Good morning. Let's go ahead and begin with a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we do gather here this morning as Your people, Lord, those that rejoice over all of the things that You have accomplished on our behalf through Your Son, Jesus Christ. Lord, we confess that we indeed were helpless, and yet in your great love, you sent us a Deliverer, your own Son. And through His obedience, even to the point of death upon a cross, He triumphed over our enemies, and we have life now in His name, life eternal. in His name. Lord, we pray that familiar as these truths may be, that You would impress them upon our hearts and our minds, that You would use these truths to encourage those who belong to You and to call those who do not. Father, I ask just a blessing upon the time in Your Word this morning. Give me grace as I Strive to use Your Word, to proclaim Your Word and the truth that we find here, and to do so in a way that does encourage the hearts of those present to minister to their needs. And we ask this in Christ's name, Amen. In Psalm chapter 23, David says, yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. There are many deep valleys or wadis we might call them found in the land of Palestine. And while we can't be certain for which of these that David was referring here in this psalm, there is actually a certain passage from Jericho to Jerusalem where shepherds would move their sheep from the Jordan River Valley up to the hill country of Judea. And this passage was marked by deep and narrow valleys that were darkened not only by the steep inclines on either side, but frequented by bandits and thieves and wild beasts as well. Truly a deep and dark valley. I think looking at that description here that we have in Psalm 23 is as helpful as we consider the passage at hand. It's been a while since we've been in Esther, so I want to sort of back up just a little bit and review briefly the overall theme. I'm sorry, I'm behind myself again. There's the dark valley that we see, the shadow of death, the valley of the shadow of death. The overall theme of the book of Esther is a story about the providential preservation of a chosen people by the hand of an unseen God. That's sort of what the whole of the book is about. We see that providence, being the means by which God directs all things, both seen and unseen, good and evil, is toward a worthy purpose, which means His will must finally prevail. And though the name of God is never seen on the pages of Esther, it's clear through so many remarkable details that God Himself has sovereignly orchestrated out a way in which to spare His people from the destruction that hangs over them, and to triumph over their enemies through an agent of His own choosing who's willing to even die for the sake of the people. And that's what we see here in the book of Esther. And as I reviewed Esther and sought to find a good way to preach through it, I divided Esther up into four episodes. Each one of the episodes, I feel like, gives us a new picture about providential preservation. And so we had, first of all, in chapters one and two, the first episode, and we called it, We said God's providential preservation is accomplished through selected representation. And that was the story where we see Queen Vashti being rejected by the king and then eventually him choosing and selecting out Esther to be the new queen. And Esther being a Jew then becomes this sort of representation for the Jews, one through whom God is going to eventually deliver the people. And so he said several things that we noted as we walked through that episode was this, that God's providence is mysterious. We can't understand at all times what it is that he's seeking to accomplish. There's a mystery about God's providence. We also saw that God's preservation... is through human agency time and time again. We see how God raises up certain people to deliver his people. And certainly then that leads us to this last thought that Christ is our selected representation. All of those pictures point to Christ. the ultimate one that God has chosen out to deliver His people. And so now we're going to move into the second episode, which is out of chapters 3 and 4. And in this episode, what I feel like we can learn about providential preservation is that it's accomplished, I'm sorry, that it's accomplished through perilous intervention. Now today, we're really just gonna touch on the first half of this episode as it pertains to this decree of destruction that's brought against the Jews. And we'll see that preserving providence leads through dark valleys. It's sort of the path that we're taking here this morning. So what I'll do is begin with going through the story here in reading chapter three. We'll look at a tangential lesson, and then we'll consider providence and preservation that we see here in this passage. So if you have your Bibles, you can read along with me. Esther chapter three. After these events, King Ahasuerus promoted Haman, the son of Hamadathah, the Agagite, Now, let me pause there. That's a descendant of the Amalekite king Agag, and we'll come back to that. and advanced him and established his authority over all the princes who were with him. All the king's servants who were with the king's gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman, for so the king had commanded concerning him, but Mordecai neither bowed down nor paid homage. Then the king's servants who were at the king's gate said to Mordecai, why are you transgressing the king's command? Now, it was when they had spoken daily to him, and he would not listen to them, that they told Haman to see whether Mordecai's reason would stand, for he had told them that he was a Jew." So, I just want you to note that for a minute, that that was the only reason cited, because he was a Jew. That's why he did not bow down. Then, when Haman saw that Mordecai neither bowed down nor paid homage to him, Haman was filled with rage. But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told him who the people of Mordecai were. Therefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus. In the first month, which is the month Nisn, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, Purr, that is the Lot, was cast before Haman from day to day and from month to month until the twelfth month, that is the month Adar. So let me just pause here, and I want to just alert you to some timing. So this is now the 12th year of King Hasuerus, and it was in the third year that the whole episode with Vashti had occurred, in which she was removed, and then the 10th month of the 7th year, was when Esther took her place and was made queen. So it's been a little bit over four years now since Esther has been serving in that capacity. So somewhere between chapter two and chapter three, four years of time has lapsed. And then there's this situation where he's casting the lots. And as I understand it, all year long, Haman had the lot cast before him so that he could figure out which day of the year would be the most favorable day on which to dispose of the Jews. And which is gonna be the lucky day for him to see all of his enemies, the Jews, destroyed. And one thing we can note about this is that this plot to destroy Mordecai and all of his people, as it puts it, was not just a rash decision. on the part of Haman, but this was very much premeditated and even relished by Haman. I mean, the way in which he's going about this, he spends a year just trying to figure out which day he's gonna declare as the day of his destruction. So moving on, verse 8, Then Haman said to King Hasuerus, There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom. Their laws are different from those of all other people, and they do not observe the king's laws. So it is not in the king's interest to let them remain. If it is pleasing to the king, let it be decreed that they be destroyed. And I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who carry on the king's business, to put into the king's treasuries." He's even going to help pay to see this thing done. Then the king took his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman, the son of Hamadathah the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. Notice that phrase, the enemy of the Jews. The king said to Haman, the silver is yours, and the people also, to do with them as you please. So obviously the king is unaware of the fact that his queen is among those people. Then the king's scribes were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and it was written just as Haman commanded to the king's satraps, to the governors who were over each province, and to the princes of each people, each province according to its script, each people according to its language, being written in the name of King Ahasuerus, and sealed with the king's signet ring. Letters were sent by couriers to all the king's provinces to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, women and children, in one day, the 13th day of the 12th month, which is the month Adar, and to seize their possessions as plunder. A copy of the edict to be issued as law in every province was published to all the people so that they should be ready for this day. The couriers went out impelled by the King's command while the decree was issued at the Citadel and Susa. And while the king and Haman sat down to drink, the city of Susa was in confusion." So here comes this decree of complete genocide. They're going to wipe out all of the Jews. And even as an incentive, whatever things, possessions that those Jews had, whoever killed them, when that day would come around, would get to keep all of that as plunder. This is a decree of destruction. for all of God's people. So I want to begin here with what I'm calling a tangential lesson. And in honesty, as I studied this out and examined it, I came to the realization that it's perhaps not as tangential as I first thought, that it's actually a lesson more integral to the story than I first appreciated. And this lesson centers on a question. Why did Mordecai refuse to bow to Haman? And I want to give you what I consider a reasonable answer to that question. But let me begin with a few just preliminary cautions, sort of disclaimers. I want to review again the fact that we are in the midst, first of all, of historical literature. And we have to realize that it's descriptive, not prescriptive. Because of the fact that it's historical, it tells us what happened, what did happen, and how it is that God used the events for his purposes in redemptive history. In other words, we don't want to just readily assume that everything the good characters did was exactly what they should do. There may be other things that are going on here. We live now in a different epoch of redemptive history with clear instructions from the Christ himself and his apostles. And so we always have to measure their actions against that clear prescriptive type of instruction. Now that being said, even the author of Hebrews points towards the people who had walked by faith, encouraging us to be like them, to also walk by that same faith. Now, another preliminary caution here is on account of speculation. Because the text doesn't answer this question, I do have to make some speculation here to answer that question. So, for example, it could be that Mordecai just simply doesn't like Haman. Have you ever met somebody that just rubs you the wrong way? You know, this is a very arrogant man, maybe just, Haman just, he just doesn't like him. And then because of his poor attitude and his stubborn disposition rooted in pride, he just defies the king's command. And in so doing brings a heap of mess upon the Jews because of it. In other words, he provided a bad example, and that he failed to honor the authority placed over him, which is what the New Testament clearly calls us to do. Now that's possible, and I suppose some probably have viewed the story that way, but I wanna suggest an alternative answer, and for three reasons. I wanna give you an answer that I think fits better with what we know about Mordecai. An answer that fits with a parallel account, And an answer that's based upon historical roots that the author has been very careful, I believe, to include here. And so I would say this, I believe that Mordecai's refusal to bow before Haman was in accordance with a settled course of unbending faith. A settled course of unbending faith. In other words, Mordecai believed that to prostrate himself before Haman was something that not only he shouldn't do, but no other Jew should do either, because to do so was to dishonor God. Likely do both or either, it could be either of these things, but I think likely both, both in the manner in which he was called to pay honor, as well as the person to whom he was called to pay honor. I think it was probably both of those things. So first of all, I think this answer fits with the personal profile of Mordecai. And if you'll recall in my introduction to the book of Esther, I described Mordecai with these three words, wise, noble, and resolute. For Mordecai to disregard the king's order in this regard, simply because he disliked Haman, certainly would be neither noble nor wise. And I didn't just make up these character traits. I really did seek to capture the character that's displayed throughout the entirety of this book. So for example, at the end of chapter two, we have Mordecai coming into a knowledge of a plan to assassinate King Ahasuerus. And out of honor for the king, Mordecai makes that known to Esther so that that plot could be put down. And so Mordecai has already actually helped spare the life of King Ahasuerus. And so there certainly is a sense of honor that Mordecai has demonstrated and wisdom here in intervening, as it were, to protect King Ahasuerus. At the end of the book, We're gonna see Mordecai elevated in his position. The text says this, that he was elevated to a position second only to the king, one who sought the good of his people and one who spoke for the welfare of his whole nation. Again, this is sort of captures the person of Mordecai. So first of all, I think the answer fits with the personal profile of Mordecai. Secondly, I think this answer fits with a parallel account. Now, we've already read from that account this morning out of Daniel chapter three. There's another story in the Bible, which occurred about 100 years prior to this, in which men refused the command of king to bow down because of a settled course of unbending faith. Of course, it's the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who defied the command of King Nebuchadnezzar to bow down before the golden image. And in that story, it's perhaps a lot more clear the reasons for which they did so. The refusal to prostrate themselves before the golden image was clearly a settled course of unbending faith. They would rather go to the fiery furnace than dishonor their God. And they believed that even if they were sent in their helpless estate, God would intervene and rescue them. And even if that didn't happen, so what? They were not gonna bow to the king. And finally, I think this answer fits with the historical roots. Three times in the book of Esther, the author calls Haman the enemy of the Jews. And the author's careful to point out that Haman was an Agagite, that is, a descendant of King Agag. Now, you might have to kind of rewind in your brains. At some point, you've probably heard the story of King Saul when he was called to destroy the Amalekites that were attacking under the rule of King Agag. And he was told to wipe them all out. including all of the animals, but instead of doing that, he spared King Agag, he spared the best of the livestock, and then we have Samuel coming, and he hears the bleeding of the lambs, and he gets very upset with King Saul, and said, why did you not obey? Obedience is better than sacrifice. And then by his own hand, he slaughters Agag himself, since Saul hadn't done it. And it's actually an interesting picture there because Saul, he says, he sort of blames it on the people. He said, well, the people said that this is what we should do. It kind of harkens back a little bit to Adam and Eve in the garden and Adam's excuse. But either way, he sought to do what he wanted, what he was pleased to do, what he thought was best instead of what God had told him to do. Interestingly, Mordecai himself is a Benjamite like Saul. And here we have another man standing in a prominent position, Haman, who is a descendant of that same king, King Agag. So there's some historical roots here I think we need to appreciate when we look at this picture. But the roots actually run deeper than this because, as I had mentioned, King Agag was an Amalekite. A descendant of the man Amalek. And those were the ones who were the first to attack the Israelites as they were passing through the wilderness on their way to the promised land. As they drank from the water from the rock. And here's what Moses said after they were defeated under the leadership of Joshua in battle. And Wes read this story for us earlier here this morning. The Lord said, remember what Amalek did to you along the way when you came out of Egypt. How he met you along the way and attached among you all the stragglers at your rear, which would typically be the women and the children. when you were faint and weary, and he did not fear God. Therefore, it shall come about when the Lord your God has given you rest from all your surrounding enemies in the land which the Lord God gives you as an inheritance to possess, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. You must not forget." It closes with that word, you must not forget. And yet, the roots run deeper still. You see Amalek, this one who did not fear God, was the grandson of Esau. The grandson of Esau, that is Jacob's brother who sold his birthright for a bowl of stew. Now for this reason, some suggest that Amalek in this way represents carnal man. opposing those who are seeking to realize the promises of God. And that sort of creates a rather interesting typology here in the story, and perhaps this is a bit of a stretch, but even think about Christ in the wilderness as Satan comes to him with the temptations, and Christ refusing, refusing, refusing to give sway to the temptations that Satan put before him. Either way, we see that Haman certainly represents the enemy of God's people, who seeks to destroy them at a time of vulnerability. So here's the lesson that I think we can draw out of this. We ought to be a people like Mordecai, like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who have a settled course of unbending faith, come what may. An unbending faith that's demonstrated, first of all, by a singular devotion. We confess Christ alone as Lord and Savior and no other. We worship God alone in his name and no other. We obey Him as the King of Kings, who is far above all rule and authority and power and dominion in every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. His rule trumps all. It also is an unbending faith that won't capitulate to the ways of this world, but perseveres with a distinctness as the people of God. As the apostle Paul says, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. And the apostle John adds to this, for all that is in the world, The lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life is not from the Father. We need to be a people who have a settled course of unbending faith. I wanna move then into the lesson regarding providence and preservation. And that is this truth that The path of God's preserving providence leads through dark valleys. Valleys that are marked by trials, hardships, suffering, peril, pain. Why is that? Why is that? Well, I want to consider four biblical truths in relationship to dark valleys here this morning as we consider this. The first thing is this, that dark valleys are small episodes that portray the grand story. And we can think about this in relationship to this whole story of Esther. I mean, Esther, on the one hand, is another chapter in the story of God redeeming His people, another instance in which God is preserving out His people and is looking forward to a Savior that would come out of the people. And so it serves, in this way, as just one more chapter of that whole story of redemption. But also, like so many other occasions that we see, episodes in the Old Testament, it's also a picture itself of the grand story. A picture of redemption. For example, we can think about Exodus, and we worked through the book of Exodus, in which the people of God are delivered from the bondage of slavery, and they pass through a wilderness, and then they enter the land of promise. under the leadership first of Moses who delivers them and then Joshua, both of those being types of Christ. And you see, the reality is that our life in this world is a passage through a dark valley. That's the whole sum of our lives. The valley of the shadow of death. In fact, that's common to all humanity because Original sin brought a curse upon all mankind and creation itself. Before the fall there weren't any dark valleys. That came as a consequence to the sin of Adam and Eve in the garden. And so now all men and creation are accursed. And in this way, all of humanity in this world itself lies under a decree of destruction. Now, this is not to say that every day and every moment of our lives appears so dismal. You know, we are attended daily with the mercy and grace of God, common mercy and common grace, all people, in such a way that perhaps we don't appreciate the valley that we're walking through. In fact, Some people don't ever perceive that peril, the destruction that hangs over them until it's finally too late, until it's overtaken them. And David actually bemoans the fact that oftentimes it's the most godless people who seem to live a life of ease, while the people of God are often marked out for a course of suffering. what seems to be a darker valley. But as David bemoans this, he finally comes into a realization when he perceives their end. And that is this, that the valley common to all mankind is not only dark, but its end is an abyss of terror called hell. But the people of God are being led away from that. And this is where the gospel message is realized. God has made a way to redeem men and lead them safely out of this, our lives, valley of darkness. In fact, each episode of a dark valley in which God rescues his people, like here in the story of Esther, serves as a picture of this grand story, as a way of demonstrating the work of God to deliver his people from the decree of destruction that hangs over this world. So dark valleys are small episodes that portray the grand story. Dark valleys, secondly, are often associated with obedience. So while there is a connection to original sin, and sometimes dark valleys are a consequence of what we might call God's discipline in our lives, and we can see that with the Israelites at times, yet often in scripture, Interestingly, it's in relationship to obedience that God leads his people through the darkest places as a means of their ultimate deliverance. So, for example, as I mentioned already, the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. What created the peril for them was their obedience. When they refused to bow down, even though they walked by faith, yet they were tossed into a fiery furnace. Or consider Noah. Noah was mocked and ridiculed for building an ark. And then he was shut up in this ark. But that ark became the means of his deliverance. But there was a tie to his own obedience with the, if you will, the dark valley through which he had to pass. Joseph was thrown into prison. The Israelites were hemmed in by the Red Sea as Pharaoh pursued them. Daniel was tossed into a den of lions. And finally, consider Christ our Lord. The path of providential preservation took Jesus, first of all, to this world. He entered our dark valley. He took on flesh and became as we are. And not only this, but his path of obedience took him through the darkest valley that ever there was. And while his soul was deeply distressed, yet willingly he walked that path for the sake of those that he came to save. Now, I don't want to get ahead of myself. In a few weeks we're going to come back to this as we see the perilous intervention of Esther as a picture of Christ intervening for the sake of His people. But even as we consider this tie of obedience to the dark valley, we can see a picture here of Christ Himself. And guess what? Those who follow Christ are destined for the same thing. Paul says to Timothy, indeed all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. So why is this? Why is this? The third principle I want to give you is this, that dark valleys are for our good and God's glory. You see, God uses dark valleys as a means to humble His people and to grow their faith. It's a means by which self-reliance is crushed so that our eyes might look heavenward for our deliverance. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me." David, identifying himself as a sheep, a helpless sheep in this dark valley, he can find comfort because he knows that the Savior is going to lead him. He has to look to a help that is greater than himself. And the darker the valley, that just is a greater picture of our helpless state. So, God uses these to humble us, to cast our eyes upon Him, and to sanctify us, to purge out the sin that is within us, to refine us as gold is refined by fire. It's for our good. But, honestly, even more than that, it's for His own glory. For the glory of His salvation. God uses these dark valleys to display Himself. His grace, His mercy, His might. His glory. So here I have a kid's question I want to weave into this message if you, at the bottom of your bulletin kids, if you're following along. How does God use dark valleys for our good and His glory? The fourth principle here I want to look at is the fact that dark valleys are a passage of hope for those who belong to God. Such dark valleys serve to remind us that this world is not our home. We're just a passing through. We're not yet in the land of promise. We could see that here in the story of Esther, right? They're not yet where they need to be. They're not in the land of promise. And for God's people, it's a passage, though, that's marked by hope. While we live in a world full of woes, a creation that groans and suffers, yet we have hope. Apostle Paul says, for I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption, into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it. The resurrection of Christ, which we celebrate today, marks the triumph of our deliverance from which that hope is hung. Rather than the abyss of eternal destruction, Our dark valley in this life is going to open up through the empty tomb of Christ into an eternal paradise in perfect communion with God. That's what's at the end of the dark valley through which we pass. Every dark valley in this life itself, for those who belong to Christ, But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law, but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved, my beloved brethren, be steadfast. immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord." I'll just close with the lyrics from a familiar song. When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie, my grace all-sufficient shall be thy supply. The flame shall not hurt thee, I only design thy dross to consume, my gold to refine. The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose, I will not, I will not desert to his foes. That soul, though all hell shall endeavor to shake, I'll never, no never, no never forsake. Let's close in a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, how good You are to us, Lord. Though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we fear no evil, because You're with us. Your rod and Your staff comforts us. You've given us hope in the resurrection of Christ, His perfect atonement, which satisfied Your justice, paid the penalty that, Lord, that belonged to us, accomplishing what we could never accomplish. And so, Lord, we do pray that even in our lives, as we see loved ones pass from us, Lord, as we walk near the waters of death, Father, as various situations arise in our lives that are difficult and trying, Lord, that we would continue to persevere in the hope of the resurrection, that we would be people, Lord, who have unbending faith. Lord, we give you thanks and all of these things in Christ's name, amen. So I wanna open it up now for any comments or corrections. or other words to edify this morning. I'll go ahead. Yes, Steve. friends, then we probably should. And so I really appreciate those examples of how the values are tied to also obedience, and that as we look at those that are in our values, we ought to look for those things. Right. That's one of the hazards of the health and wealth gospel. It projects some sort of picture that when you're obedient, and you're living by faith, all these good things will happen. And therefore, if you enter a dark valley, there must be something wrong with your obedience, your faith, or whatever, that's usually faith, I would say. And the reality is, it's not what we see in scripture. If we were to measure one's faith and obedience by the situations of their life, the Apostle Paul would create a real difficult case. In fact, Jesus would present the most difficult case. But someone might say, well, that Jesus was just because he took on the consequences of our sin, I suppose, but what about the Apostle Paul? Yeah, and so maybe we should be thinking along those lines of why don't I have more dark valleys? and others that are in dark valleys is to keep that in the forefront of how we look at situations and how we come alongside people that are in those dark valleys. Absolute obedience and love and encouragement. Excellent point. Alright, well I'll hand it over to Matt.