YouTube video sermon

Esther 1:1-9

I want to invite you to take your copy of God’s Word and turn with me to the Old Testament book of Esther. The easiest way to find Esther is to go to Psalms, then back up two (2) books. She’s the last of the historical books.

One of the delightful things about becoming a grandparent, so I’m told, is that you’re able to go back and read some of your favorite bedtime stories all over again. You thought that the day was long past when you could snuggle up to somebody and begin, “Once upon a time…” And there is something quite wonderful, isn’t there, about that little introductory phrase – opening up before us vistas, and discoveries, the unfolding drama that’s contained in whatever book we’re holding.

Well, here, as we come to Esther, we might begin by saying, “Once upon a time there was a beautiful Jewish girl who became the queen of Persia.” That’s actually the story. It’s a kind of Cinderella story – not quite rags to riches, but certainly a radical transformation in the life of this young Jewish girl. It’s a story that’s set against the backdrop of an attempt led by one man, an evil villain by the name of Haman, to try and exterminate the Jewish population from the Persian Empire. And this true story begins this way:

1 Now in the days of Ahasuerus, the Ahasuerus who reigned from India to Ethiopia over 127 provinces, 2 in those days when King Ahasuerus sat on his royal throne in Susa, the citadel, 3 in the third year of his reign he gave a feast for all his officials and servants. The army of Persia and Media and the nobles and governors of the provinces were before him, 4 while he showed the riches of his royal glory and the splendor and pomp of his greatness for many days, 180 days. 5 And when these days were completed, the king gave for all the people present in Susa the citadel, both great and small, a feast lasting for seven days in the court of the garden of the king’s palace. 6 There were white cotton curtains and violet hangings fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rods and marble pillars, and also couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl, and precious stones. 7 Drinks were served in golden vessels, vessels of different kinds, and the royal wine was lavished according to the bounty of the king. 8 And drinking was according to this edict: “There is no compulsion.” For the king had given orders to all the staff of his palace to do as each man desired. 9 Queen Vashti also gave a feast for the women in the palace that belonged to King Ahasuerus.

“Our God and our Father, we pray now for your help, as we typically do, because we need it – for me to able to speak clearly, for the church to be able to listen, and for us all that we might understand and obey your Word, and that we might live in the light of its truth. And so, beyond the voice of a mere man, may we hear from You, the living God, for it’s in the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ, that we pray. Amen.”

I don’t want to spend too much time, this morning, in the classroom, but if we don’t cover just a little bit of history, then we’ll be struggling to understand the place of Esther and what’s going on. So, let me take us back to World History 101.

Not counting the nation of Israel and the Jewish people, the Persian Empire was the fourth greatest empire to arise in the ancient world – Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans. There were others, of course, but these were the main players. And the Persians ruled over Palestine for some two hundred years. So, we’re talking about the period of Jewish history after kings Saul, David and Solomon. You remember the Kingdom of Israel split into the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom. The Assyrians capture the north, and later the Babylonians capture the south. We read about all of this in 1 & 2 Kings and 1 & 2 Chronicles.

Well, Cyrus the Great comes along and the Persian Empire (a.k.a. Achaemenid Empire) rises in power, and they defeat the Babylonians. Cyrus has a daughter named Atossa. She would marry a guy by the name of Darius (a.k.a. Darius the Great) and they would have a son named Xerxes (a.k.a. Ahasuerus). Just so you know, when you bump into the books of Daniel or Ezra or Nehemiah, or the prophets Haggai, Zachariah, and Malachi, then you’ll discover that they all relate to this particular period in time. Okay, enough history for one day.

Esther is one of only two books in the Bible that is named after a woman. The other one, of course, as you know, is Ruth. And in Ruth we’re given a glimpse of the domestic life of a village, if you like. We’re given a glimpse of life lived under God in the context of poverty, of eking out an existence. And here, in the book of Esther, we’re at the opposite end of the social spectrum. Here, we’re taken into the grandeur and extravagance of the royal palace of king Ahasuerus (a.k.a. Xerxes).

And if you are not already nudging the person next to you and saying this, it probably will come somewhere along the line, so I might as well address it. You, or your spouse, or neighbor, or the stranger sitting next to you is thinking, “What possible relevance is there in spending our time, as modern, educated 21st century folk, digging into the events that were taking place 2,500 years ago in Persia (what is modern-day Iran)?” And, of course, that’s a good question. That’s the question that any sensible person should be asking.

The Big Picture

And part of the answer is because it’s part of the bigger picture. You say, “Well, now, what’s that supposed to mean?” Part of the reason we’re studying Esther is because it’s part of the Bible – God’s living and inspired Word – and it’s in this bigger story that we see the full plan of God. Listen to how Paul explains a similar question to the Romans, “For whatever was written in former days (i.e. the days of Ahasuerus the king of Persia) was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Romans 15:4).

Stuart Townend and Mark Edwards wrote a worship song called There Is a Hope, and one of the sections of that song says, “There is a hope that stands the test of time, that lifts my eyes beyond the beckoning grave, to see the matchless beauty of a day divine when I behold His face!” There’s a hope. Where’s it found? Ultimately, in Jesus Christ, “For in Him,” says Peter, “[we’re] born again to a living hope [by] the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3). So, when we read an ancient account like Esther, it’s absolutely vital that we’re aware of the fact that God is working everything out according to a unified plan of His own, beginning in eternity and moving to eternity.

So, we stand way back now from Esther – we’re not even touching Esther for the moment – and we say, “Now, we’re going to read this book that has to do with this evil villain called Haman, a little Jewish guy called Mordecai, beautiful girl called Esther, and an egotistical rascal called Ahasuerus. And before we delve into the details of this, what do we need to know?” Well, we need to know that God, the Author of the book and the One who has retained all the details for our consideration, has a unified plan in all of history, and His plan is ultimately to unite all things in and through the work of His Son, Jesus.

So, all of that to make this point: that the pictures and the promises and the symbols of the Old Testament are all to be understood as pointing to the fulfillment of God’s plan. For example, we’re going to discover that our evil villain Haman has a desire to kill all the Jews. Now, see, if he’s successful in that attempt, then there’s no Jesus, because Jesus was Jewish. So, what is happening in the book of Esther is that God is preserving His people, because it’s out of those people that His Messiah is going to come. Therefore, He’s going to make sure that in the details that appear on the canvas, He has His people in position. Because, as Jesus explained to the lady at the well, “Salvation is from the Jews” (John 4:22).

Part of the reason we’re studying Esther is because she’s just another small detail in an overarching story that culminates with our Savior, Jesus Christ.

The Big Question

Secondly, not only do we need to get the big picture, but we need to face the big question. What’s the big question? Well, if you haven’t read the book, you won’t know, but if you’ve started to read it, you might have an idea. And the question is this: Where’s God? Where’s God? The book of Esther isn’t simply one of two books written to women, but it’s also one of two books in which there’s no mention of the name of God. Little quiz; what’s the other book that doesn’t mention the name of God? (Song of Solomon.) The name of God never appears in the book of Esther. There are no titles for God. There are no personal pronouns that refer to God. There aren’t any names like Jehovah-Jireh, El Elyon, Adonai, Yahweh, nothing. Listen, nothing, absolutely, completely void of the name of God. And that’s why there’s been such a struggle through the centuries to incorporate the book of Esther into the cannon of Scripture.

Well, why would God not want His name to appear in the book? Well, maybe to teach us something. Teach us what? Well, to teach us at least this: that in the events of life when God is apparently absent, He’s not. Listen, we don’t have to add His name to everything to explain His presence. He’s omnipresent. You don’t have to say, “God did this, and God did that, and God told me the next thing.” One of the things this supposed dilemma makes clear is this: God isn’t just present in the lightning bolts – in the passage of the Red Sea; in the crossing of the Jordan; in the calming of the wind and the waves. He’s not only present there, but He’s present in the humdrum of life. In the everyday events of life, God is working out His purposes. So, although God’s name doesn’t appear all the time, He’s working.

You’ll find as you read through the story that He’s at work in the refusal of this Persian queen to her husband’s demands. He’s at work in the sleep patterns of the king. There’s an amazing bit in this story where the joker can’t sleep. And then what he reads! Of all the things he could have read, he reads this one thing. I mean, it’s a great story. You have to read this. Although His name doesn’t appear, God is overruling in the hatred of Haman. God hasn’t programmed Haman to hate. But that’s what Haman does – he hates Mordecai. He hates these Jewish people. That’s what he is: he’s a hateful person. Yet, God is present even though His name isn’t mentioned.

Charles Spurgeon has a lovely little section about the absence of God in a sermon that he preached titled Providence – As Seen In the Book of Esther. He says, “Although the name of God does not occur in the Book of Esther, the Lord Himself is there most conspicuously in every incident which it relates.” And then, using a metaphor, Spurgeon says, “I’ve seen portraits bearing the names of persons for whom they were intended, and they certainly needed them.” Some of you have family pictures from decades ago or perhaps over a century ago, and when you’re thumbing through the old photo album somebody says, “Who in the world is that?” And so, you have to decide, do you put Aunt Penelope’s name on it, because there’s no way anybody in the world would look at that and go, “Oh, that must be your Aunt Penelope.” So that’s what Spurgeon says. He says, “I’ve seen portraits, and the name at the bottom is really important, ’cause otherwise you wouldn’t have a clue who it was.” Then he says, “But we have all seen others which required no name, because they were such striking likenesses that the moment you looked upon them you knew them.” And God takes His name out of the book of Esther so that the moment that we look into Esther, again and again and again we say, “That’s God. That’s God. That’s God.” When God appears to be most absent in your life, trust me, He’s at work.

The Big Idea

We have the Big Picture, the Big Question, and finally, the Big Idea. What’s the big idea? Well, the big idea is the doctrine of providence – the biblical notion that God, with wisdom and love, cares for and directs all things in the universe. The doctrine of divine providence asserts that God is in complete control of all things. There are many verses that support this doctrine, but the most famous and loved is Romans 8:28, which says, “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” And one of the most obvious Bible stories that illustrates this doctrine is the story of Joseph (in the Old Testament).

God never fails to meet His people’s needs. He knew that His people were facing starvation. He knew that He would need somebody in a position in Egypt to deal with the starvation problem, and He had the perfect man. But what a strange and convoluted way to get Joseph to such a position of power! His life, incidentally, was marked by him telling dreams in the morning, which ticked his brothers off. His life was marked by the fact that his father doted on him the way you might dote on a small black French bulldog. He gave him clothes that he never gave his brothers. His brothers hated him. They flung him in a pit. He was rescued from the pit and sold into slavery. He was on the receiving end of abuse and scorn. He ended up in jail. And through all of these things, he finally ends up saying, classically – at the end of Genesis 50 – when his brothers finally show up, he says, “Hey, guys, I know you’re upset about this. You intended all this stuff for evil, but God intended it for good” (Genesis 50:20, paraphrased). What was God doing? He was fulfilling His plan, a unified plan for all of history.

And when we go through this book of Esther, we’re going to discover that God is placing his servants in the right spot for the right task at the right moment. We’re going to discover that he uses and arranges even the smallest events to achieve the greatest results. God’s providence is such that nothing escapes His notice, nothing happens without His permission. Even the worst things that will happen to us in our lives will turn out ultimately for our good. Do you believe that?

See, the real test of our doctrine of providence is not in the opening phrase of the song It Is Well: “When peace like a river attendeth my way.” That’s an easy one. It’s a nice day, feeling good, just got the blood test back, came back negative, none of my kids are in jail, my wife is still living with me. It’s a great day in the neighborhood. Me and Mr. Rogers, we’re perfectly contented. “When peace like a river attendeth my way.” Okay, let’s go to the other side: “When sorrows like sea billows roll.” That’s the test of providence. That’s where we’re either gonna take God at His Word and trust Him that He’s involved in the details – that nothing is out of control, nothing will get out of control – or we won’t.

Let me finish with this poem, and then we’ll sing a song. You know this poem, don’t you?

My life is but a weaving
Between my Lord and me.
I cannot choose the colors
He weaveth steadily.

Oft’ times He weaveth sorrow;
And I in foolish pride
Forget He sees the upper,
And I the underside.

Not ’til the loom is silent
And the shuttles cease to fly,
Will God unroll the canvas
And reveal the reason why.

The dark threads are as needful
In the weaver’s skillful hand,
As the threads of gold and silver
In the pattern He has planned.

He knows, He loves, He cares;
Nothing this truth can dim.
He gives the very best to those
Who leave the choice to Him.

The Big Picture: from Genesis to Revelation and every book in between, the focus is upon God’s redeeming and saving a people for Himself. The Big Question: although God’s name isn’t mentioned, there’s no doubt He’s the author of this story and He’s the author of yours and mine, too. The Big Idea: we only see the links in the chain, God sees the end from the beginning.

Father, some of us are in the midst of deep darkness and stuff that seeks to almost overwhelm us. We’re not riding down the lazy river on the Sunday afternoon, rather we feel like we’re taking on water at an unbelievable rate. And we pray that You will help us to hear Your Word, which says, “Cast your burdens upon the Lord, and He will sustain you” (Psalm 55:22) to run into the refuge that is available to us in the Lord Jesus Christ; to find ourselves wrapped up in the embrace of His goodness, so that even when life has plunged us in its deepest pit, we may discover the Savior there. So, to this end we commend one another to you. May the grace of the Lord Jesus, the love of God our Father, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be the abiding portion of all who believe, today and forevermore. Amen.