The King's Protection

Scripture Reading

Please turn over in your Bibles with me. Meet me at Esther chapter 8. Esther chapter 8. Esther chapter 8, you're going to go past the books of Moses, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and to the very last historical book. So if you're at the Kings, if you're at 1st and 2nd Samuel, if you're at the Chronicles, keep going. Ezra, Nehemiah, you're almost there. Esther, if you got into Job or Psalms or Proverbs, you're too far. Esther chapter 8, and if you're using your pew Bible, you can find that on page 147. Esther chapter 8, I'm going to begin by telling you a little bit of a head story.

In the next few chapters we're going to read about the institution of the celebration of a Jewish festival called Purim. And every year the Jewish people still to this day celebrate what happened here in this chapter in the book of Esther. Every year, but about a hundred years ago or so, a little bit less than that, there was a man, a Jewish man in Israel, who went to the Purim celebration.

This was a guy who was respected in his community, worked in the financial industry. After the Purim celebration on Sabbath, he went home, he ate his meal, and then he said goodbye to his wife, and he walked out the door, and he went and he murdered a whole bunch of Arabs in Palestine. walked out and killed a whole bunch of Arabs because of what this chapter says.

Now, the question we're going to have to ask ourselves is, is he right in doing that? Is he right? Does this passage give us justification to do what this man did? Let's go ahead as that question lingers in our mind about who is God and what is he commanding in this passage. Let's turn our eyes to the book of Esther. Remember at this point Mordecai has been elevated. He has a plot that Haman had designed has come to nothing. And instead of Haman being the big top dog in the court, now it's Mordecai who has been exalted and Haman has been hanged.

On the eighth day, Ashurarius gave Queen Esther the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews, and Mordecai came before the king. For Esther had told how he was related to her. So the king took off his signet ring, which she had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai, and Esther appointed Mordecai over the house of Haman." Now this was a typical practice that would happen that the number two man in the country would be given the signet ring of the king, a solid gold ring that would have his own insignia on it that when he wrote a letter he would be able to pour wax on it and seal the wax and it was as if it was coming from the king himself. This is what's going on in this passage. He gives that signet ring. He had taken it off the dead finger of Haman, and he had given it to Mordecai.

But more than that, in the Persian custom, if somebody was a betrayer of the king, all their property, all of their wealth, everything was taken from them and given to the royal house. And here we find that not only has Haman died, But everything he has, has been given to the Jew, Queen Esther. And what does Esther do with it? She gives it to Mordecai.

Mordecai has now become the steward over Haman's old estate. And isn't this interesting here? That no longer is Queen Esther afraid of coming into the presence of the king. No longer is she worried, is the king going to kill me for coming into his presence. Indeed, she even introduces Mordecai. She tells the king about his relationship to her.

This is Mordecai. He's my uncle. He's actually the one that raised me. My parents died. Think about what type of relationship that must have been. I mean, this gives us volumes of what this royal marriage looked like. King Asuarius had no clue who even raised his own wife. And here, she's finally giving the backstory. I'm an orphan, this is my uncle, he raised me. I was like his own daughter to him.

But there's a problem, just because Esther and Mordecai are alive, the death decree still stands. We ended with chapter 7, and we are so glad that this adversary, the enemy of the Jew, has finally gone away and done away with, but there's a sad reality here that Esther and Mordecai, they might be able to get off Scott clean, they might be able to escape, but they realize that the law still stands. In nine months, The axe is going to fall. In nine months, it's going to be a heyday and anybody in the kingdom all throughout the area can kill any Jew that they find. And they find Esther and Mordecai not satisfied with saving their own skin. But they go to the king with a petition.

Look with me at verses 3 through 6. Now Esther spoke again to the king, fell down at his feet, and implored with him with tears to counteract the evil of Haman, the Aggadite, and the scheme which he had devised against the Jews. She kneels before the king, on her knees, tears streaming down her face, looking up at Asher where he is pleading with him, please change this. Please change this. Verse 4, and the king held out the golden scepter towards Esther. So Esther arose and stood before the king and said, if it pleases the king and if I have found favor in his sight, And the thing seems right to the king, and I am pleasing in his eyes. Let it be written to revoke the letters devised by him and the son of Hamadathah the Agagite, which he wrote to annihilate the Jews which are in all the king's provinces. For how can I endure to see the evil that will come to my people? Or how can I endure to see the destruction of my own countrymen? How can I do this?

I can't just sit here in the palace and act like everything is OK. And you can imagine her tears are still streaming down her face. She's pleading with the king, saying it's not just good enough that I'm OK or my uncle is OK, but all my people are going to die. Please revoke this. Please do something about it. But there is a problem. Yeah, she's identified herself as a Jew.

She's given King Ashurus the back story. This is Persia. Law rules still. And so King Asuarius said to Queen Esther and Mordecai the Jew, Indeed I have given Esther the house of Haman. And they have hanged him on the gallows because he tried to lay his hand on the Jews. You yourselves write a decree concerning the Jews, as you please, in the name of the king and seal it with the king's signet ring. For whatever is written in the king's name and sealed with the king's signet ring, no one can revoke. The laws of the Medes and the Persians were irrevocable laws.

If you go and ever look at the Iowa statutes, it's really interesting. I was researching a law in Iowa a couple of months ago. And I was just looking at how the language of a different law has changed over the last century or so. And it was specifically about who can marry different people. And at first it said, an ordained minister of the gospel. But then after a couple of decades they crossed out the word ordained and it just said minister of the gospel. And then in legislative session they decided to change it where instead of being an ordained minister of the gospel or just a minister of the gospel, it just changed to a minister and they crossed out of the gospel.

And if you actually look at our law books for Iowa, you can actually see where they have changed the laws, as they have adapted them. Now sometimes they do write new whole laws, but if they're revising laws, but that's not the way it was in Persian media.

No, in the days of King Ashurarius, the law was law, what he wrote was wrote, it was done, it was good, it was known, you can't change it. Not even the king himself can change it. And so here, Here what we find is Asher Warrior saying, I can't revoke this law.

I can't revoke it, but what you can do is you, he's talking to both Esther and Mordecai here, you, write a new law and seal it in my ring. Put my seal of authority on it because if you write a good law, I'm going to put it in your hands and you are going to save your own people. It's going to come with my protection and my authority with all the force of the king and all the resources of the king behind it, but you are going to have to figure out how to write such a law. You can't take back the one I wrote or the one I let him unseal.

And so what did they do? Well, verses 9 and 10 tell us what they did. So the king's scribes were called at that time in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, in the 23rd day. And it was written, according to all that Mordecai commanded to the Jews, the satraps, the governors, and the princes of the provinces, from India to Ethiopia, 127 provinces in all, to every province in its own script, to every people in their own language, and to the Jews in their own script and language. And he wrote it in the name of King Asherah, sealed it with the king's signet ring, and sent letters by couriers of horseback riding on royal horse bread from swift steeds." So Mordecai crafts this letter, and he does what any Empire-stretching law was meant to do.

Notice first the Jews. The first decree wasn't written in Hebrew. It was written to all the other languages and all the other people's groups, but not to Hebrew. Here it starts with writing it in the language of the Jews. And then, to all the other languages, and sent to all the satraps, all the provinces, all the governors, all the princes, everyone was to get this letter.

And you notice Mordecai doesn't skimp out, he doesn't send it by media mail, he does it by Next Day Express. And sent the letters by couriers on horseback, riding on royal horse bread from swift steeds. This is the cream of the crop, this is the Kentucky Derby racehorses of the day.

We often think about the Romans and the Roman roads and how they made these amazing roads that would go all throughout the area. But it was actually Persia who established the first modern road system. And it went all the way from where we would think of Iraq today, all the way to the edge of the Mediterranean Sea. All the way through Turkey and all the way to the edge of the sea. And here Mordecai sends this letter out in every language to all the people. You need to get this. You need to get it fast. Preparations need to be made. And it comes with all the authority of the protection of the king.

But what did it say? Verses 11 through 14, what does the letter say? By these letters, the king permitted the Jews who were in every city to gather together and protect their lives, to destroy, kill, and annihilate all the forces of any people or province that would assault them, both little children and women, and to plunder their possessions. On one day in all the provinces of King Ashuarius, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is in the month of Adar, A copy of the document was to be issued as a decree in every province and published for all the peoples, so that the Jews would be ready on that day to avenge themselves or their enemies. The couriers who rode on the horses went out, hastened and pressed on by the king's command, and the decree was issued in Susan, the citadel." What is the decree? What's the content of the decree?

You got one day. You got one day to gather together. You got one day to muster all the army you can, all the forces you can. You're not allowed to go out and to wage war, but you're allowed to get together and you're allowed to make a show of force. You're allowed to get together for self-defense. You're allowed to get together and make sure that you are safe. and you're able to take any means necessary, even if it's a woman or a child who might come and try to kill you, you need to protect your lives. This is what it's saying here.

This is the reality that maybe for some of us, we might look at this passage and go, whoa, hold on, women and children? We have some military veterans here who can tell you stories about women and children who have been used in attacking American forces. People who, in wartime, we want to think that, oh, our modern U.S. Army, you know, it's always these adults and they're always in their official uniforms. For most of the world, that's not the case. In most of the world, there are horrific stories of people dressing up as priests or as nuns, making it look like they're perfectly safe and walking into a building full of U.S. servicemen and blowing themselves up. This is the way the world actually works. So while Christians might get a little bit squirmish here and go, we're not women and children, these are innocent people. Our idea of hostilities is very different than the rest of the world.

Because the last time we've had anybody attack our shores was 9-11. Let me ask you, when the hijackers hit the World Trade Centers, did they care that there were women and children, that there was a daycare in the basement of the World Trade Center? No. No, they didn't. They wanted to attack. And in places like Iraq, they'll be the ones who will lay the roadside bombs, the IEDs.

This is just the reality of it. that these attacks could come like that. And the king is saying, you have full permission to protect yourself. You have full permission on that one day. Again, he doesn't say go out and make raiding bans, you know, and go out and kill everybody. That's not what this is saying. It is saying you have permission to defend yourself. And something amazing happens because of this. Something absolutely incredible. Look with me at verses 15 through 17.

So after Mordecai has done all this, he goes out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, with a great crown of gold and a garment of fine linen and purple, and the city of Suson rejoiced and was glad. the Jews had light and gladness, joy and honor.

And in every province and city, wherever the king's command and decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a holiday. Then many of the people of the land became Jews, because the fear of the Jews fell upon all. The Jews have now gone from darkness and gloom, destruction, annihilation, certain death, to Mordecai wearing blue and white fine apparel with a crown of gold upon his head.

And how do the people of the world respond? With joy. with joy. Some even convert and become Jews themselves because they realize that the king has protected them. There's a great feast and people get together and they celebrate this holiday because God has cared for his people. This is great, okay. We've learned a beautiful Old Testament story. We've gone to the classroom, we've looked at what this is, what it's saying, but what does it mean for you? What does this mean in my life? What does this mean in your life? What does this play out like in our lives?

Does this give us excuse to go out and for us to go out and to annihilate other people? No. No, this passage, even though this has happened before in the past where people would use passages like this to justify going out and killing people, that's a misreading of the text.

Because brothers and sisters, in one sense this battle has already happened in the New Testament, and in one sense it is going to happen again. See, our enemy today is not the people around us who might want to persecute us. Let me say that again. Our enemy today is not people around us who might want to persecute us. Jesus has already warned us about that, didn't he?

If they hated me, they're going to hate you also. If you want to follow me, get ready, because mother is going to turn against son, and brother is going to turn against brother, sister is going to turn on their sister, they're going to turn you in to the authorities, they're going to turn you in, but at no point did Jesus say, so go out and kill them. There's a reason why when we send out missionaries all throughout the world, we don't send them with 9mm attached to the hip.

No, they go out. ready to lay down their lives. This is the amazing thing of the New Testament in which we love our enemies. We're willing to die for them. Because see, our ultimate enemy is not those people, but it was sin and death itself. And Jesus Christ has conquered sin and death upon the cross.

And as the book of Ephesians tells us, we do not wage a war against people, but we rage our war against what? spiritual powers and authorities and principalities. God has not told you to put on a literal sword and go out and defend yourself against persecutors.

What has he told you? Put on the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of Truth. You take up your shield, and what is your shield? Your shield of faith. He tells you to put on a helmet, and is it a literal bronze or steel helmet? No. He tells you to put on the helmet of salvation. He tells you to shod your feet with the gospel of peace.

You do not go out as a militant to go and destroy people, but we go out with the good news of Jesus Christ, and we put to death, what? Our own sinful desires. See, the reality is that now, in our lives, there is still a war going on. Oh, we have an enemy, we have an adversary, his name is Satan the devil himself, and he prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking to devour you, and you must be on your guard. You have to fight that daily battle. But yet, there is a last battle coming.

Have you ever read the book of Revelation? If you've never read through the book of Revelation, just in one or two sittings, I'd encourage you just to sit down, grab a cup of coffee, and just read. Don't try to pick apart and understand everything, just read to get the big picture. And as you read through the book of Revelation, it's absolutely clear that there is a final battle coming.

See, our King is Jesus Christ. And in Revelation it is Jesus Christ who has written upon His thigh the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings. And it is Jesus Christ who will ultimately put to death the great enemy of our soul, Satan himself, will bound him with chains and throw him into that lake of fire. I need you to get rid of, out of your mind, the pop culture idea of like, oh, Satan has a realm, and his realm is hell, and Satan is there with free reign, and that's like what he does. No, hell is prepared for Satan. Hell is prepared for Satan, because King Jesus one day is going to return, and he is going to conquer.

King Jesus is going to come, and what does the book of Revelation say? That His blood, or His coat is dipped in the blood of His enemies. Someday our Savior is going to return again, and He is going to return as the victor. He is going to return as the one who conquers.

We don't have to... We don't have to sit there and think, Maybe if I go to be a missionary in China, I need to be ready to kill the president of China. No. Nope. Nope, not your job. You don't have to think, oh, do I need to, if I go out evangelizing, do I need to make sure that I'm ready to force people to come into the Kingdom of God by gunpoint. Nope. That's not how the Gospel works.

Sadly, Passages like this have been used for that. Sadly, there's a story in a Jewish author, his name is Chaim Potok, and in a book he wrote, My Name is Asher Lev, he writes about a young boy whose uncle was raised in an Eastern European country. And as they were celebrating Easter, on a Good Friday service, the pastor got people really worked up about how the Jews, by the hands of the Romans, had killed the Messiah. And a man went out with an axe and killed his Jewish neighbor.

Sadly, this type of stuff happens because people don't understand that we do not wage war against flesh and blood. The battle is not ours. The battle looks remarkably different today. We don't go out with militancy. This is the difference between us and what you might think of as radical fundamentalist Christian groups who go out and do this type of crazy stuff.

No. No, there is a biblical doctrine of self-defense, of preserving your own life. You can make that argument here. But we do know that we are under the protection of a King. His name is Jesus Christ. And nothing can separate us from the love of God that is within Jesus Christ, even persecution, even trial, even death itself. So what does this mean for you? Let me ask you, what does it mean for you when you're afraid?

You're in a conversation with a co-worker, you know that they're not a Christian, you know that they often mock Christianity, you know that they might even laugh in your face, or just turn around and call you stupid and walk away. What do you do? Do you shy away from telling the truth? Do you shy away from speaking about Christ? Or do you let happen what happens, knowing that your King protects you? Knowing that nothing can separate you from the love of God, not even death itself. What do you do in your life when there's the opportunity, even though the good news might cost you your life?

My pastor out in Pennsylvania, Micah, he had this friend he called the zealot. And this friend was always trying to share the Gospel, and one day he called up Micah and he said, Micah, I did it! I did it! And just to let you know, years later I met this guy, and he was a very unassuming man, he just looked like any other dude. And Micah was on the phone with him, and he said, what did you do? What did you do? And he said, I finally did it!

A man came up to me with a gun and he said, give me all your money or I'm going to kill you. And he said, I looked the man in the eyes and I said, guy, I have no money but what I do have is Jesus Christ and let me tell you about Him right now. He died for your sins and rose again for your justification. Will you put away your wickedness and come to Jesus Christ? Do you know what the guy did? He laughed at him and walked away. He laughed at him and walked away. That's how the world really works.

But in that opportunity he had to share that there was a king, a confidence that he had that was greater than himself. That even though persecution might come... I don't think that any of you are necessarily going to have to share the gospel at gunpoint. I don't anticipate that. But do we trust? Do we trust that the Lord is caring for His people like He did for the Jews here? And He's never going to forget His covenant. And someday He's going to come back. And He's going to make everything right again. He's going to put an end to the enemies in this world who want to suppress the gospel.

Closing Prayer

But our job isn't to be soldiers taking it by force. but be ambassadors where we go out with our feet shod with the gospel, ready for whatever the consequences may be. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much that you work in amazing ways, ways in which we don't understand, Father, we pray that your Holy Spirit would let us, Lord, work in our minds and our hearts that we would trust in you in all circumstances. Lord, that we would proclaim the good news of Jesus without fear, knowing that your love is always with us. Father, please bless these, please press these truths in our hearts. Please let us remember them through the week. Please don't let us walk out these doors and forget how gracious and loving you are. We pray all these things in Jesus' name. Amen.