Wednesday Evening Services 7 PM - Esther 6-10, The Conclusion, Pastor Ryan Nichols

open up to Esther, Chapter 6. Esther, Chapter 6. Tonight, we'll look at the conclusion of the book of Esther. Now, when last we left all of our main characters, of course, Ahasuerus had taken Esther to be his queen. And Esther had an uncle, or excuse me, a cousin by the name of Mordecai who had helped raise her. And Mordecai was the guy who was not only proud as a man,

but proud of his faith and proud of his heritage as well. And there was another fellow by the name of Haman that we were introduced to last week. And Haman was moved into a very high position within the kingdom, and everybody was bowing down and paying homage to Haman except for Mordecai, which absolutely infuriated Haman. So Haman came up with this plan, I'll just annihilate an entire group of people because this one guy made me really angry, right?

And so he puts together this plan to annihilate the entire Jewish race. And Ahasuerus says, all right, and signs off on it. And so the plans are being made, and Mordecai goes to Esther and says, you got to do something about this. This is a problem. This is a really big problem. And so Esther says, well, I don't know if I can do anything. You don't understand.

I can't just go talk to the king anytime I want to. He says, look, salvation is going to come from somewhere, but you don't know that you weren't put into this position for just such a time as this. In other words, act now because God has put you here for a reason. And so she has everyone fast forward for three days. So she goes before the king. The king welcomes her in.

She says, I would like to have a feast with you and Haman. Haman's feeling pretty good about himself. So he goes to this feast with Esther and with the king. And she says, I want you to come back for one more feast. And when Haman leaves, he sees Mordecai, and he's just infuriated. Just the sight of him makes him angry. So he goes to his wife and his friends,

and they say, what should I do? He said, build a special gallows just for Mordecai. You can put him to death on this giant gallows. So he builds this huge gallows. And now it's time for God to sort of deal with Haman. And so now we come to chapter six, which is easily one of the funniest chapters, in my opinion, in the entire Bible. It says, During that night,

the king could not sleep. In other words, the night in between the feasts. During that night, the king could not sleep, so he gave an order to bring the book of the records of the chronicles, and they were read before the king. It was found written that Mordecai had reported concerning Bithana and Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs who were doorkeepers, that they had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus.

The king said, what honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this? The king's servants who attended him said, nothing has been done for him. So an average night, right? The king goes to bed. I'm guessing this is not the only time that the king hasn't been able to sleep at night. After all, heavy is the head that wears the crown, right? Probably lots of things on his mind.

This particular night, he couldn't sleep for whatever reason. And so he says, bring me a book to be read to me. And so the attendants think to themselves, what better thing to do than to read the minutes of everything that's gone on within the kingdom. That will bore him to death, and it will put him right to sleep. Imagine the first nine chapters of first chronicles,

or the first nine chapters of the book of numbers, right? Just start reading, like within minutes, that guy's going to be out. So he starts reading, only when he comes across the minutes of the nation, it just happens to be that he reads the particular section about Mordecai. Remember, in the second chapter, Mordecai discovers this plot to kill the king. And he makes the plot known to Esther,

who makes it known to the king, and ultimately saves the king's life. And you remember, we were left at the end of that chapter with the statement, but nothing was done for Mordecai. And we're reminded that God sees, God does reward in his own good time. And so they're reading about it, and he's like, oh my gosh, I totally forgot about this. Dude, what did we ever do for Mordecai?

And they're like, I mean, nothing that we can tell. And so the king's a little bothered by this, and what was supposed to put him to sleep has actually caused his brain to work just a little bit more. And it just happens to be that, you know, think like early morning, Haman is now coming in, because remember, he's come up with this plan to put Mordecai to death before everybody else, right? He wants to kickstart things a little bit early and put Mordecai to death.

And what he's coming in to tell the king is, I built this huge gallows, I can't wait to kill Mordecai. While the king is reading about how Mordecai saves his life. Everybody with me on this? So the king said, so the king said, verse four, who is in the court? And Haman had just entered the outer court of the king's palace in order to speak to king about hanging Mordecai on the gallows,

which he had prepared. The king's servant said to him, behold, Haman is standing in the court. And the king said, perfect, bring him in. So Haman came in, the king said to him, what is to be done for the man whom the king desires to honor? And Haman said to himself, whom would the king desire to honor more than me? Ah, pride is a dangerous thing, isn't it? Remember,

Haman's feeling pretty good about himself. He's gotten put into a very high position. His plan that he proposed was accepted by the king. He was invited to one feast specifically by the queen. Now he's been invited to a second feast by the queen. And now he comes into the king's presence. The king invites him in and says, Haman, what should I do for somebody

that I want to honor? And Haman's going, well, I've got an idea. And so this is the idea that he says. It says, so Haman, excuse me, verse seven, then Haman said to the king, for the man whom the king desires to honor, let them bring a royal robe that the king has worn and a horse on which the king has ridden and on whose head a royal crown has been placed.

And let the robe and the horse be handed over to one of the king's most noble princes and let them array the man whom the king desires to honor and lead him on horseback throughout the city square and proclaim before him, thus it shall be done to the man whom the king desires to honor. You know, the king had to have been thinking, gosh, this feels extra elaborate, but I like where we're going with this. The king is a pretty elaborate guy, right? And you can just picture Haman saying all these things and then I would, yes, I would also do this and then I would do this and then this and the king's going, feels strange, but all right, I'm going to go with you on this.

So far, so good. The king said to Haman, take quickly the robes and the horse as you have said and do so for Mordecai the Jew who is sitting at the king's gate. Don't fall short in anything that you have said. We just went from the most elated guy named Haman ever who has everything going for him to the saddest guy on the face of the earth. Matter of fact, we're going to see

just how sad in just a moment, but can you imagine being Haman in this moment and he's just like, do it for Mordecai. I'm sorry. Could you repeat that one more time? I thought I heard you say Mordecai and I can't imagine that's who you would have said. Nope. Go do that for Mordecai. So Haman took the robe and the horse, verse 11, and he arrayed Mordecai and he led him

on horseback through the city square and proclaimed before him, thus it shall be done to the man whom the king desires to honor. You can't tell me God doesn't have a sense of humor. You know God was like, this is going to be funny. Gabe, watch this one. I am going to orchestrate the funniest thing. All of the angels are just belly laughing at what's going on

as they're watching earth at this point in time. He has to go all through town and declare, thus it shall be done for the man whom the king desires to honor. I bet they walk right by the gallows. He intended to hang Mordecai on. And as he walks by, he's like, this is what's done for the man that the king desires to honor. Anyway, I think it's hilarious. So Mordecai returned

to the king's gate, but Haman hurried home. Pay attention. Mourning, and with his head covered, Haman recounted to Zeresh, his wife, and all his friends everything that had happened. Then his wise men in Zeresh said to him, if Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish origin, you will not overcome him, but will surely fall before him. Well, things just went really bad

for Haman really fast. First of all, he comes back with his head covered and he is grieving. I want you to take note, this is the exact same position that Mordecai found himself in when it was announced that all of his people were going to be put to death. Haman is now finding himself in the exact same spot that he had put Mordecai in not a few days before this.

Brothers and sisters, we are reminded that pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. So they warn him, they're like, listen, if Mordecai is a Jew, the guy that you just legit paraded through town and told how he was honored by the king, if he's a Jew, you're going down and you're going down fast. And these are all of his best friends and his wife telling him this. Well, as he is in this absolute state of mourning, gut dropped to the floor, absolutely paranoid and terrified, verse 14, while they're still talking with him, the king's eunuchs arrived and hastily brought him to the banquet which Esther had prepared.

One bright spot, although it doesn't feel very bright right now for Haman. Now the king and Haman came to drink wine with Esther the queen. Haman maybe drank a little heavier that night. And the king said to Esther on the second day, also as they drank their wine at the banquet, what is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted to you. And what's your request?

Even to half the kingdom it shall be done. And Queen Esther replied, if I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me as my petition and my people as my request. For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed and to be annihilated. Now if we had been sold as slaves, men and women, I would have remained silent for the trouble would not be commensurate with the annoyance to the king.

The king, as you were, asked Queen Esther, who is he and where is he from to do this? Wait just a moment. Okay, let's put ourselves where Haman is right now. He's like, okay, well at least I get to have dinner with the queen, right? And he's drinking some wine, perhaps copiously at this point in time because he is mildly stressed out. And as he's drinking the wine,

he says, Esther, what do you want? Second feast. Come on, I'll give you anything that you want. You just ask for it. And she says, give me my life and the life of my people. And you know Haman had to have gone. And then she used the exact verbiage that was used in the declaration against the Jews because they will be killed and annihilated and destroyed, which is the exact words

that were used in the declaration against the Jews. You know Haman had to have gone, oh no. He said, well who would do this to you? And Haman's sitting there going, don't save me, don't save me, don't save me. And Esther said, verse six, a foe and an enemy is this wicked Haman. And if this is the drama at this point in time, the bum bum bum plays and Haman's just like,

oh no. And wants to run for his life at this point in time. All color is drained from his face. All life is drained from his body. He knows it's about to be done for him. And the king arose in his anger from drinking wine and went out into the palace garden, but Haman stayed to beg for his life. It's interesting, I read some conjecture. Why does the king get up and leave at this point in time?

Some people are like, well, it wasn't because he was scared he was going to act rashly. That's never bothered the king before. It listed several other reasons. I legit think the guy was so angry he had to collect his thoughts because he did not even know what to say. Have you ever been in a situation like that? Where you are so infuriated that you're like, all I can do right now is go walk around

because I literally can't talk because I'm just so mad at the situation. This is how he feels. Haman is his most trusted advisor. Haman is the second in command in all of the kingdom, not to mention the fact that who's the one that signed the law to annihilate, destroy, and kill Esther and all of the people? None other than, wait for it, Ahasuerus. So he's both infuriated with Haman

and maybe a little infuriated with himself for not thinking ahead before he signed such a rash decree. So he goes out, storms out in anger, probably throws the wine glass down. I'm making that part up. He goes out in anger and he's walking around in the garden and Haman stays to beg for his life. Now, to paint the picture, they didn't sit and hang out like we sit and hang out

in like chairs where they're sitting upright. They would have lounged on couches, which just sounds amazing, doesn't it? Like you're just hanging out, chilling with your friends. You're just like kind of lounged out on a couch. And so she's lounged out on her couch and this is what happens. It says, verse eight, now when the king returned from the palace garden

into the place where they were drinking wine, Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was. Now, he's doing it because he's begging for his life. She's laid out on this couch. He's probably down on his knees going, please don't kill me, please don't kill me. It's on me. I didn't know. I'm so sorry. I really liked Mordecai. He seems like a pretty good guy.

I should have never done this. The king comes in in the middle of verse eight there and says, will he even assault the queen with me in the house? And as word went out of the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face. And then Harbonah, one of the king's eunuchs who was before the king said, behold indeed the gallows standing at Haman's house, 50 cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai who spoke good on behalf of the king.

And the king said, hang him on it. So in this moment, they cover his face, which means that I'm thinking that the guards, the secret service, if you will, that are around him, hooded his head. And you know, at that point in time, nothing good is going to happen, right? If they put a hood over your head, this does not end good for Haman. He says, what am I going to do with this guy?

And they're like, over here in the back. So here's the thing. He built a huge gallows to hang Mordecai on, the one who spoke so good about you. Remember the one that saved your life? The one that we paraded around town yesterday and said, this is what we do for the guy that the king desires to honor. He wants to kill him on this gallows. And it just took one statement from the king,

hang him on it. So they hanged, verse 10, so they hanged Haman on the gallows, which he had prepared for Mordecai. And the king's anger subsided. Boy, if there is any better time to insert once again the proverb, pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. So it says on that day, chapter eight, verse one, King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman,

the enemy of the Jews, to Queen Esther. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had disclosed what he was to her. The king took off his signet ring, which he had taken away from Haman, and he gave it to Mordecai. And Esther sent Mordecai over the house of Haman. All of a sudden, now Mordecai is the most powerful man in the kingdom besides the king himself,

all because he honored the Lord and the things that he did. But there's still a situation that they've got to deal with because there's still a decree that in a year, all of Esther's people are gonna be wiped out. So what are we gonna do about this? Verse three, then Esther spoke again to the king, fell at his feet and wept, and implored him to avert the evil scheme of Haman, the Agagite, and his plot, which he had devised against the Jews.

The king extended the golden scepter to Esther, and Esther arose and stood before the king. She said, if it pleases the king, and if I have found favor before him, and the matter seems proper to the king, and I am pleasing in his sight, let it be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman, the son of Hamadatha, the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the king's provinces. For how can I endure to see the calamity which will befall my people? And how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?

So Ahasuerus said to the king, or said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, behold, I have given the house of Haman to Esther, and him they have hanged on the gallows because he has stretched out his hand against the Jews. Now write to the Jews as you see fit, the king's name, and seal it with the king's signet ring, for a decree which is written in the name of the king and sealed with the king's signet ring may not be revoked. So we have to understand it's the next day that she comes in to talk to the king, which is why she once again falls down at his feet, and she begs for his mercy, because once again she's not been called in by the king, but she goes before him again the next day. This is why it says he extended his scepter to her

because he was willing to hear out what she had to say. And she said, we still have this problem. The problem is that my people are still going to be destroyed if we don't do something about it. So what I'm asking you to do is to revoke the law that you've made. Only remember what we said last time, and this is what he said here, once something has been signed with the king's signet ring,

it cannot be revoked. In other words, this law has been made and there's nothing that we can do to change it. So here's what I want you to do. I want you to write another law that goes against it, and this is what he says to do. So the king's scribes, verse nine, were called at the time in the third month, that is the month of Sivan. The 23rd day it was written,

according to all that Mordecai commanded the Jews, the Satraps, the governors, the princes, which extended from India to Ethiopia, 127 provinces, to every province according to its script, and to every people according to their language, as well as to the Jews, according to their script and their language. He wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed it with the king's signet, and sent letters by couriers on horses, riding on steeds, hired by the royal stud. In them, the king granted the Jews who were in each and every city, the right to assemble and defend their lives, to destroy, kill, and annihilate the entire army of any people or province which might attack them, including children and women, and to plunder their spoil on one day,

all in the provinces of King Ahasuerus, the 13th day of the 12th month, that is the month of Adar. So this is the petition that was written, essentially a law to combat the other one that he wrote. He can't revoke the fact that there's still going to be people that come against the Jews to try to destroy them, but he said, I'm giving full authorization for the Jewish people that is completely within their rights to defend themselves against anyone who comes against them, to kill anyone who comes against them, and to take the plunder of anyone who comes against them. God allowed an opportunity for the children of Israel to defend themselves against anyone who would come against them, all because God chose to put Esther as queen

at a time when she was needed the most, because she had come about for just such a time as this. So verse 13, it says, a copy of the edict to be issued as law in each and every province was published to all the peoples so that the Jews would be ready for this day to avenge themselves of their enemies. The couriers hastened and impelled by the king's commands went out riding on the royal steeds that was given out at the citadel of Susa. And Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal robes of blue and white with a large crown of gold, the garment of fine linen and purple.

And the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced for the Jews there was light and gladness and joy and honor. In each and every province and in each and every city where the king's command and his decree arrived, there was gladness and joy for the Jews, a feast and a holiday. And many among the peoples of the land became Jews for the dread of the Jews that followed on them. Did you catch that last part?

Many of the people of the land became Jews because the dread of the Jews came upon them. In other words, they're like, we're gonna join you guys because it feels like if you can't beat them, join them. And it certainly feels like we probably can't beat them. Well, then comes chapter nine. It says, now in the 12th month, that is the month of Adar, so nine months after this decree is made,

on the 13th day when the king's command and edict was about to be executed, on the day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain mastery over them, it was turned to the contrary so that the Jews themselves gained mastery over those who hated them. If you're an underliner, that's a great first underline. Let me read the last half of that to you again. It was turned to the contrary so that the Jews themselves gained mastery over those who hated them.

Listen, the enemy can come against us with just about anything that he wants to, but at the end of the day, God is the one who brings the victory. At the end of the day, God defends those who are his own. He did it for the Jewish people and may I say, will continue to do so for the Jewish people, but he also does it for those of us that have been grafted in of the Gentiles. God takes care of his people and he turns what the enemy uses for bad into something good for us.

Since the Jews assembled in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to lay hands on those who sought their harm and no one could stand before them for the dread of them had fallen on all the peoples. Even all the provinces, all the princes of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and those who were doing the king's business assisted the Jews because the dread of Mordecai had fallen on them. Indeed, Mordecai was great in the king's house and his fame spread throughout all the provinces for the man Mordecai became greater and greater. The Jews struck all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying it and they did what they pleased to those who hated them.

At the citadel in Susa, the Jews killed and destroyed 500 men and the sons of Haman, the Jews enemy, but they did not lay their hands on the plunder. That's an important one to pay attention to. They weren't concerned with enriching themselves, they were concerned with defending themselves. It says, on that day, the number of those who were killed at the citadel was reported to the king.

The king said to Queen Esther, the Jews have killed and destroyed 500 men and 10 sons of Haman at the citadel in Susa. What then have they done in the rest of the king's provinces? Now, what is your petition? It shall be granted to you and what is your further request? It shall be done. She said, if it pleases the king, let tomorrow also be granted to the Jews

who are in Susa to do according to the edict of today and let his sons be hanged on the gallows. So the king commanded that it should be done so and an edict was issued in Susa and Haman's 10 sons were hanged. The Jews who were in Susa assembled also on the 14th day of the month of Adar and killed 300 men in Susa, but they did not lay their hands on the plunder. The rest of the Jews who were in the king's provinces assembled to defend their lives and rid themselves of their enemies and killed 75,000 of those who hated them, but they did not lay their hands on the plunder.

This was done on the 13th day of the month of Adar and on the 14th day, they rested and made it a day of feasting and rejoicing. But the Jews who were in Susa assembled on the 13th and 14th day of the same month and they rested on the 15th day and made it a day of feasting and rejoicing. Therefore, the Jews of the rural areas who live in rural towns make the 14th day of the month of Adar a holiday, rejoicing and feasting and sending portions of food to one another. Isn't it amazing the victory that God brought to them?

And all Esther wanted was one more day for victory because she didn't wanna take any chance of anybody coming back to take on her people. Says in verse 20, then Mordecai recorded these events and he sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, obliging them to celebrate the 14th day of the month of Adar, the 15th day of the same month annually, because on those days, the Jews rid themselves of their enemies. It was a month which was turned from them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday, that they should make them days of feasting and rejoicing and sending portions of food to one another and gifts to the poor. They undertook what they had started to do

and what Mordecai had written. So Mordecai institutes a feast. Now this is not a feast that we see in any of the books of the law. This is specifically for this moment, for them to remember that God delivered them, that even when they were in captivity, even when they were in a far away foreign land, God still protected and preserved his own people from the attacks of those who would hate them.

And so they celebrated this day. And I love, again, if you're an underliner, I love the end of verse 22 or most of verse 22. It says, and it was a month which was turned for them from sorrow into gladness, from mourning into holiday, that they should make them days of feasting and rejoicing. Can we all agree that whatever enemy we face, whether it's the enemies of our flesh or whether it's enemies that we face in the world when there is victory, it's truly a day of feasting and rejoicing.

It's a day of great joy because God gives us victory over the things that would want to destroy us. And so they institute this holiday and it goes on to give more of the history of the holiday. The Jews undertook what they had started to do. Verse 23, when Mordecai had written to them, for Haman, the son of Hamadath of the Agagite, the adversary of all the Jews, had schemed against them to destroy them and to cast Purr, that is Lot, to disturb them and to destroy them.

But when it came to the king's attention, he commanded by the letter of this wicked scheme, which he had devised against the Jews, that it should return on his own head and that he and his son should be hanged on the gallows. Therefore, they called these days Purim, after the name Purr. Because of the instructions of this letter, both what they had seen in this regard and what had happened to them, the Jews established and made a custom for themselves and for their descendants and for all who allied themselves with them so that they would not fail to celebrate these two days according to their regulation and according to their appointed time annually. And this feast was even celebrated through the days of Jesus and still celebrated today.

So these days were to be remembered and celebrated throughout every generation, every family, every province, every city. These days of Purim were not to fail from among the Jews of their memory, fade from their descendants. Then Queen Esther, the daughter of Abahel with Mordecai the Jew wrote with full authority to confirm the second letter about Purim. So letters to all the Jews, to the provinces of the king, words of peace and truth to establish these days of Purim at their appointed times, just as Mordecai the Jew and Esther had established for them.

And just as they had established for themselves, for their descendants, the command of Esther was established. There was, excuse me, the command of Esther established these customs of Purim and it was written in the book. And so we close out with what it says about Mordecai. Chapter 10. Now, King Ahasuerus laid a tribute on the land and on the coastlands of the sea

and all the accomplishments of this authority and this strength and the full accountness of the greatness of Mordecai to which the king advanced him. Are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia, for Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Ahasuerus and great among the Jews and in favor with his kinsmen, one who sought the good of his people and one who spoke for the welfare of his whole nation. Isn't it amazing that God sends them into this foreign land and we find that several of the greatest leaders that led both in Babylon and in Persia ended up being Jewish people. Because no matter where you are, God can bless you.

And so there's this wonderful story about this guy named Mordecai who did such amazing things and God uses such a powerful way. Listen, all because he knew something was wrong and he encouraged someone to step up and do what was right. And so from this, I have some final thoughts for you. Some lessons I think that we can take away from the overall teaching of the book of Esther.

Some things that I think we should kind of put in our back pocket for this. Four things. Number one, we must be aware of both pride and anger in our lives. We must be aware of both pride and anger in our lives. It was anger that caused Ahasuerus to originally get rid of the queen that he really didn't wanna get rid of. She just made him mad one day. And ultimately that anger led him to make a decision

that he couldn't take back. It was anger that ultimately caused Haman to hate Mordecai so much because he wouldn't do what he wanted for him to do. And it was anger that caused him to make such rash decisions that ultimately came back upon himself. We don't always realize what anger does to us, but you know, the book of Proverbs refers to anger as pouring coals into your own lap.

Ultimately, you are the one that gets burned by it. And anger is an issue that many people deal with. And we have to give that over to the Lord and let God deal with that in our lives. But you know, the other issue that we struggle with, especially in the culture that we live in today is pride. Pride is ultimately what led Ahasuerus to a place where he would not allow his pride

to be so affected by his bride. And it was pride that led Haman to the place where he wanted to annihilate an entire group of people. It was pride that blinded him to what God was truly doing. And it was pride that made him build the gallows that ultimately he was hanged on. And we are reminded once again, and I'm gonna keep saying this because I think it's really important

because pride seems to be rewarded in our culture today, that pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. We must be aware of these two sins in our own lives lest in condemning them in others, we find that they take root in our own lives. So number one, beware of pride and anger. Number two, when life has you perplexed, remember that God is on the throne.

We talked about this last week. When the command went out that all of the Jews were to be put to death, they all found themselves perplexed. Matter of fact, the whole city did. And sometimes when difficult things come into our lives or things that shock us come into our lives, we can find ourselves confused and perplexed and overwhelmed. And the one thing that happens in that moment

is when we get to that place, we forget that God is still on the throne because the city is still on the throne. Situation is right in front of our face and it becomes bigger than what we can handle and in that moment We have to put God back into perspective in that moment We have to restore the perspective of how big God is that he is still on the throne No matter how big whatever just happened in our life seems to be I've been talking this week about prayer with my FCA groups and and I've been taking them through the The the axe model of prayer and I just think it's so important for us to be reminded That the best way to start off our prayer life is to spend time in Adoration to spend time praising God for who he is

And the reason why we do that is when we take time to praise God for who he is It restores God once again on the throne of our lives It's not that he ever left it But in our mind we have forgotten it and when we begin to praise God for who he is It reminds us that God is still on the throne After all if he is the creator of the heavens and the earth if he is the Sustainer of life if he is the one who by the word of his mouth Keeps the world spinning if he owns a cattle the cattle on a thousand hills if he is the God who provides for all of our Needs if he is the one who moves the hearts of the Kings like the rivers of water Then perhaps the thing that has you perplexed in your life is not too big for him to handle

See we take time to remember that God is still on the throne number three God always sees and God will reward remember chapter 2 Mordecai sees this thing take place He he he hears about the plot. He lets the king know about the plot. He protects the king's life from the plot He has nothing done for him and you can imagine in the moment because maybe you've been there where you've gone I did such a good thing and no one noticed anybody ever been there before no need to tell me. I know you have We all have these moments in our lives We're like no one noticed all the good things that I did I did all of these things and nobody even paid attention. I washed the dishes and my wife never said anything about it

I did all these things for these people and no one noticed and sometimes we think that not only do people forget the things that We've done but sometimes we think that God forgets the things that we've done And we have to be reminded that the God sees them all and God will reward in good time The Old Testament is full of pictures of people who did really good things that they did not get rewarded for right away Some of them not even on this side of eternity But we can know as we've talked about before that if we lay up those treasures in heaven by doing those things God does see God will reward so keep being faithful Don't allow Don't allow that Discouragement to keep you from what God has called for you to do

And then number four and I think this is the most important one to pay attention to from the book of Esther Even when God seems silent Trust that he is actively at work Even when God seems silent trust that he is actively at work I had a conversation with someone the other day and I said, you know when I first started walking with Jesus It felt like I was just growing by leaps and bounds I got felt like every day I opened my Bible and I got something brand new out of it Every day I was learning something new about God that I hadn't learned before and I said and quite frankly, I've hit a point Where it just feels like God is silent Where it feels like I'm not really learning anything

Anymore and I said, can I give you a little bit of a lesson from turf grass? Listen, you've heard me give this before But can I give you a little bit of lesson from turf grass and a little bit of lesson from the prairie? Long times we look at Western, Kansas and we go. Oh my gosh. It's a barren wasteland. There's nothing to be learned from Western, Kansas But there actually is

You see it's almost planting season matter of fact my goal in the next two weeks to put grass seed down Just so that it can die again next year, but I still hold on to hope it's to put grass seed back down And if you put down sod or you put down grass seed The first thing that you do is is you water it every day sometimes multiple times a day because where's the grass seed sitting? When you first plant it, it's right there at the surface, right? And so you got to keep that watered a whole lot You're not gonna water for a long time, but you water just a little bit several times a day to get that grass seed to take But once that grass seed takes root and you see it start to sprout up, you don't water it as often

But you water it more deeply you might only water it three or four times a week But you're gonna water for a lot longer because those roots need to learn to chase the water down further If you got into Western, Kansas Somebody that I knew worked or went to school at K State God bless them and they went to school at K State and they they were in the horticulture department And they they would go on these digs out into the prairie land And what you realize is is there's exponential growth between what you can see of the grass and the roots that are down underneath It's something like three to four times so so if the grass is about Three foot tall then then you've got six to nine foot of roots underneath of it

And the reason why is because those roots have to chase water for a really long time Otherwise if it's in Western, Kansas that that prairie grass doesn't stay growing very long because they don't get a lot of rain out there And that's what happens in our lives when God seems silent when God seems silent and we're not getting the the emotional devotionals that we always get God is making our roots grow down very very deep and he's at work in us doing something that can't be done any other way than through the silence and God is actively at work And not only is he actively at we're getting your roots to grow down deep to become who God has created for you to be

But God is actively at work putting right people in right places to be exactly where they need to be not only in your life But in God's big plan for this world And so when it seems like God is the most silent Trust that he is actively at work Just like he was in the life of Esther and the life of Mordecai and in all of the Jewish people Here in the book of Esther. Amen Let's pray Father we come before you and Lord. I thank you for a great story Lord, I thank you for a great book that has taught us so much and Lord. I thank you for the silent times in our lives Lord the times where we say Lord. Are you still there?

And you are doing things that we can't even imagine and so Lord continue to do your work in our hearts and in our lives Draw us in Grow us deep and may we become the men and women that you've created for us to be We just thank you father in Jesus name Amen Be blessed

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