Welcome to the last two chapters of the book of Esther. Pray that God will give us guidance about what we'll be studying in the weeks to come. We have spent really a lot longer than I expected to. We went through the book of Ezra and Nehemiah and then we went through the book of Esther. These three books are together in the Word of God. there because, you know, both they're written about, you know, during the time of exile, the exile from their homeland and post-exile when numbers of them began to go back. They were allowed to go back and rebuild the temple. And I found these books refreshing. I found them a blessing as I've studied them. And it's a little bit different than like preaching through sections of the New Testament where you have these great doctrines that are just stacked on top of each other. It's a lot different than that. It's history, it's narrative, it's allegory in some cases. But I've really enjoyed the study and I pray that it's not been in vain. I pray the Holy Spirit has been pleased to use it for those who've been able to be here and those who've watched on the internet or listened by way of the CDs. So let's come to Ezra 9, verse one, and we'll read through the end of chapter 10. Excuse me. Now in the 12th month, which is the month of Adar, on the 13th day of the same, when the king's command and edict were about to be carried out, on the very day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain the mastery over them, the reverse occurred. The Jews gained mastery over those who hated them. The Jews gathered in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to lay hands on those who sought their harm. And no one could stand against them for the fear of them had fallen on all peoples. All the officials of the provinces and the satraps and the governors and the royal agents also helped the Jews for the fear of Mordecai had fallen on them. For Mordecai was great in the king's house, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces. For the man Mordecai grew more and more powerful. The Jews struck all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying them, and did as they pleased to those who hated them. In Susa, the citadel itself, the Jews killed and destroyed 500 men. and also killed Parshindatha, and Dauphin, and Aspatha, and Poratha, and Adaliah, and Eredatha, and Parmashta, and Eresai, and Eredi, and Vesatha, the ten sons of Haman, of Hamadatha, the enemy of the Jews, but they laid no hand on the plunder. That very day, the number of those killed in Susa the Citadel was reported to the king. And the king said to Queen Esther, in Susa the Citadel, the Jews have killed and destroyed 500 men and also the 10 sons of Haman. What then have they done in the rest of the king's provinces? Now, what is your wish? It shall be granted you, and what further is your request? It shall be fulfilled. And Esther said, if it please the king, let the Jews who are in Susa be allowed tomorrow also to do according to this day's edict and let the 10 sons of Haman be hanged on the gallows. So the king commanded this to be done. A decree was issued in Susa and the 10 sons of Haman were hanged. The Jews who were in Susa gathered also on the 14th day of the month of Adar, and they killed 300 men in Susa, but they laid no hand on the plunder. Now the rest of the Jews who were in the king's provinces also gathered to defend their lives and got relief from their enemies and killed 75,000 of those who hated them, but they laid no hands on the plunder. This was on the 13th day of the month of Adar, and on the 14th day they rested and made that a day of feasting and gladness. But the Jews who were in Susa gathered on the 13th day and on the 14th and rested on the 15th day, making that a day of feasting and gladness. Therefore, the Jews of the villages who live in the rural towns hold the 14th day of the month of Adar as a day for gladness and feasting, as a holiday, and as a day on which they send gifts of food to one another. And Mordecai recorded these things and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, obliging them to keep the 14th day of the month Adar and also the 15th day of the same year by year, as the days on which the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month that had been turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday, that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, days for sending gifts of food to one another and gifts to the poor. So the Jews accepted what they had started to do and what Mordecai had written to them. For Haman the Agagite, the son of Hamadathah, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them and had cast poor, that is cast lots, to crush and destroy them. But when it came before the king, he gave orders in writing that his evil plan that he had devised against the Jews should return on his own head and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows. Therefore they call these days Purim, after the term Pur. Therefore, because of all that was written in this letter, and of what they had faced in this matter, and of what had happened to them, the Jews firmly obligated themselves and their offspring and all who join them, that without fail they should keep these two days according to what was written and at that time appointed every year. At the time appointed every year. That these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, in every clan, province, and city, and that these days of Purim should never fall into disuse among the Jews, nor should the commemoration of these days cease among their descendants. Then Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihel and Mordecai the Jew, gave full written authority confirming this second letter about Purim. Letters were sent to all the Jews to the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus in words of peace and truth that these days of Purim should be observed at their appointed seasons as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther obligated them as they had obligated themselves and their offspring with regard to their fast and their lamenting. The command of Queen Esther confirmed these practices of Purim and it was recorded in writing. King Ahasuerus imposed tax on the land and on the coastlands of the sea. and all the acts of his power and might, and the full account of the high honor of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia? For Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to King Ahasuerus, and he was great among the Jews, and popular with the multitude of his brothers, for he sought the welfare of his people. and spoke peace to all his people. Well, that is the end of the book of Esther. And back, you know, I don't remember how many weeks it's been, but whenever we began this study, we talked about some of the themes and some of the reasons that we believe that the writer was moved by the Holy Spirit to write this book. And I think that, you know, the great theme in the book for those of us who are believers and we come to the Word of God and we're always looking to see the hand of God, the great theme is the work of God, the work of God in providence, the work of God through people. the work of God in the way things fall out in such a way by the hand of God so that the people of God are preserved and spared from this great destruction. But, you know, on another level we could say that the reason that this book was written is so that the Jews, as the generations passed, would understand why they celebrate Purim, you know. We have holidays here in America and Some of them are good and some of them are probably not so good. But, you know, sometimes as generations pass, kids don't understand the significance of what they're doing. You know, for instance, every year at Thanksgiving, I always say to me, it is the most Christian holiday we in America celebrate. I love Thanksgiving. I loved it when I was a child. I love it to this day. But if you were to go to the average American child and say, why do we celebrate the way that we do? And they would say, well, it's about food and football and family. But really it's about ultimately our being grateful to God for all that God in his grace has bestowed upon us and given to us. And there's a text in the Old Testament that one of the reasons that they were to celebrate the Passover every year is so that their kids would say, why do we do this? Why do we do this? What's the significance of this? So that their parents could turn and tell them the story of how that God delivered his people wonderfully and supernaturally out of the bondage that they were in in the land of Egypt. It was an opportunity for instruction. It was an opportunity for witness. It was an opportunity for teaching. And you know, in our holidays here, you know, like for instance, Independence Day, it's supposed to be a time to remember and to reflect upon and to be thankful for our independence as a nation and how that we believe in the hand of God that this nation came about. Thanksgiving is a time when we look heavenward and we're supposed to reflect upon, to remember, and to be thankful for God's grace and goodness and provision for us. At Easter, we're supposed to be, as Christians, we're supposed to be thankful for the resurrection, to remember, to think about, to reflect upon the significance of the resurrection, of our Lord Jesus Christ. And, you know, we try to teach our kids that so that it's not about Easter bunnies and eggs and things like that. We try to teach them the significance and it's an opportunity to remember, it's an opportunity to rejoice, and it's an opportunity to instruct and to teach. At Christmas time, we hope that we're trying to teach our kids about the birth of Christ, the significance of the birth of Christ. Well, here at the end of this book, we have the establishment of a Jewish feast, Feast of Purim. And, you know, this is the way that the story of how this all came about could be passed on to children, generation after generation after generation after generations. So that's one of the reasons, surely, that this book was written. So that these succeeding generations of Jews could say, why do we do this again? Why are we having this celebration on the 13th and the 14th day of the month? Why are we doing this? What's this all about? Why are we feasting and why are we sending gifts to one another? What's the significance of this? And they go, well, we can take you to the Old Testament scriptures. and we can tell you the significance of this. And that's surely one of the reasons that the Holy Spirit moved whoever the writer was to write this. chronicle and to write this narrative and this account. So we've seen the story unfold before us week by week, chapter by chapter. And we come to the end of the story tonight. And we're gonna look at just a few moments and a number of things from these two last chapters. And then we'll be done. First thing I want you to say in this, these last two chapters, is that we have again the final, of all the great reversals in this book, we have here the final great reversal where things did not turn out as they were intended to turn out. Now think about some of them that we've already seen. We've seen Esther, who was basically an orphan girl taken in by her uncle or cousin, Mordecai, and she, who is basically unknown, really a nobody, we see her lifted from this low estate and made the Queen of Persia the favorite of the king. So that's the first great reversal. We've seen Haman, who is elevated and lifted up and scheming and manipulating, planning to destroy the Jews, and we've seen him hanged up on a gallows. We've seen Mordecai, who was sitting at the king's gate, but apparently not any high official or any significant person. We've seen him lifted up and made second in authority only to the king himself. And now we see the Jews when there's been a plan made to annihilate them and to kill all of them. and to plunder their goods, we see them plundering their enemies instead of being plundered by their enemies. We see them gaining the victory instead of them being abused and destroyed and annihilated. You know, the edict that went out across the kingdom was that on this day, it was gonna basically be free range on the Jews, that their enemies could attack them, could kill them, and could take their goods. And on this day instead, we see the Jews get revenge on their enemies, and we see the final of these great reversals of fortunes in this book. in the final chapter. Now this is providence. This is providence. I don't know how you think, or I don't know how you look at things. The old saying is, do you see the glass half full or do you see the glass half empty? Some of us would say, well, we've got half a glass of water. Some of us would say, well, we're half a glass short. That's just some of our natures is we see things always in the negative. And there's a lot of things in life that look bad, right? I mean, there's a lot of things that come into our lives that look bad. There's a lot of circumstances that look bad. There's a lot of things that you're going to face that are going to look bad. But isn't it good to think if we would just think that, you know, God can turn things upside down in a moment that God can take what appears to be the very worst and God, and just by the power that God has and the mercy of God and the providence of God, that God can just reverse things that look so bleak and so bad. And so on the very day, On the very day when the enemies of the Jews had planned to destroy them, the Jews rose up and destroyed them. And this is that final great reversal in this book. Another thing. There's a mention here of what I think is evidence of supernatural blessing. Look at verse two in chapter nine. The Jews gathered in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to lay hands on those who sought their harm, and no one could stand against them. for the fear of them had fallen on the peoples. Now, there's not an overt reference there to the hand of God and there's not, you know, there's not anything like maybe some other places in the Bible where we see miraculous interventions of God, but I'll tell you what that does put me in mind of. Do you remember in the Old Testament, early in the Old Testament, that God told the Jews that if they would obey him and trust him, that no one would be able to stand against them, that none of their enemies would be able to stand up against them, that God would go with them, and that God would bless them, and that God would give them victory? Well, the language here is the same, isn't it? What we have here, I think, is evidence of how that God is Blessing them that you know their victory is God given their victory and the all the all that the Enemies felt and the fear that the enemies failed and the dread that the enemies failed I Believe that's all God given and God generated. It's because of God's blessing and in God's provision upon his people. And you know, we have that throughout the Old Testament, don't we? We have, especially in the conquest of Canaan. Remember when they went into the land of Canaan, the nations in the land of Canaan were more powerful than they were, were mightier than they were, were more numerous than they were, but God gave them the victory. God went ahead of them and God was with them. and God gave them the victory. The enemies were not able to stand up before the Jews because of God's miraculous power and intervention. And that's, you know, what I think we have here in the book of Esther. You know, we could ask the question, For all these months, the enemies of the Jews had been planning for the destruction of the Jews. And then on this day, what happens is, instead of them rising up and gaining the mastery over the Jews, the Jews rise up and gain the mastery over them. The Jews gathered in their cities, and those who sought, no one could stand against them. They were given victory. They were prospered, and the fear of them had fallen on the people. And the only explanation for that is the supernatural blessing of God. Number three, we see in these chapters the elevation of Mordecai. In verse three and verse four of chapter nine, not only were the people in awe and fear of the Jews, but all of the leaders were in awe and fear of Mordecai. It says in verse three, all the officials of the provinces and the satraps and the governors and the royal agents also helped the Jews. And we're told why, for the fear of Mordecai had fallen on them. For Mordecai was great. in the king's house and his fame spread throughout all the provinces for the man Mordecai grew more and more powerful. So we see this man elevated, this man who in the providence of God heard of an assassination attempt being planned upon the king who reported it, who saved the king's life, who was forgotten. He was unrecognized. He was unrewarded. But on the very night when Haman was planning to have him executed, on that very night, the king discovered through the providence of God, that Mordecai had saved his life. Within a day or two, he found out the truth about Haman, and he took the signet ring signifying his authority off the hand of Haman and put it on the hand of Mordecai. And Mordecai, his fame and his power is growing. It's spreading. Now, you know, one of the ways it would have spread is by word of mouth, wouldn't it? Have you heard what happened? Have you heard what happened up in the palace? Have you heard about Haman being executed? Have you heard that the king has taken his signet ring and put it on the hand of Mordecai? Have you heard that Mordecai has, you know, he is the one that is speaking in the ear of the king now and influencing his decisions? So we better, stand up for the Jews. So we see Mordecai elevated and lifted up. In this chapter we see the destruction of the Jews' enemies. They are allowed to destroy their enemies, the ones that wanted to destroy them. There's no injustice in this. The people that they destroyed wanted to do that and worse to them. This is God's judgment. This is God's justice. And it happened throughout the whole empire. It didn't just happen in Susa. It happened everywhere in all the provinces of the empire. The first day there were 500 enemies of the Jews killed in Susa and the 10 sons of Haman were killed. And then the next day there were 300, but throughout the whole empire, there were 75,000 of the enemies of the Jews who were killed. Those who sought to destroy the Jews were themselves destroyed. Those who rose up against the people of God, eventually the justice of God fell upon them. Those who sought to harm those that were the apple of God's eye, eventually God rose up and brought judgment to them. And it happened throughout the whole empire. Number five, another thing in this chapter, did you see that three times in this chapter, chapter nine, that when we're told that the Jews rose up against their enemies and killed them, three times were told that they did not put their hand upon the plunder, which means they didn't take their goods. They didn't do it for money. They didn't do it for material gain. After they killed the 10 sons of Haman, we're told in verse nine, but they laid no hand on the plunder. When we're told about what happened the next day when 300 more were killed, we're told, but they laid no hand on the plunder. And we're told in verse 16 about what happens throughout the whole empire, how that they kill 75,000 of those who hated them, but they laid no hands on the plunder. three times, for emphasis, this is repeated. Now you might say, well, why would that be repeated that way? Well, the old saying is that when something is repeated in scripture, it's for emphasis and it's to get our attention. And I think that probably the reason that this is repeated is because the writer wants us to know. that what the Jews did was not for material gain. It wasn't so that they could enrich themselves. And we have to realize, isn't it true that a lot of crimes by governments and by people have been carried out, but a lot of it was just a pretense for greed? I mean, this may be not the best illustration, But in Nazi Germany, after Hitler came to power, when they began to persecute the Jews, put them out of business, you know what they began to do? They began to take their wealth. They began to enrich themselves with the wealth of these oppressed people. And, you know, the writer wants us to understand that what the Jews did, it was not some pretense for material gain. They weren't trying to enrich themselves, they were trying to survive. They were not, you know, going out and killing people and taking their property and taking their wealth and taking their goods and taking their gold. They were avenging themselves upon enemies who sought their complete and total annihilation and destruction, and they weren't doing it for material gain. The writer wants us to understand that this was not about money. It was about their preservation. It was about their life. It was about their existence as a people. Now, just a few more. Another thing we have in this chapter is we see the inauguration of the celebration of the Feast of Purim. Now, we're, you know, it's a two-day feast, and this chapter tells us why it's a two-day feast. It was on the 13th day of this month when Haman's edict was to go into effect. So when Haman's evil schemes were discovered and when the king gave Mordecai the permission and Esther the permission to send out another decree saying that the Jews could rise up and defend themselves. So on the 13th day of this month, the month of Adar, the Jews rise up on the 13th day and they fight against their enemies and they destroy them. on the very day that their enemies were going to rise up and seek to destroy them. But in Susa, in the capital, where they'd kill 500 men on the 13th day, and when they'd killed the 10 sons of Haman, on that day, Esther comes in before the king, and the king says, here's the report of what's happened. 500 men have been killed here. We don't know what's happened in the rest of the kingdom, but 500 men have been killed there. Is there anything more? And she said, well, if it would please the king, let us have another day. So in Susa, not in the rest of the kingdom, but in Susa on the 14th day, they also went out and they killed 300 more. of the enemies of the Jews who sought to destroy the Jews. Apparently, from the way this reads, that didn't happen in the rest of the kingdom. It only happened in Susa. So what happened is that in the rest of the kingdom, they avenged themselves on their enemies on the 13th day, and they rejoiced and celebrated on the 14th day. In Susa, they avenged themselves on the 13th and the 14th day, so they rejoiced and celebrated on the 15th day. This kind of explains to us the background of why that this was a two-day feast. We're told in this chapter that this was a feast, it was a celebration, it was a holiday. It was a day that they would send gifts to one another, that they would gather, that they would feast, and that they would, you know, it was a big deal. Now, I've been talking about this a little bit, but what was it ultimately supposed to be? It was supposed to be a time to remember and a time to rejoice. That's what it was supposed to be. They were supposed to remember what God had done for them and they were to rejoice in the fact that at the very moment when it looked like they as a people were about to be exterminated, that God intervened and they survived as a people. And instead of them being exterminated, their enemies were judged. So it was to be a time to remember and a time to rejoice. I've been thinking about this over the course of the last few days. Wouldn't it be good if we approached our holidays and we said, okay, this is a time to remember You know, what is the significance of this day that we celebrate? And it's a time to rejoice, you know, like at Christmas. Well, it's a time to remember the birth of Christ and to rejoice in the fact that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. at the time of Easter. Well, this is a time to remember that Christ was crucified for our sins, buried, rose again the third day. It is a time to remember the significance of that and to rejoice in what God has done for sinners. Thanksgiving, a time to remember how gracious and kind God has been to provide for us and to rejoice in that. So I think that's the significance of this feast. Now, another thing. In this chapter, the celebration of this feast is, the parameters of it are kinda laid out, it's kinda defined. And here's just the things, we won't look at the text, but here's the things you can read it, you read it when you read it with me. First of all, it was to be on the 13th and the 14th day of the month Adar. The very days that the events transpired, these two days were to be the days that the feast was celebrated. It was to be celebrated every year. Every year, this feast was to be celebrated. It was something that they, as a people, committed themselves to do. On the days that this transpired, apparently they did it spontaneously. The way it reads to me is that after this great turn of events and their deliverance that they just spontaneously begin to celebrate. But what we have here is that once this happens, well then there is messages that are sent from Mordecai and from Esther and they as a people commit themselves, they obligate themselves to celebrate this feast every year. In this text, we're told the reason it's called Purim, if I'm pronouncing that correctly. The reason it's called Purim is because Pur, or Pur, is the casting of lots, and that's what Haman was doing. He was casting lots, trying to figure out, by casting lots, when was the right time to approach the king to get this scheme of his through the king so that he could kill the Jews because he hated Mordecai so badly. So that's why it's called what it's called. We're told that it was to be practiced every generation, among every family, and in every place. So in every succeeding generation, it was to be celebrated. It was to be celebrated in all of their families, and it was to be celebrated everywhere that Jews lived. So in whatever nation, whether they went back to their homeland or whether they stayed in the foreign lands that they had been scattered among, the Jews were to celebrate this feast. Every generation, every family, and every place. And it was to be perpetual. It was not like we're gonna do this 100 years and then it's over. No, it was always to be celebrated, it was a perpetual feast, and it was to be celebrated every year perpetually. I guess they still do, correct? What time of the year is that in our time? And lastly, the last chapter, which is a short chapter, in that chapter we have what I think is the definition of a great leader. Now we've seen the elevation of Mordecai, We've seen him lifted up, given this high rank and high station. We've seen him given great honor and authority by the king. He's become great. He's become powerful. He's become popular, we're told, among the multitude of his brothers. But what really is the source? of his greatness. Of course, the blessing of God, the hand of God, we could say that. But I think the last verse of the book gives us a little key. For he sought the welfare of his people. and spoke peace to all his people. His greatness as a man and as a leader was in the fact that he cared about his people and he served them. He served his people. He did well by his own people. He did well by his own people. He sought the welfare of his people. He had a heart to help them. And think about this, you know, politics, politics, politics. But just look back through history, and you know if we look back through history, you know the people that we deemed to be the greatest leaders have been those who had a servant's heart and cared about serving the people that they were given. There's all kinds of debates about historical figures, and I think the reason that there are all these debates about historical figures is because we want to rewrite history. But most people believe Abraham Lincoln was our greatest national leader. Well, but what we know about Abraham Lincoln is that he basically just laid his whole life out to try to save the nation that he believed he had been given charge and care of. Washington, we look up to George Washington as a great leader. I just read 2,100 pages on the life of Winston Churchill. And to me, just as Lincoln may have been the greatest leader of the 1800s, I think Churchill was probably the greatest world leader of the 1900s. And he wasn't a perfect man. He had all kinds of blemishes and all kinds of faults and all kinds of idiosyncrasies. But he loved his nation. He loved his people. And he served them. And I think that's, you know, we have this little snippet about Mordecai. What made Mordecai so great? Was it because he was wearing the king's signet ring? No, it's because he lived with a view to help his people. And that's the kind of leaders we should pray for, hope for. Of course, we're commanded in scripture to pray for all our leaders. You know, that's the kind of leaders that last in our memories and our hearts long beyond their lives, that kind of person. And I think that's why Mordecai was such a great man. He knew God, he walked with God, and he viewed himself as an instrument that God might use to help his people. Well, pray that the Lord will show us where to study next. Right. I always had a meal. So it's not, we're not, we're not unbiblical when we always eat all the time when we get together. Families get together and eat. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word. We pray you'll write it upon our hearts and I pray that these feeble thoughts of mine that somehow by your grace would be blessed by your spirit to help your people for your glory. Amen.