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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

Oftentimes we'll start out with a story when I share a message.

But this morning I want to start out with a scripture before we go to today's study.

And I want you to turn with me if you would to Ephesians chapter 6.

Finally my brethren this speaks of an evil day to come.

God's preparing you, you know, for an evil day.

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

So first, verse 11, he's preparing you to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Verse 12, for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places.

Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the what?

In the evil day, and having done all, to what?

So in verse 11, to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Verse 13, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand.

And then he goes on to speak of the armor of God.

Title of the message this morning, a divine reversal, let us pray.

Lord, please speak to our hearts this morning.

Prepare us that we might be able to stand, that we might be able to withstand all that is coming towards us, understanding that according to prophecy a great and evil day is fast approaching.

Help us, Lord, by the power of the gospel, by the power of the witness of the Holy Scripture.

Please wash us, cleanse us, fill us, that we might become vessels for your glory.

This is our seventh installment on the seven-part series, the book of Esther.

We have been on quite a journey and if you will allow me repetition deepens impression.

So we noted how God's providence is evident throughout the book of Esther.

Even though God's name is never mentioned in the book, story begins in Persia.

Ahasuerus known as Xerxes, his Greek name, called for a grand banquet, chapter 1.

He invites his beautiful wife Vashti to enter and present her beauty before his royal officials, but she refuses him, stands him up.

So the king, at the suggestion of his advisors to protect their homes to keep their wives from following or copying he refuses to ever see her again.

After a passage of time the text tells us the king misses his wife.

So the advisors quick to step in lest the king tries to work around this somehow, suggest something akin to a beauty pageant.

With all the virgins in the kingdom being brought together so the king might select his pick from each 1.

Queen Esther, the Jewish orphan, is selected to become the queen of Persia.

Then her cousin, Mordecai, who serves at the royal gate, just so happens, you understand, to learn of a conspiracy to kill the king and reports the 2 conspirators who are executed and the king is protected.

Mordecai's good deed is recorded in the king's book, we are told, almost in passing.

And the story progresses as how wicked Haman is then made second in command.

When Mordecai refuses to stand or bow to Haman, it so infuriates Haman that he gains permission from the king to exterminate these troublemakers whose law is different than that of the king's and promises that he will fund the action generously with his own funds that the king's treasury might swell.

Haman is granted permission and given the King's signet ring.

Mordecai, along with the other Jews, learns of this order and puts on sackcloth and ashes.

Esther learns of Mordecai's mourning as he is outside the gate.

Remember you can't be inside the gate and mourn because the king can't see sadness.

And so he's outside the gate, Esther gets word about his condition and sends clothes his way.

Mordecai refuses this clean set of clothes and sends word to Esther via Hathak about the decree to destroy the Jews.

And Al-Haman had promised to fund generously the treasury in order to remove the hated sect.

And he sends all the supporting documents needed to make the case.

Mordecai wants Esther, you see, to intercede on behalf of her people.

And yet Esther responds by saying, it's been 30 days since I have had time with the king.

And that such a request is too dangerous for no 1 is allowed to approach the king uninvited or unsummoned.

Mordecai, Mordecai who has helped raise Esther, reminds her, Esther, that God has other means of delivering his people if you will not step up to the plate.

If she refuses, she will thus be judged by God and deliverance will come, but it will come by another means.

After all, he says with those famous words put there in the center of Esther, perhaps you've come to the kingdom for such a time as this.

So Esther responds by calling for a three-day fast.

So by earnest prayer, moving out in faith, and careful listening, Esther engages the king.

She approaches the king on the third day of the fast and is granted mercy.

The king offers, that was a huge feat in itself, took great courage, hence the reason for the three-day fast.

Remember we have evidence of like pictures and so forth that illustrate that kings were not so prone to be generous when people came unannounced.

But he summons her to come in and she engages the king.

He accepts, he offers her up to half his kingdom.

She invites him to a banquet that she has prepared.

Then at the banquet, the king again offers her up to half the kingdom.

Twice now he's made the offer and asks her about her request.

She then oddly invites him to the second banquet the following day in which she promises to make the request known.

It seems odd given that he's already offered her twice now to up to half the kingdom.

But when God is leading, when you are attuned to God because you've had your knees in prayer down before God in prayer, amen?

Indeed, only when 1 is in tune with the Lord in such a manner can you act such an odd manner and yet be met with such success.

And so it is that through the Holy Spirit's prompting, she hears the Word of God and she invites him for the next day.

Because God wanted to make sure that everyone saw that he was working behind the scenes because God only needed 24 hours to get the job done.

And so it is that Haman and the king accept the invitation and plan to meet the next day.

On the way home though, the story says that Haman passed through the king's gate and there is found Mordecai who refuses to bow which infuriates again Haman.

And so Haman, so he goes home full of himself and brags to his wife and friends about how he's been invited to another banquet with just the king and his wife.

And Mordecai, though, is ruining the experience he laments to his family.

They suggest he build a gallows that he may dispose of Mordecai so that this joy might be uninterrupted.

Of course he likes the idea and he has them prepared.

Now remember the gallows back then were more like a skewer than a traditional thing that we might think of in our history.

This was like putting somebody on the end of a toothpick, okay?

So as he watched, so We watch as God in these 24 hours reverses the plot.

For in chapter 6 and 7 we see how the king couldn't sleep, just couldn't, happened to sleep and that his aides brought the book and read the story of Mordecai and how while the story is being read to the king, Haman is having constructed the gallows upon which he hopes to hang Mordecai.

It just so happened that when Haman appeared in the outer court the next morning to ask to kill Mordecai, that the king asked first what they might do for a man whom the king desires to honor.

Now remember, Mordecai, or Haman, did not tell Xerxes who it was, this hated sect, or at least the text doesn't imply so.

And so, King Xerxes makes this decree without knowing who he's making the decree against.

Now it just so happens that King Xerxes is asking Haman how he would honor the man, how he, honoring.

And so Haman gets mixed up because he doesn't know that he's talking about Mordecai.

Haman says, oh, I'll tell you how you're going to treat the man whom the king wants to honor.

And he describes how he would be brought out on a horse and led before the people and that the prince should be the 1 who would lead them through the city.

Because they had it in their heads that when the king would let somebody sit on the horse or wear the robes or handle the things the king had handled that such would impart to that person the very virtues of the kingship itself.

Series

Esther

A Divine Reversal

Transcript

Parent Series

Sponsor

Recorded

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Of Prophecy and Praise

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Talking Points 4th Quarter 2022: On Death, Dying, and the Future Hope

11 End-Time Deceptions

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Eric Walsh: The Dragon's War on the Remnant

The Dragon’s War on the Remnant Part 4

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Finding Peace in the Time of Chaos

07 Ready for Midnight

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Plenary

Our Day in Prophecy

1h 33m

Sound Doctrine