Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

On the evening of November 9, 1938, an eruption of violence against the Jews accrued.

Instigated primarily by Nazi party officials, the Ethnic cleansing occurred throughout Germany, Austria, and a region of Czechoslovakia.

The riots became known as Kristallnacht (German: Night of Broken Glass) because of the shattering of the windows of Jewish shops, stores, and homes.

Fires across the country devoured synagogues and Jewish institutions.

By the end of the rampage, gangs of Nazi storm troopers had destroyed 7,000 Jewish businesses, set fire to more than 900 synagogues, killed 91 Jews, and deported some 30,000 Jewish men to concentration camps.

Tension had been mounting.

The Jewish people had been marginalized for months.

Whispers circulated throughout Germany: Jews are different … they’re a threat to the country … they’re in the way of progress.

Himmler echoed the words of Hitler when he said of the Jews, “They do not belong to the same species but only imitate humans—they are as far removed from us as animals are from humans.”

And as Hitler’s troops marched against the Jews, they chanted these unthinkable lyrics:

Sharpen the long knives on the pavement stone;

Sink the knives into Jewish flesh and bone,

Let the blood flow freely.

Davey, Stephen.

Esther.

Wisdom Commentary Series.

Apex, NC: Charity House Publishers, 2012.

Erwin Lutzer.

Hitler’s Cross.

Moody Press, 1995.

It is almost impossible to think about the events of Hitler when reading this next section.

So we are not even going to try.

Esther 3:8-15

Manipulation of the King

Haman’s anger towards all Jews boils over when one Jew refused to bow down before him.

So Haman approached King Ahasuerus.

His proposal in verses 8-9 reflect Haman’s ability to manipulate the foolish King.

First, slight exaggeration: “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of your kingdom” (v.

8)

Undoubtedly, Jews did not live in every province of the vast Persian empire, but Haman exaggerated their dispersion in order to magnify their threat to the king.

Second, further stretched the truth: “Their laws are different from all other people’s” (v.

8).

Certainly some Jewish laws were unique, but many were shared by other ancient people.

However, by alleging Jewish strangeness Haman underlined the danger of the Jews to the Persian establishment.

Third, Haman moved from exaggeration to outright deception: “They do not keep the king’s laws” (v.

8).

In fact, Mordecai had disobeyed the king’s command to bow before Haman, but the Jewish people in general had done nothing wrong.

It is not fitting for the king to let them remain.

A widely-dispersed, foreign, law-breaking people spread throughout the empire would certainly pose a threat to the king.

Haman obviously knew which buttons to push.

Remember that the king was still feeling the pain from Vashti’s rebellion, two military defeats at the hands of the Greeks, and the attempted assassination by two of his trusted officers.13

But that wasn’t all he proposed to the king.

He sweetened the pot even more when he promised to pay the king 10,000 talents of silver (Esther 3:9b) when the genocide was carried out.

That’s nearly 400 tons of silver—worth millions in today’s economy.

But where in the world would Haman get that kind of money?

The Jews.

In the same way that the Third Reich amassed wealth during World War II by stripping the Jews of their assets and possessions, Haman would make Persia wealthier by plundering the Jews.

And the decree was sent. the king and Haman sat down to drink, the fools.

and the city of Susa was bewildered.

The people of the town couldn’t understand why they did this.

What was going on.

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King of Darkness

Where does that kind of hatred and violence originate?

It didn’t start in the heart of Himmler or Hitler … nor in the heart of Haman or Ahasuerus.

It originated in the heart of the King of Darkness.

Satan is the ultimate Jew-hater.

There’s a reason why the pages of history are stained with the blood of the Jew.

While God works in mysterious ways, Satan doesn’t.

His message is always the same, and his methods are always predictable.

Why did it happen in Berlin that was avoided here?

Maybe Esther never spoke up, or there was no Esther.

But God in Esther was preparing His people to remember that even in Persia, He was sovereign.

They would be driven to the point of realizing that there was nothing at all that they could do to save themselves.

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We have no more thought of using our own powers to escape the authorities than the apostles of old.

No more are we ready to keep silent at man’s request when God commands us to speak.

For it is, and must remain, the case that we must obey God rather than man.

In June of 1937, a German pastor named Niemoller bravely preached against the atheism of the Third Reich, using these words to his congregation:

We have no more thought of using our own powers to escape the authorities than the apostles of old.

No more are we ready to keep silent at man’s request when God commands us to speak.

For it is, and must remain, the case that we must obey God rather than man.

Within a few days, Dr. Niemoller was arrested and imprisoned.

He was held for seven months in solitary confinement before facing his trial on February 7, 1938.

The indictments against him were fourteen pages long.

He was accused of speaking against the Reich with malicious and provocative criticism.

He had violated the law and was charged with “Abuse of Pulpit.”

That day, a uniformed soldier arrived to escort Niemoller from his cell to the courtroom.

As they made their way through the corridors of the prison and a long underground tunnel, this faithful pastor became overwhelmed with thoughts of loneliness and fear.

He knew that his trial held a foregone conclusion.

But what he didn’t know was why no one had sent word to him.

Where were his family and friends?

Where was his church that had stood with him?

He had heard from no one—they had been forbidden to communicate with him while he languished in solitary confinement.

With these thoughts flooding his mind, something remarkable happened.

The soldier, whose face had thus far been impassive and who had not uttered a word, began to quietly speak, though still looking straight ahead.

His voice was so soft that Niemoller couldn’t understand his words at first.

But as they reverberated over and over along the walls of a tunnel, he was able to make them out: The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous runs into it and is safe (Proverbs 18:10).

As Niemoller climbed the steps to the courtroom, he gave no sign that he had heard the words.

But his fear was gone.

A new sense of hope and trust took its place.

He was condemned by the Third Reich and sent to a concentration camp for seven years.

But he survived and was liberated at the end of the war to tell his story.19

the name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runs into it and is safe (Proverbs 18:10).

• When everyone else is unjust, He isn’t.

• When everyone else gives up, He doesn’t.

• When no one seems to notice, He does.

• When no one seems to care, He always will.

• Even when God seems distant, He is present.

• Even when God seems removed … He remains sovereign and faithful.

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Next Steps

He alone is their strong tower.

Is this something you need to learn today?

ABC

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