evening service we've been in the book of Esther we're in Esther chapter 8 Esther chapter 8 I think so far we've had one sermon on each of the chapters of Esther today we'll look at the first eight verses though of this chapter so two sermons on chapter 8 this week and then Lord willing next Lord's Day I'll read all of chapter 8 focusing though as I say on the first eight verses here God's Holy Word On that day, King Ahasuerus gave to Queen Esther the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told what he was to her. And the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman. Then Esther spoke again to the king. She fell at his feet and wept and pleaded with him to avert the evil plan of Haman the Agagite, and the plot that he devised against the Jews. When the king held out the golden scepter to Esther, Esther rose and stood before the king. And she said, if it please the king, and if I found favor in his sight, and if this thing seems right before the king, And I am pleasing in his eyes. Let an order be written to revoke the letters devised by him in the Agagite, the son of Hamadassah, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the provinces of the king. For how can I bear to see the calamity that is coming to my people? Or how can I bear to see the destruction of my kindred? Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman and they have hanged him on the gallows because he intended to lay hands on the Jews. But you may write as you please with regard to the Jews in the name of the king and seal it with the king's ring for an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king's ring cannot be revoked. The king's scribes were summoned at that time in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the 23rd day. And an edict was written according to all that Mordecai commanded concerning the Jews to the satraps and the governors and the officials of the provinces from India to Ethiopia, 127 provinces. to each province in its own script, and to each people in its own language, and also to the Jews in their script and their language. And he wrote in the name of the king, Hasuerus, and sealed it with the king's signet ring. They sent the letters by mounted couriers riding on swift horses that were used in the king's service, bred from the royal stud, saying that the king allowed the Jews who were in every city to gather and defend their lives, to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate any armed force of any people or province that might attack them, children and women. included and to plunder their goods on one day throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus on the 13th day of the 12th month, which is the month of Adar. A copy of what was written was to be issued as a decree in every province, being publicly displayed to all peoples, and the Jews were to be ready on that day to take vengeance on their enemies. So the couriers, mounted on their swift horses that were used in the king's service, rode out hurriedly, urged by the king's command, and the decree was issued in Susa the citadel. Then Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal robes of blue and white and a great golden crown and a robe of fine linen and purple, and the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced. The Jews had light and gladness and joy and honor. And in every province and in every city, wherever the king's command and his edict reach, there was gladness and joy among the Jews. A feast and a holiday, and many from the peoples of the country declared themselves Jews for fear of the Jews had fallen on them. Thus far, the reading of God's holy word, the grass withers, the flower fails, but the word of our God endures forever. Let's pray. Our Father, we do thank you and we praise you for your word. We know that your word is truth. And we know, Lord, that it is living and active and that what you spoke long ago is true today, too, and that it was not merely for a people long ago, but this is for us. And so, Father, grant your blessing now on he who brings your word and grant your blessing on each of us. Lord, guide and direct us, open our eyes, open our minds, direct our paths that we might serve you that we might hear from you this evening. We pray it in Jesus' name. Amen. Congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ, last week we saw Haman's day go from extremely horrible to much worse than that. Through a bunch of what we called sovereign coincidences, Haman was forced to parade his arch enemy through the streets in royal robes, proclaiming, thus shall it be done to the one the king delights to honor. From there, Haman went home, hanging his head, only to hear from his wife that his fall before the Jews was inevitable. And while he was having that conversation with his wife, he was rushed off to the second banquet that Esther had prepared for King Ahasuerus and for Haman. But little did he know that Esther was a Jew, and that his plan to exterminate the Jews included the king's wife, or, well, one of his wives, the queen, Queen Esther. And it's at this banquet that Esther, with some very carefully chosen words, arouses the king's anger by explaining that there is a plan to kill the queen and all her people. And when the king is sufficiently aroused, or should I say furious, she gives him a target for his wrath and says, it's this wicked Haman over here. The king gets up and he leaves the room, probably, one in frustration, but even more so to find an advisor to help him decide what to do. And Haman knows that he's in trouble, and so he begs Queen Esther for his life. Remember, Haman was not willing to spare the Jews, but when his life was on the line, he begged and even fell on the couch right before Esther pleading for his very life. And what a sovereign coincidence, as we said, that the king walks back in as Haman is on the queen's couch. And the king accuses him of assaulting or molesting the queen. And the king has Haman put to death on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Poetic justice and punishment that fits the crime. And so Mordecai, at the moment, right, is safe. But the Jews, at this point as a whole, are not out of harm's way. Haman, or, no Haman, his wicked edict still stood as law and it would be carried out without him. on the 13th day of the 12th month, unless something was done. The danger was still there. The danger for the Jews, and even for Mordecai being a Jew, and Esther, the queen, was still there and still very real. Now let me remind you, this is more than just the attack of a wicked man. This is the attack of Satan against the church. This is an attack of Satan against Christ. For Haman's plan, if it would work, there would be no longer any Jews. And if there's no longer any Jews, there'd be what? No longer any line of David. If there's no line of David, there'd be no birth of a Savior. And so we need to understand that there's more going on here just as Herod wanted to wipe out the children too and under so even here right Satan is trying to work to see that the line of David doesn't go forward but in the chapter that's before us today we see God's redemption of his covenant people, the Jews will be saved and the line of Christ will be preserved. And this is the Lord's doing despite the lack of faithfulness of his people. You see, one of the things we need to always remember. Is that even when we lack faithfulness God does not sometimes I think we might get into our mind this idea that God will be faithful if we are faithful but second Timothy chapter 2 verse 13 says if we are faithless he remains faithful for he cannot deny himself God is faithful God will keep his promises and that's what we see in the book of Esther Instead of looking at this chapter in just one sermon, as I say it, we'll look at it in two, coming back to look at the latter part next Ward's Day. But this evening, we'll see Esther and Mordecai before the king, and four things in that regard. First of all, Esther confesses now to being a Jew. Secondly, we'll see Mordecai promoted. Third, we'll see Esther's request again. And finally, we'll see Ahasuerus' response. And then next week, Lord willing, we'll look at Mordecai's counter-edict, to counter the edict of Haman. Well, it's at this point that Esther finally confesses that she's a Jew. On that day, King Ahasuerus gave to Queen Esther the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came before the king for Esther had told what he was to her. Now we need to remember at this point that she has probably been the queen for a few years. And she has never let on to the fact that she was a Jew. Mordecai had clearly told her not to let anyone know. Remember going back to chapter 2 Esther 2 verse 10 Esther had not made known her people or kindred, for Mordecai had commanded her not to make it known. Now to keep her identity a secret, as I've said, in the past would require her to, in some ways at the very least, to live like a pagan, to live like an unbeliever. It would mean that she would not be following, right, the Mosaic dietary laws, or celebrate any of the prescribed times of worship. And the reason behind this was no doubt pragmatic. She and more so Mordecai figured that life would be easier if she just blended in. But now she finally revealed who she was. She told them how she was related to Mordecai the Jew. Mordecai's cousin by blood, but even more so a daughter. by adoption now I know it can be dangerous to engage in speculation what do you think would have happened if Esther was open about the fact that she was a Jew and that she had been adopted by Mordecai that Mordecai was her in essence adopted father I know speculation but let's think about it for a moment I don't think Haman would have had the guts to go to the king with a plan that included the death of the Queen's adopted father. Right? Wouldn't make sense, would it? Or a plan that led to the killing and annihilating of the Jews, which therefore would include the Queen herself. See, if she mentioned this relationship earlier, just maybe Haman also would have never been promoted to second-in-command to the king. Again, this is speculation. I realize that. Perhaps who would have been promoted instead? Maybe Mordecai. You see, Mordecai also served in the king's court. And you'll remember that it was back in chapter 2 that Mordecai saved the king's life by revealing that plot against him when some people wanted to kill the king. And somehow, the king forgot to reward Mordecai. Now, if the king knew at that time that Mordecai was the cousin or adopted father of the queen, Do you think the king would have forgotten to do that? I think it's probably unlikely. Do you think that just maybe Mordecai would have been given Haman's position instead of Haman? You see, it's interesting that the last verses of chapters 2 describe how Mordecai saved the king's life and then what happens is you open up chapter 3, right? Chapter 2 ends with Mordecai saving the king's life. Chapter 3, after these things, King Ahasuerus promoted Haman, the Agagite, the son of Hamadathah, and advanced him and set his throne above all the officials who were with him. I wonder if it would have been different if Esther admitted who she was. we don't know ultimately what would have happened. And we also know that God uses even our wrong decisions and sins. He takes these things in His sovereignty and He uses them for the good. Again, that doesn't give us license, therefore, to say, well, God's going to use it for the good so I might as well just sin. I'm not saying that. But God does use all things for the good of those who love him and have been called according to his purpose. Sometimes though I think we, along with Esther and Mordecai, tend to think that compromise will bring a greater ease in life. It'll just make things easier if we fudge on this area, if we don't speak out here, if we don't do this here. We sometimes think that if we compromise with the world, if we disobey God's law just a little, or maybe even more than a little, that it'll make things easier and less complicated in our life. How many of us have compromised with other things? Perhaps we think a relationship with a significant friend will improve if we work on Sunday so that we can spend time with that person on Saturday. But what often happens is the opposite, right? When we compromise, we think that we will make things easier and then they get more tangled and complicated and more difficult and painful. One of the commentators, Ian Dubede, rightly says this, it's worth reminding ourselves that the sin we think will smooth our path, in fact, often complicates our lives in unforeseen ways. and leads us into greater difficulties than the ones we feared. The way of the transgressor is not only morally wrong, but frequently is also far harder than the way of obedience would have been. And so brothers and sisters, I think sometimes we're tempted to avoid obedience thinking it will be easier. That's not the way it is. It's not right and it's often doesn't work that way anyways. The next thing that I want you to see is that Mordecai is now promoted. Verse 1 tells us that King Ahasuerus gave Haman's house to Queen Esther. Haman was a traitor, therefore his entire estate reverted to the crown, and Esther had been wronged by Haman. And Esther had found favor in the king's sight, so perhaps as a recompense, he gives Haman's whole estate to Esther. And we know if Haman could have seen it from the grave, it would have irked him all the more. All that he had going to a Jew. Now we might think about Haman's widow, well what does she get then? We remember it was her suggestion that the 75 foot gallows be built for Mordecai. She did deserve to be disinherited. And this illustrates, to a certain degree, what we read in Proverbs. Proverbs 13, verse 22 says this, A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, but sinner's wealth is laid up for the righteous. We then read in verse 2, And the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman. And so the king gives Mordecai, in essence, a new position. It appears that he has given Haman's old position, for the king had taken the signet ring from Haman and gave it to Mordecai. So there's a sign of authority that's now given to Mordecai, a sign of leadership. And then Esther appoints Mordecai over the house of Haman, and we could say, wow, what poetic justice again. Haman wanted to kill and plunder the possessions of the Jews, and instead he is killed and his possessions are given to a Jew. Matthew 7 verse 2 says, For with the judgment you pronounce, you will be judged, and with the measure you use it, it will be measured to you. Surely the sovereign hand of God is behind all of this. This wasn't something that Esther and Mordecai brought about on their own that they tried to devise and bring about. They could have never planned it so well. However, at this point, right, the Jews are still in real danger. Esther is given Haman's house as recompense. Mordecai's life has been spared for the moment. He's been promoted. But what about the edict? What about the Jews? What's going to happen on the 13th day of the 12th month? Well, perhaps the king thought at this point that everything was fine. After all, he had Haman killed. He gave Esther the house of Haman. and exalted Mordecai to a position of great authority. What more could Esther possibly want? The Hasoweros probably assumed that Esther was kind of like himself, only concerned about herself, only concerned about her own well-being, about her own interests. It was no big deal, perhaps in the king's mind, if a race of people was wiped out. After all, who signed the edict in the first place? The king did. He's now saved Mordecai and Esther. But more needs to happen. The Jews are still under a death sentence. The line of Christ. God doesn't do something right. God's in control. He does things. But the line of Christ can be wiped out. And so we read that Esther pleaded with the king for the life of her people. Esther spoke again to the king. She fell at his feet and wept and pleaded with him to avert the evil plan of Haman, the Agagite, and the plot that he had devised against the Jews. When the king held out the golden scepter to Esther, Esther rose and stood before the king. And he said, I'm sorry, and she said, if it please the king, and if I found favor in his sight, and if the thing seems right before the king, and I am pleasing in his eyes, Let an order be written to revoke the letters devised by him and the Agagite, the son of Hamadatha, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the provinces of the king. For how can I bear to see the calamity that is coming to my people? Or how can I bear to see the destruction of my kindred? Now her approach to the king is a bit different this time. When she first made her request, she was calm, but this time she throws herself down before the king weeping and pleading for him to take away the edict that Haman had put into effect. Before she kept her composure and now she's apparently a hysterical wreck, a beggar pleading for mercy. It's kind of interesting to compare Esther to Haman in the last chapter. Last week we see Haman fall down before the Queen pleading for his own life. And now Esther is falling before the King But the difference, however, is that Haman cared only for himself and pled only for himself. And Esther is concerned here not for her own life, but for the lives of her people. And she will, as we see, was granted her request. Now I want you to see on what basis Esther makes her plea. Esther makes no reference to what is wrong and right. No reference to justice or injustice. That really wouldn't have gotten anywhere with such a king. This king was a wicked man. He didn't care about justice. He cared about himself. It was no problem for him to sign a petition because his chief thought it would be a good idea, wiping out an entire race. And so what was important in the king's mind was whether he favored Esther or not, and Esther understood that. And so she says, if it pleases the king, and if I found favor in his sight, and if it seems right before the king, and I am pleasing in his eyes, if it pleases the king, if I found favor, if it seems right, if it seems good, if it seems likable to you, And not only that, if I'm pleasing in your eyes. See, all she can do is appeal to the king's self-interest, specifically as it's related to her. She's in essence saying, if you really, really love me, and like me, and I'm pleasing to you, if you want me to be happy, then grant my request. And she explained she couldn't endure to see this evil come upon her people. She couldn't endure to see them suffer. And so, King, would you do something? But no appeal of what's right before God. Only the king's interest. He was a prideful man, and that's what mattered to him. Well, how does the king respond to this impassioned plea of the queen? Verse 7, then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, Behold, I've given Esther the house of Haman, and they've hanged him on the gallows because he intended to lay hands on the Jews. He thinks, right? What's the king think? Haven't I taken care of it already? Right? I punished the guy. I executed him. What more would you want? What more could I do? and I've given the house of Haman and hung him on the gallows." I've given his house to you. What more could you want? But Esther's just not looking out for herself. She's not like the king who really cared only for himself. Yes, she was given Haman's house and the enemy was killed, but her people are still in danger. And she didn't want to bear their suffering. Salvation for herself and for Mordecai wasn't enough if it came without the salvation of her people. The king adds in verse 8, but you may write as you please with regard to the Jews in the name of the king and seal it with the king's ring for an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king's ring cannot be revoked. You see, in the king's mind, here's a sticking point, right? I've already signed an edict. I can't take it away. according to our laws, right? I'm bound. So, rather than me trying to figure out a way to solve this, you do it, Mordecai! You come up with another edict, and I'll sign that one, and then we'll just see what happens. Again, this is not a man who is really caring. This is not a king who cares about justice. what the king should have done was to take a stand and said this law law this edict is wrong and it needs to be revoked even though yes the the laws of the Medes and Persians doesn't change see it's extremely prideful for the king to say or to not say that it needs to be changed it's extremely prideful for a nation to to make laws that cannot be changed why is that wrong for a nation to do because we're not omniscient we're not all knowing sometimes laws are made with good intentions so sometimes laws aren't made with good intentions either by the way but sometimes laws are made with good intentions and you go oh that doesn't work so it's very prideful to have a law that cannot be changed now God can have laws that don't change because God is God but that doesn't work for nations and so The king should not have allowed or should have spoken up against the fact saying we've got to do something anyways. But he doesn't. He kind of sidesteps it. Now again, brothers and sisters, you may not realize it, but there is even a mechanism, I should say, where our confession of faith can be changed. We say that our Westminster Confession of Faith and our larger and shorter catechisms are in accord with the Word of God, and we believe that they accurately summarize and teach the Word of God, but there are ways in which even our doctrinal standards can be changed. Now by that I'm not saying, let's change our doctrinal standards, or that change of those standards should be easy. But if for some reason we see that our standards are contrary I do not believe they are, but if we see that they are contrary to the word of God, which alone is authoritative, then there ought to be a change. Well, Havasuerus can't and won't change this edict, so what does he do? He basically tells Mordecai to write any law that he wants instead. The law can't be changed, but perhaps it can be manipulated, and Havasuerus tells Mordecai to have at it. And whatever Mordecai writes, the king will authorize, and it too will become an unchanging law. Hasuerus is promising that whatever law Mordecai writes, he is going to support it even sight unseen. But again, the last time he did this, it didn't work out very well. That's when Haman wrote the edict that led to this whole situation anyways. And now the king is just trusting somebody else to do the same thing. It's silly and it's foolish on the king's part. But it goes to show you the king doesn't care about his people. He'll just sign laws that others make. If the king cared about his people as a whole, then he would see to it that only just and fair and profitable laws would go into effect. In fact, as we'll see next week, the law will go into effect. That's going to bring war and the kingdom. And it's all because of pride, because laws can't change and you can't revoke the prior one. and yet at the same time God is working behind the scenes and he's providing through this tangled mess salvation redemption for his people because now the Jews will be allowed to defend themselves they will not be annihilated The line of Christ will continue. Christ will be born. He will be born. He will live for his people. He will die on their behalf. God will preserve the line of Christ because he is faithful in the midst of all of this. But as we conclude, brothers and sisters, I want to draw a comparison between Esther and Hasauerus and Christ and the Father. Praise be to God that the king of all the universe is not a Hasauerus. but our heavenly father who loves us deeply and cares for us greatly. And praise God that our mediator is greater than Esther. Esther did have a concern for the Jews and she pled for them before the king, but Christ has done more. See, Christ not only pleads on behalf of his people, but what did he do? He came into the world. Wages of sin being death. So He doesn't just plead for us. He lays down His life to redeem us from the edict of death that you and I justly deserve. But also, think of this. When we go to the Father in prayer, we're going to our Father in prayer We don't have to go to an Ahasuerus and say, you know, well, if it pleases you, we're going to our father in prayer. As I'm thinking about the way Esther pled before Ahasuerus, it brings to mind, does it not, the parable of, or the parable, the account of the woman, the widow, who went before an unjust judge to plead her case. Remember how she persisted and persisted and persisted and persisted? And what happened? The judge answered her plea. Why? Not because of any concern for justice. He wasn't a just man, but simply because of her persistence. And here's the thing, brothers and sisters, when we go to God, we don't go as widows. Our bridegroom is alive. and he intercedes for us. And we don't go to an unjust king. We go to our father, who has loved us so much that he sent his son into the world. This is the contrast that we're supposed to be seeing here. Praise God for his grace to us. Our father is nothing like Hasuerus. Praise God for his grace. How different our situation than the widows. How different our situation then than Esther. We're not widows. Our bridegroom lives. He makes intercession for us. When we plead, we go to the father and Christ is there saying, that's my, that's part of my bride. I died for her. So praise God for his grace. Let's pray. Our heavenly father, how we thank you. for your grace to us in the Lord Jesus Christ, how we thank you that you've loved us with an everlasting love and you've sent your son into the world. To live for us, to die for us, we thank you, Father, that he is our interceder. We thank you, Lord, that we get to come before our Father. And even though we come before our Father who loves us, we do not come alone. We come with Jesus Christ as our mediator. And so, Lord, we give you thanks and we give you praise for such great love. Lord, we thank you that you indeed sustain the line of Christ, that Christ has come into the world, and that we have a Savior. Not because we are faithful, not because your people of long ago were faithful, but because you are faithful. We give you praise and we give you thanks. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let's turn in our hymns of grace again, number 272.