Feasting in Victory | Esther 9:16-10:3

This morning we are wrapping up our four -month

series in the book of Esther. Yeah, we started

back in July of last year, and then we took a

sizable break over the fall for a whole bunch

of reasons, and now today we're going to look

at the end of chapter 9 in Esther, and we're

going to go through the very short final chapter

of this book, chapter 10, and then if you haven't

heard yet, our plan two weeks from today is to

launch into our next big New Testament and that

is going to be in the very practical and very

convicting book of 1 Corinthians, which will

take us a while. Trust me, there is a lot there,

but I am looking forward to that. So that will

begin on February 15th, the next two Sundays.

We have some exciting things to share with you,

both myself and Adam, so stay tuned for that.

Now, as we come to Esther, that first glance,

closing out this book, is going to look a little

bit anticlimactic. because over the last two

Sundays, we covered what most scholars believe

is the pinnacle of the whole story in chapter

8 and the beginning of chapter 9, right? And

all that really remains for us to study today

is watching the Jews celebrate their victory.

But trust me, there's a lot here. Pay close attention,

because this last section we're going to study

through is a very important part of foreshadowing

the coming of Messiah. and the coming of the

gospel of grace. So we have a lot to learn together.

So let's get to it. Grab your Bibles, and let's

open up to Esther chapter 9. And when you arrive

Esther 9 · chapter mention

there, I want you to drop your eyes down to verse

16. That's where we're going to start. Esther

9, beginning in verse 16. When we left off last

week, the Jews had just completed a full day

of very fierce fighting against their enemies

all across. the 127 provinces of the vast Persian

kingdom. And then at the request of Queen Esther,

there was a second day of fighting that was done

right there in the capital city of Susa. And

in verse 16, we basically get the results. Here's

the scorecard of how this all played out. Verse

16. Now the rest of the Jews who were in the

king's provinces assembled to defend their lives

and to rid themselves of their enemies and kill,

look at that number, 75 ,000. of those who hated

them. Now, that seems like a big number, but

remember, we're talking about the Persian kingdom

that stretched from India to Africa. This is

a big, big kingdom. But still, that is a sizable

number of enemies killed. And then we saw this

next statement in verse 16. By the way, repeated

three times in this chapter for emphasis. When

you see things repeated in scripture, no God

is trying to emphasize it. It says, but they,

the Jews, did not lay their hands on the plunder.

And there's a good reason for that, actually

multiple reasons for this. First of all, remember,

this is a war of self -defense. This was not

an expedition to try to grab land or to take

control of material gain. Even though by law

they had every right to do that, the Jews from

their own history knew better than to take the

spoils of battle from their pagan enemies. And

they didn't. They did not lay their hands on

the spoils. Verse 17, this was done on the 13th

day of the month of Adar, and on the 14th day

they rested and made it a day of feasting and

rejoicing. But the Jews who were in Susa assembled

on the 13th and the 14th of the same month, and

they rested on the 15th day and made it a day

of feasting and rejoicing. Whole bunch of interesting

little administrative notes here, right? The

13th is a reference to that single day of fighting

that took place across every province in the

kingdom. That was the day that was originally

set forth by Haman's wicked decree, remember?

His first edict set that day as the day for the

enemies of the Jews to annihilate them. And then

the 14th refers to the second day of fighting

that took place just in the city of Susa. But

now the fighting is done, and the Jews now make

it their goal to rest and to rejoice in their

hard -fought victory. And there at the end of

18, you see that one of the features of their

celebration was feasting. And we'll come back

to that later. We're going to feast together

after the service today. Now, verse 19 is designed

to sort of explain some of these details. It

says, therefore, and some translations say, this

explains why. The Jews of the rural areas who

live in the rural towns make the 14th day of

the month of Adar a holiday for rejoicing and

feasting and sending portions of food to one

another. So here's the thing. Some of the Jews

are celebrating on the 14th, others on the 15th,

and the difference is city versus rural. And

actually, in practicality, it's walled cities

versus unwalled cities. Understand in the ancient

world, only big cities like Susa would have had

fortified walls. They were expensive. They were

a lot of work. And it makes sense. In a place

like Susa, that's where the majority of the population

lived. That's where the government officials

lived. So it needed to be protected. But if you

were a Jew living out in the country, out in

the rural areas where walls didn't exist, Those

folks only went to war on that first day, on

the 13th. And so they rested and they celebrated

the next day, the 14th. The Jews in Susa kept

fighting on the 14th and they are now going to

rest and celebrate on the 15th. And it's interesting,

to some extent, this is still going on today

with the Feast of Purim. Most of the Jewish world

celebrates this historical victory on the 14th

of Adar, but in walled cities like Jerusalem,

even today, or Hebron, for example, they celebrate

the next day, the 15th of Adar. By the way, Adar,

that basically roughly translates to early March

on the Gregorian calendar. So this year, this

festival. is observed at sundown on March 2nd

and ends at nightfall on March the 3rd. And then

a day later, it's actually celebrated in places

like Jerusalem because it's still a walled city.

Okay, verse 20. Then Mordecai recorded these

events and he sent letters to all the Jews who

were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus,

both near and far, obliging them. Look at that,

obliging them to celebrate the 14th day of the

month of Adar and the 15th day of the same month

annually. So Mordecai writes of the celebration,

he writes it in the form of a law, just another

law coming out of the royal palace. And he obliges

them to obey this. Some of your translations

say, ordering the Jewish people to rejoice on

these two days. Every single year. And why? Verse

22. Because on those days, the Jews rid themselves

of their enemies. Now, some translations put

it a bit more mildly. The Jews gained relief

from their enemies. And it goes on. And it was

a month which was turned for them from sorrow

into gladness. and from mourning into a holiday.

That's a description of the eucatastrophe we

talked about two Sundays ago, right? This very

sudden turn of events in a positive direction

from sorrow and mourning to holiday gladness.

It goes on, that they should make them days of

feasting and rejoicing and sending portions of

food to one another and gifts to the poor. Verse

23, thus the Jews undertook, or some of your

translations say they agreed to continue what

they had started to do and what Mordecai had

written to them. In other words, this very early

on becomes a highly valued tradition among the

Jewish people, and they commit themselves to

keep celebrating this law that Mordecai has put

into effect each and every year. And then in

the next two verses, we get sort of a historical

recap that says, here's why we celebrate. Verse

24, for Haman, the son of Hamadathah, the Agagite,

the adversary of all the Jews, had schemed against

the Jews to destroy them and had cast purr, okay,

purr, that is the lot, we would say cast the

dice, to disturb or some say to crush the Jews

and destroy them. Then beginning in verse 26,

we're given the official title of this special

day, this holiday, and the reason for it. And

in Hebrew, it would be pronounced Purim. We say

Purim here in English, right? Purim after the

name of Pur. So to me, this is one of those places

in the Bible where I feel like God shows us a

little sense of his humor, a sense of his irony,

because the story begins, remember, with God's

enemies casting these dice to determine the precise

day that they were going to wipe out God's people.

And then here's the story ending with a feast

commemorating the absolute reversal. of that

plan, and then God says, let's call this thing

dice. I mean, I just, I cannot get more ironic

and beautiful than that. The verse goes on. And

because of the instructions in this letter, both

what they had seen in this regard and what had

happened to them, the Jews established and made

a custom for themselves and for their descendants,

look, and for all those who allied themselves

with them. so that they would not fail to celebrate

these two days according to their regulation

and according to their appointed time. So you

see here, interestingly, Jewish allies are also

invited to participate in the tradition. And

back in the days of Esther, that would have meant,

remember, we saw how the government officials

came on the side of the household of the king.

That would include them. They helped the Jews

in this fighting. Any other people who came to

the aid of the Jews in defending themselves are

welcome. And by the way, this is still true today.

There is no law or tradition in Judaism that

prohibits Gentiles from joining in the Purim

celebration. Verse 28, so these days were to

be remembered and celebrated throughout every

generation, every family, every province, and

every city. And these days of Purim were not

to fail from among the Jews or their memory fade

from their descendants. Guys, that is a pretty

strong endorsement for the importance of this

tradition. Every generation, every family, every

province, every city, do not let this moment

fade from your memory. Verse 29, then Queen Esther,

daughter of Abahel, with Mordecai the Jew, wrote

with full authority to confirm this second letter

about Purim. He sent letters to all the Jews

to the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus,

words of peace and truth. I love that, words

of peace and truth. To establish these days of

Purim at their appointed times, just as Mordecai

the Jew and Queen Esther had established for

them, and just as they had established for themselves

and for their descendants with instructions for

their times of fasting and their lamentations,

the command of Esther established these customs

for Purim, and it was written in the book. Now,

let's turn over to chapter 10, just three verses

in chapter 10. But this is interesting. This

is where we get an interesting historical summary.

It says, now King Ahasuerus laid a tribute on

the land and on the coastlands of the sea. And

that word tribute in the ancient world referred

to attacks that a great and powerful king could

lay on his subjects throughout his kingdom and

also lay attacks on all the vassal nations that

would bow down to him. Verse two, and all the

accomplishments of his, Xerxes, authority and

strength and the full account of the greatness

of Mordecai to which the king advanced him. Are

they not written in the book of the chronicles

of the kings of Media and Persia? I think the

point being made here by the author for us as

readers to see after the events of this book,

we see here how strong Xerxes has become, right?

And not just Xerxes, but his vizier Mordecai

as well. And we'll come back to that a little

bit later. Look at verse three. For Mordecai

the Jew was second only to King Ahasuerus and

great among the Jews and in favor with his many

kinsmen, one who sought the good of his people

and one who sought for the welfare of his whole

nation. Kind of a funny ending, right? A little

bit odd, but we'll come back because I think

the author, I know the author has something to

tell us in this. So here's what I want to do

as we wrap up Esther this morning. I do want

to talk briefly about Purim. Again, we did this

back in chapter three. Back when the lots were

first cast before Haman, in chapter three, we

took some time to look at Purim. We'll go back

and review some of that stuff. But then I wanna

look again at all of the gospel elements that

are sort of embedded in this book. And they're

not the most obvious things right out of the

gate, but you begin to see them as the story

unfolds. And I think you see the author beginning

to show us even more of them in these last two

chapters. And then we're gonna finish by talking

about feasting. Feasting in victory. Amen? Are

you ready to feast in victory? We're going to

do it today. Okay, so when we talk about Purim,

here's my assessment of Purim. I think there's

some features in this holiday that we should

admire, and I think there's some features which

raise some questions. So it's worth talking about.

Several times in this series, we have talked

about how God's name is noticeably absent from

this entire book. You don't hear the name Yahweh.

You don't hear Elohim. You don't hear Adonai.

You don't hear any of those names throughout

the book. And of course, over the centuries,

that has caused some people to wonder whether

this book belongs in the canon or not. I believe

it does. I believe God's sovereign over that.

But as we've also talked about multiple times,

just because God's name isn't explicitly mentioned

doesn't mean he isn't present and active, right?

Right? After all, is there anything that goes

on on this earth where God is not active and

present? No. So of course he's involved, and

especially so considering the content of this

story, the rescue of his chosen people from the

very people from which the Messiah has to come.

So clearly God was not taking a coffee break

and saying, well, this part of the story on earth

I don't have to worry about. He is sovereignly

involved. Even though he's not explicitly named,

obviously he is involved. But having said that,

although we know he's providentially guiding

these events, I do think it's worth pointing

out that neither Esther nor Mordecai seem interested

to point out his involvement. Right? Because

what you'd like to hear, at least in this part

of the text, somewhere here is that the victory

that was won by the Jews was actually God's victory.

That he came to their rescue. That he defeated

the enemy. But instead, you read in verse 22,

what does it say? It says, the Jews rid themselves

of their enemies. Isn't that interesting? No

talk of, really, of God's mercy coming in and

winning this victory on behalf of the Jewish

people. What you'd like to hear is that the Jews

not only feasted with gladness, gladness to who?

Right? that they would be thankful to the Lord

for his protection. It would be helpful to read

that there's some measure of worship going on

here in this gladness rather than just a really

fun party. What you'd like to hear is that it

was God who orchestrated this great reversal

of fortune that we read in the story, that he's

the one that exposed the wickedness of Haman,

that he moved in the king's heart in order to

show favor to Mordecai. But we don't see that

explicitly in the text, do we? What you'd like

to see is God himself establishing the celebration

of Purim, that God would instruct them how he

desires them to observe it. But in verse 21,

you read that it's Mordecai who orders the Jews

to celebrate. In verse 27, it says, the Jews

established and made a custom for themselves.

Who? The Jews did it. God isn't really given

the credit here. What you'd like to see in the

text of Scripture is that Purim is about looking

back to those days when God moved so miraculously

in favor of his people, but it's really not there.

This is why I say that I have some concerns here.

But fair play to the Jews today if you talk to

a Jewish friend. By all accounts, they do, when

they celebrate Purim, they acknowledge God's

involvement in the celebration. But again, strangely,

it's not found here in the text. Now, here's

the thing. And I know I mentioned this earlier

in the series, but it bears repeating at this

point. The question is asked, if Esther and Mordecai

were not exactly the most observant Jews, why

would God come to their rescue? If they weren't

really, their minds and hearts weren't focused

on God, if they're not giving him the glory that

probably you or I would at the end of this story,

why did God rescue the Jews? And the answer to

that question is part of the good news that comes

out of this story, that God doesn't save people

because they deserve to be saved. Aren't you

glad? God doesn't save people because they've

earned salvation through their piety or through

their good works. God saves people because he's

a gracious God who demonstrates extraordinary

love for people who very often ignore him and

try to do things their own way. And I'm glad

for this because you and I, we often fall into

that same category. So let that be a really important

lesson that comes out of this story. They don't

deserve to be saved, but God had a plan. He had

decreed it in eternity past. It was gonna come

to pass. This is the grace of God that he saves

people that sometimes just ignore him and do

things their own way. The fact is God is faithful

to fulfill all of his promises. Remember, he

had promised Abraham that all the nations of

the earth would be blessed through him and through

his descendants, through the patriarchs Isaac

and Jacob. And that great blessing would later

be revealed in the person of Christ. Jesus comes

from the Jews to the Jews and through the Jews

to all people in all nations, including us, right?

So the Jews had to be rescued. It's part of God's

plan. He was determined to carry out that promise

of rescuing them in spite of the disobedience

of the Jews, which caused them to go into exile

in the first place, and in spite of the shortcomings

of people like Esther and Mordecai. We just sang

about it because God's faithful. He's faithful

to his plan and to his purposes. God's not going

to let his word fail. And he's willing to work

behind the scenes, even in silence, as we see

here in Esther, in order to protect and redeem

his people. So for us as Christians, it reminds

us of God's providence in all things. And the

really good news that even when we don't invite

God into our plans, he is still working to fulfill

them. Isn't that great news? So let that be one

of the things that we take out of Esther. So

that's my partial assessment of Purim. I think

it's less than perfect, for sure. But then again,

I think the same thing of some of the holidays

that we celebrate in the church. Could we not

put Christmas in the same category? Are we commanded

in Scripture to observe Christmas? No? Okay,

good. It's not a holiday commanded by God. It's

not explicitly found in Scripture. And like Purim,

anyone who observes Christmas has the choice

either to acknowledge God in it as the prime

mover and the sovereign in it, or not, to see

it as a secular holiday. We don't want to be

too hard on Purim, but I think it's lacking in

some ways. It's certainly not like the Old Testament

feasts like Passover and Tabernacles and Pentecost,

where God sets out not just the festival and

the feast itself. He establishes it, and he instructs

the people on how to observe it. So it's not

in that same category. But still, there are features

built into the celebration, and you see it in

the text here, that can be God -honoring. If

the focus is in the right place, if what's being

taught in the story goes past the flesh and points

to this unseen yet sovereign hand that produced

in Esther and Mordecai everything that they needed,

right? All the courage, all the strength, all

the trust, all of it is produced by God's spirit

in these two people, even if they don't acknowledge

it because God is fulfilling his plan. So we

know today that one of the core, I'm gonna put

this picture on the screen because we did this

back in chapter three. We know that today one

of the core elements of Purim celebrations is

the reading of the Megillah, which you see there.

It's the scroll of Esther. And that's a good

thing, right? Anytime people open up God's word

and read it, that's a really good thing. We know

that Purim brings about joyful family gatherings,

sometimes costumes and masks even, to make it

really, really fun for the kids. And this is

one of the most important parts of Purim for

Jewish families. This is when children are taught

the story of God's faithfulness to Esther and

Mordecai. which is a great thing. As we talked

about back in chapter three, the kids all bring

noisemakers to the reading of the scroll, right?

It's that little wood thing in the front. It's

called a grogger, which is a Yiddish word for

noisemaker. It's a grogger. And whenever name,

Haman's name comes up, what do they do? They

boo and they hiss and they spin their grogger.

How meaningful and memorable is that for kids?

Very much so, right? It's something that Jewish

kids will always. Remember that after the Megillah

is read, it's customary to celebrate over a festive

prayer meal, to quite literally do what Mordecai

ordered, to feast and to rejoice. And in most

households, that comes with the reciting of a

very special prayer that does give thanks to

God for the miracles that he did in the days

of Esther and Mordecai. As you can see on the

screen, one of the traditional treats that gets

eaten is that triangular pastry. I guess you

can ask Yael afterwards. I guess it's filled

with different kinds of, Fruit, is that right?

Oh, chocolate. I'd be down for that. Okay, good.

Those are called the ears of Haman. Again, talk

to Yael. She'll explain it to you. But those

are referred to as the ears. What's the Yiddish

word? There you go. Very good. Very good. And

then... So there's some good stuff here, right?

And then it's customary on the second day of

Purim to shift the focus away from self to others.

And so Jewish families will often spend the day

driving around town and leaving baskets of food

and treats on the doorsteps of one another, and

if possible, to go out and to feed the poor,

just as Mordecai ordered. So all that to say

there's a lot of good built into Purim. But of

course, we have to come to this place without

recognizing Christ in it. It's incomplete, isn't

it? It's incomplete. So I would encourage you,

when March rolls around, the first week of March,

pray for the Jewish people, especially at a time

like prayer. When they're opening the scroll,

when they're opening the Bible and they're reading

it to their children, pray for Jewish people.

Pray that God might move in their hearts and

add to the remnant of Jewish believers on the

earth today. Amen? What I want to talk about

as we move forward here is to talk about some

of the gospel foreshadowings that point us to

Christ in this story, point us to the new covenant

where God is going to do a new work. And we looked

at a bunch of them two Sundays ago. I'm going

to re -go over some of those because I think

they're so important to see, plus give you a

couple more that I see in the text from today.

These are gospel foreshadowings. foreshadowings

that I think are embedded in the text itself

that we can hang our hat on. Because I was telling

Jeff Steele outside before the service, I said,

the book of Esther frustrates me. Is that okay,

by the way? It frustrates me because I really

would love to see these characters be much more

bold in their faith. I'd love to see God be explicitly

glorified in this text. Now, I know he is because

he's sovereign. But boy, this can be a difficult

book. So let's look at some of these gospel things.

The first thing that we saw was this idea of

intercession that takes place in this story.

When Esther goes before the king to plead, literally

plead for the lives of her people. And the reason

she had to do that is so important to recognize.

Because the Jews living in Persia had no standing

before the king of Persia. They're minorities

in a foreign land. They have no opportunity to

get a hearing in front of the only man in the

whole kingdom who can save them. They have no

chance to get into the palace. So all they can

do is hope to get an intercession. Listen now,

they cannot save themselves. That sound familiar?

They cannot save themselves. They have to hope

for an intercessor, someone who does have the

standing. to enter the throne room of the king

where mercy can be found. Sound familiar? So

we recognize that as sinners who fall short of

the glory of God, we are all just as helpless

as the Jews living in Persia in that day. We

need an intercessor. We need a great high priest

who has the standing and the ability and the

opportunity to go into the throne room of grace

and plead for us. Otherwise, we perish, just

like the Jews would have without Esther. That's

number one. Second thing that comes out of this

text is a look at this first edict that was written

up by Haman. This wicked law that called for

the death of the Jewish people. And we likened

it to the edict of guilt that exists for every

sinner born into this world. Every one of us.

We are all born under the law of sin and death.

What Colossians 2 calls the certificate of debt

that stands against us. A debt that will someday

come due. Whether we like it or not, there's

a due date on that debt for every single sinner

born into this world. And by the way, that is

an edict established by God himself. It's a law

that is rooted in his holiness and in his perfectly

righteous standard. And therefore, it cannot

be repealed. It cannot be revoked, just as Haman's

law could not be revoked by Xerxes. It cannot

be. But then God, then God, provided the remedy

for the problem here. Okay, again, not by compromising

his eternal justice, but by meeting his own righteous

standard, by laying the debt that we owed upon

his own son. How amazing. In other words, just

like the situation in Esther, God could not cancel

out that first law. He couldn't, but he could

issue a new law which would turn our condemnation

into mercy. could turn death into life and defeat

into victory. A second law is what we needed.

The second law is found in Christ alone, right?

That's the second law. Paul writes in Romans

8, the cross is God's counter decree that, quote,

frees us from the law of sin and death. We needed

the second edict, didn't we? And we have it in

Christ. Beautiful. Third thing, we looked at

this great reversal. that you see in the story

of Esther, the eucatastrophe, we called it, right?

And we saw how it points forward to the resurrection,

because the resurrection is the greatest reversal

in the history of mankind, from the cross to

the resurrection, right? Just when Haman thought

he had found a way to annihilate the Jews, he

stumbled into a trap of his own making. He stumbled

into his own wickedness. And just when Satan

thought he had found a way to destroy the Son

of God on the cross, He failed to see how that

cross was actually his own undoing. Amazing.

On the morning that Jesus stepped out of that

tomb alive, death was put to death, and the grave's

power over us was broken, and Satan was defeated,

just like Haman was. Amazing, right? It's right

there in the story. Four, we also saw how the

Jews were able to go from despair to gladness

when the king's second law was issued, even though

the day of its actual application was still nine

months away. So they're under the threat of death.

The king issues a new law and says, nine months

from now, you'll be able to defend yourself.

But the Jews celebrate right then. Right then,

why? Because now they had the king's favor. Now

they had the king behind him. With the king's

favor, they are assured of victory. And in a

similar way, Christ followers who've been saved

by God's decree of salvation in Christ, we can

celebrate right now. Even though salvation is

not completely fulfilled, that will come, right?

Eschatologically, that will come, but we can

celebrate right now because we have the favor

of the king in the universe. Amen, right? The

fullness is coming, but we can celebrate now.

So those are four things we talked about two

Sundays ago. Let me give you two other things

that I see in the text from this morning. One

is a little bit more subtle. One is very obvious.

I'm going to give you the subtle one first, and

here it is. Behind the scenes, there's something

going on in chapter 10, those three verses in

chapter 10, that causes Xerxes. to come out of

the story sort of shining as the great king of

the ancient Near East. Did you see the language

there? Remember, as we studied through this book,

Xerxes was more of a bumbling fool than he was

a great king. He's making mistakes all over the

place, right? Remember, I know it's been a while,

it's like July, but right before the events of

the book of Esther, Xerxes had led a disastrous

campaign against the Greeks. and was soundly

defeated. And he limped home as a defeated king.

And then his queen publicly humiliates him. Then

his officials begin to publicly manipulate him.

Then he foolishly hands his signet ring to this

wicked man, Haman, then has to correct what Haman

did, making himself look bad. He just doesn't

look like a competent king early on in the book.

But now at the end of the story in chapter 10,

the author seems to put him in a whole new light.

He writes of Xerxes' authority and strength over

the entire ancient world. He's able to lay this

tax on vassal nations, which raises the question,

how did this renewal come about? Well, for years,

there was a hidden cancer at work within his

kingdom. In fact, it was right under the king's

nose. It was the presence of Haman, this vizier,

this wicked man. But now what it looks like in

chapter 10 is that there's a new spirit operating

in the royal palace. Mordecai, who took Haman's

place, is said to be both great among the Jews,

but also, look, one who spoke for the welfare

of the entire Persian nation. It's a whole new

spirit in the royal palace. So here's what scholars,

Hebrew Christian scholars have looked at this

and they've seen this turnaround. And what they

see is a foreshadowing of the coming in an indwelling

way, the spirit of God in a man's life. And I

know this is a bit of a stretch, but walk with

me on this. Once again, consider Haman as the

embodiment of our spiritual enemy. He represents

the rule of the flesh. He represents arrogance

and self -promotion and anger and vengeance,

all these different things. And as long as he's

in control of the kingdom, what happens? There's

chaos, there's confusion, there's violence, there's

despair. And if you're able, consider Mordecai

then as sort of representing the spirit, providing

a sense of renewal throughout the empire once

he comes into that position. Now, like I said

with Esther earlier, we don't want to push that

analogy too far, right? But the principle is

interesting to consider. Why else would God provide

those three verses at the very end of this book?

It just seems strange, as we said before. If

you want to carry the principle forward, consider

how necessary it is for us as Christians to get

rid of Haman, to put the flesh to death, to crucify

the flesh, to hang the flesh on the gallows.

Think about it. And to do it in a public fashion.

as a testimony to new life in Christ? Is it possibly

that that's the reason why Haman is so publicly

shamed on the gallows? Why his 10 sons are hanged

on the gallows as well? Here's some more good

news. Our battle against the flesh today is different

than in the days of Esther because our battle

isn't waged against the backdrop of a failed

human king like Xerxes. Our conflict today is

waged against the flesh in light of the much

greater king that we have based on his finished

work on the cross. That means there's no doubt

about the outcome. We know exactly how it's going

to end. In fact, we're told in Colossians 2,

not only has Jesus canceled out the certificate

of debt that we owed, it goes a step further.

It says, he has disarmed the rulers and authorities

of darkness, making a public display of them.

A public display of them and triumphing over

them. I know it's subtle, right? But I want you

to think about that. Is that what's going on

with the death of Haman and the renewal of Xerxes

in his palace? Okay, questions, adam at okillbible

.com. Adam will explain it to him, right? Okay,

last one, last one. And this one is very clear

and very obvious. How you and I not only have

a glorious victory in Christ, we get to celebrate

it every day, not just once a year. I mean, does

this not embed the idea of celebrating victory?

Do we celebrate victory in our life as Christians?

I hope so. The fruits of this victory that the

Jews won are all over this text. feasting, rejoicing,

resting, remembering, celebrating, showing generosity

to others. It's all there in the text. These

are things that we get to do every single day

as those who are found in Christ. In Christ,

we rejoice and we celebrate no matter what life

throws at us, right? Right? No matter our circumstances.

Life is hard. Trials come. Trouble comes. But

we rejoice and we celebrate because the victory

is ours. In Christ, we have rest, right? Rest

from the world, rest from having to strive to

earn something that we never could earn in the

first place because it's by grace alone. In Christ,

we have peace with God and salvation secure.

In Christ, we're now set free to focus on others,

to love unconditionally, to be generous and sacrificial,

to put the needs of others before ourselves because

we're found in Christ. And in Christ, we continually

remember. We remember his sacrifice on our behalf,

how he became sin for us in exchange for what?

His righteousness. We can never, never forget

that. The great exchange. He became sin for us.

He took your sin and said, here, take my righteousness.

Are you kidding me? So we remember. We do all

those things. Remember, feast, rejoice, rest.

celebrate and show generosity. It's no wonder

that we get a chance to do that because of what

Christ has done for us. It's in the text. I know

it's hard, right? I mean, I wish Esther was more

explicit. I wish there was more glory given to

God. You gotta dig in sometimes and find some

of these things. So this is where I wanna end,

not just the sermon, but the whole preaching

series. Earlier in the week, I was asking myself

and I was praying. I said, Lord, what's the,

what's the last statement we want to make coming

out of this series? What should we take away

from this? And I kept coming back to, first of

all, the subtitle of the series, which is God's

providence, right? How he's working all things

together for our good. But where that providence

leads people like Esther and Mordecai, where

it leads people like you and I, and ultimately

it leads to feasting and victory. We may not

even realize that, but that's true. Have you

ever thought about the concept of feasting in

your walk with Christ? Did you know that word

is used 133 times in scripture? So it's not a

small theme at all. Did you know that food itself

is one of the greatest gifts that God gives us?

And not just to sustain us, but things that we

can enjoy, right? Paul says that in 1 Timothy

6, 17, that God richly provides us with everything

to enjoy. To enjoy. We're going to enjoy tacos

later. Right? We get to enjoy these things. And

so when we sit down at the table, anytime we

do, we enjoy his good gifts, we should give thanks

in our hearts. If not verbally, at least in our

hearts, right? At least something that at the

table we acknowledge that this sustenance didn't

just fall out of the sky. It's been provided

by our good God. And when we get to sit down

and eat together as a body, as we're gonna do

after this service, every time we do this, friends,

it should be a special time. We should see, I

know tacos are fun, I know the fellowship would

be great, but see it as something bigger and

more sacred than just that. It should be special.

Not just any lunch, but a time to remember the

past 19 years. 19 years that we've enjoyed together

as a church family. When you eat today, honor

God for his faithfulness. With rejoicing and

with gladness and celebration. You know, I was

thinking about the miracle of Oak Hill is not

anywhere in the same category as the miracle

that took place in the book of Esther, but it's

still a miracle. Trust me, it is a miracle, right?

All you guys, some of you guys are OGs. You've

been around here since day one. You know, it's

a miracle that God has sustained us for 19 years.

Again, setting up and breaking down the hard

work of local church, it's a miracle. So let's

celebrate it. Finally, you should know that at

least part of what we're going to do today is

rehearsing for the next stage of life in the

millennial kingdom and beyond. Our lunch today

anticipates this much greater time of feasting

and worship that we find in Revelation chapter

Revelation 19 · chapter mention

19. Remember, the angel says to John, write this

down. Write this down. This is important. He

says, blessed are those who are invited to the

marriage supper of the Lamb. That's our future.

That's where the bride of Christ will come together.

We will sit down and feast. We will celebrate

this sacred union with our Savior, and we will

join with a multitude of saints from every nation,

every tribe, every tongue, and we will all worship

the Lamb with great joy and with gladness. So

we see that happening in Esther. We get to do

it today, but man, there's something so much

greater coming. There's also a future messianic

banquet in the final dispensation of history,

the millennial kingdom. We read from Isaiah 25

in our call to worship this morning where God

promises that there will be a great feast in

a very specific place. He says in Jerusalem on

Mount Zion where God promised on this mountain,

it says, the Lord of hosts will make for all

people a feast of rich food, a feast of well

-aged wine. I'm just going to leave that there.

And what's amazing about this, as God's people

are swallowing this rich food, Isaiah tells us

God will swallow up death forever for those at

this feast. Swallow up death, wipe away every

tear, and remove the reproach of his people.

Thank you. And this is what... How often when

we celebrate communion, we read what was said

in the upper room where Jesus says, take this

cup and share it among yourselves. For I say

to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the

vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.

We're going to sit down with the king and share

this cup with him. What a day of celebration.

In Matthew 8, Jesus talked about many will come

from the east and from the west and will recline

at the table alongside Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Jews. Yeah. Yeah. So our current festival celebrations

in the present, you know what they are? They're

appetizers. They're just appetizers that are

pointing us towards this incredibly fully Fully

satisfying entree this to come when our king

returns and sits with us at his table. But until

then, in the here and now, we feast and we rejoice

and we're glad. And let's do that well together

today. But most of all, let's fix our eyes on

Christ, our great high priest and our king. Amen?

Amen. Let's bow our heads. Father, what a joy

to finish the book of Esther. And Lord, I confess

to you as I have in the past that there have

been times I was frustrated with it and I wanted

it to say more than it says and then I rebuked

myself for that. And I praise you for exactly

the way it's laid out and praise you for that,

God, and for the truths that are embedded in

there and the things, God, that your spirit has

shown us in this study. Lord, we praise you for

all of it. Even if it's been hard on us, we praise

you for it. And we praise you for your sovereignty

and for your faithfulness to these characters

who are imperfect, just like we are. It reminds

us that you're at work in our lives, even during

those times when we are just going through the

motions of life and not abiding with you as we

should, that you are still working together for

our good. So thank you, Jesus. And thank you

for a chance to celebrate. and rejoice with gladness

today. And over the tacos we'll eat later, Lord,

make it a sacred moment for us as we celebrate

your goodness to us. Thank you for this gathering

today. We, with one heart and with one voice,

praise you. In Jesus' name, amen.