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South Bay SDA Church

Esther

Jeremy Arnall

Behind The Scenes

Coincidence Or Providence

For Such A Time As This

Footsteps of Faith

Out of the Ordinary

Joy in the Promise

A Divine Reversal

2 missionaries risked imprisonment by smuggling 300 Bibles into a nation with a government hostile to Christian witness.

They were able to evade the authorities and safely deliver their cargo.

Unfortunately, dropping off the Bibles created a whole new set of problems.

Their van had cleared a very low tunnel on the way into the country by a matter of just inches.

Only, you see, because of the weight of the Bibles, which were in the back of the van.

And they had compressed the suspension just a few inches.

Without the extra weight, you see, the van would now be too tall to make the clearing, but they trusted.

Missionaries were forced to stop at a checkpoint before reaching the tunnel.

Policemen there ordered the pair to transport 4 very large soldiers who needed a ride.

The weight of the soldiers, you guessed it, more than made up for the weight of those 300 Bibles.

And so, After dropping off their passengers, the missionaries drove their van home.

So that they could again smuggle more Bibles into the country.

Title of the message this morning is, Coincidence or Providence?

Lord, would you please speak to our hearts this morning that we would see Jesus.

We're going into a book within the Holy Canon, a book that doesn't even mention your name.

But Lord, we find comfort in this, for we believe that indeed your fingerprints are all over the book.

And it helps us to appreciate where we're at today.

So would you speak to us through the power of the Holy Spirit?

Give clarity and the presence of your Holy Spirit to each heart.

Last week, or 2 weeks ago, I should say, we took a look behind the scenes at the first chapter of Esther.

That's right, we're in a series on the book of Esther.

This, I believe it's 7 parts we will take in going through our book of Esther.

So we're taking our time because there's much here.

Last week in our look behind the scenes, we found luxury, we found power, but sadly no mention of God.

We learned how Xerxes, the Greek name for Ahasuerus, the son of Darius and the grandson of Cyrus, called for a six-month party, at which, at the conclusion it culminated in a seven-day feast, which then ended with an appeal by the king for the queen to come out and display her beauty, which she refused.

The king's advisors warned the king that such an act of disrespect could have a dreadful effect upon their own wives back home, that all the wives they surmised of the kingdom would rebel because when they heard what the king's wife did, well, don't expect it from me.

Thus, out of apparent fear and in an effort to maintain their authority at home, they suggested the king forbid Vashti, the queen, to ever appear before him again so that wives everywhere, all across the land, would honor their husbands, that each man, as the text says, may be master over his own household.

When you don't respect a woman, when you don't love her as God loves the church, then that is the kind of behavior of which 1 must resort, Or so they think.

For man-made regulations are used to try and enforce honor and respect, and don't think it just happens in the home.

Prophecy says it's about to happen again.

So while our story last week didn't mention God, we noted that his absence left us with a hollow tale filled with facades and man-made rules.

Thus we gathered hints of him even when he was left out of the story itself.

Last week, I mean 2 weeks ago, we set the stage.

Today, we meet the main characters in chapters 2 and 3.

Now, I'm just going to let you see that, well, I tell you what, I'm gonna ask Alistair to come up here.

Alistair, would you Read the word for us this morning.

You have to read the whole chapter, my friend.

After these things, when the wrath of King Ahasuerus subsided, he remembered Vashti, what she had done and what had been decreed against her.

Then the king's servants who attended him said, let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king, And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather all the beautiful young virgins to Shushan, the citadel, into the women's quarters under the custody of Hegai, the king's eunuch, custodian of the women.

And let beauty preparations be given them.

Then let the young women who pleases the king be queen, instead be queen instead of Vashti.

This thing pleased the king and he did so.

In Shushan, the citadel, there was a certain Jew whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jeor, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite.

Kish had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captives who had been captured with Jeconiah king of Judah whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away.

And Mordecai had brought up Hadasa, that is Esther, his uncle's daughter, for she had neither father nor mother.

The young woman was lovely and beautiful.

When her father and mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.

So it was, when the king's command and decree were heard, and when many young women were gathered at Shushan the Citadel under the custody of Hegai, that Esther also was taken to the king's palace into the care of Hegai, the custodian of the women.

Now the young woman pleased him, and she obtained his favor.

So he readily gave beauty preparations to her, besides her allowance.

Then 7 choice maidservants were provided for her from the king's palace, and he moved her and her maidservants to the best place in the house of the women.

Esther had not revealed her people or family, for Mordecai had charged her not to reveal it.

And every day, Mordecai paced in front of the court of the women's quarters to learn of Esther's welfare and what was happening to her.

Each young woman's turn came to go into King Ahasuerus after she had completed 12 months preparation according to the regulations for the women.

For thus were the days of the preparation apportioned, 6 months with oil of myrrh, and 6 months with perfumes and preparations for beautifying women.

Thus prepared, each young woman went to the king, and she was given whatever she desired to take with her from the women's quarters to the king's palace.

In the evening she went and in the morning she returned to the second house of the women to the custody of Shashgaz, the king's eunuch who kept the concubines.

She would not go into the king again unless the king delighted in her and called for her by name.

Now when the turn came for Esther, the daughter of Abahail, the uncle of Mordecai who had taken her as his daughter, to go into the king, she requested nothing but what Haggai the king's eunuch, the custodian of the women, advised.

And Esther obtained favor in the sight of all who saw her.

So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus into his royal palace in the tenth month, which is the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.

The king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins.

So he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen instead of Ashti.

Then the king made a great feast, the Feast of Esther, for all his officials and servants, and He proclaimed a holiday in the provinces and gave gifts according to the generosity of a king.

When virgins were gathered together a second time, Mordecai sat within the king's gate.

Now Esther had not revealed her family and her people just as Mordecai had charged her, for Esther obeyed the command of Mordecai as when she was brought up by him.

In those days, while Mordecai sat within the king's gate, 2 of the king's eunuchs, Bigfan and Teresh, doorkeepers, became furious and sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus.

So the matter became known to Mordecai, who told Queen Esther, and Esther informed the king in Mordecai's name.

And when an inquiry was made into the matter, it was confirmed, and both were hanged on a gallows, and it was written in the book of the Chronicles in the presence of the king.

Chapter 2, you see, states that the king, after some time, came to his senses, and he regretted his decision regarding Vashti.

He missed her, but a law in Persia was not to be changed.

It reminds us of King Darius, doesn't it, in chapter 6 of Daniel, who under the influence of his so-called wise men had impulsively made a law based in part upon his ego.

You remember that no man or woman was to worship another entity but the king.

And yet, after he made the law, he too soon regretted it when the wise men used it to contend Daniel.

And well, in a similar vein, King Ahasuerus Xerxes is now regretting his decision for even though he no doubt had a harem of women he could call upon, lust and love are not the same thing.

And we would only surmise that to some degree he truly loved Vashti.

When his servants got wind of the king's remorse, they acted quickly upon it for they were they were fearful and they were afraid that he would try and reinstate Vashti and that it would most likely mean if he were to do so, their dismissal or worse yet, their execution.

So they come up with a plan of finding all the beautiful virgins in Persia for the king to review to see who might please him the most.

Well surprise, surprise, The king liked the idea.

Now between the six-month party of chapter 1 and the so-called beauty pageant of chapter 3, We have a time period of roughly 3 years.

And it was during this time that the ill-fated wars with Greece transpired, and Persian warriors came back with their tails between their legs, having lost 3 significant battles to Greece.

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Series

Esther

Coincidence Or Providence

Transcript

Parent Series

Sponsor

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