Sermon Tone Analysis

Bible Verse

Purim - (Pur - to cast lots)

Preaching on Esther has always focused on the miracle of Haman destruction and Mordecai’s victory

Today, we will be taking a fresh look at the book of Esther

Purim is an annual Jewish holiday that celebrates the Jewish people’s deliverance from the wicked Haman in the days of Queen Esther of Persia.

Purim will be celebrated from Wednesday, March 16, 2022, till Thursday, March 17, 2022.

Purim is celebrated with Megillah (Me-gi-llah) readings (i.e.

readings from the book of Esther) and with food, charity, feasting, and merriment gifts

Interesting Facts of Esther

There are interesting facts about the book of Esther.

The author of the book of Esther is unknown but largely agreed that such a person would have known Persian culture and probably a Jew

It was written between 470BC and 465BC during the reign of Xerxes (NIV) a.k.a

King Ahasuerus (NKJV)

Original audience: the Book of Esther was written to the returned Jewish exiles to emphasise the annual feast of Purim celebrations and remind them of the faithfulness of God, who would keep His promises to the nation

The name of God, Yahweh, conspicuously absent but actions from the characters imply the acknowledgement of God

Critical study: Esther is one of those stories which should not have been the Bible!

I will explain this as we go along

To put it simply, there are situations you, me, we find ourselves in that should not have been!

A Story of Human Folly

Original Situation: Lots (Pur) have been cast to determine the day and month for the destruction of the Jews by the hand of Haman Esther 3:7

This plot was dramatically turned around, which resulted in the death of Haman.

However, the threat was not over as the day for the destruction of the Jews was already written into law Esther 8:5-6

So Esther pleads again that this law should be revoked.

The law was subsequently repealed by the words of Mordecai, who was acting under the authority of the king.

Esther is a sad story of human stupidity and selfishness of the highest magnitude!

But Esther is a critical book because our salvation hinges on this book!

It is a story that has emanated from the disobedience of man!

Therefore, and I say this critically; The book of Esther should not have been in the Bible

The reason I say this is due to a problem that was not dealt with early and decisively due to:

Ignorance

Stupidity

Arrogance

Stubbornness

Disobedience

Pride

Cockiness

Hubris

Overconfidence

Procrastination

Selfishness

Thus, some future generations had to suffer and deal with the problem.

But it is here, and we are where we are.

And I thank God for it because it will help us learn from the events that led to this remarkable, fantastic, beautiful, God-filled, mighty, and gracious book to be included as part of the canon of scripture.

Unnecessary Hardship Due to Past Actions or In-Actions

Unfortunately, many people struggle or suffer unnecessarily due to actions or in-actions taken in the past.

There are issues or problems we find ourselves in now (in the present) that should not be but are because we have failed to deal with a situation in our past decisively and conclusively, despite every expert advice and knowledge

We now have:

Debt Issues

Family Issues

Marital Issues

Health Issues

Work Or Career Issues

Academic Issues

Legal Issues, Etc

This is because we did not deal decisively or conclusively with some problems in the past.

Thus there are future or present repercussions (a remote or indirect consequence of some action) where you, me, we end up in situations that should not have been!

We end up praying difficult prayers, exaggerating our worship, fasting endlessly (till you drop dead), binding and casting unseen and imagined demons, blaming witches and wizards, accusing family members of our misfortune etc.

However, God is faithful and merciful that He gives us a second chance, a new opportunity to make amends to such situations.

More often than not, the second opportunity gives us a strong sense of hope, leading to celebrations, joy and fulfilment.

Example Of A Trait I Have – A Lesson In Biochemistry

Recently some of you would have seen me in the gym, and you would say, wow, Martin is keeping fit or building muscle or trying to look cool 😊.

But it is deeper than that.

I have a terrible trait called procrastination.

I studied biochemistry at the University of Calabar as my first degree and learnt how the human body functions.

I was particularly interested in the metabolic pathways of carbohydrates, i.e. sugars.

I was taught by eminent doctors and professors who had all the knowledge of biochemistry.

The metabolic pathway of sugars begins when a chemical called insulin, produced and secreted by the pancreas, causes the sugar flowing in the bloodstream to be absorbed into the muscle cells.

When this is successfully absorbed into the cells in the muscle, it is converted to glycogen which is then stored as a form of fuel your body needs to function.

The problem is that sugar in the bloodstream cannot be absorbed by the muscle cells.

So insulin acts like a key to unlock the cell and allow the sugar to enter.

However, for insulin to work, it needs access to those cells that reside on the surface of the muscle.

Something that blocks this access is fatty tissue (which comes from overeating fatty rich food).

So if you have too much fat on the muscle surface, insulin cannot bind to the cell to unlock it, and you have excess sugar flowing in your bloodstream.

This leads to what is known as Type 2 Diabetes.

As too much sugar is found in your bloodstream, your body will try to remove it as quickly as possible.

So your liver and kidney are now working overtime.

But also your heart is working overtime because it needs to pump this blood containing the sugar to the liver and then to the kidney to remove it.

Basically, the liver is saying to the heart and kidney there is too much sugar, and we need to get rid of this otherwise we would die.

If this is unsuccessful, you will suffer renal (kidney) failure, hepatic (liver) disease, and cardiac (heart) failure.

One way of allowing insulin to see and bind to the cell on the muscle is to remove the fat on the muscles.

This is done through exercise and eating more fruits and vegetables.

I learnt this in biochemistry which these expert doctors and professors taught.

This was in 2001/2002!

But guess what, although I knew this and had all this knowledge, I continued eating my Pounded Yam, Garri, Burger King, KFC, McDonald’s and all kinds of fatty food.

Fast forward 20 years later, I am in the gym every night lifting weight and running on the treadmill to build muscle and lose weight so I can have my muscles exposed to insulin to get the sugars out of my bloodstream because the doctors have diagnosed me with early onset of Type 2 Diabetes and hypertension!

So you see why I am in the gym every night.

Had I put into full practice what these expert professors and doctors taught me, I would not have been in the position I am now.

But God is faithful as He gives us second chances all the time.

Exegesis – A Critical Interpretation and Understanding of Esther

To understand Esther, we need to understand the main characters’ Hebrew historicity, context, background, culture and chronology.

This diagram gives a perfect picture of what is happening in Esther

Explain the concept of the diagram

Importance of Names, Genealogy and Chronology

The emphasis on genealogy - a person’s name or identity

In Jewish culture, a person is adequately identified by his name and genealogy.

This gives their importance to society and historical documents or records, e.g. the meaning of Jacob is “supplanter” because he stole his brother’s blessings.

However, his name was changed to Israel, meaning “one who prevails” because he wrestled with God and prevailed (Genesis 32:28).

Chronology

in bible study, chronology is crucial as it helps us place events that occur in scripture in their proper time-frame

I will demonstrate this in a short while with importance to the text of Esther