[0:00] Starting in verse 1. We'll look at the chapter in its entirety.! And the king took out the book of the Chronicles where the records were recorded and all the writings.
[0:35] And he found in the writings where Mordecai the Jew had disclosed a plot against the king. And then when Haman comes in, coming to ask for the life of Mordecai, the king says, What shall be done for the man whom the king wants to honor?
[0:48] Haman thought into his own heart, Well, who else would the king want to honor but me? And he said, Well, and he gave the great answer. You remember it? The man whom the king wants to honor, let them take a robe that the king has worn and place it upon him.
[0:59] Let him put him on a horse that the king has rode upon, that the royal signet is upon the forehead of the horse. And let them parade him through the town square, saying, Thus it shall be done for the man whom the king desires to honor.
[1:11] Then King Ahasuerus gives the great word, As you have said, Go and do for Mordecai the Jew. So Haman had to parade Mordecai, the one whom he has such hatred for in his heart, through the town square and declare his honor and his worthiness.
[1:25] And he went home, distraught and upset, because all these events had come against him. And they came and took him to the banquet which Esther had prepared for him, which would have been the second banquet, for this was the second day.
[1:38] And so now we find ourselves there in chapter 7. Now the king and Haman came to drink wine with Esther the queen, and the king said to Esther on the second day, also as they drank their wine at the banquet, What is your petition, Queen Esther?
[1:53] It shall be granted you, and what is your request? Even to half of the kingdom it shall be done. Then Queen Esther replied, If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me as my petition and my people as my request.
[2:10] For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. Now if we had only been sold as slaves, men and women, I would have remained silent, for the trouble would not be commensurate with the annoyance of the king.
[2:24] Then King Ahasuerus asked Queen Esther, Who is he and where is he who would presume to do thus? Esther said, A foe and an enemy is with this wicked Haman.
[2:36] Then Haman became terrified before the king and queen, and the king arose in his anger from drinking wine and went into the palace garden, but Haman stayed to beg for his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that harm had been determined against him by the king.
[2:53] Now when the king returned from the palace garden into the place where they were drinking wine, Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was, and the king said, Will he even assault the queen with me in the house?
[3:06] And as the word went out of the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face. Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs who were before the king, said, Behold, indeed the gallows standing at Haman's house fifty cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke good on behalf of the king.
[3:22] And the king said, Hang him on it. So they hanged Haman on the gallows, which he had prepared for Mordecai, and the king's anger subsided. I want you to see this evening the enemy's end.
[3:35] The enemy's end. Haman is referred to as the enemy of the Jews throughout the scripture. He is an Agagite, that is, he is a descendant of Agag, one of the ones that was on the other side of the Jordan River, which Moses, when he was leading the people to the promised land, before they crossed the Jordan River, Agag, King Agag, is one of the ones that would not surrender and submit to them, so God declared that they should go fight against them.
[4:04] And they took possession of their land. It would become that Transjordan region, even during the time of Christ. But it is from this lineage, those who had opposed the Jews from the very beginning, which this man Haman comes from.
[4:18] And then he is referred to as the enemy of the Jews. The hatred that he had towards Mordecai was extended to all of the people of Mordecai. And as we saw this morning, it is really an anti-God movement, for he hates the people because they are a particular people, not because of anything they're doing, not because of any religious worship.
[4:39] He said, well, his hatred is fueled by the reality that Mordecai will not stand and honor him or bow before him, but rather he remained seated at the king's gate, though Haman had been exalted among the princes of King Ahasuerus, and he was made only second to the king in the community.
[4:57] But it is really the foundational element that Mordecai would not do thus for Haman because Mordecai would not bow down to any man. And it was really for that purpose that hatred really began to swell in his heart, and it was extended to all the Jewish people.
[5:12] And he issued a decree in the name of the king that on a certain day that all the Jews within the realm would be destroyed. Now this is telling because now the covenantal promises of God are at stake, not only as it pertains to the people, but also God has already led the people to return back and begin rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem under the decree of King Cyrus.
[5:37] While that has stalled out during this time, if you were to go read the book of Ezra, it is somewhere between Ezra's chapter 6 and 7 that this time frame actually comes.
[5:48] We don't find King Ahasuerus or King Xerxes, as he is known in history, being mentioned. We do know that he fits there around King Darius and King Artaxerxes, so he is between the two.
[6:02] And so what we find is there is a lot at stake, not only the nation of Israel, but the rebuilding of the temple and the promise of God that the seed would come. And on the temple of the Lord, in the mountain of the Lord, it will provide every promise that has come thus far in Scripture rests on the preservation of these people to do exactly what God had said he would do.
[6:26] So this enemy of the Jews, Haman, really is opposing the very work of God in history. And even our own salvation hangs in the balance, so to say, as it pertains to what will be done with Haman.
[6:40] And though we find this account in a book that has no mentioning of the name of the Lord God whatsoever, because if the decree is carried out and if the entire Jewish people are wiped off of the face of the earth within the realm of the Persian Empire, which would include all of the people that were back in Jerusalem and all the people that were in that region, since they were still under the Persian Empire's rule, and if those things had happened, there would have been no seed who would come to be a blessing to all of the nations.
[7:10] There would have been no Savior come from the lineage of David. There would be no Messiah, no redemption. And it is the very promises of God that are at stake, and it is the enemy that's opposing.
[7:22] Haman is just one more rung in the ladder of the enemy's opposition. From the very beginning of Scripture, Satan, the enemy of our souls, has opposed the work of God.
[7:36] And Haman is just one more tool to be utilized by him for that intended purpose. Just as God has his people who he used for his glory, so too has the enemy his people whom he used for his purposes and his plans.
[7:53] And Haman is one such individual. But yet it is also a foreshadowing of the events that we find in Christ. There's so much that is foreshadowed here, though we do not have to read very far into it.
[8:07] And we see the enemy's end. The first thing that we notice in the passage before us is the declaration of the king. And it is a repeated declaration, something he has said before, but it is something that he declares again on the second day.
[8:22] It says that now the king and Haman came to drink wine with Esther. That is just a phraseology that means that they were, I think some translations say they were banqueting. That is, they were feasting lavishly.
[8:34] It was a wonderful feast. It was quite a party that Esther had prepared. And as they had come for this feast, the king makes this declaration, the same thing that he had said the day before.
[8:49] And he says, what is your petition, Queen Esther? And what is your request? And he declares to her that if you will make it known, I will give it to you up into half of my kingdom.
[9:03] Now that phrase, up to half my kingdom, I will grant it, is just a good way, a customary way of saying, I will do my best to fulfill your requests. I will, to the fullest of my measure, I will answer the question you want to ask me.
[9:20] Now this is telling, for we know that this is also the king who has dethroned Queen Vashti. This is one who has tended to have mood swings, one that is not necessarily stable in all of his dealings.
[9:34] If we read of him historically, he is not what we would call a kind and gracious individual. Though he had a 20-year reign in the Persian Empire, he was not known for his grace and his mercy.
[9:46] Rather, he was known for his brutality and for his strict rule and the manner in which he dealt, of which we have just a little picture of it in his dealing with Queen Vashti when he dethrones her because she fails to answer to his really absurd request.
[10:03] But yet, for some reason now, though for a number of days, Esther had not been invited to his presence after three days of fasting and praying and asking the people in the capital of Susa to do the same as Mordecai led the Jews present there.
[10:21] The queen arraigned herself in her royal robes and stood before him and he extended the royal scepter and then he responded to the invitation to come to the banquet and at that banquet he says, what do you want?
[10:34] And the declaration is that I will give you, whatever it is, up to half of my kingdom. Now that declaration was based upon the acceptance of the intercessor.
[10:49] So he would say that I will answer your request because I accept the one who is making the intercession. Now don't separate that reality for the grace or the extended offer of the king was determined upon his acceptation of the one who was interceding.
[11:16] That is, if Esther had not found favor in his sight, there would have been no one to stand before him and there would have been no request made. But she did, as we read in scripture, receive favor in his sight.
[11:30] She was welcomed into his presence and then she was welcomed to extend that invitation to come to the two banquets which he did. The intercessor is of great importance for the weight of the nation and the people of God depend upon the worthiness of the one that is interceding for them.
[11:50] The enemy has a role as well. The enemy is one of power, the one of authority. Haman has the signet ring of the king and can write rules and laws and seal them.
[12:01] We'll see later that the ring is taken from Haman and given to Mordecai. Mordecai is given that same authoritative power. Haman has abused that power to be the enemy of the Jews. But yet there resides within the courtroom of the king one to intercede when no one else could.
[12:20] One who could stand in the gap. And it is the great picture that we see of Christ, our intercessor, who is at the right hand of the Father daily to intercede on our behalf.
[12:30] For the enemy that opposes us definitely is one of power and authority and one who is, quote unquote, the ruler of this world. For the keys of this world have been handed over to him by the rebellion and fall of man.
[12:45] And yet there is one who resides in the palace of the king who is a worthy intercessor. And we do not need to lose sight of that. The declaration of the king is, what would you have me to do for you?
[12:57] And I will do it. Second, we notice the desperation of the moment. For Queen Esther makes her request known.
[13:10] And she reveals the desperation of the moment they stand in. Then Queen Esther replied, if I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, here it is, let my life be given me as my petition and my people as my request.
[13:26] This is really an intercession for life. It is not an intercession of convenience. It is an intercession of desperation. Let my life be given. We know what the situation entails.
[13:39] We know of the decree that's written. King Ahasuerus does not know for it had been written in his name, but he did not write it. The people in the capital city knew. Everything that was going on around them knew.
[13:50] And no one at this point knew that the queen was a Jewish lady. And yet, the request is one of desperation. For she says, for we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated.
[14:06] Now notice what she says. Now if we had only been sold as slaves, men and women, I would have remained silent for the trouble would not be commensurate with the annoyance of the king. What she is saying is, O king, if this wasn't such a desperate moment, I would not come before you.
[14:21] If it was a matter of mere inconveniences that we as people under the Persian empire were to be slaves and servants of those around us, then I would have left it alone. But no, that is not the case.
[14:32] We have been sold for destruction. The price has been paid and the condemnation has already been written and the judgment has been cast and the judgment that has been cast is that we will die, that we will all be destroyed, that there is an appointed day according to the decree of Haman, that all of the Jewish people within the Persian empire would face imminent death.
[14:54] And it is a desperate moment for it is not just a moment of things getting bad. It is a moment of the reality that they have reached a time of desperation for they are going to be destroyed.
[15:07] So this is why the intercessor is needed. Don't lose sight of the desperate moment because all too often we feel like, oh, it's just a little inconvenient.
[15:21] No, the decree had been sealed. The signet ring of the king had been put upon it. Imminent death awaited them and that day had been appointed. It reminds me that there is a day appointed unto every man where we will stand before the Lord God Almighty and we will be judged for the works of our deeds of our flesh.
[15:38] It is appointed unto man once to die and after this comes judgment. It's been sealed by the king and if it wasn't such a desperate moment we wouldn't need an intercessor. If it was just a matter of God saying, well, I'm going to judge you into balance and we'll see how it goes.
[15:52] No, he says that those who fall short will be cast out into eternal death for the wages of sin is death and we know that there are none righteous, no, not one and the reality is that we stand at such a desperate hour that we need an intercessor who will stand before the throne of the king and intercede on our behalf.
[16:10] It is not that we are just slaves of sin though we are natural in our own abilities. We are slaves of Satan and slaves of sin. Christ makes that known. We cannot help but sin for that.
[16:21] We are slaves of sin but it's not that just we're slaves of sin. The reality is that sin leads us to a certain imminent death and eternal separation and it is such a desperate moment that we need an acceptable intercessor who will stand before the king and say they have been sold into death.
[16:41] What we have purchased with the wages of our sin is not a difficult life. Rather what we have purchased with the wages of our sin is an imminent death. For the wages of sin is death and we need one who will understand the desperation of the moment for the desperation of the moment was an accurate evaluation of their circumstances.
[17:02] Too many people live as if everything will be okay. and they live as if we really don't need an intercessor. It's not that bad. It'll work out in the end.
[17:14] Hey for the Jewish people here it's not going to work out in the end. In the end they die. In the end they're destroyed. In the end there's condemnation. Well I know we don't like to hear about it because we like to go to the scripture and hear the good news.
[17:28] Well the good news is only good if we understand how bad the bad news is. If the bad news is that in the end we die and we are separated from Christ for all of eternity and we are cast into eternal condemnation and eternal judgment not to annihilation rather eternal condemnation and eternal judgment and if we understand the desperate moment some people love annihilation because annihilation says oh in the end everything just stops and it goes black and we're done and we don't really know what happens.
[17:55] Well that's not that bad. Matter of fact there are people around the world that are seeking that. They call that nirvana being lost in the complete nothingness because nothingness would be okay. The only obvious answer to that is that we know eternally and internally there is no such thing as nothingness.
[18:10] Have you ever sat around and tried to think about nothing? You can't do it. Something is going to occupy your mind. If nothing else you're trying to think about thinking about nothing. Do it.
[18:22] It's kind of a light exercise but it's a reality. You're always in this eternal conscious state of existence and God has created us as eternal beings. And so the desperation of the moment is this.
[18:37] The end result is not that we just absolve and cease to be. The end result is that we are eternally condemned forever. And so we need an intercessor who will stand in the gap to plead the case and say oh if they had just been sold into slavery it would be one thing and it wouldn't be worth the annoyance of the king.
[18:58] But praise be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord Lord and Savior he saw fit to not annoy the king but to stand before the throne of the father and to say they are mine oh father.
[19:10] I have bought them with my blood. They walk in a desperate walk. They are on a path that leads to destruction but by my mercy and by my grace I call them to myself.
[19:22] We understand the desperation of the moment. Number three. we need to see the defamation of the enemy. In a moment when Esther makes this request known.
[19:39] King Ahasuerus asked Queen Esther it says in verse five who is he and where is he the new American standard says who would presume to do thus. The literal reading is who has filled his heart with such hatred.
[19:53] Who is he that has filled his heart with such hatred. Esther answers immediately. Now there are only three in attendance other than the servants of the king.
[20:05] And Esther says a foe and an enemy is this wicked Haman. And in that moment he who so soon ago was exalted by the king is humbled by the word.
[20:20] He who was lifted high by King Ahasuerus is humiliated in a moment for the reality of his heart is revealed for all to see. The one who has filled his heart with such hatred.
[20:33] Who is he and where is he whose heart is so moved by hatred. Well he's right here and he's present. Though we may conceal it from people for a moment there will be a day of revelation.
[20:44] A day of revelation where every heart is known and every heart is seen as it always has been. And in this moment this one who had such prominence and this one who had such place before the king all of a sudden is humbled and the reality of his wickedness is made known to the one who's on the throne.
[21:05] And Haman became terrified before the king and queen. Now I don't want you to miss the irony of this. It is such a sweet irony.
[21:17] Haman's hatred for the Jews began when? Because Mordecai would not stand and bow before him when he walked through the gate.
[21:28] All Haman wanted was for Mordecai to stand in acknowledgement and then bow in humility at his feet. All Haman wanted was in his pride and his exalted position between the powers of this world was to be honored by this man bowing at his feet.
[21:50] And he was moved by hatred because this Jewish man would never bow at his feet. And now he who so wanted a Jewish man to bow at his feet falls at the feet of a Jewish woman.
[22:06] Begging for his life. See how quickly he is belittled.
[22:18] Because the king now knows him as he is. The one who wanted a man to bow before him falls at the feet of a woman. And a Jewish woman at that.
[22:30] The one he hated so dearly. The one he hated with such animosity that he was willing to kill them. Now he falls at his feet and he begs. And he begs.
[22:42] He falls at her feet and begs for mercy. For it says the king arose in his anger from drinking wine and went into the palace garden. If you ever noticed just a complete side note. How quick the revelry of wine drinking is lost in the book of Esther.
[22:59] In the first chapter they're drinking wine and everybody's having a good time and the king's throwing a good party and they drink wine for a number of days on the seventh day drinking wine. He says I have queen Vashti come in. Queen Vashti says I'm not coming in and all of a sudden boom things get serious.
[23:13] What do you mean she won't come in? She's not listening to me. So then all of a sudden we have to wait. So we for lack of better way of saying it the joy of the wine tasting has ceased Immediately. Whatever pleasure the wine was bringing in the moment was gone because all of a sudden things got serious.
[23:29] You know what I mean? She won't listen to me now. The only other banquet we have they're drinking wine and they're having this great banquet and all of a sudden the wickedness of Haman is revealed and whatever joy the wine was bringing is no more for now the king leaves in anger.
[23:45] And he goes to the palace garden but Haman stayed to beg for his life from Queen Esser and he saw that for he saw that harm had been determined against him by the king.
[23:57] Notice the defamation of the enemy. the king alone has the authority to handle the enemy that opposes God's people. Fourth and finally notice the demonstration of justice.
[24:12] The demonstration of justice. We see the sovereign leading of God in leading Esther to do a second banquet. If she had made these matters known on the first day that would have been before the king had had a sleepless night and he read concerning Mordecai.
[24:33] It would have been before the king had decided to honor Mordecai. It would have been before Haman had constructed the gallows at his home. It would have been before all of these matters.
[24:46] But in God's perfect timing at the right time in the right season as he was working all things out for his glory it was on the second day after the faithfulness of Mordecai the Jew had been made known to the king after the king had honored Mordecai through the acts of Haman after Haman had constructed the gallows at his home.
[25:10] Now the king hears this. And this may be a little presumptuous but what we see is when the king walks out in a fit of anger and he comes back in and he finds Haman laid across the queen.
[25:24] Now it's no longer a mount a matter of does he have a problem with the Jewish people. Now he is accusting the queen. And he's doing something that requires immediate action.
[25:40] Now it says as the king returned from the palace garden into the place where they were drinking wine Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was and the king said well he even assault the queen with me in the house.
[25:54] For it was absolutely against the law for any man to lay hands on the queen. But in his humiliation Haman had no other options.
[26:08] And there was a word when out of the king's mouth they covered Haman's face. Then Harbona by the way which was the eunuch that was present also when Vashti did not respond. He is one of the ones that the king sent to get Vashti and she would not come.
[26:23] So Harbona we have met before. One of the eunuchs who were before the king said behold indeed the gallows standing at Haman's house 50 cubits high. That's roughly 75 feet high.
[26:36] We looked at it and said you mean he built a gallow 75 feet high. Well if we look at it in the word the word gallows there could also mean a tree. He was utilizing a tree that was on his property to be an instrument of execution which you know cursed is everyone who hangs upon a tree.
[26:53] So when we take it in its original Hebrew language it does not seem too far fetched to be 75 foot high. He had used this tree and constructed a means of execution on that tree.
[27:07] But evidently people within the court of the king knew what was going on. For Harbona says behold indeed the gallows standing at Haman's house 50 cubits high.
[27:18] Now he knows this look at this which Haman made for Mordecai who spoke good on behalf of the king. So there's this confirmation too of the wickedness of the man's heart.
[27:33] So they hanged Haman on the gallows which he had prepared for Mordecai. And here's the end of the enemy. And the king's anger was subsided.
[27:48] The enemy of the Jews has been addressed by the king. And it is also a demonstration of the biblical principle of we reap what we sow.
[28:02] For hatred was what was reaped by Haman. And in the end it is what he sowed as his reward. Over and over again we see the faithfulness of God here.
[28:15] And we are reminded that God kept the promises made to his covenant people. Though we do not find them doing anything extra special.
[28:26] We do not see any unique faithfulness found within the pages of the book of Esther. The faithfulness we find is the faithfulness that is continuously operating behind the scenes. So to say the faithfulness of God to work on behalf of his people utilizing the people he already has in place.
[28:43] And we are reminded that though at times we do not give him the credit it is always his work and his preservation of his purposes.
[28:56] For even in our own life when the enemy opposes us at times God may use the very normal circumstances of our life to work for his glory and our good.
[29:09] God is never without the individuals that he needs and he always has the right people in place at the right time. We are reminded still though that even in our moments of desperation when the enemy seems to rage at his greatest fury that we have an intercessor who stands before the throne.
[29:31] Who has declared the certain doom of the king and there is coming a day where the enemy will come to his end. For the king of kings will come and the lord of lords and he will bring that enemy to his wretched end.
[29:46] And then his justice will be demonstrated to all. And it is his battle that is against that enemy that we unite with him.
[29:57] And his anger will subside. For it is the enemy of God's people that he opposes. Not his people. Let's pray and then we'll be dismissed.
[30:10] Father we thank you so much for this night. And we stand. in wondrous awe. Of how you move. How you put things sovereignly in place.
[30:26] That you may get the greatest glory. We read the historical writings we find in scripture. We see fallible man. Individuals with problems.
[30:40] Failings. Shortcomings. But we see a faithful God. God that you are true to your word. It is the revelation of your character.
[30:53] Even when it is not front and center. But it is seen clearly in the pages of scripture. That you are true. And you are faithful. May this give us great confidence when we fight the battles before us.
[31:08] Not knowing where our help always comes from in this world. But knowing that ultimately it comes from you. May we have confidence that the character of God remains true to the promises of God.
[31:21] And it is the very promises of God that we stand upon. That your word is true. Even if the word of every other man may be found a liar. So Lord Jesus may we draw closer to you.
[31:38] May we walk faithfully before you. And may you be glorified. As we do so each and every day. Among the people you put us into contact with.
[31:49] May our love for you only grow stronger day by day. We ask it all in your name. Amen. Thank you guys.