Sharon Reformed Presbyterian Church · Sermon study sheet

Has God Forgotten Us?

Bryan Schneider · January 30, 2021

Esther 2:19-23

sharonrpc.org/sermons/has-god-forgotten-us

Summary

Mordecai faithfully reports an assassination plot against the Persian king even though he lives under pagan rule in exile.
His loyal service is recorded but apparently forgotten, while Haman the Agagite is elevated and demands public homage.
Mordecai eventually identifies himself as a Jew and refuses to bow, bringing the ancient conflict with Amalek into the foreground.
Haman turns personal rage into an empire-wide scheme to destroy Jewish men, women, and children and plunder their possessions.
The decree is issued at the season of Passover, making God's former deliverance from Egypt appear painfully contradicted by present danger.
Appearances do not mean God has forgotten his people; his covenant purpose remains active when they cannot yet see the deliverance.
Jesus, the true Passover Lamb, is arrested and condemned at Passover yet through that apparent defeat secures eternal life for sinners.
Believers facing dark providence should reject panic, trust Christ's kingship and preservation, and continue faithful obedience while awaiting God's unfolding purpose.

Why does Mordecai report the plot against a pagan king rather than dismissing it as someone else's problem?
What makes Mordecai's unrewarded service appear forgotten?
Why does the narrative identify both Mordecai's Benjaminite background and Haman as an Agagite?
How does Haman transform wounded pride into a genocidal policy?
Why does the timing of the decree near Passover intensify the question of whether God has forgotten his people?
How does the later outcome differ from what the Jews can see when the decree first arrives?
In what way does Jesus' arrest at Passover look like abandonment while actually accomplishing deliverance?
What promises sustain believers when rulers or cultures appear set against Christ's church?
How can Christians act faithfully without claiming to know exactly how present darkness will be resolved?

Exile: Israel's displacement from the covenant land under foreign rule because of covenant unfaithfulness.
Agagite: Haman's designation connecting him narratively with the Amalekite opposition to Israel.
Pur: The lot cast to choose the date for Haman's planned destruction of the Jews.
Passover: Israel's memorial of deliverance from Egypt through the blood of the lamb and God's judgment on oppressors.
Covenant preservation: God's faithful keeping of the people through whom his promises and saving purpose continue.
Dark providence: Circumstances in which God's wise rule is real but hidden behind danger, delay, grief, or apparent defeat.
Passover Lamb: Jesus Christ, whose sacrificial death delivers believers from the judgment their sin deserves.