Chapter 20 “For Such A Time As This”
Book of Esther
Intro - As most of you know, Ralph Korner is our new moderator, which means he is the leader of our LC and the representative of our congregation in matters of church business and direction. As moderator, Ralph will work closely with the pastoral staff and each ministry lead helping the whole church to move forward and stay focused on our mission and three priorities.
What you don’t know is that initially Ralph was reluctant to take the position. And it’s no surprise. Ralph’s plate is very full, being the Academic Dean of Taylor Seminary and the Director of the EP Wahl Centre…as well as being a husband and father…and a pretty good bass player as well!
But as Ralph thought and prayed about it, the Lord told him to take the position, which in obedience to God he did, which we are all very glad about. We all know that this is an important time in the life of our church with the pastoral transition taking place and good, solid leadership is required during a time of change and Ralph is that man.
One thing Ralph told me, and I have his permission to share this, is the sense he had from God was that he needed to take the position “for such a time as this.” A direct quote from the book of Esther that we will be looking at in a moment.
In other words, Ralph has been called by God to give leadership at an important and crucial time in our church’s life, “for such a time as this”. And he has chosen to obey that call, despite personal sacrifice and adding to an already busy schedule.
How about you? Have you ever felt a sense of call from God for a specific task? To do something for Him that you know you were specifically and uniquely called to do, equipped for, gifted to do?
And did you say yes, or did you say no? Or are you currently in the process of deciding?
Either way, listen: does the task seem large and overwhelming and scary? It probably will. If God is saying “I’ve got something for you to do “for such a time as this”, then it’s no doubt God-sized and significant.
So if you can relate to any of this either in your past or your present, then you will really appreciate chapter 20 today in The Story, which is the story of Esther, the compelling story of a young Jewish woman who God spoke to about taking on a God-sized task “for such a time as this”.
Please turn to Esther…prayer…(keep your finger in ch. 4)
We’re in the 5th century BC, in the capital city of Susa in the Persian Empire. The Israelites had been carried into captivity here over 100 years earlier into what was then called Babylon. But the Babylonian empire had been defeated a few times since then and a powerful Persian King named Xerxes is now firmly in control. He ruled this empire from 485 B.C. until his assassination in 465 B.C. His vast rule extended from what is now India to northeast Africa.
Like we saw last week, after 70 years of captivity about 50,000 Jews were allowed to return to Jerusalem to rebuild their temple…under the leadership of Ezra the priest and the prophets Haggai and Zechariah.
But other exiled Jews stayed in their land of captivity; they never returned for one reason or another and lived as part of the Persian culture.
Which brings us to the two heroes of our story who are, of course, Esther, a Jewish orphan, now a stunning beauty of a young woman, who was raised by her older cousin Mordecai, who is the other hero.
Despite living in the centre of Persian culture, in the capital city of Susa, both Mordecai and Esther closely identified with their Jewish background, something that, if it became known in this pagan nation, would make life difficult and dangerous.
Now I want to tell you the story of Esther, but since it’s too long to read in full, I’m going to give you a summary written by Randy Frazee. I’ve never spoken on this book and have always wanted to, so I’m glad I finally get this chance on my second last week of preaching here at Northgate.
The Story of Esther
During the third year of his reign, King Xerxes threw a huge party that lasted seven days and showcased his vast wealth to all the military and civic leaders from his kingdom. This event was an all-you-can-eat, all-you-can-drink gala held in the king’s magnificent garden inside the royal palace.
After seven days of partying, Xerxes sends for his wife, Queen Vashti, to meet and greet the guests, but she refuses. It’s more than that; he wanted to show off her beauty to his guests, but she wasn’t about to be paraded in front of them.
Furious, the king consults with his legal experts to determine what should be done about her disrespectful behaviour, and they tell him he should make an example out of her. If he didn’t, wives all over Persia would think it was okay to stand up to their husbands.
They advise him to issue a irrevocable decree to banish her from the palace and then find a new queen. So long, Vashti.
And so Xerxes sends his aides throughout the entire kingdom to find women beautiful enough to suit his tastes. If you were a young and beautiful woman and one of the king’s aides selected you as a royal candidate, you had no say in the matter, but were carted off and handed over to a guy named Hegai, whose job it was to prepare you for the final selection process. Sort of a version of “Persia’s Next Top Queen.”
Which is what happened to Esther. For whatever reason, she happened to be in the right place at the right time, captivating the king’s aide with her beauty.
Her protective cousin, Mordecai, warns her not to reveal to anyone that she is a Jew, and he hangs out near the palace every day to try to find out how she is doing. As it turns out, she and the other candidates are doing quite well. The queen-in-training program was essentially twelve months in a beauty spa. Oil of myrrh facials. Deep tissue massage with aromatic lotions. Perfume and cosmetic treatments. And nutritious meals formulated to enhance their physical beauty.
Hegai is so smitten by Esther’s beauty that he assigns her seven female attendants and gives her the best apartment in the palace.
After twelve months of pampering, it is time for the candidates to go before the king so he can choose his new queen. The instant Xerxes sees Esther – game over. He immediately selects her to be his queen, places the royal crown on her head, throws another huge party, and proclaims the day a holiday throughout his kingdom.
Shortly after Esther’s coronation, Xerxes promotes one of his officials, Haman, to a position of prominence over all the other royal aides…
…a position that requires everyone at the king’s gate to kneel before him. But Mordecai, who still visits the palace each day to check on Esther, refuses to kneel to Haman.
The other officials notice this and urge him to comply, but Mordecai refuses, telling them he is a Jew. When the aides report this to Haman, he is furious, and wants to kill Mordecai, but he decides it wouldn’t be enough to just kill him alone – he asks and receives permission from the king to kill every Jew in Persia. Every Jew in the 127 provinces of Persia is targeted to be killed, but it has to be on one specific day.
And, in case you’re wondering why he reacted like this, you should know that Haman was an Agagite. And the Agagites held a grudge against the Jews since way back in the OT. The Agagites were related to the Amalekites, the very people Saul was commanded to wipe out completely, which he didn’t entirely do…but that’s another story. Haman has a long memory and harbours great hatred for the Jewish people.
To determine the date when Haman and his forces will go after the Jews, they roll the dice, literally (the pur, casting lots) and the dice land on the month of Adar 13 (equivalent to our February or March), a day roughly eleven months away. So a decree goes out, naming the date for the execution of every Jew in Persia, in essence placing every Jew on death row for eleven months, because once the king’s seal is stamped on a decree, nothing can change it.
When Mordecai learns about the decree, he is so distressed that he publicly mourns in front of the palace. Day in and day out, he marches in front of the palace wearing sackcloth and ashes, the symbol of grief, to mourn the approaching day of annihilation. This is the equivalent of “Jewish Lives Matter”…
When Queen Esther’s attendants tell her about her cousin, she sends them to him to find out why he is in such distress. Mordecai sees his opportunity. Only he knows that the queen is a Jew. He tells her about Haman’s plot to kill every Jew in the kingdom and begs her to approach the king and plead for mercy for her people.
Remember Vashti? Esther did. As much as she wanted to go to bat for her people, she feared it would be hopeless. Approach the king without being summoned, and you mysteriously vanish.
That’s when Mordecai must have gotten a glimpse of the Upper Story. Why had they stayed behind in Babylon when all their Jewish friends returned to Jerusalem? Why did Vashti refuse to go to her king when she was summoned? Why was Esther among those chosen to become candidates for Xerxes new queen? And why did Haman have it in for the Jews?
Mordecai’s reply to Queen Esther reveals, through a question, why all of these random events occurred: Let’s read Esther 4:12-14…this is the heart of the Esther story…
What would you do if you had to risk everything to do what God was asking you to do? Stay silent? Ask God to send someone else? Find a reason not to do it? Or just go for it?
Esther considers Mordecai’s sobering question and replies in verses 15-16…
After three days, she approaches the king. What should have been certain death is greeted with yet another “coincidence” as the king tells her she can request anything – up to half his kingdom – and it will be hers.
She requests a dinner party that very evening with the king and Haman, a dinner at which she simply asks the king if he and Haman will join her for another dinner the next night.
In the meantime, Haman is so enraged with Mordecai that he builds a pole 75 ft. high on which to impale Mordecai. He is planning on killing Mordecai the morning after this evening’s dinner party.
But that night, it just so happens that the King can’t sleep, so he orders the book that records his reign to be brought in and read to him. And when they get to the part about Mordecai exposing a plot to assassinate King Xerxes (ch 2)… he asks if Mordecai has received any honour for that noble deed. And the official says no.
So the next morning as cocky, arrogant Haman greets the king all excited about murdering Mordecai that day and being honoured at another banquet that night, in a total turn of events, the king orders him to honour Mordercai by parading him through town on horseback wearing a royal robe, proclaiming “This is what is done for the man the king delights to honor.” Ha! Talk about humiliation; talk about the tables turning; talk about a new level of rage.
At dinner that night when pressed by the King about what Esther wants from him, she takes the huge risk of finally speaking up and revealing her true Jewish identity and exposing Haman’s plan to destroy her people.
The king is so upset he storms out of the room, but Haman remains behind to beg for Esther’s mercy. And in yet another case of “coincidence”, Haman stumbles and falls on top of Esther on the couch just as the king walks back into the room. He sees his queen under Haman and orders him put to death for attempted rape. And Haman is killed on the very pole he intended for Mordecais’ death.
Then he appoints Mordecai to Haman’s vacated position; another amazing development in God’s Upper Story.
Now remember, the king’s decree to kill every Jew cannot, by law, be revoked. But Mordecai now has the power to be granted a requisition of the king, so he asks Xerxes to write another decree to give the Jews permission to at least protect themselves and fight back.
So, on the appointed day, Adar the 13th, the enemies of the Jewish people from all 127 provinces attack the Jews. But the Jews fight back and take out 75,000 of their assailants that day, including ten sons of Haman. A bit of a messy ending to an amazing story.
The next day the Jewish people celebrate, and begin a tradition that continues to this day. It’s called the Feast of Purim, remember, from the word pur which means “dice”. It is celebrated every year, this year on March 11 and 12, as a reminder of God’s deliverance and protection of the Jews in the time of Esther, and since.
There you have it, the story of Esther. The story of a young Jewish girl who was willing to risk it all, including her very life, because she heard a call from God, a mission to save her people from annihilation. And she realized she was put in that privileged position “for such a time as this.”
What God is Saying Through This Story
What is God wanting to say to us through Esther’s story?
1) God really, really, really is sovereignly in charge
-of your life, our church, this world, history, of His chosen people the Jews…who He has protected and delivered through all of history despite other attempts to annihilate them…
God has always been committed to His promise to preserve a people belonging to Him, which also includes us…
…and God has always been committed to His mission which is to bring lost people back to Himself… and that centres on bringing a Messiah into the world through the tribe of Judah, His people, that He will persevere at all costs…
Did you know that the word “God” is not used at all in the book of Esther? True. As a matter of fact, there is one other book in the Bible that the word “God” is never mentioned. Does anyone know? Can anyone shout it at me? (Song of Solomon).
Even though God is not directly mentioned in the story of Esther, He’s all over this book…God’s sovereign hand is all over this story…and His sovereign hand is all over your life and this world and our church…even when He seems invisible or hidden…
I know this truth of God’s sovereignty has come up many times in these OT sermons, but it comes up for a reason: that’s because we’ve got to start actually believing He is sovereign and start acting like we believe it and let this truth change the way we live our lives…so that instead of fear and anxiety in the face of change and uncertainty…we can have peace and assurance and faith that God has got this covered…He really is working all things out for good, for those of us who love Him and are called according to His purpose…
I mean, it wasn’t by chance that:
• Esther was chosen to be queen over hundreds of other beautiful girls
• Mordecai uncovered the plot to murder the King
• the role of the dice landed on a date eleven months away so Mordecai and Esther could have time to plan and act
• the king couldn’t sleep the night before Haman’s plot and orders the history book read and learns about Mordecai’s loyal deed
We could go on and on…God seeing the whole big picture, His invisible hand moving the chess pieces around on the board, knowing exactly what He is doing and why…
And it’s not by chance that you are: in the job you are in…the school you are in…the family you are in…neighborhood…group of friends…church…committee…church role…
“for such a time as this”
God is wanting to say thru the story of Esther that He is really, really, really sovereignly in charge…
2) you’ve got an opportunity to do something important for God…but you have to step into it, choose it…and it will take courage…it may require great sacrifice, perhaps even laying everything down… “If I perish I perish”…
-it will certainly not be safe or comfortable…it will involve risk…but if you go for it, God will use you greatly…
* there is no safe way to greatness with God…the way to greatness is always full of obstacles, fear, opposition, difficulty and suffering… We're looking for a safe way to pursue our calling. We want a mission, we want a purpose, but we also want safety. There is no safe way. Someone has said "There is no safe way to be great, and there is no great way to be safe.”
Esther shows us great courage going after the opportunity God gives her to be significant for Him.
3) you need a Mordecai in your life
-who will love you, support you, believe in you, look out for you…but will also challenge you to be great for God……to go for the difficult thing…to do what God asks…to take the risk…to see your opportunity and to obey God…
-we need someone who will give us a swift kick in the backside when we need it…and believe me, we all need it from time to time…
-if you have a Mordecai, thank him or her, send them a thank you note…give them a hug…tell them how grateful you are for them…
-if you don’t have a Mordecai, ask God for one…go find one…
4) always ask people to fast and pray for you when undertaking a challenging spiritual task
-just like Esther did…
-if you’ve heard me preach for any length of time you’ve heard me say that spiritual work cannot be done by human means…
eg. book of Zechariah…looked at it last week…significant to our church right now…4:6 “Not by might, nor by power, but BY MY SPIRIT, says the Lord Almighty…”
* there had better be some fasting and prayer going on among our church as we go through this transition time…don’t assume someone else will do it…
5) This is a “such a time as this” moment for our church
-as I said at the start of this message, this is an important time in the life of Northgate…a crucial time…a time which God wants to use to take us into new and greater things for Him and His kingdom…
-but a time in which we feel uncertain and perhaps even fearful…
-two things can happen: we can get self-protective and say, “I’m going to look after myself and my family if I don’t like what’s going on…
…I’m not sure how this is all going to go so I’m not sticking around…good luck Northgate…
…someone else will take care of things (Ralph, the new pastor)…someone else can do the hard work of being part of the transition…I just want a safe and happy service with no changes…
Well, if that’s you, then I don’t have to tell you how I feel about that, let alone how God does…
But here is the other thing that can happen during this time of change: we can be the kind of person Esther was and have the courage to say, “I and my family are here for a reason…”for such a time as this”…so instead of silence, or letting others do it, or waving goodbye to Northgate in the rear view mirror…or staying stuck in the past with it’s hurts and disappointments…
I’m going to be strong and courageous and involved and open my mouth and take a stand and be part of the new thing God is wanting to do at Northgate…
I’m going to stop being passive and lazy and using busyness as my excuse (talk to Ralph about busyness)…and I’m going to help and volunteer and get involved…i’m going to get over whatever issues I have…
-because I’ve been brought to a privileged position in Christ, “for such a time as this…”
Jesus was brought to a “such a time as this” moment when He chose to come to earth and become our Saviour and die on the cross for our sins…because of His great love for us…
1 Jn 3:16 We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.
So because of that love, which we have received from God, let us stand up and say, “Who knows, but that I have come to this royal position for such a time as this?” Prayer…Worship…