This is a part of a sermon series in the book of Esther. You can watch more here.
Introduction
Sermon (2025: Esther 1-2): Hey let’s get started! My
name is Michael. I am one of the pastors. It’s great to be
with you here this morning. You can turn to page 210 in
our devotional, or you can turn to Esther 1: (SLIDE:
Sermon Series)
This morning we are going to start a new series in the
book of Esther. I will tell you on the front end, we are
going to cover a lot of Scripture this morning, so the
slides will be a guide but you are going to want to either
follow along in your bible or the devotional. It’s a lot!
I will also tell you on the front end, the book of Esther
can be a controversial. It is one of the last books written
in the Old Testament, so it’s about 2.5 thousand years
old.
The book of Esther never mentions the name of God.
We are going to see the name of the Persian King 175
times, but the name of God is never mentioned, so that
on the surface it would be easy to read the book of
Esther and ask ourselves, “How is this going to help me
grow in my faith?”
But in the book of Esther we are going to see this
Persian King become captivated by an Israelite girl
named Esther, almost sounds like a fairy tale from
Disney.
Esther is very beautiful, so beautiful, the Persian King
pursues her, elevates her, and as a result this young,
Israelite girl finds herself in a position as the Queen of
the Persian Empire.
We don’t see visions in the book Esther like we did in
the book of Daniel. We don’t see prayer as a focus like
we do in other places in Scripture. We don’t see
miraculous fire being called down from heaven.
But the purpose of God’s Word isn’t to highlight the
greatness of Israel. The purpose of God’s Word isn’t to
highlight the greatness of Esther. The purpose of God’s
Word is to highlight the glory of God; therefore, we
want to keep that as our focus this morning. Look at
chapter 1:1-4 (SLIDES: Verse)
Esther 1:1-4, “1 Now it took place in the days of Ahasuerus, the Ahasuerus who
reigned from India to Ethiopia over 127 provinces, 2 in those days as King
Ahasuerus sat on his royal throne which was at the citadel in Susa, 3 in the third
year of his reign he gave a banquet for all his princes and attendants, the
army officers of Persia and Media, the nobles and the princes of his provinces
being in his presence. 4 And he displayed the riches of his royal glory and the
splendor of his great majesty for many days, 180 days.”
Some of you already started checking out because
there’s a lot of names and places you have never heard
before. Stay with me! Big picture first.
The book of Esther is in the Old Testament between
books like Ezra and Nehemiah. This is after Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, “Let my people go!” and
David, huge kingdom, and then Israel is conquered by
Assyria, Babylon, and then Persia. (SLIDE: Persian
Empire)
The Persian Empire at this time stretches from modern-
day Libya in Africa all the way to Pakistan in Asia, and
during this time the Lord is in process of returning
Israel to Jerusalem, but there are some Israelites who
don’t return home.
There are some Israelites who were living in Babylon,
made it through a new ruling empire of Persia, and they
are settled into the area, so that in verses 1-3 it is
zeroing in on this Persian King Ahasuerus.
In the Greek language he is known as King Xerxes. This
is the grandson of King Cyrus who gives permission to
Ezra and Nehemiah for them to return to Israel. This is
the king that inspired the movie 300. This is a king who
considers himself a god to be worshipped, and in verse 3
we see this king is in process of throwing a banquet.
(SLIDES: Verse) – Don’t Read
Esther 1:3-4, “3 in the third year of his reign he gave a banquet for all his
princes and attendants, the army officers of Persia and Media, the nobles and
the princes of his provinces being in his presence. 4 And he displayed the riches of
his royal glory and the splendor of his great majesty for many days, 180 days.”
Now, when you see the word banquet it isn’t like your
soccer banquet in high school where you put on some Z
Cavaricci’s, and order some grilled chicken from Olive
Garden.
This king of Persia is considered the most powerful man
in the world at this time, so that when verse 4 says, “He
displayed the riches of his royal glory and the splendor
of his great majesty for 180 days” we’re talking about a
party like we can’t imagine. That’s 6-months!
You thought Mardi Gras was a big deal. This king has
invited his “royalty, nobles, and army officers,” do you
see that in verse 3? This is a time to eat, drink and be
marry! It is the height of hedonism, or pleasure
seeking. It’s like that song by Ariana Grande, “I see it, I
like it, I want it, I got it” but on steroids.
If you scan down to verse 5 on your own you see
another banquet and this banquet is for the regular
people, and if you scan down a little more we see verse
9 there is another banquet just for women, so that this
is like Oprah’s “You get a party, you get a party, you get
a party!” Some historians say there are around 50,000
people attending this 6-month long party, so just take
that in for a second.
First, how do you prepare food for 50,000 people over
6-months? How do you have enough wine for that
many people? If you look at verse 7 on your own it
says, “They drank royal wine from golden goblets on
golden coaches, and the only rule was, “There are no
rules!” That’s the opening context of our passage this
morning!
Listen, here’s the reality: In a room our size there are
probably two types of responses here this morning.
There are some of us reading these verses and we are
thinking, “How did this book end up in the Bible?” Oh
my!
But there are probably some of us who are reading this,
and we are thinking to ourselves, “That sounds pretty
awesome!” Sign me up! (SLIDE: Questions)
When you read Scripture you want to ask yourself these
three questions; what does the passage teach about the
character of God? What does the passage teach about
humanity? How does the passage point me to Jesus?
Let’s draw those out really quick.
What does the passage teach us about the character
of God? In the context of Esther, Israel has been set free
to return to home to Jerusalem. You can read about it in
Ezra and Nehemiah, but Esther stays in Persia.
We don’t know why she stays in a foreign land of Persia,
but we can be sure, “God is present in those moments”
and we will see that throughout our passage.
Second, what does the passage teach us about
humanity? Well, we can look at the banquet with
disgust but we can be sure we are just as gluttonous
today.
Our closets are just as full of things we don’t need. The
sexual immorality is constantly in our faces on our
phones. We pick through food that we like and don’t
like, because it doesn’t taste just the way we prefer.
We give ourselves over to credit card debt, designer
brands, and house remodels. We get on planes that fly
us across the county in hours, but if we have to sit on a
runway for more than 5-minutes we’re livid! We might
not have a 6-month party, but we absolutely wallow in
abundance and abuse.
The last question, how does our passage point us to
Jesus? In the context of our passage the soul of
humanity is aching for peace. There is wealth and
abundance, people still aren’t satisfied. There is
strength and power of a giant empire, people still aren’t
at peace. There is God’s hand opening doors for Israel
to go home, the prayers have been answered but there
are still Israelites living in a foreign land.
The only answer is that God has to draw near, enter
into human history and make a way for us to come
home to find peace and satisfaction in Him. That’s the
gospel. We will keep seeing it in our passage.
I have found these three questions to be so helpful as I
read through God’s Word, and we will keep coming
back to them as we go through the book of Esther. Let’s
jump down to verses 10-12: (SLIDE: Verse)
Esther 1:10-12, “10 On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry
with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar
and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus,
11 to bring Queen Vashti before the king with her royal crown in order to
display her beauty to the people and the princes, for she was beautiful.12 But
Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s command delivered by the eunuchs.
Then the king became very angry and his wrath burned within him.
Now, when you study the book of Esther on your own
you will see people write a lot about what the king
must have requested from his queen in verse 11, but we
don’t really know. Some say she didn’t want to be
objectified by drunk men. Possibly. Some say she must
have been pregnant, and didn’t want to be embarrassed.
Maybe? The text doesn’t say.
But, what the passage does say is that the queen refuses,
which means we have this powerful king of Persia,
throwing elaborate parties, displaying riches and
wealth, and when he calls for his queen, she ignores him.
It brings immediate tension to the passage.
Especially in a hierarchical context. The King and Queen
have a chain of command. There is an org chart! In
addition, this is a shame and honor culture built into the
passage, so that there is tension dripping off the page.
Look at verse 15: (SLIDE: Verse)
Esther 1:15, “15 “According to law, what is to be done with Queen Vashti, because
she did not obey the command of King Ahasuerus delivered by the eunuchs?”
At this point the king of Persia is in a tough situation.
How does a king respond to his queen telling him, “No.”?
Look at verses 16-19: (SLIDE: Verse)
Esther 1:16-19, “16 In the presence of the king and the princes, Memucan said,
“Queen Vashti has wronged not only the king but also all the princes and all the
peoples who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus. 17 For the queen’s
conduct will become known to all the women causing them to look with contempt
on their husbands by saying, ‘King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be
brought in to his presence, but she did not come.’ 18 This day the ladies of Persia
and Media who have heard of the queen’s conduct will speak in the same way to
all the king’s princes, and there will be plenty of contempt and anger. 19 If it
pleases the king, let a royal edict be issued by him and let it be written in the laws
of Persia and Media so that it cannot be repealed, that Vashti may no longer
come into the presence of King Ahasuerus, and let the king give her royal
position to another who is more worthy than she.”
It's possible our influence of women’s empowerment
makes it difficult for us to read this passage, but we
have to remember the violence and bloodshed that was
the norm in this day.
There weren’t police, social services, and organizations
to support men or women. This is a point in history of
survival. Surviving attacks, hunger, disease, and
natural disasters was the primary focus, so that it’s
hard for us to even imagine what this must have been
like practically.
Therefore, we want to remember our three questions,
“What does this teach us about humanity?” In our
passage we see that even with all the wealth and power
there is still brokenness, injustice and oppression.
Even in different cultures and empires we see
brokenness, injustice and oppression. Even at the
micro level we see a married couple, king and queen,
struggling to make their relationship work, so that at
base level there is a constant reminder to the frailty of
humanity.
You need to know the God of Scripture didn’t create life
to be chaotic. He created life to be perfect! Genesis 1-2.
In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve sin against God, so that all
of humanity is separated from God, born into darkness,
struggling to survive and this is a common pattern
throughout humanity.
The pursuit of pleasure from the banquet wasn’t
satisfying. The food was great, then it was gone. The
drunkenness was great, then it was gone.
This is true in our life today. There are moments in our
life when we think, “If I just had more money, I wouldn’t
have these problems.” If I just would have been born
into a different family, “I wouldn’t have these problems.”
If I just married a different person, “I wouldn’t have
these problems.” If I just lived in a different city, “I
wouldn’t have these problems.”
Do you see the humanity of life in chapter 1? At first
glance, it looks like God isn’t on these pages, but it’s not
like we don’t see the name of God because they forgot.
It’s a literary device to highlight those moments in life
where we might not see Him, we might not feel Him, we
might not believe in Him, but He’s all over these pages of
our life, and 2,500 years later on the opposite side of the
world, those same patterns apply. Look at chapter 2
verse 1: (SLIDE: Verse)
Esther 2:1-4, “After these things when the anger of King Ahasuerus had subsided,
he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what had been decreed
against her. 2 Then the king’s attendants, who served him, said, “Let beautiful
young virgins be sought for the king. 3 Let the king appoint overseers in all the
provinces of his kingdom that they may gather every beautiful young virgin to
the citadel of Susa, to the harem, into the custody of Hegai, the king’s eunuch,
who is in charge of the women; and let their cosmetics be given them. 4 Then let
the young lady who pleases the king be queen in place of Vashti.” And the matter
pleased the king, and he did accordingly.”
At this point in the book, the king dismisses the queen
of Persia, gets swept up in another war with Greece,
and then remembered he liked having a wife.
He gathers all the young women in his kingdom to be
presented every night as a trial run over a 12-month
period. Scholars believe it was upwards of 400 women
during this time, and then look what happens in verse
15: (SLIDE: Verse)
Esther 2:15-17, “15 Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the
uncle of Mordecai who had taken her as his daughter, came to go in to the king,
she did not request anything except what Hegai, the king’s eunuch who was in
charge of the women, advised. And Esther found favor in the eyes of all who saw
her. 16 So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus to his royal palace in the tenth
month which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign. 17 The king
loved Esther more than all the women, and she found favor and kindness with
him more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown on her head and
made her queen instead of Vashti.”
At this point we are going to meet two Jewish people
who are going to show up throughout the book of
Esther; Esther and Mordecai.
Esther and Mordecai are cousins. They are
descendants of those original captives taken into
Babylon. Many of their friends and family have made
their way back to Jerusalem but Esther and Mordecai
have remained in the foreign land.
Esther is likely in her 20’s. Esther is her Persian name,
so like the book of Daniel we see Esther has taken a
foreign name to blend into the culture. She is orphaned
at a young age, so that when you read the book of Esther
it is layered with complicated themes.
Are we supposed to be excited for Esther in this
moment? Are we supposed to feel sorry for Esther?
Esther must have been incredibly beautiful, but is that
the take-away from our passage this morning? Is this a
book in the bible we want our young girls reading
today?
In addition, Esther keeps her faith as an Israelite a
secret through this whole process at the instruction of
her cousin Mordecai, and the passage doesn’t tell us
why. Is she doing this against her will? We don’t know!
Perhaps there will be some who see Esther as being a
sell out as she gets dressed up, hides her faith, does as
she is told, just so she can climb to the top of a social
ladder?
But I think this tension is what makes the book of Esther
such a powerful part of Scripture because it starts to feel
like we are reading about our lives today, because
humanity is layered with this same tension today!
It’s easy to look at someone else’s life and say, “Just do A,
B, C, and trust God!” It will all work out. But when we
are in those places we know those moments are layered
with fear, insecurities, and doubt.
Today we might not be trying to get picked by a king of
an empire but we are trying to get picked by a group of
friends, picked by a career path, picked by a romantic
relationship, and we are absolutely jumping through
the hoops so we can climb the ladder.
Like Esther, if there are times we need to hide our faith
in Jesus, we slowly redirect those conversations. We
will change our appearances, wear different clothes,
choose different words, and laugh at different jokes just
to be included, but I want you to see from the book of
Esther, in those moments, the God of Scripture is still at
work in our life. Amen?
I mean, if the king doesn’t get drunk that night, call
forth his queen, queen rejects her king, Esther is born
with beautiful features that she can’t make happen, and
out of hundreds of women, Esther is chosen. God’s
finger prints are all over the pages!
In my life, sometimes people will ask, “How did you
become a pastor?” And I think most of the time people
want to hear this divine moment of a voice out of
heaven, but really it was a snowball of little decisions.
I just started reading the Bible, I shared my faith,
someone asked me to lead a bible study, I started
praying with some friends, I responded to this
challenge, and here I am 25-years later!
Today, I can look back and see, “Oh, that was important.
That decision lead to that decision.” But that the time,
they were just little decisions, that the Lord used to get
me to this point in life.
In the same way, there are decisions being made right
now in our life. Things that are great. Things that are
hard. Things that seem ordinary, and yet God is
working in all those normal, everyday decisions to
accomplish His purpose.
We might not hear His voice. We might see the
miraculous in our life. We might not have prayers
answered the way we want. But it doesn’t negate the
work of His hand in our life. Amen?
That’s why the book of Esther isn’t about the greatness
of Esther. It’s just the opposite. It’s this minority
person, this secondary citizen in a powerful empire
probably just trying to survive and yet the Lord is
working His plans to accomplish His purposes. Amen?
It’s almost like we are supposed to read the book of
Esther and think to ourselves, “Where is a king that
doesn’t wallow in gluttony and disrespect his wife?
Where is a kingdom that doesn’t come and go? Where is
a people group who don’t use people for their
appearances?
Then, 400 years later God in the flesh is going to enter
into human history. He doesn’t come to take, but to
give. He doesn’t come to deport and enslave, but to set
free. He doesn’t come for pleasure but to serve! His
name is Jesus!
Jesus isn’t the focus because we’re a Christian church.
Jesus is the focus because He is the Creator of all life!
Even when we are ignoring Him, abandoning Him,
walking out on Him, or rejecting Him, He is still there.
Amen?
This is why the gospel is so important. The world calls
out to our soul and says, “If you are beautiful, I will
embrace you. If you do what it says, I will esteem you.
If you jump through the hoops, I will elevate you.” The
world will honor us with love, acceptance, honor, riches
and fame, but it’s exhausting! It’s enslavement! It’s hell
on earth!
But Jesus, God in the flesh, says over and over and over.
I don’t want to just use you. I want to be with you. I
want relationship with you. I want to set you free. I
want to give you life. I want to give you Myself with His
riches at His table with His righteousness. That’s the
gospel!
This is why Jesus dies on a cross. This is why Jesus
resurrects and conquers death. He not only wants to
declare His work and love in our life, but also
demonstrates His work and love in our life through His
life, death and resurrection. There is nobody like Jesus!
He is personal. He is powerful. He sees our hearts
longing to build little kingdoms that will never last, so
Jesus come, establishes His kingdom in heaven and on
earth so that by grace through faith we can live under
His rule, be involved in His mission, and dwell in His
kingdom for eternity. (Worship Team)
Let’s lower the lights. Let’s invite the team to the stage.
I am not sure where everyone is on their journey with
the Lord. You might feel incredibly close to Him. You
might feel like you have walked away from Him. But the
book of Esther is reminding us, He’s right here!
This year our church family is focused on Immovable. It
isn’t that WE are immovable, but that our faith in Jesus
is IMMOVABLE.
Empires can come and go. Politicians can come and go.
Even our confidence in Him and go up and down, but HE
IS IMMOVABLE.
That’s why, imbedded in the pages of Esther, the spirit
of God is inviting us to turn to Him. Put our trust in Him.
Anchor our soul in Him. Anchor our hope, not in the
fleeting circumstances of our day, but in the everlasting,
eternal name of God.
Therefore, turn to Him. Maybe for the first time? Maybe
for the first time in a long time? He has declared His
power. He has demonstrated His love. He has come to
call us His! Turn to Him!
If you have yet to trust in Jesus, then do that now.
Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord. Believe in
your heart that Jesus resurrected from the dead. Trust
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