[0:00] And turn to Esther, chapter 2.! Esther, chapter 2. Last week we started talking about the hidden director.
[0:22] ! The one who is behind the scenes.! Suppose we have a play going on. You see the actors. You see the staging.
[0:33] You see everything else. But the guy who is behind the scenes, the director, has got everything in his hands. He's watching how things are going. He's calling the shots and what's taking place.
[0:46] And in the book of Esther, even though God's name is not mentioned in the book, we talked about the fact he's back there and he is controlling everything that's taking place. Everything that happens is because he said, this needs to happen here and this needs to happen here.
[1:00] And so we were watching this fact that God is going to take an ordinary person, Esther, a young orphan Jewish girl, and he's going to use her as his main character in this.
[1:14] But technically, she's not the main character. The book's named after her, but the main character is God himself as the director of what's going on behind the scenes.
[1:26] He is calling what's going on. And we looked at the fact that there are three different people that he's controlling at this moment. He's going to have a fourth one come in, but for right now, he's controlling three different people and the movements that they make.
[1:40] A defeated king, a promoted orphan, and a prominent Jew. And last week, we started talking about the defeated king. And we talked about the fact that between chapter one and chapter two, there's a three-year gap.
[1:55] Chapter one, Ahasuerus has this huge party. And all kinds of things go wrong at this party. And Vashti is kicked out of being queen.
[2:07] And all these different things happen. Between there and chapter two, three years takes place. And what happens is, remember I just mentioned that when they had this party, part of it was because Ahasuerus wanted to go to war with Greece again.
[2:19] And he's trying to convince other people who were leaders to go with him. And so he does. He goes to war with Greece again. And he wins the battle of Thermopylae. He takes Athens and he burns it to the ground.
[2:31] But then he has a naval battle at Salamis. And there he gets defeated. And he goes back home, a defeated king. And as he goes back home, it's a difficult time for him.
[2:44] He's been humiliated. He thought he had this in the bag and everything. But you notice it starts off in verse one of chapter two, after these things. After this party, after Vashti has been relieved from her queenly duties, after he has lost to the Greeks, he's back home.
[3:04] And it says there in verse one, it goes on, when the wrath of King Ahasuerus was appeased, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what was decreed against her.
[3:15] I think he's having second thoughts. Remember, we talked about the fact in verse 19 of chapter one, he says, look, if it please the king, let there go to a royal commandment from him and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes that it be not altered.
[3:32] If Vashti come no more before King Ahasuerus and let the king give her royal estate to another that is better than she. And we talked about the fact that he had made this decree according to their laws.
[3:46] Once the king made a decree, he could not change it. Nobody could change it, including him. And he has said, Vashti come no more before King Ahasuerus.
[3:57] He couldn't even invite her over for a cup of coffee. He couldn't have any contact with her whatsoever based on what he had ruled. We talked about when we do things in anger.
[4:10] Proverbs 14, 29, He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding, but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly. Proverbs 29, 20, Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words?
[4:25] There is more hope for fool than for him. And we talked about how many times we do things in haste, we do things in anger, or we do things in the midst of an outburst.
[4:37] So here he is. He's lost a battle. He doesn't have his queen. He has no one really to talk to other than the advisors that he has around him. So he talks to them, and they come up with a plan.
[4:48] They devise the plan. Now remember, these are the same guys who told him that he needed to get rid of Ashti. And now he's going back to them saying, okay, so now what are we going to do?
[5:00] I'm not sure I'd go back to these guys. I'm not sure I would question their wisdom. But they come up with a plan. They said, you know what?
[5:10] We need to have all kinds of people come here, all kinds of ladies come here, so that we can choose a new one. We talked about the fact that God puts people in places so that God can do his work.
[5:29] Ahasuerus was not a good man. Ahasuerus was a wicked man. Ahasuerus demonstrated that. We talked about the alcohol he had at the party and how that affected his thinking. We talked about the advisors that he had and how they affected his thinking.
[5:41] And Proverbs 16, 4 says, The Lord hath made all things for himself, yea, even the wicked for the day of evil. He says God has everything in place for himself.
[5:52] God's going to exalt him. And we use an example of Pharaoh. When Moses was with Pharaoh in Egypt, Pharaoh was going to not let the children of Israel go.
[6:03] God sends ten plagues. He finally lets them go. But after he decides to do that, he changes his mind and chases them. Winds up losing half his army in the Red Sea. And in Romans chapter 9, verse 17, it says this, For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared to all the earth.
[6:31] Pharaoh, the only reason you're where you are is so that I can be exalted. I can be lifted up. Ahasuerus, Xerxes, remember in the Greek, Xerxes, we know him from history.
[6:43] The only reason you're where you are is so that I can be exalted. And I can be lifted up. And so, they decide, we need to find him a new queen.
[6:56] And we looked at verses 2 and 3 of chapter 2. And the one qualification is said there, in verse 2, Then said the king's servants, that ministered unto him, Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king.
[7:09] Verse 3, And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather together all the fair young virgins. Of Shushan. The only qualification was, do they look good?
[7:24] Not are they smart. Not do they have character. Not are they going to be helpful to the king. Not are they going to be a good listener to the king. Do they look good? Sort of sounds like today, doesn't it?
[7:35] The only qualification for men or women. Do they look good? God says, that's not the only qualification. That's not the only reason. To have someone in your life.
[7:48] And so, they send out, over the whole 127 provinces. Remember, all the way from India to Ethiopia? All of them. Look for somebody, who's good looking, and send them to Shushan, the palace.
[8:01] And when they get there, verse 12, Now when every maid's turn was come, to go in to King Ahasuerus, after she had been 12 months, a whole year, according to the manner of women, so that after the days of her purification were accomplished, to wit, six months with oil and myrrh, six months with sweet odors, and with other things for the purifying of the women.
[8:24] They had to go through a whole year's process before they ever got to meet the king. Think about that. And, they come in, and they go through this purification process, and if the king likes them, okay, they go one place.
[8:40] If the king says, eh, they go to another place. But one thing for all these women, none of them ever got to get married. They were now the king's property. They were held there. So, it brings us to the second person we started to look at.
[8:56] A promoted orphan. A promoted orphan. Esther, herself. God directed this defeated, very prideful king to promote a humble Jewish orphan girl.
[9:15] God's plan was always in place. God always knew it was going to happen. Psalm 7610 says this, Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee. The remainder of wrath shall thou restrain.
[9:28] Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee. Ahasuerus blew up. Ahasuerus lost his temper. Ahasuerus did all these different things, but it's all going to work out according to the glory of God.
[9:42] God's going to teach two people. Mordecai and Esther took us to Mordecai and the palace. This is a part of Esther's story.
[9:52] Mordecai and the palace. He'd been carried away from Jerusalem. He's taken in and he's part of the captivity that goes to Babylon and then on to Persia. And it says in verse 5, now in, I'm getting a little bit of a ring down.
[10:07] Now in Shushan, the palace, there was a certain Jew whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jer, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite. He was, his dad and King Saul were brothers.
[10:22] He's part of the royal family. Verse 6, who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captivity. He'd been taken away, was made part of the captivity.
[10:33] He understood hardship. He knew what it was to be a captive. He knew what it was to live in a foreign country and be a foreigner there. He was probably around 70 years old. And he's there, but he's there for a reason.
[10:48] Look at verse 19 of chapter 2. And when the virgins were gathered together the second time, then Mordecai sat at the king's gate. In those days, verse 21, in those days when Mordecai sat in the king's gate, two of the king's chamberlains, Bicton and Teret, of those which kept the door were wroth and sought to lay hand on King Ahasuerus.
[11:16] He's there in the palace. He hears, you know, you ever think about people going through the gates? They got used to the gatekeepers being there and stuff and they just keep on their conversations and talking.
[11:27] These guys would overhear a whole lot of stuff. And he overhears the conversation that these two are having about trying to get rid of the king. So picture him there in the palace and he hears this because it's going to affect Esther.
[11:42] Esther is in the family. Esther's in the family. She's adopted. She's been raised by her cousin, Mordecai. Verse 7, And he brought up Hadesa, that is Esther, his uncle's daughter.
[11:58] For she had neither father nor mother and the maid was fair and beautiful whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took as his own daughter.
[12:09] He took her in as his own daughter. Think of the love he had for her. She was a relative. She was an orphan and he took her in and made her part of his family.
[12:23] To be part of the family. What a picture that is of Jesus Christ and what he does for us. We've been adopted into the family of God.
[12:34] Romans chapter 8 verse 15 and 16. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba, Father, Daddy, Father.
[12:48] We have that relationship with him. He is our father. He is our dad. He is the one that we can go to. I don't know what you're feeling about all the things that happened here recently in the news and stuff, but one of the things that affected me most in the Charlie Kirk service that they had was at the end.
[13:15] President Trump had just spoken and he'd given his thing and he called Erica back up and when she buried her head into his shoulder and cried, and you could watch the video.
[13:28] He teared up. He viewed her as a daughter. He viewed her as someone that needs care, needs protection and Mordecai was there for Esther, took her in as part of his family and made her feel comforted.
[13:45] He had brought her up in a home that taught that there was one God. He brought her up in a home and says, our God is capable of doing anything.
[13:56] Our God can control all. Our God, you need to trust him because he's always working things out for the good. He's going to take Esther and he's going to raise her up and Mordecai had no idea this was going to happen.
[14:12] He took her out of love. He had no idea she's going to later become the queen of the largest empire on earth at that time. Psalm 75, 6 and 7.
[14:22] For promotion cometh neither from the east or from the west nor from the south. But God is the judge. He put it down one and set it up another.
[14:34] God is in control. We have our complaints about politics and the way things happen. You like this guy, you don't like this guy, and this guy's bad, and this guy's terrible, and this guy's okay.
[14:46] Just remember they're there because God put them there. I mean, that's hard for us to take sometimes because we, in our country, we get to vote, we get to choose, we get to do.
[14:59] God has a whole lot to do with why they're there and who's there. Trust him in what he is doing. You know, whether we have good people, bad people, whether we face hardships or easy times, God is in control and is leading things.
[15:17] And God's going to use Esther's background to get her in the place where she can be the queen of the most powerful empire. Esther is about to be brought into the palace.
[15:30] Esther is brought into the palace. And the messenger is here. She's among those that come in. I want you to notice something. Look at verse 8.
[15:41] Verse 8 says, So it came to pass when the king's commandment and his decree was heard, and when many maidens were gathered together under Shushan the palace, to the custody of Haggai, that Esther was brought also into the king's house, to the custody of Haggai, keeper of the women.
[16:05] The historian Josephus tells us that at that time there were probably 400 maidens that had been brought to the palace at that time. 400. And Esther is one of them.
[16:18] But notice that word in verse 8 there. She was brought. She didn't volunteer. She didn't go out of the way and say, oh, pick me, pick me, pick me. She was brought.
[16:31] That's part of it. And I want you to see a few things about that. She was brought there. She didn't volunteer for it. Mordecai didn't say, hey, take my niece. She's my cousin.
[16:42] You'll love her. No, they didn't do that. But she's brought in. But once she's there, first of all, she's immediately favored. She's immediately favored.
[16:53] Haggai has a place in his heart for her. I don't know what she did or how she handled herself or what she said, but look at verse 9. And the maiden pleased him, talking about Haggai, the keeper of the women's, and she obtained kindness of him.
[17:08] And he speedily gave her her things for purification, which such things that belonged to her, and seven maidens, which were meet to be given her, out of the king's house.
[17:21] And he preferred her and her maids unto the best place in the house of the women. She comes in, and his keeper immediately is taken with her.
[17:37] And he is taken with her in the fact that this girl, there's something different about her. This girl, she just stands out above all the rest. And he wasn't necessarily looking at the fair part.
[17:49] He was looking at the whole package. You remember when Joseph was taken captive and sent off to Egypt?
[18:00] He was part of Potiphar's house and everything. And then he went from Potiphar's house to prison. What happened to him when he was in prison? He wound up moving up because the prison guard said there's something different about him because he walks with the Lord.
[18:16] Remember Daniel? He's taking captive. He goes to Babylon. Daniel chapter 1 verse 9. Now God had brought Daniel into favor with the prince of the eunuchs. God did all of this because there was something different about them.
[18:31] And I believe that's what happened with Esther. There was something different about her. She wasn't like all the other girls. They were all beautiful. But there was something special about her that he was noticing.
[18:43] God in his sovereignty can cause people to notice. There's something different about you. You ever have people come up to you and they say, I've been watching you. There's something different about you.
[18:55] And you have the opportunity to witness to them and tell them about who Jesus Christ is because he lives in you. second thing that happened while she was there, she did not reveal her ancestry.
[19:09] She did not reveal her ancestry. Mordecai had told her not to. Look at verse 10. Esther had not shown her people nor her kindred, for Mordecai had charged her that she should not show it.
[19:23] Don't let them know you're Jewish yet. Just be quiet about it. Well, there's some people that say, well, where's their faith? How come they didn't let people know who they were?
[19:34] Or, why were they even still there? You know, remember, Darius, yeah, Darius? Yeah, no, Cyrus, one of them, had released so that Jews could go back to Judah.
[19:50] They could go back and rebuild the city of Jerusalem. They could go back and rebuild the temple. Why were these two still here? the Bible doesn't tell us the answer to either one of those questions, but it does tell us that God had a plan and purpose for them.
[20:03] God had something going on that they were going to be a part of. You know, the book of Esther doesn't give us the answer to all the questions and stuff, but what it does show us is that God had a plan for the redemption of his people.
[20:25] God has a plan for redemption. God has a plan for people to be saved. Why do we talk so much about Jesus Christ and what he did on the cross? Because God has a plan for redemption for his people.
[20:38] God has a plan for redemption for everyone in the world. He came and gave his life so that all men would have the opportunity to be saved. He did it for us.
[20:51] You know, you think about how many times we fail, how many times we do things wrong, and yet God is there watching out for us and meeting our need.
[21:04] Think of Peter. Peter denied Christ three times when Christ was going through the very hardest thing he was ever going to go through. And Peter denies him three times.
[21:16] Nope, I don't know who he is. Nope, never seen him before. But then after Christ rose, Peter is reconnected with Christ.
[21:31] Christ forgives him. Christ says, look, Peter, you're going to be used. And Peter goes out and preaches a message and 3,000 people get saved. See, we can fail at times, but God can still use you.
[21:47] We can fail at different times, and God can still say, you know what? I'm going to raise you up and use you for this, that, or whatever he has. God's grace is greater than any of our shortcomings.
[22:01] God's grace is greater than anything we can do. He said, you failed here, you failed here, Peter, and you failed here, Peter, three times. Peter, I still have a plan for you.
[22:13] Peter, I still have a way to use you. Peter, go out and preach my word and watch and see what happens. A third thing, she had to wait 12 months.
[22:25] She's in this part of the palace with all these other women, she has to wait 12 months. They all did. 12 months. These women were preparing to stand again before the most powerful king, the most powerful emperor at that time.
[22:47] They're going to go before him, they're going to stand, and they're going to be judged by him. That's a lot of pressure. That's a lot of, you know what? But I want you to stop and think.
[23:01] Every one of us is someday going to stand before the king of the Lord. Think about that. You're going to stand before the king of kings and lord of lords.
[23:15] Amos chapter 4 verse 12. Therefore thus will I do unto thee O Israel and because I will do this unto thee prepare to meet thy God O Israel.
[23:30] Prepare to meet. What are you doing to prepare? We're all going to stand before him. Now we're not going to stand before him in judgment whether we're going to heaven or hell if you know the Lord Jesus Christ is your savior.
[23:42] But you are going to stand before him at the judgment seat of Christ. And we're going to talk about the service and things that we've done and the motives that we had and how we did things and are you preparing for that time?
[23:59] I want my life to be one that when I stand before him he's able to say well done thou good and faithful servant. you have done exactly what I've asked you to do.
[24:13] You have done the things that I called you to do. You have taken the word and it doesn't mean as a pastor it means any of us. You have taken the word of God and you have given it to others.
[24:24] You have shown them what it means to be a Christian. You have shown them what it means to follow Christ. You have shown them the word of God and what it means. are we preparing ourselves for what is going to come when we stand before that judgment of Christ.
[24:44] Fourth thing she was made the queen. She was made the queen. Look at verses 13 and 14 it says then thus came every maiden unto the king.
[25:01] Whatsoever she desired was given her to go with her out of the house of the women into the king's house. In the evening she went.
[25:12] On the morrow she returned unto the second house of the women under the custody of the king's chamberlain which kept the concubines. He came in unto the king no more she came in unto the king no more except the king delighted in her and that she were called by name.
[25:31] They went in they met with the king he says okay they're all right but no that's not going to be my queen so they were brought to another place. He could call them back at any time he wanted but they're never going to get married.
[25:41] They are now the king's property. Think of what these girls are going through. He can do whatever he wants he can not do anything he wants. I don't care. Yeah I remember her now.
[25:52] I remember her now. But they're never going to get married. They're not part of the king's property. Think of what that was like. Esther goes in.
[26:04] She apparently had to go through this process as well. I still like to think that she didn't go through everything as some of these others did. I still like to think that God had a way for her to be taken care of.
[26:17] Look at verse 17. And the king loved Esther above all the women. And she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins so that he set a royal crown upon her head and made her queen instead of Ashti.
[26:38] Stop there for a second. He says look there's something different about this girl. Actually go back to verse 15.
[26:53] verse 15. Now when the turn of Esther the daughter of Abahel the uncle of Mordecai who had taken her for his daughter was come to go in to the king she required nothing but what Haggai the king's chamberlain the keeper of the women appointed.
[27:12] Every woman that went in could take an object with them. They could take something in to use as a nightbreaker or whatever. They took something in show the king that this is something I like this is something I enjoy this is something special to me this is whatever.
[27:29] She said I don't know what to take. I don't remember Haggai likes her he's got special things for her. So she says you know what Haggai you tell me because it says she took only that which the keeper of the women appointed and served in favor in the sight of all of them that looked upon her.
[27:53] There's something different about this girl. She has a walk with the Lord. She has a way about her that is something so different that verse 17 says he put a crown upon her head and made her queen.
[28:12] Verse 18 then the king made a great feast of all his princes and servants even Esther's feast and he made a release to the provinces and gave gifts according to the state of the king.
[28:24] Here she is. She is now the queen of the land. Think about it. A humble orphan Jewish girl is now the queen of the entire Persian empire.
[28:45] third person very quickly a prominent Jew. Esther and Mordecai are in Persia as captives because of their relatives.
[29:00] Their relatives sinned against God and God had to bring judgment on the nation of Israel nation of Judah and so they're there in this land because of the sin of their other people.
[29:12] after her coronation the focus changes and now it moves over to Mordecai who's sitting outside the king's gate.
[29:24] What does he hear when he's outside the king's gate? He hears a plot to assassinate the king. While he's there he overhears these things. I read those verses to you 21, 22 and actually let me read again.
[29:37] Verse 21. He tells Esther Esther you need to warn the king.
[30:07] They are going to try to kill him. These two are setting up a plot and they want to kill him. You need to let him know. So this warning comes from Mordecai. He gives them a warning and he could have just walked away.
[30:21] He could have said the king's no big deal to me. I don't really care for the king. Esther could have said the king's no big deal to me. I may be married to him but you know not by choice.
[30:33] They could have just let it go but they didn't. He tells Esther look at verse 23 and when the inquisition was made of the matter it was found out therefore they were both hanged on a tree and it was written in a book of chronicles before the king.
[30:54] They had their own reasons to be angry with him but they did not want to see him killed. They had their own reasons to be upset with the king but they didn't want to see him come to him die.
[31:07] It might have been a tempting situation for them. He just dropped dead and okay with me. But you know what? The Bible warns us against those types of things.
[31:18] Romans chapter 13 verse 10 love worketh filling the law. Again the Charlie Kirk service.
[31:34] The forgiveness that was given to him. I read something the other day. Bonnie read it to me. I don't know if it's true or not. I don't trust anything on the internet anymore since AI came around.
[31:48] All kinds of things are out there. But this one said Tim Allen you know comedian TV guy. he saw what she said about forgiving the man who killed her husband.
[32:04] And he said for 60 years I have carried bitterness and anger and wanted revenge against the guy the drunk driver who killed my father.
[32:19] But after watching her say the things that she did he said I forgive him. I don't want to carry that weight around anymore. Wow.
[32:30] Think about that. You know when we have our confidence in God and his sovereignty and that God knows what he's doing it makes all the difference in the world.
[32:42] Romans chapter 12 verse 19 Dearly beloved avenge not yourselves but rather give place under wrath for it is written vengeance is mine I will repay.
[32:54] Say it the Lord. You know people are going to wrong you people are going to do things and you know what my job is to follow the Lord and keep doing what he asks us to do.
[33:08] When we exhibit forgiveness we show love to people that's what God asks us to do. If somebody is doing something wrong then yes we need to make sure that people know about the wrong that they're doing so they can't injure others and do things to others.
[33:27] Esther tells the king about what Mordecai said. Mordecai is not immediately recognized for what he did but he is going to be further down the road as we go through this book.
[33:40] The king is going to recognize Mordecai for all the things that he has done. 1 Corinthians 3.13 Every man's work shall be made manifest for the day shall declare it because it shall be revealed by fire and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
[34:03] God is going to give the reward or the punishment but it's in his hands leave it there don't take it on yourself there was a man by the name of Samuel Morrison he was a missionary for 25 years he was returning home to the United States from the mission field he was retiring he was coming home and when he was coming home on a ship President Teddy Roosevelt was on the ship as well Teddy had been doing some major work too he had been on a hunting trip and so he is coming home and they get to New York and there are people there with signs and boons and all kinds of things welcoming the president home and Samuel Morrison looks out and there is nobody there for him he spent two and a half decades being a missionary doing the Lord's work nobody there and he kind of started feeling sorry for himself a little bit and he is like why is it nobody cares that I came home and just like that the
[35:09] Lord put in his mind because you're not home yet he wasn't home yet we may not think like we get rewarded for things here we may not think like God is blessing we may not think like God you're not home yet we are someday going to stand before him and he's going to show us what he thinks of what we have done you know we don't often get recognized for our kindness we don't get recognized for the hard choices we make but God knows he'll take care of it in Esther chapter 2 God's people some of them are still in captivity and suddenly two of them are in places of great prominence and God is going to use them to keep a genocide from happening remember there's 750,000 Jews in that area around Shushan and he's going to they're going to help keep them from being killed with
[36:16] God's help the director is molding the director is giving direction and shaping how the things are going the director is calling the shots Isaiah 55 8 and 9 for my thoughts are not your thoughts neither are my ways your ways saith the Lord for as the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts God says Esther Mordecai I have you exactly where I want you I have planned for you I have thoughts that you may not have we stop and think that God is directing our life God is taking care of us maybe you're dealing with some situation in your life right now that you have a lot of grief about maybe there's something going on in your life that you don't have a lot of control over Sue had no control over the things that were going to happen to her this week but
[37:18] God as the director is putting everything in place for a reason I know Sue had concerns about some different people she'd been praying for them maybe this is God's way of getting to their heart they stop and think about the shortness of life and with the fact that they need to know where they're going Sue had no doubts about where she was going she knew we had some time to talk with her and Fred again this year do you trust God do you trust him enough to leave your life in his hands we have been using the theme for this God's got this God's got this do you trust him we've been singing a song and I'm going to close with it this morning we look at everything that's happened in
[38:19] Esther's life so far we look at things that are going to come up and we look at it and we say you know what I don't understand it I don't know why it's happening you know Bonnie sang a song a couple weeks ago when you can't trace his hand trust his heart and we've been singing his way is perfect when God is ready he will reveal everything we need to know we just need to be ready to follow him let's stand this morning and sing his way is perfect