Good evening. I ask you to open
your Bible with me to the Book of Esther. Start off with the Book of Psalms
and go back a couple of books. That's probably the easiest way
to find it. There are two books. And there are probably two of
the clearest pictures of Arnold in scripture. And this is an
amazing story. It's amazing to think this It's
more than just, we use the word story, and I think sometimes
that sounds like just something made up, but these things really
happen. You know, this is the truth from
God's word. These events actually took place,
and in and of themselves, it's a pretty amazing story, as we
would call it. But it means nothing if we don't
see Christ. if we don't see the Lord Jesus
Christ in these scriptures. So this evening, I want us to
look at this book of Esther together. And there's a few different people
mentioned here, but here's four of them that we'll look at in
particular. There's King Ahasuerus. a fellow named Haman, and then
of course Esther. And in chapter one, and I'm gonna
try to go through this book this evening, and I'll be conscious
that it's Wednesday evening, so we'll go through this as quick
as we can. But in chapter one, we see that
this king, King Esther, he helped feast. He held a great party
that lasted seven days. Look at Esther 1, look at verse
5. It says, when these days were
expired, the king made a feast unto all the people that were
present in Shushan the palace, both under the great and in small.
Seven days. This was quite a party. Seven
days in the court of the garden of the king's palace. Read on,
look at verse six. Where white, green, and blue
hangings, fastened with cords of fine linen, and purples to
silver rings, and pillars of marble, and embeds were of gold
and silver upon a pavement of red and blue and white and black
marble. And they gave them to drink in
vessels of gold, the vessels being diverse, one from another. the state of the king. And the
drinking was according to the law, none did compel, for so
the king had appointed to all the officers of the town that
they should do according to every man's pleasure. So this was a
large, this was a large party. I suppose everybody in the town
knew what was happening here. And in verse nine, we see that the queen, Bastion, she made
a feast for the women. So she had a party as well. And on the seventh day, when
the king's heart was married with wine, they had been drinking
and carrying on for seven days. And the king commanded the chamberlains
to bring Bastion, to bring the queen before the king with her
crown. for the whole purpose of just
showing her off. She was beautiful. She was fair
to look upon. And when he did this, the queen
refused. Now, that's a big deal. You know, this is the king speaking. He said, go get the queen. And
some of the chamberlains went. She said, I'm not going. And
all the men, well, they quickly became upset about this. They told the king, you've gotta
do something about this. If you don't, then all the women
are gonna despise their husbands and think they don't have to
listen. And this is, king, this has created a mess for you, but
this is gonna create a mess for all of us. So there was a royal
commandment that Vashti came no more before the king. And at her stake, she wasn't
going to be queen anymore. That was going to be given to
another. And everybody liked this solution. They thought this
was a good plan. But now the problem is the king,
he no longer has a queen. They basically, and you go back
and you take time and read this. You go through all 10 of these
chapters. But basically, the king had a
beauty contest. And they invited all the beautiful
women to come and pass before the king, and he would select
his queen. And it says that many fair young
maidens showed up, but one in particular, Esther. Esther. Esther, who was a, she
was an orphan. She was a Jewish orphan. Look
at chapter two of Esther, verse seven. It says, and he brought up Hades,
that is Esther, his uncle's daughter. For she had neither father nor
mother, and the maid was fair and beautiful. When Mordecai,
when her father and mother were dead, took her for his own daughter. and he raised her up like his
own daughter. And we read that King Ahasuerus,
he loved Esther above all. All those women that passed before
him, he loved Esther above all. Look at verse 17, see that? In favoring this, I reward not
all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown upon her head,
and he made her queen instead of majesty. And when he walked by Mordecai,
when he brought him past, he sat there at the gate and kind
of kept an eye out for her, waited for her. And Mordecai, when Haman
would pass by Mordecai, Mordecai wouldn't bow to him. And this
just infuriated Haman. And Mordecai refused to bow. And
he didn't show him any reverence. He didn't show this man any reverence
at all. But there had been a command
made. The king had made a command that all the Jews were to bow
to this man Amon. Look at Esther 3. Look at these
first two or three verses here in Esther 3. After these things, did king
Amon seriously and advanced him and set his seat above all the
princes that were with him. And all the king's servants that
were in the king's gate bowed and referenced Haman, for the
king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai bowed not,
nor did him reference. And the king's servants which
were in the king's gate said unto Mordecai, the king's command. You know, we don't bow to men. You see this, you see these religious
leaders and things and how they let people prostrate and bow
before them, it's just foolishness that they would even allow that.
But we bow to God. So again, the king's servants,
they asked, why don't you just bow to him? But he refused, and
Haman was full of wrath, that it's just infuriating, that it's
this small little thing just infuriating him. And Haman sought
to destroy this, not just Mordecai, the entire kingdom. Look at Esther
chapter three, look at verse eight. Haman said unto King Ahasuerus,
there's a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the
people in all the provinces of thy kingdom, and their laws are
diverse from all the people. Neither keep they the king's
laws, therefore it's not for the king's prophet to suffer
them. If it please the king, let it
be written that they may be destroyed. And I will pay 10,000 pounds
of silver to the hands of those that have charged the business
to bring it into the king's treasury. And the king took his ring from
his hand, and he gave it to Haman, the son of Hamadeth the Agagite,
the Jew's enemy. And the king said unto Haman,
the silver is given to thee. the people also to do with them
as singeth good to thee. He convinced the king, by the
fault of one, to kill every Jew. Now again, just think about this.
This really, this truly happened. Look at Esther 3, beginning of
verse 13. Letters were sent by post into
all the king's provinces. of young and old, little children
and women, in one day, even upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth
month, which is the month of April, and to take the sword
then, and a copy of the writing for a commandment to be given
in every province. This law was made up, and it
was very clear what was to happen. And it was sent in every province,
and was published to all people, that they should be ready against
that day. And the host went out, being hastened by the king's
commandment. This is a commandment of the king. And the decree was
given in Shush in the palace, and the king and Haman sat down
to drink. But the city of Shushan was perplexed. Now this was, imagine, imagine
being a Jew and hearing news of this. And we read the He mourned. Mordecai perceived
all that was done. He ran his clothes, put a sackcloth
on with ashes, and went out to the midst of the city and cried
with a loud and bitter cry. Look at verse 8. Also he gave
him a copy of the writing of the decree that was given to
Shushan to destroy, and to show it unto Here's some good news here. The
queen hears about this and she gets a message to Mordecai to
say, what's wrong? What's going on here? And he
asks Esther to go before the king. He's the only one that
can do anything about this. In our day, we don't know, we
don't really know much about, about sovereignty. But you know,
when the king spoke, he spoke with all authority. When the
king spoke, people, people did exactly what they, what they
were commanded to do. Look at, look here at chapter
four, beginning of verse 11. All the king's servants and all
the people in the king's province, they know this. Whosoever, whether
man or woman, shall come unto the king and to the inner court
who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death,
except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden statue
that he may live. I've not been called to come
into the King in these 30 days. And they told this to Mordecai.
They told him Esther's words. And Mordecai commanded to answer
Esther. He said, give this message back
to her. Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape this day's
house more than all the Jews. For if thou ought to get ahold
of thy peace at this time, which shall enlarge and deliver to
rise of the Jews from another place, but thou and thy father's
house shall be destroyed. And lo, whither thou art come
to the kingdom for such a time as this. Now, listen, we've talked
a little bit about sovereignty, the authority of the king. And this was the rule. This was
written down. No one went before the king. Only those who were called, that's
it, were to come before him. And to go without him calling
was to perish. To stand before the king, even
the queen, to go before the king without him calling was to perish.
He or she, he or she would be put to death. You couldn't just,
again, you couldn't just walk into the king. I'm sure that
cut down on visitors, didn't it? With a rule like that. But
you couldn't do that. We can't, I mean, you think about
like, if we went to Washington, D.C., and you tried to walk into
the White House, we can't even, we couldn't even do that, right?
Without being told to come in. You can't just go to the king. And listen, this is a picture
of God's holiness. God is absolutely holy. Men joke about it. Men call him the good man upstairs. They just say awful things about
him. Lord Jesus Christ. And look at
the last few words there in verse 14. Mordecai says this to Esther. Don't you just kind of wonder
how this little Jewish orphan ends up being the queen? All these events that had to
take place, and she's now, she's now the queen. And Mordecai says
to her, who knows? whether thou art come to the
kingdom for such a time as this. Yes, there may be. Yes, there
may be. This is why God made you queen. And she replies and says, if
I perish, Now, again, Ahasuerus, he's a
picture of God, God who is sovereign, God who is absolutely holy, and
we, again, we dare not approach him apart from the Lord Jesus
Christ. You know, when the Ark of the
Covenant was being moved, remember, they put it on a cart, and it
hit a bump. Maybe we ask that question, is
God truly that holy? Is God really gonna punish sin?
The Ark of the Covenant was being hauled on a cart. And they hit
a little pothole or a bump in the road or something, and it
looked like the Ark was gonna fall off that wagon. And a man named Huzzah put his
hand out just to stable it, just to keep it from falling off the
cart. And God slew him. I told you, God's commands are
to be followed. Again, a picture of God's holiness,
his sovereignty. So again, when anyone went before
this king, it was dependent on the king
to hold out that scepter. Scripture says this, that Almighty
God The king could show mercy or
he could withhold it. He's the king. We're in his hands
to do with what he will. Now Esther was a Jewish. She's gonna go before the king.
She's a picture. You know, this is a wonderful
story. This little orphan girl being made But what's even more amazing
is that she's a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. Think about
this. She identified with her people.
As a Jewish lady, she identified with her people. We know this. She was highly favorite of the
king. She was willing to perish. Are
these things not also true of our Savior? The Lord Jesus Christ
identified with his people. Almighty God became a man. He's highly honored. Isn't he
highly honored? God spoke from heaven and he
said, this is my beloved son. And listen, not only was he willing
to die for his people, he did. He perished for his people. Scripture says this, he became
obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross. And by his death, oh what a glorious
thing, we have life. Let's read on. Look at chapter
5 in verse 1. It came to pass on the third
day that Esther put on her royal apparel and stood in the inner
court of the king's house, over against the king's house, and
the king set upon his royal throne and the royal The third day, the third day,
she put on her royal apparel and stood before the king. The Lord Jesus Christ, he rose
from the grave on the third day and stood in the presence of
his father. Let's read on here. It says the
king sat on his royal throne. You see that? Look at verse two.
And it was so, when the king saw Esther, the queen, standing
in the court, that she obtained favor in his sight. And the king held out to Esther
the gold scepter that was in his hand, so Esther drew near
and touched the top of the scepter. One look, with just one look,
she obtained favor of the king. Hold your place there. Turn over
to 2nd Peter. 2nd Peter. Only one, only one is worthy,
and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. Then said the king unto her,
what wilt thou? Queen answered, what is your
petition? What is your request? Whatever
you ask, queen, it's yours. Scripture declares this, that
the father loveth the son, hath given all things into his hands. So her request was this. She
said, I want a banquet. I want a banquet with Haman and
the king. And the king granted her request. And can you imagine Haman's initial
joy when he hears this, the queen, and the king, and despite that,
he's still filled with this indignation. He's still angry because Mordecai
refused to bow to him. Well, that night, again, God's
providence, when he's pleased to just give us a glimpse, you
think about this, that night, the king couldn't sleep. Of all nights, the king couldn't
sleep. Look there at these first few verses of chapter six. On
that night, the king couldn't sleep, and he commanded to bring
the book of records of the Chronicles, and they were read before the
king. I can't help it. We used to read
a bedtime story. This is the king, and he can't
sleep this night. So they bring the Book of Proverbs,
they bring God's Word, and they read it to the king, and it was
found written that Mordecai, Esther's cousin here, Mordecai,
had told of two men, Big Thanah and Teresh, two of the king's
chamberlains, the keepers of the door, who sought to lay hands
on King Ahasuerus. One day, when Mordecai was out
there kind of keeping an eye out for Esther, Two men are talking
about overthrowing the king. And Mordecai reports that. And
those two men were arrested and dealt with, but the king never
heard anything about it, till this night, till this very minute. And the king says, verse three,
what honor and dignity had been done to Mordecai for this? And they then said to the king's
servants that mentioned there's been nothing. Nothing's been
done for him. And the king said, who is in
the court? Again, God's providence, at this very moment, Haman had
come into the outside court of the king's house to speak to
the king. And his desire was to have Mordecai
hanged. He'd already built 75 feet tall. Everybody could see. You don't
mean Gallo's 75 feet tall to hang a man. This was all to just
show the people. But he walks in. And can you imagine? I mean, look
here. The king had servants sitting
in the hall, and Haman standing in the court. The king said,
let him come in. So Haman came in, and the king said to him,
What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighted to honor? And Haman thought, my day has
come, right? This is for me. Verse seven, and Haman answered
the king, for the man whom the king delighted to honor, let
the royal apparel be brought which the king useth to wear.
And the horse that the king rides upon, and the crown royal which
is set upon his head, and let this apparel and horse be delivered
to the hand of one of the king's most noble princes, that if they
may array the man withal from whom the king delighteth to honor,
and bring him on a horse back through the street of the city,
and proclaim before him, thus shall it be done to the man whom
the king delighteth to honor. Now again, Haman thought the
king was talking about him. It's kind of interesting to see
that this one's going to reign as a result of another. Look at the first end. The king
said to Haman, make haste. Well, I bet his countenance fell
when the king spoke to him. Make haste. and take the apparel
and the horses thou hast sent, and do even so to Mordecai the
Jew that sitteth at the king's gate. Let nothing fail of it
that thou hast told me. And then took Haman the apparel
and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and brought him on horseback
through the street of the city, and proclaimed before him, Thus
shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth. We see here, listen, the deliverance. We're gonna see deliverance,
the salvation of the people. This group of Jews, and we see the salvation of God's
people. King finally said, what do you
want? What do you want from me? Verse three, Esther the queen
answered and said, if I have found favor in thy side, O king,
I said, please, O king, let my life be given to me at my petition
and my people at my request. We're sold. I and my people to
be destroyed, to be slain, to perish. But if we've been sold
for bondmen and bondwomen, I have my tongue all over the enemy. And Esther said, the adversary
and the enemy is the wicked Haman. And Haman was afraid before the
king and before the queen. judgment of the king. But Esther,
Esther interceded on behalf of the Jews. She interceded on behalf
of her people. And the Lord Jesus Christ, he
intercedes on behalf of his people. He called his name Jesus for
he shall save his people She entered in once before the
beginning. That's what we read here. And
the Lord Jesus Christ entered in once into the holy place,
having obtained eternal redemption for us. The enemy here is destroyed. And what's so interesting is
that which he designed Haman's hanged, and Mordecai
goes free. God's sovereign hand ruling and
reigning over all things. And listen, the king's wrath
was pacified. Look at chapter seven, verse
10. So they hanged Haman on the gallows
that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king's wrath pacified. That wrath that was new was,
Christ bore it on the tree. He bore it in his body on the
tree. And then, look at chapter eight,
look at verse one. On that day, King Asurus, he
gave the house of Canaan, the Jew's enemy, unto Esther the
queen, and Mordecai came Christ reigns over all. He reigns supreme. He said, put a ring on his finger. Clothed him in royal apparel. He's not royalty. He is now,
isn't he? Clothed in beauty. You know that, the prodigal son,
remember that when he returned? What did his father say? Put
a ring on his finger, put a robe on him, kill the fatted calf. Well, in chapter nine, verse
22, we're almost finished. As the days were in, the Jews
rested, from their enemies, and the month which was turned
unto them from sorrow to joy, from mourning into a good day,
that they should make ten days of feasting and joy and of sending
portions one to another and gifts to the poor. They rested from
their enemies. One day, one day we'll rest. We'll rest from our enemies.
We'll rest from sin put away, no longer. Their mourning was
turned to rejoicing. You read that there in Psalm
30, from mourning to dancing. And verse 28 says, these days
should be remembered and kept throughout every generation,
every family, every province, every city, and that today's
appearance should not fail from among the Jews, nor the memorial
then perish from their seed. What happened? That deliverance
was today remembered. Our Lord said this of His Word,
of His body, of his blood, this do in remembrance of me." Well, we see, again, something
of God's holiness, of Christ's death for his people. This story's
a wonderful story. God's holiness, Christ's death
for his people, his representation of his people, the deliverance
and salvation of his people, and every enemy, every enemy
destroyed.