The Spirit of Amalek | Esther 2:19-3:6

All right, as of today, we are four weeks into

our series in the book of Esther, and if you're

one of those returning students, you may need

to go online and listen to some of the past couple

of weeks worth of messages that will help to

bring you up to speed, but we are four weeks

in, and we are moving fast. As I've shared in

recent weeks, this is one of those books that

moves quickly. It jumps from scene to scene.

It jumps from crisis to crisis, and in some places,

we're gonna see this soon, it jumps years ahead

in advance. But what the author is doing throughout

the book of Esther is leading us toward a really

important conclusion about the way he operates

behind the scenes in our world, how he defends

his people, how he sustains us, how he guides

his people, even when, and we should be thankful

for this, even when we're not as obedient as

we should be. And perhaps you've noticed something

already in the first two chapters of the book.

It's subtle, but it's sitting there in the back

of the text. There is a spiritual war going on

in the book of Esther between two kingdoms. Adam

just talked about it, the kingdom of darkness

and the kingdom of light. On the one side, you

have Persia, the dominant empire on the earth

in that day, and you have a ruler in Xerxes who

we're told rules over the entire known world,

127 provinces, it said, from India to Ethiopia.

And Xerxes claims ownership over all the power

and all the wealth in his domain. He issues sovereign

decrees that cannot be challenged in any way.

In fact, we read this a few weeks ago. And we

sort of went through it quickly, but it's important

to listen to the language we hear. This is chapter

Isaiah 1:4

1, verse 4. We're told of Xerxes, are you ready

for this? Royal glory. His great majesty. And

I'm convinced that those terms are used to grab

the attention of the reader to help us understand

the arrogance of kings like Xerxes. Men who claim

for themselves things that belong to God alone.

Glory and majesty. The Persian kingdom is obviously

visible and tangible. It puts its wealth and

opulence on display for human beings to marvel

at. It loudly proclaims how magnificent it is.

And in contrast, from the standpoint of human

senses, the kingdom of God is the opposite. It

is silent and invisible, operating behind the

scenes. Both kingdoms make ultimate claims on

their citizens. Xerxes over his Persian subjects,

Yahweh over his elect children. Both kingdoms

claim the power to declare their decrees and

laws to be binding and immutable. Both rulers

possess the power of wrath. We also saw this

in chapter 1, verse 12. It talked about Xerxes'

wrath. And the word there in the Hebrew is hemah,

the same word that's found in many Old Testament

passages and used almost exclusively to speak

of God's wrath. So the challenge is being laid

before us. This king of Persia claims for himself

glory. and sovereignty and law -giving and wrath.

And yet, and this is another subtle part of the

story we've already seen, but it's there, this

boastful king is actually quite self -deceived.

He's not nearly as powerful as he thinks he is.

Remember, first he struggles just to get his

own queen in his own palace to obey his commands.

It's one thing to say, oh, I have 127 provinces.

What about your own palace? He can't make that

happen. And then when he wants to make a ruling

about her rebellion, what does he do? He has

to turn to his legal counselors for advice. That's

very different than Yahweh. In the kingdom of

God, Yahweh governs in ways that he can move

the hearts and minds of any human being on earth,

including kings. And Yahweh is all -powerful.

He's all -knowing. He has no equal. And so, therefore,

he has no need of any counselor or advice. So

this is the contrast that the author of Esther

is setting up for the reader right from the get

-go. It is the contrast between the highly visible

but ultimately fragile kingdom of Persia versus

the kingdom of God, which silently and effectively

accomplishes everything that Yahweh wants it

to accomplish. And then we have our main characters.

And they each, Mordecai and Esther, have a foot

in both of those two kingdoms, right? On the

one hand, they're trying to hide their Jewish

identity from those in power. Even though they

can't escape it, at the core of who they are,

they are Jews. That is the core of who they are

in terms of identity. But on the other hand,

they're obviously trying to find a way to become

successful in diaspora living there in Persia.

So they've got one foot in Susa. and one foot

through their ancestors still in the land of

Judah. Now today we're going to dip our toes

into chapter 3, and we're going to find a massive

development take place. So far, Mordecai and

Esther have done a pretty good job navigating

the culture that they're living in, albeit with

some spiritual compromise. We saw that last week.

But in today's passage, the kingdom of Persia

is going to become openly hostile. toward the

kingdom of God and its citizens. We're about

to be introduced to Xerxes' chief vizier, his

right -hand man, as we might call him today,

a uniquely vicious man who has historical roots

that go back to a unique people who are the sworn

enemy of the Jews. And no longer are we going

to be talking about, oh, well, there's cultural

differences here. Now we're talking about genocide.

We're talking about the darkness of the Persian

kingdom about to be exposed. So grab your Bibles.

And we're going to dive into it. Let's go to

Esther chapter 2. Esther chapter 2. We left off

Esther 2 · chapter mention Esther 2 · chapter mention

at verse 18 last Sunday, but we're going to back

up to verse 17. We'll start reading from the

point where Esther is chosen as queen to replace

Vashti. And again, for those of you returning

from break. You might need to go back and listen

to the first three messages. It'll be super helpful.

By the way, I know for some of you, I'm just

going to, we're going to put something on the

table here this morning. For some of you, last

week's message was really hard. It was really

hard. Because we talked about the sin and the

compromise of both Mordecai and Esther. Got some

really good feedback from a bunch of you guys.

I love getting feedback. Got a few objections

from people too, which is fine. And then there

was the thread that appeared on Church Center.

If you didn't see it, it's this. So thanks to

Josh C. for the best meme of 2025. Well done.

Listen, we have to remember that even our greatest

biblical heroes were sinners that fall short

of the glory of God, right? It's true of all

of them. Abraham, right? The sin of Abraham,

Jacob, David, both Peter and Paul. Right? All

of them had serious sin in their life, and that

is true of the women in the Bible as well. You

have Sarah, and you have Leah, and Rachel, and

yes, Esther, she is one of us. She is in need

of grace, right? And even though each of those

women I just mentioned, I know, because one of

the objections was, well, they live under a patriarchal

system. I understand that, but that doesn't mean

we take away the agency of women, right? Because

they live in that difficult situation. You know,

we don't take away their responsibility before

a holy God. So as we go through the narrative

of Esther, we're going to keep calling out sin

where it's appropriate, and also we're going

to keep calling out where we see Esther begin

to grow in her courage and her faith. As we say

in the sports world, we're going to call balls

and strikes as we see them, based on the text

that we have before us. Amen? Okay, verse 17.

I'm going to take that off the screen. Yeah.

This is too funny. Verse 17, the king loved Esther

more than all the women, and she found favor

and kindness with him more than all the virgins.

Now, last week we noted that this seems to be

one of two things that Esther had going for her.

First of all, the Lord had gifted her with exquisite

beauty. But secondly, there was something about

her character. probably developed in her upbringing,

maybe even through the suffering of losing both

of her parents, that brought about in her a measure

of humility and a measure of submissiveness.

And the combination of those two things, external

and internal attractiveness, caused her to find

favor among all the people that she comes into

contact with, whether it's the chief eunuch in

the harem or the king himself. If you were an

outside observer, you might look at Esther and

say, man, that girl has a natural charm about

her. She's pretty inside, she's pretty outside.

And clearly, Xerxes thought the same thing, right?

The verse continues. So that he, the king, set

the royal crown on her head and made her queen

instead of Vashti. Now, poor Vashti. Historically,

we have no firm evidence of what happened to

her when she was replaced. There are some sort

of fictional tales within rabbinical, you know,

the Talmud and stuff, but we have no good historical

evidence about what happened to her. Imagine

the scene now. We have a Jewish queen in Persia.

Now, that hasn't been disclosed yet, but we have

a Jewish queen in Persia. Verse 18. Then the

king gave a great banquet, Esther's banquet,

for all his princes and his servants. He also

made a holiday for the provinces and gave gifts

according to the king's bounty. So he spoils

his new queen. Now, on to the passage for today,

verse 19. So she's going to continue to be submissive

to Mordecai's wisdom as her older cousin, even

as queen of Persia. So this is basically a reset

of the situation. Mordecai is operating in some

official capacity in the royal court. He is sitting

at the king's gate. Remember this image we put

up a couple weeks ago? This is a recreation of

what the palace at Susa would have looked like

based on archaeology. And that gate there at

the front is where Mordecai would be sitting.

That is the security gate that runs from the

palace to the king's gate. Remember, that is

the place where business was often transacted

or legal matters were dealt with. So we're reminded

that here in this passage that Esther is Jewish,

but she's kept it quiet, following the instructions

of Mordecai, who has some good reason. It's unstated,

but must have some good reason why they should

hide their ethnic background. But note the word

yet in verse 20. Esther had not yet. made known

her identity as a Jew. Soon that's going to have

to come to the surface. We're going to see that

take place. Now in verses 21 to 23, we're given

a very short but important historical anecdote

that takes place once Esther becomes queen. Verse

21, in those days while Mordecai was sitting

at the king's gate, Bigthon and Teresh, two of

the king's officials from those who guarded the

door, Guarded the door, became angry, and sought

to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. So these two

guys are part of the king's security team at

the king's gate there. And listen, for any ruler

in history, there's nothing more dangerous than

when your security turns against you because

they protect you. History is replete with stories

of kings and emperors being assassinated by their

own bodyguards. Philip of Macedon, Alexander's

father, was killed by his bodyguards. Caligula

was killed by his. In fact, the Roman Praetorian

Guard is well known. They grew so powerful as

a unit that if they came to distrust or lose

favor with the particular emperor, they would

just take care of the problem by assassinating

him. And as a reminder, historically, at this

point in the story, Xerxes is about 14 years

away. from being assassinated himself by a man

named Artabanus who was one of his chief officials.

So this fits right in line with the history of

the time. Verse 22, but the plot became known

to Mordecai and he told Queen Esther and Esther

informed the king in Mordecai's name. Now the

narrative here is so brief that we're not told

how Mordecai discovered the plot. And did he

overhear a conversation he wasn't supposed to

hear? Did he watch these two guys whispering

in the corners of the gate over and over again

and sort of get suspicious? I'm actually wondering,

is it possible that they approached him to see

if he might be a part of this conspiracy? Whatever

the manner, though, God sovereignly has Mordecai

in the right place at the right time to save

the king's life for God's purposes. And keep

this in mind as well. Mordecai had to know that

by saving the king, he was probably saving Esther

as well. Because again, most assassinations,

when an empress is killed, they kill his entire

family, which would have included Esther. And

even if they just killed the king, it's likely

the next king would reject Esther as queen. So

Mordecai realizes by saving the king, he's saving

his own cousin. But he saves a day and he allows

Esther to be the conduit. for reporting the plot.

And you can imagine that would have endeared

Esther to the king more than ever because she

now is the one who's able to go in and say, hey,

my older cousin found this out. Verse 23, now

when the plot was investigated and found to be

so, they were both hanged on a gallows and it

was written in the book of the Chronicles in

the king's presence. So Mordecai's name, the

names of the would -be assassins are written

down in the annals of the king. And by the way,

that was something that was huge in the ancient

Near East. If you know anything about archaeology

and all these sites that we find throughout the

Middle East, oftentimes we dig up these books

that are called annals and they record all the

events and accomplishments in the lives of these

kings. And so again, another really interesting

historical tidbit in the narrative. And so Big

Thon and Teresh were publicly executed as a warning

to others. Now, there's a bit of interpretive

work being done in the word gallows here in verse

23. The word there in Hebrew for gallows is actually

just the standard word for tree. But because

these men were hung on a tree, the English translators,

they think, well, we understand what being hung

looks like on a tree. It probably was a platform

with a noose around their neck. But that actually

doesn't line up well with what we know about

how the Persians did things. It's likely these

two men were killed in a much more gruesome fashion.

They were probably impaled on a stake. Ooh. Impalement

in the Achaemenid dynasty was well documented,

both in Persian and Greek sources. And Darius,

Xerxes' father, was famous for executing... traitors

in this way. In fact, they were proud of this

method of execution. They actually carved it

on their palace walls. There you go. You find

this carved on their own palace walls. You see

how they always, on the left, how they portray

themselves as kings and then their enemies being

impaled on stakes on the walls. You can imagine

the deterrent effect this would have had on everybody

living in Susa to see these bodies hanging on

these stakes. And looking at that image, it helps

us maybe become more empathetic to Mordecai,

to put on his ancient sandals and to think, you

know, maybe I shouldn't tell everybody I'm a

Jew. Because who can I really trust? I don't

want to end up like this. Does that make sense?

Okay, let's go over to chapter 3 now. As we do,

I want you to stop and consider the situation

that Mordecai and Esther find themselves in.

Life in the Jewish diaspora was looking pretty

good at that moment. Think about this. One of

their own was now queen of Persia, and one of

their own had just saved the king's life and

was certain to be rewarded for that. So if you

think humanly, this is about as secure as life

in exile could be for Jewish people. But as every

Jew even today will tell you, Things can change

very, very quickly. Very quickly. And that's

about to happen. Verse 1, chapter 3. After these

events, okay, so after the events of the plot,

here comes this surprising new development. King

Ahasuerus promoted Haman, the son of Hamadathah,

the Agagite, and advanced him and established

his authority over all the princes who were with

him. Now, this is surprising for this reason.

In a typical narrative like this, we would think

the previous story would bleed into this one,

that the guy getting promoted would be Mordecai.

After all, he just saved the king's life, right?

But instead, we're told about this man, Haman.

And we'll just call him Haman. That's fine, because

that's the way we sort of pronounce his name

in the English. Haman seems to appear out of

nowhere, and he's given this super high position,

higher than all the princes we just heard about.

In chapters one and two, right? Essentially,

he makes Haman his, in that culture, we call

the chief vizier, his right -hand man. He becomes

the second most powerful man in the entire Persian

Empire. So with Haman, we now have our four main

characters. And if you've missed this, I've been

putting these pictures up just so you can sort

of imagine maybe what some of these folks look

like. We have King Xerxes, we have Mordecai,

and we have Esther. And now... We have Haman.

Oh, yes. Right? Okay. I mean. Okay, so who is

this man? Haman the Agagite. Well, his name comes

from a Persian word, Hamayun, which means, get

this, illustrious or magnificent. And today we

know he's anything but that. In fact, throughout

the rest of the book, in this chapter, chapter

7, 8, and 9, he is going to be described with

these chilling words, Haman, the enemy of the

Jews. And the reason for that is found in his

ethnic and national background as an Agagite.

Now, for you Old Testament scholars, does the

name Agag ring a bell? You may know the story,

right? Agag, the king of the Amalekites. And

we mostly know his name from a chapter, 1 Samuel

15. It's a familiar story to many of us. Once

we dive in, it'll probably stir your mind. But

before we get there, to understand that story,

we first have to go all the way back to the book

of Exodus. Did you all listen to Kenny read the

call to worship this morning? Good. We've got

to go back to that passage in Exodus 17 to fully

understand what's happening in Esther. So let

me just summarize this story for you just a bit.

This story takes place after Moses leads the

Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. Remember,

Pharaoh lets them go, and Moses sets out for

the promised land of Canaan with the entire nation

behind him. And remember, it says God himself

is leading the people in a pillar of cloud during

the day and a pillar of fire at night. And they

miraculously escape, Pharaoh changing his mind

and charging at them at the Red Sea. They escape

that. Then they journey into the wilderness of

Shur. Later into the wilderness of Sin. They

struggle to find drinkable water. And as they

go on, they start to grumble about a lack of

food as well. And the Lord meets all of their

needs. He provides drinkable water. And he provides

quail and manna for them to eat. And then we

come to Exodus 17. And this is where the passage

becomes important. The entire nation of Israel

now is camped at a place called Rephidim. It's

about one day's march away from Mount Sinai where

Moses is going to go up on the mountain and meet

with Yahweh. Now think about this. Up until that

point, the Israelites had not fought an enemy

in a combat sense. Remember? It was the Lord

himself who rescued them at the edge of the Red

Sea. But now they're about to face a new threat,

and this time they're going to have to pick up

weapons and defend themselves. And the threat

comes from this semi -nomadic tribe known as

the Amalekites. And they are named for their

descendants of a man named Amalek, who was the

grandson of Esau. Dun, dun, dun, right? So look,

all of these folks in these stories, they're

all kissing cousins, aren't they, in some way.

They're related to each other in some way. So

the Amalekites are actually genealogically linked

to Israel, but they're on the enemy side of the

Jacob -Esau divide. The Amalekites were known

to live on the edges of agricultural society.

They weren't big on building their own settlements.

What they liked to do was raid and plunder other

people groups. And in Exodus 17, they launched

this unprovoked attack on the Israelites, and

Moses and Joshua have to spring into action.

Remember the story? Moses climbs a nearby hill,

and he takes with him God's staff. And he looks

down on the battlefield. Joshua leads the Israelites

into combat. And the text says when Moses held

up the staff, Israel would prevail. But whenever

he got weary and his arms dropped, the Amalekites

would prevail. And the whole point of that was

the staff represented the power and the presence

of Yahweh. And so Aaron, his brother, and a man

named Hur go up and they hold his arms up. And

they prop him up so that... His arms will continue

to stay up, ensuring Israel's victory. And following

the battle, God instructs Moses to document the

event in this way. And this is important for

our study in Esther. This is what Moses should

say. Write down on a scroll as a reminder and

recite it to Joshua. I, the Lord, will completely

blot out the memory of Amalek under heaven. God

was particularly offended by this attack. And

this begins an ongoing biblical theme of hostility

between Israel and Amalek. Chapter 17 ends this

way. The Lord will be at war with Amalek from

generation to generation. This is going to continue.

Now, this account. It's very short. You heard

Kenny read it this morning, just nine verses.

But later on in Deuteronomy 25, we get more details

about that particular attack and about the cowardly

nature of the Amalekite people. Here's what it

says in Deuteronomy 25. Remember what the Amalekites

did to you on the journey after you left Egypt.

They met you along the way and attacked all your

stragglers from behind when you were tired and

weary. They did not fear God. So this group of

people targeted the weakest members of the caravan

of the Israelites, those who were lagging behind.

And they didn't do it because they were defending

their lands. They did it simply to raid and to

kill and to plunder. So this is what Moses says

to the people then almost 40 years later as they

stood now on the outskirts of the promised land.

Moses says, when the Lord your God gives you

rest from all the enemies around you in the land

the Lord your God is giving to you to possess

as an inheritance, here's what I want you to

do. Blot out the memory of Amalek under heaven.

Do not forget. If you have any Jewish friend

or family and they know their history, they know

that verse. Do not forget. That echoes down through

the centuries. Do not forget what Amalek has

done. And rabbinic sources since that time have

portrayed that name as an expression of pure

and irrational hatred for the Jewish people,

a cruel and irrational anti -Semitism that has

endured across the generations. In fact, some

of you guys may know this. When Hamas blasted

their way out of Gaza and attacked southern Israel

on October 7, 2023, all the comparisons to Amalek

became obvious. That attack on October 7th was

not limited to just a military operation. What

did Hamas do? They went after the most defenseless

members of the Jewish community. They went to

an open -air music festival where there were

no weapons, and they slaughtered and they raped

and they killed. They attacked families living

by nearby kibbutzes, butchering men and raping.

and beheading women and children. And so it felt

very much like the Amalekite attack. And almost

immediately, Prime Minister Netanyahu explicitly

mentioned that name in multiple press conferences.

He quoted from Deuteronomy 25, said, do not forget

what Amalek has done. So this still lingers even

today. Now, let's get to our story of Agog. Fast

forward about 350 years from the days of Moses.

to the monarchy of Israel, to the time when Saul

is being crowned king over Israel. And who is

it that crowns Saul? The prophet Samuel. So when

you open up 1 Samuel 15, I'm going to put it

on the screen. Here's what it says, 1 Samuel

15. Samuel told Saul, the Lord sent me to anoint

you as king over his people Israel. Now, listen

to the words of the Lord. By the way, when a

prophet says that, you should listen. This is

what the Lord of armies says. I witnessed what

the Amalekites did to the Israelites when they

opposed them along the way as they were coming

out of Egypt. Now, Saul, go and attack the Amalekites

and completely destroy everything they have.

Do not spare them. As harsh as that might sound

to our modern ears, Yahweh is fully just. in

punishing this utterly wicked people. He wants

none to survive to continue in their sin. He

wants them scraped from the earth. No mercy is

to be given, no spoils of battle were to be taken.

And so the text tells us Saul puts together an

army of more than 200 ,000 men and he sets an

ambush for the Amalekites in a wadi or a valley

outside their camp. And Yahweh gives Saul his

great victory in battle. Not only did they overwhelm

the Amalekite army and put them to the sword,

but they capture the king of the Amalekites,

whose name is? Say it, Agag. Agag. Now remember,

what was the command from God? Completely destroy

this people. Do not spare them. What does Saul

do? He does not annihilate them entirely. Survivors.

happen. He thought it would be advantageous to

have the Amalekite king in his hands, a little

toy to play with. So he spared his life. Oh,

and he kept all of the best of the livestock

as well. So Saul directly disobeys the Lord's

instructions for his own selfish reasons. And

for that, God is going to reject him and remove

him as king. That's for another day. Here's the

point for our story in Esther. Because Saul would

not obey, Samuel the prophet has to take matters

into his own hands. He calls for King Agag to

be brought into his presence, and then Samuel

delivers what I think is the coldest line in

the entire Bible. He says to Agag, it is up there,

as your sword has made women childless, so your

mother will be childless among women. And the

next verse says, then Samuel hacked Agag to pieces

before the Lord. Now, here comes Haman. Haman

the Agagite, a surviving descendant of Amalek.

And adding to the intrigue, do you remember how

we talked about Mordecai's lineage two Sundays

ago? Both Mordecai and King Saul have a descendant

in common. An ancestor, I should say. It's Kish,

the Benjamite. So in this spiritual battle that's

now revolving around Xerxes and Esther in 479

BC, you have the renewal of this conflict between

Saul and Agag, now being waged by Mordecai and

his brand new boss, Haman. Everything comes full

circle. And look at what's expected of Mordecai

now. Go back to verse 2 in our text, Esther 3,

Esther 3:2

verse 2. All the king's servants who were at

the king's gate Bowed down and paid homage to

Haman, for so the king had commanded concerning

him. Ah, but Mordecai neither bowed down nor

paid homage. Can you understand why? Now, I'm

going to resist commenting on the morality of

that further this morning. That is going to be

the subject of next week's message. And it's

perfect for Family Worship Sunday. This is a

great message. Parents, great message for your

kids. Don't miss this. Mordecai refuses to bow

down. Good thing or not? Ah, stay tuned. Okay,

that's the tease. Did you catch that pregnant

pause there? Be good for us. Good for adults,

good for kids. Okay, verse 3. Then the king's

servants who were at the king's gate said to

Mordecai, why are you transgressing or disobeying

the king's command? Now it was when they had

spoken daily to him and he would not listen to

them that they told Haman to see whether Mordecai's

reason would stand. And here's the key now. For

he, Mordecai, had told them, his fellow officials,

what? That he was a Jew. Uh -oh. Words out. So

the other men at the king's gate, who I'm guessing

Mordecai thought had become friends of his, they

noticed that, you know, dude, why do you have

a problem with Haman? What's going on there?

And it seems that they wanted to warn him, this

is not going to end well, but Mordecai's mind

was made up. I will not bow to that man. And

it seems that he told his fellow officials the

reason. He's like, look, I'm a Jew, and I'm not

going to bow down to an Agagite. I'm not going

to do it. And so these weasels, these rats, run

to Haman to see, hey, boss, is this a legitimate

reason not to bow down to you? Now, up until

this point, we don't think Haman's even noticed

this, but now he does. And guess what? This doesn't

end well. Verse 5. When Haman saw that Mordecai

neither bowed down nor paid homage to him, Haman

was filled with rage. Of course he was. This

is a fragile guy. This guy's ego, right? This

is a personal insult. It's an affront to his

ego. And now he recognizes this isn't actually

an attack upon my own ethnic identity. He gets

it. Verse 6. All of the Jews, the people of Mordecai,

who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus.

Instantly, so Haman has this, it's not just a

personal response in mind. He knows, hey, look,

I can handle Mordecai anytime I want to. I want

more than this. I want historical vengeance.

I want to annihilate this old enemy. By the way,

historians have looked at the numbers here. It's

likely at this point there's about 750 ,000 Jews.

living in the Persian Empire. So that's three

quarters of a million Jews about to face what?

Being rounded up, put to death for no other reason

other than their ethnic and religious identity.

Does that sound historically familiar? The old

hostilities had resurfaced and the ancient spiritual

battle between the kingdoms of this world and

the kingdom of God was about to spill out right

there in the citadel of Susa. and Esther is caught

in the middle of it. And it all goes back to

Exodus 17. The Lord will be at war with Amalek

from generation to generation. So we're going

to wrap up our message today by talking about

how this same ancient truth is spilling out today,

how it's affecting our culture, even here in

America, the spirit of Amalek, anti -Semitism

all around the world and in our country. So on

every page of human history, you will find men

like Haman. Men who are moving up in the ranks

of power, but secretly they're filled with this

deadly combination of ambition and wickedness

and hate. And one of the threads that runs consistently

through human history is an incredibly unique

hatred for this one people group. This one people

that Yahweh set his eye upon 4 ,000 years ago.

Moses describes God's particular love for Israel

as they're gathered outside the promised land

in Deuteronomy 7, and it's worth looking at the

language here so that you understand the depth

of God's love for his people Israel. Here's what

it says. You are a holy people belonging to the

Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you

to be his own possession out of all the peoples

on the face of the earth. The Lord had his heart

set on you and chose you, not because you were

more numerous than all peoples, for you were

the fewest of all peoples, but because the Lord

loved you and kept the oath he swore to your

ancestors. He brought you out with a strong hand

and redeemed you from the place of slavery, from

the power of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Know that

the Lord your God is God, the faithful God. who

keeps his gracious covenant loyalty for how long?

A thousand generations with those who love him

and keep his commands. But, listen carefully

now, he directly pays back and destroys those

who hate him. He will not hesitate to pay back

directly the one who hates him. A strong language

about God's love for his people. Now, you recognize

some of these faces, don't you? Haman, Antiochus

Epiphanes, Adolf Hitler, Yasser Arafat, Louis

Farrakhan, Yahya Sinwar, all archetypes of genocidal

Jew hatred. Century after century, anti -Semitism

has risen its ugly head in nearly every single

place that the Jews have tried to lay their heads.

Whether that's all throughout the Middle East,

whether it's North Africa, whether it's Europe

as well, the history is unmistakable. Think about

this, crusader mobs, crusaders with crosses on

their shields, attacking Jewish communities all

across Europe as they head towards the Holy Land,

raping, slaughtering, forcing conversions among

Jewish people. Jews routinely labeled by so -called

Christians as Christ killers. Medieval accusations

of blood libel, the absurd claim that Jews capture

and murder Christian children for their own ritual

purposes. During the Black Death of the 14th

century, Jews accused of being the ones who caused

the plague by poisoning the water system, sparking

torture and executions by villagers who didn't

know better, living in fear. And you think about

all these stories, and that's just, I mean, I'm

just touching the surface of it. Is it any wonder

that evangelism is nearly impossible among Jews

who understand their own history? Is it any wonder

that when Jews even today in Israel hear the

name of Christ, the images they conjure up are

despicable? Since the 7th century then with the

rise of Islam, Jews have been targeted by Muslim

societies as well in every place in the world

that the Muslims have conquered. Forced legal

discrimination, social segregation, forced Islamic

conversions, sporadic massacres, and over the

past 100 years, the expulsion of nearly a million

Jews from places that they are indigenous to

in the Middle East. A million Jews taken away,

just pushed out of those lands. As an example,

75 years ago, the population of Jews in Iraq

was 150 ,000. Today, it's a few dozen. The Jewish

population in Egypt today is less than 20. Same

in Syria and Lebanon. Why? Because it's too dangerous

for them. They live constantly under the threat

of Islamic retaliation. So where have they gone?

Well, most of them have trickled into Israel.

It's the only place left in the Middle East where

they can live in safety. supposedly until one

of the 17 neighboring Islamic countries commits

to fulfilling its fantasy of a Palestine from

the river to the sea, and they start lobbing

missiles, and they start trying to attack the

land, which they've tried to do in 1948, 1956,

1967, 1973, 1987, 2000, and 2023. That's the

history. Now, sadly, anti -Semitism is on the

rise again in 2025, and it's not just among Muslims.

It's among Western countries as well. Now, part

of that is due to the war that's going on right

now and the fact that Israel is losing the media

propaganda war. They're trying to eradicate Hamas

from the territory of Gaza to try to get their

hostages back. It's an almost impossible war

to win, both combat -wise and in the media. But

for me, the saddest development right now goes

beyond just what's happening in the West. The

spirit of Amalek, anti -Israel, anti -Jewish

sentiment is growing within the church again.

Covenant theology, amillennialism among some

of our brothers and sisters has in some cases

morphed into extreme cases of what we call replacement

theology where it's claimed that all of God's

promises In both the Old and New Testaments have

now been given to the church and that Israel

has been completely and forever rejected by Yahweh.

That's becoming so common in the church today.

And so there's this massive spiritual battle

going on over eschatology and the future of the

Jewish people. And it's raging all over Christian

Twitter and Christian YouTube and in churches

even in our own backyard. A lot of it is born

out of our country's current temperature about,

hey, we should just pull out of all foreign wars,

and I understand that. I get the whole idea that

we want peace, that we don't want to send our

own kids into battles. But a lot of it's born

out of that we just need to get out of Israel,

even if they get wiped out by the neighboring

Islamic countries. Far too much of it is coming

from conspiracy theorists, theories that are

being pushed by monetized personalities on social

media, Twitter, and YouTube. And so my warning

this morning to all of us is to make sure that

we're careful. Do not be influenced by the loudest

and most controversial voices that you hear out

there. But instead, in every case, when you hear

something, check the facts. Make sure there's

clear evidence for what you're hearing, not just

a tantalizing opinion, because there are many

out there. We all know, right? If you're on YouTube

or Twitter, the things that you can hear. Are

you listening? Are you discerning? Are you not

just ingesting that as facts without looking

for real evidence? Because, guys, the misinformation,

the just plain bad history, it is everywhere

today. So here's how I'm going to wrap up. Since

I've been asked this question countless times

by you guys. By the way, I'm really glad that

you asked questions rather than, you know. just

go off onto YouTube and spend a day and a half

trying to figure it out for yourselves. Most

of this stems from a ridiculous podcast confrontation

that took place about a month ago between Tucker

Carlson, who recently has revealed a deep -seated

hatred for Israel, and Senator Ted Cruz, who

has a well -meaning but poorly informed understanding

of the scriptures. Some of you guys know exactly

what I'm talking about. You can look it up for

yourselves. Many of you asked me about it. Here's

the thing. The current spirit of Amalek keeps

posing a few questions as a way to divide the

church and to foster hatred of Israel and the

Jews inside the church. And here are the three

questions. I'm going to give you really short

answers, but this can be really good in sort

of fodder for future conversation and debate.

Number one, are the Jews God's chosen people

today? That is being asked at every quarter of

the church right now. Number two, are those in

the modern nation state of Israel the same Jews

as those in the Old Testament? And number three,

must we as Christians unconditionally support

Israel lest we be cursed by God according to

Genesis 12? We should know answers to these questions

because they're being asked a lot today. So I'm

gonna give you about short seven, eight minute

answers to those questions. Adam's already looking

at me going, this should be a whole sermon, I

know. If you wanna talk more about it, Get on

my Calendly page. We can have a FaceTime or a

phone conversation. If you want to debate me

on it, love it. These are good conversations.

So the answer to the first question depends on

definitions. And this is so important, guys.

What do you mean by the word chosen? And in what

context? Okay? Clearly, Israel was chosen by

God. We literally read that just now in Deuteronomy

7. We say, the Lord your God has, what? Chosen

you. To be his own possession. The Lord has.

had his heart set on you and chose you. That

is not in dispute. But having said that, in this

context, we have to be really careful with our

definitions. Does chosen mean the same thing

as saved? Does chosen mean the same thing as

elect? Paul is very clear about this in Romans

9. Not all Israel is Israel, correct? In other

words, physical descent as an Israelite or a

Jew does not save anybody. Salvation is a matter

of circumcision of the heart, not of the flesh.

In all times, it is only by grace that anyone

is saved, Jew or Gentile, through faith and that

not of ourselves. It is an unmerited gift of

God. Amen? So Israel was chosen by God in the

past, and they remain greatly loved by God as

a nation and a people today. Paul was very clear

about that as well. And guys, go home and read

Romans 11. Read it three times. Here's what he

says in Romans 11. From the standpoint of God's

choice, the Jews are beloved for the sake of

the patriarchs. That's Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Listen now, for the gifts and the calling of

God on the Jews' lives are what? Irrevocable.

God will not revoke those promises that he's

given to Israel. But Paul also relays this important

truth to us in that same chapter. He says, I

do not want you to be uninformed of this mystery,

he says. that a partial hardening has come upon

Israel until the full number of the Gentiles

has come into the kingdom. That's right now.

So God's ultimate plan for the Jews is irrevocable,

but for a time, their hearts have been hardened

while the gospel goes out to the Gentile nations.

And so today in what Luke calls the time of the

Gentiles, under the new covenant, the chosen

people of God in a salvific sense are those who

are found in Christ. Let me say that again. Today,

in what Luke calls the time of the Gentiles,

under the new covenant, the chosen people of

God, in a salvific sense, are those who are found

in Christ. They are true believers, both Jew

and Gentile, who are a part of the invisible

universal apostolic church. Now, here's the big

question. And by the way, a lot of covenant theology

guys, a lot of amillennialists will agree with

that statement. But here's the key. Does the

fact that Christians today are God's chosen people,

does that nullify his plans and intentions towards

Israel? Absolutely not. Because the gifts and

the calling of God are irrevocable. Friends,

there are many, many promises in the Old Testament

given to the Jews which remain unfulfilled. And

unless you want to make God a liar, or a deceiver

in his promises, we would do well to look to

the future and anticipate that God is going to

faithfully fulfill every single one of them to

his people Israel. Rather than write off the

Jews and say, ah, they rejected the Messiah,

they don't matter anymore. That is a terrible,

terrible mistake to make. Okay, answer number

two. This is easier and shorter. Yes, the vast

majority of Israelis who live in the modern nation

state of Israel have Jewish blood and Jewish

DNA that go back many generations to those who

are scattered all over the region. Survey after

survey has proven that fact. Yes, they are Jews.

In addition to that, we have to remember that

the land of Israel matters to God. How many times

in our series in the Psalms did we see that God

has a passion for Zion? He loves Zion. The land

matters. And don't forget that in Genesis 17,

God told Abraham that all of the land of Canaan

would be for him and his descendants, what? An

everlasting possession. Everlasting. Will not

be revoked. It's a possession given to the descendants

of Abraham. And I don't think the Lord, and this

is maybe the objection you would get. Some would

say, well then, the land of Israel has been given

to the church. Really? I don't know any Christian

that's claiming that, that we should all get

up from Los Angeles and move to our land that

belongs to us. That land is for Israel. Always

has been, always will be. By the way, it's the

place where Christ is going to return someday.

Zechariah prophesies his feet will stand on the

Mount of Olives. And the expectation of Scripture

is that on that day, when his feet are on the

Mount of Olives, there will be an unbelieving

nation called Israel in the land. And they will

collectively, according to Zechariah, look upon

the one whom they have pierced, and they will

mourn for him as one mourns for an only son.

And when that happens, Paul says in Romans 11,

all of Israel will be saved. When the deliverer

comes from Zion and removes ungodliness from

Jacob. That is the future plan that God has for

the Jewish people in the land, and it will be

glorious, but, big but, it comes through tribulation.

Great tribulation. Final answer to number three.

No, as Christians, we dare not support Israel

unconditionally. That's not how we make decisions

because we're never called upon to support wicked

things and the Israeli government sometimes does

wicked things as every single government, including

our own, does wicked things. Do we unconditionally

support any president? I hope not. Because all

governments do wicked things. So we need to be

discerning. Now, is it wise to generally support

Israel in a geopolitical way? Of course. They're

the closest thing to a democracy in that neighborhood

of the Middle East. And all of their Islamic

enemies that they're at war with, they're our

enemies too. So that makes sense generally. But

be reminded, and I don't know how many times

I've said this from this pulpit, Israel today

is a disbelieving nation. It is not believing

Israel. Less than 2 % of Israelis have trusted

in their own Messiah. So we cannot unconditionally

support what an unbelieving government like that

does. Just unconditionally say, well, whatever

they want to do, we approve of it. No, no, no,

that's not how we operate as Christians. Amen?

Friends, do not let the spirit of Amalek, the

spirit of Haman, infect your thinking. in these

difficult days. There is a lot of confusion out

there. So if you have to, turn off the podcast.

Be discerning. Go back to Scripture. Look at

some of these chapters I've mentioned today.

If you need more, I can give you plenty. Go back

to Scripture. Turn off the noise. And may the

Lord bless your studies as you seek what is true

and what is good. Amen? Let's bow our heads.

Father, heavy subject for this morning, but we

know something that is so important to you, so

much your heart for the way you're operating

in this world, Lord. As a mostly Gentile church,

Lord, we are so grateful that we have been grafted

into the great olive tree of Israel, and you've

saved us, and you've broken off branches in order

to save us, and we are... We don't always understand

why you would do that, Lord, but we're grateful

that we're here and that we know you and we know

your son. But Lord, help us to be humble about

that. As Paul says in Romans 11, not to be arrogant

towards those branches that were broken off.

Help us to submit our minds and our hearts to

what you say in scripture about this time of

the Gentiles where we've been brought into the

kingdom, not because of anything good in us,

but because of your mercy. And Lord, help us

have a right perspective on the end times to

look to see what your plan is to bring your people

Israel back front and center in your plan. It's

a mystery to us, Lord. We don't understand it

all, but we trust you because we know that you're

a faithful God who both makes promises and fulfills

promises. So Lord, work in our hearts, sear these

truths, help us to process well, even when we

process with each other over difficult subjects

and be glorified in our conversations. We love

you and we praise you in Jesus' name. Amen.