“Before Trouble Comes” Esther
SI: In our reading today the plot thickens.
Esther is living in the palace, enjoying her position as
queen.
A position she
achieved by compromising her morals and spiritual identity.
And it seems that
she would have continued that way forever.
But the story takes a very dark turn.
Through a series of
events, the Jews in the
get
the evil attention of a very powerful man named Haman.
And he decides to exterminate them—a genocide.
So suddenly, Esther, Mordecai, and all the Jews are faced
with
a situation that seems absolutely hopeless.
And once again, even though God’s name is not mentioned—
this
chapter forces us to see the big picture, that the Lord is at work.
And that even things that seem completely broken and hopeless
are in his hands.
INTRO: This past week was the General Assembly
of our denomination.
It was held in
Bumped into a man who I had
not seen in a year.
When I saw him a year ago he had told me some exciting news.
He had been called
as pastor of a large, well-known church.
I remember
thinking—He is a perfect fit for that church.
That church is going to flourish under his ministry.
So when I bumped into him, I asked: How are things going at
And he said,
Andrew, I resigned two months ago.
I was stunned. I
never would have imagined it.
I asked him what
happened.
The first five months were great, the last five were
terrible.
Things came apart
and there was no fixing it.
He explained some
of the dynamics of the situation—and they were huge.
No amount of trying
harder would have fixed things.
In our lives there are lots of little, everyday troubles.
We plan and work
and maneuver through those little troubles.
But then there is another category of troubles—the big
troubles.
The times in your
life when the wheels have come off, the plate has shattered.
When
no amount of trying harder will fix things.
This morning I want
us to think about the big troubles.
That’s the sort of situation where Mordecai, Esther and the
Jews found themselves.
It seemed they were
being carried along by powerful forces beyond their control.
Haman
and his wicked plans, backed up by the law of the empire.
Now, none of us will ever face genocide like they faced—
but
still, there will be big troubles that seem just as unfixable, unstoppable.
How do you, as a
Christian, face those things?
It seems like Christians deal with big troubles in one of
two ways—
they
either stand firm or they collapse.
This man that I mentioned was standing firm.
I asked him how he
and his wife were doing.
He said: My wife is
amazing. She’s not bitter. She’s trusting the
Lord.
Both of us are
already starting to see God’s hand in this.
He told me some of
the things that were happening in his life.
There was pain in his voice, but he was holding on to truth.
But sometimes Christians just fall to pieces.
They are
overwhelmed by bitterness or fear or guilt.
They are unable and
sometimes unwilling to see that God is at work.
Now, either way, whether you stand firm or fall to pieces,
God is still on his
throne,
Jesus is still
Lord,
all His promises are
true.
But experientially, there is a huge difference.
And the key to standing firm and not falling to pieces is
your theology.
It’s what you
believe about God and the world.
Because
your theology gives you a perspective on the big troubles.
That perspective
keeps you from being overwhelmed.
I want us to look at this chapter in Esther, and see the big
picture.
That means we
aren’t going to be looking at Mordecai as an example.
I’m not going to
tell you, be like Mordecai.
Quite frankly, Mordecai, like Esther, is not a good example.
God is the hero of this story.
He has given it to
us so that we can see the big picture,
and
believe it, and find help in it in times of trouble.
What is the big theological perspective?
Three things.
You must see your big troubles in terms of
1. Satan’s hostility.
2. God’s sovereignty.
3. Christ’s sympathy.
MP#1 You must see your big troubles in
terms of Satan’s hostility.
The big troubles you face do not happen in a vacuum.
They are part of a
great conflict between Satan and God.
It is not an equal
conflict, but it is a real conflict.
You have to understand this conflict and how it relates to
your troubles.
Why did Haman want to kill all of
the Jews?
It says that when
he found out who Mordecai’s people were, he scorned
the idea
of
just killing Mordecai. Decided to wipe out all Jews in whole empire.
On one level we could psychoanalyze Haman
and say the reason he wanted to kill
all
the Jews was his deep insecurity and his maniacal craving for respect.
That’s true, but there is something even deeper.
We’re told that Haman was an Agagite.
If your Bible has notes, you follow those notes, will learn
that Agag,
Haman’s
ancestor, was one of the kings of the Amalekites.
The Amalekites were ancient, bitter enemies of
They had tried to wipe out
This is in that
part of the world where people remember things.
But it’s even deeper than that.
Back in the Garden
of Eden, after Adam and Eve had eaten the forbidden fruit.
And after God had
pronounced a curse on them and on creation,
He turned to the Serpent, to Satan and he made a prophecy,
Genesis 3:15
“And I will put
enmity between you and the woman, and between your
offspring and hers;
he
will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
God says to Satan.
You have ruined by good creation but you have not won.
Will be a male
child born to the woman, you will bruise him, he will crush you.
First
prophecy of Jesus Christ.
All of the conflicts in the Bible are Satan’s attempts keep
this prophecy
from
coming true by destroying the people of
If he could destroy
Abraham’s descendants, then there would be no Jesus.
Why did Pharaoh order all Hebrew baby boys to be killed?
He had is political
reasons, but there was a deeper demonic plot.
Satan wanted to
destroy Hebrew people so promised child would not be born.
Why did the Philistines, and the Amalekites,
and the Syrians and all the others
attack
Not just politics—It’s Geneis 3:15.
It’s the enmity
between Satan and the seed of the woman.
Why did King Herod kill all the baby boys in
He was insanely
jealous of any rivals. But there was
something deeper.
This was Satan’s
plot to murder the baby Jesus.
Of course Satan didn’t succeed. Even the cross did not destroy Christ.
And what does Revelation 12 tell us?
All of history is
the dragon trying to snuff out Jesus Christ.
And when that
failed, it is war against the rest of God’s people.
He tried to keep Jesus from being born.
When
that didn’t work, tried to destroy Jesus himself.
Since that didn’t
work either, he tries to destroy Jesus’ work in us.
How does this help you when you are facing the big troubles
in life?
It gives you perspective.
You may think your trouble is just your marriage or your
children or business
or
whatever—but it’s much bigger than that.
You are a soldier
in the cosmic war between Christ and Satan.
What are the stakes?
What’s the devil trying to do to you in these troubles?
He can’t destroy you.
He can’t rob you of your salvation.
He’s trying to make
you ineffective and unproductive.
Puritan Thomas Brooks put it this way in his book “Pecious remedies” 1652
“Though he can never rob a believer of his
crown, yet such is his malice and envy, that he will leave no stone unturned,
no means unattempted, to rob them of their comfort
and peace, to make their life a burden and a hell unto them, to cause them to
spend their days in sorrow and mourning, in sighing and complaining, in
doubting and questioning.”
That’s what he wants to accomplish.
Knowing that, knowing what is really at stake,
where
the battle lines really are, is one important step in facing the big troubles.
It’s not really your money trouble, or health or family
troubles—
it’s
a spiritual battle against an old and hostile enemy.
You have to look at your troubles in terms of Satan’s
hostility—but can’t stop there.
MP#2 Also have to see them in terms of
God’s sovereignty.
The big troubles you face do not happen by chance.
They might catch
you by surprise, but they don’t catch God by surprise.
He is the master of
your destiny, and your destiny is good.
When Haman decides to destroy the
Jews, he goes to a fortune teller
to
find out the best time to carry out his plans.
This fortune teller casts the pur,
the lot, in Haman’s presence.
The pur was a kind of dice used for fortune telling.
So the lot is cast
and the date is set for the Jew’s destruction.
But what really happens on that date? Are the Jews destroyed?
One of the
advantages that we have in reading Esther is that we know the end.
We know that Haman will be humiliated and killed when he least expects
it.
We know that this
date for the Jews’ destruction will be a date of victory instead.
The thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar
will
be such a great date for the Jews that they will make it into
an
annual celebration of God’s salvation.
But Mordecai doesn’t know how the story is going to end.
He’s living in the
middle of it.
All he can see is this terrible thing that has happened,
this
date that has been set by the
It is absolutely
impossible for him to see what God is going to do.
If you could go back in time and talk to
Mordecai while in sackcloth and ashes.
You would say to
him, Mordecai. Your story is not over.
I know something
you don’t know.
The Lord is writing
a final chapter that will amaze you.
You will look back and see how things are actually better
for God’s people
because
this terrible thing has happened.
And isn’t that the story of the cross?
The death of Jesus
was the end of the disciples’ dreams.
Remember disciples on road to Emmaus—
We had hoped he was
the one who would deliver
They saw him die on
the cross and said—that’s it—that’s the end of the story.
They could not
conceive of what would happen three days later.
You don’t know how your story is going to end either.
You don’t know how
your children’s story is going to end.
And it may be, that like Mordecai, you are looking at big,
bad things,
that
are happening to you right now and projecting those into the future
and saying to
yourself—
I don’t know what is going to happen but I know it’s going
to be bad.
No, you don’t. The
Lord is writing your story.
It may have some
very hard chapters—
Chapters
of suffering, losses, and painful sanctification.
But the last chapter will always be a good one for God’s
people.
When lived in
He had lots of big
troubles. He had lost his church,
marriage,
and
lots of other things—worked in a convenience store.
He had a sermon, preached often to himself. I heard several times.
Moses was in the backside of the wilderness for 40 years
tending sheep
before
God used him to bring the children of
But it was in the
wilderness Moses met the Lord in the burning bush.
I’m in the backside of the wilderness now. This is where the Lord has me.
I know He has plans
for my future, even though I don’t know what they are.
But that’s ok,
because I’ve met the Lord here, hallelujah!
He didn’t use the term God’s sovereignty but that’s what he
believed.
He knew that the
big troubles of his life, even the ones he had brought on himself,
were
not outside of God’s hand, and that the Lord was at work.
That gave him hope and joy.
Do you feel like you are in the backside of the wilderness
when
it comes to some big trouble in your life?
Look at the story of Esther—even at this darkest point—
God was at work,
planning great things for his people.
He is also at work
in your life.
If you believe that, you will have hope and reason to
rejoice,
even
though you cannot see how things will work out in the end.
So you have to look at your troubles in terms of God’s
sovereignty—
but
there is one more important part of the big picture.
MP#3 You must see your big troubles in
terms of Christ’s sympathy.
We live in a fallen world.
Things are broken. There is
sorrow and grief.
The big troubles
you face are reason to grieve.
Mordecai was far from a perfect believer, he did many things
wrong.
Remember his advice
to Esther—hide your faith and identity.
Compromise your
morals if you have to. Not his finest
hour.
Many Bible scholars have argued Mordecai was wrong in not
bowing to Haman.
Believers are
supposed to give proper honor and respect to civil authorities.
Plenty
of examples of godly people in Bible bowing to kings and giving honor.
The fact that Haman was a
descendant of Agag should have taken second place
to
the fact that King Xerxes had commanded that he be honored.
You’ll notice in
chap 6 that Mordecai had no problem with people bowing to him.
At best Mordecai chose to take a stand on a gray issue, and
not black and white.
It would be easy to criticize Mordecai for his response to
the kings edict.
He tore his
clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes,
and
went out wailing loudly and bitterly.
We’re tempted to say—Where’s your
faith, Mordecai.
Don’t you know God
is in control? Get a grip.
All things work
together for good, so cheer up.
But that’s wrong.
Over and over in the Bible we see that the big troubles of
life are reason to weep.
In the Bible we see godly people weeping over the death of
loved ones,
and
over wandering children, and lost health, lost wealth,
over
crushed dreams and ruined plans.
There is a book of the Bible called Lamentations—
written
by the godly prophet Jeremiah in which he just grieves
over
the destruction of
There is a whole category of Psalms called laments—
in
which the Psalmist cries out to God in his trouble.
Why are you doing this to me? How long are you going to put me through
this?
Why am I suffering
this illness? This
conflict with friends and family?
Why am I suffering
financially? Lord, have you forgotten
me?
Don’t you know my tears are my food every night?
Sometimes Christians who preach God’s sovereignty a lot—like
Presbyterians—
get
off balance. Almost seems like it’s a
lack of faith if you grieve and weep
and
say, “Why, God? Why?”
But it’s not wrong.
In fact, Jesus himself, at his moment of greatest pain
cried
out the words of Psalm 22, a lament—
“My God, my God,
why have you forsaken me?”
And it is Jesus’ suffering that assures us that he can
indeed sympathize
with
all of the suffering that we go through in this life.
When you are going through the big troubles of life,
there
is no greater source of comfort than the sympathy of Christ.
In one of Tim Keller’s sermons he makes a fascinating
observation about Jesus. When Jesus goes
to home of Mary and Martha after Lazarus had died—
Martha came out and said,
“Lord, if you had
been here, my brother would not have died.”
Jesus gave her a
theological lesson. You brother will
rise again.
I know he will rise
again on the last day. I am the
resurrection and life.
Mary comes out and says the very same thing.
“Lord, if you had
been here, my brother would not have died.”
And Jesus doesn’t
give her a theological lesson, he sees her weeping, he weeps.
Keller says, shows how Jesus knows us perfectly, knows what each of us need.
Martha needed
teaching,
Mary needed
sympathetic tears.
There is nothing wrong with weeping, and grieving.
It’s a proper
response to the brokenness of this world.
It’s wrong for us to treat grief and sorrow of fellow
Christians as failures of faith.
I was recently with
someone, not in this church, talking about
woman
who had lost a husband—person very bothered that she was
still
grieving after a year—thought she should be moving on with her life.
You don’t find that thinking in the Bible.
Yes, we need to realize we are soldiers in a battle, big
things at stake.
Yes, we need to
believe that God is sovereign, all things work for good.
But also need to know, that in this broken world, Jesus
wept, cried out Why?
Right for you to
weep, cry out Why?
and know that you have the sympathetic
ear
of a Savior who loved you.
INTRO: I’ve spoken to those of you who are in
the middle of big troubles.
But if you aren’t. If you are in a time of peace in your life,
and
everything is going well. Now is the
time to take these truths
and
press them deep into your mind and heart.
Use times of peace to prepare for the hard times.
Remember how Paul puts it in Ephesians 6:
“Put on the full
armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes,
you
will be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to
stand.”
When do you put on the armor of God? Before the evil day comes.
If you get up one
morning, and it is an evil day, big trouble crashes on you,
and
you are not prepared, you will find it hard to stand.
Finally, if you are not a Christian.
If you have never
repented of your sins, professed your faith in Jesus,
and
given your life to him, let me urge you to do so.
Because if you don’t, the big troubles of your life will not
work out for good.
They will work out
for evil. They will just be a taste of
hell.
An eternity without God’s grace,
without
the sympathy of Christ, and his wrath instead
is
a terrible trouble that you do not want to face.
Jesus has suffered that trouble for you on the cross.
Turn to him in
faith before it is too late,
and
you can be assured that He will surely work all things for your good.