Sermon: Epic Reversals

Well, if you'd grab a Bible and turn to the Book of Esther. You'll find it on page 414 if you're using a Bible there in the pew in front of you. If you're joining us for the first time tonight, we're glad to have you join us. We've been working our way through this book, the Book of Esther, coming into the closing stretch here, just a couple of chapters left. Tonight, we will be considering all of chapter eight. So follow along as I read from God's word.

"On that day, King Ahasuerus gave to Queen Esther the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told what he was to her. And the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman. Then Esther spoke again to the king. She fell at his feet and wept and pleaded with him to avert the evil plan of Haman the Agagite and the plot

that he had devised against the Jews. When the king held out the golden scepter to Esther, Esther rose and stood before the king, and she said, 'If it please the king, and if I have found favor in his sight, and if the thing seems right before the king and I am pleasing in his eyes, let an order be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the

provinces of the king. For how can I bear to see the calamity that is coming to my people? Or how can I bear to see the destruction of my kindred?' Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, 'Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows because he intended to lay hands on the Jews. But you may write as you please with regard to the Jews, in the name of the king,

and seal it with the king's ring, for an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king's ring cannot be revoked.' The king's scribes were summoned at that time in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the 23rd day, and an edict was written according to all that Mordecai commanded concerning the Jews, to the satraps and the governors and the officials of the provinces from India to Ethiopia,

127 provinces, to each province in its own script and to each people in its own language, and also to the Jews in their script and their language. And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed it with the king's signet ring. Then he sent the letters by mounted couriers riding on swift horses that were used in the king's service, bred from the royal stud, saying that the king allowed the Jews who were in every city to gather and defend their lives,

to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate any armed force of any people or province that might attack them, children and women included, and to plunder their goods, on one day throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the 13th day of the 12th month, which is the month of Adar. A copy of what was written was to be issued as a decree in every province, being publicly displayed to all peoples, and the Jews were to be ready on that day to take vengeance on their

enemies. So the couriers mounted on their swift horses that were used in the king's service rode out hurriedly, urged by the king's command, and the decree was issued in Susa, the citadel. Then Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal robes of blue and white, with a great golden crown and a robe of fine linen and purple. And the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced. The Jews had light and gladness and joy

and honor. And in every province and in every city, wherever the king's command and his edict reached, there was gladness and joy among the Jews, a feast and a holiday. And many from the peoples of the country declared themselves Jews, for fear of the Jews had fallen on them."

The question that has been looming throughout the Book of Esther is this. Can God and will God change the unchangeable? As we come to this chapter tonight, Esther 8, we see the resolution to this question. You'll recall Mordecai's famous words from chapter four when he spoke there to Esther, who had been elevated to the place of queen in the king's palace. You remember what he said. "For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance

will rise for the Jews from another place." Esther 8 is the flowering of Mordecai's faith, however small it may have been, but his faith, his belief that God can change even the most desperate and dark circumstances.To believe in a God of salvation means believing in a god who reverses even the most expected of outcomes. So in this chapter, we see relief and deliverance that indeed did arise for God's people, and we see how it arose through a series of epic

reversals. These reversals are large and impressive in their size, in their grandeur, in their extent, and in their conception. Esther chapter 8 is the moment in the story when relief and deliverance surprisingly, suddenly, and stunningly comes for God's people. So to bring us up to speed just briefly, Esther has leaned into her position within the king's court as queen. In faith, you'll remember she planned a banquet and invited both the

king and Haman as her guests of honor. With courage, before both of them, she reveals Haman's evil plot, and this elicits the king's wrath. And chapter seven ends with the first of these many reversals. Haman was hanged on his own gallows. So as we come to our text tonight, the first of the epic reversals in chapter eight is this, a reversal of position for Mordecai. A reversal of position for Mordecai. We're told, if you look back in verse one, that the king gave to

Esther Haman's house, both his literal house, which had the gallows built in his front yard, we saw that in chapter seven verse nine, but also his figurative house representing all that Haman had, all of his assets. If you recall from earlier in the story in chapter 5 verse 11, Haman recounted to his wife and his friends the splendor of his riches, the number of his sons, all the promotions which he had received from the king.

Haman was a wealthy man. He had the biggest house in the city. He had 10 sons to fill this house. But in an instant, the king confiscates it all and gives it to Esther. And we see Mordecai going from sackcloth and ashes, this state of mourning back in chapter four, to now being the manager of this vast estate as Esther gives the house to Haman. We see that in verse two from our text tonight. Mordecai's fortune and his future

has instantly changed. We also see in verse one something that has not happened up until this point in the story. So you remember, Mordecai has been in the gate of the king. He also had been paraded around the city on the king's horse. You remember that when Haman was forced to honor Mordecai for saving the king. But now, for the very first time, as we see in our text, Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told what he was

to her. Mordecai now has personal access to the king. Then in verse two, we see this ring, the signet ring. It was the king's ring, which he had given to Haman previously back in chapter three, this ring that conveyed legal authority to act on the king's behalf. You remember Haman used the ring to seal his infamous edict of death. This ring is now given to Mordecai. What we see here in this text is Mordecai, who has wealth and power and honor.

If you jump down to verse 15 of chapter eight, look there again, "Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal robes of blue and white, with a great golden crown and a robe of fine linen and purple." The temporary robes and crown which Mordecai had received in chapter six, they're now his permanently. He goes out in these, and he comes in to the king with these robes and this crown. This reversal of position for Mordecai is

exactly what Haman so desired but was never able to get because of his own pride and conceit. As we've seen from this story, Haman's pride gave him a sense of self-righteousness, a sense that he had earned it, that he deserved it, that he was elevated to such a high position because of his own greatness. We saw earlier how Haman was a man who was full of himself. His own pride went before him, and it paved the path of his own destruction.

And now we see this epic reversal. Mordecai, who is not presented as a man who's seeking a name for himself, but rather who is seeking to serve the welfare of his people. Mordecai is elevated to take the position of Haman. He's given a luxurious house, the best house in all the city. He's given the king's signet ring, and with it, he's given freedom to act on behalf of the king, and he has direct access to the king himselfWealth, power, and

honor. All of these great benefits, these surprising reversals of fortune and future for Mordecai. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled like Haman, but the humble will truly be exalted like Mordecai. Here's a second reversal that we see in the text, the reversal of the curse for God's people. We see this in verses three through 14. Even though Mordecai has received all these great, wonderful benefits, there's still one big problem.

Mordecai has been delivered from the gallows, but there's the rest of the Jewish people who are living under this edict of death. You remember, Haman's edict of death had already gone out in chapter three. This official edict authorized any who so desired to kill, to destroy, and to annihilate all the Jews, young and old, women and children, in one day, the 13th day of the 12th month. This decree had been sealed with the king's ring.

This decree had already gone out. It was ratified, and it could not simply be revoked. Esther knows the story is not over. The curse of Haman's wicked decree is still in effect, and so she goes to the king one more time. She musters up both courage and tears, and she intercedes for her people. Here we see Esther, the mediator, pleading with the king to reverse this curse of death that looms over God's people. In our passage in verse seven, the king seems to be oblivious at this

point, thinking that his honoring of Mordecai was enough, but then in verse eight, he goes further and he gives permission to Mordecai to exercise his new role as second in command and to write whatever he wants on behalf of the Jews. And so we see Mordecai's counter decree in verses nine through 14. This counter decree. Just a brief excursus here for a moment. It's almost word for word from what Haman had written. You can go back and see,

compare it from chapter three. There's one important nuance, however, in what Mordecai writes in verse nine. There it says that the Jews are to, quote, "gather and defend their lives." They are to gather and defend their lives. You see, this decree is fundamentally defensive, which is important as you get down to verse 14, where we read, "And the Jews were to be ready on that day to take vengeance on their enemies." This is

not a prescription for holy war, but rather it grants authority to defend against whatever attacks had been planned and presumably still in the works. To change the unchangeable, Esther needed to embrace her role as a mediator, and we see her intercession resulted in this epic reversal, a decree of life that counters Haman's decree of death for God's people. Here's a third reversal that we see in the text. Notice how the city itself has been changed.

If you remember, at the end of chapter three, after Haman's decree goes out, the city, it says, was thrown into confusion. But now in our text, verse 15, the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced. We see in verse 16, the Jews had light and gladness and joy and honor. And again, in verse 17, every province and in every city, wherever the king's command and his edict reached, there was gladness and joy among the Jews, a feast and

a holiday. For the Jews, this counter edict resulted in fasting turning into feasting, from hopelessness turning into a holiday, gloom turning into gladness, sorrow turning into joy. And how could it not? This story from Esther powerfully illustrates, you can almost feel it here in the narrative when you read through it, how amazing, how epic this relief and deliverance truly was. Haman had crafted this evil plan that seemed

impossible to overcome, and God's people truly were powerless and helpless in their own strength. But as we've been reminded all throughout this story, God is omnipotently present even where God seems most conspicuously absent. Relief and deliverance will arise because God's goodness and power is for his people. God is a God of salvation. If you glance back up at the end of chapter seven, we're told there that following the death of Haman

upon the gallows, the king's wrath was abated. It was Haman's death upon the tree itself, a stunning reversal of fate for him. He did not see that coming, but what a reversal of fate for himThis reversal for him leads to the stunning reversal of fortune and future for both Mordecai and the Jewish people. And how much more so is that true for us? If Esther chapter eight is this great reversal for Mordecai and the Jews, how much more so

is the death and the resurrection of Christ the great turning point for all of human history? You think of the cross, and you see there a double reversal, the Son of God being subjected to the curse of sin, being slain for us. He did not deserve that, but he did it for us. Unlike Haman, Christ willingly went to the gallows. And like Esther, Christ intercedes for us, for his people, his intercession and his mediation achieving for us the greatest

of all reversals. Christ brings us out of darkness and transfers us into the kingdom of light. He gives us beauty instead of ashes. He fills us with eternal gladness instead of mourning. He gives us honor in the place of scorn. God's decree of death pronounced in the Garden of Eden against sin could not simply be abrogated. It could not just simply be set aside. No, it necessitated that another greater mediator would need to come in the

person of Jesus Christ. His death upon the cross, in his death, the decree of death that stands against us all was fully ratified. Its terms were met, and the wrath of God, the King, was fully satisfied. But in his resurrection from the grave, Jesus gives us a counter decree, this decree of life. And so when we look to Jesus by faith, our fate, like Mordecai, is forever reversed. We gain a new position, children of God and

heirs of righteousness. We're given a new power, a power to live a righteous and holy life, fully pleasing to God in every way. And we receive a new disposition, one of light and gladness and joy and honor. To believe in a God of salvation means we believe that God can and God will change the unchangeable. It's exactly what he did in the cross of Christ. Jesus is your mediator. He will reverse the misery of the curse for you if you

come to him in faith and rest under his decree of life. Join me as I pray.

Jesus, we thank you for this stunning reversal of fortune and future for us. We who did not deserve any of it, but you came to die for us that we might truly have life. Thank you for giving us light and joy and gladness and honor through the gospel. What a wonderful, surprising, life-changing gift this is. Would you grant all of us here tonight faith to believe, and would you give all of us gladness and joy as we rest in you?

We ask all this in Christ's name. Amen.