with the Jews.  Many of these Jews were in exile in a city called Susa, which was in Persia (now modern Iran).  The king of Persia was Xerxes and he had a wicked official called Haman.  Haman hated the Jews and deceived the king into issuing an edict to have them annihilated.  In a delicious irony, Haman ended up being put to death on the very gallows he had prepared for the godly Mordecai.

The book of Esther is characterised by a number of reversals of fortune.  We see one at the beginning of our reading.  King Xerxes gives the property of Haman to Queen Esther (the property of criminals was forfeited to the crown).  Then Esther tells King Xerxes that she is related to Mordecai, and King Xerxes of Persia takes off his signet ring, which he had reclaimed from Haman, and gives it to Mordecai, signifying delegated authority.  Esther appoints Mordecai to be in charge of Haman’s property.

Do you know that God is never mentioned in this book?  But can there be any doubt that he stands behind these surprising events.  The book of Proverbs tells us, that in ‘the Lord’s hand the king’s heart is like a stream of water that he channels towards all that please him’ and that ‘we can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.’  So don’t give up hope!  Your heavenly Father may seem absent, but your life is not in the hand of blind fate. 

2.    Celebrate the fact that God is greater than your enemy.

However, there is a still a major problem.  What are we to do about the edict which orchestrated to annihilate the Jews? 

For the second time in this book, Esther takes her life in her hands and approaches King Xerxes.  You see to approach the king without a summons could be punishable by death.  Xerxes informs Esther that under the Persian legal system a royal edict could not be revoked.  Yet, Xerxes comes up with a plan.  Send a message to the Jews in the king’s name, telling them whatever you want, and seal it with the king’s signet ring.  So Mordecai dictates a decree granting the Jews in every city throughout the Persian Empire giving them the right to destroy and kill and armed force of any nationality or province that might attack them and their women and children, and to plunder the property of their enemies.  The day appointed by Haman’s edict and Mordecai’s defence was the thirteenth day of the month of Adar (or March 7^th according to the New Living Translation).

Have you ever wondered how the Jews were going supposed to be able to defend themselves against the might of those who opposed them.  They were after all a small and insignificant people.  Look at the last verse of this chapter.  The people feared what the Jews might do to them.  This is one of the themes of the whole of the Old Testament.  The battle belongs to the Lord.  The Jews weren’t a great military power, but when they trusted their God he defeated their enemies.  Our God is the one who has dealt with our guilt and defeated our accuser.  We simply act in light of his victory. 

I love the words in the book of Revelation where God’s people are immune to the accusations of our enemy, Satan, ‘for they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and their testimony’ (Revelation 12:11).  Or what about the many Christians who are killed even today for their faith.  Has God let them down?  Listen to Jesus warning his disciples, ‘they will kill some of you.  And everyone will hate you because you are my followers.  But not a hair of you head will perish’ (Luke 21:17-19).  How can you square martyrdom with an untouched head?  We can do so by remembering that Jesus told us not to fear those who can kill the body but not touch our soul (Matthew 10:28).     

3.     Celebrate that there is a gospel wroth proclaiming.

I find the closing verses of our chapter fascinating.  When Mordecai left the king’s presence, he was wearing royal garments of blue and white, a large crown of gold and a purple robe of fine linen.  Our Saviour has been clothed in honour and sits at the Father’s side, and like the messengers Mordecai sent throughout the empire, we have been good news that should cause God’s chosen people to rejoice.  ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news! (Romans 10:15 and Isaiah 52:7).

And the city of Susa held a joyous celebration.  In every province and in every city to which the edict of the king came, there was joy and gladness among the Jews, with feasting and celebration.  And many people of other nationalities became Jews because fear of the Jews seized them.

The people of that city clearly didn’t share Haman’s hatred of the Jews.  The city had been bewildered when the edict to annihilate the Jews (3:15).  Perhaps the people of Susa had also suffered under the tyranny of Haman.  What a blessing to have him replaced by the godly Mordecai.  While we can’t deny that many awful things have been done by people claiming to represent Jesus, the world does not realise how much it is blessed by those who love the Lord.  How many hospitals and schools have been set up because people love Jesus?  When the evangelical missionaries arrived in Tahiti in the 1800s the murder rate was in the thirties, but after a few years of their influence the murder rate was down to single figures.  Let’s pray that our influence changes our homes, families, schools and workplaces for good!

Conclusion:

So what causes you to celebrate?  God has been good to all people!  The apostle Paul told the people of Lystra and Derbe, that God sends you rain and good crops and gives you food and joy in your hearts’ (Acts 14:17).  We may celebrate momentous events like the birth of a child.  We may be gladdened by a good exam result or getting a job.  We might get approved for a mortgage.  What about getting an all-clear on a cancer scare?  Of course you gladness might be petty, like when Manchester United get beaten, or unrealistic as you hope for the Limerick hurlers to win the All-Ireland.

ut what caused the rejoicing in this chapter in the book of books?  They rejoiced because the invisible God had come to our rescue.  That’s why Christians sing, and atheists don’t have any hymns.  That’s why Christians are prepared to suffer for their faith, and do so with hope.  That’s why we can know comfort even when our world is falling apart (although I know that many faithful Christians can find that hope almost impossible to feel).  You see there is a victory that will be celebrated for eternity.  

The justice of God and the comfort of the cross (6:12-7:10)

II was living in Northern Ireland at the time of the Omagh bombing, in 1998.  Twenty-nine people were killed, including a woman pregnant with twins, by the so-called ‘Real IRA’.  I remember being struck by how angry the relatives felt as no-one was brought to justice for this crime.  At the time I didn’t actually know what to think about their protests.  I thought that maybe they should have simply forgiven and moved on.  But I have come to the conclusion that they were right.  They wanted justice to be done, and they wanted it to be seen to be done.  

But the thought of God’s justice may also scare you.  ‘What about the evil that I see in my life?’  ‘What about all the wrong things that I have done?’  ‘If God is a God of exact justice then what hope is there for me?’  These questions are why we must finish this sermon by looking at the cross.  We are going to look at ‘the justice of God and the comfort of the cross.’

We must not ignore the warning to repent (6:12-13)

Having paraded Mordecai through the streets crying ‘this is what the king does to the one in whom is his delight’ Haman hurried home, mourning and with his head covered.  He tells his wife and advisors what had happened.  Then they warn him, ‘If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of the Jewish people, you will not overcome him but surely fall before him.’

In the Old Testament, God had a special relationship with the Jews.  From them came the Messiah, Jesus.  Now anyone who trusts in Jesus is one of his people, and only those who trust in Jesus are his people. If you resist the God revealed through Jesus Christ, you will surely fall before him. 

Having being warned, Haman should have stopped in his tracks, repented and sought God’s mercy.  But his heart was set as flint against all that was holy.

God will bring down the proud (7:1-7)

The book of Esther illustrates a principle that Mary sings about in the song we call the Magnificat: ‘God has brought down the mighty from their throne and exalted those who are humble in heart’ (Luke 1:52). 

Tragically there is nothing more proud that to say, ‘but God will accept me because I am a good person.’  It is a proud and arrogant thing to deny your need of God’s mercy, and it will inevitably lead to your ruin! 

As Haman’s friends warn him about the foolishness of setting himself against those who belong to God, the king’s eunuchs arrive to escort him to the banquet that Esther has prepared.   

Again, King Xerxes enquires about the queen’s request.  Xerxes must have been shocked when she responded.  Esther exclaims, ‘Grant my life and spare my people.’  Xerxes likes his queen.  How could her life be in danger?  How could her people be in danger?  Remember that Esther hadn’t told him that she was a Jew, Haman had not told the king who the people he wanted annihilated were, and King Xerxes had been so irresponsible that he had not made any enquires as to Haman’s edict but had simply handed over his signet ring and said, ‘do as you please’.

‘Who dared to do such a thing?’ asks King Xerxes.

‘The advisory and enemy is the vile Haman,’ Esther responds.

King Xerxes leaves for the palace garden in a rage.  Interestingly, for the first time in the story Xerxes is said to be without his wine!

Haman knows that the king has already decided his fate.  His only hope is to get Queen Esther to change his mind.  So the man that had plotted to kill the all Jews, because one Jew would not bow down before him, is now bowing down before a Jew pleading for his life.  The great reversal has taken place.  God has brought the mighty down and is going to exalt the humble.

God will see that justice is done (7:8-10)

Persian court etiquette demanded that you keep a discrete distance between any man and the queen’s wife.  However, Haman has gone over to the couch on which Esther is reclining.  It seems that he falls onto her just as Xerxes re-enters the room.  It looks like he is molesting or assaulting her.  So they covered Haman’s face.  One of the servants, who mustn’t have liked him too much, pointed out there is a large seventy-five foot gallows just after being built.  Haman ends up being hung on the very construction that he had prepared for Mordecai.  It is strict justice, but no-one could deny that it was fair. 

When we look around us and see so much injustice; when there are so much that does not seem to be set right; when evil seems to triumph for a time; when you pray for Christian brothers and sisters that are languishing in prisons of intolerant regimes; when the guilty walk free; when those who commit atrocities are not brought to justice; when the world’s leaders seem corrupt, don’t forget that there is coming a day of judgement and vindication!

Haman’s wife was right.  Set yourself up against the one true and living God and you will fall.  The prophet Obadiah proclaims, ‘for the day of the Lord is near upon all nations.  As you have done, it will be done to you; your deeds shall return on your own head’ (Obadiah 15).  We can say with Abraham, ‘I know that the judge of the world will do what is right’ (Genesis 18:25).  There will be no calls for an appeal court on the Day of Judgement.

Conclusion

But, what about my deeds?  What about your deeds?  Shall they return on our own heads?  I want a God of justice, but I am scared of a God of justice!  Thank God this God of justice offers us mercy.

God says, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but would rather that they repent and live’ (Ezekiel 33:11).  In love he sent his Son to take the punishment that our sin deserves.  At the cross wrath and mercy meet!  The apostle Paul writes, ‘None is righteous not one … all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus … this was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus’ (Romans 3).

It might be hard for you to admit that you deserve God’s judgement.  We have spent most of our lives trying to prove that we are worthy and good.  ‘Most people will admit they make mistakes and are not perfect but far fewer will go from there to admit that their “mistakes” make them unworthy of eternal life and worthy of utter condemnation’ (Greear).  But you have nothing to fear if you turn to Jesus in repentance.  You can be honest about your sin and secure in the fact that Jesus promises that he will never drive away anyone who comes to him.  You can have the joy of knowing your past failures have been washed away and that Jesus’ blood will forgive you of future failings.  And that Jesus is not returning to be your judge but to embrace you as the most loving of brothers.

God 'just happens' to delight in his people (Esther 6)

In his autobiography ‘Out of the Black Shadows’, the Zimbabwean Bible teacher, Stephen Lungu, recounts the story of how he came from being a gang member to being a Christian.  He also tells the amazing account of how he met his wife.

One day when Stephen was praying he had what he describes as a sort of waking vision.  In this vision he saw a young woman seated before him, dressed in a loose blue outfit and holding a Bible.  The Bible happened to be upside down yet in the vision he could see what page it was opened at—Acts 26.  This was hugely significant for Stephen as the Lord had used Acts 26 previously in his life.  This vision came to him two more times over the following two years and he occasionally thought about it and wondered what it meant.        

When he was visiting another part of the country, a friend mischievously suggested that he must meet a girl called Rachel. 

A few days later he was speaking at a youth meeting.  After he had preached, he was talking to a man who was asking him questions about faith.  Stephen’s eye was caught by the person seated just behind the man—a girl in a loose blue outfit, holding a Bible, which happened to be upside-down and open at Acts 26.

The next day he decided to visit the man he had been talking with.  When he arrived the houseboy told him that he was out.  Seeing Stephen’s disappointment the houseboy invited him in and told him to wait a moment.  Then a young woman appeared.  Stephen could not believe his eyes.  It was the young woman from the vision again, the man’s sister, who happened to be the girl, Rachel, his friend had said he should meet.  They would end up getting married.

Do you think that Stephen Lungu thinks those events were simply a strange set of coincidences?  That Rachel ‘just happened’ to be in that dress, that she ‘just happened’ to holding the Bible upside down at Acts 26, and that she ‘just happened’ to be the woman his friend suggested he meet and the sister of the man he was visiting? 

In this morning’s reading we see that things don’t just happen.  You are not at the mercy of chance or fate, and you are not the master of your destiny and the captain of your soul.  Your life is in the hands of the God who is in the control of all things, and he works all things for the good of those who love him.

When it comes to recuing God’s people things don’t ‘just happen’ (1-5)

So Haman has men building gallows which were seventy-five feet tall for Mordecai.  In the morning he is going to ask the Xerxes to execute Mordecai.  However, it ‘just happens’ that King Xerxes can’t sleep.  So what does King Xerxes do to kill the long hours of the night?  He asks to be read chronicles of his reign.  His night time reading, ‘just happens’, to be at that point where Mordecai foiled the plot to overthrow him.  Xerxes asks what was done to honour Mordecai.  It ‘just happens’ that nothing was done to honour Mordecai.  So, on the night before Haman will come to request Mordecai’s execution, Xerxes ‘just happens’ to be pondering how to honour Mordecai.  It ‘just happens’ that Haman turns up at just this time with his request to have Mordecai executed.  The timing is perfect!

God is not mentioned by name in this book, but is clearly at work behind the scenes.  Remember what he is up to.  He is working to save his people from certain annihilation.  When God works to rescue, things have a way of just happening!

We see this in his ultimate rescue mission—the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.  Some scholars point out that multiple specific prophecies of the Old Testament ‘just happen’ to be fulfilled in the gospels.  For example, it ‘just happened’ that there was a census called at the time of Jesus’ birth so that he would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2).  It ‘just happened’ that his parents settled in Nazareth and he would be called a Nazarene (Isaiah 11:1).  It just happened that soldiers would gamble for his garments (Psalm 22:18).  It just happened that his hands and feet would be pierced (Psalm 22:16), his side would be pierced (Zech. 12:10) but that the soldiers didn’t need to break his bones (Exodus 12:46, Psalm 34:20).  It just happened that Jesus was buried with the rich (Isaiah 53:9).  When it comes to rescuing God’s people things don’t ‘just happen’! 

Things ‘just happen’ so that God can take pleasure in his people (6-11)

When the king hears that Haman is in the outer court, he thinks, ‘Oh good!  Haman will be able to tell me how to solve the problem of Mordecai not been honoured.’  So before Haman gets the opportunity to present his request, he is faced with Xerxes question.  ‘What should be done to the man whom the king delights in?’ 

‘Who could he be referring to?  It must be me!,’ Haman thinks to himself.  So Haman goes for the full bells and whistles.  Imagine Haman’s face when Xerxes says, ‘hurry, take the robes and the horse, as you have said, and do so to Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king’s gate.’  Haman leads Mordecai through the square of the city proclaiming “thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honour!”’

A greater king than Xerxes takes delight in you.  We can understand why the Father would take delight in Jesus.  It is not surprising to hear that voice from heaven saying ‘this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased’ (Matthew 3:17). But God rejoices in all his people.  He delights in Mordecai, who had been a compromiser earlier in the story.  ‘The Lord takes delight in his people’ (Psalm 149:4).  You are in Christ and Christ is in you.  You have been washed of your sins and God is making you like Jesus.  He dresses you in robes of righteousness and calls you his child.  For all eternity we will delight in God, but also God will delight in us.

The reason things don’t ‘just happen’ is because God is in control (12-14)

Haman was so consumed with hatred for Mordecai that he could not wait until the edict would come into power, and Mordecai would die with all the rest of his people.  But his wife and friends can see that things are not ‘just happening’.  They see what we see in these events.  They warn Haman, ‘if Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of the Jewish people, you will not overcome him but will surely fall before him’ (13).  The God of the Bible, who had a special relationship with the Jews in the Old Testament, from whom he brought the Christ to bless the nations, is an unstoppable force.

Conclusion: The comfort (and challenge) of the fact that things don’t ‘just happen’

The fact that things don’t ‘just happen’ is one of the most comforting things that a Christian can be told.  Sometimes we can look back and we are thankful for the way that the invisible God has worked things out in our lives.  I am so relieved that even my weaknesses, compromises and sin don’t plunge my life into a sea of chaos.  You are in the care of the God who delights in his people.

But how can we hold on to God when the things that ‘just happen’ result in pain?  This week I went to see friends whose son died by suicide.  How do we speak of a God who is in control in a situation like that?  What possible good could God have in mind through that young man's death?  It all seems too much!

I think of what Simon Peter said when he was confronted with difficult teaching that had lead many people to stop following Jesus.  He said to his Saviour, ‘Where else can we go?  You have the words of life’ (John 6:66).  The idea that the things that ‘just happen’ are in God’s control may present us with difficult questions, but where else can we go?  Would it really be better to believe that our suffering was pointless?  Would it really be a comfort to think that we had a weak God who looks on helplessly as our circumstances are tossed about on the waves of chaos?  Of course not!  There is mystery.  There may be immense pain. I don’t expect those of you who are suffering to be able to easily embrace the sovereign control of God.  But I know that the thought of a God who would let things ‘just happen’ without purpose or control is a terrifying thought.

ast week, I mentioned John Bunyan, who spent twelve years in prison for his faith.  He said that, ‘I was made to see that if ever I would suffer rightly, I must … live upon the God that is invisible.’  May God help us to trust the God who ‘just happened’ to give his Son so that we would be secure in his love.

'To live upon the invisible God' (Esther 4-5)

The Pilgrim’s Progress is one of the most widely published books in history, being translated into over two hundred languages.  It’s a picture of the Christian life, and its author was John Bunyan.

Bunyan received minimal education and leading the trade of working with metal from his father.  That meant he was known as a tinker.  As a young man he excelled in cursing and blasphemies, and when he became a Christian he spent some years fearful that God had not actually forgiven him.  He wrote a book entitled ‘Grace abounding to the chief of sinners’, which chronicles how he came to an assurance of salvation.

He became a powerful preacher and gracious preacher.  On one occasion one of the most learned puritans, John Owen, was why he used to love to go and hear Bunyan preach. He replied, ‘I would willingly exchange my learning for the tinker’s power of touching men’s hearts.’

But Bunyan lived in a time when religious freedom could not be guaranteed.  A law was passed that only allowed ordained Church of England ministers preach the Bible.  So, along with many others, Bunyan was put in jail. One of the things that caused him to suffer there was being separated from one of his daughters who was blind, and so needed extra help.  There he remained for twelve years until the law was rescinded.  Yet Bunyan could have had his freedom any time he wanted, on just the one condition that he would promise not to preach.  He would not agree to this.

Bunyan is something of a heroic figure.  In his spiritual autobiography, entitled, ‘Grace abounding to the Chief of Sinners’, he talked about learning ‘to live upon God that is invisible.’  That might be a good description of the book of Esther.  This morning we see Mordecai and Esther, like John Bunyan, exercise amazing faith in the invisible God as Haman opposes anything to do with him.   

God wakes up his sleeping people (4:1-3)

A speaker was leading on the verses that lead up to this passage, and one of his congregation complained, ‘that was all a little bit doom and gloom, don’t you think?’  How else could you preach about the issuing of an edict that was aimed at the wiping out of God’s people?  Look at how that edict made the people feel.  When Mordechai learned all that had been done, he tore his clothes and put on sack cloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried out with a loud and bitter cry (1).  In fact in every province there was great mourning among the Jews.

But there is something exciting here.  While some Jews had returned with Ezra to Israel many had felt too settled in the Persian world—they were assimilated into pagan cultures.  They had lost all interest in being a distinct and holy people.  They were followers of God in name only.  So God used a desperate situation to wake them up.  He does the same thing today.  When all is well, we can become complacent.  When society tolerates us the church becomes worldly.  But God loves his people too much for that.  He loves you too much for that.  As Nancy Leigh DeMoss explains, ‘In His desire to turn our hearts back to Himself, God uses crises to wake us up to make us desperate for a restored relationship with Him.  He stirs up His people to seek Him in prayer and fasting, realizing that He is the only hope—both for His people and our nation and our world.’

Mordecai trusts the rescuing God (4:4-15)

Esther seems to have been living in a bit of a bubble in the palace.  She hasn’t been told about the edict against her own people.  She doesn’t know why Mordecai is mourning in sackcloth.  So she sends him some clothing.  When he would not accept them she sends one of the king’s eunuchs to go and find out what is wrong with him.  Mordecai gives the eunuch a copy of the edict for Esther to see and tells her that she must go to the king and plead on behalf of her people.

Esther sends Mordecai a ‘no can do’.  To approach the king uninvited could mean being put to death, and besides, she seems a little out of the king’s favour for she has not been called to come in to the king in thirty days.  Now you might expect that Mordecai would respond by saying, ‘Esther, if you don’t do this we are all doomed!’  Instead, he reveals a far greater faith in God.  ‘Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews.  For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from some other place, but you and your father’s house will perish.  And who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?’

Listen to Jesus’ words.  ‘All that the Father gives to me will come to me, and I will in no way cast them out.’ (John 6:37).  Does God need us to gather his people?  No!  Jesus says, ‘I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it’ (Matthew 16:18).  Does God need us to build his church in Ireland?  No!  ‘If we keep silent relief and deliverance will rise from some other place.’  He gives us the great commission, but if we keep silent, he will still fulfil his purposes.  But who knows, perhaps he has placed us amongst our families, in our workplaces, surrounded by our friends, for such a time as this.  He offers you the privilege of being part of his eternal purposes. So open your mouth, living openly as one of his people and take a risk. 

Esther trusts God with everything (4:16-5:8)

Up to this point I have suggested that Esther was a compromiser.  But now she utters heroic and faith-filled words.  She joins the ranks of the many female heroes in the Old Testament.  She asks God’s people to fast and pray for her, and so acknowledges her life is in the hands of the Lord.  She prepares to risk her life and approach the king, and she says, ‘if I perish, I perish.’  Esther provides us of a picture of our Saviour, who not only was prepared to lay down his life to rescue his people, but suffered an excruciating death for us.  But not only does she provide us with a picture of Jesus, she gives a challenge to follow her example and be prepared to risk everything in following him. 

The people have fasted and prayed.  She puts on her royal robes.  She enters the throne room.  God grants her favour in the king’s eyes.  He offers her up to half the kingdom (a traditional grand gesture rather than an offer to be taken seriously).  She says that she will reveal her request at a party for three—just herself, the king and Haman.

Haman reminds us that we can expect hostility (4:9-14)

Haman is thrilled with himself.  But there is one fly in the ointment.  When he sees Mordecai he is filled with hatred.  He goes home and boasts to his wife. ‘Even Queen Esther let no one but me come to the feast she prepared.  And tomorrow also I am invited by her together with the king.  Yet all this is worth nothing to me, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.’  So his wife and friends advise him to build a gallows, seventy-five foot tall, and in the morning tell the king to have Mordecai hung on it.

These chapters are about faith and courage.  Mordecai knows that God will deliver his people.  What heroic words from the lips of Esther, ‘if I perish I perish.’  There is real danger because there is real opposition.  Hebrews chapter eleven tells us of how some, like Daniel, experienced the mouths of the lion being shut.  But then goes on to tell us of those who were stoned and sawn in two.  Those who were left destitute persecuted and ill-treated.  When we tell people that Jesus and his cross are the only way to be made right with God, there will be kickback.  Jesus promised us that we would face opposition in the world.  He also promised that he would be with us until the end of the age.

I don’t know if you are like me, but I am not a naturally courageous person.  I hate the thought of people rejecting me for my faith.  I love to be popular and accepted.  I hate to be different and stick out like a sore thumb.  It was in college that I first started putting up my hand for Jesus, and it left me feeling lonely inside (even though no-one actually gave me a hard time).  But I hope that we can take comfort in the fact that God promises that he will never leave us nor forsake us.  And if you feel inadequate for the task, ask God to give you the words to say (in fact I think he can use our inadequate and faltering words in ways that go beyond our understanding).

Finally, don’t forget grace.  I don’t know about you, but I have kept my mouth shut many times when I should have opened it.  I have been a coward.  I have denied Christ with my silence.  I have let him down.  But our God is gracious.  He does not treat us as our sins deserve but according to his loving kindness.  Don’t go on dwelling about your compromises and failures, instead dwell on his sure forgiveness.  And pray for opportunities to stand up, and speak and witness so that we might know the joy of being a part of what God is doing in his world. 

‘God doesn’t seem to be there when I need him the most’ (Esther 2:18-3:15)

There are times when we have no idea what God is up to.  He seems absent and remote.  Sometimes it can feel like he forsakes us when we need him the most.  We are anxious, stressed, worried, lonely or depressed.  It is as if our prayers are bouncing off the ceiling and our faith gives us no comfort at all.  We fear that there is no-one up there or that the person up there doesn’t care about us.

This morning’s reading ends with God’s people feeling utter hopelessness.  Does life ever seem unfair?  Are you ever disliked for being different?  Have you ever felt forsaken by God?  Then this talk is especially for you!

When life seems unfair (2:19-3:1) 

Last time we looked at this book I suggested that Mordecai was a bit of a compromiser.  He is keeping his head down, hiding the fact that he is one of God’s people.  In fact his very name may suggest this to be the case.  Mordecai seems to be a Babylonian name, in honour of the Babylonian god, Marduk.  But even though the Babylonians have been replaced by the Persians he does not take the opportunity to change his name to a Jewish one, for he does not want to drag attention to his faith in the true and living God.  As one preacher says, ‘‘I think he was a chicken, and I like that.”  We all can identify with Mordecai!

Here he was sitting at the king’s gate.  The king’s gate was like the law courts.  If you went there to make an appeal, you stood.  The fact that Mordecai is sitting means that he works there.  He was probably some sort of civil servant.

At the king’s gate, Mordecai ‘just happens’ to overhear a conversation about a plot to assassinate the king.  So he does the right thing, and sends word through Esther to the king.  The plot is foiled.  But does Mordecai get rewarded?  No!  In fact in the very next verse, the wicked Haman is given a higher seat of honour than all the other nobles.  It seems unfair.  Not only does God’s man go unnoticed but the enemy of his people is exalted!

When you are disliked for being different (3:2—11)

Haman is the villain of this book.  Even today, when this story is acted out during the feast of Purim, Jewish children hiss and boo whenever Haman appears.

Haman was an Agagite.  This meant that he was from the nation of the Amalekites.  The Amalekites hated the Jews for centuries (going right back to when they had been rescued from Egypt).  King Saul, from the tribe of Benjamin, had been told to destroy the Amalekites but he had spared their wicked king Agag.  Now Mordecai, also from Benjamin, refuses to give honour to the Jew-hating Agagite, Haman.     

Haman doesn’t actually notice that Mordecai in the crowd.  It is other servants of the king who report Mordecai to Haman.  But notice that Mordecai has now come clean about the fact that he was a Jew.  The chicken has developed a backbone.  It is never too late to ask God for the strength to open your mouth and make a stand!

Haman scorns the idea of simply having Mordecai executed.  He wants to annihilate all the Jews.  The devil’s fingerprints are behind this plan.  What will happen to God’s promise to bless the world through the seed of Abraham if all Abraham’s descendants are wiped off the face of the earth?  If Haman’s plan succeeded there would be no more descendants of Abraham for the Christ to come from!     

Haman casts the lot (or ‘pur’) to find an auspicious date for the termination of the Jews.  The lot falls for eleven months’ time.  God is still in control.  The book of Proverbs says, ‘the lot is cast into the lap, but every decision is from the Lord’ (Proverbs 16:33).  Haman then goes to Xerxes, and deceives him about the Jews.  ‘They keep themselves separate’—sadly they never kept themselves separate enough.  ‘They have different customs.  They do not obey the king’s laws.  It is not in your interest to tolerate them.’ 

All this is very ironic given that Mordecai the Jew had proved such a faithful citizen whose actions had saved the king’s life!  But remember what a fool king Xerxes is!  He doesn’t take the time to investigate the facts.  He doesn’t enquire who these troublesome people are.  He simply gives Haman his signet ring and says, ‘do as you please’.

One of the reasons we Christians are tempted to keep our heads down is because many people simply can’t tolerate those who are different.  Haman said, ‘they have different customs.  They don’t fit in.  They are not like us.’  The fact that we know what it is like to be disliked for being different should make us sympathetic to all who are bullied.  When the effeminate boy is called a ‘queer’ or the ‘new resident’ from abroad is told to ‘go back to where you come from’, our heart should go out to them.  We should be filled with sympathy and understanding as to how they feel.

When you feel utterly forsaken by God (3:12-15)

Think how the Jews felt when they heard that edict being read out.  The people were ‘to destroy, kill, and annihilate all Jews, young and old, women and children, and plunder their goods’ in eleven months’ time.’  Maybe some said, ‘God has rescued his people in the past, he can be trusted to do so again.’  Maybe that is what they should have thought.  But we read that they simply wept!  Who can blame them?  They are afraid because all the evidence seems to suggest that God has forsaken them!

I want to speak to the over one third of you who do or will suffer depression or anxiety.  As you know I have struggled with anxiety on and off for years and before Christmas it all got too much for me.  I wrote the following thoughts soon after an episode of fear.  I don’t know if they will be any help to you:

‘Fear is an awful thing.  It is not easily removed.  Sometimes it is illogical.  It seems as if your brain gravitates to the worst “what if” possible.  Sometimes prayer is really helpful—the psalms point to that.  Sometimes prayer seems to make no difference at all—one psalm ends with the dejected words “darkness is my closest friend.”  Sometimes you want the comfort of friends.  Other times you simply want to curl up in the foetal position.  Sometimes it really helps to talk.  Other times you are too consumed with anxiety to answer questions.  If you have been through a time of depression before, try to remember how God brought you through that and will bring you through this.  Try to access the truth that God does really care for you, even though he seems distant and remote.’

It might not seem fair that you suffer with depression, when everyone else seems so happy.  Of course sometimes those smiles hide a pained heart.  You may fear that you are open about your depression you will be despised for being different.  What does it matter what people think?  If you have never had the feeling of being forsaken by God I would encourage you with some words from Jude, ‘be merciful with those who doubt.’ 

Conclusion

The poet William Cowper suffered from the most awful hopelessness and fear.  In a hymn entitled, ‘God moves in mysterious ways’ (which could serve as a title for the book of Esther, he writes, ‘ye fearful saints fresh courage take … Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust him for his grace.’  When the Christian fears that God is not there for them, their fearful senses are lying to them.  I can’t promise that it will lift you, but look to the cross!

Jesus knew that life could be unfair—he was the only sinless person to ever live and yet he died as a criminal on a Roman cross, for you!  He knew what it was like to be hated for being different—he heard the crowd cry ‘crucify him.’  Think of the one who was forsaken so that you never would be.  He cried, ‘my God, my God why have you forsaken me?’  He died for our guilt so that could our sins could be forgiven.  He adopts us into his Father’s family, and now we can hear the words, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’  He promises to always be with you.  He is sympathetic to your pain because he has suffered and knows you because he lives in you.  Indeed, one day his Father, who is your Father, will wipe away every tear from your eyes!

I pray that God will lift your sorrows quickly, that he will give you hope and assure you that nothing can separate you from his love!