YouTube video sermon
Esther 8:1-17
Let me invite you to take your copy of God’s Word and turn with me (once again) to Esther 8. I have a fondness for British television, especially British automotive shows and, as you know, I’m a huge fan of Formula 1 auto racing. And one of the things that I’ve discovered over the years, while watching these shows, is that American English and British English are sometimes, some might say oftentimes, different.
For example, the Brits use the word “spanner” to refer to a “wrench.” They use the word “kit” to refer to what we would call a “toolbox.” And they use the word “nick” for “stealing.” So, someone might say, “Nice spanners you got in that kit. Did you nick it off someone?” And what they’re saying is, “You have some nice wrenches in that toolbox. Did you steal them?”
Well, another word that falls into this category is the word “sort.” We use it to describe arranging things in groups or separating things from one another based on some qualification: size, color, value, etc. The British, on the other hand, use the word to refer to solving a problem or dealing with someone or dealing with something successfully. So, they’ll talk about getting something sorted, and what they mean is getting it resolved, getting it dealt with, getting it fixed.
For example, they might say to you, “Don’t worry about the bill. I’ll sort it.” And if you’re not familiar with that usage, then you’re saying to yourself, “What’s there to sort?” What they mean is they’ll take care of it. Or they might ask you, “Did you get your flights sorted?” And what they mean is “Did you get your flights fixed?”
Now, that verb is actually quite helpful when it’s used in that British way. And I’ve been excited about the fact that as we’ve come to the end of chapter 7 and now into chapter 8, things are getting sorted. Right? Things are being resolved. They’re getting fixed. There was a great sigh of relief at the end of chapter 7 when Haman was finally hanged, because we had all determined that he deserved it. And now, for those of you that haven’t read ahead or for those of you that aren’t familiar with the book of Esther, we get to see how things get sorted. And even for those of us that have read the whole story and do know what’s coming up, it’s a nice rerun. So, follow along with me as we read Esther 8.
1 On that day King Ahasuerus gave to Queen Esther the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told what he was to her. 2 And the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.
3 Then Esther spoke again to the king. She fell at his feet and wept and pleaded with him to avert the evil plan of Haman the Agagite and the plot that he had devised against the Jews. 4 When the king held out the golden scepter to Esther, Esther rose and stood before the king. 5 And she said, “If it please the king, and if I have found favor in his sight, and if the thing seems right before the king, and I am pleasing in his eyes, let an order be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the provinces of the king. 6 For how can I bear to see the calamity that is coming to my people? Or how can I bear to see the destruction of my kindred?” 7 Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows, because he intended to lay hands on the Jews. 8 But you may write as you please with regard to the Jews, in the name of the king, and seal it with the king’s ring, for an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s ring cannot be revoked.”
9 The king’s scribes were summoned at that time, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day. And an edict was written, according to all that Mordecai commanded concerning the Jews, to the satraps and the governors and the officials of the provinces from India to Ethiopia, 127 provinces, to each province in its own script and to each people in its own language, and also to the Jews in their script and their language. 10 And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed it with the king’s signet ring. Then he sent the letters by mounted couriers riding on swift horses that were used in the king’s service, bred from the royal stud, 11 saying that the king allowed the Jews who were in every city to gather and defend their lives, to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate any armed force of any people or province that might attack them, children and women included, and to plunder their goods, 12 on one day throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar. 13 A copy of what was written was to be issued as a decree in every province, being publicly displayed to all peoples, and the Jews were to be ready on that day to take vengeance on their enemies. 14 So the couriers, mounted on their swift horses that were used in the king’s service, rode out hurriedly, urged by the king’s command. And the decree was issued in Susa the citadel.
15 Then Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal robes of blue and white, with a great golden crown and a robe of fine linen and purple, and the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced. 16 The Jews had light and gladness and joy and honor. 17 And in every province and in every city, wherever the king’s command and his edict reached, there was gladness and joy among the Jews, a feast and a holiday. And many from the peoples of the country declared themselves Jews, for fear of the Jews had fallen on them.
“Now, gracious God, with our Bibles open before us, we pray again for the help of the Holy Spirit to be able to understand and to believe and to obey and have your Word applied to our lives, this day. For we ask it in Christ’s name. Amen.”
So, things are getting sorted, aren’t they? King Xerxes’s heart – a heart that seemed it would never change – finally changes. Prior to this chapter, things looked pretty dark for the Jews. Yet, God sends them a glimmer of hope. In Corrie ten Boom’s book The Hiding Place she quotes her lesser-known sister Betsie as saying, “There’s no pit so deep but that God is not deeper still.” Well, to paraphrase that: “There’s no heart so hard that God cannot change it. There’s no edict so permanent that He can’t erase it. And there’s no scene so dark that He can’t brighten it.” And that brings us to the first point this morning: an unchangeable heart.
An Unchangeable Heart
Think about what we know of Xerxes from our study. This is a powerful man. This man can cause people to live or die with a simple thumbs up or thumbs down. This is the man that got rid of his first queen because she displeased him. This is the man that decided to promote Haman – a man who hated the Jews – to the position of prime minister. This is the man that said to Haman, “Here’s my ring.” Another way of saying, “Take my pen. You sign for me. You pass the executive orders.” (And don’t forget that those edicts were permanent.) This is the man who willingly agreed to Haman’s plan to rid Persia of an entire race of people – something that feels like is being done as we speak.
And yet, all of a sudden, this is the man who held out his golden scepter to Esther and said, “Honey, what’s wrong? What can I do for you? Just name it.” And boy did she… He had his recently appointed prime minister impaled on the gallows that were ironically made to hang his wife’s cousin – the man that saved his very own life. And now he’s given Haman’s entire estate to Esther.
By the way, the Greek historian, Herodotus, said that the property of condemned criminals reverted back to the crown. So, in this case, the estate of Haman, would normally become the property of the king. And yet, Xerxes doesn’t keep it. He gives it to Esther, who, in turn, give it to her cousin Mordecai.
Folks, there’s no heart so stubborn that God can’t penetrate it. No will that’s so determined that He can’t break through it, whenever He so desires. Nobody is a match for the living God. I’m reminded of what Proverbs 21:1-2 says, “The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the LORD; He turns it wherever He wishes. Every man’s way is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the hearts.” The king’s heart is like playdough in the hands of God.
Just for a moment, imagine someone else’s name in that proverb instead of “the king.” Perhaps it’s someone who gives you grief. It might be one of your own grown wayward children. Maybe it’s someone who represents a formidable presence. Someone who haunts you. A person that wishes to bring you down: stubborn, strong-hearted. Imagine that heart – the one that’s so hard, so granitelike – turning into soft clay in the hands of the Lord. It’s possible! There’s no heart so stubborn that it can’t break in the hands of the Lord. If God can change the heart of a Xerxes, then He can change any heart. And just in case you’re inclined to doubt me on that – look in the mirror.
The prophet Ezekiel, speaking to the nation of Israel on behalf of God, said, “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and be careful to obey My decrees. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be My people, and I will be your God. And I will deliver you from all your uncleanness” (Ezekiel 36:26-29). God can take the heart of anyone and change it, just as He did with the heart of this king. Things are getting sorted, aren’t they?
Next, is an irrevocable edict.
An Irrevocable Edict
Haman’s gone, but that doesn’t change the edict. It’s still very much in place. That was the whole trouble with those Medo-Persian edicts. Once they were passed, they couldn’t be reversed or repealed or revoked in any way. Listen to Daniel 6 – Daniel was a Jew living in Babylonian captivity under King Nebuchadnezzar until King Cyrus (Xerxes’s grandfather) defeated the Babylonians and set the Israelites free. Listen to what Daniel says about these laws of the Medes and the Persians:
“Now, O king, establish the injunction and sign the document, so that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which cannot be revoked.”
“The king answered and said, ‘The thing stands fast, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be revoked.’”
“Then these men came by agreement to the king and said to the king, ‘Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no injunction or ordinance that the king establishes can be changed’” (Daniel 6:8, 12, 15).
Haman might be dead, but the edict is still very much alive. It’s irrevocable. The Jews will die. And knowing this, Esther cries. If I may say so myself, there are times when the genuine, compassionate tears of a woman are absolutely irresistible. It’s rare, indeed, for a man not to be softened by the genuine tears of a woman. So, here’s Xerxes: the mighty king with his queen at his feet in a puddle of tears.
And I know that I keep pausing and bringing this up week after week, but we’ve seen all of these reversals in the book of Esther. In the first couple of chapters, we have all these feasts, all these times of celebration around the table, and then you come to chapter 4 and you have Mordecai and Esther and the Jews are fasting. Then chapters 5, 6, and 7 it’s back to feasting. See the reversal?
Here’s another one. In the first couple of chapters, we have all the descriptions of robes and royal garments and the beauty treatments of the women and cosmetics and such, and we get to chapter 4 and you have sackcloth and ashes.
In chapter 6, we saw Haman describe what should be done for the man the king desires to honor, and all of that ultimately went to Mordecai. Last week, we saw Haman fall at the feet of Esther (the Jew), even though Mordecai (the Jew) wouldn’t bow to him. The gallows that Haman built for Mordecai was ultimately built for himself. All of these great reversals.
Well, here’s another one. When Haman fell at Esther’s feet last week, his concern was only for himself. Esther fell before the king, and her concern was only for her people. It kind of reminds me of the heart and the anguish of the apostle Paul in Romans 9. Listen:
“I am speaking the truth in Christ – I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit – that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen” (Romans 9:1-5).
What’s Paul saying? He’s pleading with his own family members (the Jews) to open their eyes and see that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah. In fact, he’s so concerned with their eternal salvation that hypothetically, he says that he’d give up his own salvation if it meant that his people would be saved from eternal judgment.
Folks, we’re in the same boat. If, as the Bible says in Hebrews 9:27, “it is appointed unto men once to die, and after that comes judgment”, and if the way to escape the judgment is only, solely, finally, in the cross of Jesus Christ, then only those who come to the cross of Jesus in repentance and faith will escape the judgment. So, how can we just gather here on the Lord’s Day and sing songs in order to feel good about each other? What about the calamity of souls being lost forever? What about the realities of hell and damnation? Where is our pleading before the King who holds the lives of men and women in His hands? It’s challenging, isn’t it?
An irrevocable edict doesn’t get undone. It can’t be removed from the statute books. It has to stand. But the second edict can nullify the first. Because what Mordecai’s edict is about to do is to reverse Haman’s by giving power to those from whom the power had been taken in the first place. In other words, it’s going to be edict vs. edict. It’s another great reversal, as things continue to get sorted.
You and I may not only have a person after us, a person that we think has an unchangeable heart, we might also have a document, something that’s been written that seems irrevocable – some review at work, some newspaper article written about our company, some transcript, some diagnosis, some lawsuit, some contract, whatever. And because it’s in writing, it looks so intimidating, so un-erasable, so legal. And you’re hearing me preach this morning, thinking, “Yeah, but if you only knew who’s behind that?” But that’s my whole point. Who is anybody compared to the Lord our God? We serve a sovereign God who has yet to be taken off guard by anything done on earth. Nothing frightens Him. Nothing causes Him to do a double-take. Nothing is too hard for Him.
We live “in the shelter of the Most High” and we “abide in the shadow of the Almighty” (Psalm 91:1). That’s the God we serve. That’s the Lord we worship. That’s the One who is our refuge and fortress. When God steps in to rewrite the edict of death, the results are amazing (amen). Not only will every knee bow before Him, but every lie will be exposed, every falsehood overturned. Someday the final books will be opened and the true record will be read.
We’ve seen what God can do with an unchangeable heart, and an irrevocable edit. Finally, an impenetrable gloom.
An Impenetrable Gloom
We have to remember that we’re getting an “inside scoop” on everything that’s taking place inside the palace. The average Jew was still counting down the hours before they breathed their last breath. I hate to say it this morning, but it’s true. The Jews in the streets of Susa probably felt like the people of Ukraine, the atmosphere of Auschwitz or Dachau or Birkenau. There’s wasn’t any laughter. No joy. No peace. Just another day closer to destruction. Just another moment closer to doom. But look at this… Another great reversal. Look at verses 15-17 again:
“Then Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal robes of blue and white, with a great golden crown and a robe of fine linen and purple, and the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced. The Jews had light and gladness and joy and honor. And in every province and in every city, wherever the king’s command and his edict reached, there was gladness and joy among the Jews, a feast and a holiday. And many from the peoples of the country declared themselves Jews, for fear of the Jews had fallen on them.”
It was like VE Day on May 8, 1945. It was like the fall of the Berlin wall on November 9, 1989. It was like nothing they’d ever seen before. The gloom was lifted. The darkness wasn’t impenetrable after all.
Do you live in a place of gloom and darkness? A place where there’s no laughter and joy? Has your life become grim or even borderline tragic? While others go home to the love and warmth of family, do you go home alone to the awful memory of broken relationships, remorse, and guilt? Perhaps you’re holding a medical report that’s gotten you paralyzed. You’re facing a person, a situation, something that seems unchangeable.
Listen to me; Esther’s story is as relevant today as it was when it was first recorded. It’s for the people who face stubborn spouses, intimidating children, hateful co-workers and angry neighbors. It’s for people whose lives have been scarred by documents and lawsuits, and bad reports, or rumors. It’s for people whose lives are lived within the thick, stone walls of depression and gloom. And Esther 8 announces in big bold letters: There Is Hope!
What we need is the presence of the Savior and the perspective of the Cross alive and at work in our lives. The cross of Calvary casts its shadow across all of life, and it makes life bearable. We need the Lord God living in our lives, operating in masterful control. We need the Holy Spirit of God there to prompt us and give us endurance and patience and understanding amid the fog or anxiety and despair. Esther’s story may be ancient, but it kind of feel current, doesn’t it?
And how beautiful it is when the Lord steps in to sort things out. Look at the last verse of chapter 8 and we’ll be done: “And many among the peoples of the land became Jews…” (NASB). The gladness of their hearts, the joy on their faces, the delight in their dancing attracted others to their Lord. An unchangeable heart can change in the hands of the Lord. An irrevocable edict can be revoked in the hands of the Lord. An impenetrable gloom can be penetrated in the hands of the Lord.
The late pastor and author Ray Stedman, in his book The Queen and I: Studies in the Old Testament Book of Esther, writes the following (and I’ll conclude with this quote):
When, because of your faith, your life too becomes perceptibly different; when your reactions are quite opposite to what the situation seems to call for and your activities can no longer be explained in terms of your personality; that’s when your neighborhood will sit up and take notice. In the eyes of the world, it’s not our relationship with Jesus Christ that counts; it’s our resemblance to him. In the midst of circumstances that look like certain defeat, there is no more powerful testimony than the joy produced by faith.
“Now, gracious God, look down upon us and help us. Some of us are all too aware of being at the end of a road that seems to have no more options left, no more exits on the freeway left to us, and before us just seems to stand a great impasse. Help us to find that the Lord Jesus Christ stands in that place, in that situation, in that moment with His arms stretched, opened wide to gather us up in His embrace and to clothe us with the robes of His righteousness. Fulfill Your purposes, we pray, in us and through us, for it’s in Jesus’ name that we pray. Amen.”