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All right guys, welcome back once again. We are in Esther chapter number two this evening. We're gonna start off with just a quick review. Okay, I mentioned last week that, you know, there's a lot of people out there that say, well, God's not mentioned in the book and blah, blah, blah. You guys know that's ridiculous. That isn't true, okay? So I'm gonna start off by just a quick review and highlighting God's fingerprint in chapter number one. And then we're gonna get into the study, chapter number two. I'm gonna show you another fingerprint in chapter two. Good stuff, you know, a lot to learn here. I hope you guys are enjoying the book so far. I titled this sermon this, and I'm not gonna elaborate and I'll explain why in the message, okay? Before Hugh Hefner was Xerxes, okay? That's it, I'm just gonna leave it at that and enjoy the message. And remember, during this time period of Esther, the Jews had permission to go back and rebuild the wall, rebuild the temple, be part of that society again. A lot of people had grown comfortable and they decided, you know what, this captivity ain't so bad. And so they wanted to stay there. Understanding that is gonna help you in your studies, that's gonna help you read through this book. Because if you're like me, you know, you read through the book real quick and I'm like, man, why did Mordecai give up his cousin Esther to be the queen or to even take that chance? And obviously God uses it for good. But here's the thing. When you are in a place that you are not supposed to be, things are not going to be as they should be. Hope this helps, enjoy the message. God bless you guys. Don't forget to send us your prayer requests as well. You know, your praises, we're always praying for you guys and enjoy the message. Esther chapter two, starting in verse one. After these things, when the wrath of King Azariah was appeased, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what was decreed against her. Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him, let there be fair young virgins sought for the king. And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather together all the fair young virgins unto Shushan the palace, to the house of the woman, unto the custody of Hege the king's chamberlain, keeper of the woman, and let their things for purification be given them. And let the maiden which pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti. And the thing pleased the king and he did so. Now in Shushan, the palace where there was a certain Jew whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jireh, the son of Shimeh, the son of Kish, a Benjamite, who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captivity, which had been carried away with Jeconiah, king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had carried away. And he brought up Hadassah, that is Esther, his uncle's daughter, for she had neither father nor mother, and the maid was fair and beautiful, whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter. So it came to pass when the king's commandment and his decree was heard, and when many maidens were gathered together unto Shushan the palace, to the custody of Hege, that Esther was brought also unto the king's house, to the custody of Hege, keeper of the woman. And the maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness of him, and he speedily gave her things for purification, which such things as belonged to her, and seven maidens, which were made to be given her, out of the king's house, and he preferred her and her maids unto the best place of the house of the woman. Esther had not showed her people, nor her kindred, for Mordecai had charged her that she should not show it. And Mordecai walked every day before the court of the woman's house, to know how Esther did, and what should become of her. Now when every maid's turn was come to go into the king Asiuris, after that she had been 12 months, according to the manner of woman, for so were the days of their purification accomplished, to wit, six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet odors, and with other things for the purifying of the woman. Then thus came every maiden unto the king, whatsoever she desired was given her to go with her out of the house of the woman unto the king's house. In the evening she went, and on the morrow she returned into the second house of the woman, to the custody of Shazgaz, the king's chamberlain, which kept the concubines. She came in unto the king no more, except the king delighted in her, and that she were called by name. Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abigail, the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her for his daughter, was come to go in unto the king, she required nothing but what Haggai, the king's chamberlain, the keeper of the woman, appointed, and Esther obtained favor in the sight of all them that looked upon her. So Esther was taken unto king Asiuris, into his house royal in the tenth month, which is the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign. And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti. Then the king made a great feast unto all his princes and servants, even Esther's feast, and he made a release to the provinces, and gave gifts according to the state of the king. And when the virgins were gathered together the second time, then Mordecai sat in the king's gate. Esther had not yet showed her kindred nor her people, as Mordecai had charged her, for Esther did the commandment of Mordecai. Like Aswain, she was brought up with him. In those days, while Mordecai sat in the king's gate, two of the king's chamberlains, Bigtan and Tirish, of those which kept the door were wroth, and sought to lay hand on the king Asiuris. And the thing was known to Mordecai, who told it unto Esther the queen, and Esther certified the king thereof in Mordecai's name. And when the inquisition was made of the matter, it was found out, and therefore they were both hanged on a tree, and was written in the book of the chronicles before the king. Brother Evan, you wanna pray for us? All right, amen. Esther chapter number two. So we're actually gonna go back to chapter one real quick, and do a review. So last week I brought up the fact that a lot of people criticize the book of Esther, and say, well, you know, God's not mentioned in there, which is why we need Bell and the dragon, and first and second Maccabees, and the apocryphal books that the church left out. Right? But what I said last week was, every chapter has at least one fingerprint of God inside of it. And so just kinda, I just wanna kinda do a quick review of that before we get into chapter number two, since we definitely have time. These chapters aren't very long. And then we'll get into chapter two, the title, all that sort of stuff. So just real quickly, look at verse 16. Okay? So you guys know the story, very familiar story. You understand that King Ahasuerus has a very vast empire. Okay? History tells us that during this time, he's starting to have war with the Grecian Empire. He's lost a few battles. And so he's throwing this party, in my opinion, to gain support. Okay? Well, at the end of this party, calls for the queen to appear before him, she declines. Okay? He's embarrassed. All the men there are embarrassed for him. And we're gonna pick it up right here in verse 16. Again, the Bible says, and Memekin answered before the king and the princes, Vashti the queen has not done wrong to the king only, but also to all the princes and to all the people that are in all the provinces of the King Ahasuerus. Now remember this Ahasuerus here is Xerxes as well. That is his other name. So here Memekin basically calls out the obvious and says, hey, you know, he hasn't just done this to you, or she hasn't done this to you rather, but this is going to affect everyone. It's gonna affect all the leadership. It's going to affect all the people in all of these provinces. This is a big deal. We gotta do something about it. Okay? Verse 17, for this deed of the queen shall come abroad into all women so that they shall despise their husbands in their eyes when it shall be reported the King Ahasuerus commanded Vashti the queen to be brought in before him, but she came not. A lot of new evangelical preachers, and I looked this up that said right here, there must be a commentary or a playbook that they all follow when they read this because they almost every single time I looked, they would all say, well, this is Memekin and all the men being paranoid here. Okay, they're just being paranoid and they're afraid to have a strong woman who has her opinions to, you know, and some charge. And so they're just paranoid. That's all that is. It's not the case here. They're not paranoid. They understand what's going to happen. They understand the value, or I should say the influence that comes with having a royal queen. Okay? People look up to her and they're going to be like, oh, she told them no? Well, that's going to embolden them. This guy is totally right here. And we see that even in our own society. Why do you think that the media, and we all know who owns the media and entertainment, why do you think they push that exact behavior in all the movies and shows? Okay, they make the guy dumb and they make the woman smart. Why do they do that? To subvert families. Okay, that's the playbook of the devil. So he's not being paranoid here. There's a picture to this. Okay, verse number 18. Likewise shall the ladies of Persia and Meda say this day unto all the king's princes, which have heard of the deed of the queen, thus shall there arise too much contempt and wrath. So he says in verse 19, if it please the king, let there go a royal commandment from him and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes that it be not altered, that Vashti come no more before the king he has raised. And let the king give her royal estate unto another that is better than she. And we're gonna finish it right here in verse 20. And when the king's decree, which he shall make shall be published throughout all his empire for it is great, all the wives shall give to their husbands honor both to great and small. Of course the world today is gonna read that and like, oh, you need a law for that. That's chauvinistic, that's not okay. Real quickly, just go to Romans chapter number two. Now, last week, when we covered this, we went to Ephesians chapter five and brought up the fact that Paul said, hey, you know, husbands ought to love your wives as Christ loved the church, you know, and basically stated what these guys stated. Hey, the man should be the ruler at his own house, okay? Now here's the fingerprint of God in that chapter. Look at verse 14 of Romans chapter number two. So Paul says, for when the Gentiles which have not the law do by nature, the things contained in the law, these having not the law are a law unto themselves. And here it is, look at this right here, verse 15, which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness in their thoughts, the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another. Now you go and go back to Esther, let's go back to chapter two and we'll go and start right there in verse one. But the fingerprint here is very clear that these folks just did and implemented a law, okay, that God obviously has already given back in the lie. I could have just turned back there, back to Leviticus. We could have gone through Exodus. We could have gone through several places in the Old Testament that tell you that the man is the head of the wife. We can just go back to Genesis chapter three, okay? It's very obvious. So the fingerprint there is you have a group of Gentiles doing the things that they would otherwise say, oh, God didn't tell me to do this. They're doing it because God's law is written on their hearts, okay? So let's go ahead and start this off here. Chapter number two. Now we're gonna get introduced to some characters this evening. We're gonna talk about Esther, okay? We're gonna talk about Mordecai. Esther and Mordecai, they're cousins, okay? They are cousins. It doesn't seem like that because Mordecai is basically raised, he's raised Esther as his own daughter. And of course, we're gonna read about a couple of chamberlains in this chapter as well. And of course, old Ahazurus. I'm gonna give this title one time and one time only, and I'm not gonna elaborate on it, okay? And I'm gonna give the title when we get to verse 12. So that's just gotta be that way today. You'll see why. So let's start to break this down here. Look at verse number one. So after these things, when the wrath of King Ahazurus was appeased, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what was decreed against her. So after these things that we just discovered, okay? He's like, hey, you know, what should be done to Vashti? So he asks his counselors, he asks his men, they understood the times, they understood the culture and everything that was at stake. And so they come up with this plan to make this law. Law gets signed, sent out to all the provinces. So after those things have happened, okay? So after that is law, Vashti is no more gonna come before the king. He's still thinking about it, okay? He's still thinking about it here, still on his mind. So his anger's appeased, but he remembered what she had done and what was decreed against her. So look at verse two. Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him, let there be fair young virgins sought for the king. Now, hold on for a second. I'm not saying that what you're about to read is godly advice, okay? In no way, shape or form am I saying that. The only fingerprint from God was the fact that you had these Gentiles that serve the king actually do the law without hearing the law, without being taught the law, so on and so forth. All this stuff here, this is straight pagan. This is straight world, not good, okay? So verse two, then said the king's servants that ministered unto him, let there be fair young virgins sought for the king. Verse three, then let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom that they may gather together all the fair young virgins unto Shushan the palace, to the house of the women, unto the custody of Hegai, the king's chamberlain, keeper of the women, and let their things for purification be given unto them. Now, this is the price you pay for living in this type of a dictatorship, okay? So they got it right in chapter one. They're like, hey, every man ought to be the ruler in his own house, okay? But he's not applying that to himself, right? Yeah, every man ought to be the ruler of his own house, but by the way, I'm gonna send officers throughout all the province and we're gonna snatch your girls, okay? We're gonna take your girls, okay? He's not gonna send out a petition like, hey, if you would like to be in this beauty pageant, you can go ahead and come on down. No, they're actually sending officers, they're gonna send people there and go door to door more than likely and say, oh, you got a young virgin that would meet these requirements, she's coming with us, okay? Not a good thing. So every man could be the man of his own house until the king needs something, okay? Topocracy is what that is. It's not good, that is not okay. But again, that is the price you pay for living in this type of environment, okay? Look, the more that godliness rises, the more godliness increases, the more of value, the more people are devalued, I should say, okay? So the more Christ rejecters, the more pagans, the more heathens that are in the world, the more people that make their mind up, I don't want nothing to do with God, I ain't going to church, I don't want nothing to do with the Bible, the more that spreads, the worse people start to look at humankind. And I've talked about this before, okay? Let's just take a look real quickly at the left, the Democratic Party. They are literally the party of death. Every single piece of legislation, every single thing that they stand for, and I mean everything, is designed to destroy life. Either destroy physical life or to destroy mental life. Across the board, 100%, okay? And Republicans aren't much better, but the point is here, they might think they're righteous, and you might think, oh, you know, these guys are good to go, supporting a man, you know? Well, until that man decides he wants your daughters, okay? And then we have a whole nother set of issues here. So that's what's going on here. They're going to gather all these virgins to find out who's good enough to be the queen, okay? It's going to get interesting here. Look at verse four. Let the maiden, which pleaseth the king, be queen instead of Ashti. And the thing pleased the king, and he did so. Now, of course that did. Of course it pleased the king, right? Yeah, that's a great idea. You guys are good, you guys are smart. Verse number five. Now, in Shushan, the palace, there was a certain Jew, whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite, okay? Now, remember, I said this last week, a key to understanding the book of Esther is to understand the fact that King Cyrus, just a few, just, I don't know how many years, I might've mentioned it last week, I can't remember, okay? But King Cyrus, who obviously came before Ahasuerus, had said, guess what? I'm going to reopen Jerusalem. We're going to allow the Jews to go back and rebuild the temple and rebuild the wall. When you read Ezra and Nehemiah, you know what you find? You find that a lot of people have become comfortable in captivity. Instead of staying in Babylon, a lot of them moved to the Medo-Persian side, where they just decided to scatter throughout these empires, and they didn't go back. Most people did not go back. And so what you're going to find, and this is going to make sense here in about 10 minutes, is that when we are in a place where we should not be, okay, we're going to find, more often than not, things aren't going to go the way that they should be, okay? Remember that, okay? Remember that. I'm going to say it again here. So remember that. So verse five, okay, we're introduced to Mordecai, and we've kind of given his lineage here. And it just kind of, you can look these names up and kind of figure out how far back they go. But Mordecai is a Jew, you know? And during this timeframe, he had permission to go back, but he's not going back. He's staying there. Now he's faced with a decision, okay, regarding his cousin. And what is he going to do? Well, we're going to find out here. Look at verse six, okay? So it says, who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captivity, which had been carried away with Jeconiah, king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had carried away. Okay, so that just gives you a little bit of insight there on the family history of Mordecai, and obviously Esther in verse seven. And he brought up Hadassah, that is Esther. So the reason why it has two names, obviously one is Hebrew, one is of, you know, this Medo-Persian influence, okay? That's what the Bible's telling you there. So it says, and he brought up Hadassah, that is Esther, his uncle's daughter, for she had neither father nor mother, and the maid was fair and beautiful, whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter. So obviously Mordecai's a good guy here, okay? Good dude here. A tragedy obviously strikes the family. And he says, you know what, I'm gonna step in as father, I'm gonna step in as caretaker, and takes care of his cousin as his own flesh and blood. A great thing that he did. Okay, now let's move on here. Look at verse number eight. It says, so it came to pass when the king's commandment and his decree was heard, and when many maidens were gathered together to Shushan the palace to the custody of Haggai, that Esther was brought also unto the king's house to the custody of Haggai, the keeper of the women. Okay, so get these names in your mind. Hey, you've got Haggai, he is the keeper of the women. What type of women? He's in charge of the women, the maids, the virgins coming in. There's another guy you're gonna read about, and his name is Shashgaz. Okay, and I got all kinds of names for this guy, I'm just gonna not even bother that today. Okay, Shashgaz, we're gonna call him that, okay? He's in charge of the concubines. Okay, so just remember that. You've got two houses here, okay? Both full of women, and there's somebody in the middle, and that's important for you to understand. Now, look down at verse number nine. And the maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness of him, and she speedily gave her things for purification. I'm sorry, and he speedily gave her things for purification with such things as belonged to her and seven maidens, which were meet to be given her out of the king's house, and he preferred her and her maids unto the best place of the house of the women. So again, kinda like this morning how we talked about Abigail being a beautiful countenance, obviously Esther here was a very good-looking woman, a very good-looking girl, and obviously was probably charismatic in nature, probably just, you know, again, that same type of Abigail-type personality, she just walks in and people just are attracted to her, not just physically, but obviously in a social-type manner as well, because look, this guy here, hey guy, he's not a normal dude, okay? If you study this out, and you're gonna see this in a minute, he's obviously a eunuch, okay? He's obviously well-trusted to take care of these women, and he's trusted because he's a eunuch, and that's where I'm gonna leave that, okay? Now, what's this deal here with this purification? Because, you know, I read this, I'm like, what's going on here, you know? It's like a year-long beauty pageant, okay? Well, just here's the picture, okay? Here's just what they're doing. They're taking these women and they're saying, okay, we're gonna bring you into this house, we're gonna make it comfortable for you, and we're gonna give you all of these oils and all of these resources that we have available to us for you to make yourself as beautiful and appealing as possible for the king, because he is going to choose him a queen, okay? So that's the picture, that's what's going on here, and she's already obtained favor of Hegai, keeper of the women or keeper of the maids here, so you can kind of see that foreshadowing how this is gonna turn out. Now, let's look at verse number 10. Esther had not showed her people, nor her kindred from Mordecai had charged her that she should not show it. So again here, is this right? And here's what I believe, okay? In this situation, okay, they're in a place where they're not supposed to be, so of course things aren't gonna go the way that they should be. So because they didn't take the opportunity to go back and to help rebuild the temple and to get the things of God going again like they had permission to, now they're stuck playing a game and it's not the best of games. And so Mordecai here understands the culture, he understands what's going on, you see him hovering around the palace, okay? This is where they are, where they live, and he's afraid, hey, if you tell the king who you really are, that you're a Jew and that you serve the most high God, guess what, it could turn him off and you might not get selected and it could just be bad overall. So again, kind of like we talked about this morning, right, we need to speak the truth in love but we also need to have discretion, we need to understand when to implement it, when to do that. So Mordecai here decides, you know what, right now is not the time and the place for you to reveal who you are and who your people are. So just keep that in mind here, okay? Verse number 11, and Mordecai walked every day before the court of the woman's house to know how Esther did and what should become of her. Okay, now we're gonna read verses 12 through 14, I'm gonna give you the title and then we will break it down, okay? So let's do this. Verse 12, now when every maid's turn was come to go in to King Ahasuerus, after that she had been 12 months according to the manner of the women, for so were the days of their purifications accomplished, to wit, six months with oil of myrrh and six months with sweet odors and with other things for the purifying of the woman. Now that's intense, man, you know? I'm talking about a beauty pageant. Apparently it takes some time, okay? And apparently Ahasuerus has some level of patience. Hey, he's got some level of patience here. I don't know, I can't imagine doing that. This is crazy to me, but it is what it is, okay? So they've got these oils and these odors. Now some of you are probably like, man, I wonder what kind of oils they had, what kind of perfumes they had, you know, and how this stuff worked. Look, here's what you know, okay? You know it's better than the stuff on the shelves today, okay, that's got all these aborted fetal cells and all these chemicals and stuff that probably are bad for you, okay? Apparently they had it figured out, okay? These things are in place because somebody knows they work or they do something good there, okay? Verse 13, then thus came every maiden unto the king. Whatsoever she desired was given her to go with her out of the house of the women unto the king's house. In the evening she went, and on the morrow she returned to the second house of the women to the custody of Shashgaz, the king's chamberlain which kept the concubines. She came in unto the king no more except the king delighted in her and that she were called by name. Now I would title this sermon, before Hefner there was Xerxes. If you know, you know that's it, okay? You're thinking like, what in the world did he just say? What is he talking about? Okay, if you don't know who that is, that's fine. But Ahasuerus is basically doing a very similar thing that that man has done, okay? So let's break it down, okay? Verse 12, what do we have here? Now in every maid's turn was come to go in to the king Ahasuerus. After that she had been 12 months, okay? So she has to spend 12 months, six with the oils, and then what does it say? Six with the sweet odors, okay? And with other things for the purifying of the women. So you got the oil period and then you got the odor period. You got your double O's here, whatever that means here, okay? You got your oils, you got your odors, both of them are six month time periods. And then of course the keeper of the house is just constantly getting these oils and these odors and making sure they're good to go. And he's probably helping to shuffle the women in to where they are supposed to go, okay? Now I've read this several times. I'm just like, I just want to get to the good part. Like when Mordecai does something heroic and saves the assassination attempt, you know, not saves it, but he actually thwarts the assassination attempt, okay? But this here has to be preached because it's in the chapter. Now I want you to notice this, okay? Verse 13, then thus came every maid unto the king, okay? Now the way this has been taught to me in the past, not by any of our friends or anything like that, but the way that I've heard this preached is like, okay, well the king had a panel because back in the Medo-Persian empire, they had panels. And so they would basically rate a score of one through 10 and you know, if she got all 10, she was going to be the queen, whatever. It's not really what this is saying, okay? Then thus came every maiden. So understand, they're gonna go out of the house of Haggai as maidens, as young virgins. They're gonna go to who? What does it say there? Verse 13, then thus came every maiden unto the king. It doesn't say unto the king and his panel, does it? Whatsoever she desired was given her to go with her out of the house of the women unto, now where is she going? To the king's house, okay? She is going to the king's house, not to the house and the panel, okay? Not to ABC's beauty pageant, but to the king's house where he lives. He lives by himself and his women are kept in houses. You've seen that with David, you've probably seen that with Solomon. That is one thing that they did back then. Now look at this here, verse 14. It's interesting to know, what time did this event take place? In the evening. Why not in the morning? Why not at lunchtime? Okay? The evening is when this pageant started, okay? So what do we have here? We have maidens after a 12 month period of oil and odors, leave Haggai's care and go to the king himself. They go to his house in the evening. See that? Verse 14, in the evening she went and on, and here it is, on the morrow. On the morrow, you know what that means? Tomorrow, the next morning, the morning after is what that means. On the morrow, she returned into the second house of the women to the custody of Shashgaz. So they go into the king as maidens, into the king as virgins from Haggai, the keeper of the women, and they go to the king and then where do they go after that? They go back to mom and dad. They go back to their homes where they were taken from. Do they go back to Haggai? No, there is a change. They go into the king in the evening and then the next morning they go to Shashgaz. Who is he specifically? Obviously, he's very similar to Haggai in that he's trusted to keep the women, the concubines, which is where I'm going with this. On the morrow, she returned into the second house of the women to the custody of Shashgaz, the king's chamberlain, which kept the concubines. They went into the king and virgin and they go into the keeper of the concubines. We've already done a study on that, so what does that tell you? Yeah, you get the file. Okay, before Hefner, there was Xerxes. I said it so I could say it once, I lied. I'm not perfect, but that's what you have here, okay? And that's why I'm saying, you know, because if you're like me, you're thinking, Mordecai, how the heck could you do this? Well, when you are in a place where you shouldn't be, guess what? Things aren't always gonna go the way they should be, okay? So this is his best option and he's probably thinking, and obviously God turns the situation around and a lot of people are freed and later on in the book, a lot of people get converted and they get saved, okay? We're gonna look at that in a couple of weeks, but the point here is this is obviously not ideal, but God's gonna turn it into an ideal situation and she gets, you already read the chapter, I'm not spoiling it for you, you already know that when Vashti goes in, she actually comes out a queen, okay? So she benefits the most out of that. So understand the picture here, guys. These women, these maids come in a virgin and they go out and become concubines and what does it say at the end of the verse there? She came in unto the king no more, except the king delighted in her and that she were called by name, okay? Not the ideal way to live, but you insert yourself back into this culture here, resources are not as plentiful, there's no programs for single women, okay? They were probably very well taken care of, I'm sure Shashgaz got him a lot of good food and kept up their beauty and things like that so that the king, if he did like her, would maybe once in a while be like, you know, where's that one chick at? And he'd call for her and make her feel good for a week or whatever and that's it. It's a horrible situation, we don't compute, we don't like that, but also remember, okay, the Holy Ghost was not in people like he is today. So they did things differently back then and it was chaotic, man, it's just the way it is, okay? I'm not gonna get any more into details than that and like I already said, if you know, you know, it's not a good situation, but it's what they're doing. Hey, look at verse number 15. Now, when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abbahail, the uncle of Mordecai who had taken her for his daughter was come to go in unto the king, she required nothing but what Haggai, the king's chamberlain, the keeper of the women appointed and Esther obtained favor in the sight of all them that looked upon her. So I want you to remember this because we're gonna go over this fingerprint in chapter two next, okay? So it's implied here in verse 13 that when the young maidens would leave Haggai and they would go in unto the king, they had a choice and they could bring all these different things, okay? And we don't know exactly what every single thing was, but if they felt like, okay, I need to bring this, this and this, maybe I need to bring this oil real quick and I need to bring this odor and I need to bring this incense, I don't know, okay? They had that right, they had that option, you know, it was a one shot deal. You got one shot to make an impression on the king to try to earn that queen spot, okay? Or to be a preferred concubine and so you better do a good job. Esther, like a boss, okay, she just walks in and doesn't require anything like the other maidens did. Okay, so you see that there? Look at verse 16. So Esther was taken unto King Ahasuerus into his house, Royale, in the 10th month, which is the month to Beth in the seventh year of his reign now, Ahasuerus or Xerxes, he reigned for 19 years, okay? So this is the seventh year of his reign. So what you wanna understand here is that after this happens and Esther becomes queen, this dude's only got 13 years left, okay? And he's actually killed, that's verified history there, you don't even have to salt that up, it's just what it is, it's just what happened, okay? So seventh year of his reign, verse 17, it says this, and the king loved Esther above all the women and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen instead of Vashti, okay? So let's back up here, okay? Verse 15, I wanna show you this fingerprint because people, again, they say, oh, you know, God's not mentioned anywhere in the Bible. It's because you don't know how to look for him, you don't even know him, so how are you gonna find him in the first place? So I'm gonna help you out here, okay? Verse 15, now in the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abigail, the uncle of Mordecai who had taken her for his daughter was come to go in unto the king, she required nothing. You see that there? She required nothing but what Haggai the king's chamberlain, the keeper of the women appointed, okay? So she didn't require anything and the reason why that's in there is because all the other maidens required something, okay? Well, I gotta bring this, so Haggai, you gotta help me carry this, this and this, we're gonna carry this cart maybe of these oils and these odors and whatever, we're gonna make this big show for the king. She's like, I don't need nothing but what just the basic packing list is, whatever the minimum requirements are, that's all I need. All I need is what's given to me. You know what that's a picture of? That's a picture of faith right there, okay? She ain't worried about it. She's like, I'm just gonna go in there with nothing, I'm not gonna require anything fancy, anything special or anything at all like that and go right before the king, what instantly happened. Verse 16, so Esther was taken unto King Ahasuerus and to his house royal, the 10th month. Verse 17, and the king loved Esther above all the women and she obtained grace. You see that? She obtained grace. Why do you think that the Bible chose to use that word there? My opinion is because it's a clue unto a picture, a deeper meaning of the story here. She didn't require anything like all the other maidens did, okay? It's a picture of faith. What does she receive as a result of that faith? She receives the royal crown. She receives it how? By grace. Okay, what's that a fingerprint of? Ephesians chapter two, verse eight. For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. So verse 17, and the king loved Esther above all the women and she obtained grace and favor in his sight, more than all the virgins, that he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen instead of Vashti, okay? And obviously, you already know the story. You understand that God is still going to turn this situation into a blessing, but she's the one that breaks the cycle. She does not go from Haggai to Shashgaz. She goes from Haggai to the king and on the morrow, obviously she is now the queen, okay? She is now the queen, so she's gonna get her own separate quarters and have an abundance of blessings and things of that nature and have special rights and all that sort of thing. So it does wind up working good for her, but look at verse 18, okay? It says, then the king made a great feast and we know this king loves his feast. There's one thing this dude's good at, it's throwing a party and having feasts. I almost think he's got it in him to be a Baptist, but he says, then the king made a great feast into all his princes and his servants, even Esther's feast and made a release to the provinces and gave gifts according to the state of the king. Now, again, obviously, hazardous, a pagan king, definitely a clown, okay? Especially at this point in history, but I would say that he seems a whole lot better than the people we've got running the world stage today. At least he does care about men, he does care about his people, okay? Obviously, his conduct here is just a little bit bizarre and it's gonna get a little bit more bizarre here in the next verse. So feast time again for Ahasuerus, look at verse 19. And when the virgins were gathered together the second time, then Mordecai sat at the king's gate. So he's like, you know, I'm glad we got the king, but let's go ahead and bring that whole virgin inspection program back here, okay? I wanna make sure my houses are filled up well with women. That's basically what he's doing here, okay? He kinda liked that. And that's just the way that these people roll, man. It's not something any of us obviously subscribe to or wanna be a part of, but that is the culture and you need to understand it, okay? You need to understand that in this chapter. So he goes for round two and obviously Esther's queen doing what she does. Look at verse 20. Esther had not yet showed her kindred, nor her people, as Mordecai had charged her. So again, what is that a testament to? Now that is a testament onto her behavior, her countenance. Not only is she a very fair, attractive woman, but also inside she's beautiful. She's obedient, okay? She's got good understanding as well. So Esther had not yet showed her kindred, nor her people, as Mordecai had charged her, for Esther did the commandment of Mordecai like as when she was brought up with him. So again, perfectly fitting of a queen here, okay? And then now the last three verses here, very easy to go through, you know, it speaks for itself. So let's just go ahead and cover them real quickly. Verse 21 says, in those days, while Mordecai sat in the king's gate, two of the king's chamberlains, Big Dan and Teresh, of those which kept the door, were wroth and sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus. Now we don't know why they're angry, but they're wroth, they're upset. And so they want to put their hands on the king and they want to put him to a stop. They basically want to assassinate him, remove him from power. They're upset for some reason. And that's just the way life is. Anytime you have a leadership position in any organization, you're going to have people that are mad, people that are just not okay, get offended and want to do your job. And the typical way they'll go about it is, well, you're the target now, I'm gonna remove you. And there's various ways they can do that. So they're upset here, okay? But Mordecai finds out about it. Verse 22, and the thing was known to Mordecai, who told it unto Esther the queen, and Esther certified the king thereof in Mordecai's name. So she is able to get ahold of the king and basically get this situation verified. So it's not just a rumor, they make inquisition, they figure out, oh, these guys really are mad and they really are running their mouths, so they're not too bright, are they? They're being, they're not too discreet because their little plan got out. And of course, this attempt gets foiled completely. Look at verse 23. And when inquisition was made of the matter, it was found out, therefore they were both hanged on a tree and it was written in the book of the Chronicles before the king. Now, that might not just mean anything to you right now, but if you've read the story, you know that that is going to have a very important role in the kingdom later on, okay? And we start to get into that next week. Next week, we're gonna be introduced to a new character and his name is Haman. And he is the source of a lot of controversy, okay? People like to use Haman and say, oh, he's an Agagite and the Bible says that the Agagites were all destroyed, but here he is, oh, contradiction, okay? We'll go and smash that down again. Done it before, I'll do it again next week. But yeah, that's where we're gonna end it. So, you know, again, the fingerprint's very clear, okay? Esther became royalty, not because she required all of these works, not because she required all of these special things of her own accord and her own effort to please the king, but she didn't require anything. She went before the king and guess what? She obtained grace from him, which is unmerited favor. It's what we do not deserve. And she gets that crown, she becomes queen and all is well. And of course, if I could give you just another one-liner, it's this. Sometimes when we are in places where we should not be, things will not go the way they should be. It's just simple logic there, not too complicated, not too earth-shattering, it's just the way that it is. And that's the chapter and that's the way I'm gonna leave it. So let's end this here, let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Thank you again, Lord, for this church and all that you do for us. So just pray that you'd bless the fellowship after the service and bring us back again safely next week, in Jesus' name I pray, amen. All right, so we're gonna have one more song and then we'll go ahead and be dismissed. Sing that out on the first. Come, every soul, by sin, oppress there's mercy with the Lord and he will surely give you rest by trusting in his word. Only trust him, only trust him, only trust him now. He will save you, he will save you, he will save you now. On the second. For Jesus shed his precious blood, rich blessings to be stole. Plunge now into the crimson flood that washes white as snow. Only trust him, only trust him, only trust him now. He will save you, he will save you, he will save you now. On the third. Yes, sir. Jesus is the truth, the way that leads you into rest. Believe in him without delay and you are fully blessed. Only trust him, only trust him, only trust him now. He will save you, he will save you, he will save you now. On the last. Come then and join this holy band and on to glory go to dwell in that celestial land where joy's immortal flow. Only trust him, only trust him, only trust him now. He will save you, he will save you, he will save you now. All right everyone, let's bow our heads and dismiss ourselves in a word of prayer. Dear Lord, thank you for this time we had to hear your word be preached. I ask that you please bless the fellowship after the service as well as everyone's travels home this evening and Jesus may pray. Amen. We're dismissed.