Wednesday
Evening Bible Study
April 30, 2003
Introduction
A crisis was brewing. Wicked Haman had
become incredibly upset that the Jewish man Mordecai wasn’t bowing down to
him. As a result, Haman talked King
Ahasuerus into a plan to have all the Jews of the Persian Empire
annihilated. What Haman didn’t know was
that the King’s new wife, Esther, was a Jew.
He also didn’t know that Esther had been raised by her cousin, Mordecai. He also didn’t count on God working.
On Sunday morning we looked at the key elements that turned the crisis
around:
1. The
people prayed and fasted (4:3,16)
2. Esther
needed to understand what the problem was (4:8)
3. Esther
needed to seize her moment (4:14)
and take action
4. Esther
needed to be willing to die (4:16)
5. Mordecai
and Esther didn’t quit (4:17)
And so the crisis started to slowly turn around. It didn’t happen in an hour or in one
night. But over the course of a few
days, things started to fall into place.
First, Esther risked death and approached the king without an
appointment. She invited the king and
Haman to come to a special banquet. At that
first banquet, she invites the king and Haman to come to a second banquet.
When Haman went home after the first banquet, he was puffed up with pride
and ends up coming up with a plan to have his chief nemesis, Mordecai, put to
death.
Then that night, the king has trouble sleeping. He has a history book read to him, and
discovers that he had never rewarded Mordecai for having saved the king’s life.
The next morning, the king has Haman parade Mordecai around the city
proclaiming that Mordecai was a great guy.
And now it’s time for the second banquet.
Esther 7
:2 …it shall be granted thee: and what is thy
request? and it shall be performed, even to the half of the kingdom.
Why did Esther wait to tell Ahasuerus the full story?
She had an opportunity the first time she came into the throne room and the
king held out the royal scepter.
(Est 5:3 KJV) Then said the king unto her, What wilt thou,
queen Esther? and what is thy request? it shall be even given thee to the half
of the kingdom.
She had another opportunity the second time when she hosted a banquet for
the king and Haman.
(Est 5:6 KJV) And the king said unto Esther at the banquet
of wine, What is thy petition? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy
request? even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed.
Some have suggested that she got cold feet and stalled out of fear.
Could it possibly be that she was doing what God wanted her to do?
It was after this second opportunity that Haman’s pride got out of control
and he decided to build the fifty foot gallows to hang Mordecai on.
It was after this second opportunity that the king had a sleepless night
and while he was having the royal history read to him, he found out that
Mordecai had never been properly rewarded for saving the king’s life.
It was after this second opportunity that the king had
Haman parade Mordecai around town, having Mordecai wear the king’s robe
and crown with Haman shouting to all that Mordecai was the king’s friend.
Lesson
Permission
This idea came from a study by Jon Courson.
He shared that for God to do a miraculous work,
there needs to be two ingredients: Power
and Permission. We need to have the
“power” or “ability” to do the work, but we also need to have the “permission”
or the “go ahead” from the Lord.
Could it be that Esther wasn’t acting out of fear, but instead she was
acting out of faith?
Keep in mind that she had been fasting and praying for three days before
she acted. She also had requested that
the rest of the Jews in the city be fasting and praying for her as well.
Because of the amazing outcome of all these events, it seems much more
likely that Esther wasn’t acting out of fear, but out of faith. She waited until she got approval from the
Lord before she proceeded.
Illustration
Peter and John had seen the lame man countless times, sitting at the
Beautiful Gate of the Temple. He had laid there for years. Peter and John had the power of the Holy Spirit
in their lives and God had worked miracles before through them. Yet there came a day when there was more than
just “power”, there was “permission”.
And Peter reached down and grabbed the lame man and he was healed (Acts
3).
Illustration
From time to time I find myself talking with a man or a woman who has been
devastated by a broken marriage. Perhaps
their spouse has committed adultery.
Perhaps they’ve been abandoned by their spouse. These are what I believe are the two
allowable reasons for divorce. And it is
not uncommon for the person to ask me at some point, “Should I divorce my
spouse?”
When asked that question, there are two things to examine – “power” and
“permission”. Does the person have the
“power” to divorce? Does their situation
meet the requirements that God has laid out in Scripture that allows for
divorce? If this is the case, then the
second question is, “Has God said that it’s okay for YOU to divorce?” Just because a situation meets the
requirements that allow for divorce doesn’t mean that you should divorce. I believe that God’s first option is always
reconciliation.
The prophet Hosea was married to a prostitute. At one point, she left him and went back to
work. Yet God commanded Hosea to take
his wife back. It was to be an
illustration to the people of how God takes US back, even after WE’VE been
unfaithful.
But there are going to be times when the other person’s heart is simply not
going to be open to reconciliation, and that’s not always something we can
tell.
You can have the “power” to divorce, but do you have “permission”?
The difficult thing with this principle is that I can’t teach you how to
know when God gives you permission. It’s
a dangerous thing to have cooked up an idea in your head and then decide to
tell everybody that God has told you something.
:4 …if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen,
I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not countervail the king's
damage.
If the problem was that the Jews were to become slaves, Esther wouldn’t
have even bothered the king, but would have just accepted it.
(Est 7:4 NLT) For my people and I have been sold to those
who would kill, slaughter, and annihilate us. If we had only been sold as
slaves, I could remain quiet, for that would have been a matter too trivial to
warrant disturbing the king."
NOTE: I find it very interesting
how Esther brings up the subject. She
leaves Haman’s name completely out of it.
She simply deals with the objective fact that she and her people are in
danger. The wisdom is that the king will
make a decision in his head based on the situation, not on whether or not he
likes Haman.
:6 Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.
afraid – ba‘ath – to terrify, startle, fall upon,
dismay, be overtaken by sudden terror
:7 And the king arising from the banquet of wine
in his wrath went into the palace garden: and Haman stood up to make request
for his life to Esther the queen
The king is too upset at the moment and so he gets up and takes a walk.
Haman decides to take advantage of the king leaving and begs with Esther
for mercy.
Note: Back when Esther had invited Haman to the
first banquet, Haman had said to his family:
(Est 5:12 KJV) Haman said moreover, Yea, Esther the queen
did let no man come in with the king unto the banquet that she had prepared but
myself; and to morrow am I invited unto her also with the king.
Some have suggested that the language Haman uses suggests that he was
saying that Esther seemed to have a crush on Haman. He thought she was attracted to him.
Another Note: I don’t think that Haman knows that Esther is
Jewish. He also doesn’t know that
Mordecai is her cousin. I imagine he
doesn’t have a clue as to what he’s done to offend her.
:8 Haman was fallen upon the bed whereon Esther
was. Then said the king, Will he force the queen also before me in the house?
As the word went out of the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face.
bed – mittah – couch, bed, bier
force – kabash – (Qal) to
bring into bondage, make subservient; to subdue, force, violate; to subdue, dominate,
tread down
(NAS) “assault”, (NIV) “molest”
covered – chaphah – to cover, overlay, wainscotted, covered with boards or panelling
This was something like putting a hood over his head, getting him ready for
death.
:9 And Harbonah…the
gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for Mordecai
Harbonah – Charbowna’ – “ass-driver”. He is one of the king’s eunuchs (1:10).
It seems that word had gotten out about what Haman was planning on doing
for Mordecai.
:10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he
had prepared for Mordecai
Lesson
Digging pits
The Bible says,
(Prov 26:27 KJV) Whoso diggeth a pit
shall fall therein: and he that rolleth a stone, it
will return upon him.
(Prov 28:10 KJV) Whoso causeth the
righteous to go astray in an evil way, he shall fall himself into his own pit:
but the upright shall have good things in possession.
Don’t dig pits for other people.
If someone has dug a pit for you, God will take care of it.
Esther 8
:1 …Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had
told what he was unto her.
It seems that up to this time, very few people knew that Esther was
Mordecai’s adopted daughter.
I think this is amazing to think that his daughter is the queen of Persia,
and Mordecai hasn’t tried to capitalize on it.
:2 And the king took off his ring, which he had
taken from Haman, and gave it unto Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the
house of Haman.
Mordecai ends up taking Haman’s place as chief counsellor to the king.
Esther is given all of Haman’s property and she makes Mordecai the
administrator of the property.
:3 And Esther spake yet again before the king…
Haman’s wickedness wasn’t just about killing Mordecai,
he had set in place a plan to have the Jews eliminated. This was still in place.
:4 Then the king held out the golden sceptre
toward Esther…
It seems that this must have been a second time that she has had to come
before the king.
:8 Write ye also for the Jews, as it liketh you, in the king's name, and seal it with the king's
ring: for the writing which is written in the king's name, and sealed with the
king's ring, may no man reverse.
(NLT) But remember that whatever is written in the king’s name and
sealed with his ring can never be revoked."
In other words, the original decree that the king had signed that was
written by Haman was still in effect.
The king couldn’t just undo a decree.
The only answer was to write a new decree that would offset the first
decree.
I find it interesting that the king doesn’t write the decree, but he lets Mordecai
and Esther come up with whatever they want to offset the first decree. It’s
kind of fair play.
:9 Then were the king's scribes called at that time in the third month,
that is, the month Sivan, on the three and twentieth day thereof …
It sounds as if the decree would be translated into all the various
languages of the nations ruled by Persia.
The decree goes out on June 25, 474
B.C, and it will give the Jews eight months to prepare for this
time.
:12 Upon one day in all the provinces of king
Ahasuerus, namely, upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the
month Adar.
This was the same day that Haman’s decree was to take effect.
(Est 3:13 KJV) And the letters were sent by posts into all
the king's provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews,
both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even upon the
thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to take the
spoil of them for a prey.
The Jews were allowed to defend themselves against anyone who would try to
take advantage of Haman’s decree.
This is not a decree for them to attack their enemies ahead of Haman’s
decree. They are allowed to defend
themselves.
:13 The copy of the writing …
Josephus has a record of a letter sent by Ahasuerus:
“The great king Artaxerxes to our rulers, and those that are our faithful
subjects, sendeth greeting. e
Many men there are who, on account of the greatness of the benefits bestowed on
them, and because of the honor which they have obtained from the wonderful kind
treatment of those that bestowed it, are not only injurious to their inferiors,
(274) but do not scruple to do evil to those that have been their benefactors,
as if they would take away gratitude from among men, and by their insolent
abuse of such benefits as they never expected, they turn the abundance they
have against those that are the authors of it, and suppose that they shall lie
concealed from God in that case, and avoid that vengeance which comes from him.
(275) Some of these men, when they have had the management of affairs committed
to them by their friends, and bearing private malice of their own against some
others, by deceiving those that have the power, persuade them to be angry at
such as have done them no harm, till they are in danger of perishing, and this
by laying accusations and calumnies: (276) nor is this state of things to be
discovered by ancient examples, or such as we have learned by report only, but
by some examples of such impudent attempts under our own eyes, so that it is
not fit to attend any longer to calumnies and accusations, nor to the
persuasion of others, but to determine what anyone knows of himself to have
been really done, and to punish what justly deserves it, and to grant favors to
such as are innocent. (277) This hath been the case of Haman, the son of Ammedatha, by birth an Amalekite,
and alien from the blood of the Persians, who, when he was hospitably
entertained by us, and partook of that kindness which we bear to all men to so
great a degree, as to be called my father, and to be all along worshipped, and
to have honor paid him by all in the second rank after the royal honor due to
ourselves, he could not bear his good fortune, nor govern the magnitude of his
prosperity with sound reason; (278) nay, he made a conspiracy against me and my
life, who gave him his authority, by endeavoring to take away Mordecai, my
benefactor, and my savior and by basely and treacherously requiring to have
Esther, the partner of my life, and of my dominion, brought to destruction; for
he contrived by this means to deprive me of my faithful friends, and transfer
the government to others: f — (279) but since I perceived that
these Jews, that were by this pernicious fellow devoted to destruction, were
not wicked men, but conducted their lives after the best manner, and were men
dedicated to the worship of that God who hath preserved the kingdom to me and
to my ancestors, I do not only free them from the punishment which the former
epistle, which was sent by Haman, ordered to be inflicted on them,—to which if
you refuse obedience you shall dwell; (280) but I will that they have all honor
paid them. Accordingly, I have hanged up the man that contrived such things
against them, with his family, before the gates of Shushan;
that punishment being sent upon him by God, who seeth
all things. (281) And I give you in charge, that you publicly propose a copy of
this epistle through all my kingdom, that the Jews may be permitted peaceably
to use their own laws, and that you assist them, that at the same season
whereto their miserable estate did belong, they may defend themselves the very
same day from unjust violence, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which
is Adar,— (282) for God hath made that day a day of salvation, instead of a day
of destruction to them; and may it be a good day to those that wish us well,
and a memorial of the punishment of the conspirators against us: (283) and I
will that you take notice that every city, and every nation that shall disobey
anything that is contained in this epistle, shall be destroyed by fire and
sword. However, let this epistle be published through all the country that is
under our obedience, and let all the Jews, by all means be
ready against the day before mentioned, that they may avenge themselves upon
their enemies.” [1]
:16 The Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and
honour.
light – ‘owrah
– light; light of joy and happiness (fig.)
gladness – simchah – mirth, gladness, joy, gaiety,
pleasure
joy – sasown – gladness, joy, exultation, rejoicing
honour – y@qar – price, value, preciousness, honour,
splendor, pomp
:17 And many of the people of the land became
Jews; for the fear of the Jews fell upon them.
fear – pachad – terror, dread
Many Gentiles became Jews. How do
you become a Jew?
Josephus writes,
insomuch that many of other nations
circumcised their foreskin for fear of the Jews, that they might procure safety
to themselves thereby[2]
Lesson
Witness through crisis
What has happened here?
God’s people have survived a crisis.
As a result, people came to the Lord.
How you respond to tough times impacts the lives of people around you.
Illustration
Judy Anderson, whose husband is the West Africa Director of the World
Relief Corporation, grew up as the daughter of missionaries in Zaire.
As a little girl, she went to a day-long rally celebrating the one-hundredth
anniversary of Christian missionaries coming to that part of Zaire.
After a full day of long speeches and music, an old man came before the crowd
and insisted that he be allowed to speak. He said he soon would die, and that
he alone had some important information. If he did not speak, that information
would go with him to his grave.
He explained that when Christian missionaries came a hundred years before,
his people thought the missionaries were strange and their message unusual. The
tribal leaders decided to test the missionaries by slowly poisoning them to
death. Over a period of months and years, missionary children died one by one.
Then the old man said, “It was as we watched how they died that we decided we
wanted to live as Christians.”
(2 Cor 2:14-16 KJV) Now thanks be unto
God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ,
and maketh manifest the savour
of his knowledge by us in every place. {15} For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that
perish: {16} To the one we are the savour of death
unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto
life. And who is sufficient for these things?
This is a whole study in itself, but one of the lessons in this verse is
that God will work through us, even through times of “death”. People will smell the fragrance of Jesus in
the times that we “die” to ourselves.
Esther 9
:3 And all the rulers of the provinces…
Not only did the Jews defend themselves, but they had the government forces
backing them as well. It would seem that these government officials and
officers could have obeyed either Haman’s or Mordecai’s decrees, but they all
chose to follow Mordecai’s decree.
:5 Thus the Jews smote all their enemies with the
stroke of the sword
Could you imagine what would happen today if there were some sort of decree
that the entire world would pay attention to, a decree giving the Jews the
authority to kill anyone that hated them? Without France,
Germany, or Russia vetoing?
:13 …to do to morrow also according unto this
day's decree…
She asks for one more day of the Jews being able to defend themselves. Perhaps
she learned that there were further plots against the Jews.
:14 …they hanged Haman's ten sons.
Again, “hanged” doesn’t mean hanging in the sense of a rope and
gallows. These men were already
dead. Their bodies were attached to tall
poles to be displayed.
:15 … slew three hundred men at Shushan; but on
the prey they laid not their hand.
three hundred – this is in addition to the five hundred that were
killed the previous day.
on the prey – They were not doing it for the plunder; they did it to
protect themselves.
:16 …slew of their foes seventy and five thousand
This is the total for the entire empire, 75,000.
Anti-Semitism took a big hit that day.
Some have suggested that these 75,000 were all Amalekites,
of the same race as Haman, a people that God had commanded the Jews to wipe
out.
(Exo 17:14-16 KJV) And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for
a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly
put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.
{15} And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovahnissi:
{16} For he said, Because the LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.
Lesson
Dealing with the flesh
Whether or not the entire 75,000 were Amalekites
is not really the issue. Haman WAS and Amalekite.
We’ve talked before about how the Amalekites are
a picture of the “flesh”. How we deal
with Amalekites is very similar with how we deal with
our own sin nature (the “flesh”). Again,
here’s the points from Esther 4:
Prayer – Even back with
Moses and Joshua (Exodus 17), the Israelites prevailed over the Amalekites as long as Moses had his hands “up”.
Understand – Esther
needed to understand that her life was at stake. We too need to realize the seriousness of
dealing with our flesh. Either we kill
it or it will kill us. Kill or be
killed.
Seize your moment – don’t
put off dealing with the flesh.
Be willing to die – We
have to die to our own fleshly appetites.
Don’t quit – Don’t think
you’re ever finished with it.
:19 …sending portions one to another.
sending portions – sending gifts, Hallmark cards, etc.
:22 As the days …
The Jews in the provinces protected themselves on the 13th day,
and then had a feast on the 14th day. But the Jews in Shushan,
since they were given one further day to protect themselves, fought on the 13th
and the 14th, and then feasted on the 15th.
Mordecai will take the feasting days of the 14th and 15th
and combine them into a single feast to be celebrated by all.
This begins the celebration of Purim.
:26 Wherefore they called these days Purim after
the name of Pur
Pur – this was the “lot” that Haman and
his friends kept tossing to find out the date of when they would start their
plan to wipe out the Jews (Est. 3:7),
:28 And that these days should be remembered
Lesson
Don’t forget the victories
I think that sometimes we have pretty bad recall.
We face a crisis and think life is hopeless, yet for many of us, God has
already brought us through so many victories that it shouldn’t be too hard to
trust God again.
David remembered his previous victories when he considered the possibility
of facing Goliath.
(1 Sam 17:33-37 KJV) And Saul
said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with
him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth. {34} And
David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a
lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: {35} And I went out after
him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose
against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. {36} Thy
servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine
shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.
{37} David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the
lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this
Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee.
Perhaps you can’t recall too many victories in your own life. There’s another victory we all ought to have
in the back of our minds, the victory of Jesus on the cross.
(Col
2:13-15 KJV) And you, being dead in your
sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he
quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; {14} Blotting
out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to
us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; {15} And having
spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing
over them in it.
One of the ways we remember Jesus’ victory at the cross is
when we eat the bread and drink of the cup at communion.
:32 And the decree of Esther confirmed these
matters of Purim; and it was written in the book.
Esther and Mordecai later send a second letter (9:29) to encourage the Jews
to also include a time of fasting into their celebration of Purim as a way of reminding
them of the fasting that the Jews in Shushan had done
for those three days before Esther stepped out and took action.
Esther 10
:1 And the king Ahasuerus laid a tribute upon the
land, and upon the isles of the sea.
Perhaps Ahasuerus set up this tax to help pay for the disastrous defeat at
the hands of the Greeks.
:3 For Mordecai the Jew was next unto king
Ahasuerus
It would seem that Mordecai only held this office for eight years since
secular history records that another man was in that position by 465 BC.
Lesson
God cares for His people
You could possibly make a point that the people that had remained in Babylon
and had not gone back to Israel
had lacked faith.
Yet God watched over all His people, even those that stayed behind.
e The true reason why king Artaxerxes did not here properly revoke
his former barbarous decree for the universal slaughter of the Jews, but only
empowered and encouraged the Jews to fight for their lives, and to kill their
enemies, if they attempted their destruction, seems to have been that old law
of the Medes and Persians, not yet laid aside, that whatever decree was signed
both by the king and his lords, could not be changed, but remained unalterable,
Dan. 6:7–9 , 12 , 15 , 17 ; Est. 1:19 ; 8:8 . And Haman having engrossed the
royal favor, might perhaps have himself signed this decree for the Jews’
slaughter instead of the ancient lords, and so might have rendered it by their
rules irrevocable.
f These words give an intimation as if Artaxerxes suspected a deeper
design in Haman than openly appeared, viz
., that knowing the Jews would be faithful to him, and that he could never
transfer the crown to his own family, who was an Agagite
( Est. 3:1 , 10 ), or of the posterity of Agag, the
old king of the Amalekites ( 1 Sam. 15:8 , 32–33 ),
while they were alive, and spread over all his dominions, he therefore
endeavored to destroy them. Nor is it to me improbable that those seventy-five
thousand eight hundred of the Jews’ enemies which were soon destroyed by the
Jews, on the permission of the king, which must be on some great occasion, were
Amalekites, their old and hereditary enemies ( Exod. 17:14–15 ); and that
thereby was fulfilled Balaam’s prophecy; “Amalek was
the first of the nations; but his latter end shall be, that he perish forever.”
Num. 24:20 .
[1]Josephus, F., & Whiston, W. (1996,
c1987). The works of Josephus : Complete and
unabridged. Includes index. (Ant XI, vi 12). Peabody:
Hendrickson.
[2]Josephus, F., & Whiston, W. (1996,
c1987). The works of Josephus : Complete and
unabridged. Includes index. (Ant XI, vi 13). Peabody:
Hendrickson.