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Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Alright good evening everyone. Welcome back to Mountain Baptist Church Take your song books and turn to song 118 Song 118 in your song books will sing near to the heart of God if you would stand We'll sing song 118 There is a place of quiet rest near to the heart of God Place where sin can not molest near to the heart of God Oh Jesus blessed Redeemer sent from the heart of God Oh To wait before the near to the heart of God There is a place of comfort suite near to the heart of God a place where we are Savior meet near to the heart of God Oh Jesus blessed Redeemer Sent from the heart of God Hold us who wait before the Near to the heart of God There is a place of full release near to the heart of God a Place where all is joy and peace Near to the heart of God. Oh Jesus blessed Redeemer sent from the heart of God Hold us who wait before Thee near to the heart of God And let's pray Heavenly Father Lord again We just want to thank you God just for all your mercy and your grace and blessing is Lord You bestow upon us each and every day Thank you God for the souls that were saved today and throughout last week and also for the sermon this morning I pray Lord now that you would just be with our pastor from with your power and spirit again We love you and pray all this in Jesus name. Amen. I may be seated and take your Mountain Baptist song books Your Mountain Baptist Psalms hymns and spiritual song books and turn to page number five Page number five in your in your Mountain Baptist song books we'll sing Psalm 81 on page number five Sing aloud unto God our strength Make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob Take a Psalm and bring hither the Timbrel the pleasant harp with the psalm to read blow up the trumpet in the new moon And the time appointed on her solemn feast day For this was a statute for Israel and Allah of the God of Jacob This he ordained and Joseph For a testimony when he went out Through the land of Egypt where I heard a language that understood not I removed his shoulder from the burden His hands were delivered from the pots Thou calls in trouble and I deliver thee I Answer thee in the secret place of thunder. I Prove thee at the waters of Meribah See la Hero my people And I will testify unto thee Oh Israel without harken unto me There shall no strange God be in thee Neither shall thou worship any strange God. I Am the Lord thy God which brought thee out of the land of Egypt Open thy mouth wide and I will fill it but my people would not harken to my voice and Israel would none of me So I gave them up unto their own hearts lost And they walked in their own Councils. Oh that my people had harken unto me and Israel had walked in my way. I should soon have subdued their enemies And turned my hand against their adversaries Adversaries the haters of the Lord should have some Should have submitted themselves unto him, but their time should have endured forever He should have them also with the finest of the weed and with honey Out of the rock should I have satisfied Satisfied thee out of the rock should I satisfy thee Amen well, welcome back to Mount Baptist Church on this Sunday afternoon evening Let me get the sorting number first of all So during the week I know on Wednesday there was two right and then Two on Thursday, so four was there any You had one on Thursday, okay, so five and then Then today what do we have today? I know in our car we had three two brothers Jim, so that's five six seven Seven Okay, so 12 total for the week praise the Lord good job with the sole winning And then with the announcements everything is pretty much the same as this morning This Wednesday service time should be normal Seeing our study through the book of 2nd Samuel this evening working our series through overviews of the books of the Bible we're gonna be an Esther tonight and As far as regional sewing times just be on the church group there for that Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday We have the prayer meetings on the list here and also the so upcoming soul winning marathons July 27th Cumberland, Maryland and then August 31st, Moorefield, West Virginia And then our memory chapter for the month is Psalm 126 and Deuteronomy 22 5 is our memory verse for the week And then on the pregnancy list there Crystal McCloy being prayer for her Due here in August which will be here before you know it. We're already into into July and then Rachel Hyles on the list there being pray for her and the Hyles family That's pretty much what I have for announcements Who's right David you're reading tonight right so David's gonna read Esther chapter one after we do one more song You All right, take your song books and turn to song 137 Song 137 in your song books will sing in times like these song 137 In Times like these You need a Savior in times like these You need an anchor Be very sure Be very sure Your anchor holes and grips the solid Rock This rock is Jesus Yes, he's the one this rock is Jesus the only one Be very sure Be very sure Your anchor holds and grips the solid Rock in times like these You need the Bible in times like these Oh be not idle Be very sure Be very sure Your anchor holes and grips the solid Rock This rock is Jesus. Yes. He's the one This rock is Jesus the only one Be very sure Be very sure your anchor holds and grips the solid Rock in times like these I have a Savior in times like these I have an anchor. I'm very sure I'm very sure my anchor holds And grips the solid Rock this rock is Jesus. Yes. He's the one This rock is Jesus the only one I'm very sure I'm very sure My anchor holds and grips the solid Rock All right, if you would take your Bibles and turn to the book of Esther Esther chapter number one in your Bibles, and we'll have brother David come and read that for us Esther chapter one if you found any place amen and The Bible reads now came to pass in the days of a hyzereth. This is the hyzereth From India even under Ethiopia over a hundred and seven and twenty provinces that in those days when the when the king of hyzereth sat on the throne in his in The throne of his kingdom which was ensues and the palace in the third year of his reign He made a feast under all its princes and his servants the power of Persia and media the nobles and princes of the provinces being before him When he served the riches of his glorious kingdom and the honor of his excellent majesty many days even a hundred and four square days And when these days are expired the king made a feast under all the people that are present in Shusan the palace both under great And small seven days in the court of the garden of the king's palace Where were white green and blue hangings fastened with codes of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillows of marble The beds were of gold and silver upon the pavement of red and blue the white and black marble And they gave him drinking vessels of gold the vessels being diverse one from another and royal wine and royal wine in abundance According to the state of the king and the drinking was occurring to the law none did compel First so the king had appointed to all the officers of his kingdom that they should do according to every man's pleasure Also fasty the queen made a feast for the woman in the royal house which belonged to King has awareness On the seventh day in defeat when the heart of the king was married with wine He commanded me human vista arbona big thought and a back a back the Zeta and carcass the seven chamberlains that saved in the presence of a house where is the king to bring vasty the queen before the King with the crown royal to show the people and the princess her beauty she was fair to look upon But the queen vastly refused to come at the king's commandment by his chamberlains Therefore was the king very wroth and his anger burned in him Then the king said to the wise men which knew the times for so was the king's manner to all the love that to All that knew law and judgment and next unto him was Carcina Seetha and Martha Tarsus Miri's Marcina and mimic and the seven princes of Persian media who saw the king's face and was sat in the face in the kingdom What shall we do unto the queen vasty according to the law? Yes He hath not performed the command of the king of has arrears by the chamberlains and remove can answer the king and the princess Vasti the queen hath 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 King her has arrears For this deed of the queen shall come abroad into all women that they shall despise their husbands in their eyes when it is When it shall be reported The king has arrears commanded vastly the queen to be brought in before him lest he came not Likewise other ladies of Persian media say this day unto all the king's princes which have heard of the deed of the queen Thus saw there be thus saw there arise too much contempt in wrath If it please the king let there go a royal commandment from him And that it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes that it be not altered that Vasti come no more before the king of has arrears and let the king give a royalist day unto another that is Better than see and the king's decree would see And when the king's decree would see shall make shall be published throughout all his empire for it is great All the wives shall give to the husband's honor both is great and small and the saying please the king and the princess and the king Did according to the word of Memucan Recent letters unto the all the king's provinces and to every province According to the writing there of and to every people after their language that every man To bear rule in his own house and that is to be published according to the language of every people Let's pray do Lord I thank you for this opportunity to come back to your house, but if you'll pass it with your spirit Help us all be edified Jesus. Let me pray. Amen Amen so you're there in Esther chapter 1 and we're doing a view of the book of Esther And so this is if you were to think about we're going through basically history books and really Genesis All the way up to this point is the history from the beginning up to this time in history Because once we get once we get done with Esther, we're gonna go into job which we get into poetic books Okay, so really these are historical books most would say from Joshua on his historical books, but obviously Genesis is it is historical as well and obviously exits and all that's historical But we would usually call those the books of law right the five books Moses the books of the law Then you have historical books Joshua down to Esther. So we're really getting into the end of Kind of getting to end of biblical history really With Esther now as far as where we're at exactly in a timeline. We're obviously in the Persian Empire Because we have a has you whereas as the king here now what you understand is that there's in the Persian Kingdom There's a lot of there there's Kings but then they they start repeating names down the line. So as far as If you look at secular history as far as the Kings are concerned There's some debate as far as which King this is as far as in the timeline of events but But just to show you that They're making it known that this is a specific it has you whereas right because you have Xerxes Arctic Xerxes You got Arctic Xerxes a second you had to rise to rise to second So, you know, it's like there's always these first second third, you know down the line of these Kings But notice what says here in verse one It says now it came to pass in the days of a has you whereas this is a has you whereas which rained from? India even on Ethiopia over a hundred and seven and twenty provinces. So notice how it's making it very clear that hey, this is a specific King has you whereas And then in verse two here says that in those days When the king has whereas sat on the throne of his kingdom Which was in Shushen the palace in the third year of his reign He made a feast unto all his princes and his servants and the power of Persia and media and media the nobles and the princes of the provinces being before him when He showed the riches of his glorious Kingdom and the honor of his excellent majesty many days even in hundred and four score days And so This has you whereas Like I said, there's some debate as far as which King this is now when you're in Ezra We'll see you see kind of a line of Kings of Persia You see Cyrus obviously is mentioned first where he makes that decree Cyrus the great if you will that makes the decree to rebuild the temple But in in Ezra, you'll see a Darius that and that comes up And if you remember they write letters to this Darius the next king after Cyrus and basically that that Darius shuts things down and Then Arctic Xerxes rains after that and they start building again, but they don't really get permission until the rise the second starts raining and And then you have Arctic Xerxes the second that rains after that that we see in Nehemiah. Okay, and And These these Darius's are different than Darius the mead. So when you're looking at Daniel secular history would say they don't really know where the rise the mead sits in that what you understand is that At the very beginning the Persian Empire was the Persian meadow the meadow Persian Empire meaning that it was basically kind of this linked-up Kingdom with the Meads and the Persians and They kind of jointly had this Kingdom but eventually The Meads just kind of fell off and it was just the Persians and Daniel kind of covers this where you had the ram with the two horns and one's greater than the other and that greater horn was The Persian Empire so eventually that it's just kind of the Persian Empire. It's no longer the Meads and the Persians So some would say that Xerxes which is actually between Darius the first and Arctic Xerxes that you see in Ezra is is The king of has you areas because Xerxes I guess literally means the has you areas it's like the meaning of the word or it's a It I guess a Translation of the word if you will But others would say it's Arctic Xerxes the second which is the Arctic Xerxes we see in Nehemiah now just for chronological order I Tend to think it's Arctic Xerxes the second right because when you think about the books of the Bible they're in chronological order But you can also see how Xerxes may make sense because at the beginning of the kingdom It's more of the Persians and the Meads and you see the Meads being like that the law of the Persians and the Meads Being brought up a lot in Esther. So I don't think it really matters as far as which one it is But I I tend to think it's Arctic Xerxes the second because of just a chronological order Nehemiah You're dealing with Arctic Xerxes the second and then Esther is the book after that when you're going through the prophets It's in chronological order. Okay, and When you're going through the minor prophets the same thing at least it start the first portion of it or the ending of it It's going to go further Down the line of history than the one before it. Okay, and or it's in the same exact time, but I believe that the order of the books is in chronological order, but all that to say is That you can get down that well of saying well, which one is it? But does it really matter in the end? We know the Bible's obviously right as far as that this king Was over 127 provinces that this is obviously a very powerful king of Persia now Chapter one is just kind of setting where you add in history and all this stuff but in this chapter, we really get the setup to where Esther even comes into this equation now Esther is a Jew and In this chapter we're gonna see that Vashti is the the queen or basically Vashti is that the Married to King Ahasuerus and there's gonna be this spat that happens That's gonna cause Esther to come into the equation Now one thing if I ever look at Esther Esther is ten chapters long. It's not a very big book. There's a very interesting Story so if you've never read through Esther, you know young ones like this is a fun story and it obviously has a Good female character if you will in the story and the fact that she is ultimately the one that saves them from getting killed because of Haman and There's a bad guy in this there's a you know, obviously an immortal kaise in the mix there, too but whenever I think of the book of Esther, I always think about the fact that People are always trying to say well Like what books of the Bible should be in you know What books should be in the Bible and all that and you always hear these these these these arguments like well Esther shouldn't be in there because God's not mentioned in the book Because the word God, you know the name God or Lord or anything like that is actually never mentioned in this book Which is interesting to say the least But to think that that's it shouldn't be in the Bible because it doesn't mention God in it Like it doesn't say God or say Lord It's like the same people that say well, you know, there's three books in the New Testament don't end in Amen Should they be in there? It's like wait a minute who made the rule that it had to end in. Amen Who made the rule that it has to say God in it for it to be God's Word? Does that make sense? Like people like just they're just in their mind It should say that or in their mind, you know They should say amen at the end of Acts and James and and third John and it's like who made that rule and I'm not saying it's it's uh It's just incidental that God's not mentioned in this book. I think that there's probably a reason for that, but it's obviously inspired It's the Word of God take it to the bank. This is scripture right here But there's stupid arguments like that that are made as far as what is considered scripture and in the end Scripture validates itself, you know when you think about like oh well How do we know what 66 books are because because it's the Word of God because it's powerful because it's stood the test of time How do you know the apocrypha is not in there because it's garbage. Have you ever tried reading the Apocrypha? I tried it's hard. I can't even get through it. It's that dry. It's that just not powerful. Okay But in the end God's Word validates itself If anything else had to validate the Word of God as being the Word of God then whatever validates It would be above the Word of God But remember that God has set his word above his name it's the Word of God that validates itself the King James Bible validates itself and Obviously the originals validate themselves, you know as far as when it was penned down But the idea of just even the order of the books I believe validates itself in the Bible Okay. So anyway that being said the book of Esther Is a great story here. There's a lot that you can learn from the book of Esther But in chapter 1 we see where we at. Who's You know, what King are we dealing with here? and In verse 10 there what what's gonna happen is the king is Basically wanting his his wife to come before them. She's obviously apparently very beautiful And He's wanting her to come in his presence and there's this whole thing But basically if if the Queen were to come when she's not called if the king doesn't Put up his scepter to her then she's put to death which is very crazy and interesting but That gets into another point when you get into Esther and her coming in without being requested to come in But in verse 10 here it says on the seventh day when the heart of the king was married with wine He commanded Mahuman, Bizthah, Harbonah, Bigthah and Abagthah Zethar and Carcass, the seven chamberlains that served in the presence of a hajwari as the king to bring Vashti the queen before the king with the crown royal to show the people and Princes her beauty for she was fair to look on But the Queen Vashti refused to come at the king's commandment by his chamberlains Therefore was the king very wroth and his anger burned in him So, you know, there's been many schools of thoughts as far as when it comes to this Well was Vashti right to not to come in? Well, if her husband's telling her to come in she needs to come in whether The reasoning of why she should come in she doesn't agree with or isn't right but If anything, I mean he's basically just wanting to show off his wife and be like I have the most beautiful wife You need to see my wife, right? But either way She should listen to her husband and do what her husband says. I mean, you're just basically coming into a banquet hall but she disobeys her husband and this causes this big stir with all those around him and Basically that what she does here is gonna set an example for the whole kingdom and notice what it says here in verse 16 Mamu can answered Before the king and the princes Vashti the queen hath 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 Hasuaras for this deed of the queen shall come abroad unto all women so that that they shall despise their husbands in their eyes When it shall be reported the king has whereas commander Vashti the queen to be brought in before him But she came not likewise shall the ladies of Persia media say this day unto all the the king's princes Which have heard on of the deed of the queen thus shall there arise too much contempt and wrath And basically stating that her disobedience to you is going to reflect on everybody else and everybody else is gonna say well if the Queen can do it we can do it and Basically, it's gonna be this trend of a bunch of disobedient wives You know what the Bible says in the New Testament? You know wives obey your husbands submit to your husband's but it's interesting because you're in Persia and That's a concept that they all understand because that's just a natural order of things Right, they're not like reading the Bible They're not reading the New Testament in Persia on the fact that you know in Titus where it's talking about You know wives obey your own husbands right submit unto your own husbands it's just the fact that that's just the order of things from the fall of man that That's the way things are. Okay, and so When it comes to this this opens the door that basically they state Basically get rid of Ashtad now again, you're dealing with a heathen nation. You're dealing with Persia, right? You're not dealing with Like where they're they're inquiring of God. How should we go about this? You know, like what should we do about this? so basically he cuts her off and They're stating, you know get a new queen that is going to Basically Obey you okay So chapter 2 is where Esther comes into the equation and basically there's a whole bunch of women That are brought and basically for him to choose from for the king to choose from and Esther is picked out of all these women, okay, so but Wait just to see who we're dealing with here because there's two main characters in this book and two main good characters There's Esther and Mordecai. Okay, so let's see who we're dealing with here So in chapter 2 verse 5 it says 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 Which could very well be the same Kish because Kish is The father of Saul right who was of Benjamin so it could very well be the same Line there obviously not through Saul's line, but through a different line there anyway Is this 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 so, you know Bible trivia, you know memory question here What is Esther's other name, which is Hadassah, right? So Hadassah that is Esther His uncle's daughter Okay. So now we see the relation of Mordecai to Esther it's so if Esther is His uncle's daughter. What would that relation be cousin, right? your aunt and uncle's children are your cousin so and it says It says 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 Esther is basically an orphan to where Mordecai Obviously she Mordecai is older right? So it's an older cousin to her but Mordecai Basically takes her in as his own daughter. And so basically kind of like her father at this point Okay, but that gives you a backstory of who Esther is like, where'd she come from? What kind of background does she have I mean she lost both her parents and Her cousin raised her. Okay, her cousin Mordecai. So it shows you that there's obviously a strong bond I'm sure between Esther and Mordecai Which is important when you see the story kind of fold out as far as when Mordecai comes to Esther and tells her Hey, here's what you should do and all that stuff, right? so But I feel like you know Mordecai obviously Esther the book called Esther and it is a lot about Esther But Mordecai plays a huge role in this book and actually at the end Mordecai is really he's second-in-command with King Ahasuerus, and that's how the book ends is Mordecai being second-in-command and basically rolling and reigning with King Ahasuerus That's how this ends. It is a great story to see kind of like an underdog story basically someone that's being persecuted and almost at the brink of being being killed to reigning and And and this is a great story of persecution tribulation You can think about the tribulation in general the great tribulation and the fact that there's gonna be great tribulation They're gonna try to kill us, but we're gonna be saved out of that And then ultimately we're gonna rule and reign with Christ forever And you know, there's a lot of pictures of that in the book of Esther. Okay now In chapter 2 we see Esther is being brought To To basically come before the king and she is she has chosen to be the new queen Okay. Now there's this whole purification process that she has to go through I Like bathing in milk and honey or something like I don't know But basically it's this whole like process of being becoming the queen like in getting ready for that Okay, which they do before they even pick them. So it's like anyway But there read read Esther you'll find out you'll see everything that's going on there but the end of chapter 2 There's a story where Mordecai finds out that there's this plot against the king and He basically tells them, you know tells the king about this or tells the servants of the king about this this plot and he ends up saving the king's life really and It kind of seems and when you're reading the story if you don't know the story when you read this You're just like, oh, okay cool. He did that but that's gonna be This is a great story where there's things that are done in the beginning of the story that are gonna set you up for things That happen later To where you're like, oh, yeah, I remember that happen and that is a huge deal later on. Okay so and Just from a literary Order of things. It's a very Cool read if I can say that right where you're reading through there and you're just like reading about there's like, oh, okay That's interesting that happened, but it has a big payoff later when you see what happens later with what he did. Okay Anyway in chapter 2 in verse 21, we'll see that it says in those days while Mordecai sat in the king's gate to the king's chamberlains big thot and Terrish of those which kept the door were wroth and sought to lay hand on the king had you where so remember there was seven chamberlains That were mentioned earlier. Well, two of them obviously were upset with the king 22 it says and the thing was known to Mordecai and Who who told it unto Esther the queen and Esther certified the king thereof in Mordecai's name and winning Inquisition was made of the matter. It was found out Therefore there they were both hanged on a tree and it was written in the book of the chronicles before the king so basically Mordecai hears this stuff that's going on brings it to Esther Esther brings it to the king I don't believe she personally brings to the king But basically she makes it known to the king and then they inquire about it and they find out yes This is true and then they execute these two guys Okay, and it just kind of stops there right and you're just like, okay, that was cool And then you go on with the story About the enemy of this book, which is Haman so Haman In chapter three, we're gonna see Haman The son of Hamadatha the Agagite, okay, so this guy He has a beef with Mordecai, okay, and this beef with Mordecai like this hatred that he has for Mordecai Turns into him wanting to kill everybody that that that's of his kind, you know, like basically he's a Jew I'm gonna kill all the Jews because of that like basically it's not enough that I kill Mordecai. I got to kill everybody. Okay So in verse one here, so chapter three So chapter one we see where we're at. We see Bashtai is is rejected as being queen because she wouldn't come in the command of the king Chapter two Esther is picked to be the queen and then at the end of chapter two Mordecai finds out this whole plot against the king and he kind of saves the king's life if you will from maybe some kind of You know Conspiracy that's going on there chapter three. We're gonna see the enemy here, which is Haman It says in verse one after these things that King Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of Hamadatha the aggregate and advanced him and set him set his seat above all the princes that were with him and all the king's servants That were in the king's gate bowed and reverenced Haman for the king had so commanded concerning him But Mordecai bowed not nor did him reverence. Okay, so This is this is where it starts, okay, basically they're all commanded to bow down to Haman Now again, it's hard for me not to see how this ties into end times prophecy because this whole book You can see the secondary application of end times prophecy and not bowing down to somebody That's a very evil person Called the Antichrist. Okay, and if you don't bow down like basically you want to they this this Haman wants to kill you But he doesn't even he doesn't even rest at that because Haman basically wants to kill everybody knows what it says in verse five and when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not nor did him reverence Then was Haman full of wrath and he thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone So what that means is like you thought it kind of like When you're reading that you think that it's you thought it good to lay hands on him, you know No, he thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone meaning like it's not good enough It's not good enough to kill Mordecai Notice what it says nor did him reverence that I'm sorry in verse verse for they had showed him the people of Mordecai Wherefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai He's like it is scornful for him to just kill Mordecai Who's the one that didn't bow down to him? No, he wants to kill all of them And what you understand is that the Jews here Were obviously back when there was actually a testament where they were to be in the Old Testament and all that stuff So they were considered God's people at that time Physically speaking, but what you understand is the New Testament he is not a Jew which is one outwardly, but he is a Jew which is one inwardly and The idea of how this represents Christianity and the fact that you know You don't bow down to the Antichrist. Well, he doesn't just want to kill that person. He wants to kill everybody that's of that seed, right? So you think about the seed the remnant of her seed Which keep the commandments of God right in the word of his patience and all of that So there's definitely a parallel here to that but in the end just the surface meaning Mordecai didn't bow down to Haman and he's so angry at the fact he didn't bow down He doesn't want to just kill him. He wants to kill everybody that's like of his kindred Everybody in all the province of Ahasuerus, which is 127 provinces all the way to India, right? so That's who you're dealing with with Haman and what Haman does in this chapter is He kind of comes in like a snake to the king. It doesn't say this. This is just how I picture it You know slithers in there and basically Gives the king this whole line that there's this people out there that are basically Known to be revolters and all this stuff and he basically he doesn't say who they are And he just basically says, you know, I just want to destroy all these people that are against you And what happens in this story is the king gives Haman his ring that seals letters Okay so back then they would have a ring that has whatever symbol on it and When you send a letter you'd put wax on it and you stamp that ring in there and it's the king seal, right? It's kind of like Jezebel. Jezebel does this with King Ahab, right? Remember he didn't get he didn't get the the vineyard, the Naboth, the Jezreelite And he was crying about it and Jezebel's, don't worry about it. I'll take care of it and She takes his ring and seals a letter to basically have Bath killed, right? And so Haman kind of does something similar to this So it's not like Ahasuerus is like reading this letter or whatever He just basically gives him the ring and says hey go at it. Do what you got to do Which is very foolish on the king's side, right? Which I don't think the king knows who like the character of this Haman guy. He obviously finds out later But this is this is a you know, just from a pastoral like me as a pastor looking at this I just think about the idea of be careful who you Entrust in leadership, right? They're not just just give out that like power, you know as far as like Yeah, just do whatever you want, you know, yeah. Yeah, go at it. Just write letters in my name It's like no. No, you're not gonna be writing letters in my name. Okay Because in the end, you know if it's if it's sealed with his ring It's it's written in the law and he can't even reverse it. The king can't reverse it. Okay? But in verse 8 here it says and Haman said unto the king it has you whereas there is a certain people scattered abroad and Dispersed among the people in all provinces of that kingdom and their laws are diverse from other all people Neither keep they the king's laws. Therefore it is not for the king's prophet to suffer them. Notice how vague this is Right. It's just like there's a certain people and they don't keep your laws and all this stuff It's like well, what laws don't they keep and what's so diverse about their laws and you know Like there's nothing there like saying like they literally kill people or they're cannibals or you know Well, I don't know like give something to where you're like Hey, this is why they need to do this, but it's so vague It says if it pleased the king let let it be written that they may be destroyed and I will pay 10,000 talents of silver to the hands of those that have the charge of the business to bring it into the king's treasuries This is saying we'll bring in the spoiled right? We'll kill them and we'll bring in the spoiled In verse 13 and obviously in this story It'll talk about how the king gives him his ring and basically Haman is the one that writes these letters and sends these out it says in verse 13 and the letters were sent by posts Into all the king's provinces now posts is like a postman, right? Not like a post like a like a column or something like that But this is where we get you think of apostles and you'll see the word post in there It's talking about like like someone sending a message right so post is like a mess and postman's a messenger, you know Anyway, I don't know why I'm getting off on that But post is talking about basically sending it out like sending these messengers out with the message So sent by posts into all the king's provinces to destroy to kill and to cause the parish all Jews both young And old little children and women in one day So basically they're they're they're setting up the fact that there's gonna be this day They're just gonna slaughter everybody okay, and this is the day they're gonna do it on even upon the 13th day of the 12th month, which is the month 8 are and to take the spoil of them for a prey So That's the situation we're in right now, right at this point The Jews are in trouble So that means Mordecai Esther like everybody of their kindred is in trouble right now because Haman is he's above all the princes So he's basically second-in-command From the king and now there's this this decree that's written into law that can't be reversed That's out there so chapter 4 Mordecai is going to hear about this and Mordecai is gonna bring this to Esther and really in this chapter you see this back and Conversation between Mordecai and Esther and basically there's messengers that are basically Mordecai will say something to a messenger They'll send it to Esther and then Esther will say something to the messenger and send it back to Mordecai And it's just this kind of telephone call if you will that's going back and forth between Esther and Mordecai, okay, and Basically Esther's qualm here Is the fact that In order for her to go to the king and deal with this she has to go unannounced or unrequested So this chapter is really dealing with the fact that if I go to the king and he doesn't raise his scepter I die So it's really this do-or-die situation it's a it's a basically are you willing to die to save your people is really what's going on here and Mordecai is basically pushing her like you need to do this and There's a lot that could be you know whole sermons out of this in different manners But it says in verse 13 it says then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther think not With thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house more than all the Jews Basically saying don't think just because of your position that you won't that you'll escape this Like you're not safe there, and that's something that as Christians We think oh, we're safe nothing's gonna happen to us listen if you're outside the will of God anything can happen to you You're not doing what you should be doing listen that protections not there I don't care how much money you have I don't care What kind of a power you have or what authority you have wherever you're at? The only thing is that's gonna keep you safe is the Lord okay? And Mordecai is really hitting on that that don't think that that you're safe Even where you're at is being Queen okay verse 14 It says for it doubt all if if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time Then shall there an enlargement and a deliverance arise to the Jews from another place Notice Mordecai's faith here. He's like if you don't do it someone else will do it right Someone will do this so why don't you do it and don't think that you're gonna be safe where you're at It says but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom For such a time as this what it what a phrase there and something that all of us can think about when it comes to Where we're at in life Think about you're born in the world in a specific time in a certain place that the Lord wants you to serve him and You know what there's you know what if there that God put you in a place for such a time as this What if you know according to his determinant counsel on four dollars of God He has set up a place to where hey, there's a prepared part in a prepared place for a prepared person and Basically what he's stating here is that you know what the fact that you're a queen and you're in your place where you're at It's probably for this this occasion right here. Just like Joseph was sold To the Egyptians put in prison and ultimately he ended up becoming second in command to Pharaoh and guess what? He saved his whole family family from the famine Because he was there in place to save all the corn for when the famine happened For such a time as this and I believe that wholeheartedly that obviously Esther was put in the position She was in that God allowed that to happen for her to be there in order to For all this to play out the way it does okay and notice Esther's response Then Esther obeyed them returned Mordecai this answer Go gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan and fast ye for me and neither eat nor drink three days Nor a night or day I also and my maidens will fast likewise and so will I go in unto the king Which is not according to the law and if I perish I perish Would the God Men of God had the courage that Esther has I mean think about that Esther a woman in the Bible is saying if I perish I perish That is True Christianity right there at its finest Obviously when I say true Christianity I'm talking about those that actually follow the Lord and Those that actually love the Lord and want to keep his commandments Obviously, it's just by faith that you're saved But here's the thing you want to be you want to walk as a Christian then you need to keep his commandments and not love your life, you know, it talks about those that they love not their life unto the death and You know, I think we're not always they're not all gonna be in this situation where it's literally that cutthroat It's like well, I must do this or I die Or, you know, it's like a live-or-die situation But we should live our lives in that manner that hey, I'm gonna serve God even if it kills me and Esther is a great example of someone that you can tell she was afraid But then when Mordecai hits her with hey Maybe you were here for such a time as this And and the idea is like hey if you don't do this, don't think you're safe Don't think you're gonna escape if you don't go up there So you might as well do it and so Mordecai kind of pushes her and to the point where she's like, all right Well, you you fast for me. I'm gonna fast and if I perish, I perish and She ends up going through with it Chapter five She goes in unto the king and the king raises the scepter. So all is good, right? Basically You know, she didn't die and everything worked out as far as that that that portion is concerned and what happens here is That basically Esther is very wise very she doesn't just come out and be like that Heyman over there trying to kill all my people Does that make sense? Like she doesn't she is very smart what she does here Okay, so she goes up to the king and requests to make a banquet For the king and Haman alone Okay, and basically what she's gonna do is she's gonna out Haman Like in person with the king and him alone and not make it this big thing in front of everybody Okay, and so there's a lot to be said about that in the part how to deal with the situation Because if she did it out in the open it might have not went well in her favor But the way this turns out with this banquet and how all this stuff is set up it really just all culminates in this is perfect storm to just destroy Haman and So basically she requests to do that But it let's first see in verse 1 here where she comes in and the scepter is raised to her It says in verse 1 it says now it came to pass on the third day that Esther put on her royal apparel and stood in the inner court of the king's house over against the king's house And the king sat upon his royal throne in the royal house over against the gate of the house and it was so when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court that she obtained favor in his sight and The king held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand So Esther drew near and touched the top of the scepter verse 14 Uh Well, actually well in this Just for sake of time. I don't want to go through all the story But like I said, she requests to make this banquet and all this stuff At the end at in this chapter Haman goes home and he's just gloating about it, right? He's gloating about it. You're like, you know what? I'm like second-in-command and all this stuff's going great and You know, I'm even I'm invited by the Queen to this banquet Just me the king and the Queen and basically he's on cloud nine and it is so funny To watch him go from cloud nine to just complete depression Because he's on cloud nine like everything's going great and then he comes home and he's but then he's like depressed He's like, you know all that avails me nothing because Mordecai the Jew is still alive So those just how implacable this guy is how insatiable how Just you can't please this guy, okay So he comes home and then his wife is telling him. Well make a gallows, you know make a gallows for him to hang on It says then said Zireh his wife and all his friends verse 14 and his friends unto him Let a gallows be made of 50 cubits high and tomorrow speak thou unto the king that Mordecai may be hang there on then go thou and In merrily with the king unto the banquet and the thing pleased Haman and he caused the gallows to be made So he makes this gallows Okay, 50 cubits high That's intense Okay 50 cubits so a cubit is a foot and a half. Okay, that's 75 feet high To give you an idea that's almost seven stories high Very well would be seven stories high like a seven story building and you're putting a gallow up there to hang him on I mean that's intense So Here's where it's gonna go downhill for Haman. So at this point Haman's kind of winning, right? But what happens in this next chapter is just starts going downhill for him so in chapter six For Whatever reason the hajwara's can't sleep and he has to get a bedtime story I guess I'll always it doesn't say bedtime story But let's just read it here and you kind of see what's going on here But basically and you know what puts you to sleep chronicles. That's what puts you to sleep Just read some genealogies and you'll be the bed in a no time, you know So verse one here It says on that night could not the king sleep And he commanded to bring the book of the records of the chronicles and they were read before the king No, I can't sleep start reading some chronicles to me about what's going on here. Okay Now obviously this isn't just genealogies. It's like stories about what has been going on, right? in verse 2 it says and it was found written that Mordecai had told of Bigvena and Tiresh, two of the king's chamberlains, the keepers of the door who sought to lay hand on the king of Ahasuerus and the king said what honor and dignity hath been done to Mordecai for this then said the king's servants that Ministered unto him there is nothing done for him So basically he just happened to like not be able to sleep Do you think that was an accident or do you think God caused him not to sleep? And it just happens that they bring The chronicle of Mordecai and what he did to him you think that's an accident or you think that actually was on purpose you think That all this stuff was the way that God wanted to be set up for it to happen And so he's reading through that and he's just like, you know, what honor I mean He obviously saved him from it doesn't necessarily say that they were gonna kill him But either way, I mean like were they gonna beat him up like what were you gonna do, right? I mean imagine you I mean you almost have to kill him if you're gonna like beat up the king You don't really recover from that. He's whip on his legs in the alleyway and he's like, alright, we're good, right? Like he's not gonna know who did that but either way in this He ends up wanting to honor Mordecai and this is this is so funny and just satisfying to read this chapter. Okay in This chapter Haman comes to Mordecai Okay, I'm sorry Haman comes to King Ahasuerus and Haman is coming to seek to kill Mordecai like basically to ask the king if he could kill Mordecai before he could do that The king is saying hey listen What would you do and I'm paraphrasing this but basically what would you do for the man in whom you want to the king to honor and Haman just so full of himself. He thinks well who would he want to honor but me, you know Like I mean it's obviously he wants to honor me So he's like well, you know, I want let him ride in the king's chariot and all this stuff But you know be clothed with all this stuff and then basically like have everybody just bow the knee to him down the street So he's basically out of his own mouth He's gonna end up blessing Mordecai because it then the king says okay everything you said do that to Mordecai so that just like put a whole hole in his plan because he was coming to want to kill Mordecai and Request the king. So imagine now Haman saying hey, but I wanted to kill that guy How would that go over? Basically just stopped it dead in his tracks and not only is Mordecai not gonna be hanging on the gallows But he's gonna basically Haman is the one putting everything on him Haman is the one saying bow the knee to Mordecai down the street Okay, when you think of Revelation chapter 3 where it says I'm gonna cause them to Bow down before that and worship thy feet and know that I have loved thee When he says to the Jews which say they're Jews and are not but do lie, but are the synagogue of Satan Think about that, you know Think about like the enemy is basically happens to basically put that on him and honor him and tell everybody about a knee So he does this In this chapter, so I mean You this is your homework read that chapter tonight If you want you ever read you ever just want to read a satisfying story Read that story and you're just like this is amazing. This is great Just the retribution the revenge like everything, you know The Lord is really causing all of this to happen in favor of Mordecai and Esther and all that okay but So he does that and He comes home. He's really depressed He's really depressed and he's and and he I mean they're afraid for him because they're just like you want to kill this guy's knowing that you made these gallows for him and the king is literally honoring him now and basically Like they're he's afraid for his life and as they're talking about that They there's messengers sent to bring him to the banquet Do you see how just everything is just falling apart like a deck of cards for Haman? So as that's happening at the end of the chapter chapter 6 is like as they were speaking They're basically sent to bring him to the banquet Chapter 7 is where his plot unfolds because because Esther is gonna call him out right in front of the king Esther 7 verse 5 It says then King Ahasuerus answered and said unto Esther the queen Who is he and where is he? I'm sorry. I'm skipping ahead here Maybe I should read the first part of that I Thought I had it written there Verse 1 there says so the king and Haman came to the banquet with Esther the queen and the king said it again unto Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine What does I petition Queen Esther and shall and it shall be granted thee and what is thy request? and it shall be performed even to the half of the kingdom and Then Esther the queen answered and said if I have found favor in thy sight o king and if it please the king Let my life be given me at my petition and my people at my request for we are sold. I And my people to be destroyed to be slain and to perish but if we had been sold for bond men and bond women I Had held my tongue, although the enemy could not countervail the king's damage So basically she's saying like we're my peep me and my people are basically going to be killed and destroyed And basically if it was just that we were gonna be servants or in bondage basically, I wouldn't even deal with this right and The Kings like what in the world is going on here right in verse 5 It says then King Ahasuerus answered and said unto Esther the queen Who is he and where is he that durst presume in his heart to do so? he's like who's trying to do this and Esther said the adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman then Haman was afraid before the king and The Queen and the king arising from the banquet of wine and his wrath went into the palace garden and Haman stood up To make requests for his life to Esther the queen where he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king I just have to read the rest of the chapter because it's just so good so basically Calls him out Kings Angry, right? He's obviously he has to go out of the room But just see how this just all unfolds against Haman like everything just falls apart Then it says in verse 8 it says then the king returned out of the palace garden in the pal the place of the banquet of wine and Haman was falling upon the bed where on Esther was so he's basically like pleading with Esther and then He's like coming in. He's like what in the world are you doing? you know you're on the bed with my queen and then it says and in verse It says then said that the king Will he force the queen also before me in the house as the word went out of the king's mouth they covered Haman's face So basically like now it looks like he's trying to force the queen He's trying to you know, like all this stuff is just going downhill for him Then they cover his face. They basically put a hood over his head and then One of the chamberlains is mentioning to him. Hey, you know what? There's this gallows that Mordecai that he made for Mordecai and the king says go hang him on it Talk about reaping what you sown, you know digging a pit and falling into it He was hanged on the very gallows that he wanted to hang Mordecai on So there's how Haman dies I mean that's one of the most satisfying chapters to read there I don't know about you You're like you're morbid people died in that There's something satisfying about the righteous prevailing and the wicked perishing You know the Bible talks about rejoicing that we're gonna rejoice And we're gonna wash our feet in the blood of the wicked when we see the vengeance knowing that there is a God that judges on the earth and So so in chapter 7 we see the end of Haman Chapter 8 Mordecai is actually given Haman's plate. So at this point he basically gives that ring to Mordecai and what happens in this chapter is very interesting because Basically, they can't reverse the whole thing Okay, so they can't just go out and be like, you know what that decree that was made as null and void They can't do it. So instead they make another decree and In chapter 8 they make a decree that all the Jews are to arm themselves and fight for themselves and basically Anybody that of Haman that was going to come after them They have the right to defend themselves and destroy whoever tries to kill them And chapter 8 verse 11 says wherein the king granted the Jews which were in every city to gather themselves together and to stand for their life to destroy to slay and to cause to perish all the power of the people and province that Would assault them both little ones and women to take the spoil of them for a prey Upon the day in all provinces of king of hajwares namely upon the 13th day of the 12th month Which is the month Adar and in this chapter they prevail They prevail they end up Not getting slain like obviously Haman wanted to happen Chapter 9 And actually at the end there in chapter 8 it's an interesting verse where it talks about the fact that Because the fear of the Jews basically fell on them and basically how they were Redeemed if you will in this whole process that many people became You know and so a lot of conversion happened there with that and we're not talking about the god-hating Christ rejecting Jews Okay, we're talking about like people that were actually supposedly following the Word of God and all of that back in this day Okay Chapter 9 we see that the Jews and their enemies are destroyed and Basically when it happens so chapter 9 is where it actually happened chapter 8 where it's basically telling them to do this, okay? but But then in chapter 9 there's this basically when they do this there's this There's a celebration that they do it's called Purim, but it's not Purim like you know like thinking like pure Like they're purifying something it gets the name Purim because of the place okay or basically There's a word here that's used and I just kind of want you to see that You know as far as this is concerned, but on the 12th day Or the 12th month there they had this this memorial or where they do this Okay in verse 24 it says because Haman the son of Hamadath, the enemy of all the Jews had devised against the Jews to destroy them and had cast Pur P-U-R or Purr I guess or pure however you want to say it that is the lot to consume them and to destroy them Verse 26 wherefore they called those days Purim after the name Purr Therefore for all the words of this letter Therefore for all the words of this letter and all that which they had seen concerning this matter in which had come unto them So basically they just have this this Celebration or feast that they have because basically The lot that they put out against the Jews came on his own head and this if this book had a Message is really that That the the evil that that Haman that the wicked would determine upon us is going to come upon their own head and Really they're gonna reap what they sown that they're going to get it back you know, they they're so in the wind, but they're gonna reap the whirlwind and This is a great book to show show that and then chapter 10 is actually a really short chapter but really just ends with the fact of Has your areas and and Mordecai really just bullying raining together and kind of the greatness of Mordecai in this and so verse 1 it says in the king of has your areas laid a tribute upon the land and upon the Isles of the sea and All the acts of his power and of his might in the declaration of the greatness of Mordecai Where into the king advanced him are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of Kings? Media and Persia for Mordecai the Jew was next unto King of has your areas in great among the Jews and Accepted of the multitude of his brethren seeking the wealth of his people and speaking. Peace all his seed if there's something to learn from this book and just from really The Babylonian in the in the Persian Empire and the Kings and everything is that God's people Can very well be set up in high places Okay, and a lot of time, you know, obviously there's wickedness in high places. There's spiritual wickedness in high places But I think sometimes we get this idea that like it's not Possible for a Christian to be in a position of power and that is just not true There are so many cases where you see Daniel you see Joseph you see Mordecai and Esther You see other people that are not only in In top positions of authority in any Kingdom. We're talking world powers here Egypt is the number one world power of the seven-headed dragon. Okay And then you have Babylon and the Persians I mean these are world powers where you have people that are saved people that are believers That are literally right hand men or in a position of power with them in these in these cases Okay, and I don't think that that's something that can't happen today meaning that That we could pray for that now listen, I'm obviously not naive to think that You know Jesus could come back in our in our lifetime, you know We could have the Great Tribulation and all that stuff. But what if the Lord tarries, you know, we can pray that Hey, maybe we can get some Christian people and I'm talking Christian not pseudo Christianity Catholic, you know people that claim to be Christians, but they're a bunch of Catholics in Power or in in positions of authority How about we get real Christians that believe in the true gospel that believe in salvation by grace through faith? That had the Holy Spirit inside them Getting in there and actually turning this country around It is possible to happen If it can happen in Babylon it can happen here if it can happen in Persia and the Medo-Persian Empire then it can happen here in America and I do believe that America is if you know The Lord comes in our day is that final head of the dragon? that is of that Babylonian style kingdoms and And Who's to say that before all that goes down that there couldn't be you know a Christian influence there Babylon you eventually falls right? I don't know if you know this but Persia eventually falls to the Grecians But there is these periods of time within those kingdoms of where there was this Christian influence in there And so something just to think about there when it comes to that and what you're praying about We don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater and you'd be like, well, yeah there's a bunch of wicked people up there and Just say well, it's not possible for a saved person to be in that position. I don't believe that for a second. I believe that God can put Christian people in positions of power and Cause the gospel to preach throughout all the world and things can be done through that I'm not saying I'm running for president today. Okay, I'm just saying that You Know you can still pray for that type of stuff though and and that things like that can happen. Okay? But let's end with a word of prayer. Father we thank you for today. Thank you for the book of Esther I thank you for the souls that were saved today throughout the week Pray to help us to learn from the book of Esther and just a fantastic story Just on the surface, but also all just all the meanings in the book and all the secondary meanings and applications Lord just pray to help us to learn from it Lord. We love you. Pray else in Jesus Christ name Amen, but they will come and sing one more song and then we'll be dismissed All right, take your songbooks and turn to song 131 Song 131 we'll sing Christ is all I need if you would stand we'll sing song 131 Christ is all I need Christ is all I need All I need Christ is all I need Christ is all I need all I need He was crucified for me he died on Calvary That's why I know he loved me So he's all I need you're dismissed