Approaching the Throne

Scripture Reading

You may be seated. Will you turn over in your Bibles with me to Esther chapter five. Esther chapter five. If you're going there in your app, you know where to find it. If you're going there in a page Bible, a normal Bible, you're going to move past the Torah, past the books of Moses, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, past Joshua and Judges. Keep going past the Kings, past the Samuels, past the Chronicles, past Ezra, Nehemiah. If you get to Job, you've gone too far. Esther chapter five. we'll be considering this whole chapter. Esther chapter five. Remember last week where we left Esther? Last week we left Esther and indeed all of the Jewish people in the capital of Susa, what were they doing? They were fasting. There was this whole plan that the king had made to kill all the Jews at the request of Haman.

And as we find Esther wrestling in her soul, as we find her going and she's trying to figure out how she's going to do this, she pleads with God's people to fast. And she says, if I die, I die. Why? Because she knows that if she goes into that throne room, if she goes into the throne room and the king does not extend his scepter to her, it's an immediate death sentence. So imagine what's going on in her soul over those three days. Imagine what's going on in her soul as she has anxiety, as she has worry, as she has fear, what's going to happen? Are people actually praying for me? Is God going to answer these prayers?

And notice what this passage doesn't do. It doesn't start out with, now God opened up the heavens and a voice came out saying, he's gonna listen, go do it. No, that's not what happens in this story. Instead, she walks out on biblical principles, on godly principles. And so it's in that midst that we come into chapter five where walking out on principles that scripture gives us. This is where we find Esther. Look with me at verses one and two.

Now it happened on the third day that Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king's palace, across from the king's house, while the king sat on his royal throne in the royal house facing the entrance of his house. So it was when the king, I wanna stop there, notice this is again and again and again, the storyline has slowed down. We've gone through three days of fasting and now the storyline has slowed down. She puts on her royal robes. She walks down the hall. She goes to the entranceway of the king. She goes to the king's palace, where the king is sitting on the king's throne.

And there the king saw Esther. When the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, imagine what it must have been in that split second for Esther. In that tense moment, there's just a comma here. That's one of the most intense commas of the entire Bible. If the king doesn't say anything, she dies. When the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, that she found favor in his sight.

And the king held out the God has answered the prayers of His people. God heard their crying. This is the way in which God normally works. We wanna go to places like the book of Daniel, and we want God shutting the mouths of lions, or we want Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fire, and all these amazing miracles, but sometimes we miss the miracles that happen in everyday providence. When God changes somebody's heart in a moment, in a piece of time, And here, this has happened. God has answered their prayers.

Esther, notice it's not just Esther anymore, but it's Queen Esther. Queen Esther standing in the court. And Ashwery says, what do you wish, Queen Esther? What is your request? And it shall be given to you up to half the kingdom. And how does she answer? Again, God doesn't give her a direct revelation. You know, it's not like he writes with his hand on the wall and he says, this is exactly how you're gonna convince Ashuarius what to do. And as Esther is still there, you can imagine the emotion still going through her.

Now, how am I going to convey this to the king? Haman's already let it be known to the king that there is a people who's subversive to the kingdom. There's a people that are against the culture, against the laws, and don't follow the ways of the Medes and the Persians, and they need to be annihilated. Just because Esther tells the king she's a Jew, doesn't mean the king won't kill her. And so what does she do?

So Esther answered, and she said, if it pleases the king, let the king and Haman come today to the banquet that I have prepared for him. The way to a man's heart is through his belly. I have made a banquet for you and Haman. Come to my house. Then the king said, bring Haman quickly, that he may do as Esther has said. So the king and Haman went to the banquet that Esther had prepared. And at the banquet of wine, the king said to Esther, what is your petition? It shall be granted to you.

What is your request? Up to half the kingdom and it shall be done. This is just a normal turn of phrase. We even saw King Herod do this in Mark chapter six, in that horrible story where he asks Herodotus' daughter, what shall I do for you? Ask and I'll give you even up to half the kingdom. What does she say? She wants the head of John the Baptist in that story. This is a normal thing that kings would say. It's not meant to be taken literally, but it's just saying, I am going to be extravagant in my favor towards you. Ask whatever you want and I'll give it to you. And this is the second time he's said this.

And it's interesting what Esther says. She doesn't just come right out, does she? She doesn't just come out right away and say, look, hey, Ashurites, I'm a Jew, this guy's a jerk, this is not how this is supposed to happen. No, what does she do? She says, then Esther answered and said, my petition and my request is this. If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request, again, another comma, you would think she would say, don't kill me, don't kill my people. But instead she says, then let the king and Haman come to the banquet, which I will prepare for them, and tomorrow I will do as the king has said. Now there's a little bit of speculation that we can ask ourselves here, why does she do this?

Why doesn't she just come out right at this time and say, you know, I'm of these people and this Haman is a wicked man and he's trying to kill all of us. Why does she do this? I'm inclined to think that she's like you and she's like me. She's like all of us.

And the reality is, have you ever been at that point of time where you have a moment of truth to talk with a non-Christian about your faith and you hesitate? You're hesitant to tell people about your identity and you're, you just kind of skirt away from it for a second. This happens to me when, I mean, I'm a pastor and sometimes when I go and I do evangelistic Bible studies, sometimes I'm scared to say the things that the scriptures say. And I have to catch myself in that, and I think that's what Esther is doing here.

She's catching herself. I think she's afraid here. So I think she buys herself some time. Come back tomorrow. There'll be another banquet. She might be inclining the heart of Asherus towards her even more. That's possible. But something horrible happens after that. Things get even more intense. Instead of this settling things, verses nine through 11 tells us that things are about to get even more dire for the Jews. specifically for one Jew.

So Haman went out that day joyful and with a glad heart. Why would he be joyful with a glad heart? Because he was just invited to a banquet and the only people allowed were the king and Haman. It's just the two of them. He got the highest honor. The queen just wants the two of them.

But as he's on his way home and he's all full of pride with himself and happy, when Haman saw that Mordecai was in the king's gate and that he did not stand or tremble before him, he was filled with indignation against Mordecai. He's just gotten this high honor, Mordecai, or Haman has just sat there right next to the king, the highest position, just the king in Ashurarius with Queen Esther, and now he goes out and he's leaving the king's gate, he's going into the heart of the city, and who's standing there? And there's a whole crowd in the gate. Everybody else is on their faces, everybody else is bowing down, everybody else is showing him reverence, and there's Mordecai. stiff as a board, and you can imagine their eyes locking as Haman goes past and as Mordecai just watches him go.

He's filled with anger, he's filled with wrath, he's upset with him. Why? Because he's the only person in the kingdom, even Queen Esther is respecting him. But this Jew won't. Nevertheless, Haman plays it cool, right? Haman restrains himself and he went home.

And he sent and he called for his friends and his wife, Zeresh. Then Haman told them of his great riches, the multitude of his children and everything that the king had promoted him. And now he had advanced him above the officials and the servants of the king, right? He's even above all the other seven.

Right now, even the queen lets him come to a banquet, and he's just gloating to everyone about this. Moreover, Haman said, besides, Queen Esther invited no one but me to come in with the king to the banquet that she prepared. And tomorrow again, I am invited by her along with the king. Yet all this avails me nothing so long as I see Mordecai the Jew standing at the king's gate. It's like he goes from gloating to a sudden dark turn. If this was a movie, the scene would turn black and red, filled with anger as his eyes squint and he's upset because that Jew Mordecai, as long as he's alive, I have no joy.

And then his wife, Zeresh, concocts a plan for him. Verse 14. Then his wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, let a gallows be made 50 cubits high. And in the morning suggest to the king that Mordecai be hanged on it. Then go merrily with the king to the banquet. And the thing pleased him Haman. So he had the gallows made. Zeresh, his wife, and his friends say to him, make a big, huge hanging tower, right? 75 feet high, 50 cubits high, high enough that everyone can see that anybody who disrespects you, they're gonna see their body, Mordecai's body, and they're gonna think twice. And this pleases the pride of Haman. This pleases the pride of Haman. And notice that what Haman has just done has gone from this kind of subversive way, right? Haman before wasn't just going to go straight for Mordecai.

All of this started because Mordecai, one person wouldn't bow to him. But Haman knew he couldn't just go to the king and be petty. Oh, this one guy, he won't bow to me, can I kill him? The king's not gonna look very happy on that. But if he's able to sow a conspiracy, And he's able to say that they don't follow our commandments, they won't listen to our ways, they're different from us, they're a threat to the kingdom. That's how he started this genocidal plan. But now he's able, in his mind, I'm able to single out the leader of this in Susa. And so now he's going to build a gallow and he's planning on going to the king so he can have Mordecai hanged.

So let me ask you, if you're Mordecai at this point, if you see this gallows made, has God answered your prayer? You've been fasting for three days. pleading with God, God please save your people, God please save your people. And there you find out by the rumors coming out of the palace that the queen didn't even have the guts to talk to the king about the issue. And that very afternoon there you have Haman going home and now he's got a gallows erected 75 feet tall so that way he can hang the queen's uncle, Mordecai.

Has God answered their prayers? Now we know the end of the story that God has answered their prayers, but what I want you to do, what I hope you have done is stepped into the story and seen the angst of what it's like to pray. We don't always get a direct answer from God. Actually, it'd be the extreme rarity that any of us are going to have a voice out of heaven calling to us and telling us, this is exactly what you're supposed to do and everything's gonna be okay. That's not what we find here and that's not what we find in our lives. But we do know that prayer is effective because Jesus Christ prays for us. Now, I wanna take us back to what Esther did here for a second. In this first part of Esther chapter five, Esther is afraid to go to the king. Because the king is different than her. The king is powerful than her. The king can put her to death.

But I want you to turn your minds away from King Ashuarius and I want you to think about the God of the universe for a moment. I want you to think about the God who created the heavens. I want you to think about the God who made the heavens, and the heavens is his throne, and the earth is but his footstool. I want you to close your eyes for a second, and I want you to remember Isaiah chapter six, when Isaiah goes into the throne room of God, and there in the throne room, God is sitting upon this throne, and the train of his robe fills the temple, and when he speaks, The pillars of the temple are shaking, and the angels are there, the seraphim with their six wings, and with two of them they're flying, and with two of them they're covering their eyes, and with two of them they're covering their feet, and day and night they're crying out, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty! And what does Isaiah cry out? Woe is me, for I am a man, of unclean lips. Brothers and sisters, we shouldn't take it so lightly that we could somehow just approach God. Indeed, the scriptures tell us that God is so holy that He cannot even stand to look upon sin.

So how is it that you, how is it that you, a sinner, can enter into the king's throne room. How is it that you, a sinner, are able to enter into the throne room of the thrice holy God, who is a consuming fire, who is full of anger and wrath and vengeance for those who are enemies of his kingdom? How can you stand in his presence? If you were to put on your best clothes and walk down the hallway and go into the king's courtyard and stand at the threshold of the king, how do you know that you would find favor in his eyes?

As one author put it, brothers and sisters, God holds out his scepter to us. but his scepter is in the shape of a cross. That God shows his favor towards us. God smiles at us when we enter into his throne room because we didn't put on our own royal clothes. We put on the robes of Jesus Christ. We find favor in coming into God's throne room and coming into the thrice holy God's presence. Why? Because we come in the person and in the name and in the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

We don't have to come worried, will God show favor towards us? I'm gonna talk to some of you online. Maybe for some of you, you're getting closer and closer to that day in which you know death is coming. Do you trust in Jesus Christ alone that it's only in Him and by Him and through Him that God's face will shine upon you when you come into His presence? The book of John tells us that if we believe in Jesus Christ, we have passed from death into life. We do not need to fear the judgment. We don't need to fear the judgment. We don't need a fear coming if we're coming in the name of Jesus Christ.

But if we come by any other name, if we come in our own robes, if we come in our own gowns, there's something worse than a gallows hanging there for us. So what's your hope? What are you clinging to? Where are you going? When you pray, when you prayed, The book of Hebrews says you come into the very presence of God. Why would God hear your prayer? I mean, are you hearing a voice when you pray saying that God loves you? Is God answering you directly in your prayers? Is God sending amazing signs to you? Are the clouds opening up? Are doves coming down from heaven descending upon you? Are you hearing when you pray a direct answer from God? Esther wasn't. Esther wasn't. Mordecai wasn't. The other Jews weren't. So how did they know that the king would show favor to them? Well, they didn't know if Ashwery's would show favor.

Closing Prayer

But we know that our God, who has made a covenant with his people, loves his people, and hears our prayers. And so we can come to Christ in prayer. We can go to the Father, and we can know that Jesus, the righteous one, prays for us. So go to the Lord. Go to the Lord in prayer. Go to the Lord and don't get disheartened when you don't get visible signs or audible voices. Go to the Lord. And even when you don't get those visible signs or those audible voices that would tell you this is exactly what you should be doing, walk out on wisdom. Take the next step. Do the next thing based on godly principles knowing that the King has extended his scepter to you because you're robed in Jesus Christ. Let's pray.

Father, we thank you so much for the good news of Jesus Christ. Lord, we pray that you might let us have heard your word. Father, we did not come to hear the words of a man, but we came to hear your word. We pray that your Holy Spirit might apply your word to our hearts. Lord, we pray that we would live this out, that we would have comfort in your providence and confidence before your throne.

In Jesus' name, amen. Well, I'm going to switch up our next psalm. We're going to sing Psalm 23. We're going to sing Psalm 23. You know Psalm 23 well. The Lord is our shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. But it's interesting what it says in verse four. Yea, though I walk in death's dark veil, yet will I fear no ill, for thou art with me, and thy rod and thy staff me comfort still. Thy rod is the word for scepter. God's scepter and his staff comfort.