Faithfulness When God Seems Silent - Esther 9 & 10

We've made it to the end of the Book of Esther. We spent the last nine or so weeks stepping through this book. And by now you'd know that this is an unusual book of the Bible, namely because God's name is never mentioned. And we know by now that that's intentional. That's an invitation to look for God's presence and actions in this book where he's never mentioned.

It's a clever technique by the author. That encour encourages you to look for God's activity. And so today we're going to be stepping through chapters nine and ten to finish off the book. But before we get there, I just want to have a look at where we're currently at in the book. And the reason I want to look at this is because the structure of this book is actually really important.

And the way it's been laid out is intentional. And that understanding how that's been laid out helps us understand one of the big messages, the big ideas behind the Book of Esther. And so let me step you through some of those key moments that we've gone through already. In chapter one, we are introduced to Xerxes, the king of Persia. He's someone who's who likes to show off his excessive wealth and his power.

In chapter two, we meet Esther. This is a woman who captivates the king and is very quickly crowned the new queen of Persia. But also in this chapter, it's where we see Esther and Mordecai save the king from a murder plot. It's a significant event in the timeline of this. In chapter three, we see Haman, the main villain of the story, come into full show.

He's elevated to one of the highest positions in the kingdom, and he uses that power to enact a decree to kill all the Jews. In chapter four, the story then turns its focus to Mordecai and Esther, who are now the only hope for the Jewish people. And they plan for Esther to reveal her Jewish identity to the king and asks to reverse that decree. And that chapter has one of the famous verses where Mordecai says to Esther, who knows, maybe you become queen for this very moment. In chapter five, Esther hosts her first banquet, patiently looking for the right moment to expose Haman's plot.

And this is probably one of the most tense parts of the story, because it's also where we see Haman fashion this sharpened pole to execute Mordecai on. And then we get to chapter six and we witness a major turning point in the story. The king has a sleepless night, and he remembers how Mordecai saved his life. And what results is it is that Mordecai is then exalted by the king, and Haman is left humiliated. And so from that point onwards, we see a real turn in the events that happened.

And so chapter seven shows us how things have started to turn in the other direction. Esther hosts a second banquet where she informs the king of her Jewish identity. And then she reveals that Haman's decree is a ploy essentially to murder herself and Mordecai. And the king then orders Haman to be impaled on the stake that he had made for Mordecai. But Haman's execution doesn't solve the problem of the decree to kill all the Jews.

And so in chapter eight, the focus then turns back to Mordecai and Esther as they plan to reverse that decree. And what they discover is that the king can't revoke a decree that he's already sent out. And so Mordecai is kind of commissioned to issue a counter decree, something that will save the people. And so that goes out that the people can now defend themselves against anyone who attacks them. And so, most surprising of all, through those events, Mordecai is elevated to a seat beside a king.

And so, as we pick up the story again in chapter nine, we come to that day where these two conflicting decrees come into effect. You know, there's a decree saying that the people can kill the Jews, and a decree saying that the Jews can defend themselves. And so we're left wondering, what will be the outcome of this event? And that's where we're going to pick it up again. So let's read it together.

We're going to read verse. We're going to read chapters 9 and 10. We're going to start in verse 1 of Esther 9. It says this, it says, so on March 7, the two decrees of the king were put into effect. On that day, the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them.

Quite the opposite happened. It was the Jews who overpowered their enemies. The Jews gathered in the cities, throughout all the king's provinces, to attack anyone who tried to harm them. But no one could make a stand against them, for everyone was afraid of them. All the nobles of all the provinces, the highest officers, the governors and the royal officials helped the Jews for fear of Mordecai.

For Mordecai had been promoted in the king's palace, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces as he became more and more powerful. So eventually the decreed day comes, and the Jewish people there, they're forced to defend themselves. And perhaps not surprisingly, by this stage in the story, we see them triumph over their enemies. It's kind of been setting itself up to lead us into this hopeful position that that would happen. And it doesn't even seem close, does it?

It says no one could make a stand against them. And it goes on to say how they destroy Haman's family along with the other Persian officials who had joined in Haman's plot. And so in Susa alone, the Jewish people, they defend themselves against 500 men who attack them. And. And the conflict isn't just contained to the Persian capital.

If we jump down to verse 16, it says this, it says, meanwhile, the other Jews throughout the king's provinces had gathered together to defend their lives. They gained relief from all of their enemies, killing 75,000 of those who hated them. But they did not take any plunder. This was done throughout the provinces on March 7, and on March 8, they rested, celebrating their victory with a day of feasting and gladness. And so those details tell you about the scale of this conflict, and it's immense.

Across these 127 provinces of the Persian Empire, we're told that the Jews defended themselves against 75,000 of their enemies. And that's an important detail because the story's focus has been almost entirely on Mordecai and Esther and the city of Susa. But those details tell us that this conflict spanned across the entire Persian Empire. And notably, I think it mentions here that here and in two other places actually that the Jews did not take any plunder. That's, I think, a striking detail.

The author is making this point to highlight that this is about self defense in a way. Despite the horrors that they were forced to face, they weren't there to profit from their enemies. And you could look at that and say that takes a remarkable level of restraint. But more than that, it shows their motivation. It does show their motivation.

It shows that they fought for not just their survival, but for justice to be done, not out of greed or of a desire for personal gain. And that's a huge difference to the motivation of their enemies, of the people who are attacking them. And so at the end of this conflict, it's then followed by great joy and celebration. And the Jewish people, they take that time to reflect on how they've been rescued from what would otherwise have been their annihilation. And so the story goes on to tell how Esther and Mordecai establish another Decree in verse 20, it says this Mordecai recorded these events and sent letters to the Jews near and far throughout all the provinces of King Xerxes, calling on them to celebrate an annual festival of on these two days.

He told them to celebrate these days with feasting and gladness and by giving gifts of food to each other and presents to the poor. This would commemorate a time where the Jews gained relief from their enemies, when their sorrow was turned into gladness and their mourning into joy. And so, as the Jews celebrate their victory, Mordecai makes sure that it won't be forgotten. He establishes an annual two day feast and it's called the Feast of Purim. And so remember from chapter three, Haman casts those lots, the dice, and they're called Pur.

And that determines the date of the Jews destruction. And so they this festival takes us, takes its name from Haman's fateful dice. And interestingly, part of that festival is about giving to the poor. And I think that's significant, that the festival isn't just for them to glorify themselves. It's also about creating a safer environment for the people who are vulnerable in their society.

That is the natural result of God's people fighting for justice. Those who are disadvantaged and vulnerable are protected. And so what we've read here is a great reversal of events, isn't it? From what was set up at the start, this is a great reversal. The whole book has been punctuated with these moments of reversals throughout it, but it culminates in this moment.

It does. And so this, this very date that was originally chosen by Haman to be the destruction of the Jews becomes the day of their triumph. And so then the book ends with a very short three verse epilogue. And that's chapter 10. We read that quickly.

It goes on to say this. It says King Xerxes imposed a tribute throughout his empire, even to the distant coastlands. His great achievements and the full account of the greatness of Mordecai, whom the king had promoted are recorded in the book of the history of the king of Media and Persia. Mordecai the Jew became the prime minister with authority next to that of King Xerxes himself. He was very great among the Jews who held him in high esteem because he continued to work for the good of his people and to speak up for the welfare of all their descendants.

And so the story, it ends with Mordecai being elevated to what is second in command in the kingdom, essentially. And it says that the historians of that day, they capture the achievements of King Xerxes. They capture the greatness of Mordecai in their chronicles. But in contrast to Xerxes, we're told that Mordecai used his power to work for the good of the people. He speaks up for their welfare, and because of that, he becomes this trusted and respected person in their community.

And what's striking about how the story ends here is that for a book about God, God is still not given a mention. And so instead, what appears to happen actually is that the king and Mordecai are given all the credit for what's happened today. You know, everything that's happened is in their chronicles as being attributed to those two people. No credit is given to God in any of the story, in any of their chronicles of their history. But having been in this book for several weeks now, we know that this is really God at work behind the scenes, right?

The overarching power behind the triumph of the Jewish people here ultimately comes from God, right? Not from Xerxes or even Mordecai. And without saying it, the author does point to this, but in a way that's probably easy to miss. So I want to come back to this. And so the story has been full of moments of ironic reversals, but now having read through the whole book, we can step back and see that actually the whole book is structured as a reversal, right?

And so we looked briefly at this at the start, but now we can fill in some of those events from those last two chapters 9 and 10, in this overview. And this gives us an insight into how this story has been designed. And I'm going to step you through some of those key moments there. The first thing to note is that the king's greatness in chapter one is contrasted with Mordecai's greatness in chapter 10, right? Where Xerxes uses his power for personal gain.

That is reversed in a way by Mordecai, who uses his power to work for the good of the people coming down another road. Then we see Esther and Mordecai save the king in chapter two. And that's essentially a powerful, self indulgent person being shown this undeserved favor. And then that's reversed in chapter nine, when Esther and Mordecai save all of the Jewish people. That's the vulnerable people, the people who don't have the power in society being shown favor.

In chapter three, Haman is elevated to this position of power, and he's given the king's signet ring to enact that decree against the Jewish people. And that's reversed in chapter eight, when the king takes back the signet ring from Haman and he gives it to Mordecai. And. And in that, Mordecai is elevated, and he uses that position of power to enact that counter decree to save the Jewish people. In those same chapters, you hear about how the city of Susa is bewildered by what's happening, and the Jews mourn as Haman's decree goes out.

And then that's reversed. And the city of Susa celebrates when they learn about Mordecai's decree going out. And then we have Haman sending up a pole to execute Mordecai in chapter five. And that's reversed when Haman himself is the one executed on it. Then notice how Esther and Mordecai have these two planning scenes.

So looking at chapters four and eight. And Esther also holds two special banquets in chapters five and seven. And they form this frame around the major turning point in this story, which is chapter six, where Haman is left humiliated and Mordecai is exalted by the king. And so that's the moment where everything changes. And so you can see here that the book is structured in a way that is itself a big reversal.

And what I hope you can see there is that the book does have this very intentional structure to it, and one that prompts us to ask who is at work behind the scenes bringing this about, who's bringing about this great reversal in the story of Esther?

And so we've been encouraged from the start of this book to look for God's activity when it's not mentioned. And it does come through partly in the structure of the book itself, how it's been written. We can see now that the whole book has. Has been moving towards this. One truth is that God is the author of great reversals, that he has the power to work through and transform things that were meant for evil and turn them for good again and again.

What people intended for evil in this book, God quietly turned towards his good purposes. Haman's decree becomes the means of his own downfall. Mordecai's shame becomes his honor. Esther's risk going before the king becomes her people's rescue. The day marked for destruction for the Jewish people becomes the day of celebration.

And amazingly, none of these things happen through spectacular miracles, in the sense that God never parts the sea, he never rains down fire from heaven. He simply works through these ordinary decisions, these sleepless nights, delayed conversations, human choices, until all that remains are his purposes. Also notice what God's reversals result in. What they result in. They don't simply change who holds the power.

They transform what the power is used for. The vulnerable are lifted up. Those who are in distress are given joy, the oppressed find relief, and the poor are cared for. You know, the goal here isn't simply that the Jewish people win, all right? That's not the goal.

Mordecai uses his new position not for personal gain, but to seek the welfare of God's people. God's reversals aren't ultimately about revenge. They're about restoration. All right? So he brings people from this place of fear to peace, from.

From mourning into celebration, from oppression into flourishing, Right? They're reversals. That's the kind of reversal that God delights in, Right? He doesn't reverse circumstances simply to make us comfortable or more powerful. He reverses them so that his people can live in peace, to flourish under his care, to become a blessing to other people.

And Esther shows us that God is the God of reversal. Our God is the God of reversal. And ultimately it points us towards and I think helps us understand the greatest reversal of all, which is the cross. It points towards this moment in time when Jesus was arrested. He was beaten, he was mocked, he was nailed to a cross.

And in that moment, it looks like evil wins. The religious leaders, they had gotten what they wanted. The Roman Empire was displaying its power. The cross looked like the end of God's kingdom here on earth. It looked like the end of God's plan.

But that was never the end of the story, right? The very event that appeared to be Jesus, defeat becomes his greatest victory. Through Jesus death, God deals with our sin. And through his resurrection, he defeats death itself. What looked like failure became triumph.

What looked like shame became glory. What looked like defeat became the means of salvation for the entire world. Right? That's remarkable. The resurrection is God's declaration that there's no power, there's no enemy, there's no circumstance that he can't overturn for his purposes.

Because of that, we can face even the darkest moments in our lives with hope. We know that our God is in the business of writing stories of reversals. And so for you this morning, Esther, is an invitation to you to trust in the God of reversal. Right? And that doesn't mean that every difficult circumstance will suddenly be turned around.

Sometimes God does bring about those remarkable deliverances in this life. Other times, he's calling you to wait patiently while he works out his purposes, things that we can't see just yet. But it does mean this. It means that your circumstances never have the final word. That diagnosis is not the end.

The broken relationship is not the final word. The injustice that you've suffered does not define you. Even death itself doesn't have the final word. Because the God who is quietly at work in Esther is still quietly at work today. And I can guarantee that in this life, you'll experience those moments where you'll be struggling to see what God is doing.

His name might be. Might feel like it's absent from your life, just as it's absent from the book of Esther. Yet his apparent silence is never his absence. And the reason that you can have that assurance, I think more than Esther or Mordecai ever could, is the cross. You can always look to the cross and say with confidence that even when God seems silent, you know, even when he feels absent, we know that he's in the background accomplishing his purposes.

So for you this morning, don't judge God's faithfulness by the headlines that you're reading or by the hardships that you're facing. This is a call to trust him. While you wait, one day, whether it's in this life or the next, every thread of God's providence will become clear. I know that every promise will be fulfilled, every injustice will be put right, every sorrow will be turned into joy. I know that our God is still writing stories of reversal.

And in Christ, we know how that story ends. Let's pray.

Dear Lord, we just thank you so much for that revelation, Lord, that you are a God of reversal, that you can take those things that were meant for evil and turn them somehow into. Into something good, Lord. Something that brings about your purposes and your goals in the background, Lord. So I pray that as we meditate on that, Lord, as we think about what that means in our own lives this morning, that you'd help bring us to that place of trust, Lord, that despite what's going on in the world around us, despite what's happening in our own lives, Lord, that you would give us that patience, that humility, Lord, to get through those things, and the endurance to get through them too, Lord. And let that reinforce our trust in you, Lord, knowing that you have won the ultimate victory for us, Lord.

That at the end of the day we can say with confidence that we know what your heart is, that your heart is for good, that your plans for us are good. Because we know what you did on the cross. We know, Lord, that you took something that was meant for evil and you turned it into something good. You turned it into the salvation for the entire world that you defeated, even death itself on the cross, Lord. And we can always point to that moment and say with confidence that we know that you're working things for good, Lord.

So we declare that this morning, Lord, that we trust you, we love you, thank you for being the God of reversal. Amen.

Sam.