Esther, Chapter 1:1-8

“Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus (this was the Ahasuerus who reigned over one hundred and twenty-seven provinces, from India to Ethiopia), ² in those days when King Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the citadel, ³ that in the third year of his reign he made a feast for all his officials and servants—the powers of Persia and Media, the nobles, and the princes of the provinces being before him— ⁴ when he showed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the splendor of his excellent majesty for many days, one hundred and eighty days in all.

“⁵ And when these days were completed, the king made a feast lasting seven days for all the people who were present in Shushan the citadel, from great to small, in the court of the garden of the king’s palace. ⁶ There were white and blue linen curtains fastened with cords of fine linen and purple on silver rods and marble pillars; and the couches were of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of alabaster, turquoise, and white and black marble. ⁷ And they served drinks in golden vessels, each vessel being different from the other, with royal wine in abundance, according to the generosity of the king. ⁸ In accordance with the law, the drinking was not compulsory; for so the king had ordered all the officers of his household, that they should do according to each man’s pleasure.“

I pray that you have all had a wonderful break. Here in Canada, we are still struggling under the COVID mess. We are in a lockdown right now that is supposed to be stopping the spread of COVID, but it is also killing a lot of businesses. There is a fear of lots of cancer-related deaths as people are not able to be diagnosed and cared for, and there is a lot of emotional fallout as well. I have seen more ads for the suicide hotlines in the last few weeks than I have seen in the previous year. As I was ending the last series in Romans, one of the dear ladies in our church asked if I could do a series on Esther. So, we are going to travel through the book of Esther for the next few weeks.

There are some unique things about the book of Esther; the name of God is never mentioned in it, but we can certainly see the hand of God in it. This book covers events that happen during the reign of Ahasuerus, and events that happened beginning around 483-482 BC, concluding in about 473 BC. The book covers about 10 years; Ahasuerus reigned from 486-465 BC, so this covers about half of his reign. This is one of the ‘feel-good’ stories of the Bible where the ‘bad guy’ gets his just desserts and the ‘good guy’ gets his reward. As well, there are not many stories in the Bible where there is a woman hero, so this is a really popular book with the ladies, as is the book of Ruth.

As we open the book, we are met by a party – a very large party. Often, when we think of the eras that are described to us in the Bible, we do not understand the depth of the wealth that many people had. We, as Bible people, are familiar with King Solomon; he had great wealth, and no one else in the world has ever had that kind of wealth. Yes, not even our modern-day billionaires are as wealthy as Solomon was; let that sink in. Nonetheless, Ahasuerus was very wealthy, and the Persian Empire at the time of the book of Esther was very wealthy.

Persia represents modern-day Iran. As you can see from the description of the size of the territory in verse 1, the landmass that Persia controlled was huge. If you take out a map and take a look, you will see that the kingdom covered 4,310 kilometers ‘as the crow flies’ from Ethiopia to India, but as a landmass, it covered modern-day Yemen, Oman, Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and a lot of lands. This was a huge empire to rule over, and as such, generated a lot of wealth. We get to see a display of wealth in the opening verses of this book.

1. Six Months of Partying

I had a party here for our family and the birthdays of three of the people in our family in late September. We had about 30 people or so. We cooked lasagna, grilled hot dogs, people brought salads, pizzas, and we had punch and pop. It took weeks of planning and prepping to get this all together. I cannot imagine what a 6-month party would entail. Yes, six months, 180 days, half a year, this was the duration of the viewing that Ahasuerus threw as we begin the book of Esther. He has been king for 3 years, and I guess he wanted to show off his wealth; and show off he did. We are told there were servants from all of his provinces and that there were 127 of them. This function hosted at least 127 people, plus other dignitaries.

In the process of the 180 days of this party, the purpose was for the king to show off his wealth. If we recall the image from Daniel 2, there, Persians were the second world kingdom; there was the silver part of the image that Nebuchadnezzar saw. When we read Daniel 5, we see that a man named Cyrus the Mede invades the city of Babylon and conquers the Chaldeans, but it is not long after that the second ‘arm’ of the Persian empire becomes the stronger one and the Medes fade into history. At the end of his display of wealth, he then schedules a seven-day garden party. This was a display of power and wealth; he wanted to show off the majesty of the kingdom he ruled, and man, did he do a good job! There was no doubt that Ahasuerus was rich.

We have modern-day royals. My wife is British, and we are watching the Crown. Wow! Money. Lots and lots of money. According to Forbes, the Queen herself is worth about $500,000,000 USD and has an estate worth 13.4 billion British pounds. The Royal family of England is very wealthy. There are many wealthy individuals who live among us – men like Warren Buffet and, of course, Jeff Bezos of Amazon and many others. Money is not something they have to worry about, ever. And such was the case here in Persia, in Shushan the citadel; money was no object. Shushan, the center of this party with Ahasuerus, would have been busy and filled with people.

2. It’s all about Pleasure

Earthly pleasure is fleeting at best. But for a period of time, about 180 days, and then with a 7-day finale, the people of the Persian Empire, great and small, had pleasure. There was lots of food, lots of alcohol, and every man was free to do as he pleased. There gets to be a point in the life of the rich that you don’t need to make more money, you don’t need to work, and no matter how much you spend, you will not run out of money. If you had a billion dollars and decided to spend a million dollars a day, it would take almost 3 years before you ran out of money. Imagine someone worth 100 Billion dollars; the interest earned on your money as you spent it would keep you going forever.

People live for pleasure, and this is the problem with many people and money. They try to fill a hole in their lives with money, riches, women and fun that only God can fill. They place their hope in money and not in God. Once again, go and read Daniel 5; the king was partying, not knowing that night would be his last on earth.

Jesus told a story about a rich man and a beggar named Lazarus — one trusted his riches and ended up in Hell; the other trusted Jesus and ended up in Heaven. The rich man would surely have traded his earthly riches for what Lazarus had for eternity.

As we begin the story here in Esther, no one who had not read the book would imagine the intrigue and emotional rollercoasters that would follow. No one would imagine the speed at which pleasure can be taken from you. One minute you are partying with the people of your kingdom, and the next, you are banishing a queen and looking for a replacement.

3. The Love Story

What we are about to embark on is a love story. What most kings of that day had — and sadly, many marriages in the Biblical days — were not love stories. They were political arrangements and power arrangements. I won’t attack your kingdom because I am married to your daughter and have your grandchildren, or vice-versa. But the book of Esther will carry us on a love journey – a man’s love for his niece, her love for him, a king’s love for a young lady, her love for him, a man’s love for God’s people, and a man’s hatred of God’s people. We will learn about intrigue and suspense. We will experience fear and suspense like all dramas.

But in it all, the hand of God will be clearly seen. God has prepared a young woman to catch the eye of the king, God has prepared a plot for Mordecai to foil, God will have a sleepless night for the king to need the archives, and God will foil the plots of the evil. God’s love for his people will be very clearly seen, and the fact that He uses mere humans in his plots to make a difference.

What about you and me? We, like Esther, live in a time when the people of God are under attack. There are persons and establishments in society that hate that we have the truth of Jesus as the ONLY WAY to Heaven, that hate that there is a Creator and a God to whom we must answer for our lives. They hate that Heaven and Hell are real. They hate that no matter how they try, the work of God goes on unabated as people all over the world, even in the dark recesses of the earth, are saved and baptized.

The love story of the Bible goes on. Jesus loves you and me; He has prepared a way for Him and us to be united in His death, burial and resurrection. The love story of God’s people, who are looking for our redemption from above, moves on. The book of Esther happened in history a long time ago, but the lessons are relative to us in 2021.

Will you and I put our lives on the line for the truth, for the things of God, for the lives of the lost and for the cause of Jesus? Will we be paralyzed by fear or driven by love for Him and our trust in Him?

There are so many questions that we will be posed with as we journey through Esther. But for now, let me ask you this: is your security in Jesus or in your riches? We here in North America are blessed beyond all we could ask or think. But where have you placed your security? Mine is in the shed blood of Jesus and the empty tomb; where is yours?

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

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

I pray that all is well with you at this time. We are in unprecedented times here in North America. We are hit daily with the kind of news that shakes us to the core. From the COVID situation and the serious damage done to our economy done by our government and the continuing attack on churches and other gatherings, we can see that we are in uncharted territories. Each and every day, I see and hear stories of the unprecedented toll that has been taken on many, many people. Many businesses have been lost, not just ‘mom and pop’ businesses, but large companies have collapsed with thousands and thousands out of work.

There are countless collateral deaths from furloughed surgeries and medical procedures. There has been a marked rise in alcohol abuse according to many interviews I have seen with counseling professionals; the rate of divorce is going up; suicides are going up, and on and on we go. The cure, as they say, will cause more deaths than the disease.

I was just watching a street journalist asking people how many deaths they think occurred in the US from COVID? Some thought as high as 30-40%; that would be 90-120 million persons with COVID. But the reality is that some 2,000,000 have gotten the virus, or less than 1% of the US population. Even more eye-opening, of the 20-25 persons interviewed, only 2 had known a person or of a person that had the virus. COVID is real, the deaths are real, but the way that it has been used to attack and destroy the economies of the free world is astonishing.

We have all been told that it is for the greater good; if we just comply now, soon, very soon, things will go back to normal. A first it was a few weeks, then a month, then a few months; now it has been 9 months. Today I saw an interview with Bill Gates, and he thinks it will be summer 2021 before we can have any semblance of normalcy. But remember, it is all our fault. If we had just obeyed, all would be well. They, the powers that be, are never wrong; we are. You must comply to be free; this is an oxymoron.

Then we in Canada have just found out that our fearless leader Prime Minister Trudeau has been allowing the CCP of China to train their troops here in Canada. Not just in Ontario, but in many other provinces. We recently saw emails documenting some 17 interactions where they came to us and our soldiers went to China to train. Why are we letting this enemy onto our soil? Why let them on our military bases? Why bring the only other real superpower in the world to the border of the US? Because no one wants to believe that they are evil, hellbent on the rule of the world and taking away our freedoms.

Wow, Sean, you say, I just checked the title and it talks about giving thanks. Maybe you got the wrong title or simply got off-topic. Stay with me; I promise I am not off the point. Rather, this is my point: it is easy to be thankful when all is well in the world around us. But can you and I be thankful when it seems that we are seeing the demise of all that we know right before our eyes? For the past few weeks and months really, I feel like I have been living in a Psalm 73 moment. The Psalmist was in awe of the prosperity of the wicked, it shook him to the core.

“Truly God is good to Israel,

To such as are pure in heart.

² But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled;

My steps had nearly slipped.

³ For I was envious of the boastful,

When I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

⁴ For there are no pangs in their death,

But their strength is firm.

⁵ They are not in trouble as other men,

Nor are they plagued like other men.

⁶ Therefore pride serves as their necklace;

Violence covers them like a garment.

⁷ Their eyes bulge with abundance;

They have more than heart could wish.

⁸ They scoff and speak wickedly concerning oppression;

They speak loftily.

⁹ They set their mouth against the heavens,

And their tongue walks through the earth.”

He could not seem to get over how the evil people seemed to prosper, and they never get caught; or if they do, they never get punished. In verse 4, they even seem to die happy – “there are no pangs in their death.” But in verse 17, Asaph, the Psalmist, went into the house of God, and he understood their end.

“Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I understood their end.”

I am thankful that even if evil men seem to get away with evil here and prosper here, they will not escape the judgment of God. He sees it all, and they will not be able to have high-priced lawyers and friends in higher places to get them a lenient sentence with God. I am thankful that I have a Bible, a Holy Book, written by God, and in it I have the truth that settles me and steadies me in the storms of life. This Book, the Word of God that gives me hope in the hopelessness of life, gives me light in the dark world and gives me solace in the midst of great pain. I am thankful that I have a God who loves me and made a way for me in Jesus, His Son, so that I can be His child (1 John 3:1).

I am thankful for the peace that I have, both in this life and in the life to come; it is all because of Jesus and His love for me. His Holy Spirit in me helps me to have peace in the storms of life, even the storms I create. In the midst of the chaos, Jesus gives me peace; in the midst of the COVID, we have been able to pay bills and do well. In the midst of the church shutdowns, we have revived mid-week meetings via Zoom that we had abandoned for some time. I am thankful that the government cannot thwart the local church; even the gates of hell cannot prevail against it.

I am thankful that I have a great wife, a good family, and a wonderful church family. In the midst of the shutdowns, we have essentially rekindled fellowship with one of our sister churches that had dwindled to just one meeting a year or so. I am thankful for the commitment of our people, some of whom have to drive more than an hour, often in bad weather to get to church, but they are faithful. I am thankful that our church offerings have been steady, that we have been able to help a few people in need, and that God has lowered our expenses at the same time.

I rejoice and am thankful that I get to share the Gospel with people at work. Get to tell them what Jesus did for me. People ask me to pray for them, and I/we do. I am thankful that every day I get to go to a job I enjoy and where I am respected and appreciated. I am thankful that the Lord is my sanctuary, He is my safe place, and that I can trust Him when I do not understand. I can have absolute confidence that He is in control, and whether things get resolved as I think they should be, these people and circumstances are not hindering God’s plan even for a second; rather, it is simply a part of His plan to bring in everlasting righteousness. I thank God for the men and women who are willing to stand and say ‘this far and no further’ and mean it.

What about you? What do you have to be thankful for?

I thank God that He loved me and sent His Son to die for my sins. I thank God that there was a first Christmas, a deliberate place where the Saviour was born, and I am thankful there was a place where He died for me; I am thankful there is an empty tomb. Rejoice and give thanks; God loves you. God knows you by name, and He has a plan to bless us, if not here, in the next life for sure. But I am sure that if we took careful stock, God has blessed us beyond all we could truly think of.

So, I challenge you to take a day each week, maybe a day each month, and simply make it a day of thanksgiving – no asking – just thanking Jesus. From the time your feet hit the floor in the morning until you lay your head down, just thank God for all He has and is doing. Let me clarify; don’t ask anything for yourself; if someone needs prayer for help and healing, pray for them. But on that day, simply give thanks with regard to yourself. I wonder how that will change you and me? How will it change our perspective and demeanor? What would it do to our attitude, and what will it do for our relationship with the Lord and each other? It is God’s will for you to rejoice and be thankful ALWAYS!!

1 Thessalonian 5:16 “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

Merry Christmas

P.S. Our next lesson published will be in January 2021. We will be looking at the book of Esther.

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