Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / There She Goes . . . Miss Persia! │ Msg 212 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

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There She Goes . . . Miss Persia! │ Msg 212 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: Winston Churchill had an appointment with destiny. It was on
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Speaker 1: the morning of May tenth, nineteen thirty nine. The German
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Speaker 1: army had invaded Holland and Belgium, and France was next.
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Speaker 1: The King of England summoned Churchill and asked him to
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Speaker 1: mobilize the government against Hitler and the Nazis. Churchill's journal
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Speaker 1: records his feelings.
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Speaker 2: That fateful evening. I quote from that journal.
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Speaker 1: I felt as if I were walking with destiny, and
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Speaker 1: that all my past life had been but a preparation
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Speaker 1: for this hour and for this trial. Quite likely Esther
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Speaker 1: must have felt in a similar way when she heard
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Speaker 1: Mordecai's words. For if you remain silent at this time,
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Speaker 1: he told her, relief and deliverance will arise for the
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Speaker 1: Jews from another place, and you and your father's house
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Speaker 1: will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained
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Speaker 1: royalty for such a time as this. We find those
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Speaker 1: immortal words in Ester four, verse fourteen. We could call
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Speaker 1: that Esther's appointment with Destiny. As the Book of Esther opens,
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Speaker 1: we sense God's hand moving events toward the moment when
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Speaker 1: she would step forward and keep that appointment with Destiny.
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Speaker 1: I want to read a few verses from Esther one
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Speaker 1: and then chapter two. If you have your Bible, please
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Speaker 1: turn to the first chapter of Esther. I'll begin with
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Speaker 1: verse one, reading from the New American Standard Bible. Now,
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Speaker 1: it took place in the days of a Hazuaras, the
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Speaker 1: Hazuaras who reigned from India to Ethiopia over one hundred
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Speaker 1: and twenty seven province in those days. As King a
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Speaker 1: Hajuaras set on his royal throne, which was at the
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Speaker 1: citadel in Susa. In the third year of his reign,
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Speaker 1: he gave a banquet for all his princes and attendants,
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Speaker 1: the army officers of Persia and media, the nobles and
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Speaker 1: the princes of his provinces being in his presence Verse ten.
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Speaker 1: On the seventh day, when the heart of the king
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Speaker 1: was married with wine, he commanded seven eunuchs who served
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Speaker 1: in the presence of King a Hazuaras, to bring Queen
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Speaker 1: Vashti before the king with her royal crown, in order
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Speaker 1: to display her beauty to the people and the princes,
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Speaker 1: for she was beautiful. But Queen Vashti refused to come
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Speaker 1: at the king's command delivered by the eunuchs when the
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Speaker 1: king became very angry and his wrath burned within him.
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Speaker 1: Now please drop down with me to verse nineteen, where
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Speaker 1: we read what the king's adviser counseled him to do.
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Speaker 1: If it pleases the king, let a royal edict be
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Speaker 1: issued by him, and let it be written in the
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Speaker 1: laws of Persia and media, so that it cannot be repealed.
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Speaker 1: That Vashi may no longer come into the presence of
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Speaker 1: King a Hajuaris, And let the King give her royal
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Speaker 1: position to another who is more worthy than she. Now
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Speaker 1: on to chapter two, verse one. After these things, when
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Speaker 1: the anger of King a Hajuaras had subsided, he remembered
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Speaker 1: Vashti and what she had done and what had been.
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Speaker 2: Decreed against her. Then the king's attendants who served him said,
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Speaker 2: let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king. Let
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Speaker 2: the King appoint overseers in all the provinces of his kingdom,
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Speaker 2: that they may gather every beautiful young virgin to the
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Speaker 2: citadel of Susa, to the Harem, into the custody of Hegai,
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Speaker 2: the King's eunuch, who is in charge of the women.
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Speaker 2: And let their cosmetics be given them. Then let the
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Speaker 2: young lady who pleases the king be queen in place
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Speaker 2: of Vashti. And the matter pleased the king, and he
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Speaker 2: did Accordingly.
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Speaker 3: God is a specialist in turning the mundane into the meaningful. However,
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Speaker 3: most of our days began rather predictably. We could probably
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Speaker 3: enter into our diary the same three words day after day.
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Speaker 3: No big deal. Days don't begin with divine skywriting. We
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Speaker 3: aren't catapulted into the hours of the morning by some
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Speaker 3: great movement of God where we can sense his presence
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Speaker 3: or audibly hear his voice. However, some days that began
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Speaker 3: rather uneventful lead into things unbelievable, indescribable, in fact, so
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Speaker 3: different and unexpected they change our whole lives. I heard
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Speaker 3: this past week so many stories that emerged from that
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Speaker 3: vast storm that swept across the Caribbean and on into
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Speaker 3: the southeast section of our country. I heard about a
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Speaker 3: young man who was living in New York, and his
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Speaker 3: plans that day didn't seem that significant. He was to
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Speaker 3: pack for a trip, which we have all done, and
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Speaker 3: that's certainly not very eventful. However, that particular day he
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Speaker 3: was to fly down to what was later to become
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Speaker 3: the center of the storm. He didn't know it at
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Speaker 3: the time he made his plans. It wasn't just your
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Speaker 3: basic trip. He was going to meet his bride because
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Speaker 3: they were going to get married within a few days.
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Speaker 3: To his surprise, his bride's parents home where they were
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Speaker 3: to meet, was completely destroyed in the meantime. Also, he
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Speaker 3: got on the plane at LaGuardia Airport and wound up
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Speaker 3: in the East River. It was the plane that never
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Speaker 3: got airborne, and while he was not injured, was able
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Speaker 3: to get off. It was, of course, an incredible experience
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Speaker 3: for him, which caused him to be asked to be
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Speaker 3: interviewed on this particular television talk show. He didn't make
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Speaker 3: the trip, by the way, and in his own words,
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Speaker 3: the limousine was thirty minutes late, which I think was
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Speaker 3: absolutely predictable, knowing limousines as they are, and their plans
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Speaker 3: were to honeymoon in the Virgin Islands, which I'm sure
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Speaker 3: were changed. Now, stop and think about that fellow. He
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Speaker 3: started the day expecting just your basic trip to meet
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Speaker 3: a lovely young woman he was to marry, to be
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Speaker 3: involved in a honeymoon that would be absolutely delightful. Only
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Speaker 3: to find all those plans changed. Most of us begin
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Speaker 3: our days with the same song second verse, in the
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Speaker 3: next day, same song, third verse, and the next same
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Speaker 3: song fourth verse. Kind of mentality, when in fact, God
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Speaker 3: moves in and brings about a remarkable series of events
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Speaker 3: we would have never guessed or been able to predict.
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Speaker 3: God not only moves in unusual ways, he also moves
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Speaker 3: I'm convinced on uneven eventful days. I think He is
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Speaker 3: just as involved in the mundane events as he is
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Speaker 3: in the miraculous. I believe his hand. Isn't it all
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Speaker 3: to quote that great theologian Howie Stevenson, God moves among
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Speaker 3: the casseroles. I love that line, just the basic events
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Speaker 3: of life. Let me show you a case in point.
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Speaker 3: Let me illustrate from the scriptures, a perfect example of
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Speaker 3: an unknown young woman whose life had nothing to do
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Speaker 3: with the events we're going to spend our time looking
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Speaker 3: at for the next number of minutes. And yet in
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Speaker 3: God's tapestry, he was weaving together an unknown or fundy
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Speaker 3: young woman into the life of the most powerful man
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Speaker 3: in the Persian Empire. And he began in one of
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Speaker 3: those same song fourth verse. Kind of days. So familiar
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Speaker 3: to a king, and yet life changing for this young woman.
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Speaker 3: My Bible is open to one of the most least
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Speaker 3: read sections of the Scriptures, the Book of Esther. Turn,
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Speaker 3: if you will, to this first chapter as we continue
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Speaker 3: our study of this wonderful woman's life, which I say
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Speaker 3: again begins in an uneventful manner. You could almost read
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Speaker 3: it like you're reading a fairy tale to your children
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Speaker 3: or grandchildren once upon a time, or maybe you would
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Speaker 3: expect it to say something like there once lived a
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Speaker 3: great king in the land of Persia whose life was
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Speaker 3: soon to touch an unknown orphan. While you're looking at
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Speaker 3: this early part of Esther, let's do a quick little
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Speaker 3: review from both Old and New Testament on days that
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Speaker 3: seemed uneventful but became unbelievable. How about the day Christ
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Speaker 3: was born. I'm convinced in my heart there wasn't one
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Speaker 3: citizen in Judea who expected a life changing event like that,
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Speaker 3: certainly not in this little town of Bethlehem. And yet
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Speaker 3: before that day had ended life, in fact, history was
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Speaker 3: being reshaped. And if you like that one, how about
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Speaker 3: the morning he was raised from the dead. Nobody expected that, nobody,
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Speaker 3: not even his twelve He had been placed in the
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Speaker 3: grave as a corpse. The grave had been sealed with
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Speaker 3: a Roman seal, a guard had been set on duty
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Speaker 3: twenty four hours a day. And yet when they arrived
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Speaker 3: that morning was the beginning of an unbelievable series events
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Speaker 3: that still haven't stopped occurring. I'll tell you another one.
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Speaker 3: It's mentioned often in the New Testament, but it hasn't
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Speaker 3: happened yet. It's the day Christ will return. School children
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Speaker 3: will have their lunches packed and they'll be off to school.
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Speaker 3: Traffic will choke the freeways. Merchants will be opening their
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Speaker 3: doors to customers. The stock market will be a buzz
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Speaker 3: with excitement and interest and activity. And suddenly He will
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Speaker 3: split the sky and the dead in Christ will be
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Speaker 3: raised first, and there will be that incredible reunion that
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Speaker 3: will leave this planet like it has never been before.
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Speaker 3: No one will know the morning. It could be tomorrow.
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Speaker 3: As a matter of fact, this very day could have
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Speaker 3: been rather uneventful for you, sort of another who hum,
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Speaker 3: same old, no big deal kind of day. But before
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Speaker 3: you go to bed tonight, he could come back. Over.
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Speaker 3: In the Old Testament, we have many days like this.
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Speaker 3: How about that morning before the great waters covered the earth,
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Speaker 3: and only Noah and his family found safety in a
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Speaker 3: little arc. How about that morning that the bush began
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Speaker 3: to burn and it wouldn't go out, and that shepherd,
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Speaker 3: eighty year old shepherd, who was convinced he would never
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Speaker 3: again hear the voice of God to say nothing of
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Speaker 3: being commissioned to a big task, would be told he
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Speaker 3: was to lead an exodus. How about the morning that Judea,
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Speaker 3: on that Judean hillside, when a Jewish teenager was watching
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Speaker 3: his father's sheep, and he finally heard before sundown his
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Speaker 3: father's call, David Samuel is here to speak to you,
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Speaker 3: And he learned before dark he would be the next
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Speaker 3: king of Israel. F. B. Meyer has said it so
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Speaker 3: well fit yourself for God's service. Be faithful, he writes.
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Speaker 3: He will presently appoint thee in some unlikely quarter, in
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Speaker 3: a shepherd's hut or in an artisan's cottage. God has
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Speaker 3: his prepared and appointed instrument. As yet the shaft is
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Speaker 3: hidden in his quiver, in the shadow of his hand.
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Speaker 3: But at the precise moment at which it will tell
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Speaker 3: with the greatest effect, it will be produced and launched
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Speaker 3: on the air. One of these mornings, God will step
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Speaker 3: into your child's life and say this is the day
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Speaker 3: I launch you. Some of us need to hear that today,
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Speaker 3: don't we. One of these days God will step on
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Speaker 3: the earth's scene and say this is your last day
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Speaker 3: on earth, and we will die. But that day, like
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Speaker 3: all other days, will begin with sort of a yawn.
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Speaker 3: Like the story begins now. It took place in the
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Speaker 3: days of a Hasuaras, the same one who reigned from
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Speaker 3: India to Ethiopia over one hundred and twenty seven provinces.
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Speaker 3: Here in this mundane historical account that would catch no
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Speaker 3: one's attention. In fact, the New International version says it
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Speaker 3: this way. This is what happened during the time of Xerxes.
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Speaker 3: Another king, another kingdom, another day, another year. If you
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Speaker 3: have a pen in hand, marks something you wouldn't normally mark.
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Speaker 3: In the third year of his reign verse three, he
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Speaker 3: is at his royal throne, which is located at the
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Speaker 3: capital of Persia. Some versions of the Bible read shoes
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Speaker 3: shan ours Reed's sousa. He was at the capitol, which
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Speaker 3: was sort of the Washington d C. Of the world.
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Speaker 3: He was in the third year of his reign. I
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Speaker 3: want you to put that on the back burner of
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Speaker 3: your mind. I'll come back to it before i'm through
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Speaker 3: and point out the significance of it. It makes sense
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Speaker 3: later on. He gave a banquet. Now, there's nothing new
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Speaker 3: about banquets in nobility. That's common standard operating procedure. He
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Speaker 3: gave a banquet, however, that was like no other banquet.
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Speaker 3: Observed the size of it. It was for all his
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Speaker 3: princes and attendants, army officers of Persia, So there was
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Speaker 3: military brass as well as nobility, the nobles and the
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Speaker 3: princes of his provinces being in his presence when he
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Speaker 3: displayed the riches of his royal glory and the splendor
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Speaker 3: of his Great majesty for many days. Now, look one
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Speaker 3: hundred eighty days. We're talking six months of banqueting. Yeah,
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Speaker 3: you should laugh. I mean this was enough to make
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Speaker 3: forbes birthday party look like a stingy pot luck. This
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Speaker 3: is six months of majesty and glory of the king.
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Speaker 3: There are parades, there's celebration, there's music, there's dancing, there's eating,
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Speaker 3: there's drinking, there's sleeping, there's relaxing, there's celebrating. It is
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Speaker 3: like no other banquet. One hundred and eighty days of it,
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Speaker 3: when they all heard the praises of the king. By
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Speaker 3: the way, inscriptions have been unearthed in which the king
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Speaker 3: himself refers to himself in these terms, and I quote
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Speaker 3: the great king, King, the King of kings, the King
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Speaker 3: of the lands occupied by many races, the king of
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Speaker 3: this great earth. I mean he didn't suffer from modesty.
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Speaker 3: Let's say that he invited, however, another group, and a
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Speaker 3: larger group, to a second banquet on the heels of
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Speaker 3: the first. When those days were completed, we read in
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Speaker 3: verse five, the same king gave another banquet, and it
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Speaker 3: lasted seven days. It was for all the people who
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Speaker 3: were present in Sousa, the capital, from the greatest to
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Speaker 3: the least, in the court of the garden of the
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Speaker 3: king's palace. So now he opens the doors and lets
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Speaker 3: anybody in, from the least to the greatest, and they
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Speaker 3: must have come by the hundreds, maybe by the thousands.
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Speaker 3: Think of that place seven days. Whoever wrote this was
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Speaker 3: there there were hangings of fine white and violent linen
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Speaker 3: held by cords of fine purple linen on silver rings
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Speaker 3: and marble columns. It sounds like an interior designer wrote this,
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Speaker 3: doesn't It there were couches of gold and silver on
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Speaker 3: a mosaic pavement. There was marble, there was mother of pearl,
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Speaker 3: there were precious stones. It was something to behold. And
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Speaker 3: along with this there was plenty of drinking. Drinks were
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Speaker 3: served in golden vessels of various kind, and the royal
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Speaker 3: wine was plentiful according to the king's bounty. Hold nothing back,
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Speaker 3: bring it on, let them have all they want. For
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Speaker 3: seven days this went on. The drinking was done according
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Speaker 3: to the law. There was no compulsion for so the
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Speaker 3: king had given orders to each official of his household
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Speaker 3: that he should do according to the desires of each person.
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Speaker 3: If you want to drink gray, if you wanted to
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Speaker 3: drink a lot, great, If you didn't want to drink
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Speaker 3: at all, that's fine. If you want to drink a
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Speaker 3: little bit, it's all up to you. It's up to you.
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Speaker 3: There's no compulsion. So there was freedom. There was banqueting,
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Speaker 3: There was revelry, There was beauty. There was incredible display
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Speaker 3: of majesty and power and riches. It was one of
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Speaker 3: those heady, kind of look how great we are type
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Speaker 3: of settings. No one night, black tie affair. This was
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Speaker 3: a banquet to be remembered the queen wasn't there. Apparently,
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Speaker 3: in the king's orders there would not be the presence
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Speaker 3: of Queen Vashti and her friends. So verse nine tells
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Speaker 3: us she gave a banquet for the women in the
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Speaker 3: palace which belonged to King ahazu Eara. So in another
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Speaker 3: part of this palace she held her banquet. On the
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Speaker 3: seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry
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Speaker 3: with wine. The guy was soust he was drunk, And
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Speaker 3: while he was in this drunken, unrestrained mental state, he
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Speaker 3: makes a command to his wise men that are at
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Speaker 3: least enlisted here the seven eunuchs who served in his presence,
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Speaker 3: And this is what he commanded. They were to bring
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Speaker 3: Queen Vashti before the king her royal crown. The original
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Speaker 3: says turban whatever she was to wear her royal headpeace,
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Speaker 3: in order to display her beauty to the people and
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Speaker 3: the princes. For she was beautiful. You can count on this.
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Speaker 3: When scripture says she's beautiful, it really means it. It
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Speaker 3: isn't trying to show favor toward her because she's a queen.
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Speaker 3: If she was ugly, it would probably say she was ugly.
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Speaker 3: But when it says she's beautiful. It means she was
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Speaker 3: a knockout, and she was to come wearing her royal headdress,
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Speaker 3: and she was to display her beauty for all of
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Speaker 3: his half drunk friends to see. Now, some Jewish scholars
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Speaker 3: wrestled with what this means. Some suggest it simply meant
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Speaker 3: she was to come unveiled, which would have been scandal
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Speaker 3: enough in a Persian court. Others suggest that she was
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Speaker 3: to come wearing only her crown, which would have been
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Speaker 3: another kind of scandal. She said no, Queen Vashti verse twelve,
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Speaker 3: refused to come at the king's command. Alexander White, a
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Speaker 3: writer of Old Testament and New Testament care characters, does
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Speaker 3: a masterful job with the book of Esther, lifting a
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Speaker 3: little section from what he has written. Whatever the royal
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Speaker 3: order that came to her out of the banqueting hall
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Speaker 3: exactly was the brave queen refused to obey it. Her
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Speaker 3: beauty was her own and her husband's. It was not
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Speaker 3: for open show among hundreds of half drunk men. I
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Speaker 3: shall leave this part of the unsavory story veiled up
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Speaker 3: in all the restrained and dignified language of the sacred writer.
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Speaker 3: Doesn't that sound like something written in the nineteenth century
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Speaker 3: is that beautiful? I won't let my imaginations run wild. Well,
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Speaker 3: not being Alexander White, I did. And I'll tell you
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Speaker 3: what I admire Vashti. I admire Queen Vashti. Since when?
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Speaker 3: And does submission mean that the wife is a sexual
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Speaker 3: pawn and the carnal desires of her husband, no matter
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Speaker 3: what they may be. It was never God's design that
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Speaker 3: a wife submit to whatever extreme whims a husband may
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Speaker 3: entertain to carry out evil desires from his mind is
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Speaker 3: to rob a woman of her dignity and to display
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Speaker 3: her before a public that would have nothing in mind.
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Speaker 3: But lust is not submission at slavery and it's still slavery,
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Speaker 3: and it isn't right. And I applaud Vashti for her
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Speaker 3: courageous decision. Marriage does not give a husband the right
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Speaker 3: or the license to fulfill his basist fantasies by using
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Speaker 3: his wife as a thing. I think I'm about unshockable
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Speaker 3: having been in ministry, but every once in a while
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Speaker 3: I have to suck in my breath in a bit
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Speaker 3: of shock when I hear what some men demand of
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Speaker 3: their wives, calling it submission. It is really a shame
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Speaker 3: be careful man, what you command of the woman God
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Speaker 3: has given you, be certain that it doesn't assault her
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Speaker 3: dignity as a person and turn a lovely human being
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Speaker 3: into a sexual thing for you or for others to watch. Well.
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Speaker 3: Queen Vashti's words enraged the king. He absolutely couldn't stand it.
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Speaker 3: Remember he's drunk. Verse twelve tells us the king became
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Speaker 3: very angry, and his wrath burned within him. Naturally, in
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Speaker 3: this condition, he's got men around who want to do
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Speaker 3: nothing more than please him, regardless of what it would require.
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Speaker 3: And so he said to the wise men who understood
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Speaker 3: the times, men who were close to him, and they
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Speaker 3: are described, or at least they are named in verse fourteen,
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Speaker 3: not to be confused with the eunuchs mentioned earlier. Those
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Speaker 3: who were close to him seven princes of Persia and
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Speaker 3: Media who had access to the king's presence and set
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Speaker 3: in the first place in the kingdom. These would be
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Speaker 3: his cabinet, his advisers, if a king would ever submit
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Speaker 3: to such His question is, according to law, what is
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Speaker 3: to be done with Queen Vashti because she did not
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Speaker 3: obey the command of King Hajuaris delivered by the eunuchs
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Speaker 3: what are we going to do? What's our game plan?
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Speaker 3: In the presence of the king and the princes. Memucan
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Speaker 3: said this. By the way, one of my sources, interesting enough,
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Speaker 3: said there's extra biblical literature to prove that Memucan had
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Speaker 3: trouble at home, and he naturally would use this as
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Speaker 3: an opportunity to give his wife a message indirectly stamped
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Speaker 3: with the signet of the king's ring. And so he said,
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Speaker 3: Queen Vashti has wrong not only the king, but all
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Speaker 3: the princes and all the people who are in all
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Speaker 3: the provinces of King Ajaguaras. I would say that's a
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Speaker 3: little overreaction, wouldn't you, But he says it. Nevertheless, the
26:47
Speaker 3: queen's conduct will become known to all the women, causing
26:52
Speaker 3: them to look with contempt on their husband, saying, King
26:56
Speaker 3: a Haaguaras commanded Queen Vashti to be brought in to
27:00
Speaker 3: his presence, and she didn't come. You see, the fear, obviously,
27:05
Speaker 3: is that before long all women will be doing what
27:08
Speaker 3: Queen Vashti has done, and the men will lose control
27:11
Speaker 3: of their wives. And this day, the ladies of Persian
27:17
Speaker 3: and media, who have heard of the queen's conduct will
27:20
Speaker 3: speak in the same way to all the king's princes,
27:23
Speaker 3: and there will be plenty of contempt and anger. Can't
27:27
Speaker 3: you hear this? All men's gathering as they are, all, Yeah,
27:31
Speaker 3: that's right, man. Now my wife's like that. Man. She
27:34
Speaker 3: hears about FASTI, she's gonna go nuts. She's already a rebel.
27:38
Speaker 3: But he's gonna get absolutely out of it. On and
27:40
Speaker 3: on and on and finally he's got the king all
27:44
Speaker 3: ready for his suggestion. If it pleases the King, let
27:50
Speaker 3: a royal edict be issued by him, and let it
27:55
Speaker 3: be written in the laws of the Meds and the Persians.
27:58
Speaker 3: Remember that's the law that's never changed, so that it
28:04
Speaker 3: cannot be repealed, that Vashti should come no more into
28:07
Speaker 3: the presence of King of Hazuaris. Now that was his right.
28:12
Speaker 3: He certainly had the right to say, that's it, Curtains,
28:16
Speaker 3: you've seen the last of me, Lady, you're gone. So directly,
28:21
Speaker 3: this edict had to do with his own home and
28:25
Speaker 3: his own marriage. But he goes further. Let the King
28:31
Speaker 3: give her a royal position to another who is more
28:34
Speaker 3: worthy than she. Now right about now you're probably thinking,
28:38
Speaker 3: what in the world does all of this have to
28:41
Speaker 3: do with righteous things? I mean, I am trying to
28:44
Speaker 3: find Esther in this book and I can't find. All
28:47
Speaker 3: I've got is a banquet and a king and more
28:51
Speaker 3: than six months of drinking and display of carnal appetites.
28:56
Speaker 3: And wait a minute, remember what we said. God not
29:02
Speaker 3: only moves in mysterious ways, he moves in mundane days.
29:09
Speaker 3: His hand is not removed from this scene. Did you
29:16
Speaker 3: notice what I just read? Vashti will be gone and
29:22
Speaker 3: let the King give her position to another more worthy
29:29
Speaker 3: than she.
29:31
Speaker 2: Enter Esther.
29:34
Speaker 3: But what you have to remember is that Esther doesn't
29:36
Speaker 3: have the foggiest idea of this little chamber of men
29:42
Speaker 3: with their little minds working out their little frustrations regarding
29:47
Speaker 3: their own homes. Esther is about her business, living her life,
29:54
Speaker 3: just like your daughter and mine, or your son and mine,
29:58
Speaker 3: or you and I are living our lives today, knowing
30:02
Speaker 3: nothing of a chamber where they are meeting that will
30:07
Speaker 3: have something to do, quite possibly with our entire future.
30:13
Speaker 3: This is the beauty of the Christian life. This is
30:17
Speaker 3: the wonder of God's sovereignty. He works in these remarkable ways,
30:24
Speaker 3: moving and pushing and changing minds until he brings, even
30:29
Speaker 3: let me say it, out of the most carnal and
30:33
Speaker 3: secular of settings, a decision that will set our course anew.
30:43
Speaker 3: We're going to see that all the way through this book,
30:46
Speaker 3: and I love it. So little is said of this.
30:50
Speaker 3: We live in such an ultra Christian mentality that we
30:54
Speaker 3: think God is asleep when it comes to nations, or
30:58
Speaker 3: God is out of touch when it comes to carnd banquets,
31:01
Speaker 3: or God wrings his hands when it comes to godless
31:04
Speaker 3: rulers who make decisions that are so unfair, in fact,
31:09
Speaker 3: so rash and even stupid. Trust me, God is at
31:16
Speaker 3: work even in an ancient scene like Persia. Look at
31:29
Speaker 3: verse twenty. They go a little further in the edict
31:33
Speaker 3: than I think would be practically possible to require. When
31:38
Speaker 3: the King's edict which he shall make is heard throughout
31:41
Speaker 3: all his kingdom, great as it is, then all women
31:45
Speaker 3: will give honor to their husbands, great and small. I'm
31:50
Speaker 3: not sure about that. And this word pleased the king
31:53
Speaker 3: and the princes. And the King did as MEMI can propose.
31:56
Speaker 3: He sent letters to all the King's provinces, to each
32:00
Speaker 3: province according to its script, and to every people according
32:03
Speaker 3: to their language. Notice what it says, every man shall
32:07
Speaker 3: be the master in his own house, and the one
32:10
Speaker 3: who speaks in the language of his own people, he'll
32:14
Speaker 3: be in charge, and he will speak for the family.
32:18
Speaker 3: I want to ask you a question, since when did
32:20
Speaker 3: a letter from the king make any wife submissive? Okay,
32:29
Speaker 3: I'm all for submission as long as its biblical kind
32:31
Speaker 3: of submission. I'm all for the husband being the leader
32:34
Speaker 3: of the home, as long as it's God's kind of
32:37
Speaker 3: leader set forth in Scripture, not some wild fundamentalistic concept
32:43
Speaker 3: of leadership and submission. I'm all for those roles, and
32:47
Speaker 3: I believe in them, and I preach them every chance
32:50
Speaker 3: I get. But the perversion of such, or the requirement
32:54
Speaker 3: of such always amazes me. Since when did legislation and
33:00
Speaker 3: bring about submission? Certainly from some king no one had
33:06
Speaker 3: ever met, or a very few of them. Nevertheless, it
33:12
Speaker 3: goes out and the plan begins to unfold. Back to
33:19
Speaker 3: Alexander White, let us take heed to note that the
33:23
Speaker 3: Sacred Writer's whole point is this, that the Divine hand
33:28
Speaker 3: was all the time overruling a Hasuaris's brutality, Vashti's brave womanliness,
33:36
Speaker 3: and Esther's beauty and her elevation into Vashti's vacant seat.
33:42
Speaker 3: All this, more than all this to work together for
33:46
Speaker 3: the deliverance and the well being of the remnant of
33:48
Speaker 3: Israel that still they dispersed in the vast empire of Persia.
33:54
Speaker 3: Wow is that great God's heart is on his people,
33:58
Speaker 3: a remnant in Persia away from Zion. He must preserve
34:03
Speaker 3: them from extinction. That requires decisions from the top, and
34:08
Speaker 3: that requires one of his people to be there, namely Esther,
34:12
Speaker 3: who will someday be sitting beside a Hasu wearess whom
34:16
Speaker 3: she doesn't even know today. After these things, the next
34:26
Speaker 3: chapter begins. For a moment, if you will allow me,
34:32
Speaker 3: put your index finger here at Esther two, and turn
34:35
Speaker 3: ahead to Proverbs chapter twenty one. Joe Songs Proverbs twenty one.
34:47
Speaker 3: Here it is verse one. Here is a verse that
34:52
Speaker 3: is seldom mentioned, but it needs to be underscored today.
34:59
Speaker 3: The the King's heart is like channels of water in
35:03
Speaker 3: the hand of the Lord. He turns it wherever he wishes.
35:09
Speaker 3: That beautiful here's kinga has you where us who has
35:13
Speaker 3: written on the stones that had been unearthed, the King
35:16
Speaker 3: of the world and all he is is a little
35:19
Speaker 3: tributary in the hands of Almighty God. He will move
35:24
Speaker 3: his heart wherever he capital h wishes. And I got
35:29
Speaker 3: news for all of us. In case we've forgotten. God
35:32
Speaker 3: is in no hurry. You've discovered that. You know, we
35:38
Speaker 3: all think if God's in this, he'll change things like
35:43
Speaker 3: within an hour or so, certainly by sundown. Absolutely by
35:48
Speaker 3: the end of the week. No, I've said nothing about timing.
35:54
Speaker 3: God does not go by the human clock. Compared to
35:59
Speaker 3: the works of mankind, God is extremely deliberate and painfully slow.
36:09
Speaker 3: He moves ever so slowly. I'm not original in this,
36:13
Speaker 3: but God wheels grind slowly and exceedingly Fine, don't worry,
36:25
Speaker 3: get a big picture today. Put your anxieties on hold.
36:32
Speaker 3: God is at work. If he is able to move
36:35
Speaker 3: the heart of the king like little channels of water
36:41
Speaker 3: coming from the reservoir, then believe me, he's able to
36:44
Speaker 3: reshape and rechannel lives that right now you think are
36:48
Speaker 3: long gone lost and calling their own shots. No, not
36:55
Speaker 3: at all. Now Ester chapter two, quickly, Now back to
36:59
Speaker 3: Ester two. After these things, that's enough to make you
37:05
Speaker 3: go back to sleep. Having done all this, we're back
37:10
Speaker 3: to the palace So what after what things? Oh, oh waite.
37:18
Speaker 3: When you read your Bibles, pay attention to little particles,
37:22
Speaker 3: to opening lines, to that which the average reader would say,
37:28
Speaker 3: let's get on to what's exciting. Pause and look, I
37:32
Speaker 3: did that. I've been studying this for some time, and
37:36
Speaker 3: I found that After these things is pregnant with meaning.
37:41
Speaker 3: It is full of truth. Remember what I told you
37:45
Speaker 3: to put on the back burner in chapter one, in
37:48
Speaker 3: the third year of his reign. Now, when I read
37:53
Speaker 3: after these Things, I thought, well, fourth year of his reign.
37:57
Speaker 3: How about the end of the third year of his reign?
38:00
Speaker 3: And I began to read through the chapter, and I
38:02
Speaker 3: didn't find any help until I came to verse sixteen
38:08
Speaker 3: of chapter two, where Esther, who wins the miss Persia
38:12
Speaker 3: contest Esther is taken to King a Haasuaras to his
38:18
Speaker 3: royal palace in the tenth month, which is the month Tebbeth,
38:22
Speaker 3: in the seventh year of his reign. You're telling me
38:27
Speaker 3: four years have gone by in between chapters one and two.
38:34
Speaker 3: So I thought, what happened during those four years? Learn
38:37
Speaker 3: a little history. A Hazuaris, also known as King Xerxes,
38:42
Speaker 3: reigned and you count backwards because it's BC from four
38:47
Speaker 3: eighty six to four sixty five BC four eighty six
38:53
Speaker 3: to four sixty five. The events of chapter one must
38:57
Speaker 3: have happened for eighty three because it's in the third year.
39:03
Speaker 3: The events of chapter two must have occurred four seventy nine,
39:09
Speaker 3: since it's seven years from when he begins. Right, what
39:13
Speaker 3: happened in four eighty four seventy nine, what's a great question.
39:18
Speaker 3: I'm glad you asked. History books tell us that this
39:23
Speaker 3: particular king, whom the books call Xerxes and I quote,
39:28
Speaker 3: made an ambitious but disastrous attempt to conquer Greece. He
39:39
Speaker 3: returned defeated. So after these things, he led an expedition
39:50
Speaker 3: to wipe out this growing giant on the surface grease.
39:56
Speaker 3: And he was defeated. And like a dog that's been whipped,
40:00
Speaker 3: he tucked his tail between his legs and went yiping
40:02
Speaker 3: back to Susa, the capitol lonely, and he opened the
40:07
Speaker 3: doors of the palace, and there was no lovely wife
40:11
Speaker 3: to greet him with arms outstretched, no comforting words of understanding.
40:17
Speaker 3: For the first time he has been defeated on the battlefield.
40:22
Speaker 3: There's nothing good on the stove in the kitchen and
40:28
Speaker 3: he's lonely after these things, the anger of the king
40:35
Speaker 3: had subsided. Of course, it's been three years. The reason
40:40
Speaker 3: I say that is these gals that ran for miss
40:43
Speaker 3: Persia had to have a full year before they came
40:45
Speaker 3: in to see the king. And so I'll get to
40:49
Speaker 3: that a little later on in the passage. You'll read
40:51
Speaker 3: about it when we get there. But took another year.
40:54
Speaker 3: So he's three years later, and he's defeated, and he's alone.
41:00
Speaker 3: He remembered Vashti, And if you're used to a wife,
41:06
Speaker 3: even though she may be a little strong willed at times,
41:09
Speaker 3: you need her when you come home defeated. You need
41:12
Speaker 3: her arms around you. You need the understanding of your partner.
41:17
Speaker 3: He doesn't find it. He remembered Vashti and what she
41:23
Speaker 3: had done and what had been decreed against her. I
41:26
Speaker 3: think there is a surrounding sense of low level, kind
41:29
Speaker 3: of kind of grade depression that comes in over him.
41:36
Speaker 3: The king's attendants who served him said, let beautiful young
41:40
Speaker 3: virgins be sought for the king. Isn't it interesting, by
41:44
Speaker 3: the way that the king had the power to have
41:47
Speaker 3: any woman in the kingdom snap of his finger, should
41:51
Speaker 3: be in his presence right there in his bedchamber. But
41:55
Speaker 3: he doesn't want a woman for the night. He wants
41:59
Speaker 3: a wife. You see, he's not drunk any longer. He's
42:06
Speaker 3: thinking clearly now. Who wouldn't prefer a woman who will
42:10
Speaker 3: be there tomorrow and the next day in contrast to
42:16
Speaker 3: a quickie sex experience for the night with some unnamed female.
42:24
Speaker 3: And so they say, let the king appoint overseas in
42:26
Speaker 3: all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather
42:30
Speaker 3: every beautiful young virgin to Sousa, the capital, to the harem. Look,
42:37
Speaker 3: he even had a harem. He didn't want one of
42:39
Speaker 3: them into the custody of Hagi, the king's eunuch, who
42:43
Speaker 3: was in charge of the women. And let their cosmetics
42:46
Speaker 3: be given them interesting and then let the young lady
42:57
Speaker 3: who pleases the king be the queen in place a vashti.
43:01
Speaker 3: We'll get another wife for you. This one will be beautiful.
43:05
Speaker 3: She will be the most beautiful woman in Persia. We'll
43:07
Speaker 3: go to all one hundred and twenty seven provinces and
43:10
Speaker 3: we'll find the best of the group. We'll even have
43:14
Speaker 3: her made even more attractive with cosmetics. Drop down if
43:19
Speaker 3: you will to verse twelve. When the turn of each
43:26
Speaker 3: young lady came to go into King Ajuaris at the
43:30
Speaker 3: end of her twelve months. Look at that, there's that
43:34
Speaker 3: extra year I told you about. She would have twelve
43:37
Speaker 3: months under specific regulations for the women, how would they
43:41
Speaker 3: be spent? The days of her beautification of their beautification
43:46
Speaker 3: were completed as follows. Six months with oil of ole,
43:50
Speaker 3: oil of merr and six months with spices and cosmetics
43:55
Speaker 3: for women. Kyle C. F. Kyle of The Kyle and
43:59
Speaker 3: Daily Commentaries makes comment that these words are to rub,
44:04
Speaker 3: to polish, to adorn with all kinds of precious ointments.
44:08
Speaker 3: It's physical beauty that they're going for. And before you
44:13
Speaker 3: sneer at that, ladies, trust me, the men aren't sneering.
44:18
Speaker 3: Before you buy into the feminist movement of our day,
44:21
Speaker 3: where you can look like an unmade bid and still
44:24
Speaker 3: you're to be adored and appreciated, learn a lesson from scripture.
44:29
Speaker 3: Every once in a while, scripture does say a word
44:31
Speaker 3: about physical beauty. It doesn't place the emphasis on it
44:35
Speaker 3: that you would hear in lustful magazines or from lustful men,
44:39
Speaker 3: but it does place an emphasis on your beauty. The
44:43
Speaker 3: cosmetics mentioned here for some strange reason, and I give
44:48
Speaker 3: this to you for no extra charge. Many many ladies
44:52
Speaker 3: who get spiritual about life and get serious about the
44:56
Speaker 3: scriptures give less and less attention to and they become
45:03
Speaker 3: really learned in the scriptures and ugly. For some reason,
45:09
Speaker 3: there is the feeling that if I get spiritually minded,
45:13
Speaker 3: he will no longer observe how I look. Wrong. A
45:21
Speaker 3: guy who is spiritually minded isn't blind, So just trust
45:30
Speaker 3: me here. Think of think of the privilege you have
45:35
Speaker 3: as a woman to do something about how you look. Normally,
45:40
Speaker 3: guys have to take what they've got. We wear makeup,
45:44
Speaker 3: we're a little weird. But ladies, you have the privilege
45:48
Speaker 3: of working on your face. And some of you need help. Okay,
45:56
Speaker 3: Now wait, I'm not criticized. I'm just saying that's true.
46:00
Speaker 3: We can't do anything about how ugly we are, but
46:03
Speaker 3: you can do a lot about how drastic measures you
46:07
Speaker 3: can take with where the way you look. Okay, And
46:12
Speaker 3: all the men said, amen, I thought you'd like that. Man. Now,
46:19
Speaker 3: all of a sudden, out in the middle of Cosmetic City,
46:23
Speaker 3: there's an incredible chain of events transpiring. While God is
46:29
Speaker 3: working on Esther, an unknown little lady who lives in
46:34
Speaker 3: the home of Mordecai, who's not even her daddy. She's
46:39
Speaker 3: been orphan. I'm getting ahead of myself. Look at verse five.
46:42
Speaker 3: Suddenly he mentions a Jew in Susa. Does that sound
46:46
Speaker 3: like an uneventful start. There's not a guy in the
46:50
Speaker 3: palace that knows Mordecai by name, but they're going to
46:56
Speaker 3: because God's hand is moving the heart of the king
46:59
Speaker 3: like channels of water. There was a Jew in Susa
47:04
Speaker 3: the capital whose name was Susan, the capital, whose name
47:08
Speaker 3: was Mordecai, the son of Ja, son of SHEMII, son
47:10
Speaker 3: of Keisha Benjamine, who had been taken into exile. Now
47:14
Speaker 3: the who is a reference to Kish Mordecai wasn't taken
47:17
Speaker 3: into exile. Back in his genealogy. Kish was had been
47:23
Speaker 3: taken into exile from Jerusalem with the captives who had
47:25
Speaker 3: been exile. We've been over all that historical jazz, so
47:28
Speaker 3: there's no reason to repeat it. The point is he
47:31
Speaker 3: is unrelated to the Persian kingdom. He's a Jew living
47:36
Speaker 3: in exile, he hasn't gone back to Jerusalem. And on
47:41
Speaker 3: top of that, he's bringing up verse seven. Havasa myrtle
47:45
Speaker 3: is the original word like a myrtle tree, a myrtle bush, fragrance.
47:51
Speaker 3: Her Persian name is Esther, which means star like a
47:56
Speaker 3: star in the sky. His uncle's daughter. She had neither
48:00
Speaker 3: father nor mother. It's the first reference to Esther. But
48:04
Speaker 3: I'll tell you she emerges with incredible beauty and character
48:09
Speaker 3: that'll just make you take your hat off. She is
48:12
Speaker 3: one phenomenal lady. Next time, we're going to look at
48:15
Speaker 3: the queenlike qualities of the lovely lady, all drawn from
48:20
Speaker 3: the life of Esther. In this early reference to her,
48:24
Speaker 3: it says in verse seven, the young lady was beautiful
48:27
Speaker 3: of form and features. The original said she was beautiful.
48:33
Speaker 3: She had a beautiful body, She had a beautiful face,
48:36
Speaker 3: she had beautiful features. When her father and her mother died,
48:41
Speaker 3: Mordecai took her as his own daughter. Period and that's
48:44
Speaker 3: where we got to stop. Orphan beautiful. And before long
48:48
Speaker 3: you're gonna hear there she goes miss Persia. She doesn't
48:52
Speaker 3: know that right now. She has no idea of the
48:56
Speaker 3: stuff we've uncovered. Yet her day began rather uneventfully. Before
49:07
Speaker 3: her years would end, she would be crowned in an
49:12
Speaker 3: incredible coronation as the queen of Persia. Now, this is
49:22
Speaker 3: not a sermon about Persian history. This is a sermon
49:26
Speaker 3: about life. And I find woven through the tapestry of
49:30
Speaker 3: this wonderful story that we've begun to uncover three timeless
49:36
Speaker 3: lessons that are going to be true till we draw
49:39
Speaker 3: our last breath and in the next generation when we're gone.
49:43
Speaker 3: Number one has to do with God's plan. Second has
49:46
Speaker 3: to do with God's purposes, and third has to do
49:49
Speaker 3: with God's people. Listen, God's plans are not hindered when
49:55
Speaker 3: the events are carnal or secular. God's plans are not
50:03
Speaker 3: hindered when the events that seem significant are carnal and secular.
50:08
Speaker 3: He is not limited to working in the Christian family.
50:13
Speaker 3: He is as much at work in the Oval office
50:15
Speaker 3: as he is in your pastor's study. He is as
50:20
Speaker 3: much at work in the heart of the president as
50:23
Speaker 3: he is in the Christian leaders in America. The day
50:28
Speaker 3: you doubt that is the day you limit his sovereignty,
50:31
Speaker 3: and you will stop reading the news, and you will
50:33
Speaker 3: become rather unhelpful in interpreting events of life. Christians stay
50:40
Speaker 3: in touch with the news. God is at work, He's moving,
50:46
Speaker 3: he's touching lives. He's shaping kingdoms. Just because they happen
50:52
Speaker 3: to be secutar or cardinal doesn't mean he's not present.
50:55
Speaker 3: He may not be glorified, but he's present. He's at work.
51:01
Speaker 3: None of it makes him go. He's never surprised. Second,
51:09
Speaker 3: God's purposes. God's purposes are not frustrated by moral or
51:14
Speaker 3: marital failures. Isn't that encouraging, especially if you have failed
51:21
Speaker 3: morally or maritally. I can't imagine the debauchery of the
51:27
Speaker 3: banquet hall. I can't imagine the vulgarity and obscenity of
51:31
Speaker 3: the jokes. I can't imagine the lust in the mind
51:34
Speaker 3: of King Haasuaras when he wanted to bring in his
51:37
Speaker 3: nude wife, if that indeed was his plan. But I'll
51:42
Speaker 3: tell you, in spite of the low morals and the
51:46
Speaker 3: breakdown in their marriage, God's purposes were not frustrated, and
51:51
Speaker 3: neither are they in your life. How do I know that?
51:54
Speaker 3: Because he is a God of grace. He is a
51:58
Speaker 3: god of great grace. Third, God's people this is my
52:04
Speaker 3: favorite one. God's people are not excluded from high places
52:12
Speaker 3: because of handicap or hardship. Don't you even think about
52:19
Speaker 3: discounting anybody from being in a place of significance. I'm
52:24
Speaker 3: laughing because I saw a sign the other day that said,
52:26
Speaker 3: don't you even think about parking here? Isn't that a
52:30
Speaker 3: good sign? Don't you even think that somebody is off
52:34
Speaker 3: the record. God's people are not excluded from high places
52:41
Speaker 3: because of handicap or hardship. I don't know if Mordecai
52:45
Speaker 3: knew where the next meal was coming from. I do
52:48
Speaker 3: know that Esther was orphaned, and I do know she
52:52
Speaker 3: was not nobility. She's not the last commoner that nobility
52:59
Speaker 3: placed hand, nor is she the last one that God
53:04
Speaker 3: exalted from nothing. Classic illustration A young couple that made
53:13
Speaker 3: a ninety mile journey south found no place to stay,
53:22
Speaker 3: and in the middle of the night caused the angels
53:26
Speaker 3: to declare, God is here. Joseph and Mary the vehicles
53:36
Speaker 3: for the birth of the Messiah, who did not come
53:42
Speaker 3: with royal blood from this earth's perspective, but he became
53:48
Speaker 3: the true King of kings and Lord of lords. Maybe
53:55
Speaker 3: a bow together. I don't know where this message finds you,
54:02
Speaker 3: probably discounting the significance of these days, probably sighing rather
54:08
Speaker 3: than singing, No doubt, thinking, what in the world good
54:12
Speaker 3: can come from all that I'm having to live with
54:16
Speaker 3: these kids. I can't handle the pressure of today. I
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Speaker 3: can't see the purpose. You've heard enough today to know
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Speaker 3: that God's hand is not short and it cannot save,
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Speaker 3: nor is his ear heavy that he cannot hear. You
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Speaker 3: may be the one He's working on in this very
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Speaker 3: place today. You may be the individual who needed to
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Speaker 3: hear this the most. You may need to hear it
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Speaker 3: on behalf of one of your kids, or on behalf
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Speaker 3: of your mate or a close friend, or maybe you yourself.
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Speaker 3: When you take that journey to the cross where Christ
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Speaker 3: paid for your sins, do you find someplace in your
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Speaker 3: asked where you bowed the knee to him and claimed, all,
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Speaker 3: Hail King Jesus, all hale Immanuel. Have you given him
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Speaker 3: your life, your heart, your future, your sinfulness for him
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Speaker 3: to cleanse and make right? Hey, what are you waiting for?
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Speaker 3: Now's the time you need to come today. Don't delay.
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Speaker 3: Thank you Father for the stories of your book. They
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Speaker 3: pulsate with significance, and we realize how directly they are
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Speaker 3: tied into our day. Forgive us for living in such
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Speaker 3: an ultra Christian world with only Christian contacts that we
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Speaker 3: have failed to see the movement of a sovereign God
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Speaker 3: in the vast scene means of state and empires in
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Speaker 3: our world. Broaden our world with this story of Esther,
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Speaker 3: and may we remain pure and committed to the things
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Speaker 3: of God while we remain sensitive to Your hand moving
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Speaker 3: in carnal secular, even drunken places. Thank you, Father for
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Speaker 3: your work in our lives. Bring to yourself this day
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Speaker 3: those desperately in need of hope and a reason to
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Speaker 3: go on. I pray for Jesus' sake Amen.
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Speaker 4: The preceding message There she Goes.
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Speaker 3: Miss Persia was copyrighted in.
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Speaker 4: Nineteen eighty nine, nineteen ninety nineteen ninety seven, two thousand
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Speaker 4: and five, twenty eighteen, and twenty twenty six, and the
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Speaker 4: sound recording was copyrighted in twenty twenty six by Charles R.
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Speaker 3: Swindahl Incorporated. All rights are reserved worldwide.
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Speaker 4: Application of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.