Esther Sermon - 1
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Behind the Seen: An Introduction
Esther 1:1
1. Introduction – From now until Advent we are going to be doing an in-depth study of the book of Esther.
a. This morning we are going to have an extended introduction to this book. We’ll look at the literary style of this book, we’ll study the overall purpose of this book, we’ll look at the main characters, and we’ll quickly look at the major themes.
i. We’ll come back to these things as we make our way through this amazing piece of literature.
b. We are going to read every word of this amazing book together – we’ll study each scene.
i. This book is an amazing piece of storytelling. It has humour, irony, satire – it is a little short on character development because the author moves us from scene to scene instead of spending time on character qualities.
1. The book is full of tension, you can see that in the outline I put on your bulletin. The story is structured in that tension builds and builds and builds – until we get to chapter 6:1, there the king has a sleepless night, and from that point on the tension begins to resolve.
c. I’m super pumped about this study. And this is one that the women get excited about because the main character is a woman that shows class and bravery.
i. But we also should be careful about putting Esther up on a pedestal because, as we’ll see throughout the study, Esther is a flawed and sinful human being who makes some questionable moral decisions.
d. Esther is a unique book in that God’s name is never mentioned or even alluded to.
i. It’s unique in that besides fasting, no other religious symbol is mentioned. Prayer is not mentioned, nor is the Temple or Jerusalem or the sacrificial system.
1. If God is never mentioned, if no religious ceremonies are mentioned – why study this book? Esther is never quoted in the NT – it’s not even alluded to – so one might wonder, why it is even in the Bible at all.
a. We’ll get in to this in a little more in just a bit when we study the major themes of the book – but we study Esther, Esther is included in the canon of Scripture because it shows us how God normally works.
ii. Sometimes God parts the waters, sends manna from heaven, and sends fire from heaven to consume an altar…
1. But for the most part, God works behind the scenes and behind the things that are seen. More on that in a bit.
2. Timeline – And as we study any book of the Bible, it’s important for us to figure out where it fits within the general overall timeline of the biblical story. Remember that the events recorded in the Bible occurred at a real point in history that can be verified by sources outside of the Bible.
a. Remember that Esther, or any story in the Bible, is not an isolated story – but every story is connected – we studied that connection and the grand overall storyline of the Bible last year.
i. The story of Esther is the continuation of Israel’s story. It’s a story that started back in Genesis 12 when God called Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldeans and promised to make his name great and give him many descendants.
1. And really, from Genesis 12 to the end of the book of Esther tells us one story – the story of God making a people for himself. It’s the ups and downs of a holy God dealing with sinful people.
b. Here is a list of important dates so we can set the Esther story in its proper historical setting.
i. The grand overall story of God and Israel is God working out the blessings and the curses of their covenant agreement.
1. If Israel obeyed God – he would bless them. And that’s exactly what happened. Under David – a man after God’s own heart – Israel was blessed. They prospered in the Promised Land and they were saved from their enemies.
a. But God also promised that if they turned their backs on God, he would raise up their enemies against them and they would be taken into exile.
2. This happened on a small scale through the book of Judges, but in 722BC, the entire Northern Kingdom was taken away into exile.
a. And in 587 the Southern kingdom was taken captive – the Bible calls it exile.
i. The Southern kingdom was taken to Babylon.
ii. But God also promised to restore his people after a time of exile.
1. And after Cyrus conquers Babylon, he allows the Jews to return to their homeland to rebuild the temple. We get a picture of this in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah.
a. But even though they could return home, we’re told that only 60,000 or so actually do. The rest decided to stay in the land of exile. So, they were under the reign of the Babylonian kings, they Cyrus, then Darius, and eventually a man named Xerxes comes to power.
i. He’s the king of what is now the Persian empire, and this is the same king and the same empire that we read about in Esther 1:1.
iii. So, if the books of Ezra and Nehemiah give us a glimpse into the lives of God’s people to returned to the Promised Land, the book of Esther is a glimpse into the situation of those Jews who stayed in the land of exile.
1. And it’s a fascinated picture of what it looked like to be faithful to God and be a person of God living in a land that was hostile towards God.
a. Esther lived in a world like we are living in today – so there is a lot we can learn from this book about being a Christian in a hostile world.
3. Purpose – And with any book of the Bible, we must figure out why this book was written. These aren’t just random pieces of literature thrown together into one book, each book was written for a specific purpose.
a. So why was Esther written and included in the canon of Scripture?
i. Esther is a strange book in that even though religious acts and even God’s name are never mentioned, this book recounts the origins of a religious festival – it’s called the festival of Purim.
1. Purim is a festival that is a lot like Passover. During the festival of Purim – which we’ll look at near the end of this study – God once again delivered his people from certain death at the hands of their enemies.
b. Haman, who we’ll hear about along the way – had the king decree that all the Jews be killed, but through Mordecai’s guidance and Esther’s bravery, the king changed his mind and Haman and his army were the one killed. God delivered his people.
i. Purim is a festival that Jews still celebrate today. At this festival people gather together and they read the entire of book of Esther. In fact, they dramatize it, complete with audience participation.
c. But Esther serves a greater purpose that that. Esther shows us that God not only works through great and miraculous acts, but he also, and usually, works behind the scenes and the behind the seen.
i. Esther forces us to ask deep and penetrating questions – to think theologically about Esther’s situation and our own lives.
1. If the name of God is never mentioned and the power of God never on full display – then we should ask ourselves the question, “Where is God in all of this?”
a. And if we pay attention and look at Esther carefully the answer is – all over it. If we study this book carefully we’ll see that God is moving the pieces around.
i. God is working through the character in this story to work out his grand purpose – the deliverance of his people.
d. The great paradox of Esther’s story is that God is omnipotently present where he is most conspicuously absent.
i. This about your own life – how does God lead you?
1. Maybe God has performed the miraculous in your life – God is powerful enough to do that.
a. I’ve had the miraculous performed in my life – I’ve experienced a miraculous healing…but God used the very ordinary things of this world to bring about my healing.
i. God used surgeries and chemotherapy to bring about my healing – very ordinary things.
2. And more than likely, this is true in your life too. God leads silently; he leads you from situation to situation and from decision to decision.
a. And when we look at God’s leading from this perspective we see that sometimes the ‘ordinary’ events of life are actually quite extraordinary.
e. I’ll give you an example from my life – and I invite you to look at your own life with the same perspective.
i. In 2004, I made the very ordinary decision to do my Master’s degree at McMaster Divinity college.
1. 2 reasons – dirt cheap and my girlfriend at the time was going to McMaster University.
a. But this decision to enroll at Mac, it turns out was a decision that changed the entire trajectory of my life.
2. It was at Mac that I felt God calling me into pastoral ministry. At Mac, I picked a field ed placement out of a binder, a placed called Priory Park Baptist Church – where I met my friend Dave, who has influenced me in so many ways and he has taught me so much.
a. While I was at Mac, the relationship I was in absolutely fell apart, but while I was at Priory for my second field ed there, I met a lovely young lady named Rachel Humphries. And well, I could go on and on.
f. So, looking at over the course of the last 13 years of my life, I made what I thought was an ordinary decision – where to get a Masters’ Degree – but it turns out, that decision was extraordinary.
i. And I’m sure, given enough time and perspective, you all can trace God’s hand moving and working in your life in the same way – where a seemingly insignificant event turns your whole life around.
1. And that’s because that’s how God works – orchestrating his plan behind the scenes – like he does in the Esther story. He works from decision to decision and from situation to situation to lead us to where he wants us to be.
g. Now, there is a trap that we must avoid – it’s the trap of becoming a functional deist. A deist is someone who believes in God, but believes God is wholly uninvolved in daily life on earth.
i. As Christians, we can’t believe this. That’s not how God works. He probably won’t perform miracles every day of your life. But that doesn’t mean he’s not moving and working in your life, because, just like Esther, God is moving and working in your life behind the things that are seen.
1. Don’t fall into the trap of worshipping God on Sunday and ignoring him the rest of the week. Don’t think that because you don’t see the miraculous God isn’t with you.
a. The book of Exodus shows that God can and will perform miracles to deliver his people; but the book of Esther shows that God also works through ordinary human means to accomplish the same purpose.
4. Characters – This story revolves around 5 main characters. I want to introduce them to you very quickly this morning, and we’ll study them in-depth when we come across in the storyline.
a. Obviously, the main character and heroine of the story is the young woman Esther.
i. Along the way Esther receives help and guidance from her uncle, Mordecai. These are the two protagonists of the story.
b. There is King Xerxes. Keep in mind that Xerxes is the most powerful man in the world that the time this story took place.
i. History remembers Xerxes and tall, dark and handsome. He was an ambitious and ruthless warrior and a jealous lover.
1. He was assassinated by his close advisors in 464 – so like 20 years after this story took place.
a. But in the book of Esther, Xerxes is portrayed as insecure and unsure in his decision making. He’s portrayed as a bit of a buffoon.
c. The 4th main character is a man named Haman. Haman was given military might, but he too was insecure. He wanted to kill Mordecai and all the Jews because Mordecai refused to bow down to him
1. At the end of the story, Haman is the one who is killed and his army is the one that is wiped out.
d. And the last character in the story is God – even though his name never shows up, he is present in every scene, moving the characters around to his intended purpose.
5. Themes – And quickly this morning, right off the bat I want to introduce some of the overall themes of this book to you. We’ll touch on these themes on a regular basis throughout the course of this study.
a. The first theme is hiddenness. There’s a long of hiding going on in this story. In fact, Esther’s name means ‘to hide.’ Many things are concealed in this story.
i. Esther hides the truth about her nationality. And throughout the story it’s as if God is hiding his face. We’ll study more about this hiddenness as we progress through the book.
b. The second major theme is that of reversals. Haman wanted to kill Mordecai, but their fates are reversed.
i. Haman’s army wanted to annihilate the Jews, but their fates are reversed. There are many other reversals of fortune or misfortune that will happen along the way.
c. And finally, another major theme in this book is that of God’s providence. Perhaps better than any other book of the Bible, Esther teaches us that ultimately, despite what present circumstances show, God is in control.
i. Providence means that God, in some invisible and inscrutable way, governs all creatures, actions and circumstances through the normal and ordinary course of human life.
1. Providence is what I keep coming back to – God working behind the scenes and behind the things that are seen, so that history reaches its God-intended end.
d. Providence is God working through a secular king, like Xerxes, to bring about the deliverance of his people.
i. And a major learning point from the book of Esther is that the same God uses the same providence to move and work in the hearts of people today. The same God uses the same providence to deliver his people.
e. We live in a world that is like that of Esther and Mordecai. We live in a world that is increasingly hostile towards God and Christianity.
i. We live in a world where terror groups strike fear into people. We live in a world where 2 lunatics are threatening to nuke each other into oblivion.
1. We live in a world where God’s name is trying to be wiped out – where God’s people ae trying to be silenced and where we face the risk of being charged with a hate crime simply for standing up for the truths of the Bible.
f. But here’s what the book of Esther teaches us – God is in control. Even when he seems absent, he is still working. God is working providentially – in completely secular and ungodly human events and he is doing so to once again deliver his people.
i. He is moving and working providentially to bring all of history to its culmination – the return of Jesus to this earth.
1. There is no power, no plot, no plan, or world leader that can thwart God’s purposes.
g. This is the main lesson from the book of Esther – one that we’ll revisit time and time again.
i. God works behind the seen – in history, and in your own life.
1. And keep mind as we begin this journey together – as revealed in Esther’s story – our God is omnipotently present even where he is most conspicuously absent.
h. I have some homework for you this week. Read through the entire book of Esther. It’s ten chapters long. Try to do it in one sitting – it will take you an hour even if you’re a slow reader. Or listen to it on an audio Bible.
i. Familiarize yourself with the storyline, the plot, the characters, the themes, the twists and turns of the story. Read the whole book. It’s awesome.
1. Also, reflect on your own life. Think your life circumstances, past and present, and ask the question, “Where is God in my life?” And begin to count the ways that God has showed in your life – maybe you’ll see that he was omnipotently present when you thought he was conspicuously absent.