Sermon: A Life and Death Situation

Would you please take a Bible in your hands and open with me to the Book of Esther?

Tonight, we are opening to Esther chapter 7, continuing in our series through this Old Testament book.

And before we hear God's word read and we hear it preached, let's go to the Lord and ask Him to bless the reading and preaching of His word. Would you join me? Our Father in heaven, we believe that all scripture is God-breathed, and we believe that it is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the men and women of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. And so we pray this night

that you would make your word go forth to do its work, and that you would sanctify us in the truth, for your word is truth. We pray this in Christ's name. Amen. Esther chapter 7, we'll read the whole chapter beginning in verse one. Listen carefully, for this is God's Word. "So the king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther. And on the second day, as they were drinking wine after the feast, the king again said to Esther,

'What is your wish, Queen Esther? It shall be granted to you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.' Then Queen Esther answered, 'If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be granted for my wish, and my people for my request. For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I

would have been silent, for our affliction is not to be compared with the loss to the king.' Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, 'Who is he, and where is he, who has dared to do this?' And Esther said, 'A foe and an enemy! This wicked Haman.'

Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen. And the king arose in his wrath from the wine drinking and went into the palace garden. But Haman stayed to beg for his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that harm was determined against him by the king. And then the king returned from the palace garden to the place where they were drinking wine, as Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was. And the king said,

'Will he even assault the queen in my presence, in my own house?' As the word left the mouth of the king, they covered Haman's face. Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, said, 'Moreover, the gallows that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, whose word saved the king, is standing at Haman's house fifty cubits high.' And the king said, 'Hang him on that.' So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had

prepared for Mordecai. Then the wrath of the king abated."

Well, dear friends in the Lord Jesus Christ, if I asked you, why was the Old Testament written? Why was it written and recorded for us in our Bibles? If I asked you, or perhaps maybe a new Christian, or someone who's interested in the faith might wonder, why is there this big section of the Bible that says Old Testament on it? Why was that written? What's its purpose? What's it there for? I wonder how you would answer that question.

There are several ways that you could answer that question, several reasons why the Old Testament was written. You could say the Old Testament was written to record the establishment of the covenant relationship between God and His people, Israel. Or you could say the Old Testament was written to record the history of the nation of Israel. Or you could say the Old Testament was written and recorded to set the stage for the

coming of the Messiah, the Christ. All of these answers would be in part true and right. Here's another reason.

And I want to read for you two New Testament passages that both speak of why the Old Testament was written and recorded. The first one is going to come from Romans 15, verse 4, and the second from 1 Corinthians 10, verses 11 and 12. Just listen as I read themFirst, from Romans 15, verse 4. "For whatever was written in former days," the Old Testament, "was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures," the Old Testament,

"we might have hope."

The Old Testament was written for you. It was written for you, for your instruction, your positive, formative instruction in the faith, that you might endure in faith and hope through the encouragement that the Scriptures provide. So that's part of this additional reason I'm giving you, for your instruction. Here's the other part of it from 1 Corinthians 10, "Now these things happened to them," Paul's speaking here of the judgment on Israel for

their idolatry during the wilderness years. "Now these things happened to Israel as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come." And then Paul makes a conclusion, "Therefore, let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed, lest he fall." The Old Testament was written for you, for your instruction, and here in 1 Corinthians 10, a negative sort of instruction, a corrective sort of

instruction, that by the examples recorded for you in the Old Testament Scriptures, you might not do or choose or desire what they did. So a negative and a positive instruction. Those are good categories for you to have as you are reading through the Old Testament. This was written for me, that I might learn something from it to apply to my life, and that's what we want to do tonight as we come to this Old Testament passage. We want to heed the instruction

from it. So I'm going to give you a heads-up. At the end of the sermon, we're going to spend time with some general exhortations, instructions that we can heed from this passage. But before I do that, we need to work our way through the text. And notice, as you look at your Bible, there's two headings in this passage. Those are going to be our headings tonight. In verses one through six, Esther pleads for life. And then in verses seven through 10, Haman

pleads for life. So first, Esther pleads for life. At the conclusion of the second feast on the second day, verse two tells us, "King Ahasuerus again said to Esther, 'What is your wish, Queen Esther?'" For the third time in two days, King Ahasuerus has asked the same question of his queen with the same words of commitment to fulfill her request. Doesn't always work this way,

but it's a saying, so it must be true sometimes. The third time's a charm. It finally happens that Queen Esther makes her heart known to the king. She makes her bold request in verses three and four.

Now I want you to look with me at both the how and the what of Esther's request. The how and the what. Both of them are noteworthy and important in the unfolding of the narrative of the Book of Esther, how she makes her request and what request she makes. So first, I want you to notice with me how Esther makes her request. She says in verse three, very humbly, respectfully, honoring the king's authority and deferring to his interests,

"If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king." And in verse four, "If we had been sold merely as slaves, I would have been silent, for our affliction is not to be compared with the loss to the king." She asks respectfully and humbly, honoring the king's authority and deferring to his interest. But notice also how deliberately and carefully Esther presents her request to the king. How carefully and deliberately she does in order

to implicate Haman and to arouse the anger of the king toward Haman.

She says in her request, "Let my life be granted me for my wish." And then she says in verse four, "We have been sold, I and my people." Esther rightly assessed the king's special interest in herShe had put this plan together to see if the king would be favorable toward her request, and she has assessed, "I have his favor. If I tell the king that my life is threatened,

he's going to listen. He's going to perk up, and he might be willing to listen to my request for my people."

So she asks carefully and deliberately, and you see that as well in verse four. Esther uses the exact language from the edict that Haman had published in chapter 3:13 in her request to the king. She says, "We have been sold." Remember, Haman had offered 10,000 talents to be put into the king's treasury for the destruction of the Jews. "We have been sold to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated." Now, that sounds

like an exaggeration, but it's not. Esther is using the exact language from Haman's edict in her request. It's not a false accusation. She's not exaggerating the threat. "We have been sold to be destroyed, killed, and annihilated." Esther carefully and deliberately makes her request. That's how she makes it.

What Esther requests of the king is also noteworthy and important. For her wish, she says, "Let my life be granted me," and for her request, "My people's life be granted me." For the very first time, Esther is beginning to reveal her hidden identity to the king and to Haman, and she does so at the precise time when it is most risky to do so.

When King Ahasuerus issued his edict, that was the law. There is no undoing it.

And this king, this fickle and foolish king, has already disposed of one of his queens.

And so as Esther is identifying herself as a Jew, someone who is under the death sentence that's been issued across all the land, she is risking not only the crown on her head, she is risking her life.

Now, recall, Esther had already weighed out this risk. She'd already weighed this risk when she determined to go to the king without being called. You remember what she said when she was considering this the first time. She said in chapter four, verse 16, "If I perish, I perish." She weighed the risk, and that's what she determined to do. And once again, Esther risks her life on behalf of her people, and this time she does so by identifying

herself with the lot of her people. If they perish, I perish.

Now, this right here is exactly why we all love Esther. Who doesn't love Esther as a character in the Bible? This kind of courage is incredible, and it's the sort of courage that is worth emulating. Have you ever pondered, what would I do if I were in her position? Would I speak up like she did? It's very unlikely that any of us in this room will ever have the amount of influence that Esther had as the Queen of Persia.

But isn't it the case that you have opportunities nearly every single day to make known who you are, who you belong to, and who you belong with?

And isn't it also true that in our day and age, there are increasingly more and more situations, more and more places, where to reveal yourself as a Christian, to identify with God and with his people, is risky? Do you have the courage to risk everything to stand for God and to stand with his people?

You might imagine this.

You show up to an interview, and an interviewer begins to ask you questions. Or you might imagine a relative at a family gathering begins to press into your life, or a school friendbegins to ask personal questions about who you are, and any of these people beginning to ask these questions, you know in your heart of hearts not only are they not a Christian, but they stand against everything that Christianity has to stand for.

And this person asks you, "So, are you a church-going Christian?" How will you answer that question? Good.

Will you answer yes even if it costs you greatly?

Is Esther's perspective yours? What do I have to fear? If I perish, I perish.

The way that you can have courage like Esther is to have the same sort of confidence that Esther had,

that we can assume that she had as a child of God, as belonging to the people of God. You can have that confidence because Jesus says in Matthew 10:28, "Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell." The point Jesus is making, the worst thing that someone can do to you, the worst thing that an opponent can do to you is kill you,

but they cannot kill your soul. They cannot end your eternity.

So Esther throws her lot in with the people of God. And how does Ahasuerus react to Esther's request? He reacts in just the way that Esther would have hoped. He reacts like a protective father whose child has been threatened, or a jealous husband whose wife has been harmed. "Who? Where? Let me at him."

And you notice Esther replies at first generally. "Who? A foe and an enemy. The man who has done this to me and to my people is not my friend. He's no friend of ours. He's a foe." And then she says specifically, "This wicked Haman."

Do you see that man drinking your wine? Do you see the man that you made second-in-command in your kingdom? He's the man, the evil mastermind,

who is out for my life.

And just like that, Haman has been indicted before the highest judge in all the land. And so the text tells us, "Then Haman was terrified." He's been caught. His true character has been exposed before the king. Haman's life comes crashing down upon him faster than an unannounced avalanche. In the matter of 24 short hours, Haman had gone out from one feast joyful and glad of heart, then full of wrath and anger as he saw Mordecai

refusing to bow, then full of sorrow when Mordecai was honored in his place, and then full of terror when he became the subject of Esther's surprising accusation. Esther found herself in a life-and-death situation, pleading for her life, and now Haman finds himself in that exact same situation, and that's all he has left to do, plead for his life. And so verse seven tells us that when the king stormed out of his palace full of wrath and determined to return evil

on evil Haman, Haman stayed behind to beg for his life from Esther. The tables have turned on Haman. Those words of Haman's counselors that we considered last week in verse 13 were more prophetic than they knew. "If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of the Jewish people, you will not overcome him, but will surely fall before him." Haman did not only fall before the Jewish people metaphorically, but literally. Verse eight tells us

Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was.

And yet another twist. This story has been full of twists and turns, and here's another one, and it's in a very unfortunate twist for Haman. Just as Haman was falling on the couch to beg for his life from Queen Esther, that's when King Ahasuerus walks back in his palaceAnd instead of seeing a desperate Haman pleading for his life from the queen, what he sees is a desperate Haman making a move on his queen in his presence in his house.

And that was all the king needed to see.

Strike three, you're out.

And you notice how very rapidly this narrative ends for Haman. As the word left the mouth of the king, they covered his face. Then Harbona said, "And then the king said, 'Hang him on that...' And they hanged Haman on the gallows." Just like that.

All of his accomplishments, gone.

Oh, what little control, friends, we have of the affairs of our life. We think we have so much control over the day-to-day, the things we will do today, the things we will do tomorrow. Oh, how little control we have over the affairs of our life. On the day Haman had planned to petition the king to take Mordecai's life and publicly humiliate him on the gallows 75 feet tall, he instead found himself pleading for his own life to

be spared, and he ended up on the very gallows he prepared for Mordecai. So, what can we learn? What instruction are we to receive from this? I want to give you two general exhortations, and just as a heads-up, the first one will be much longer than the second one. Okay, here's the first exhortation, and it's of the negative type, the corrective type. It's a warning from the outcome of Haman's life.

Before we get going, maybe a show of hands. How many of you have heard of the concept of poetic justice? Okay. Good. Many of you. In a literary context, poetic justice is an outcome where virtue is rewarded, vice is punished, and it's often in a ironic and fitting manner. If you want an example, Haman's life would be a good one. His end is a fitting end. This is poetic justice. Haman gets what he deserves, and what he

deserves and gets is thick with irony.

For some people, that's all they will see in Esther 7. This is just a good story. It was written very well. This is poetic justice, an ironic ending for this evil Haman.

But I want you to realize that Haman's outcome is more than a literary device to enhance this narrative. His outcome is a warning, because you see, Haman doesn't merely receive poetic justice. He deserves, and he gets real justice, justice from the king, and all who live like Haman will suffer the same outcome as Haman.

So how did Haman live? Well, in chapter 5, we saw his heart-level pride. He thought highly of himself, and he thought everyone else should think highly of him, too. In chapter 7 verse 6, in our passage, Haman is called an enemy. In chapter 2 verse 10, and in chapter 8 verse 1, he's called an enemy more specifically of the Jews. Now, it bears repeating. The Jewish people were God's chosen people, His special treasured possession.

God had chosen Israel to be His people, His nation, out of all the nations of the earth. So Haman opposed not only the Jews, he opposed God's people, and more seriously, God so identifies Himself with His own people that what Haman was actually opposing was not just God's people, but he was opposing God.

He made himself, by his own doing, an enemy of God. And then, also in verse 6, Esther calls him wicked Haman, or evil Haman could be a synonym. Haman does wickedness. He plots evil against the Jewish people, of course. But the indictment that Esther levels against Haman is not merely that Haman does wickedness or plots evil. It's that he is wicked. It's a moral judgment about his character. Haman is wickedAll who live like Haman

will suffer like Haman. And what is it that Haman receives? Justice.

The Bible has a number of examples of so-called poetic justice for the proud, for the wicked, and for the enemies of God's people. Let me share just a couple of others with you. Proverbs 11 verse five, "The wicked falls by his own wickedness."

In Psalm 7, "Behold, the wicked man conceives evil and is pregnant with mischief and gives birth to lies. He makes a pit, digging it out, and falls into the hole that he has made. His mischief returns upon his own head, and his own skull, his violence descends." Here's something you need to know, dear friends.

This is not just poetic justice. This is divine justice.

Ultimately, there is a God behind justice.

Don't you find it odd that the world who wants justice to be done, true justice to be served, has no interest in a God?

How can you expect or even hope that true justice will be served rightly, justly without God?

Karma's the best you can do in the world. What goes around comes around.

But what if it doesn't come around?

Contrary to what the world wants, there is a God,

and the God of the universe is the King of all kings, a living God whose eyes are in every place, Proverbs 15 says, keeping watch on the evil and the good.

Every evil deed that is committed, no matter how big or small, is ultimately against this king. And every evil deed, no matter how big and significant or small and petty,

offends this king because He is holy.

And every evil deed rightly arouses the fury of this king because He is holy. And because He is holy, and because He is just, He will most certainly execute a fitting judgment on all who are wicked and practice wickedness. Psalm 75 verse seven and eight, "It is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another. For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup with foaming wine, well mixed, and he pours out from it, and all the wicked of the earth

shall drain it down to the dregs." All who live like Haman will suffer an outcome like Haman.

So how should you respond to this warning of Haman's life?

The first way you should respond is to repent.

If you will not repent of your wickedness against God, your pride before God, your opposition to God, you will perish eternally, and you will suffer God's righteous and everlasting wrath. But,

there is a way for you to avoid the outcome of Haman.

And how is that? Well, you see, God, the Father, sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to save wicked people, those who have chosen to make themselves enemies of God and His people, and He has sent Jesus Christ into the world to save the wicked people from His righteous judgment.

He took it on Himself on the cross, all of God's wrath

deserved by you for wickedness. And so if you will turn from your wicked ways and you will trust in Christ alone for deliverance from the righteous wrath of God, you will most certainly be saved. Certainly. So you should repent. But also you should keep yourself from evil. Do you know, dear people of God, that there is an enemy of God's people, an enemy of God that is far more cunning and far stronger than Haman? He is your adversary,

and he is seeking someone he can lead down the path of wickedness. He is seeking someone he can destroyHe promises life. It ends in death. So heed this instruction of Proverbs chapter four, "Do not enter the path of the wicked. Do not walk in the way of the evil. Avoid it. Do not go on it. Turn away from it and pass on." That's how you should respond to this warning of Haman's life. All who live like Haman will suffer

like Haman. That's the warning. Here's the encouragement. Much shorter.

You leave the best part for last, and it's got to be short. Come back. There's a lot of good stuff left in the Book of Esther. Here's an encouragement from Esther's life and from the outcome of Esther's life.

You see in this passage, Esther interceding for her people, on behalf of her people. And you see the beginnings of God delivering Esther and her people from the hands of their enemy. Dear Christian, remember this. Draw hope and encouragement from this.

You have an intercessor, Jesus Christ, the righteous. Jesus Christ, the one who has already delivered you from sin and from hell and God's fury. He is ever living to intercede for you, and through Him, God will most certainly deliver His people from all their remaining enemies. Every single one of them. God will most certainly deliver His people. So I want to end by reading you Romans chapter eight, the end of Romans chapter eight.

"If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died. More than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? No. In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Amen. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we do give you great thanks and praise for Jesus Christ. We thank you for the love that you have for us, your people, in Christ, an everlasting love. We thank you for your commitment to us in Christ, that you will be a God to us and to our children, that we shall be your people. We thank you for the promises that you give to us,

that you will send Christ to take us home to live with you for all eternity. Oh Lord, would you take these seeds that have been sown? Would you water them? Would you cause them to bear fruit? Fruit that leads to praise to you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We ask this in Christ's name. Amen.