Sermon: The Ever-Present Providence of God

Well, as Jason said, we are beginning our new series at the Evening Services through, uh, the Book of Esther. Thank you all for being here tonight. I understand that there is something important going on on television tonight. I, for one, uh, don't see what the big deal is. I I have watched many times and I've never even seen a mediocre owl, let alone a superb one. Thank you. Ah, just a bunch of football. Okay. Tonight's text will be Esther chapter one,

which can be found on page four 10 of your pew bibles. And let's pray to our God together. Before we come to the word,

Father, we thank you for your faithfulness to your people. You are sure when all things are uncertain, you can be trusted in the midst of any trial or trouble. Help us tonight as we meditate upon your word to find our rest and our comfort in your sovereign care and your good plans for your people in your good plans for us, our hope in this life and in the next is that we belong to you and that you are for us, and your power is unmatched.

Help us to dwell and drink deeply upon this truth tonight. In Jesus' name, amen.

Esther chapter one.

Now, in the days of a hous, the a hous who reigned from India to Ethiopia over 127 provinces in those days when King Ahasuerus sat on his royal throne in Susa, the Citadel in the third year of his reign, he gave a feast for all his officials and servants, the army of Persia and Madea and the nobles and the governors of the provinces were before him while he showed the riches of his royal glory and the splendor and pro pomp of his greatness

for many days, 180 days. And when these days were completed, the king gave for all the people present in Suse, the citadel, both great and small, a feast lasting for seven days. In the court of the Garden of the King's palace, there were white cotton curtains and violet hangings fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rods and marble pillars, and also couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry

marble, mother of pearl and precious stones. Drinks were served in golden vessels of different kinds, and the royal wine was lavished according to the bounty of the king. And drinking was according to this edict, there is no compulsion for the king had given orders to all the staff of his palace to do as each man desired. Queen Vashti also gave a feast for the women in the palace that belonged to King Ahasuerus. On the seventh day when the heart of the king was married

with wine, he commanded me human Bha, har Bha and a bagha, zhar and carcass the seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus to bring Queen Vashti before the king with her royal crown in order to show the peoples and the princes her beauty for she was lovely to look at, but Queen Vashti refused to come at the king's command to delivered by the eunuchs. At this, the king became enraged and his anger burned within him.

Then the king said to the wise men who knew the times for this was the king's procedure toward all who reversed in law and judgment. The men next to him being Carina, Shehar, atha, tar, meez, marcina, and Maan, the seven princes of Persia and Madea, who saw the king's face and sat first in the kingdom according to law, what is to be done to Queen Vashti because she has not performed the commands of King Ahasuerus delivered by the eunuchs.

Then Mein said, in the presence of the king and of the officials, not only against the king has Queen Vashti done wrong, but also against all the officials and all the peoples who are in the provinces of King. A hous for the queen's behavior will be made known to all women, causing them to look at their husbands with contempt since they will say king, a hous commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, and she did not come this very day.

The noble women of Persia and Madea, who have heard of the queen's behavior will say the same to all the king's officials, and there will be contempt and wrath in plenty if it pleases the king. Let a royal order go out from him and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Meads so that it may not be repealed, that Vashti is never again to come before King Ahasuerus and let the king give her royal position to another

who is better than she. So when the decree made by the king is proclaimed throughout all his kingdom, for it is vast, all women will give honor to their husbands high and low alike. This advice pleased the king, and he did. As uchin proposed, he sent letters to all the royal provinces, to every province in its own script, and to every people in its own language that every man may be master in his own household and speak according to the language of his people.

Amen. I remember when I first read the Lord of the Rings trilogy, one of the ways I tried to explain it to someone explain what I was reading to someone was, uh, that it seemed like the most important character of the story was Providence. Now, that might not quite be the right way to talk about a work of fiction, but I I could not help but see it. The Lord of the Rings as a, a long form meditation on the faithfulness

and care of God, even in the midst of the direst of circumstances. Tolkien only briefly comments on this, when Gandalf says to Frodo that the Bilbo's acquisition of the ring was meant to happen and that there was much comfort in that thought, things were unfolding, Gandalf meant even, even in the midst of this terrible threat exactly as it was intended to do by a benevolent force that Gandalf doesn't name this. This I think, is a helpful lens through which

to look at the book of Esther. God is not referenced in this book, but the lack of reference does not mean a lack of presence. This is actually a feature of the book and not a bug is very much the point that even when God seems farthest away, when the powers that be threatened the people of God, they will not triumph over them because God will deliver, God will rescue the, the faithfulness and providence of God is greater than any threat

that you and I will face. Even if you don't see him, he is there, he is at work and he will accomplish his good for his people. What I'd like to do tonight is provide a little bit of historical context to our, to position our study of Esther, uh, tonight and in the coming weeks, and then offer some reflections on God's faithfulness here in circumstances that we will see seem beyond dire for God's people. So a hazardous, uh, is also known as Xerxes.

You've probably heard that name more frequently. Uh, Xerxes was the grandson of the Persian king Cyrus the great from the books of Daniel and Isaiah and from Ezra chapter one and, and this Xerxes uh, in our chapter today. This Ahasuerus is the father of Art Xerxes from chapter four of Ezra and on and to whom Nehemiah was a cup bearer. Thus, at this point in history, God's people have begun their return to their land. The temple has been rebuilt,

but all the Jews still live all over the Persian empire and under the Persian rule, Xerxes is also well known outside of the Bible as the would-be conqueror of Greece whose, whose ground forces are defeated by the Spartans at Thermoy and whose navy is defeated by the Athenians at Salus, he's known as an unstable character. Tus tells us that when a pontoon bridge that he had ordered built across a narrow stretch of the sea was destroyed by a storm,

Xerxes ordered the sea to receive 300 lashes and branded it with hot irons. He then issued this proclamation to let the water know why you bitter water your master punishes you, because you wronged him. This is the king that we are introduced to in Esther one. This chapter describes a six month lavish display of wealth and power put on for the army, the nobles, the governors from all 127 provinces, and for everyone who lived in the palace,

it culminates in a week long feast for everyone at the palace who were encouraged to drink as much wine and eat as much food as they wanted. Now that much partying is bound to produce some bad judgment, and the king, again, not the most clearheaded of people on his good days, orders the queen to be brought from the women's feast to be put on display before all the men, the palace, we, we, we saw had been decorated with all the most beautiful things.

And the king seems to think that at least in the men's feast, there's one decoration that's missing. We aren't told exactly what this entailed or or exactly what she thought of this command, but Vashti refuses to come. This, this scandal produces an advisor's meeting. I I think that the fairest reading of the text is that it was an impromptu meeting right there during the party, before the effects of drink as much as you want have worn off

the king calls together his his his bros and he says, uh, what should I do? And the one of the princes speaks up to say that there is more at stake here than just vashti's refusal. Every man in the empire will face contempt and wrath in plenty from their wives. If the king doesn't act. What the king should do says the prince send vashti away and make someone better queen in her place. And all the princes agree and the king commands it to be done.

As well as that a decree would be sent all over the kingdom in all the kingdom's languages that every man would be master in his house. We'll see next time in verse one of chapter two, that after the party, the king does not immediately remember that these things have happened. The laws of the Meads and Persians, which cannot be changed, can apparently be legislated from drinking parties in response to slights. It makes you wonder if it was a similar occasion when

this king ordered the sea to be lashed. Perhaps that sounds like a wise course when your heart is over, Mary with wine, I i labor all that because I want us to have clearly in our mind the character of the people who are ruling over God's people at this point in history. A a similar scene is coming when Haman will ask the king to exterminate the Jews wholesale and the king will be like, yeah, whatever, bro, consider how, how fearful it must have been to live under such a king

and consider as we begin to walk through this book, how fearful it must have been for a teenage girl to be not only married to such a man, but to be the one whom God would call to deliver her people from the doom that Haman planned. This is one of those stories that may have become quaint in our minds through repetition. The book as a whole illustrates an answer to a couple simple but essential questions. Will God carry through on his promises

and will God preserve his people in the midst of desperate circumstances? And the answer from the book of Esther is an unqualified yes. So as we begin this series and open this book, I think we can pick out three lessons to, to guide our meditation moving forward. First is that earthly rulers are in the hands of the living God. God's people living in exile here on earth are and always will be subject to imperfect and sinful rulers.

Some are gonna be better than others and it's a blessing to us when they are, but our hope cannot be. And whether or not our earthly magistrate is good, our hope is in the heavenly king whose power and wisdom is perfect. His plan for his people will not and cannot be thwarted. His, the efforts undertaken by earthly rulers to suppress the plans or promises of God will not stand His plans and promises will never fail. And the bumbling king of the book of Esther,

despite being the most powerful man on earth at the time, and despite seemingly have the ability, having the ability to kill every one of God's people, is not the one who is really in charge. He thinks that he is. He seems like he is, but he isn't even close to being the one in charge. And our chapter presents this somewhat ironically comically even to us, this greatest and most powerful man in the world feared by all issues an order to the Queen.

And she's like, yeah, nah, the most powerful man in the world doesn't even have the respect of his wife. We would be right to say based on this, this command that he doesn't really deserve her respect. Come and show yourself off like a decoration to all my buddies, this is a rich irony. He doesn't have even the respect of his home. And this farce continues into the sulky council and the ensuing edict. Their, their fear is that all the other women

find out that this happened, and then no woman in the kingdom will show respect to her husband. This is a comical conclusion based on these facts, the king makes a foolish demand in public, most likely while drunk and was refused. Obviously this means that every woman in all 127 provinces is going to revolt. This was the spark that fifth century BC feminism was waiting for. It is silly, and even if it was true, their plan is even worse.

Let's tell every woman in every province, in every language not to be like Vashti. If you're worried about a rebellion being provoked, why are you making sure that everyone in every part of the kingdom knows the story The king presented for us? Here is a fool, and his ironic actual lack of power is contrasted by the living God, God whose character, faithfulness, goodness deserve our honor and our obedience contrast the king

and his bros demanded honor with the honor that God deserves. What this contrast illustrates is that regardless of who sits on the throne in any nation, it is God's will for his people's good that will be accomplished. Human powers can set themselves up against him or against his people or against his righteous decrees. And those powers can seem to hold the fate of God's people in their hands, but they have no chance of thwarting God's purposes.

This means that we should neither place too much hope in our earthly rulers nor be too afraid of them. Now, you you might say, well, yeah, but they can do a lot of damage to me. Of course they can, but they can't take you from his hand and they can't thwart his worship. Can't help but think of the common practice, the story that I've, I've heard a number of times by the communist Chinese government, imprisoning pastors and evangelists.

Uh, this happened in the mid 20th century and, and even after, uh, the story goes that these pastors were imprisoned and of course evangelize their fellow prisoners until there were little churches in these prisons. So the powers that be in these prisons had a great idea to stamp out these churches, uh, to take every one of those church members individually and send them out to different jails all over the country. What do you think they did?

They evangelized in the new jails and they formed new churches. What these, what these officials intended to stamp out the embers lit flames across China, earthly rulers will never ever defeat the plans and purposes of our God. Second, God's faithfulness is there, whether or not we see it or whether or not we acknowledge it, God is not referenced in this chapter. No one in this chapter is a part of God's people Israel.

If, if it is thought of at all by these people in chapter one is simply one in a line of conquered peoples. Persia was the strongest in the world, and this long decadent party was meant to let everyone know it, a celebration of the glory of a deluded and foolish man who would soon try and punish the sea. What our chapter is seeking to illustrate for us is both the power and the foolishness of the ones who rule over Israel at this time.

This fool is the one who holds Israel's fate in his hands, but we know that that's not true. We know and what this book will demonstrate is that no one holds the fate of God's people in their hands except God. And we, as we have seen, every earthly power is subject to his, to the sovereign permission of the living. God. Imagine being under the rule of this king or con or consider a time in your own life when you have found yourself in a fearful situation

or even in a dire circumstance. What is it that is that is able to sustain the believer in the midst of their fear? Astor illustrates for us the, that the faithful providence of God can hold you up. It's not merely that God will be faithful to his people because he loves them, which he does, he does love them or, or it's not even that because that he will be faithful to his people because he thinks that it is best to be faithful.

He does think that it is best to be faithful. God will be faithful to his promises because to do otherwise would be against his nature. Numbers 23 in Hebrews six remind us that it is impossible for God to lie. Two Timothy two tells us he cannot deny himself when God speaks a word. It is true. When the sovereign God issues a promise, it will not only it, it not only will not fail, it cannot fail. Therefore, the promises that he has made

to us are surer than the order that exists in nature. Jeremiah 31, therefore God's purposes will stand against the wicked plans of any nation. Isaiah 46, Psalm 33, acts four. Therefore, the gates of hell will not prevail against the people of God. Matthew 16, therefore, no threat can cause Christ to lose even one of his people. John six, John 10. Therefore, God will never leave you or forsake you. Hebrews 13, and therefore God will work even evil

for the good of his people. Genesis 50, Romans eight. The men in our passage today make a big deal out of the claim that the laws of the meads and the Persians cannot be repealed. This is a joke, let me assure you that it is only God's word that will never fail. It is only God's word that can never be reversed and not because of any external force that somehow compels him to keep his word. His word will prove true because he is sovereign

and he cannot lie. So brother or sister facing severe trial facing what seems to be an overwhelming or even hopeless uncertainty, you can be assured on the authority of the irrevocable word of God that he holds you in his hand and will never forsake you. That he hears your prayers and loves you, that he, that even when he feels far he is ever present, that he will not give you more than you can bear, that your destiny is secure in his hands.

Finally, Christian, if you do find yourself in dire or fearful circumstances, I want you to consider that God may be about to work a powerful purpose in not only you, but in those around you. We should all know and take great comfort from Romans 8 28. For we know that God works all things for the good of those who love him. But I wonder as we apply that verse, if we tend to apply it a little too narrowly, we read it as

God is using this hardship for my own individual good, which is true, but but in the, the marvelous multifaceted blessings of divine providence, the the grammar of that passage does not require that narrow meaning. I wonder if the lesson that we could learn from Esther is that when God allows hardship to come upon you, he intends blessing not only for you, but for those who love him plural. When you enter a season of trial, I, your brother in Christ

am there watching. I'm seeing your faith in the midst of heavy burden and I'm strengthened further When you go through these hardships, it is good and right and God's plan that I would pray, that I would reach out, that I would seek to help, that I would hope in God to deliver you earnestly these things God uses for the good of my soul. Not only this, if you fight the fight of faith through your hardship and the burden lifts, you have so much to give to those

who are experiencing this same burden. I will say this to you from my own experience with suffering and trial, God has never failed to bring someone into my life going through something similar for me to put my arm around and help. Some of you know, 26 years ago this week that my wife and I, uh, had a child die in infancy, uh, the pain and the grief of that loss was indescribable and the Lord was very faithful to us and we did our best to honor Christ in that trial,

prayerfully begging for wisdom and for help, and I still 26 years later, I can't give you an answer to the question, why did God allow that to happen to us? What I can tell you is that people facing the exact same trial have come into my life time and again, and that God has given me the blessed opportunity to serve them. One of one of the worst things I have ever done is sit and make funeral arrangements for my own child.

And one of the better things that I have ever been allowed to do is sit with a mom and dad in the exact same room and hold them up and encourage them and pray for them as they made funeral arrangements for their own child. Can you see that the Lord will use our deepest griefs to provide load-bearing strength to one another, to his children, to those around you that you love? Consider this the worst tragedy that has ever happened in the world.

The most grievous sin, the most severe injustice, the blackest most evil moment in the history of creation. The crucifixion of the innocent son of God is exactly what God has used to bring about the most beautiful, noble life-giving blessed hope to this world. That's how he works. This is who he is. This is the God that we serve. He makes the broken whole. He brings flesh to the D dry bones. He brings back the dead to life

and God's beautiful redemptive economy and plan, your deepest griefs are for your good and for the good of God's people around you. We will see Esther enter a terrifying circumstance, Christian, everything that you face has a redemptive purpose, a purpose of blessing for you and for God's people. I can't tell you exactly what the purpose is or the the plan will be, but I know from my own life and we will see an Esther.

And most importantly, we see in the death and resurrection of Christ himself that God uses grief, even the greatest of grief, to produce great blessing and hope. Let's close in prayer.

Father, who is like you among the so-called gods who can be trusted like you, who is good like you, you re you redeem the griefs of your people. You are ever present and ever faithful. And when things seem darkest, you are there and you are at work. You are our hope and our only comfort in life and in death, and it is a blessing beyond all other blessings to be called your people. Thank you that you will never fail us,

and thank you that your promises can never be revoked and all of this is true because of Christ and it is in his name that we pray. Amen.