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Teaching podcast from the Eagle Community Church of Christ in Mont Belvieu, TX.
Hi, friends. This is John Gunter with Eagle Community Church of Christ. Thanks so much for listening to our podcast. This week, we jump back into the story, in chapter 20. We're talking about Esther, which is a very interesting story when you know all the, know all the facts and things that aren't in there.
John Gunter:So I hope this is helpful for you. I hope you'll come see us in person sometime, and also check our website out, eaglechurchofchrist.com. Thanks for listening.
John Gunter:Well, good morning again. What a
John Gunter:wonderful time of worship we've had this morning. Thank you, Tyler, for leading us. Are you there, Tyler? Drive to Jordan. You too, Jordan.
John Gunter:Thank you. And like I said earlier, I'm glad to be back into the story. This is, again, one of those things that we have, this is chapter 20, so we've been through 19 different weeks of this. You just thought the Holy Spirit thing was long. That was only 13 or 14.
John Gunter:So, the story, chapter 20, is talking about Esther. And, in the story, if you're new here and haven't been a part of it, basically, the story is a kind of an overview of the Bible. We still have a book right over there a couple of books left if you need one, but basically what the story is, is focused on is both our story as a lower story and what we see and experience and feel right here as we go through life. And also, what the author will talk about as the upper story. What is God doing through all of this?
John Gunter:How is God kind of managing things as we go about life here? And the weird thing is, it's kind of funny that, this book itself was put into the story, because it does a really good job of talking about all the things going on in the here and now and how they're experiencing it, but not mentioning God or what God's doing or how God looks on these things at all. So as you read through Esther this week, or maybe this is all new to you and you forgot, what you should notice is that when you read through Esther, God is not mentioned.
John Gunter:A lot of
John Gunter:things are kind of, iffy at best, morally. And so what we're gonna do this morning is kind of take I've collected the scripture to kind of tell the story in order without reading all the chapters. So bear with me as we go through the story of Esther this morning as we start with, Esther chapter 1 in verse 10. On the 7th day, when King Xerxes was in a high spirits from wine, he was drunk. And luckily, he was a happy drunk, I guess.
John Gunter:He commanded the 7 eunuchs who served him. We're not going to mention all those names. We'll let you do that on the side. To bring before him Queen Vashti, wearing her royal crown in order to display her beauty to the people and nobles, for she was lovely to look at. Now he is asking his wife to come and kind of parade about in some sort of manner.
John Gunter:Some people read this and think all all he wants her to wear is the royal crown. I don't know that that's the case, but either way, what he's wanting is to kind of show off his wife. And but when the attendants delivered the king's command, queen Vashti refused to come. She is not taking part. It doesn't say all the reasons.
John Gunter:I'm not gonna stand before your friends or anything like that, but she is not having it. And it said, she refused to come, then the king became furious and burned with anger. Since it was customary for the king to consult experts in matters of law and justice, he spoke with the wise men who understood understood the times. He has to consult with the wise men over what to do with his wife. Isn't that interesting?
John Gunter:If your wife found out you did that, you are in trouble, guys.
John Gunter:But that's
John Gunter:what he does, and so he consulted these wise men, and he said that that they understood the times, were closer to the king. Again, not mentioning all of these people, but the 7 nobles of Persia and Media who had special access to the king and were highest in the kingdom. So he went to his highest people in the kingdom. According to the law, what must be done to queen Vashti? He asked.
John Gunter:She has not obeyed the command of king Xerxes that eunuchs have taken to her. Then the Mnuchin replied to the presence of the king and the nobles, Queen Vashti has done wrong, not only against the king, but also against all the nobles and all the peoples of all the provinces of King Xerxes. That's a little much. Sometimes it feels like, when someone doesn't do what you want, that they have just sinned in the worst way against everyone, and that's kind of how they've taken it here. Right?
John Gunter:This is the worst thing she could have done, is said no to parading in front of all the people. For the queen's conduct will become known to all the women. Now we're getting to the reason right here. The queen's conduct will become known to all the women, and so they will despise their husbands and say, King Xerxes commanded queen Vashti to be brought before him, but she would not come. This very day, the Persian and Median women of nobility who have heard about the queen's conduct will respond to all the king's nobles in the same way.
John Gunter:There will be no end of disrespect and discord. And all the women said, amen. The fear here is that because the queen did it, I'm gonna go home, and my wife's not gonna listen to a word I've got to say, because the queen did it. Isn't that a just a great excuse for all that's going to happen if you've read in Esther? Isn't that interesting?
John Gunter:But this is what kind of sets everything off, and so what they decide is something has to be done in in chapter 2. Later, when King Xerxes' fury had subsided, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what he had decreed about her. Again, she's got to go is what he's decided. We're gonna select these wise men have said, we're gonna select somebody else. The king's personal attendants proposed, let a search be made for beautiful young virgins for the king.
John Gunter:Let the king appoint commissioners in every province of his realm to bring all these beautiful young women into the harem at the citadel of Susa. Let them be placed under the care of Hegai, not Haggai, Haggai, the king's eunuch, who is in charge of the women, and let beauty treatments be given to them. I'm not gonna touch that one. Then let the young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti. This advice appealed to the king and he followed it.
John Gunter:Can you imagine that? My wife's not listening listening to me. All my wise guys that I have in the kingdom are saying, you know what? Let's have a beauty pageant. Let's have this contest.
John Gunter:Let's have all of these beautiful young women brought before you, and you can just pick from them. He goes, that's a good idea. I like that. Wisdom is not running rampant in this story so far, is it? Again, this is not a Jewish setup here, this is a pagan way of life, and of course, that's what we're seeing here.
John Gunter:But Esther, again, gets pulled into this. When the king's order and edict had been proclaimed, many young women were brought to the citadel of Susa and put under the care of Haggai. Esther also was taken to the king's palace and entrusted to Haggai who had charge of the harem. She pleased him and won his favor. Immediately, he provided her with her beauty treatments and special food.
John Gunter:He assigned to her 7 female attendants selected from the king's palace and moved her and her attendants into the best palace or best place in the harem. Anybody ever been assigned 7 attendants? I can't even wrap my mind around this. You're deodorant, mister Gunter. I I don't understand.
John Gunter:But there was something about Esther that was so attractive. People liked her, and people thought, this is gonna be the one. Let's give her special attention. You'll be assigned 7 people to take care of you. We can only wish for this thing.
John Gunter:Esther had not revealed her nationality and family background because Mordecai had forbidden her to do so. So Mordecai is this uncle of hers, kind of person, who's taken her in after her parents had died. And so when she gets brought into all of this, Mordecai says, the one thing you don't want to do is reveal your Jewishness. Again, we are in Persia, and so this is not gonna go well. But she hides her identity, she goes into the harem, and, of course, everything is going well.
John Gunter:It says, every day, he walked back and forth near the courtyard of the harem to find out how Esther was and what was happening to her. So he has he has given her over to this, and said, hide your identity but he still cares. He's not like washed his hands over. He cares about what is going on to Esther and so he just walks by hoping to hear something about her. Yeah.
John Gunter:I can't imagine caring about someone just hoping I hear a word. That's what happens, here. Now the king was attracted to Esther more than any of the other women, and she won his favor and approval more than any of the other virgins. So he set a royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. And the king gave a great banquet, Esther's banquet, for all his nobles and officials.
John Gunter:He proclaimed a holiday throughout the provinces and distributed gifts with royal, liberality. Well, this sounds like a good thing. That the king is so happy now that he is giving gifts liberally, that he wants to make sure that everyone knows that he is happy with that. But then the story progresses to the point where, remember, Mordecai walking back and forth each day trying to hear about what's going on with Esther, and one day he hears about something else. During the time Mordecai was sitting at the king's gate, Bichthana and Teresh, 2 of the king's officers who guarded the doorway, became angry and conspired to assassinate king Xerxes.
John Gunter:And again, Mordecai is hearing this. Mordecai found out about the plot and told queen Esther, who in turn reported it to the king, giving credit to Mordecai. And when the report was investigated and found to be true, the 2 officials were impaled on poles. All this was recorded in the book of the annals in the in the presence of the king, and so all of a sudden, Mordecai goes from this guy who's just kind of in the background hoping to hear about Esther to a big part of saving the king's life. Well, in this, it's it's interesting because it says Mordecai was given the credit, but right as this ends, Mordecai is not given any credit.
John Gunter:The next thing that happens is is this in chapter 3. After these events, king Xerxes honored who? Mordecai? No? Haman.
John Gunter:This is interesting. Because it says Mordecai got the credit, but Xerxes honored Haman, son of Hamadepha, the Agite Agagite, King Agag is who you need to think about there, elevating him and giving him a seat of honor higher than that of all the other nobles. All the royal officials at the king's gate knelt down and paid honor to Haman, for the king had commanded this concerning him. But Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor. Then the royal officials at the king's gate asked Mordecai, why do you disobey the king's command?
John Gunter:That hasn't worked out well so far, has it? But day after day, they spoke to him, but he refused to comply. Therefore, they told Haman about it to see whether Mordecai's behavior will be tolerated, For he had told them he was a Jew, which is interesting. Because the one thing he told Esther is what? Don't tell them you're a Jew!
John Gunter:And the first thing that happens where Mordecai is faced with this dilemma, Do I bow down to this person or do I not? Mordecai gives up, I'm a Jew. I'm not going to do this, which is part of this kind of odd story. Why does he give that up? When Haman saw that Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor, he was enraged.
John Gunter:So far in the story, we've had a king who someone didn't listen to him, and he was enraged. King's number 2, the same thing happens. You have disrespected me, and something has to happen. Something has to give. I am angry.
John Gunter:Is ready to kill. And it says that Haman is not even when he finds out that Mordecai is a Jew, he's not even okay with just killing Mordecai. He is so upset that he wants to know Mordecai, and he wants to know his family. Your mama and them. All of them.
John Gunter:You tell me who they are because I I'm not just okay killing you. You You have disrespected me in a way in front of these people. You see that? Pride goeth before what? Fall.
John Gunter:We're setting up what's going to happen here, and those of us who know Scripture, you start reading, okay, pride is very much in the way here. But Haman requests this in verse 8 of chapter 3: Then Haman said to King Xerxes, There is a certain people dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom, who keep themselves separate. Now this was a common thing for Jewish people, right? Even when Rome controlled Jerusalem and all the area, the Jewish people were allowed to keep separate as long as they kept the peace. There There wasn't an uprising or anything.
John Gunter:And so that's what he says. They keep themselves separate. Their customs are different from those of all the other people, and they do not obey the king's laws. It's not in the king's best interest to tolerate them. I'm upset.
John Gunter:I have been dishonored. You ought to be upset dishonored. You ever had someone try to drag you into something like that? They did that. All of a sudden, you're mad.
John Gunter:You weren't even a part of it. I cannot believe they did that. Yeah. In verse 9, if it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them, and I will give 10,000 talents of silver to the king's administrators for the royal treasury. That, my friends, is called a bribe.
John Gunter:And I am so upset that I want to see this through that I will give you money to make sure that this happens. And what happens is the king agrees to it, and the decree goes out everywhere. Mordecai hears of the edict in in chapter 4. He said, when Mordecai learned of all that had been done, he tore his clothes, again, a sign of mourning, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the city wailing loudly and bitterly. Again, not very much undercover as he has asked Esther to be.
John Gunter:But he cares about this. He cares about himself, he cares about his people. But he went only as far as the king's gate, because no one clothed in sackcloth was allowed to enter it. In every province to which the edict and order of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews with fasting, weeping, and wailing. Many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
John Gunter:Have you caught god's name yet in the hall of this? Still no. Even when they mourn, even when, they're gonna, fast, there is no mention of prayer. But it still touches them. They're still doing, they're still reacting, and you're going, where is god in this story?
John Gunter:Well, Mordecai goes to the person that he knows can do something. So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city at the front of the king's gate. Mordecai told him everything that had happened to him, including the exact amount of money Haman had promised to pay into the royal treasury for the destruction of the Jews. He also gave him a copy of the text for the edict of their annihilation, which had been published in Susa, to show Esther and explain it to her, and he told him to instruct her to go into the king's presence, to beg for mercy, and plead with him for her people. And Esther says, I don't know about that.
John Gunter:Because one of the laws, one of their rules, was you don't go to the king unless the king asks for you. So we see the importance again of the beginning of this story when the king asked for you, you better show up. And so what Esther says is, well, if I go before, the king and he has not asked, I may be killed. And Mordecai says this, Nestor's words were reported to Mordecai, he sent back this answer, do do not think that because you are in the king's house, you alone of all the Jews will escape. That's the interesting part.
John Gunter:He it almost sounds like a threat. What do you do with that? Because who knows that she's a Jew? Mordecai. But he says right here, do not think because you're in the king's house, you alone of all the Jews will escape.
John Gunter:Now again, because we don't get all of the commentary on this, all we have to go on is this statement. What does he do in there? Is this a statement of if I go down, you're going down with me? I don't know. It's very ominous.
John Gunter:For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, a moment of faith. A moment of faith, though not spoken, something's gonna happen, deliverance will happen from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. Again, I don't know why he thought that. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this. The idea behind this statement, I think, is god's providence.
John Gunter:And how have you come to this place and time that you were put here? Something has happened, something behind the scenes, something has made it to where this edict has gone out, which anyone could have offended Haman, it sounds like, but it was Mordecai, and Haman puts this out and bribes the king, but he has someone in place that can do something about it. And who's to say it's not for a time such as this is what Mordecai is saying here. Esther relents in the next verse, Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai, go gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Again, no word of prayer, but fast for me.
John Gunter:Do not eat or drink for 3 days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king even though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish. Again, this idea of, okay, well, at least I'll be faithful to Mordecai. No mention of god in this.
John Gunter:And so what Queen Esther does at this point is ask for a banquet, not only with King Xerxes, but also with Haman. And Haman, being the prideful man that he is, says, alright. I got the invite I wanted to go to. I'm the VIP. I've got the nice lanyard.
John Gunter:I've got the press pass. I'm on the sidelines. I'm in the locker room. And so, Haman goes home, and he is, standing before his family, telling all of this, propping himself up. Anybody know someone like that?
John Gunter:Pretty much avoid those kind of people. The one uppers of the world, you tell a story, and they, they start their next sentence with, That's nothing. Let me tell you about me. That's the kind of man Haman seemed to be, and this is what he's doing before his family. And of course, the story goes that when they actually meet, well, actually before they met, the king is up at night and he said, I can't sleep, and so he has the chronicles of the kingdom kind of read to him.
John Gunter:It's like, oh, yeah. That Mordecai guy that saved my life. Whatever happened to him? Did we did we honor him? No.
John Gunter:You did not. And so at the the banquet, the king says this, he said, so we in, I'm sorry, Esther relented. Yeah. So Mordecai went away and carried out all of Esther's instructions. When Haman entered, I was paraphrasing this, I should have been reading it the king asked him, What should be done for the man the king delights to honor?
John Gunter:Now Haman thought to himself, Who is there that the king would rather honor than me? I'm sure this guy was just a delight to be around. I have no doubt that he would pick you up on the day you were feeling down to delight in who he is, I guess. Who is there that the king would rather honor than me? So he answered the king, for the man the king delights to honor, have them bring a royal robe the king has worn, and a horse the king has ridden, one with a royal crest placed on its head.
John Gunter:Let it know that it's from the king. Then let the robe and horse be entrusted to one of the king's most noble princes. Let them robe the man that the king delights to honor and lead him on the horse through the city streets, proclaiming before him, this is what is done for the man the king delights to honor. Go at once, the king commanded Haman, get the robe and the horse, and do just as you ex as you have suggested for Mordecai. You've got to I've got to think he was on his way out and he heard that name and he just stopped.
John Gunter:What do you mean Mordecai? Do that for Mordecai that you who sits at the king's gate. Do not neglect anything you have recommended. And that's what he tells here. He that's what he tells Haman here.
John Gunter:Again, this reversal is I will be lifted up. I think I'm the most important, and all of a sudden, you do this for Mordecai. And again, as the story goes, because Haman has shared all of this with his family, his family is supporting him, what you ought to do is prepare a 75 foot stake to impale Mordecai on. You remember that guy that's dishonored you? And all of a sudden, Haman is leading this guy through the street, and the story ends because the the plot is uncovered.
John Gunter:Esther says, she pleads before the king, what I want is for my people to be spared. The king then, he understands that, okay, she's a Jew. She did not know that. And he goes ahead and he allows Mordecai to take Haman's spot, for Haman to take Mordecai's spot on the 75 foot stake. Not only that, but she asked for, can we defend ourselves?
John Gunter:Can we go on the attack for people who are attacking us? She says, yes. In the first day, they are killed they kill 500 people, and they said, well, can we extend that a day? And all of a sudden, it says they killed, like, 75,000 people, and
John Gunter:I don't know what to do with that, to be honest with you.
John Gunter:But the story goes on and on about all of these things and all of the ways that you would think a Jewish person would be uncomfortable with. No God, no prayer, we're not talking about the law. In fact, what Esther engages in is very much violating the law. She's having these relations with this king who is a pagan. She's getting involved with this, again, hiding her identity.
John Gunter:Remember when Daniel, I wanna say Rat, Shack, and Benny every time, Rat, Shack, and Benny, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, their problem was they were set apart, right? They set themselves apart, and that angered. Well, Esther has not done that. She has just blended in as best she could. And so the question is left to all of us as the reader is what do we do with this?
John Gunter:A lot of people have had that problem over the years. Some commentators are like, If we lost the book of Esther, I wouldn't be upset. In fact, when we found all the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran, the one book missing, Esther. It's not there. For some reason, they didn't take it, maybe because the lack of mention in God, maybe because of what Esther and Mordecai are involved with, they weren't comfortable with.
John Gunter:And if you were in Bible class this morning, what I what I said there was, actually, they weren't real comfortable with it anyway because once they translated to Greek, they actually added some prayer in there, some mentioning of god, because it it is so much what do we do with it. But in another way, it's very much like what we experience every day. Because we look around at our lives, we look around at what's going on and we say, God, where are you? God, what are you doing? How is all of this coming about?
John Gunter:I I love my boys. They hit me with questions that seminary never prepared me for. The other day, someone messaged me. I can't remember where it was now, but they messaged me that they were getting rain, and we hadn't gotten any yet. And Logan, my 6 year old, looks at me and he said, daddy, why is that?
John Gunter:Have they been praying more than us? Where do you go with that? Yeah, right? You're thinking. If they've been praying more than us.
John Gunter:And so it's like, what how is this happening? How how are the bad things happening? How are the good things happening? He asked me last night, he said, okay. Where is Satan?
John Gunter:And I had the, idiotic moment of saying, Well, Satan is kind of everywhere. That's not a good thing say to a 6 year old. That's the stuff of nightmares. Luckily, when they come in my room at night, they go all the way around to Katie's side. I don't know if any of y'all have experienced anything like that before.
John Gunter:But the story of Esther really leaves us kind of the the same questions we have a lot of times because God is not standing here in front of us narrating, well, here's how I'm working this out, John, and this is how this is gonna go, John, and and we kind of live life, a life of faith that says, I know god's doing something, I I know that that He is faithful to bring about my salvation, to bring about the the good for me, but I don't know, I couldn't explain it to you. I couldn't show you all the things that are happening, but the story of Esther shows the reversals. Again, that all of a sudden, Haman believes I'm gonna be lifted up, and who's lifted up? Mordecai. And they think, Okay, well, we'll kill the Jews.
John Gunter:Well, no, god is faithful. And though god is never mentioned, remember, god has a promise to the people, That you're gonna be my people and he will bring about their salvation and so there would be no holocaust on that day. God, in His providence, whatever that looks like, is still faithful. And so I would imagine if we open this up this morning and said, how is god working in your life? You would have a lot of questions like we do in Esther.
John Gunter:I don't know. I couldn't tell you all the things. I've experienced some things like Esther and Mordecai. Man, you were in this place at this time, and it seems like that's a really good thing. And it seems like god is there.
John Gunter:I can think about a lot of different places in my life where I don't know which way I'm gonna get out of this. All of a sudden, God's timing comes through. In our church, I didn't think we were ever going to sell the Lakewood building, and all of a sudden the lady said, God told her to buy a building for those people and pay cash. Can I explain that to you? No, I cannot.
John Gunter:But as I look around the world, as we view creation, as we, view all the things that god does for us, how he sustains us, how he puts us in places, I've gotta think that's god. Though Esther does not mention him, I believe god is there. And maybe they can't explain it, and even though they are not faithful Jews in the in the sense that
John Gunter:a lot of a lot
John Gunter:of Jewish people would even be comfortable, God still works, and God still is faithful. But I imagine if a story was written about my life, you might look and say, man, God, John was involved in things he shouldn't have been involved in. Amen. God still worked. God still was faithful.
John Gunter:And so this story is a reminder that we're not perfect. You're not gonna be perfect. But god is. And he will guide you and he will make sure his promises are taken care of. Of.
John Gunter:And so when you read Esther, read with that in mind. How do we act? How do we do? How do we explain who god is? And I'm glad we can't explain it because god is much bigger and grander, I think, than we could even wrap our minds around.
John Gunter:I've I've talked to you a lot about not putting god in a box. I don't think there's a box that can contain him. And so I think we just be faithful in the ways that we are faithful. We strive to live life. We try to answer the hard questions that maybe our 6 year old had.
John Gunter:But we go about living a faithful life to God. And so that's my encouragement to you this morning that I I pray that in whatever trial you find yourself right now, that you are searching for God like in this story. That you were trying to figure out how is God working here that hopefully we don't resign ourselves to, well, God's just not here anymore. God's just not with me anymore. But God is there working for your good.
John Gunter:So I wanna encourage you, If you have strayed from the path, come back to him. If you need the prayers of this church, we'd love to pray with you. If you'd love to put on Jesus in baptism, we've already got a swimming pool reserved,
John Gunter:don't we, Dwight? Taylor?
John Gunter:We're gonna make that happen today. We'd love to, to put you in the mix with everybody else once you begin that walk with him. If you have any need, would you come this morning as we stand as we sit?