Wednesday Evening Services 7 PM - Esther 3-5

open up to the book of Esther chapter 3. Esther chapter 3. Well last week we were introduced to most of the main characters in the book and we kind of saw the outline of the story begin. Of course the first character that we were introduced to was a guy by the name of Ahasuerus. History for the most part knows him as King Xerxes. He was a king of Persia. And he was a guy clearly given to some extremes

and emotional mood swings we'll say. And of course he throws this giant party and in the middle of it he invites his queen Vashti to come out and basically display her beauty whatever that means. And so she of course refuses and so he puts her away. When he comes back from battle a couple of years later he'd sure like a pretty queen to come home to and he didn't have one.

And so they said hey we should find the most beautiful girls in the provinces and one of them, whoever wins the contest, can be the queen. And that introduced our second character. His name was Mordecai. Mordecai was a Jewish man who had been taken into captivity and he was raising his cousin whose name was Esther. Mordecai was a great man who was doing a wonderful job of raising this young lady.

And then of course we're introduced to our third character and her name is Esther. We know that she's a beautiful young woman who seemed to be of high moral character and really quite an interesting lady that's going to be used very powerfully by the Lord. And so ultimately she gets chosen to be the queen because God's hand was in all of the things that took place up to this point in time. And it seemed like everything was going well and then we learn one more thing about Mordecai.

Mordecai had heard about a plot to kill the king. And so he passed word along to Esther and she warned the king. And of course ultimately his life was spared but nothing really happened for Mordecai. It was written down in the chronicles of the book of the kings, not the chronicles of what we read but his own personal history. Well tonight we're going to be introduced

to our last character that's going to play a really important role within this book. It says, After these events, King Ahasuerus promoted Haman, the son of Hamadatha the Agagite and advanced him and established his authority over all the princes who were with him. Now this guy Haman is going to be a really important character. A really important character because ultimately it is his plot to put to death the rest of the Jews that leads to the purpose of the book of Esther.

But we learn a couple of things about him. Of course he's promoted by King Ahasuerus. This is probably somewhere in the range of 45 years after the events of chapter 2. After Esther has been made the queen about 4 or 5 years later. Ahasuerus brings to power this guy named Haman and makes him an incredibly powerful man within the kingdom. But that's not the important part.

The important part is his background. We're told in the middle of verse 1 here that he was the son of Hamadatha the Agagite. Now why do we care about that? Well, let's go way back in the history of the nation of Israel. If we go all the way back and you might just reference this in the margin of your Bible somewhere. If you go all the way back to Exodus chapter 17

is when we first learn about Haman's people because being an Agagite meant that he was a descendant of a group of people known as the Amalekites. King Agag would have been one of his ancestors. We'll talk about him in just a moment. He was a member of the nation of Amalek or one of the Amalekites. Now in Exodus chapter 17, the children of Israel had come out

of the nation of Egypt and there was a group of people that went to war against them shortly after their exit from Egypt and it started with them taking out some of the weaker members of the nation and ultimately brought about a battle. The battle that we read about that took place when Joshua was down on the battlefield and Moses was told, as long as you lift your staff in the air, you will win. But if you lower your staff, then there can be no victory. And so Aaron and Hur stood on both sides of him, put a rock underneath him and they held his hands up because his staff had to be held up in order for them to have victory.

You guys remember that story? Well, if you fast forward, so at that point in time, God cursed the nation of Amalek. He said, let it be written that I will wipe out the name of the Amalekites from the face of the earth. Fast forward all the way to the book of 1 Samuel and you find that there was a command that was given to King Saul. God told King Saul, I want you to go in and utterly wipe out

all of the Amalekites in fulfillment of what I said back in Exodus chapter 17. Exodus chapter 17 is my own commentary. He said, as I had said, that the name of Amalek would be wiped out from the face of the earth. And Saul obeyed-ish, right? So he kept some of the rest of the livestock and he definitely left King Agag, the king of the Amalekites, alive and clearly others that he left alive as well.

Now it's interesting because there's like biblical typology of different nations, right? Amalek always represents the flesh in the Old Testament because it seemed that there was always a battle against Amalek. There was always a battle against the Amalekites. Just like for us, there's always this battle that we have with the flesh. And ultimately what they were supposed to do

is put the flesh to death, but because they did not put the flesh to death, it later became a thorn in their side, right? Well, this is what we see here because this man Haman is going to become a thorn in the side of the nation of Israel. And I'm reminded of a truth and that is that problems always arise when we fail to kill the flesh. Problems always arise when we fail to put the flesh to death.

We're told in the book of Romans that we are to by faith or by the Spirit mortify or put to death the deeds of the flesh that we may live. And it sounds great when you hear it in a sermon, and it sounds great when you read it in your Bible, and when you really realize, oh, this is what I'm supposed to do, put to death the flesh. And it all sounds great when you're excited about it until the flesh rears its ugly head. And then you're like, it's not that big of a deal, is it?

I mean, come on, it's just a little sin between friends. And so the flesh all of a sudden becomes something that is just sort of sitting on our ear, chirping and going, I'm not that bad, you're going to enjoy it. And so if we don't put to death the flesh, it continues to be a thorn in our side. And that's what we're going to find happens for the Israelites here.

This man Haman, who is a descendant of Agag, in some way, shape, or form, all of a sudden gets put into a very powerful position within the nation. Up to now, it doesn't seem like that big of a deal, but it's going to become one. Notice what it says in verse 2. And all the king's servants who were at the king's gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman. For so the king had commanded concerning him,

but Mordecai neither bowed down nor paid homage. The king's servants who were at the king's gate said to Mordecai, why are you transgressing the king's command? And it was when they had spoken daily to him and he would not listen to them that they told Haman to see whether Mordecai's reason would stand, for he told them that he was a Jew. When Haman saw the Mordecai, neither bowed down nor paid homage to him, Haman was filled with rage.

But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told him who the people of Mordecai were. Therefore, Haman sought to destroy all of the Jews, the people of Mordecai, who were throughout the whole kingdom of Hasuerus. So now we see why it's a big deal. So for some reason the king had given command, and if I'm not mistaken, it doesn't say this, but I bet Haman had something to do with the idea of the command that was given.

You know, it seems right that if you're going to put me in this sort of a powerful position that the people should honor and respect the position. After all, if people don't honor and respect the position, then what's the point of the position, right? And the king, who's sort of given to bad ideas, goes, that makes sense to me. Tell you what, everybody's got to bow down and pay homage to you.

Now, in and of itself, this would not have been sinful. This would not have been bowing down to him as if he was a god or an idol. As a matter of fact, multiple times throughout Scripture you see men of God bowing down and paying homage, essentially respect to a leader. So that part of it really is not a big deal. It wasn't sinful on his part. And so the question arises,

why was Mordecai so bent on not bowing down to this guy, not paying homage to him? Well, I think it's because he knew his background. I think it's because he knew he was an Amalekite. And because the nation of Israel has such disdain for the Amalekites, he goes, no, I'm not doing this. I am not going to respect somebody who I know is a sworn enemy of God. I don't know that for sure

because it doesn't say it here. But one would assume that that's a pretty good idea of what's going on. Whatever it was, he refused to pay homage to Haman. He went, no, this guy's not worth my time. And so people kind of start watching him. You can imagine, like, he goes walking by. Everybody's bowing down to him. Haman, the man, right? And as he walks by, except for one guy, Mordecai,

who's like, right? He's just like, hey, what's up? Whoa, hey, buddy, what are you doing here? Have you noticed the rest of us are not just giving him a peace sign? We're all bowing down, paying homage. He goes, I don't care. I'm not giving this guy the time of day. I'm not going to respect his authority. I'm not going to respect his leadership. And so Haman hears about it,

and Haman is filled with rage. This seems to be an issue in this kingdom. Can we all agree? He's filled with rage. And so what he wants to do is he wants to lay hands on Mordecai, but he goes, oh, let's not just kill one of them. Let's kill all of them. And he wants to put to death every Jew that is in every province in the kingdom. Can we stay overboard? Like, is he being mildly

overdramatic about this whole thing? In this way, he is almost like an Old Testament Antichrist because he is being opposed to the nation of Israel. He is being opposed to the Jews. He wants them to bow down and pay homage to him, and if they won't, he will put them to death. Interestingly enough, this is very similar to, you know, what Hitler did too, right?

I mean, he plays an interesting role here in the Old Testament. And so he devises this plan. It says, now, in the first month, which is the month of Nisan, which is somewhere around March or April on our calendar, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, Pir, that is the lot, was cast before Haman from day to day and from month to month until the twelfth month, that is the month of Adar. And then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, we'll deal with that in just a moment.

So basically, he says, we need to find the perfect time to do this. Now, I don't know about you, but if I'm coming up with a plan to annihilate a group of people, I want to act swiftly. Would you all agree with that? I mean, that's what makes sense to me. I'm going to do this quickly, get this thing over with, but a little bit superstitious, so he casts the lot.

Essentially, he rolls the dice. I prefer the thought of casting Pir, because I think that's kind of a funny way to say it. But that was what it was called in that language, and so they keep rolling the dice, and they narrow it down to a month, which is the twelfth month, and then they narrow it down to a day, and so all of a sudden now in the twelfth month, which month are they in at this point in time? They're in the first month, so basically, they've got a year to plan this whole thing out.

He has come up with, in one year, we will annihilate the entire nation. I have a question for you. Who do you think made sure that those dice were cast to where they had a year to deal with this? It's almost like, though God is silent, God was very much at work in the way that things worked out. Can we all agree with that? And so he's got the day, he's got the plan,

but now he needs to get the approval. So it says, in the first month, or excuse me, verse 8, Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom. Their laws are different from those of all the other people, and they do not observe the king's laws. So it is not in the king's interest to let them remain.

If it is pleasing to the king, let it be decreed that they be destroyed. And I will pay 10,000 talents of silver into the hands of those who carry on the king's business to put into the king's treasury. The king took his signet ring from his hand, and he gave it to Haman, the son of Hamadatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. The king said to Haman, The silver is yours, and the people also.

To do with them as you please. Now my understanding is that during the Feast of Purim, which is what celebrates this time, they retell the story. And every time Haman's name is mentioned, all of the kids stamp their feet and sort of pump their fists at him because they're just angry. And you can tell as the reading, the boo, hiss, right? You can tell in the reading of it,

even in the way that it's written at this point in time. It says, You know, Haman, the enemy of the Jews. Bum, bum, bum. Oh, everybody's angry about it. But isn't it interesting that Ohasuerus goes along with this? Hey, there's this group of people out there, right? And this group of people, they're terrible people. They have different laws than we do. And quite frankly, they don't obey your laws anyway.

Now, was that true? No, that wasn't true. One man, in one instance, wasn't doing one thing that Haman thought he should be doing. And he has cast aspersion on the entire nation because of it. And isn't it interesting? He would make a great politician today, right? He just spun everything to sort of match what he wanted to say. It didn't matter if it was true.

He could just say what he wanted to and made it up. And you know what? A whole lot like people today, Ohasuerus just believed him. He's like, you know what? That's a really good idea. I do think that there's an entire group of people that should be annihilated because you don't like them. It's kind of interesting what we do when we don't hold life with a great deal of value.

And so, he took his signet ring and he signs it. And all of a sudden now, the death warrant of all of the Jews has just been signed. Now remember, Esther's a Jew. But what has she not told King Ohasuerus up to this point in time? She has not revealed her background. She has not revealed her nationality. So, he has no idea that he just signed the death warrant of his very queen.

And so, now the question is, what is he going to do? Well, to finish up chapter 3 here, it says this, Then the king's scribes were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and it was written just as Haman commanded to the king's satraps, to the governors who were over each province, to the princes of each people, each province according to its script, each people according to its language,

to all the people so that they should be ready for this day. The couriers went out, impelled by the king's command, while the decree was issued at the citadel in Susa, and while King Haman sat down to drink, the city of Susa was in confusion. I'd like to make two points about this. First of all, now all of a sudden the law has been written, and it's going to get distributed throughout the entire kingdom so that no person is unaware of the fact that in one year, they've got one year to deal with this, in one year, an entire people group is going to be annihilated, wiped out, killed.

And I want to make two points here. The first one is this. If you don't put the flesh to death, it will try to put you to death. And I think that's what we need to know about our flesh. What we need to know about our flesh is that it does not mess around. While we think it's really handy to keep around because every now and then it's kind of nice to fulfill the lusts of the flesh,

what the lusts of the flesh ultimately end up doing to us is put us to death. And what we have to realize is we are in a fight for survival as believers in Jesus Christ. Someone's going to lose. It's either going to be your flesh or it's going to be you. And you have to know that because that's ultimately what sin wants to do in our lives is it wants to destroy us.

But the second thing that I want to point out to us is this, and it's the very last line of verse 15. It says, The city of Susa was in confusion. If you're reading the New King James or the Old King James, it says the city was perplexed. In other words, they were overwhelmed at the news that they just heard. And I think it's interesting to note that it doesn't just say the Jewish people

in the city of Susa were perplexed by this. It says all of the people were. Because what he just did is he just signed the death warrant for an entire ethnic group of people. This is ethnic cleansing that's going to take place within the kingdom. And everybody finds themselves going, I don't even know how to handle it. Can you imagine if we get this command?

Oh, at the end of the year, this particular group that we don't like, they're all going to be put to death. And the entire city is perplexed. The entire city is confused. And perhaps you can relate to this on some level when things happen in your life that you don't understand and it leaves you perplexed. You're just confused. You're like, I don't understand what's going on right now.

Not to mention the fact that God seems very silent in this, right? Like the God that they had been brought up with is now silent in the midst of what seems like the worst news that they could have ever heard in their lives. And they find themselves very perplexed and confused about it. Again, perhaps you have found yourself in this place where something happens in your life, news that you have received, an event that takes place.

Something that happens and it leaves you going, I don't know what to do with this. And frankly, I feel pretty confused, pretty overwhelmed at the news that I just received, at the thing that just took place in my life. And what we have to remember, in the moments when we feel the most perplexed, God is still in control. In the moments when it feels like confusion is what is ruling the day, God is still in control.

And God is still sitting on the throne. Because the world is going to continue to be confusing to us because that's just, that's the nature of life. That's the nature of the things that we go through. The things that we go through can leave us sometimes feeling a little out of control. But in a world, I believe this was A.W. Tozer, in a world that feels very out of control,

we can rest in the fact that there is a God sitting on the throne who is very much in control. We can rest in that. And I tell us this again because of what I feel like is coming again in the nation. Does it once again feel like we're just in the midst of just chaos? Maybe we've never left it, right? Like maybe we've never left the chaos. But it feels like we're kind of back in that place again.

I saw some kid post, oh my gosh, is gas going to go over $4 a gallon again? Probably. I don't know what's going to happen in these elections. It feels like perhaps the democratic socialists of America are going to take over and we can kind of all find ourselves going, what now? Oh my gosh, this is so perplexing. But listen, God's still on the throne. God's still the one in control

because our hope was never in a government anyway. Our hope is in a God who puts in power the people that He wants to be there. And so they find themselves in this place of feeling very overwhelmed, but God is still in control. Well, what are we going to do now? Chapter 4, verse 1. When Mordecai learned all that had been done, he tore his clothes, he put on sackcloth and ashes,

and he went out into the midst of the city, and he wailed loudly and bitterly. He went as far as the king's gate, for no one was to enter the king's gate clothed in sackcloth. In each and every province where the command and decree of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews with fasting and weeping and wailing, and many lay on sackcloth and ashes. Nestor's maidens and her eunuchs came and told her, and the queen writhed in great anguish, and she sent garments to clothe Mordecai, that he might remove his sackcloth from him, but he did not accept them.

And she summoned Hathak, the king's eunuchs, from the king's eunuchs, whom the king had appointed to attend her, and ordered him to go to Mordecai to learn what this was and why it was. And so he went to Mordecai in the city square in front of the king's gate, and Mordecai told him all that had happened, and the exact amount of money that Haman had promised to pay to the king's treasury for the destructions of the Jews, and gave a copy of the text of the edict, which had been issued in Susa for their destruction, that he might show Esther and inform her, to order her to go into the king to implore his favor, to plead with him for her people. So in this moment, Mordecai finds himself, well, as any of us would find ourselves in this moment,

knowing that not only your own life was in danger, but the lives of everybody that you love and care for, the lives of everybody that you would hold dear to yourself, they're all in danger. Not even in danger, it's a foregone conclusion. This is what's going to take place. So he does what any good Jewish man would do at this time, and he shows all the signs of mourning.

He weeps and wails very loudly, tears his clothes, puts on sackcloth, which is basically like a burlap bag, and he starts throwing ashes on his head, which was all of the signs of deep mourning, which, by the way, you were not supposed to do in the presence of the king, because when you came into the presence of the king, you were to have great joy, because everybody should find great joy in the presence of the king. And if you don't have great joy in the presence of the king, you will never have joy again, because your life will be taken from you. So he can only come as far as the gate to the palace. And so all of the people that attend her, they're like looking out and going, hey, I think that's Mordecai.

Well, what's he doing? That's not good. What? Well, first of all, sackcloth, ashes, there's a lot of, what I would identify as weeping and wailing. Is that what you'd call it? That's what I'd call it. Yeah, I would agree. This is not a good situation. And she's just like, oh, I think, right? No, she didn't say that. She has to reveal she's Jewish. She's like, oh, no, what's wrong with him?

Because she didn't know yet what was happening. She didn't know the depth of what was taking place. So she sends her people out there, and she sends a fresh change of clothes, and she's like, listen, send him a new outfit, right? Just pick this up at the gap for him. Just send that to him. So they take the clothes out, and he's like, I ain't changing. I'm not putting those clothes on.

They're like, well, what's wrong with you? Because this is why I want you to go back and tell Esther. I want you to go back and tell her everything that Haman did, everything that Haman said, that everyone's life is in danger. Everybody that she cares about is about to be killed, and we've only got so much time to deal with it. We have one year to figure out a plan for what we're going to do,

and you need to tell her this is what she needs to do. She needs to go in, and she needs to petition the king. She needs to go in and pull a little influence and tell the king this cannot take place because it says he gave orders to implore his favor, to plead with him for her people. So Hathak, verse 9, came back to Esther and related Mordecai's words to Esther.

Esther spoke to Hathak and ordered him to reply to Mordecai. All the king's servants and the people of the king's province know that for any man or woman who comes to the king, to the inner court, who is not summoned to the inner court, or who is not summoned but has but one law, that he be put to death unless the king holds out to him the golden scepter so that he may live. I have not been summoned to come to the king for 30 days. And they related Esther's words to Mordecai.

Now she's in a real pickle right now, right? Nobody knows what her nationality is. Nobody knows at this point in time. One guy knows. His name is Mordecai. Nobody else is aware of this. She says you need to understand something. I haven't gone to talk to the king for a long time, and if I go in, everybody knows this. If I go in to talk to the king and he hasn't summoned me,

one of two things is going to happen. Either one, he's going to raise the scepter and be like, come on in. Or number two, he's not going to raise the scepter. And in that moment, a bag gets put over my head. I get taken out, and I get put to death. You need to know that's the reality that I live with. And I have not seen him for 30 days. He hasn't sent for me.

Clearly a very intimate, personal relationship she had with the king. She's like, I haven't been called in there. Basically what she's saying is I can't do this because my life will be in danger, which is kind of interesting to think about in this moment, right? Because if anybody knew who she was, her life would be in danger. This is what Mordecai says back.

Mordecai told them to reply to Esther. Don't imagine that you in the king's palace can escape any more than all the Jews. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and distress will arise for the Jews from another place. And you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this. It says here's what you need to know.

You're not going to escape in there. Somebody's going to figure this thing out. Somebody's going to figure out what's going on. You can't stay hidden in the shadows forever. What you need to know is God's going to provide a way for his people to be saved. And isn't this a wonderful promise that he believes here? Because he knew that they were God's chosen people.

God's going to deliver his people. But there's a really good chance that if you don't stand up, you will not be one of them that gets delivered. You and your father's house. You need to know this. You need to be aware of this. Now, I don't know that I've always thought about how hard of a statement this would have been for Mordecai. But remember, he raised this young lady.

And he knows the danger that she's facing because he raised her. And the potential that there is, this had to have been a difficult thing for him to command her to do. But he did it anyway. He said, because you don't know that you have not been brought to a place of royalty for this very time and this very purpose. And you know those words hung in her mind like nothing else ever had before.

She has a choice laid before her. A choice of life or death. And it brings up a very interesting thought to me that I think that we should pay attention to. Two things. Number one, we should take advantage of every opportunity that we have. What are you doing with the opportunities that you have? You see, every day we're faced with a similar opportunity that she's faced with here.

We are faced with the opportunity to hide behind everything else and just be a really nice person who doesn't necessarily do anything wrong. But we also don't ever really make a stand for anything that's right. And we'll just sit back and not rock the boat. We'll just sit back and not mess with what's going on. Because after all, I'm just going to go along to get along.

We can do that. Or we can make a choice to make a stand for what's right. Will it cost us something? Potentially. But who knows that you were not put on topside of planet Earth for just such a time as this. You were put where you are for such a time as this. Have you ever thought about that? I love asking people, what era would you be born in? I don't want to take questions right now.

But what era would you be born in? I ask kids questions all the time. We do questions of the day. And I love hearing everybody's thoughts. I remember thinking back at this when I was younger. Oh, man, I wish I would have lived in this era. I wish I would have lived in this era. But what I've realized is I was made to live right now. I was made for now. And as I've said lots of times before, I have a choice to make every single day.

I can sit back and not rock the boat. I can sit back and be a pretty good guy who does good things and never really makes waves with anything that I do or say. Or I could be a force for the kingdom. That's a choice that I can make every single day. And at the point that I'm at in my life now, I'm going to go ahead and keep doing what I can to be a force for the kingdom.

Because why not, right? Because who knows that I wasn't put here for just this particular time at this particular place to have the impact that God wants for me to have. And you're the same way. This is not a Ryan job. This is not an Esther job. This is a you job. God has put you in your workplace for just such a time as this so that you can minister to the people around you.

God has given you the kids that you have for such a time as this so that you can raise them to make a stand in a world that won't. God has made you grandparents so that for your grandkids, you can share your testimony with them so that they can become the young people that God will use in the time that we're in now. What are you going to do with your opportunities? That's essentially what he tells Esther.

You have a chance. God will keep doing it. And if God's going to keep saving people, you're going to miss out on the blessing.

So that hangs in her mind like a fog. Verse 15. And Esther told him to reply to Mordecai. Go assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa and fast for me. Don't eat or drink for three days, night or day. And I and my maidens also will fast in the same way. And thus I will go to the king, which is not according to the law. And if I perish, I perish. And Mordecai went away and did just as Esther had commanded.

Can I make one last little point about this? God had not forgotten his people. Why do you suppose it worked out that Ahasuerus got mad at his wife and dumped her? Got mad at the queen and dumped her. Why do you suppose that God allowed Esther to be the one who would win whatever kind of contest it was to become the queen at this point in time? Why do you suppose those things happened?

Because God was orchestrating deliverance for his people. God was orchestrating a deliverance for his people that was going to be necessary in such a dangerous time. Because God had not forgotten his people. And listen, God hasn't forgotten you either. Whatever state you're in, I know some people can find themselves going, I think God forgot me here. I'm still stuck in this.

I've got this going on and I got this going on and I just think God's forgotten. God hasn't forgotten. He's moving all the right people into all the right places at just the right times to do exactly what needs to be done in your life. God's not forgotten you. And so she tells him, have everybody fast. Everybody that you know. And essentially this was a call to prayer.

Have everybody seek the Lord on my behalf. I'll do the same thing along with all of my handmaids. Three days. And so she begins this process and now we see Esther before the king. It says, Now it came about on the third day that Esther put on her royal robes and she stood in the inner court of the king's palace in front of the king's rooms. And the king was sitting on his royal throne

in the throne room opposite the entrance to the palace. When the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, okay, if this was a reality show, this is where it would stop and have a really long pause now, right? And it would pan to her face and then his face and then her face and then his face and then some random guy over here we've never seen before. And it would just pan to all of these things and we'd be stuck with this.

But I want you to put yourself in her place for just a moment. Can you imagine how hard her heart is pounding right now? Can you imagine the adrenaline coursing through her veins right now? She's been fasting for three days anticipating this. Day one, stressed, not too bad. Knows what's waiting but she's still got time. Day two, stress grows. Okay, it's coming.

Day three. Oh my gosh, like it's all she can think about. I bet she didn't sleep that night Then comes the day She puts on the right clothes she puts on all of the right makeup or oils or whatever they did at that point in time And she steps forward boldly And as she steps forward boldly, she waits for what her fate will be Will God have listened to their prayers and give her the favor in the eyes of the king that she needed? Or will this be the last time she ever enters the presence of the king or anyone else because she's about to be put to death Find out next time and so and so we kind of have this like thing hanging here and says when the King saw Esther the Queen standing in the court

She obtained favor in his sight the king extended the golden scepter And I guarantee that feeling of peace just rushed over her entire body You know what? That's like when you have to do something really difficult like that and all of a sudden it goes way better than you thought it Was going to you just kind of have this collective And now she can make her request The king said to her verse 3 what's troubling you Queen Esther and what's your request Even to half the kingdom. She'll be given to you and Esther said if it pleases the king May the king and Haman come this day to the banquet that I have prepared for them The king said bring Haman quickly that we may do as Esther desires

So the king and Haman came to the banquet which Esther had prepared you can only imagine what Haman's like at this moment, right? Okay, it gets elevated to a really high position within the kingdom. Everything's going great Everybody else is bowing down to him except that one guy But he's gonna deal with him too comes up with a plan to go before the king the king not only accepts this plan But says you don't have to pay for it. I'll sign this thing into law right now. Do what you want to do

I'll even fund it Everything is going great for Haman and when he couldn't think things could get any better He gets a direct request from the Queen to come to a banquet that is just for he and the king Oh, he is flying high right now, right? Everything is going great in Haman's life He should go buy a lottery ticket because everything is going his way So the king said bring Haman quickly that we may do as Esther desires So the king and Haman came to the banquet which Esther had prepared And as they drank their wine at the banquet the king said to Esther What's your petition for it shall be granted to you? What is your request up to half the kingdom? It shall be done so Esther replied my petition and my request is

If I found favor in the sight of the king If it pleases the king to grant my petition and do what I request May the king and Haman come to the banquet which I will prepare for them and tomorrow I will do as the king says Now I have no idea why she puts this off. I've wondered this the entire time. I've ever read this book I'm like, why does she keep putting it off? Why is she like one more banquet?

This will be the last one I think she's sort of building up the courage here personally I mean She already had an incredibly intense moment of waiting right there at the edge of the of the palace room to see how he was gonna respond and and she's about to make a really big request because what You have to know About the law of the Medes and the Persians is you cannot overturn the law of the Medes and the Persians once it set into motion Their laws stated you cannot change it. There was no amending the law And so this is a big bold request that she's making and and quite frankly it might make it might take me two shots at it As well because you're like dude, that's a big thing to ask

And so Haman gets invited to another banquet. It was what it says in verse 9 Haman went out that day glad and pleased of heart Everything is going great. He's walking on sunshine But when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate and that he did not stand up or tremble before him Haman was filled with anger against Mordecai man Everything's going great. And then he sees Mordecai Mordecai who had been clowning on Haman, right?

Like he's like I am NOT bowing down to you. I'm not gonna tremble with you. What are you gonna do to me? Come on, man And so he so he rolls and he's just filled with what was walking on sunshine is now walking in the coals And he's like, what am I gonna do? Haman controlled himself. However, they went to his house And he sent for his friends and his wife's their ash

and Haman recounted to them the glory of his riches and the number of his sons and every instance where the king had magnified him and how he had promoted him above the princes and the servants of the king And Haman also said even Esther the Queen let no one but me come with the king to the banquet Which she had prepared and tomorrow Also, I am invited by her with the king Haman had to have been one of the most miserable human beings to hang around Like literally they just spent two verses saying that he basically spent the entire night telling everyone how awesome he was I have so much wealth. I have so many sons and not only that the Queen thinks I'm amazing She wants me to show up now for the second time just me and the king

But there's one problem Verse 13 yet. All of this does not satisfy me every time. I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gates Zeresh his wife and all his friends said to him have a gallows built 50 50 cubits high and in the morning asked the king to have Mordecai hanged on it Then go joyfully with the king to the banquet and the advice pleased Haman. So he had the gallows Made Here's what you should do. You should build the most giant gallows anyone's ever seen in their entire life and

Then put Haman or put Mordecai to death on it. He's like Now we're talking Listen, you should be careful to surround yourself with people that agree with you all the time Like you should surround yourself with people. They're like, maybe just let this thing go. Maybe it's really not that big of a deal But he doesn't and so this sets the scene for what I think is one of the funniest chapters in the Bible Which we'll get to next week in chapter 6 Let's pray Father, thank you so much Thank you so much for your word and Lord. I pray that we would be

It would be the people that would find our peace in you Lord that when life has us confounded confused and perplexed Lord that we would be able to rest in the fact that you are still sitting on the throne so father Encourage us and strengthen us in you. We just pray these things in Jesus name. Amen. Be blessed