ESTHER 8 THE FINGERPRINTS OF GOD

Dont you wish that life was like Mayberry or Leave it to Beaver. Mom comes to breakfast in pearl necklace, Dad always has just the right thing to say. When the drama is resolved after thirty minutes we all sit on the front porch and sing along. The truth is, life isnt so simple. Sometimes good people are led astray and sometimes bad people win the race. The questions we are often left with is this, Where is God in all of this? Esther is a wonderful example of the complex problems we live with and get ourselves into. And in the process God is opaque. Hard to see or hear. Makes you wonder if Hes even involved. Look closely, you might not see his hand, but you will be able to discern his fingerprints. We see this in Esther 3

So did she make the best of a bad situation? I think thats fair. But I think she and mordecai liked the outcome. Now Mordecai is filled with pride. He becomes immersed in this war of wills with his rival the anti-Semitic Haman. Haman rises to power in the kingdom while Mordecai languishes in obscurity. Then Haman is given honor over the other beurocrats. Everyone bows except Mordecai. This sets off a firestorm of consequences that quickly burn out of control.

II. Sometimes Bad Guys Do Well

The other disconcerting thing about this story is that Haman, the bad guy, is doing well. 1 After these events King Ahasuerus promoted Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him and established his authority over all the princes who were with him. Jeremiah 12:1 why do the wicked prosper. Mordecai must have wrestled with this. Maybe you do. The fact that Xerxes failed to honor Mordecais faithfulness would have created bitterness. But God had a bigger plan. That oversight was the very thing that would save the nation. His timing is perfect. Now, from our vantage point holding a little 6,600 word book, we can see the end. Haman gets it in the end. But while it was happening they couldnt see that. Sometimes bad guys do well and we cant see justice. A bad guy does well. A good guy is overlooked. Bad people often succeed and good people sometimes languish in obscurity. That tells us not to measure a mans character by his success. Good guys sometimes fail and bad guys often succeed. God allowed this because he has a plan. Part of that plan was to humble Mordecai.

I. Sometimes good people do bad things

Someone suggested that Ive been too hard on Esther and Mordecai. Here she is, a beautiful young Jewish girl in this horrible situation where she is herded into the harem of the Persian king. She was forced to submit to the ways of Persia and eventually mate and marry the uncircumcised gentile lord. Think of her as a young girl in Baghdad during the tyranny of Saddam Hussein. What choice did she have? That is a fair point. Her only choice was to die for her beliefs or compromise convictions. Thats not a good situation. I cant even say from this safe distance what I would do. . We are called to put the Lord first in our lives even when that means we loose our lives. Was Esther conflicted over the situation of being forced to marry the king? Im not sure about that. Because of this one thing. She won the contest. And part of winning the contest was her performance in the presence of the king. To win that contest you have to please the king and to please the king you have to want to please the king. She could have gone in there and been cold as a stone and he probably would have forced himself on her, but she wouldnt have been queen.

III. Sometimes good people do dumb things

Mordecai, the good guy couldnt stand Haman the bad guy. He was a bad guy. Agagite. Hater of the Jews. Anti-semite. Its hard to love someone that hates you. Even harder to bow to that person. So when Haman came strolling through the city with his entourage, Mordecai refused to bow.

Esther 3:2 All the kings servants who were at the kings gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman; for so the king had commanded concerning him. But Mordecai neither bowed down nor paid homage. This was a foolish thing and it ultimately nearly cost the entire nation. Haman was furious. Mordecai said that he didnt do it because he was a Jew. Haman already hated Jews. He was agagite that means, Enemy of the Jews. Now he had a reason to hate, a focus for his hate, and the means to carry out his hate. Haman plans to exterminate the Jews.

Pur is the singular, Purim, is plural. Purim is a festival the Jews celebrate to this day and they do it in honor of Esther and the way she delivered the Jews. 8 Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, "There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from those of all other people and they do not observe the kings laws, so it is not in the kings interest to let them remain. Question is why would King Ahasuerus issue a decree to kill all of the Jews over this one isolated conflict. The truth is this was undoubtedly the tip of the iceberg. There is a note in Ezra 4:6 while describing the situation in Jerusalem Ezra talks about how the inhabitants made it difficult for the Jews. They hired counselors to frustrate them. They also sent derogatory messages to the Persian king. Point is, this probably wasnt the first bad news the king had received concerning these Jews. This was the straw on the back of the camel. 9 "If it is pleasing to the king, let it be decreed that they be destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who carry on the kings business, to put into the kings treasuries." Haman sweetens the offer by adding money. Its not just a national security crises, Ill pay to eradicate this pest. This shows the heart of a man at its very darkest. All of this over one mans refusal to bow. The ten thousand talents of silver were desperately needed after the kings disastrous Grecian campaign. Darius, Xerxes father received 14560 talents in tribute annually from Greece. Now that revenue was lost. 10,000 talents represents 2/3s of the lost foreign income. Where would he get that much money? From the Jews he killed. Just like Hitler. 10 Then the king took his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. 11 The king said to Haman, "The silver is yours, and the people also, to do with them as you please."

IV. Sometimes things seem out of control

Esther 3:7 In the first month, which is the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, Pur, that is the lot, was cast before Haman from day to day and from month to month, until the twelfth month, that is the month Adar. Scholars put this at 474 BC. Haman couldnt decide what to do so he cast lots. Pur is the Assyrian expression for casting lots. Notice he identifies it for the Jewish readers, Pur, that is the lot, goral. The Bible doesnt say that casting lots is wrong. Scripture says, The lot decides between the mighty. (Proverbs 18:18) The New testament they cast lots to determine Judas replacement. Joshua cast lots to distribute the lands to the tribes. Nothing wrong with casting lots. God used that. But this is something different. Casting lots here is a form of divination. Haman is trying to figure out what to do with Mordecai, but he cant get a clear signal. He is afraid of overreaching and thus bringing condemnation upon himself. So he takes a full year to consider his options and cast the lots. The lot was cast in the month of Nisan. Nisan is the Babylonian name for the Jewish month of Abib, or Aviv. Aviv is the Jewish equivalent to January, first month of the year although Nisan for them was March April. This was the date of the first Passover and thus the beginning of the Jewish calendar.

Look closely and you will see the sovereign hand of God in this. Even when good people do bad things and bad people succeed, God is still in control. We see it first in the timing of the events. Powerful principle. When good people mess up and bad people prosper the temptation is to think God is no longer involved. Cant see his face, look for his hand. But you cant even see his hand here. Then look for a fingerprint.

Look closely. When did this decree go out? 13 of Abib. One day before Passover. Do you think Passover had a fuller meaning that year? God was saying, Remember how I delivered you, I will deliver you again. Second aspect of the timing is seen in the length of time. Look at verse 13. The decree went out in Abib, but the execution was to occur at the end of the year. 13 Letters were sent by couriers to all the kings provinces to destroy, to kill and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, women and children, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to seize their possessions as plunder. Where did Haman get his dates? Through the divination of the lot. Proverbs 16:33 the lot is cast into the lap but its every decision is from the lord. He allowed his people to prepare. God controlled this lot because he gave his people 11 months. What if Haman had said, Next week. There wouldnt have been time. God controls even the pagans and their ways. 14 A copy of the edict to be issued as law in every province was published to all the peoples so that they should be ready for this day. 15 The couriers went out impelled by the kings command while the decree was issued at the citadel in Susa; and while the king and Haman sat down to drink, the city of Susa was in confusion. The time was dark. The people were confused. But God was still in control. It was true then, it is true now. I dont know where you are. Maybe you have a mom or dad doing bad things. Doesnt mean he is a bad guy. Sometimes good people do bad things. Sometimes they do dumb things. Maybe you are dealing with a bad person that is doing well. Succeeding. Prospering at your expense. Sometimes that happens too. God is still on his throne. Working. Like this book, look closely at the details. Do some Spritual CSI. You will see the fingerprints of God.

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V. When you cant see Gods hand look for fingerprints

I see two fingerprints here.
First in the distinct time Even though Haman was using divination through casting lots I find it refreshing to see that God still controlled it. Watch what happens in verse 12. 12 Then the kings scribes were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and it was written just as Haman commanded to the kings satraps, to the governors who were over each province and to the princes of each people, each province according to its script, each people according to its language, being written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the kings signet ring. The word went out on the thirteenth day of the first month. Remember, Nisan is Abib, the first month of the Jewish calendar. Abib is the first month because that is the month of Passover. Passover refers to the time when God sent his death angel through the land and spared the Jews. Long story short, the last of the ten great plagues of Egypt God would kill every first born in the land. To spare the Jews, God said, Take a lamb, kill it, put its blood on the doorpost and lentel of your home. Then stay inside. When the angel sees the blood he will pass over your home. Obviously this is a type of Christ. The sacrifice of Jesus becomes our security from judgement. When we apply the blood of Christ to our lives by faith, God passes over our sins. The Jews seldom kept all of the feasts and festivals God ordained, but they never quit keeping Passover. No matter where they went or what th they did, they always stopped on the 14 of Abib to celebrate Passover.