Divine Timing | Esther 5:1 - 6:14

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Hey, everybody, welcome to The Bible Guys. Today is Friday. Man.

We are in the Book of Esther and the queen

is about to risk it all for the people she loves.

Esther chapter five.

This is the moment in the Book of Esther, and

it is intense, and we're all wondering what's going to happen?

Talking about intense, Chris, Oh, yeah, we've been trying to

figure out how to amp up the roll in on

our show. Yeah.

Sure, we don't have a jingle.

So we're trying to put together a theme song and

this has been kind of fun. We've been going back

to old TV shows yeah and the like from our childhood, yes,

and singing theme songs.

Yes, well, we haven't been singing them.

I yeah. So I typed in and asked chet Gpt

to help me write a theme song for The Bible Guys,

a show about two guys who like to talk about

the Bible and fun of practical ways, and I wanted

to write the theme song to the tune of the

Brady Bunch the Brady. But and this is what it

gave us, and I think it's pretty amazing. So if

you'd sing it, because you're the singer on this show, yeah, whatever,

and so let's have it. Oh, Chris, here we go.

I hope I can get this right. Yeah, yeah, well

I don't know. I'm not word about the two. It's

the fitting of the words. Yeah, look at you. See

you're the singer.

You can do it. It's not me. You can do it. No, no, no, no,

this is your moment. All right, here we go, shine shine,

maybe for such a time as this.

Oh, here it is.

Okay, here we go.

Here's a story of two Bible buddies who were reading

through the Word most every day. One was funny, one

was thoughtful and steady, and they had a lot to

say that. It's the story of a deeper mission to

explore the truth and laugh along the way. And the

spirit brought them both into a podcast and they were listening.

Today that we're listening to.

Yeah, I messed it up. See that's what I was

worried about.

Okay, there we go, And the spirit brought them both

into what podcast that we're listening to day down here

goes ready, from the lions to the walls of Old Jericho,

from the prophets to the crossing empty grave. They break

it down with wisdom, wit and laughter, learning how the

Word still saves the Bible guys down, the Bible guys down.

That's the way we.

Became the Bible guys. That's it. That's awesome. Chris, there

it is. You are so awesome. No, I think that

should be a GPT. Oh that that feels like the one.

That Bible guys.

The Bible guys literally from the from the seventies. It

might have been from the sixties. I think it's seventies,

early seventies. My guess is seventy one.

Oh, that's so funny.

When was the first episode to The Bretty Bunch aired?

Oh? Really, it didn't come up and do it? You're

gonna do that.

I'm working thing well, talking about.

Trouble with the connection. Let's try again later. Yeah, Okay,

what is your what does she call you? Have we

talked about that lately?

No, not really, let's try it. Hey, sirih what's my name?

It's Chris Sarba.

Oh I didn't I didn't do it.

Oh, she's getting rebellious. See that's what happened.

Vash Hey, Siri, what have I asked you to call me?

Calling kings arba mobile? Okay, he knows to call you

kings Arba. Remember Vashti lost her job over.

This disrespect me. I'm ready to decree I'm banishing.

Okay, well, talking about being in trouble with the king.

Oh there it is, yeah, yes, is where we're at.

And we're in chapter five, and here's what it says.

On the third day of the fast, Remember Mordecai and

all the other Jews in Susa, and then Esther and

her handmaids are all fasting and praying for three days,

three nights. On the third day of the fast, Esther

put on her royal robes and entered the inner court

of the palace, just across from the King's hall. The

King was sitting on his royal throne facing the entrance

when he saw Queen Esther standing there in the inner court.

He welcomed her and held out the gold scepter to her.

So Esther approached and touched the end of the scepter.

Then the king asked her, what do you want, Queen Esther,

what is your request? I will give it to you,

even if it is half the kingdom.

Okay, wow, yeah, then he ben She caught him in

a really good mood. The favor of God.

Right there, sixty three provinces or something like that.

And by the way, the first episode of the Brady

Bench was nineteen sixty nine.

I couldn't stand it.

I had to look it up. Okay, there you go,

all right, So now you know what do you want,

Queen Esther, what is your request? I will give it

to you, even if it is half the kingdom. And

Esther replied, if it pleased the King, let the King

and Haman or Haymen Hamon come today to a banquet

I have prepared for the king. The King turned to

his attendants and said, tell Hayman to come quickly to

a banquet as Esther has requested. So the King and

Haman went to Esther's banquet, and while they were drinking wine,

the King said to Esther, now tell me what you

really want. What is request. I'll give it to you,

even if it's half the kingdom. Esther replied, this is

my request and deepest wish. If I have found favor

with the King, and if it pleases the King to

grant my request and do what I ask. Please come

with Hayman tomorrow to the banquet I will prepare for you,

and then I'll explain what this is all about. Haman

was a happy man as he left a banquet, But

when he saw Mordecai sitting at the palace gate, not

standing up or trembling nervously before him, Hayman became furious. However,

he restained himself and went home. Then Hayman gathered together

his friends and Zeresh, his wife, and boasted them about

his great wealth and his many children. He bragged about

the honors the king had given him and how he

had been promoted over all the other nobles and officials.

Then Hayman added, and that's not all. Queen Esther invited

only me and the King himself to the banquet she

had prepared for us, and she has invited me to

dine with her and the King again tomorrow. Then he added,

but this is all worth nothing as long as they

see Mordecai, the Jew, just sitting there at the palace gate.

So Hayman's wife, Zeresh, and all his friends suggested set

up a sharpened pole that stands seventy feet tall seventy

five feet tall in the morning, asked the king to

impale Mordechai on it. When this is done, you can

go on your merry way to the banquet with the King.

This pleased Hayman, and he ordered the pole set up.

That night, the king had trouble sleeping, so he ordered

then a tenant to bring the book of the history

of his reign so it could be read to him.

In those records he discovered an account of how Mordechai

had exposed the plot of Bigthana and Terrish, two of

the eunuchs who guarded the door to the king's private quarters,

and they had plotted assassinate King Xerxes re ward or recognition.

Do we ever give Mordecai for this, the king asked.

His attendants replied, nothing has been done for him. Who

is that in the outer court? The king inquired, As

it happened to Hemi had just arrived in the outer

court of the palace to ask King to impale Mordecai

on the polly prepared. So the attendants replied to the King,

Haman is out in the court. Bring him in. The

king ordered, so Hamen came in and the King said,

what should I do to honor a man who truly

pleases me? Haman thought to himself, home, would the king

wish to honor more than me? So replied, if the

King wishes to honor someone, he should bring out one

of the king's own royal robes, as well as a

horse that the king himself has ridden, one with a

royal emblem on his head. And let the robes and

the horse be handed over to one of the king's

most noble officials. And let him see that the man

whom the king wishes to honor is dressed in the

king's robes and led through the city square on the

king's horse. Have the official shout as they go, this

is what the king does for someone who he wishes

to honor. Excellent, the king said to Haman, quick, take

the robes and my horse, and do just as you

have said for Mordecai, the jew who sits at the

gate of the palace. Leave out nothing you've suggested. So

Haman took the robes and put them on Mordecai, placed

him on the king's own horse, and let him through

the city square. Shouted this is what the king does

for someone. He was just to honor.

Unbelievable.

Afterward, Mordecai returned to the palace gate, but Haman hurried home,

dejected and completely humiliated. When Haman told his wife Zeresh

and all his friends what had happened, his wise advisers

and his wife said, since Mordecai, this man who has

humiliated you, is of Jewish birth, you will never succeed

in your plans against him. It will be fatal to

continue opposing him. While they were still talking, the king's

eunuchs arrived and quickly took Haman to the bank.

What Esther had prepared, Oh man, so chapters five and six,

and guess what they are building and building and building.

It is an unbelievable thing.

And I love how chapter six begins and says that

night the king had trouble sleeping, so he ordered a

lieutenant to bring him every book of history of his

reign so can be read to him. And those recordings

he discovered an account how Mordechai exposed the plot of assassination. So,

in other words, get what I'm saying, is this is

that God somehow?

Uh?

And it doesn't say so, It does not say so.

But I have to believe that this is a reflection

of everything that we've ever read in the Old Testament.

Remember how like God hardened Pharaoh's heart with Moses. Remember,

and then you know, and then and and all of

a sudden, you know, the mood can be changed by

the influence of God, the God of Egypt. When Joseph

was stood before him, uh, you know, he was troubled

because of a dream. Right, I'm sorry, what did I say,

the God, the God of Egypt? Right, exactly, So, the

Pharaoh of Egypt was troubled because of a dream.

So so Esther walks in front.

Of the king in chapter five, and not only is

she worried about losing her life, but then the opposite

extreme happens.

I have to believe that's the favor of God.

It doesn't say it doesn't say so, right, but I

have to believe that'sying.

Yes God, yesdays and three nights, and it is at

the end of that time. Yes, these things begin to unfold.

And then all of a sudden, we have the seventy

five foot poll that's going to be set up that

Hayman's wanted to impale Mordecai on, and all of a sudden, coincidentally,

quote unquote, the king has trouble sleeping, right, and then

in somehow some way he orders history records to be read,

and then coincidentally they read about Mordecai, and he goes,

we need to honor this man.

I forgot, Yeah that happened. I need to honor this man.

So all of this is orchestrated by God right behind

the scenes. And who would have ever thought that it

would play out this way?

Right, Yeah, And Hayman's like, he goes home, Hey, I

have the most kids, and I've got the most money

and so much influence. I'm so powerful. He's dumping his

chest and from his family, he said, but I'm never

going to be happy as long as that one guy

right right never bows down me.

Well, he says, all of this is nothing.

It's nothing, right, Yeah, He's the most powerful, second most

powerful man in the world, in the world, and he's

like pouting over the fact that this one guy doesn't

show him respect and it means nothing to me. All

the rest is just horrible. I might as well just

not even go outside anymore. Right, He's just pitching a

fit about this, And so they ask, he asks us,

so what should I do, what should I do about it?

And they're like, set up a pole right and have

him executed. Man, that's going to be so awesome. Seventy

five feet high. That must have been on a wall somewhere,

or on a top of a building, very prominent, very high.

He wanted everybody to see Mordecai suffer.

Oh yeah, what a horrible way. Seven a half stories.

Yeah, isn't that crazy?

Yeah, it had to have been. Yeah.

And by the way, because he's the second most powerful

man in the world, he could do whatever he wants.

So let me read this note. This may be the

most powerful note we've read in the Lectification Bible for

a while. Oh yeah, it was at first. For verse nine,

hatred and bitterness are like weeds with long roots that

grow in the heart and corrupt all of life. Haman

was so consumed with hatred toward Mordecai that he could

not even enjoy the honor of being invited the Ester's party.

Hebrews twelve fifteen warns us to watch out that no

poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.

Don't let hatred and its resulting bitterness build up in

your heart. Like Cayman, you will find it backfiring against

you if the mere mention of someone's name provokes you

to anger, confess your bitterness is sin. Ignoring bitterness, hiding

it from others, or making superficial changes in behavior is

not enough. If bitterness isn't completely removed, it will grow back,

making matters worse. Yeah, that's what that Hebrews Versus talk about,

that root of bitterness.

Yes, and by the way, that is a uh, that's

a practical tell. If you mention somebody's name and then

immediately feel anger or hatred, that's a problem.

Yeah, you still have bitterness and it's going to catch up.

It's going to kill you. Yeah. So Hebrews says it's

like a root and it's a poisonous route, and it

grows down and then the vine grows up and kills

the tree. And we were in Costa Rica a number

of years ago, and they took us to this place

where these vines were everywhere through the trees. But then

they showed us how the vines will interact and totally

wrap around a tree, and then they begin to grow together.

And what happens is the vines push all their leaves

up above to the top of the canopy and then

spread their leaves over top of the trees and kill

all the trees. And then the vines aren't strong enough

to make it to the top of the canopy by themselves,

they have to climb the tree. Then they completely surround

the tree. And so there were trees that five of

me and you could not hold hands and reach all

the way around. That weren't the actual trees. They were

the vines that had grown together and killed the dead tree.

And we walked inside of a tree that was as

big as this room multiple times where the tree was

completely dead and it was this vine.

It was like a hollow tree.

Yeah. Yeah, the tree was gone. It was just those

giant vines that had grown together and had ripped place

the tree once was. Yeah, but one of the guides

that we were with, he took me over and he

showed me. He said, this is the beginning of that,

and he just pulled one of those little vines out

of the ground. He said that one won't kill this tree. Right.

It was just it was just as easy as pulling

it out of the ground. But if you let it go,

it eventually completely replaced who you really are, right, that's it.

Right Now, I've got some wild grape vines. I have

some woods on the back of my yard, and I

have some wild grape vines that are growing up, and

that they're doing the same thing. They're growing up to

the top and starting to build camping. So I had

to go out and cut them all. I got my

chainsaw out and cut them all out. We've been hauling

them out of the trees. And because that little root,

it's easy when it's little to get rid of it,

and yet it seems so important to us. It's the

only thing you think of. He had all the advantage

of the most powerful man in the kingdom, who wasn't

the king right, he had everything, but that little root

winds up costing him everything.

So before I go on about the hilarity of Hayman

having to do this for Mordecai, we got to get

to that.

Yeah, God has a great sense of humor.

Yes, So let's go back to the idea of of

the bitterness you were talking about. Don't want to brush

that off. You know, God says that bitterness and forgiveness, right,

letting go of bitterness, which is forgiveness is not for the.

Other person's for us.

Right, So all all Hayman would have had to have

done is, you know, decide to not hang out a

bitterness to Mordecai. And guess what that would have affected?

Who more than anybody else? What affected Hayman? Right, Hayman

is so plagued by bitterness that he can't enjoy anything

in life. Even even as he's bragging, and even as

he's listing everything that he's listing, he's saying, I can't.

Enjoy because a bitterness.

And if you had to let go, to let go of.

Bitterness, then then he could have, you know, obviously enjoyed

everything he just talked about. And and so all that

to say, bitterness is the thing that we need to

get rid of because it hurts us. We think it's

hurting the other person, but it's actually us who suffers.

So that's why Jesus says it's a command to forgive,

because it's not for the other person, it's for you.

Right when you forgive, you're the only one that benefits.

Yeah, right, I mean obviously the other person benefits of

you know, I'll be on the receiving end of forgiveness.

But the person that's affected the most is you, right,

because you're letting go of your bitterness and hatred.

You're right, yep, right, that's really powerful. Yep.

So let's get back to this.

I'll say one more thing. Yeah, for me, you know,

and I've told my store before, so a lot of

abuse and difficulty in my early childhood. God rescued my

mom and I from that, but I dealt with abandonment

and a lot of those memories for many, many years.

And I think that the forgiveness for me, the discovery

of what real forgiveness was, because always felt like forgiveness

meant you're kind of saying, Okay, it doesn't matter, and

it does matter. It breaks God's heart, right when people

abuse people or whatever, that's not it. It's when you

finally come to the point where you know, Romans chapter

twelve says, don't pay back evil for evil, pay back

evil with good because God says Vengeance's mind says the Lord,

I will repay, right. And that was the day when

when I had to confront you know, my father this way.

I realized on that day I did not need to

be the judge and executioner and so all I did

was say, okay, God, you repay him, not me, right.

And on that day, it wasn't that I said it

was okay. It was that I was okay with God

being the judge, not me right. And Buddy, I'm telling you,

I felt completely free from that point on, where when

you just release your right to prosecute and you go okay,

you do it, and you know, God did his.

Thing because because that's what God asks of us. Yeah,

for him to be the.

Judge, right, let me be the judge.

Yeah.

And when you that's the I think that God requires

forgiveness from us. It's not that I have to say

it's okay. It's not that I have to decide we're

going to have this extensive friendship or relationship or give

access none of those things. It's just God, I'm not

in control. You are. You bring the judgment necessary, and

I'm going to go on with my life. I'm not

gonna think about it anymore. I'm going to you know,

so those things come up. I think about those things,

but I'm not trying to figure out how to maneuver

and manipulate, Whereas in my mind I'd always thought, you know,

he broke my mom's nose three times, he broke her

jaw twice, he broke her ribs, He ran us over

the car. He did so many horrible things. And I

always thought, if I ever meet him, I'm going to

beat him up. And then the day because I went

from eight years old to forty something years old before

I met him again, and the day I opened up

the door, I was thinking I'm going to beat him up.

I opened up the door and it was an old man. Yeah,

and God just washed over me and go, you're not

the judge, and this isn't any of your business, right,

So I just kind of let it go over those

next couple of days. It was a big one. So

that's a big thing anyways. Yeah, So that might be

the message for you today is bitterness is a root

and it's poisonous and it will consume you and you

won't even be the same person if you let it go.

Or you've got to say, Okay, God, you're the one

that's in control. I'm trusting you. Yeah, and maybe the

judge not me.

And it's a pretty tall order for somebody who's hung

on to bitterness for years.

Yep, right, I mean.

Because the offenses are life changing in most cases, right,

people hang on to bitterness for ten years in most cases,

unless you're just a petty person, it's because this person

has offended you and affected your life in a very

great way. And so I know people very very very

very close to me who you know here. It is

years and years later they can't even say a name

of somebody without feeling complete anger.

Yeah, but it is possible, It is possible. Free from that. Yes,

when you finally realize, you're not saying it's okay, you're

just saying God's the judge and executioner.

That's great, that's great. Okay, So let's shift over to take.

This is one of the best things man. God is

so funny. Yes, And so Hayman comes walking into the

courtyard just as the king is like, what have we

done for Mordecai? Nothing? I should send somebody, go do

something good. Who's out in the courtyard right now, Mordecai

is hey, Mordecai, ham Hey, Haymen come in. Yeah, it's

so funny.

I love how Haman puts together the most extravagant display

of honor, thinking that it's for himself.

Oh yeah, it's for me, Who else would he want

him honor me? Oh, you should give him a robe,

rig put him on your horse, have a noble leading

through and shout, hey, everybody, this is what the king

does for the people who do good for him.

Yes, and then he says, he says, leave nothing out,

nothing out, So Haymond has to do it.

So here he is. Can you even imagine? Can you

even imagine the person that you were planning on killing.

You're like, this is gonna be great. I'm gonna put

this guy in a poll. Instead, you find yourself walked

through the city and you're you're the one leading the horse, right,

so the second most powerful command. So I have to

believe that that Mordecai probably sees this as a super natural.

Turn of events in the world.

How in the world did we go from this to that?

And in fact, in fact, he was honored in such

a way that even Haman's wife said, you're gonna have

a problem.

Going up against this guy, right. So his wife's even saying, like,

do you realize what you have done to yourself?

Right?

You've let him, You've let him.

Through the streets, and you've honored him in such a

way that if now your petty.

You know, genocide order goes through.

You're never gonna be able to take Mordecai down because

now what you've done.

Right, She's like, hey, we should back off, right, we should.

This is not a good thing.

Right, Yeah, that's an incredible thing.

I love it, man. This is one of the best

best turns of events in the whole Bible. What a surprise,

because I mean, we're all the way into chapter six

before this happens. There's no way this was going to

happen in chapter three or four. Yeah, you know, as

we're reading through, this is just bad news. This genocidal

maniac now is out there. This is what the king

does for someone he wishes to honor, all right, dragging

a horse through the streets.

I have to believe that even the people who've watched

the Veggietails and know the story didn't quite understand all

the details like this right right, right, Like they didn't

quite understand it. Really.

You think some of the details got left out in

a vegetail show. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah for sure.

But by the way, those are the best. You remember

Larry City songs with Larry part of the show, Will

Larry comes out and sings a city song.

Right.

Sorry, but anyway, all that to say like this is

an epic epic unfolding. And so because today's Friday, we

have to wait until Monday in order to pick up

with the story.

So people are gonna have a cliffhanger.

Who knows, big time cliffhanger.

Yes, but it turns.

Out I wonder how it turns out.

Well, it's gonna be epic.

Yeah, you're gonna be glad you turned back in. That's right,

that's right, don't miss it.

So hopefully we will see you then next time on

the Bubba guys.

H