Chapter 9:1-5

“Now in the twelfth month, that is, the month of Adar, on the thirteenth day, the time came for the king’s command and his decree to be executed. On the day that the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, the opposite occurred, in that the Jews themselves overpowered those who hated them. 2 The Jews gathered together in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to lay hands on those who sought their harm. And no one could withstand them, because fear of them fell upon all people.

3 And all the officials of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and all those doing the king’s work, helped the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai fell upon them. 4 For Mordecai was great in the king’s palace, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces; for this man Mordecai became increasingly prominent. 5 Thus the Jews defeated all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, with slaughter and destruction, and did what they pleased with those who hated them.“

We looked last week at the beginning of the end for the attack on the Jews in the 127 provinces in the kingdom of Persia, reaching from India to Ethiopia. Esther, with the encouragement of Mordecai and the power of the Lord, sent out a letter allowing the Jews to defend themselves against their enemies. And as we read this chapter, we find that Haman did not have a hard time finding people to try to carry out his original decree.

The Jews have had and continue to have enemies all over the world. Countries like Iran and other Muslim nations constantly call for the annihilation of Israel. In many of their schools, the nation of Israel is not included in their geographical maps. Many liberal leaders here in the West, including the current President of the US and our PM in Canada, are not fans of Israel. They support the enemies of Israel and open us here in the West to the wrath of God.

Today we will explore the actual day of the battle; we will jump ahead a few months as to what happened on that day – the day that Haman had appointed to eliminate the Jews.

• The Jews were ready, verses 1-2

They had been warned by Esther’s letters, and they were ready to defend themselves. This is all that Esther wanted was that her people would not be caught off guard and slaughtered. God blessed her efforts, and a great victory was accomplished. We will explore more of this later in the lesson, but here we want to simply look at what happens when we step out in faith. Esther trusted that God could help her people, and she simply put herself and her life on the line. I was at a conference once, and the speaker talked about how we all want to stand out, but to do so, we must first stand up. Esther stood up. God honored her standing up, and there is an eternal record of her actions and what God did as a result.

Today is April 8th, 2021, and as I sit here writing, there is a church in Alberta that has been barricaded by the health authorities to try and prevent them from assembling for their church service this coming Sunday as a response to the COVID mess. Their pastor had recently spent 35 days in jail for leading a worship service. He was unable to get bail and get out. If he had been a rapist or murderer, he would have been able to post bail; but for the crime of worshipping the Lord Jesus, they kept him in jail for 35 days. There will always be enemies of the Lord’s people. Some will say that he is disobeying the laws of man, and he was, but those laws violated the laws of God.

I do not know this pastor personally, but I am sure that this coming Sunday, whether in the parking lot or in a field, this local church will have a worship service with the 600+ persons that are normally present. Like Esther, it may be that the Lord has him here for a time like this. The news coverage on this and the political fallout is already happening to the leaders in Alberta. Somewhere along the line, people need to stand and be counted. Esther stood, and God used her bravery and obedience to change the world around her. If you take the time to read the book of Nehemiah, it would appear that the favor for the Jews lasted long after Esther was dead and gone. What a legacy she and Mordecai left!

What will be your legacy here for the generations that follow? Will it be one of cowardice and compliance, or will you be one who stands for the truth and sets a tone of obedience no matter the cost? This is what I wrestle with in this time; I suspect that many more pastors are in the same fight. We know that the need to assemble is essential to the life of a church. It is commanded in Hebrews 10:25 that as we see the last days approaching, we are to make an even greater effort to assemble. Yet the power around us, in the name of safety, wants us to disobey God. We can distance, we can wear masks if they like, but we must assemble; this is God’s command.

We know from current studies that about one-third of all practicing Christians, according to an article from Barna published in July 2020, have stopped attending church completely, even the online versions. There will always be reasons for people not to attend church, but when a government determines that the liquor store is more ‘essential’ than the local church, we need to stand up and show that is a lie.

God’s people have not had to fight for a long time; we have enjoyed relative peace and tranquility here in the West for decades. But the fight is coming; make no mistake. The fight on the homosexual agenda and the Rainbow agenda is real; the fight to thwart or limit speech, thus making parts of the Bible, if not most of it illegal, is real; and the threat to shut down the local church as a response to the pandemic is just as real. Many will say that others have been affected, and you are right. The economic costs are staggering, the human costs in areas like suicide, depression and many other mental issues are staggering, and the spiritual costs are staggering. The division in churches for those who only see the COVID and don’t see any other things is real.

We were blindsided by this mess and caught off guard. Just a couple of weeks, they said, then a few months, and now it has been a year, and they project even more time. But somewhere along the line, God’s people need to stand and stop being afraid. You and I will die when God wants us to die and not a moment sooner. But too many of us have stopped living; we might as well be dead.

• The leadership of Mordecai verses 3-5

We have spent a lot of time talking about Esther, and rightly so, God did name the book after her. But in the shadows and long before Esther was the queen, there was Mordecai. He loved the Lord and loved Esther and taught her the truth. He taught her how to be obedient, loyal and brave. He taught her the history of her people and the truth about who she was as a Jew.

We see that he was a man of integrity and one to not tolerate fools like Haman nor bow to him. He did his job faithfully, serving the king but never forgetting that he was a Jew. Well, the Lord was always noticing, and when the time came, God elevated Mordecai and destroyed Haman. God promoted Mordecai and killed Haman. God did it at the right time. We have a hard time waiting on the Lord. I do; Lord, help me. But Mordecai became the leader in the palace, and his influence empowered the Persians to stand for the Jews as well.

“And all the officials of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and all those doing the king’s work, helped the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai fell upon them. For Mordecai was great in the king’s palace, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces; for this man Mordecai became increasingly prominent. Thus the Jews defeated all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, with slaughter and destruction, and did what they pleased with those who hated them.”

In everywhere that Persia had an embassy or an office, the leaders there banded with the Jews to defeat their enemies because of the influence of Mordecai. What influence do you have in your world? Do you inspire people to be more obedient to the Lord? I am always astonished that people will come and ask me to pray for them; even Muslim people will come and ask me to pray for them. The leaders feared Mordecai; maybe some were afraid of him, but the fear here is more of reverence, not fear like they had with Haman. He was a cruel man, but Mordecai was a godly leader and a good man. Now that he had the power, he was not going to change; what you saw was what you got. Nevertheless, because of his influence, the political leaders sided with the Jews and helped them to prevail.

What is your influence? What are you and I like when we are endued with power? Do we become mean and let the power go to our heads, or are we humbled by God’s grace and become better servants?

Mordecai got even better; he could now influence the people in the ways of Jehovah. In Proverbs 29:2, we are told that the people rejoice when the righteous are in charge. The king did not have to worry about Mordecai trying to subvert him or take his power or steal from him. Mordecai is a godly leader, and so should we be. We should be godly fathers and mentors, godly workers and the best servants, even when we are in charge.

I pray that we will stand up and stand out like Esther and Mordecai. May we fight and encourage others to stand when needed, and may we influence others to do what is right as we lead.

God bless you,

Dr. Sean Gooding

Pastor of Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church

How to Connect with Us

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MississaugaMissionaryBaptistChurch

Online: https://www.mississaugamissionarybaptistchurch.com/ (under construction)

Email: missionarybaptistchurch76@yahoo.ca

Esther Lesson 12: The Enemy of The Jews Is the Enemy of God 

Chapter 7: 1-10

“So, the king and Haman went to dine with Queen Esther. ² And on the second day, at the banquet of wine, the king again said to Esther, ‘What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request, up to half the kingdom? It shall be done!’ ³ Then Queen Esther answered and said, ‘If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request. ⁴ For we have been sold, my people and I, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. Had we been sold as male and female slaves, I would have held my tongue, although the enemy could never compensate for the king’s loss.’

^“5 So King Ahasuerus answered and said to Queen Esther, ‘Who is he, and where is he, who would dare presume in his heart to do such a thing?’ ⁶ And Esther said, ‘The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman!’ So, Haman was terrified before the king and queen. ⁷ Then the king arose in his wrath from the banquet of wine and went into the palace garden; but Haman stood before Queen Esther, pleading for his life, for he saw that evil was determined against him by the king.

^“8 When the king returned from the palace garden to the place of the banquet of wine, Haman had fallen across the couch where Esther was. Then the king said, ‘Will he also assault the queen while I am in the house?’ As the word left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face. ⁹ Now Harbonah, one of the eunuchs, said to the king, ‘Look! The gallows, fifty cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke good on the king’s behalf, is standing at the house of Haman.’ Then the king said, ‘Hang him on it!’ ¹⁰ So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s wrath subsided.“

When we ended last week, Haman was having a bad day. He had been commanded to honor Mordecai, his hated adversary, and then he went home only to have his wife tell him that things will not go well for him. The walk or ride to this banquet must have been one of the longest and stressful journeys of his life, and it probably ended too soon. Haman then had to walk past or ride past Mordecai again as he entered the palace. In verse 12 of the previous chapter, we see that Mordecai went back to his position at the gate once the parade and festivities were over for his tribute for saving the king’s life. So Haman had to go past him to get into the meeting with the king and queen.

• Haman’s Last Supper verses 1-6

I hope that Queen Esther made something that Haman liked. We don’t know if she prepared the meal herself or had her helpers do it; nonetheless, the banquet was set, the two most important people in Persia were before her, and she was about to make her petition to the king. We get the impression from the reading that the king got to the point, but the Bible often skips the time and ‘small’ things for the big picture. They may have had a good meal, enjoyed some banter, and were maybe at the dessert stage before this conversation that we have here transpired.

Finally, the time comes to get to the point, and the king begins by once again confirming his love for Esther. He tells her that she can ask for anything, even half his kingdom, and he will grant it. This was not to be taken literally, but rather it is to be shown as a sign of his affection for her. This was the basis for Esther to plead, and God made sure that she was in the right place at the right time under the right circumstances to make a difference.

Esther made a personal request to the king and still did not reveal herself as a Jew. She was well taught by Mordecai, and even in this very stressful situation, she was very tactful and careful in how she framed her words and request. If you go back to Esther 3:8, Haman also hid the name of the people that he was targeting to kill on behalf of the king. I cannot imagine what Haman was feeling when he heard Esther and knew that she was a Jew, the king loved her, and he had petitioned the king to kill her. Wow! His day just went from bad to worse, and the prophecy from his wife in chapter 6:13 that he would not prevail against Mordecai must have been ringing in his ears like a gong.

In verse 4, Esther makes an amazing statement; she was well-spoken and understood the hand of God. The Jews had been in slavery for hundreds of years in Babylon, even after the liberation that began under Cyrus. When the initial invasion took place in Daniel 5, many of the Jews remained in Babylon and served the king of Persia. Many like Mordecai had attained great positions of leadership, but a large part were still slaves.

Esther was willing to accept slavery; she makes that clear in verse 4. ‘Had we been sold into slavery, the king would have suffered loss, but I could accept that.’ She points out that the Jews were very valuable to the king of Persia, and no amount of money could compensate for their value as people and servants. She could have lived as a slave, but the idea of death and annihilation was going too far, and this was the basis for her petition: ‘King, my husband, the one who loves me so much and is not ashamed even here to show it, please save my life.’

• The Wrath of a King, verse 5-7

Once the enemy, Haman, was revealed, we do not know who the king was madder at, Haman or himself. As much as Haman was the instigator, his evil plan could not have been carried out without the king’s help and authority. What we do know is that Haman was about to suffer the wrath of king Ahasuerus. In Proverbs 20:2, we find this verse,

“The wrath of a king is like the roaring of a lion; Whoever provokes him to anger sins against his own life.”

Well, make no mistake, Ahasuerus had been provoked to anger, and he was about to set this right for the woman he loved, which means that Haman was about to forfeit his life. There is another verse that will show what was about to happen; one was about to suffer the king’s wrath and one the king’s favor. See Proverbs 19:12,

“The king’s wrath is like the roaring of a lion, But his favor is like dew on the grass.”

Haman was about to meet the roaring lion, and Esther was going to enjoy the dew on the grass. We are not familiar with this kind of power in many cases today. Most of our political leaders cannot order the death of citizens without a trial and court case. But in this time, the king had the power of life and death in his hand and mouth. Jesus will have this kind of power and rule when He returns. He will have absolute power and reign in perfect judgment. There will not be any court of appeals in Jesus’ reign; His word will be final and His judgments perfect.

Poor Haman was now in a position where he was the hunted and not the hunter. He was the endangered and not the endangerer. It is amazing how he was now going to plead for mercy to the queen when he was working to kill the Jews just a few days ago. This man was not going to go gracefully into that good night. He was going to go kicking and screaming. The king returns from contemplating his anger and position to find Haman in the process of pleading to the queen for mercy, the mercy he was not willing to extend to others.

The Bible tells us that those who show mercy will be shown mercy. Haman was not a merciful man, and his family members were not merciful people. Recall that it was his wife who suggested they build the gallows. She would live to regret that. However, Haman was found sprawled across the queen’s couch and near her; this was not allowed. This was the king’s wife, and no man who was not a eunuch was allowed near her. The very angry king walks in on what appears to be an assault on the queen by the man who has schemed to kill her and her people. It is not until chapter 8 that the Jewishness of the Queen is revealed. In Jewish writing, they claim that Gabriel the Archangel pushed Haman so that he fell into the queen.

• The Gallows, verse 7-10

This year I have made the commitment to read the book of Proverbs all year, and there are some great verses that one comes across. In Proverbs 26:27, we find this verse,

“Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, And he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him.”

Well, Haman did not dig a pit; he built the gallows. You may recall from a previous lesson that we explained that the gallows were not like we see in the great Western movies with a platform and a noose. These gallows were large spiked pieces of wood that stood up 50 cubits, about 75 feet into the air. These were visible from the palace. One of the king’s servants, a man named Harbonah, could see the gallows from the palace and suggested they be put to good use to execute Haman, even though he points out that they were made for Mordecai.

Haman had probably imagined watching Mordecai on this pole; he had planned it in his head and maybe even dreamed of it, but never in a million years did he picture himself on it. They took Haman and put him on the gallows for all to see. This was a gruesome death, and it could take a very long time to die. This spike would have traveled slowly up into the body as one wiggled on it, writhing in pain, eventually reaching the brain stem and killing you. The noise of death would have been heard everywhere and would have instilled fear in the minds of all who saw it.

The king’s wrath was appeased, and the enemy of the Jews was dead or dying. But there was still work to be done. Esther was saved, Mordecai would be okay in the king’s court, but the Jewish people in the 127 provinces of Persia were still in grave danger. This had to be dealt with; it was not enough that Esther was safe. ALL of the Jews had to be rescued as well.

We will get to that in the next chapter, but I want to draw a parallel from this to our lives today. There are many of us people who have been saved by Jesus. We have heard the Gospel and placed our faith in Him only for salvation and the washing away of our sin debt to God. Like Esther, we are saved from death, but unlike Esther, we do not make the news known to others. We are not telling others that Jesus will save them as well. Esther could have reveled in her safety and not cared about the rest of the Jews. But this could not be; Mordecai had instilled in her a sense of responsibility, and she had taken that even at the risk of her life. We need to take responsibility for the people around us that need Jesus and take the offer of salvation to them.

We, the children of the Lord God, have mortal enemies on earth. The most notable enemy is Satan, and he fights against us all the time. But in his service are many humans like Haman who hate the people of God and long to eradicate them. We are seeing this hatred more and more from some of our political leaders in both the US and Canada. There are laws being passed to limit speech, and there are laws being passed to make some of the Bible illegal to teach and preach. This puts us in the crosshairs of Satan’s minions, and soon we, like Esther and Mordecai, will find ourselves in grave danger. God will be our defense, and those that attack us are attacking God.

There is a possibility that we will be hurt and even killed for the name and cause of Jesus Christ. But God may send an Esther and a Mordecai to help us. We need to be faithful to Him in either situation. The apostle put it this way to remind us we are in a battle all the time: Ephesians 6: 10-13,

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”

God bless you,

Dr. Sean Gooding

Pastor of Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church

How to Connect with Us

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MississaugaMissionaryBaptistChurch

Online: https://www.mississaugamissionarybaptistchurch.com/ (under construction)

Email: missionarybaptistchurch76@yahoo.ca