STUDIES IN ESTHERBy Glenn Pease

CONTENTS

1. PROVIDENCE IN THE WORLD Based on Esther 1:1-9

2. PROVIDENCE THROUGH WOMEN Based on Esther 1:10-22

3. THE PARADOX OF PLEASURE Based on Esther 2:1-4

4. FATHER AND DAUGHTER Based on Esther 2:5-11

5. THE POWER OF BEAUTY Based on Esther 2:5-18

6. THE IMPACT OF INFLUENCE Based on Esther 2:15-23

7. THE PARADOX OF PATRIOTISM Based on Esther 2:19-3:6

8. COINCIDENCE OR PROVIDENCE? Based on Esther 6:1-11

9. THE HUMOR OF HISTORY Based on Esther 9:20-28

10. PROVIDENCE IN AMERICAN HISTORY Esther 10:1-3

1. PROVIDENCE IN THE WORLD Based on Esther 1:1-9

Time magazine covered the extravagance of the Shaw Of Iran

back in 1971. It was the 2500th year anniversary of the founding of

the Persian Empire by Cyrus the Great. Nine kings and five queens

were there, along with princes and princesses, and 16 presidents. It

was a high class elegant affair that cost $100,000 dollars. As

extravagant as it was, however, it could not hold a candle to the

banquet thrown by his predecessor many centuries early. Esther

begins with an account of possibly the greatest most plush banquet

of all time. It will probably never be excelled until the redeemed

enter into the marriage supper of the Lamb.

King Ahasurus, better known as King Xerxes, had a banquet for

all of his princes, military leaders, and political leaders. It lasted for

180 days, or one half of a year. Now that is what you call a party, it

was a six months smorgasbord. Then he topped that off with a

seven day banquet for all the people in the capital city of Susa.

Xerxes, like most absolute rulers, could be very cruel, but you can be

sure of one thing, nobody ever called him a party pooper. The one

thing wealthy people have in common is a love for parties. This is

their way of revealing their wealth and status. Mrs. Cornelious

Vanderbuilt use to spend three hundred thousand a year on

entertainment.

Scholars are convinced that Xerxes is trying to make a big

impression. He has an ambition to conquer the Greeks, and rule,

not just most of the world, but all of the world. This half-year

banquet was to get all of his leaders together to persuade them to

cooperate, and plan the strategy. Verse 4 stresses that Xerxes

paraded his riches and glory before them, and you get the

impression it is like may day in Russia, when all of the big rockets,

tanks, and other weapons are paraded before the leaders, in order to

build the ego, and say to all, look at how great and powerful we are.

You can be sure that everyone was impressed with the power and

glory of Xerxes. He had wealth beyond our imagination, and we will

never see as much gold as he had until we look down as we walk the

streets of the heavenly city.

There is no point in trying to describe the splendor of his

kingdom. The point we need to see is that the story of Esther takes

place in an environment of pleasure and treasure without measure.

Almost the entire book takes place in the palace of the king. It is in

the midst of glory that we see only in fairy tales. Esther, the Jewish

girl, was a mere nobody, and she was exalted into this atmosphere of

elegant royalty. It is a true Cinderella story. It is important that we

see the environment in which the story takes place. That is the only

way you will be able to grasp why things in this book seem to be

acceptable that would be totally unacceptable in any other context,

for both Jews and Christians.

Martin Luther never could enter into the context of Esther, and

see it from the perspective of ancient Eastern royalty. The result is,

he despised the book of Esther, and felt it was immoral, and ought

not to be in the Bible. You don't have to like what went on in the

palace of king Xerxes, but the fact is we can learn a lot of relevant

truth about God's working in history by taking advantage of this

behind the scenes peek. We are privileged to get an inside view of

what is happening in the palace that affects the people of the whole

world. We get to follow God into the most exclusive setting, and see

how He providentially works behind closed doors in the decision

making centers of world governments. Just to be aware that God

works in such ways is a valuable revelation that can change your

world view.

The first thing the book of Esther does for us is it forces us to

broaden our perspective on the sphere of God's working. God is not

limited to Israel. He is not limited to His chosen people. God is the

God of the whole world, and His providence works even in the

pagan world. Mal. 1:5 says, "Great is the Lord, even beyond the

borders of Israel." In

verse 11 God says, "My name will be great among the nations, from

the rising to the setting of the sun." Esther brings us into a Persian

setting, where we see the whole history of God's people bound up in

what happens in Persia. God did not start working in Persia just

because Esther and the Jews were there. He had been providentially

working in and through the Persians from the start of their

kingdom.

Cyrus the Great conquered the Medes and the united them with

the Persians to form the Medo-Persian Empire. He was a master

strategist who figured out ways to conquer the unconquerable.

Mounted Lydian spearmen blocked the road of his forward march.

It was like a man with a bebe gun going against a tank. But he sent

his baggage camels in front of his lines, and the sight of these beasts

frightened the Lydian horses, and they ran off in disorder, and

Cyrus marched on to victory.

When Cyrus marched into Babylon, and made it a part of the

Persian Empire in 539 B.C., he had some reason for pride. He got a

bit heavy on the titles, however, when he proclaimed, "I am Cyrus,

king of the universe, great king, mighty king, king of Babylon,

king of Sumer and Akkad, king of the world." That just about

covered it. He was the richest most powerful man in the world, and

he was a pagan. So we write him off as of no value to the purpose of

God in history-right? Wrong! He played a major role in God's

plan, and that is the point we want to stress, for if we limit God in

the sphere of His providence in history, we fail to see Him as the

God of all history, and all people, even the pagan people's of the

world. There is only one God, and He is the God of all, whether they

know it or not.

In the case of Cyrus, the Bible is so clear in its revelation that we

cannot miss it. 22 times the Old Testament refers to Cyrus the

Great, and everyone of them is positive. Some are so positive as to be

shocking. Daniel served under Cyrus, and his successor, Darius,

and he was greatly blessed. Darius was the Persian king who had

him thrown into the lion's den, and who was so grateful that Daniel

was spared. The Persians played a major part in God's plan for

Israel. God said of Cyrus the Great in Isa. 44:28, "He is my

shepherd and He shall fulfill all my purpose." God used this great

pagan ruler to get his people back into the promise land. He sent

them back, and he paid for the rebuilding of God's temple in

Jerusalem. He also sent back with them all the treasures that had

been carried away in Babylon.

God used him like he was an Abraham, Moses, or a Joshua. But

the fact is, he did not even know the God of Israel who was using

him. Isa. 45:1 says, "Thus says the Lord to His anointed, to Cyrus,

whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him,

and ungird the loins of kings, to open doors before him that gates

may not be closed: I will go before you and level mountains, I will

break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut asunder the bars of

iron..." After other promises of guidance, God says, "I call you by

your name, I surname you, though you do not know me."

Now I don't want to go on studying Cryus, for it could take a full

message just to look at the text dealing with this man's role in God's

plan. I share this brief glimpse so we can see the close

interrelationship of Persia and the people of God. They were

intertwined from the beginning. The book of Esther is just one

chapter in the context of their interrelationship. Here again it is the

king of Persia who is the power who will either destroy or deliver

the Jews. They will perish or prosper depending upon his choices.

So we see God again working behind the scenes to lead this king to

fulfill His purpose in history.

Do not think that God does not work in the pagan governments of

the world. Do not put God in a box by thinking that pagan leaders

will never do anything good in the world, and never make decisions

to further the cause of God in the world. This is not only narrow

thinking, it is anti-Biblical. God never did pull out of Persia. When

we come to the New Testament, the very first people to receive the

message of the Messiah's birth were the three wisemen, or the Magi

of Persia. John Chrysostom, the great golden mouthed preacher of

the fourth century, wrote, "The Incarnate Word on coming to the

world gave to the Persians, in the persons of the Magi, the first

manifestation of his mercy and light-so that the Jews themselves

learned from the mouths of Persians of the birth of their Messiah."

St. Thomas brought the Gospel to Persia, and there has been a

continuous history of Jewish and Christian influence in Persia. We

cannot cover this whole history, but let me share some highlights, for

it relates to what we see God doing in Esther. Esther is just a peek

into a vast world of God's providence. It cannot all be a part of

Scripture, or the world could not contain the acts of God in history.

The point I want to make is that God has been working in Persia

from its beginning, and we will know many people in heaven who

came to Christ in Persia. In the third century many of the famous

doctors of Persia were Christians. In 485 A.D., the chief advisors to

the king of Persia was a Christian. Some of the kings of Persia

married Christian women, and so you have other stories like this of

Esther, where a Jew becomes queen of Persia, married to a pagan

king. Christians were among the best educated, and so even when

the Arabs conquered Persia in 632, the Christians continued to get

the key positions in government and institutions of higher learning.

In the 1200's when Marco Polo visited Persia he found a

flourishing Christians community. The Christians had become the

favored minority over the Muslim majority. There is much more

that is positive, but we need to look at the negative side also, which

explains why Christianity is not a power in Iran today. Iran is, of

course, the modern name of Persia. God's providence is to give His

people a chance to do His will. He does not force them, and if they

chose to disobey they can lose His blessing.

The Christians had it made by their wise living, and they could

have won the whole nation. But when Christians refused to be

Christian, the message of the Gospel does not work. The first

mistake of Christians in Persia was their refusal to use the language

of the masses. They had their Syriac Bible, but would not use the

Arabic, the language of the people. When the Arabs took over, and

used Arabic, the masses became a part of Islam instead of

Christianity. Today the church goes into all the world to give people

the Bible in their own language. Christians have learned from

history, if you don't give people the Bible in their own tongue, you

will not be able to build on a lasting foundation. Persian history is a

perfect example.

Christians were very well educated. They were leaders in the

land. Instead of being loving toward the masses, they mocked their

ignorance, and despised their pagan customs, and deliberately

drank wine on their holy days to show their contempt. You don't

have to know much history to know what is the inevitable result of

such folly. In 1369 Tamberlane, a descendant of Genghiz Khan,

came to power in Persia. He unleashed a reign of terror on

Christians. They were rounded up and murdered, and the churches

were destroyed, and Christianity never recovered from this scourge.

Yes, there will be many in heaven from Persia, but the sad fact is,

there will be many less than there should be, because God's

providence is not the only force in history.

We need to see this side also, lest we be superficial and conclude,

that sense God is providentially working in history, we don't have to

worry about anything. Not so, for man is still responsible for his

decisions and choices, and what he does can make a big difference in

the course of history. Not everything that is, is just how God wants

it. Man is constantly making choices that are foolish. God's people

can get a break and then blow it, and all can be ruined.

Mordecai made this clear to Esther in 4:14 where he warned her

when she toyed with the idea of not getting involved. He said, "For

if you keep silence at such a time as this, relief and deliverance will

rise for the Jews from another quarter, but you and your fathers

house will perish." In other words, Esther still had to make a free

choice to go along with the providence of God. She could have said

no, and blown it, and gone down in history as a famous traitor

rather than a heroine. In all our study of providence, let us never

lose sight of the full responsibility of man to follow and obey the will

of God. If God opens the door, and I do not go through it, I will not

experience the providence of God, and the blessing is lost.

Now, having looked at all this history surrounding and growing

out of the book of Esther, the question is, how is all of this to have an

effect on our lives today? It is to have this effect in us, that we never

write off politics as a sphere where God is not active. No matter

how dirty, corrupt, and scandalous politics can be, it is a key area of

life where God is at work to accomplish His purpose in history. Yes,

government is secular, but that is the point of the book of Esther.

God is active in the secular world. God so loved the world, not just

the church, and His own people. God loved the world, and still does,

and He works in the sphere of that secular world He loves. Esther

has no reference to God, or anything religious. It is a secular story

from beginning to end. It is in the Bible to make it a clear revelation

to all people for all time, God is the God of the secular world as well

as the religious world. Grasping this can change your whole outlook

on life, and make all of life and history more exciting.

Do not ever assume that a non-Christian leader or politician

cannot be a channel of God's purpose in history. To do so is to be

blind to the record of God's actual working. God used the pagan

rulers of all the great empires of world to achieve His plan. The

Babylonians, Persians, Greeks and Romans, everyone of them

played a major role in God's plan, and many of them came to be

true believers in each of these great empires. But whether the

leaders did or not become believers, God used them. He used

Caesar Augustus to make a decree to tax the world. This fulfilled

the prophecy of the Messiah being born in Bethlehem. Pagan kings

and Centurions were constantly playing roles in Paul's life and

ministry. When he ended up in Rome, the pagan authorities gave

him great freedom to teach and preach about Jesus. Without God's

providential leading in the lives of pagan authorities, Paul would not

have gotten to share the Gospel in the capital of the world, and

impact all of world history.

We see it so clearly in Esther, how God used pagans for His

purpose, but it was not new. God has always worked outside of

Israel, for His providence is universal. Moses was one of the

greatest leaders in the history of Israel, but who had a major

influence on his life? It was Jethro, his father-in -law, who was a

priest of Midian. He was not a part of Israel, but Moses married his

daughter, and got to know him well. They became good friends, and

it was Jethro that Moses turned to for advice when the burden of

judging Israel too heavy. In Ex. 18 we read of how Jethro told him

to set up many lower courts with good men to judge, and he would

then be the supreme court where the hardest cases would come.

Moses gave heed, and this outsider changed the course of Israel's

history.

Melchizedek was such a godly priest in Salem that even though he

was a Gentile outside of the people of Israel, he was chosen of God to

be a type of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is called a priest

forever after the order of Melchizedek. He was not called a priest

after Aaron, or after Israel's priesthood, but after the Gentile

Melchizedek. Abraham, the father of Judaism, even paid tithes to

this Gentile priest. God was working in a powerful way outside

Israel.

We tend to focus on men, for men have, all through ancient

history, been the leaders and decision makers. Esther has a balance

of male and female cooperation. It took both Esther and Mordecai

to fulfill the plan of God for Israel. God used both female and male

for the Gentile world as well. Vashti by her refusal to do what was

immoral, set the stage for the whole drama that brought Esther to

the throne. God is an equal opportunity employer in His

providential guidance of history. We will see more of this as we

continue our study.

The queen of Sheba came to visit Solomon, and she was so

impressed by his wealth and wisdom, she became a believer. She

took her faith back to her Gentile land, and only eternity will reveal

how God's providence worked through her, but we will know, for

Jesus said she will be in heaven judging those who refuse to see the

light Christ brought, which was even greater than that of Solomon.

We read in Matt. 12:42, "The queen of the South will arise at the

judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from

the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold,

something greater than Solomon is here."

It is hard for us to grasp that God is working in the lives of

people outside the church. It was hard for Peter to comprehend this

when in Acts 10 God was working in the life of Cornelius, and

Italian Gentile who had never heard the Gospel. God had to use a

vision, and speak to Peter directly, to get him to go to Cornelius.

But finally, Peter became a believer in God's providence in the lives

of those outside the people of God, and he said in Acts 10:34-35,

"Truly I perceive that God shows no partiality, but in every nation

anyone who fears Him and does what is right is acceptable to Him."

Peter became aware that God so loved the world, and so was at

work in all the world to seek and to save.

Jonah not only could not grasp this truth, he hated it. He

expected God to wipe out the pagans of Ninevah. Instead, God used

the message He brought to bring them to repentance, and He had

mercy on them. They were a nation of pagans, and yet God loved

them and spared them. Numerous are the examples of God sparing

pagan peoples. There are no people that God does not care about.

Those who would be truly Christlike must be world conscious

people. There must be a love and concern for all people to truly

fulfill the will of God. Never has this been more true than today

when our world has become so small, that whatever happens to any

people can affect all people. We need to be aware of, and be excited

about the fact that God is providentially working in all the world.

2. PROVIDENCE THROUGH WOMEN Based on Esther 1:10-22

Paul Aurandt tells this fascinating true story that deals with the

paradox of positive rebellion. In April of 1847 it looked as if Mexico

was ready to make peace with the United States. President James

Polk chose Nicholas Trist to go as a peace commissioner. On his

way Trist spoke to reporters and told them too much. President

Polk was upset, and sent a letter to Trist telling him to return. Trist

read the letter and responded by saying he did not want to return.

The President was infuriated, and blasted Trist, but he could not

stop his negotiations with the Mexicans. Today, of course, this could

never happen with our speedy communications, but in 1848 it was a

different story. Trist, with no authority to do so, signed a treaty

with the Mexicans, and brought it back to the U. S. He was

immediately banished from government, and his salary was cut off,

and he was forced to go to work for a railroad to feed his family.

The president and congress accepted the treaty he signed,

however, for it was too good to refuse. It gave the U. S. what is now

all of Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, California, and part of

Wyoming, and Colorado. Not a bad deal for a guy who was actually

fired, and not suppose to even be on the job. It cost him dearly, but

his rebellion gained for the rest of us a large portion of our nation.

You just never know what blessings are going to come out of

what seems to be so negative. Vashti provides us with another

example of this in the first chapter of Esther. She rebels against the

order of her husband, the king of Persia, the most powerful man on

the planet. It cost her dearly to refuse him and rebel, but it was a

major step on the road to Israel's being saved as a nation. If she had

not rebelled and lost her place as queen, and likely even her life,

there would be no way for Esther to come to the throne, where she

was the key to her people's deliverance.

Here is a pagan Persian Queen making a drastic decision that will

change the course of history for God's people. She, of course, does

not even know that she is doing it. Her action has nothing to do with

anyone but herself. The question is, why did she do it? The context

makes it quite clear that she was a victim of stag party morality.

While she and the ladies were having their banquet in a separate

place, the king and his leaders were really living it up. Nobody was

forced to drink, but verse 10 says the king had his share and was

feeling merry with wine. The banquet was in its seventh day, and

there was only one thing left to do before it ended. They had seen

the glory of all that men can make, but men still loves most of all to

see the glory that only God can make-the glory of a beautiful

woman.

Vashti the Queen was a beauty to behold, and the king was

determined that the climax of his six months and one week of

banqueting would be the marching of his lovely wife before this

hoard of bleary-eyed, drunken, and lustful men. From his

perspective at the time, being full of wine, it sounded like his best

idea ever. He later sobered up and regretted his folly, but by then

the damage had been done.

The most powerful argument for abstaining from alcoholic

beverages is the history of man's fool decisions under its influence.

One of the greatest causes of human sorrow in the world is that the

leaders of the world tend to mix alcohol and government. Prov. 31:4

says, "It is not for kings...to drink wine, or for rulers to desire strong

drink lest they drink and forget what the law decrees, and deprive

all the oppressed of their rights. Herodotus, the Greek historian

writes much about the Persians, and tells us that it was their custom

to get drunk when they deliberated on weighty matters, but that

they then reexamined their decisions the next day when they were

sober. Xerxes did not follow this rule in our text,

and many have failed to do so throughout history.

Thank God we do not know how many of the decisions that affect

our lives are made by men whose minds are under the control of

booze. What we do know from history is frightening enough. One

example should be enough to see the potential for the kingdom of

darkness. In 1643 Governor Kieft of the New Netherlands had a

drunken party with his council. They decided it was time to teach

the Indians a lesson. In the dead of night they attacked a sleeping

village, and massacred 80 helpless Indians. This lead to a history of

sorrow and heartache for both whites and Indians that is beyond

calculation. Kieft was the first white man to offer a reward for

Indian scalps, and that is why it became so popular among the

Indians to take white scalps in revenge. That one drunken party led

to hell on earth, and hell forever, for masses of people on both sides.

Satan can offer no better suggestion on how to improve the evils

of leadership than by mixing alcohol and decision making. Yet, it

has been the way of world all through history. To the shame of

Christian nations, the Islamic nations have seen the folly of it, and

have forbidden alcoholic beverages. Alcohol reduces inhibitions,

and men will do under its influence what they would never allow

when sober. Lot was a righteous man, but under the influence of

alcohol he became incestuous with both of his daughters. Noah's

one day of folly was due to his getting drunk. Add up the foolish

acts of otherwise sensible men, and you will discover the great

majority of them are made under the influence of alcohol.

Stonewall Jackson was a strict temperance man, and his example

cause many of his officers to be the same. He was once out in a

drenching rain, and a fellow officer insisted that he take a drink.

"No sir, I cannot do it," he replied. "I tell you I am more afraid of

King alcohol then of all the bullets of the enemy." If more men

feared it, as he did, there would be far fewer tragedies in this life.

Yet men have the audacity to blame God for suffering in this world,

when a large share of it can be clearly traced to man's choice to drug

his brain with alcohol.

I was impressed with the story of a boy in Scotland who was slow,

and so he was the butt of many jokes by his village peers. On one

occasion they were teasing him, and trying to entice him to drinking.

Whereupon, this supposed simpleton responded with true wisdom.

He said, "If the Lord Almighty has given few wits to me, He has at

least given me enough sense to keep the little I have."

Unfortunately, Xerxes was not as wise as this simpleton.

But Vashti was no fool. When she got the order to come over to the

men's banquet, she knew she was being used to satisfy the kings lust

for a new thrill, and she refused. It was either the kings majesty, or

the queens modesty that had to be sacrificed, and so she chose to

defy his request, and, thereby, became the first truly noble person in

the book of Esther. Some even feel she was more noble than Esther.

Morgan, that prince of expositors, cries out, "Let the name of

Vashti be held in everlasting honor for her refusal." The majority

of commentators agree, but some feel it was her duty to obey her

husband regardless of the circumstances. This view would have

some basis if it was an innocent request for her to come and greet his

honored guest. But we know too much about Persian history, and

human nature, to think that is all it was. Herodotus tells of how

some Greeks made the mistake of bringing some of their wives to a

Persian banquet. The Persians kept making sexual advances toward

them even while their husbands were there.

Vashti had her banquet for the women in a separate place from

the men, not just for lack of space, but because the women knew

what the men were like after they had been drinking. Sooner or

later, and usually sooner, a group of men would get around to the

subject of women, and where alcohol is involved you can count on

it, the subject will turn to the immoral. What all this means is that

Vashti was to be the frosting on the cake at this stag party. She was

to march in, and satisfy the lust of this drunken crowd of men, and

she said, "No! I won't do it!" She is the equivalent of the movie star

who is offered fame and fortune for becoming a centerfold, and she

says, "No!" Vashti was a pagan woman, but let us not forget, even

pagans have moral standards, and here is one who lived by hers,

even at great cost. She was the wealthiest and most famous woman

on earth, but she sacrificed it all, and became a nobody, rather than

humiliate herself.

Xerxes and Vashti are prime examples of the fact that riches are

not the key to a good marriage. That key is not riches, but respect.

Xerxes could sleep in a golden bed, and drink from a golden cup, but

that did not make him a good husband. He exhibited the common

danger of all who have wealth and power. He treated people like

possessions, and this included his wife. The records reveal that

many professional men tend to use their wives as show pieces. The

wives soon learn they are not loved for themselves, but for the statis

they bring to their husbands, and the marriage collapses because

women demand to be treated as persons. Thus, we see the paradox

of beauty. A beautiful woman is a delight and a danger. She can be

a blessing or a burden to herself, and to men. Most, if not all, men,

are women watchers, and this is simply a recognition of the

handiwork of God. The problem is that it can be excessive, and go

from looking and appreciating to lusting and aggression.

Faust sold his soul to the devil for the right to have any wish he

desired, and he requested that Helen of Troy, the most beautiful

woman in the world, be reincarnated so he could see her. His

request was granted, and he feasted his eyes on the face that

launched a thousand ships. He sold his soul out of lust for beauty.

That is excessive. We need to keep a sense of balance, however, lest

we knock beauty. Esther became the Queen, and saved her people

because she was unusually beautiful. Beauty can be used for the

purposes of God and good, as well as for the kingdom of darkness

and evil. Beauty is good in itself, but like all good, it can be misused

and abused, and become a tool of evil.

Vashti was Queen because of her beauty, but it was also her

beauty that led to her downfall, for had she not been so beautiful,

she never would have been selected to please the lustful eyes of those

drunken men. The burden of beauty is a paradox that many

women have had to bear. In our culture the beautiful woman is

showered with opportunities. Beauty contests offer them

scholarships, great jobs, much wealth. They can go on to movies,

the stage, and rise to the top. But, the other side is that they face

such pressure to use their beauty for what is immoral. The point is,

the story of Vashti is a story that is repeating itself over and over

again all through history. Non-Christian women are making choices

like she had to everyday. They are choosing self-respect and dignity

rather than conformity to the lust of men.

You can respond by saying, "Big deal!" There are for every

Vashti who says no, hundreds of others to fill in the gap of their

refusal. This is true, but, nevertheless, the refusal of the few can

change the course of history. And that was the case with Vashti.

The few stubborn women who take their stand against impossible

odds are the women who have helped make the women of our day

the most free in history. Vashti was alone against a government

totally dominated by men. Susan B. Anthony grew up in a society

very similar, but she revolted against it, and made a big difference

because of the Christian principles that forced men to modify their

methods.

She was born in 1820 into a Quaker family where women were

treated with respect and equality. Her father went bankrupt, and so

she and her sisters became teachers. For 15 years they taught with

three dollars a week as their top salary. Men teachers were

receiving three times that amount. She decided to draw up a

Declaration of Rights for women, and she presented it to the New

York legislature. She got the signatures of ten thousand women, but

the bill was rejected. She went back to the people and kept

gathering signatures, and kept lecturing across the state. She

covered 54 out of 60 counties, and every time she went to the

legislature she was turned down. Six times she went with her

petitions, and six times she was rejected. Finally, after unbelievable

personal sacrifice, she returned the seventh time, and in 1860 the

New York legislature adopted a bill granting women the right to

own property, and the right to the money they earned, plus other

rights.

The next battle was women's right to vote. She persuaded 15

other brave women to join her, and they marched into the polling

headquarters in Rochester in 1872. She told the election inspectors

they were there to vote. They told her it was illegal. She pulled out

a copy of the U. S. Constitution and said, "Prove it!" They couldn't,

and so she and her three sisters, and other women, voted. The

newspapers splashed the incident across their front pages. It was a

report of what King Xerxes advisers told him. These women had to

be punished, or all women would think they had a right to vote.

Had Susan B. Anthony lived in Persia, she would have gotten no

further than Vashti, but she lived in America, and had the freedom

to express her views. She toured the Midwest and drew large

crowds to her lecture which was titled, Is It A Crime For A U. S.

Citizen To Vote? We don't have time to look at her spectacular

trial, but she won, and went on as president of The National

Women Suffrage Association to prepare the way for the 19th

amendment that gave women the right to vote. By her rebellion she

changed the course of history. She did it, because like Vashti, she

had the courage to say no, and refused to submit to what was not

right.

It is always right for any male or female to resist cooperation

with evil, and God can use that resistance for His purpose of

overcoming evil. Vashti said no to immorality, and God used that,

right along with Mordecai's saying no to idolatry. These two

personal responses of saying no, led to the providential yes of

redemption. Never say, never say no, for words like refusal and

rebellion in the proper context, as we see them in Esther, are not

vices, but virtues.

Xerxes, with all his power, found out he could not order his wife

to do anything he pleased, and get his way. What an enormous

embarrassment. He had just spent 6 months and one week

impressing all the leaders of his Empire. He could conquer the

Greeks and rule the world, but then his wife says no to him. He

can't even conquer one woman. The battle of the sexes is the oldest

war on earth, just because it cannot be won. There can be peace and

reconciliation, but there can be no total victory in this battle,

because both sexes have a higher allegiance than to each other.

Joseph Parker, the great English preacher wrote, "There is a

higher law than even the will of a king than a husband-the law that

gives a woman the right to guard her own modesty when those who

should guard it for her do not. Vashti obeyed that higher law

written by the Creator....and we can think nothing but good of her

in the matter." William Taylor, author of many books, wrote, "No

husband has a right to command his wife to do what is wrong, and

liberty of conscience ought to be as sacred in the home as in the

state."

This act of rebellion by Vashti was a case of civil disobedience to

the government, as well as disobedience to her husband, for he was

also the king, and the absolute law of the land. We see here that

what is true for the authority of a husband and a government are

the same. There authority does not allow them to violate a persons

moral dignity. No earthly authority has the right to command what

is contrary to a persons religious and moral principles. One is

always right to obey God rather than man. This does not mean one

will not suffer consequences for their stand. The head of the house,

or the head of the state may have power beyond your ability to

escape. Such was the case for Vashti, and such is the experience of

millions of Christians.

If you have dreamed of being a queen, and feel that is the highest

goal of life, you are taking your dreams from fairy tales, and not

from history. The average American woman is far more blest, and

richer in true values than most of the queens of history. Narah Lofts

in her book, Queens Of England writes, "I am sure that if all the

Queens the world has ever known would rise from their graves and

give a truthful account of their lives, the majority of their stories

would be on the sorrowful side." Even Esther had to endure

isolation, neglect, and fear for her life. I point this out in order to

emphasize the greater power, freedom, and rights that you have as

American women, then the royalty of the ages have enjoyed. Most

queens would envy you, and gladly traded their castle to have what

you have.

The surprising thing is you have what you have because of the

providence of God in the lives of women like Vashti. She was used

to save Judaism, and this is our heritage as Christians. Before her,

God used other pagan women to keep his program alive. Moses was

saved by an Egyptian princess. She helped make him the mad God

used to change all of history. When we look at the genealogy of

Jesus in Matt. 1, it is surprising that Jesus was not a pure Jew.

Gentile blood flowed in his veins. This means that the blood he shed

for the sins of the world was both Jewish and Gentile blood. Where

did it come from? From pagan women God used to change the

course of history.

One such woman was Rahab the Caananite, also called the

harlot, who aided Israel in taking Jericho. She became a part of the

blood line to the Messiah. After her came Ruth the Moabitess. She

was another Gentile who came into the blood line, so that two of the

four women in the genealogy of Jesus were Gentiles, and one of the

two books of the Bible named after women was a Gentile-Ruth.

When we come to the New Testament we see Jesus dealing with the

Samaritan woman at the well. Samaritans were hated by Jews, but

Jesus loved her and won her, and she became His best evangelist,

and through her many Samaritans were saved.

Jesus could identify with her, for He too was a mixture of Jewish

and Gentile blood, and He was doing in the flesh what He had been

doing all through history, using women, be they rich or poor, pagan

or Jewish, to accomplish His purpose in the world. What women

decide, and what women do, has been, is, and will be, a vital part of

human progress, for history keeps on confirming what the Bible

clearly reveals: God's providence works through women.

3. THE PARADOX OF PLEASURE Based on Esther 2:1-4

Alexander Selkirk was one of those men who always had to learn

the hard way. The records of his church in Scotland show that he

was disciplined several times for causing trouble in the church. In

May of 1703 he said good-bye to all that, and at age 27 went off to

sea. He tried to run things on the ship as he did church, and he got

into a furious argument with the Captain. They were anchored off a

small island four hundred miles from Chile. Alexander got so mad

he packed up his possessions and went ashore. "You don't dare sail

without me," he shouted to the Captain. The Captain was not

impressed with his conviction, and gave the order to sail. Poor

Alexander could not believe it. He thought he was indispensable.

He was wadeing out up to his arm pits pleading for the Captain to

forgive him, but the Captain was as stubborn as he was, and he

sailed away, never to return.

Fortunately for Alexander the island had been inhabited by Jon

Fernandez two centuries earlier, and he had left some goats on the

island. These gave him food and skins. For four years and four

months he depended on them for survival. When he was finally

rescued, he could hardly remember how to talk. When he got back

to England he was a sensation, and several books were written about

him. The most famous was fiction, but it used his experience as a

model. The book was Robinson Crusoe.

That was a tough way to learn to keep his mouth shut. It is so

hard not to do something, or say something foolish or destructive

when you are angry. Even great men often have to learn the hard

way that loss of temper can be costly. Xerxes was the ruler of the

Persian Empire, he could have anything he pleased, but he lost his

wife, whom he truly treasured, because of his anger. Xerxes had a

reputation for losing his temper when he could not have his own

way. He once wanted to cross the waters of the hellespont, but it

was so rough his troops could not build a bridge. He got so angry he

took chains to the water, and he began to flog it. Like most temper

tantrums, it was not very effective.

It is so hard to play God when nature and others will not

cooperate. The water would not stop for him, and his wife would

not start for him, and he blew his stack. And why shouldn't he? He

was the most powerful man in the world, and why should he not get

angry for the same reason the rest of us get angry? Why do we get

angry? Primarily because something or someone has spoiled our

pleasure. We are not different from King Xerxes. He had his heart

set on seeing all his noble leaders gape in envy as he revealed the

beauty of his wife to them. Half the joy of possessing something is in

showing it to those who don't. Vashti had the audacity to rob him of

this pleasure. He blazed with anger within, because she would not

grant his whim.

If you examine your own life, you will discover that most of your

anger is based on the hindrance of your pleasure. You have plans,

and somebody does not cooperate, and the pleasure you hope for is

lost, and you are angry. Children cry most often because they can't

have their own way. Somebody is always hindering them from

having their pleasure. They want to play with the new camera you

just bought, and you insist it is not a toy, and there heart is broken.

They want to run barefoot in a junk infested lot, and you deny them

of their pleasure. On and on goes the list of pleasures a child desires

that are constantly being hindered by parents, who get no pleasure

out of picking up pieces of a two hundred dollar camera, and

rushing to the emergency room for stitches.

What we see then, is that from the beginning, life is a battle to see

whose pleasures are met, and whose are denied. Striving for

pleasure is a far more powerful factor in all of our lives then we

realize. Because we do not examine our lives from the perspective of

the pleasure motive, we look on the events of the book of Esther with

some degree of shock.It is scandalous that every beautiful virgin in

the empire was to be made available to the king, to meet his demand

for pleasure. Keep in mind, he is the most powerful man in the

world. The whole book revolves around his pleasure. What pleases

him determines the life or death of every human being of his time. If

he pleases, whole nations are destroyed,and if he pleases, they are

spared. God's providence had to work through His pleasure motive.

The first two chapters reveal that he was dominated by sensual

pleasure. His party life and sex life established the environment in

which the entire story takes place. Xerxes is no different than the

rulers of that part of the world today. A reporter who traveled to all

of the oil rich Arab countries, and interviewed all of the kings and

sheiks, reported that they lived just like Xerxes did. Wine, women,

and song, and every pleasure man is capable of was a way of life.

Xerxes is said to have offered a reward for anyone who could invent

a new pleasure. This is the challenge today for those who have so

much money they cannot think of any new way of spending it.

The book of Esther is not dealing with something old and

irrelevant, but rather, with a subject so real and relevant to all of us,

but one that we often fail to think about seriously, the subject of

pleasure. Before we get all bent out of shape about Xerxes, and his

lust for pleasure, lets examine our own lives. When we do, we will

discover that we are not so different from this sensual king. The

main difference is that we do not have the power and wealth to

command the pleasures he had, but the difference is really only one

of degree. We too enjoy parties with good things to eat and drink,

and we enjoy beautiful furniture and drapes. We enjoy nice clothes,

and I have seldom heard of a Christian who does not enjoy sexual

pleasure.

The more we examine the Christian life, the more we begin to

realize we are very pleasure oriented. We don't feel the lest guilt for

enjoying the pleasure of music, fellowship, an all that being a part of

the body of Christ involves. Why should we? Jesus enjoyed the

social pleasures of His time. He enjoyed the party, the wedding, the

feasting, the singing, the fun of fishing, and fellowship. So what we

have is, the paradox of pleasure. It is both something we are to crave

and seek and enjoy, and yet it is something that can be so dangerous

that it can quickly lead us to fall, and be out of the will of God.

Pleasure is both a virtue and a vice.

The search for pleasure is the primary motivation behind the evil

of man. Satan appealed to the pleasure nature to get man to fall.

He said, taste the forbidden fruit and you will have the pleasure of

being like God, and they jumped at the chance. But good is also

motivated by pleasure. The Gospel is an appeal to the pleasure

nature as well, for Jesus says, "Come unto me all ye who labor and

are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Jesus offers men the joy of

eternal life, and the pleasure of abundant life. There is not available

anywhere in the world a hope for greater pleasure than what Jesus

offers those who put their faith in Him.

What this means is we cannot afford to be reacting as Christians

so often do. They look at Xerxes, and his six months banquet of

gluttony, drunkenness, and perpetual beautiful virgins for his lust,

and they say this is disgusting. Then they think their mission in life

should be to prevent as much pleasure as possible. This over

reaction to evil pleasure in the world has caused Christians to totally

misrepresent Christ, and pervert the Gospel so that it loses its

appeal to most everyone but sadist who delight in pain. History is

full of the folly of Christian ascetics, who thought they pleased God

by pain rather pleasure. They wore hair shirts to itch and be

miserable. They flogged themselves thinking that suffering was the

key to sanctification. Fun and pleasure were so related to sin that

misery and boredom were exalted to the level of virtues.

To avoid this reaction to worldly pleasure we need to see where

the Bible stands on the issue of pleasure. The first thing we see, as

we examine God's Word, is that God is the Creator of pleasure. He

made the world and man, and said it is very good, and He took

pleasure in all that He had made. He made man with a nervous

system capable of enjoying much pleasure of sight, sound, taste,

smell, and feeling. He designed man to be a pleasure loving

creature. Every pleasure we are capable of is a cause to thank God,

for it is by His will we have that capacity. David acknowledges God

as the source of all of life's pleasures in Psa. 36:7-8. "How precious

is thy steadfast love, O God! The children of men take refuge in the

shadow of thy wings. They feast on the abundance of thy house, and

thou givest them drink from the rivers of thy pleasures."

God gives rivers of pleasure, even in time, before the believers

dwell by the River of Life, where all pain will be forever gone, and

life will be endless pleasure, for, "At God's right hand our pleasures

for ever more." (Psa. 16:11). God delights in the pleasures of His

servants says Psa. 35:27. God is a personality who enjoys great

pleasure Himself. Psa. 149:4 says, "For the Lord takes pleasure in

His people." As we, as parents and grandparents, take pleasure in

seeing our children grow and develop, so God delights in His

children.

God wanted the temple rebuilt in Jerusalem, and He said to the

people in Hag. 1:8, "Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the

house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may appear in my

glory, says the Lord." God is no where revealed as a vast cosmic

machine. God is a person who feels, and His goal is to accomplish

what is good and pleasurable. Phil. 2:13 says, "For God is at work

in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure." Jesus said

in Luke 12:32, "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's

good pleasure to give you the kingdom."

Let's get it straight in our minds, God is not a sadist who loves

pain and delights in suffering . The goal of God is pleasure for

Himself, and for all His people. He makes it clear in Ezek. 18:23.

"Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, says the Lord God,

and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?" God's

goal for every man is a goal of pleasure. Hell is pain and heaven is

pleasure, and heaven is always God's goal. I looked in a dictionary

of synonyms and antonyms, and found this list of the opposites of

pleasure. Listen to them, and see if you catch the flow of heaven or

hell.

Displeasure Evil Desolation

Sorrow Pain Anxiety

Woe Hurt Burden

Grief Wound Adversity

Suffering Affliction Trouble

Vexation Anguish Unhappiness

Worry Despair Tribulation

Sickness Misfortune

This is not an ideal shopping list for Christmas, or any other day

in life. In fact, the only place you can get that list fulfilled perfectly

is in hell. Not a one of them will be a part of heaven. So we are

stuck with an enormous paradox. The entire plan of God, and the

goal of Christians, is pleasure. Yet, that seems to be the major

problem of sinful man, and the primary method of worldliness.

Even Plato could see it and say, "Pleasure is the greatest incentive to

evil." It is the pleasure principle that leads men into every form of

lust, and which takes them lower than the beast. Yet, it is the

pleasure principle that leads men to the highest levels of godliness,

and enables them to fulfill the purpose of God.

The book of Esther is a perfect illustration of the paradox of

pleasure. It begins with a feast that is dedicated to worldly pleasure,

and gratification of the senses. It ends with the proclamation of a

perpetual feast that will also gratify the senses, but will be in

thanksgiving for the providence of God. The pleasure of the people

of God at a banquet is no less enjoyable than that of the sensuous

secularist. Xerxes had more of every sensual pleasure, but the fact

is, he did not enjoy eating, sexuality, and other aesthetic

pleasures anymore than the Jews did, or than Christians do today.

How then can we distinguish between pleasures which are

displeasing to God, and those which please Him? How can we

unravel this paradox so we know which side we are on? How can we

know if we are at Xerxes's banquet, or Esther's banquet? The first

thing we need to do is to recognize pleasure is not evil. It is good,

and from God. Then we need to recognize that all good can be

perverted and abused. That is what evil is-it is good used in a way

that God never intended.

C. S. Lewis in The Screwtape Letters has the Sr. devil writing to

the Jr. devil explaining the work of temptation. He writes, "Never

forget that when we are dealing with any pleasure in its healthy and

normal and satisfying form, we are, in a sense, on the Enemy's

ground. I know we have won many a soul through pleasure. All the

same, it is His invention, not ours. He made the pleasures; all our

research so far has not enabled us to produce one. All we can do is

to encourage the humans to take the pleasures which our

Enemy has produced, at times, or in ways, or in degrees, which he

has forbidden."

The tempters task is to get men to think, if a little is good, a lot

must be better. If he can get men to use God's pleasures to excess,

he can get them hooked, so that the very gifts of God become idols,

that lead them astray from God. Such is the subtle plan of the

deceiver, and it is a very effective plan. We live in a culture where

pleasure is no longer a gift from God, for it has become god.

Norman Lobsenz has written a book titled, Is Anybody Happy. It is

a study of the American search for pleasure. The goal of life for

Americans is a good time. Our national Mecca is Disney World.

Pleasure is the alpha and omega of life. The national heroes are no

longer the titans of industry, or the somber statesman, or solitary

inventors. Now it is the movie star, the sports hero, and

international playboy, who have taken their place.

The important thing now is to have fun. Lobsenz writes,

"Advertisers, never slow to sense a trend, have leaped on the

bandwagon, and there is now hardly an artifact or an activity that is

not intimately connected with spine-tingling happiness. Brushing

your teeth with a certain tooth paste, of course-is fun. Cutting the

grass-with a certain lawnmower-is exciting. Do you want to know

the real joy of good living? Drink a certain beer....soap flakes give

glamorous suds. It is fun to paint your house with so and so's paint.

Eye glasses are bewitching. Light bulbs are romantic. Building

materials are festive. Soft drinks are sociable. Kitchen appliances

are smart. Anything you buy that is made of shining aluminum will

mirror your laughter. Even paying the bills for these items is a

pleasure if you have an account at a certain bank." Lobsenz says he

expects someday to see a billboard with the bony finger of Uncle

Sam pointing at him asking, "Have you had your fun today?"

We are under a new morality-the fun morality. It says, if it feels

good do it. It is not new of course, for Xerxes was a pro at it 2,500

years ago. Instead of feeling ashamed for having too much pleasure,

from now on we are to feel guilty if we do not have enough. People

are now going to psychiatrist and asking, "What is wrong with me?

I can't let go and have enough fun." People feel so obligated to have

fun they attack it with all the energy they use to put into

achievement. This pursuit of pleasure often ends in broken

marriages, broken lives, and death, especially for those who find

their pleasure in alcohol and other drugs.

Is the Christian approach to try and be a kill joy, and oppose

pleasure, and call people back to a work ethic, where go go go is the

battle cry? Not at all! The Christian is for pleasure too, for that is

God's plan for man. The Christian simply needs to point out the

folly of making pleasure an idol. It is not the end of life, but a means

to a higher end. "Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him

forever." We are into pleasure too, but because it is not an end in

itself, but a means to the end of enjoying God, we have an objective

standard by which we measure the value of all pleasures. In other

words, we count the cost. Satan does not want man to count the

cost, for his whole strategy is to get men to choose pleasure at any

cost. The cost factor is what enables the Christian to have a guide to

legitimate pleasure. You can tell if you are being excessive in your

pursuit of pleasure by what it is costing you.

Any pleasure that costs you your growth in Christian fruitfulness

is folly, and excessive pleasure. Jesus made this clear in the parable

of the sower, where the seed that fell among the thorns did not lead

to fruitfulness. He tells us in Luke 8:14, "There are those who hear,

but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches

and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature." They pay too

much for their pleasure. They lose the highest pleasure of life-the

pleasure of pleasing God, and being what He wills, for the sake of

pleasure that will pass away. They trade in their diamonds for

marbles.

The Gospel is not a call to forsake pleasure, but it is a call to rise

to higher pleasure, and to enjoy that which lasts forever. The

motive for all self-denial, which keeps the Christian from immoral

pleasure, is the hope for enduring pleasure. Listen to Paul giving

counsel to the rich Christians who could so easily indulge themselves

in excessive pleasures. He writes in I Tim. 6:17-19, "As for the rich

in this world, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hope

on uncertain riches but on God who richly furnishes us with

everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good deeds,

liberal and generous, thus laying up for themselves a good

foundation for the future. So that they may take hold of the life

which is life indeed."

Paul is saying, you only go around once in this life, so do it with

gusto. But for Paul, that does not mean to drink beer, it means to

enjoy the higher and lasting pleasures of doing the will of God,

which guarantees we will have abundant life now, and an eternal life

of pleasure on the highest level. The Christian is one who evaluates

pleasure, and does not just grab at it indiscriminately. He asks, does

this enlarge, or does it enrich my Christian life, and my attitude of

gratitude to God? The Christian is on the greatest pleasure trip

possible. If we could not assert that the plan of Christ leads to the

greatest pleasure for the greatest number, we would be saying that

there is a better way. The fact is, no one even pretends to offer a

better way than Christ. We can say with the advertisers who are

confident of their products, "If you can find a better way than

Christ-take it."

When referring to God, it is an absolute truth that Father knows

best. He forbids only those forms of pleasure which, in the long

run, lead to pain greater than the pleasure. God never forbids any

pleasure which will last, and be a part of your growth toward the

goal of becoming like Him. He only forbids that which costs too

much. Forbidden pleasure is a rip off. It costs you the favor of God,

and usually has a kick back of pain that far exceeds the pleasure.

How often people take drugs to feel good, only to end up in jail or

worse, and feeling rotten, and with problems that are now worse

than before. Biblical morality is a fight back morality. It is a

demand that you don't be a sucker, and get ripped off by cheap

imitations.

Jesus Christ, and He alone, offers the real thing-life abundant

and life eternal. He paid and enormous cost, and endured the pains

of hell, that we might enjoy the pleasures of heaven. Whatever price

we need to pay to be loyal to Him is small cost for so great a gift.

The martyr who suffers death rather than deny Christ, does so for

pleasure. He knows the cost is nothing compared to what he will

enjoy at Christ's right hand. That is why one of my favorite

preachers, F. W. Boreham, said, "The tragedy of the age is not that

people are getting too much pleasure, but that they are not getting

enough." Life Xerxes, the world is pleasure mad, but in all of their

sensual self-indulgence, they do not find the pleasure of peace and

meaning, or eternal hope. They pursue pleasure as a god, and are

left empty. The Christian pursues the will of God, and is filled with

pleasure.

The world grabs the rose and clutches and thus must bare the

pains of the thorn. The Christian does not need to grasp it, but can

enjoy it, and not cling, for he knows he cannot lose the rose even if it

dies, for he is a child of the rose's Creator, and knows the rose will

be his forever. Honey is bought to dear by those who risk the bees

stingers. The Christian is one who is wise in his pleasure seeking.

He enjoys all God has given us to enjoy, but avoiding excess and the

forbidden, knowing this leads to the greatest pleasure.

Contrary to the view that Christianity is opposed to the search

for pleasure, the opposite is the case. We have found the very thing

man is searching for, the way to the highest most lasting pleasure of

which man is capable. With this highest goal of salvation settled, the

Christian then can enjoy the lesser pleasures of life more completely,

for they are not so essential that he has to cling to them for meaning.

The highest and permanent being assured in Christ, he can relax,

and enjoy the passing without the risk of idolatry.

To sum it up, the paradox of pleasure is that the pursuit of

pleasure can lead you to the pit of hell, or to the pinnacle of heaven.

It is life's most dangerous or delightful path to travel.

The ecstasy of victory, or the agony of defeat, awaits all who travel

it. Which you find depends on whether Xerxes is your example, or

Jesus Christ. You either do what pleases you with no higher loyalty

than your own pleasure, or you do what pleases God, with His will

as your motive for rejecting or accepting pleasure. Those who

choose the way of Christ, saying, not my will but thine be done, will

enjoy at God's right hand pleasure for ever more.

4. FATHER AND DAUGHTER Based on Esther 2:5-11

George Barnell, a Jew living in North Carolina, back in 1871

fathered one of the most unusual daughters in Americans history.

Jane Barnell grew up to become the famous Lady Olga, the bearded

lady of the circus. She had a thick beard hanging 13 and a half

inches, and also a large mustache. The beard started to grow when

she was 2 and at 4 she was being displayed, and 65 years later she

was still going strong.

When Jane was a toddler, and her father was out of town on

business, her mother took her to the Great Orient Family Circus,

and came home without her. When the father returned home he

was frantic. He appealed to the police, and North Carolina and

surrounding states were scoured, but the circus and Jane had

vanished. They had gone to Europe. It was several years later in a

Berlin orphanage that the father finally found her, and brought her

back to the United States. She grew to adulthood on a farm where

she shaved just like the young men. At 21 she was persuaded to let

her beard grow and enter the circus. She did, and spent the rest of

her life traveling the world as an exhibit to the curious.

The story of Mordecai and Esther is also a story of a Jewish

father and daughter, but with this distinction that Esther was as

unusually feminine as Jane was unusually masculine. Esther was

one of the most beautiful girls that ever lived. She was the Miss

Universe of her day. She was the most beautiful girl in the Persian

Empire, which included most of the known world.

Our focus on this Father's Day is not upon Esther, however, but

upon Mordecai. A contemporary bitter male said, "The only

thoroughly masculine domain not yet invaded by women is growing

a mustache." He obviously never saw Lady Olga, or the many other

bearded ladies of history. The real uninvaded domain of

masculinity is fatherhood. No woman can beat a man at this role,

for no matter how good she is with children, she is always a good

mother, and not a good father.

Mordecai was an excellent father event though there is no record

of his having any children of his own. Esther was his adopted

daughter. We have established in a different message that you do

not have to give birth to a child to be a good mother. The same

holds true for being a father, and Mordecai is proof of this. Joseph

was also a good father to Jesus, even though he did not actually

father Him in the sense that He was from his seed. That is the

easiest part of fatherhood. The real challenge is to so love a child

that it becomes a mature and balanced adult with a solid foundation

of spiritual principles to guide them through life. Mordecai was this

kind of father to Esther.

Most all of the Bible accounts of fathers are those who deal with

fathers and sons. Here we have a rare case of a father and daughter

combination. And what a combination they were! They saved

Israel from destruction, and they changed the course of history. It is

of interest to note the balance of the Bible where we see any

combination of people can be used of God to accomplish His

purpose. In the New Testament it is Mary the mother and Jesus the

Son, with the father only faintly in the picture. Here in the Old

Testament we see Mordecai the father and Esther the daughter, with

the mother not in the picture at all. God can, and does, use any

combination, for any of them can be winners.

It is important to see this, for life is complex and uncertain.

There are all kinds of ideals that are best, but the fact is, they are

not attained by millions. I don't know why Mary had to raise her

family without Joseph, nor why Mordecai had to raise Esther

without his wife. Nor do I know why there are so many other less

than ideal family situations. All I know is that there is good news,

for any of these less than ideal situations can be used of God for His

glory, and for His purpose, and life can be full of blessings. Let's

look at some examples of how Mordecai was a successful father in a

less than ideal situation. He gave to Esther three things that made

her a successful daughter, and him a successful father. First of all

he gave her-

I. AID IN ADOPTION.

Esther was of a minority race, in a foreign land, and a pagan

culture, plus she was an adopted child. Adoption can be less than

the ideal simply because there are complications in the minds of

adopted children. They tend to struggle with insecurity, and their

self-esteem. The father is in danger of trying to protect them so

much that they become over dependent. On the other hand, to so

push them into independence that they feel rejected and unloved. It

is a tough job maintaining just the right balance so an adopted child

can feel adequately loved, and still press on to be mature and

independent. This, of course, is the same battle all fathers have, but

with an adopted child there is an added complexity. Blessed is the

father who can provide the aid that is needed.

I have not known many adopted children, but the few I have

known have all struggled to some degree with their self-image. It

takes a wise father to help them see and feel that they are just as

loved, and just as valuable, as their own seed. Mordecia clearly

succeeded with Esther, for she was a loving daughter, and one who

could be fully independent of Mordeica. She could listen and follow

his guidance, and was as beautiful within as she was on the outside.

This is not to say that the father of an adopted child not turning

out well is a poor father. Some of the finest fathers fail in

attempting to reform a rebel. Andrew Jackson as President of the

United States had to write this letter to his adopted son Andrew Jr.

He was in trouble already at age 14, and by 25 he was a heavy

drinker and deeply in debt. He wrote this on April 14, 1835.

"I now address you with the fondness of a father's heart.

How care then you ought to be to shun all bad company,

or to engage in any dissipation whatever and particularly

intoxication. When I reflect on the fate of your cousin

Savern, reduced to the contempt of all by his brutal

intemperance I shutter when I see any appearance of it

in any branch of our connection."

When General Jackson died he was 24 thousand dollars in debt

due to his rebellious unheeding son. I do not believe he was a bad

father. Mordecai may have failed with this son also. All I am saying

is, that in a less than ideal situation he did succeed with Esther. She

adapted to a life that was full of tragedy and sorrow as her people

were carried away captive, and her parents were taken in death.

We are not told if they died from violence or natural causes, but

either way she was left an orphan in a foreign land. Mordecai aided

her in adapting to her circumstances, and she became a beautiful

well-rounded person. It would have been easy to become bitter and

hateful toward the Persians. Mordecai had to teach her not to hate

the Gentiles she lived among, and she did adapt and learn to love

them. The second thing we see that Mordecai did for her is that he

taught her the-

II. ACCEPTANCE OF AUTHORITY.

Esther became the Queen, and she had more power in the snap of

her finger than Mordecai had in his whole life. He was nobody in

terms of real power, and yet Esther obeyed his authority, and did

not reveal that she was a Jew. Her loyalty to her father's authority

is a key factor in God's providential plan to save the Jewish race.

Had Mordecai failed to teach Esther to accept authority, and to be

loyal to authority, the whole plan of God would not have worked out

as it did.

One of the greatest tragedies of life is a father who does not win

respect for his authority from his children. It is a recognized fact

that a major cause of the breakdown of the American family is the

loss of authority by dads. A little girl inquired, "Mommy, if the

stork brings babies; if Santa brings our presents; if the Lord gives

us our daily bread, and Uncle Sam our social security, what is daddy

good for."

It is no joke when kids really feel this way. Colonel Farley,

founder of Boy's Ranch says 90% of the youth who come to him

come from homes where there was little or no influence of the

father. Between 80 and 90% of the boys in Boy's Town come from

the same type of home. Judge Leibowitz of Brooklyn's highest

criminal court has concluded that the number one factor in

criminality is failure of the father's role.

If a father does not influence his child to respect authority, the

opposite is what will take place, and they will reject authority. They

will tend to become problem makers in society. Diogenes the Greek

was said to have stuck the father when the son swore. He was

illustrating the direct influence of the father on the son. Weak

influence of fathers is a major cause of weak people in all areas of

life. Studies show that 94% of veterans under treatment or

psychiatric reasons experienced father rejection.

We need to balance out what we are saying here by looking at the

total picture revealed by the book of Esther. Strong influence of

fathers is not necessarily good either. There is another father in this

book by the name of Haman, who is the enemy of Mordecai. The

whole book is like a Hatfields and Macoys type story, for it is about

two fathers and their children who are determined to eliminate each

other from the map of Persia.

Haman had all of the advantages. He had 10 sons, and Mordecai

had only one daughter. Haman had position and power, and all

Mordecai had was hope in the providence of God. The point I want

to make here is that Haman was basically a strong father. This book

reveals that he had a powerful influence on his sons, and they did

respect his authority. They joined him in his battle of bigotry, and

gave their lives because of their loyalty. Because evil fathers can

teach their children good principles, we need to rise above the

secular level to see a Christian father's duty. Doubtless, there are

fathers in the Mafia, and other underworld organizations, who teach

their children strong respect for authority, and they become loyal

people to the cause of crime. You can't even be good at being bad

without respect for authority.

We need to see, therefore, that no father has done his job well

until his child respects the highest authority, which is the authority

of God. Haman failed because his sons obeyed only human

authority, and they were loyal to folly that was contrary to God's

will. Mordecai taught Esther to respect his authority also, but his

authority was based on his obedience to God's authority. We see

this in chapter 4 where Esther begins to waver in her obedience to

his authority. He responds by lifting her sights to a higher level, and

by getting her to focus on the providence of God. In 4:14 Mordecai

says, "For if you keep silence at such a time as this, relief and

deliverance will rise for the Jews from another quarter, but you and

your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have

not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"

Esther was moved by this to go ahead and risk her life trusting in

the providence of God. The lesson is clear: No father can be the

final authority, for all fathers fall short of the glory of God. Only

those fathers who give their children an ultimate foundation can be

called good fathers in the biblical sense. A good father is a fallible

father with faith in the infallible Father in heaven, and he passes on

this faith to his children. This means a good father does not need to

be uptight about his weaknesses and failures, for he does not have to

pretend he is perfect and infallible. The respect for his authority is

not based on its infallibility, but on his respect for the authority of

God.

A Christian father needs to be honest about his own mistakes,

and not try to pretend that he is always right. Joseph Bayly, the

popular Christian author, has raised 7 children. He has punished

them when they were innocent. He has failed to tell them he is sorry.

He has inflicted pain by his ignorance. He sat one of this little boys

on a log in the woods to rest. He had short pants on and there was

poison ivy all around the log. You can imagine the fun dad had

trying to be innocent and intelligent after that. Bayly says there is

no escape from guilt. He had to travel so much when his little girl

was small that when he came home she would not recognize him

when he wanted to hold her. The point is, he did not need to fear

that his failures would cause his 7 year old to be out pushing sweet

old ladies in front of cement mixers. They were taught that human

authority is to be respected in so far as it conformed to God's

authority, as revealed in His Word. this is the goal of all who would

be truly successful fathers. The final value we see imparted by this

first rate father is-

III. ABUNDANCE OF ATTENTION.

Note verse 11 where the text says that every day Mordecai

checked on Esther to see how she was doing. Not every weekend, or

every month, but every day. She is a married woman, and she is the

Queen of the Persian Empire, yet Mordecai does not let a day go by

without letting her know he is concerned. This gives us a strong hint

as to the kind of father he was. He was an available father. In our

busy world nobody seems to have enough time to do all that should

be done, and the result is fathers are often not available to their

children.

Children , by their very nature, are not interested in doing what

matters for even the long run, let alone eternity. They specialize in

the trivial and the transient. In other words, kids love to do what is

a waste of time. That is contrary to adult intelligence. We cannot

waster time, and so we are always trying to make all time count.

The fact is, it is very biblical, for we are told to redeem the time.

The problem is that we become legalists, and we forget that Jesus

also taught we must become as little children. There is a time to

waste time. That is, we must learn to enjoy doing things like

children love, which are very momentary fun as an end in itself.

I must confess that I have struggled with this for years, and even

as I preach it, I do not always practice it. I am conditioned by the

philosophy that we must try to kill two birds with one stone, and

make every moment count. Don't waste time, or time will waste you.

I still believe these things, but more and more I realize that it is an

error to fail to balance this thinking with a childlike love for the

enjoyment of the present. Jesus had time in His short life, and even

shorter ministry, to enjoy living. He had times of fun, fellowship,

laughter and song. He took time out from healing and preaching to

go fishing. We always miss the boat when we take our eyes off

Jesus, and push any truth to an extreme.

This comes home to you when you read that Boswell, the famous

biographer of Samuel Johnson, who said he would never forget the

day his father took time out of his bush schedule to take him fishing.

It is a highlight of his life, and he learned so much. Boswell's father

kept a diary, and when he died it was found, and that day that

meant so much to his son had this entry in it. "Gone fishing today

with my son; a day wasted."

Maybe it was wasted in the sense that he got nothing done, but if

getting nothing done is what it takes to be available to your child,

and make them feel your attention and care, then nothing is what

needs to be done. This is not the kind of nothing that Aristotle

defines when he said that nothing is what rocks dream of. That is

really nothing, but the nothing of wasting time with your child is

really something. It is an investment in the future. A father who

cares enough to waste time for his child's sake will produce a child

who will redeem the time for God's sake.

Availability is the key to being a good dad. One daughter tells of

an interesting thing her father did as she was growing up, and he

was her only parent. When she started school he gave her a dime

and said, "Patty, I want you always to keep this dime in your purse.

Anytime you need me, you call the plant. Tell them you want to talk

to your dad, and I guarantee they will let you right through." Many

years later she wrote, "There is no way I could tell you what that ten

cent piece from my father meant. Even when I didn't need him, just

to know I had it in my purse made me feel secure." Little things can

help your child feel secure because they give them that sense of

access to your care and concern.

This is what Mordecai did for Esther. He made it clear that he

was always available. So often you read of a father, or see one

playing the role on television, who gets a phone call for a business

obligation just as the family is ready to go on vacation. So often they

choose the business obligation rather than the family obligation, and

the family feels that they are always secondary. Mordecai may have

had many other things to do, but he made contact every day with

Esther. She knew he was always available. He wanted to know how

she was. A father needs to be informed about his children. When

dad knows what is going on in the life of his child, that child feels

loved. A study found that a high percentage of children do not even

know what their father does for a living. This indicates very poor

communication between fathers and children. Too many fathers feel

they cannot waste time by being available to their children.

A group of 300 7th and 8th graders kept accurate records of just

how much time dad spent with them over a two week period. The

average came out to only 7 and a half minutes per week. Many only

saw their father at the supper table, and many did not see him at all

for days at a time. One of the best gifts any dad can give a child is

what Mordecai gave to Esther. It is sometime every day showing

them attention. Mordecai did it for his daughter who was a grown

woman. How much more is it needed for those still in childhood.

May God help us as fathers to see the wisdom of Mordecai, and

make sure our children feel that we are available to them on a

regular basis. This is the key to being the father our children need.

5. THE POWER OF BEAUTY Based on Esther 2:5-18

In its 4,000 years of history only one woman became Emperor of

China with absolute power. She was Wu tes-t'ien. She got to the

throne of China for the same reason Esther got to the throne of

Persia. She was a startling beauty. As a young girl she was

renowned

for her beauty, and the Emperor made her his concubine.

Ordinarily a concubine like her would be relegated to secluded

quarters, after the death of the Emperor. She would live her life out

in quiet retirement. She was so beautiful, however, that the son of

the Emperor also desired her as a concubine. She was not only

beautiful, she was clever. She bore him several sons, and then

promoted them among the leaders as the legitimate heirs to the

throne. She gained many political allies, and so maneuvered behind

the scenes that when the Emperor suffered a crippling stroke, she

was made Empress in 655 A.D. She was brilliant as well as

beautiful, and was excellent in administration. She cut taxes, won a

war,and had a united prosperous country under her long reign.

It is rare, but the fact is, there are many cases in history of

women doing an excellent job of leading a whole nation. One

thousand years before Esther, in 1520 B.C. Hatshepst became the

first woman Pharaoh of Egypt, for 21 years she reigned, and

glorious monuments exist to praise her success. When Julius Caesar

marched into Egypt in 48 B.C. there was a vicious dispute going on

as to who the next ruler should be. Should it be Pothinius or his

sister Cleopatra. Cleopatra wanted to plead her case before Caesar,

but she knew if she tried to get to him her brother would have his

spies kill her. Nobody would dare interfere with a gift for Caesar,

however, and so a beautiful oriental carpet was sent from her palace

to Caesar. Imagine his surprise when the carpet was unrolled and a

19 year old girl stepped out to announce she was Cleopatra, the

rightful Queen of Egypt. Caesar fell in love with her beauty, and she

did become the Queen.

If you want to read of how Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Spain,

England, and other nations, were all ruled by greatly honored

women, you can find these fascinating histories in Mildred Boyds

book, Rulers In Petticoats. My interest in these stories for our study

of Esther is that they confirm what we see to be a major theme of

this book, and that is, there is power in beauty. Women know it,

and that is why one of the largest industries in the world is the

beauty industry. Billions are spent each year by women who know

their greatest asset is in looking beautiful. Brains and other

qualities are also vital, but it is beauty that opens the door for these

other gifts to get a chance to function.

Many modern women admit they use beauty to their advantage

in industry. They say they dress in a deliberate attempt to win favor

with those who have power, and thereby they are raised to positions

of power themselves. If conflict is developing between them and a

male boss, they can calm the waters by coming on with some

feminine charm. In beauty contests there is nothing subtle and

hidden. They are on open display to win prizes, prestige, and power

by means of beauty. Many object to the whole emphasis on beauty

as pagan perversion. They feel nothing is more secular than the

parading of female bodies before the world.

The book of Esther, however, forces us to focus on this type of

secular scene, for God in His providence uses just such a beauty

contest to save his people. It was Esther's beauty that got her into

the palace, and into a position of power where she could be used to

save her people. No other quality but beauty could have gotten her

there. King Xerxes was not looking for a female genius, or the best

woman runner, or sports figure. He was looking for beauty. His

demand for beauty was far beyond what is demanded for a Miss

America or Miss Universe contest. His contestants had to spend one

solid year doing nothing but beautifying themselves just to spend a

night with him. After a year of using oils, spices, and ointments,

they would be as soft and smooth as a baby.

Esther had to have been one of the most beautiful women to ever

live. Out of all the beautiful girls of the Empire, she won the favor

of Hegai, the keeper of the women. Verse 15 indicates she was also

voted Miss Congeniality by the other girls, for she was favored by all

who saw her. Now this really is a Cinderella story in that, aside

from her beauty, Esther had all sorts of disadvantages. She was a

poor orphan in a foreign land, and part of a minority group.

Fortunately for her she had a relative who took her in when her

parents died. Mordecai was her cousin, but he adopted her as his

daughter. Here is a rare case of cousins becoming father and

daughter.

Her Hebrew name was Hadassah. That is not a name known to

us, but the largest Jewish organization of women in the world is

called Hadassah, and they support the Hadassah Hospital in

Jerusalem. Esther was her Persian name and this has become more

popular among Gentiles. Esther means star. Estelle and Stella come

from the same root. Take female beauty out of this book, and the

star is gone. This poor adopted orphan would never have been

heard of in history had she not been blest with beauty. Even with

her beauty would she have won the contest with all her competitors

had she not spent a year using all of the beauty aids available in her

day?

The Bible puts you in a real bind if you are dogmatically against

beauty aids, for they were part of the providential plan of God that

saved the Jewish race. Dr. William Stidger, one of the great

American preachers, and author of over forty books, comes on

strong in favor or beauty aids. He writes, "As far as I am

concerned.....there is something sacred in the everlasting passion

women have for making themselves more beautiful. I have no

sympathy with these reformers who find nothing more important to

do than harangue women for using rouge, powder, clothes, and

what have you, to make themselves more beautiful."

Certainly we can all agree, there is nothing spiritual or superior

about being unclean, unkempt, and unpresentable for public

viewing. All of us enjoy beauty, but like all good things, this too is so

easily perverted. Conrad Hilton, the multimillionaire owner of the

Hilton hotel's around the world, was once married to Zsa Zsa

Gabor. He discovered that with her, beauty was a full time affair.

She started at ten in the morning before her dressing table. He says

it was a ritual with bottles, jars, and pots, both large and small.

It could have been the rite of ancient Aztex temple. After lunch and

shopping it was back to the dressing table for more make-up, and

agonizing decisions on furs and jewelry. Hilton learned first hand

about the idolatry of beauty, and of how impossible it is to live with

a woman who is obsessed with vain-glory.

So what we have in the power of beauty is another paradoxical

power. It can drive you to the heights of virtue, or plunge you to the

depths of vice. It can lead to one praising God for this gift, or it can

lead to pride that competes with God. It has the power to produce

stories of victory, or stories of vanity. One of the reasons women are

so effective in taking the Gospel into all the world is there beauty.

Beauty attracts, and if the attracter points to God, her beauty is a

stepping stone into the kingdom of beauty, the kingdom of God.

Many have the testimony of the poet-

The might of one fair face sublimes my love,

For it hath wean'd my heart from low desires;

Nor death I need, nor purgatorial fires.

Thy beauty-ante-past of joys above

Instructs me in the bliss that saints approve,

For Lo! How good, how beautiful must be

The God that made so good a thing as thee.

Is by the power of beauty that women have had their fair share of

the control of history. By beauty the weak can master the strong,

and Esther decides the course that the absolute monarch will take.

The Biblical ideal of female beauty involves the mental as well as the

physical. Brainless beauty is a joke. Prov. 11:22 says, "Like a gold

ring in a swine's snout is a beautiful woman without discretion." In

other words, a beautiful woman has to use the inside of her head as

well as the outside to have any real power in her beauty. Capito

wrote, "Beauty alone, may please, not captivate; If lacking grace, tis

but a hookless bait."

Beauty can be superficial, and without depth, and this is what has

led to the saying that beauty is only skin deep. Prov. 31:30 agrees

when it says, "Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman

who fears the Lord is to be praised." So we come again to the

paradoxical nature of beauty. It can be vain, but it can also be a

great value. It is the paradoxical nature of reality that leads to so

much overreaction, and imbalance in our thinking. Because

everything that is good can also be bad, and perverted, so as to

become a source of evil, there is the constant temptation of

abandoning what is good to avoid that danger. All through history

Christians have abandoned what is good, and left Satan free to use it

as a tool for evil. Just as tanks abandoned on the battlefield will be

used by the enemy to fight those who abandoned them, so beauty,

when abandoned by Christians, will be used by enemy forces against

Christians.

The value of studying the book of Esther is that it forces us to

reevaluate our views on the secular realm of life. It forces us to look

at beauty as a tool in the hands of God, and it forces us to ask

questions about beauty, as it did about pleasure. What we find

when we search the Scripture is that beauty is no minor issue in

God's plan. It is basic and vital to the plan of God, and not just for

the saving of Israel, but for saving all men from the pit of hell. It is

no surprise that God is portrayed in the Bible as ultimate beauty.

After all, He is the author of all beauty. Someone said, "God is not

only the all-wise and all-powerful, but the all-beautiful." In Psa.

27:4 all that David longs for is to dwell in the house of the Lord and

to behold the beauty of the Lord. The hope of all believers is to see

the King in His beauty. When that great event takes place, we will

all partake fully of His beauty, and become perfected, and be like

Him.

The goal of God is that all the redeemed might be like Jesus. To

be glorified is to be beautified with the beauty of Jesus. But beauty

is not just the goal, it is a powerful element of the Christian life on

the way to the goal. Three times the palmist says we are to

"Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness." The power of

worship is in beauty. Beauty runs through the Bible, and we are

called upon to behold it over and over. There is the beautiful robe,

beautiful women, a beautiful situation, a beautiful heaven, a

beautiful crown, a beautiful gate, and even the beautiful feet of those

who proclaim the Gospel. There are numerous beauties in the

temple, and there is the beauty of wisdom.

Jonathan Edwards, one of the greatest American preachers, came

to the conclusion, as he studied the Bible, that beauty was really at

the very heart of all theology. We tend to think of beauty as a

secular subject, but he made it the heart of his sacred theology. This

man changed the course of history in America, and he made beauty

the unifying theme of theology. He could see what most Christians

never notice. God is beautiful, and all that He does is beautiful, and

so the good and the beautiful are one. We could not love God if He

was not beautiful. If He was only powerful, He could force us to do

His will, but He could not force us to love Him. Love is a response

we can only give to beauty. If we had no revelation of God's beauty

in nature, or in the plan of redemption, we could not love God. God

could only win man's love by the power of beauty.

It works the other way also. Man is ugly in sin, and so it would

be hopeless for us to have fellowship with God, but Jesus became a

man, and by the beauty of His holiness, and the beauty of His

sacrifice, the way was opened for all to become beautiful, and,

thereby acceptable to God. Grasping the loveliness and the supreme

excellency of our Lord is the beginning of the victorious Christian

life. Those who do not see the beauty of Christ will not have the

motivating power to follow Him. They will be sidetracked

constantly by the superficial beauties of worldliness. All the fruits

of the spirit are expressions of the beauty of Jesus in human life.

Edwards said, "God is the foundation and the fountain of all

being and all beauty." Sin is a deformity and lack of beauty. All

have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. That is, no one

measures up to the beauty God intended for them. They are all

defective. To be saved is to be restored to the place where you have

the right to begin the process of beautification. The doctrine of

sanctification is really a doctrine of beautification. To grow in

Christlikeness is the same as growing in beauty. Beauty is the

measure of God's presence, just as ugliness is the measure of God's

absence. If a man is insensitive to beauty, and can see no beauty in

life, or in people, he is alienated from God. The man who sees most

beauty, and is full of appreciation for it, is the man closest to God.

When all beauty is gone, and all of life is ugly, that is when people

take their own life, for the loss of all beauty is hell. In hell there will

be no beauty, and in heaven there will be nothing but beauty. One's

relationship to beauty in this life is the measure of the hell on earth,

or the heaven on earth, that one experiences. The only way to get

heaven on earth is to see the beauty of heavenly things, and the

loveliness of God's way. Only those captivated by the power of

beauty will be open to the working of God's Spirit. Edwards says

that in the hierarchy of values, first is existence, and then excellence;

first is being and then beauty. Anything defective in beauty is

defective in being.

The ability to discern what is truly beautiful from what is only

superficial beauty is the key to the abundant life. Jesus only used

the word beautiful once in the New Testament record, and it was a

warning about the danger of superficial beauty. In Matt. 23:27-28

we read, "Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you

are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but

within they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. So you

also outwardly appear righteous to men, but within you are full of

hypocrisy and iniquity. Here is surface beauty. It has no depth, and

is mere veneer.

Superficial beauty is Satan's primary method of deception. All

men chose what they feel is beautiful. The first sin of choosing the

forbidden fruit was made very attractive. All sin is made to seem

beautiful. Satan does not expect anybody to be tempted by the ugly.

He knows God made man in His image, and so He knows man is

made to select the beautiful, and shun the ugly. So he can only

attract men to evil by making it seem beautiful. People chose folly

for the same reason they chose wisdom. It looks good, and seems

like the best way to go. The liquor adds portray the camaraderie of

the bar. Sports and sex, and all that seems adventurous is linked to

this drug, for drunkenness is not attractive or beautiful. They never

show the dead and twisted bodies of drunk drivers. They never show

the ugliness of the vomit, and the awful agony of families ruined by

drinking. Evil can only survive by using the power of beauty to

attract.

God wants us to chose beauty. We are made to do so, and in

Christ we are given the Holy Spirit, who will lead us to chose the

highest in beauty. Christian morality and ethics are built around

beauty. Whatever is truly beautiful, and by truly beautiful I mean

lasting beauty, is right. What is wrong is that which may have

temporary beauty, but which leads to permanent ugliness. Christian

maturity is growing in your discernment so that you can see the

whole, and not just the part. Much of life is beautiful in part, but

awful in the whole. A poison snake is beautiful in part, as are poison

berries, but they are not wise choices, for as a whole they are ugly

and destructive. The power of evil lies in its use of superficial and

partial beauty to entice men to chose the way of folly. Evil is a

parasite which depends on what is good for its existence.

This brings us back to Xerxes and Esther. It is because Xerxes

lives for beauty and pleasure that God was able to use his choice for

His own purpose. Pagan people, all through history, have chosen

what they feel is beautiful. This does lead to great evil because of

Satan's deception, but let us remember, the world is full of true

beauty as well, and even evil men often chose what is good because

of its beauty. Esther was a beautiful and godly woman. Her beauty

went to the heart, and was not just skin deep. Her beauty would be

attractive to most all men in history, pagan or Christian. The point

is, Satan is not the only one in the beauty business. God's

providence also works through beauty. The beauty of women is one

of the key ways God has worked in history.

Esther in her day, and in our day, one of the great stories is that

of Mei-ling, better known as Madam Chaing Kai-shek. Chaing

Kai-shek was a Chinese war lord who was very successful in battle.

One of the Christian families of China sent their daughter

Mei-ling to America to be educated. When she returned, she was

active in the political and social affairs of the nation. On one

occasion Chaing Kai-shek's path crossed that of Mei-ling, and for

him it was love at first sight. He could not resist the charm and

beauty of this Americanized daughter of the Orient. We cannot go

into the details of the long five year battle to win her hand in

marriage, but battle it was, for he was a godless immoral warrior

living with a concubine, and she was a beautiful Christian. His love

for her beauty changed his history, and he became a Christian. He

went on to become the Generalissimo of China, and together they

did great things for the cause of Christ. It never would have

happened without beauty.

What all this means is that we need to keep a dual perspective on

life, and especially the secular life. Take beauty contest for example.

Yes there is lust and perversion of beauty, but do not forget, God is

not shut out of that realm of life. God is working through beauty,

and often the winner of these contests is a dedicated Christian

woman. She goes on to touch many lives for Christ, and all because

she was beautiful.

Not all of us have the gift of beauty that attracts kings, generals,

and wide popularity, but all Christians have gifts that are beautiful.

All the gifts of the spirit are attractive, and they are designed to

attract others. Every Christian is to be a light in a dark world

attracting the lost to the Savior. Nothing is really finished until it is

fully beautiful, and that includes us. God will never be done with us

until we are perfectly beautiful. Beauty is our goal, and beauty is

what we need to pray for. The more beautiful we are in every aspect

of life, the more likely the providence of God will work through us to

accomplish His purpose, for there is power in beauty.

6. EVERYBODY TOUCHES SOMEBODY Based on Esther

2:15-23

Harriet Beecher Stowe was a preacher's daughter who was born

in 1811. She certainly didn't look like she would ever amount to

much. She was shy and had a large nose and a hunched back. She

considered herself to be quite homely. Calvin Stowe, professor of

Biblical Lit. in Lane Theological Seminary in Cincinnati, saw beauty

in her, however, and asked her to marry him. He was not exactly

prince charming himself with his balding head and problem of

overweight and nearsightedness.

It was never a very smooth marriage, for they both had such bad

self-images. Calvin had such fits of self-contempt that he got sick in

order to escape duties. The result was he never made enough money

to support his wife and seven children. Harriet had to work to

support the family. She wrote articles and short stories. She so

dispised slavery and all it did to degrade people, and she longed to

use her gift of writing to fight it, but it seemed so hopeless. She was

a nobody living in a day of great male writers, all of whom also

hated slavery, but avoided writing about it. Longfellow, Hawthorn,

Emerson, Melville, Thorew and Whittier were just some of the great

names of her day.

Harriets sister kept insisting she should write to show the whole

nation what an accursed thing slavery was. One Sunday as she sat

in church during a communion service the plot of her book formed

in her mind. It is hard to doubt that it was a God-given plot, for her

book called Uncle Tom's Cabin took the world by storm. It sold

300,000 copies in America, and 1,000,000 in England the very first

year. It was translated into 36 languages. The impact of her book

was so great it is considered one of the most influential books in the

history of America. Abraham Lincoln's response when he met her

was, "So this is the little lady who made this big war."

Here was a woman who changed the course of history. She was

not a beautiful woman like Esther. Her power was still the power of

beauty, however, for it was the literary beauty of her book that

moved people to action. Beauty has many different forms. It may

be artistic, literary, intellectual, or physical, but the point is, God's

providence in history always works through one form of beauty or

another. That is why the apostle Paul writes to Christians in Gal.

6:9, "Let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall

reap, if we do not lose heart." The Greek word for well is the word

for beautiful. Paul is saying do not grow weary in beautiful doing or

beautiful action. Acting beautifully is the key to your reward and

the reaping of a harvest. It is not just being beautiful, but beautiful

actions that become a part of God's providence in history.

The book of Esther is full of the beauty of doing as well as the

beauty of being. Esther's beauty of being depended upon the beauty

of doing to accomplish God's purpose. We see from this that all of

us can be part of God's providence. The beauty of being may be

limited to the few, but the beauty of doing is open to all.

Everyone of us can do beautiful things that aid the fulfillment of

God's plan. The book of Esther reveals that God's providence is

always working with a balance of male and felmale imput. Men are

constantly being influenced by women, and women by men. In our

text we are looking at the key men in the life of Esther. We want to

focus on the least of these three men in order to see how the

influence of even the least can be great.

Hegai is certainly one of the least known characters of the Bible.

I have never even heard of him being used in a Bible quiz. Rare

would be the person who knew of Hegai, the keeper of Xerxes

harem. He was eunuch, which means he was incapable of sexual

function. His purpose in life was to see that the women in the harem

were always in the best condition for the pleasure of Xerxes. It

would be easy to past by Hegai without mention, and leave him in

the limbo of neglect, but a careful reading of chapter 2 reveals that

he was key link in the chain of events that led to the salvation of the

Jews.

Verse 9 reveals how he took a special liking to Esther, and

quickly got her started on the beauty aids and proper diet. He

became her coach, as it were, to win and event over emorous

competition. We see here the beauty of friendship. This was not a

sexual male and female relationship at all. Hegai appreciated

Esther's beauty and her personality. He liked her as person, and he

saw her as the best for the king. Esther also came to appreciate

Hegai. She obeyed his coaching and took his advice. In verse 15 we

see that when her chance came to see the king and impress him, she

took with her only what Hegai advised her to take. He was the best

counselor she had. With him Esther had an inside track to the heart

of the king.

The paradox here is, we have a pagan, who cares nothing about

the Jews or God's plan for Israel, playing a key role in God's plan

for their deliverence. God did not need Hegai, for He could work

out things in another way if He chose. In fact, later on Mordecai

says that God did not even need Esther. Nobody is indispensible to

God. He can always get His purpose accomplished, but the point is,

He chose to use the influence of this pagan servant, and that choice

of God opens up a fascinating insight into God's providence in

history.

We have a tendency to limit God, and we assume He will only

work through His own people. This limited view makes us miss the

values that God can achieve through the influence of non-Christians.

Hegai was a pagan. He did not even know the God of Israel, and

Esther could not be a witness to him, for she had to keep secret she

was a Jew. There is no evangelism or witnessing on the part of

Esther. She was just a friend to Hegai. This reveals that our

relationship to those outside the kingdom of God can be a factor in

our success in serving the kingdom of God. Do not think that non-

Christians play no role in your life. There are many examples of

how non-believers are a key influence in believer's lives.

Joseph's whole life was a series of encounters with pagan people.

He was thrown into prison because of a bad encounter, but gets out

of prison to share his dream by the aid of a pagan servant of the

king. He went on to become a leader in Egypt and had a positive

relationship with a pagan Pharaoh. All around him there were

pagan people who respected him and depended upon him. Joseph

lived most of his life in a relationship with non-believers. Daniel had

a simular experience as a political leader in Babylon. He had his

close Jewish friends, but he also had a good relationship to the king.

The Apostle Paul was constantly envolved with non-Christian

Roman leaders. One of them was to him like Hegai was to Esther.

In Acts 27 we read of the Roman Centurian named Julius. He is

another very obscure character of the Bible. He was in charge of

Paul as he headed to Rome to stand before Caesar. In Acts 27:5 we

read, "And Julius treated Paul kindly and gave him leave to go to

his friends and be cared for." Later, when they were caught in a

storm on the sea, the Centurian listened to Paul and cut loose the

boat some were going to use to escape. By so doing, this entire ship

of pagan sailors was saved. 276 persons were spared by the

providence of God, using the influence of a pagan leader.

There was a crisis when the Roman soldiers felt the only wise

plan was to kill all the prisoners lest they escape. Paul would have

died had it not been for the friendship of this pagan Centurian. In

Acts 27:43 we read, "But the Centurian, wishing to save Paul, kept

them from caring out their purpose." The beautiful acts of

friendship between Paul and this pagan leader led them to be a team

that brought everyone through the entire ordeal. God used a

believer and a non-believer together to fulfill His plan of sparing all

these lives. Doctor Luke then goes on to record in Acts 28, after they

were all safe on the Island of Malta, "And the natives showed us

unusual kindness." The cheif, whose name was Publius, showed

them great hosptiality for three days. Then when they sailed, we

read in verse 10, "They presented many gifts to us."

These experiences of Paul with pagan friendship and kindness

reveal that what happened to Esther was not just an isolated

incident. All through history God's people have been blessed by the

kind and beautiful acts of those who were not believers. God's plan

includes doing many good things in history by the influence of non-

believers as well as believers. There are millions of Christians who

have been healed, taught, spared and aided by non-Christian

doctors, teachers and professionals of all kinds. You are a rare

Christian indeed if you have never been positively influenced by a

non-believer. They are not saved by the many good works they do

for us, but God's will is often done on earth because of their good

works.

The relationship we have to all people is important, for God can

use everyone's influence for His purpose. One of the most amazing

examples is the experience of Stenborg, the painter. Over 200 years

ago in Dusseldorf, Germany, he painted his famous Gipsy Girl. His

model let her black eyes wonder about his studio. Then they were

arrested by the thorn crowned faces of Jesus he had painted for the

church. She begged the artist to explain the picture. He told her the

story of the cross. When he finished the Gipsy girl said, "You must

love Him very much when He has done all that for you." The

painter was stung with shame, for the fact was, he did not love Jesus.

That remark motivated him to respond to Christ, and then, as a

painter who adored the Saviour, he painted another picture of

Christ, and displayed it int he public gallery of Dusseldorf.

Underneath he inscribed the words, "All this I did for Thee; What

hast thou done for me?"

One day, Count Zinzendorf, a rich young man, stood before that

painting, and the question challenged him to the depth of his soul.

He surrendered to Christ and became the founder of Moravin

Missions. In a few years there were missionaries going to all parts of

the world. The Moravinans had a profound influence on John

Wesley, who was used of God to change the world, and the influence

goes on and on and on from a little Gipsy girl who simply asked a

painter if he loved Jesus.

John Donne was right when he said no man is an island. Paul put

it in Rom. 14:7, "For none of us lives to himself, and none of us die

to himself." None of us live or die without influencing others for

good or ill. This is not just a law for believers, it is true for all men,

for even the lost have an influence for good or ill. This world is

better or worse for every person in it. It has been better because of

people like Hegai, Julius, the Gipsy girl, and innumerble obscure

nobodies. What are the implications of this reality?

For one thing, it means your relationship to non-Christians can

be a significant part of life. Non-Christian family, friends,

neighbors, and others may play a very important part in your life.

Non-Chrisitan authors may influence you in many directions. Paul

read pagan poets and found in them truths that he could quote in his

sermons. In his famous sermon on Mars Hill in Acts 17:28 he said,

"For in Him we live and move and have our being, as even as some

of your poets have said, 'For we are indeed His offspring.'" Paul

quotes the pagan poets because they confirm what the Bible says.

Today, preachers are constantly quoting non-Christian poets,

scientists, psychiatrists, and a host of other authories, who in their

realm of study discover that Biblical principles are true, not just for

Christians, but for non-Christians as well.

What we need to see is that a Christian has a duel relationship to

the world. Some of the world is like Haman, who hated God's people

and God's truths, and they do all they can to persecute and destory.

But, there is also a world that is sympathic to God's people and

God's truths. It is open to the influence of God's people, and can be

used as an instument in the providence of God. When the Bible

warns us not to love the world, and not to be comformed to it, it is

referring to the danger of getting intrapped in the world's value

system. Some Christians interpret this to mean, have nothing to do

with non-Christians. This leads to a life of isolation where they

have no influence on the world because they are not open to be

influenced by the world. Separation from the world means

separation from the sin of the world, and not separation from

people. Jesus was a friend of sinners, but totally free of sin.

Christians who feel they have an obligation to be obnoxious and

unkind to non-Christians are blind to the way God's providence

works in history. Paul said Christians are to live peaceably with all

men as much as is it possible. Paul knew from his own experience

that good relationships, to even pagan people, can mean a better

atmosphere in which the providence of God can work toward

positive goals. The pharisees were very strict in not associating with

the unclean people. They did not relate to non-Jews and even other

Jews who did not attend the synagogue. One of there chief

objections to Jesus was that He would eat with anyone, even the

publicans and sinners. These people were to them mere nobodies,

and not a part of God's people. These godless nobodies did not

count with them. They failed to see that everybody is somebody

with God, and everybody touches somebody in a way that hurts or

helps. Jesus blasted them, in spite of their high and strict principles,

because they did not love people and relate to them in helpful ways.

We should never be so proud that we cannot take advice from a

non-Christian. Esther took Hegai's advice and it was the best thing

that ever happened to her. We may never have heard of her had she

not listened to this pagan friend. She could have chosen to snub this

Gentile pagan, and instead inquire of her Jewish neighbor.

But her Jewish friend may have told her to eat onions and leeks

before she went in to see the king. You recall, the Jews were willing

to give up their freedom to get back to Egypt so they could have

onions and leeks. Esther could have taken this advice

and have been so offensive to the king that she would have been

dismissed on the spot. The point is, Hegai was the best authority,

and she was wise to follow his advice. It is wise for any Christian to

follow the wisdom of a non-Christian who is authority in his field. It

is not only not wrong to follow such advice, it is wrong not to follow

it if it does not conflict with the revealed of God. You could be

missing God's will by neglecting it. Do not count anybody out as a

resource for knowing God's will.

If God uses everybody to touch somebody, and that includes

obscure pagans like Hegai, how much more does He use His own

children to touch the world? Do not be deceived, you are constantly

influencing everyone who knows you for good or ill. The poet has

written,

My life shall touch a dozen lives

Before this day is done,

Leave countless marks of good or ill,

Ere sets the evening sun.

This, the wish I always wish,

The prayer I always pray:

Lord, may my life help others' lives

It touches by the way.

May God help us all to pray such a prayer everyday, for everyday,

everybody touches somebody.

7. THE PARADOX OF PATRIOTISM Based on Esther 2:19-3:6

Newscaster Paul Harvey, some years ago, told his radio listeners

this remarkable story from World War II. From the Island of

Guam one of our mighty B-29 bombers took off for

Kokura, Japan. It was carrying deadly cargo as it circled high

above the city. A cloud covered the city, so the plane kept circling

for half an hour, and then for three quarters of an hour, and finally

after 55 minutes the gas supply was reaching the danger zone. The

plane had to leave its primary target, and go to a secondary target

where the sky was clear. Then the command could be given,

"Bombs away!"

Only weeks later did the military receive information that chilled

many a heart. Thousands of allied prisoners of war, the largest

concentration of Americans in enemy hands, had been moved to

Kokura a week before the bombing mission. Had it not been for

that cloud, thousands of Americans now alive would have been

killed, for that B-29 was carrying the world's second atomic bomb.

It was taken instead to the secondary target-Nagasaki.

The direction history takes, so often is determined by such minor

things. Small things play a big role in life. The illustrations of this

are numerous, yet it is a truth that demands balance, or it leads to

folly. God's providence is constantly working through little things,

but not every little thing is of significance. To think so can lead to

becoming neurotic, for you will search for meaning in every trivial

event of life. The danger of this is illustrated by the little girl who

came running into her house sobbing. She threw herself into her

mothers arms, and cried out, "God doesn't love me anymore!" The

mother was shocked and puzzled at what could produce such a

crisis. "Why do you say that?" she asked, assuring her that God

does love her. "No mother!" she wailed. "I know He doesn't love

me. I tried Him with a daisy." In case you have never tried that less

than fool proof method of predicting love, by pulling off petals to,

"He loves me, he loves me not," let me recommend that you never

start, if you are going to take it seriously.

The fact is, there are little things that are just little things. They

are minor and insignificant. They are not subtle and hidden

methods by which great things are accomplished. I don't think it is

a healthy exercise to go through life trying to figure out if God is

trying to say something through every minor event. When God does

work through such events, it is only known as we look back and see

the minor event as a link in the chain that leads to the fulfillment of

His purpose.

This is what we see in the life of Mordecai. As a cloud saved

many Americans, so a conversation saved many Jews. Mordecai

over heard a couple of the kings servants plotting to assassinate him.

This was very common in the ancient world, because the only way to

get rid of an absolute monarch was by assassination. They never

quit, and could not be voted out, and so violence was the only

method open for change. Many of kings of Persians were

assassinated, including Xerxes. He was saved by Mordecai, but

fourteen years later one of his servants succeeded in his plot to kill

him.

Assassination was common even in Israel. In I Kings 15 we read

of how Baasha conspired to kill Nadab, the king of Israel, after he

had reigned only two years. Baasha became king then, and reigned

24 years, but he was also a evil king, so nothing was gained by the

people in this politics of violence. His son Elah became king, and 2

years later his servant Zimri assassinated him, and became king.

Once you killed the king, you had to kill the whole family, and many

of his friends, so the violence of the ancient world was terrible.

There are other gruesome assassinations in the Old Testament. I

point this out so that we can see clearly the nature of Mordecai's

political decision, when he chose to become an informer, and

revealed the conspiracy against Xerxes

We see in Mordecai's experience good reason for why political

decisions are so paradoxical, and why it is that politicians are often

so variable. We see it in Mordecai's patriotism. In the last

paragraph of chapter 2 we see Mordecai as a defender of the state,

and then in the first paragraph of chapter 3 we him as a defier of the

state. He first saved Xerxes life, and then he turns around and

refuses to obey his orders of bowing to Haman, his highest

representative. In the one place Mordecai is a conservative, and in

the next he is a liberal. In the one he is a loyal citizen, and in the

next he is a rebel.

We need to study both sides of the patriotism of Mordecai, for the

Bible and history make it clear that the Christian who cannot be

paradoxical in his politics and patriotism will not be able to live a

life of wisdom in relation to the state. The paradox is, inconsistency

in relationship to man is the only way you can be consistent in your

relationship to God. Let's focus first on the positive side.

I. MORDECAI AS DEFENDER OF THE STATE.

By defender, I mean Mordecai risked his life in order to a loyal

citizen, and to maintain the order of the state by reporting the

conspiracy to kill the king. Mordecai was a foreigner, and he could

have had the attitude that this is not my country, so what do I care?

The believer is one who knows God is the God of order, and unless

the leaders of a state are so corrupt that a revolution is demanded,

those leaders should be honored. Many Christians have, and do

now, live under tyrants, and forms of government that we could not

tolerate as Americans. They live with far less freedom than us, but

they still love their country, and are patriotic.

One of the reasons the Jews have been able to become leaders in

nations all over the world is because they have practiced the

principle of honoring and defending the state they are in. Paul in

Rom. 13 lays this down as a principle for Christians in any state.

"Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there

is no authority except from God..." They are to receive our respect

and honor. By practicing this Christianity has been able to thrive

under all sorts of governments.

Mordecai was a great example of this principle, and thus a great

asset to the Persian Empire. By becoming an informer he took a

great risk for the sake of Xerxes, for informers tend to get their

names added to the hit list. Vincent Teresa was the number 3 man

in the New England Mafia. He had stolen 10 million for himself in

crime, and 150 million for his bosses and confederates. When he

turned informer, back in the early 70's, dozens of big times mobsters

ended up in prison. It took the FBI's most brilliant minds

working constantly just to keep him alive. Assassination squads

were everywhere. Doctors, lawyers, and even policeman were paid

by Mafia to get him. It may have not have been this hot for

Mordecai, but had the assassins found out he was the informer,

he would have been their first target. He took risks to be a defender

of the state.

He was a hero of the state, and he was later greatly rewarded for

his loyalty. Patriotism played a major role in God's providence in

his life, and all of Israel. Patriotism is a virtue, but we must see that

it also has its limitations. When the state is exalted to the level of

God, then defense of the state is idolatry. Patriotism can have many

motives, and this is why it is only a relative, and not an absolute,

virtue. Even the Mafia are patriotic towards America, for its

freedoms make it the greatest place on earth for crime. Vincent

Teresa closes his book, My Life In The Mafia, with this paragraph.

Let me tell you something: I'm the proudest guy in the

world to be an American. Before I went to jail I had

plenty of chances to take off and go live in a villa on

the Italian coast, but I wouldn't leave this country. I'd

rather spend 20 years in the can in America than 20

years free in Italy. The reason is, I love this country,

and that's the way it is with most mob guys. The mob

will not stand for anything against this country. They'll

rob from government arsenals and rob government

stock and sell it; but if they could discover that anyone's

trying to overthrow the country or anything like that,

they'll fight him. Most mob guys that I know of vote.

We vote whatever is the best way to make money. If

its going to be one of these guys who is going to be on

the reform kick all the time, we'll all band together and

vote against him.

There is a higher percentage of the Mafia who vote, then of born

again Christians. So what I am saying is that patriotism is good, but

not an absolute good. If not modified by a higher loyalty to God, it

can become an evil. Thus, we turn to the other side of Mordecai and

see-

II. MORDECAI AS THE DEFIER OF THE STATE.

Verse 2 of chapter 3 makes it clear that bowing to Haman was not

a mere matter of courtesy, it was the law of the land, for the king

had commanded it. Not to bow was an act of defiance against the

state. Mordecai refused to bow. He had just risked his life for

Xerxes, but now when there is no risk at all involved, he will not join

the others and bow. What has happened to his patriotism as a loyal

citizen? Mordecai seems to be inconsistent. After all, he let his

daughter marry the king, so he is related to him, and yet he will not

pay him the respect of bowing to his highest representative.

The result of this stubborn refusal is that Haman becomes

hateful, and determines the entire Jewish race will pay for this

insubordination. Either Mordecai is a stubborn fool, or he is

standing for a principle more precious than life itself. The only clue

we have is in verse 4 where Mordecai's only defense for his action is

that he was a Jew. In other words, we are dealing here with an issue

of religious liberty, or the multifaceted and complex issue of the

separation of church and state. What Mordecai is saying is that as a

Jew there is a limit as to how far he can go in conforming to the

state. He could risk his life for the state, but he could not give up

his religious liberty by bowing to Haman, for he would be giving to

the state the allegiance he owed only to God. The issue here is really

a matter of idolatry. Do we obey God or man?

The whole thing would be sheer folly if it was a matter of

personal pride. If Mordecai just didn't like Haman, his action

would be disgraceful. He risks the lives of his people out of stubborn

pride. If we see it as a battle for religious liberty, however, then we

can see what has been a pattern of God's providence all through

history. Mordecai had his priorities straight. God is number one,

and the state can never be obeyed if it attempts to usurp that place

in our lives. The defenders of the state must become defiers of the

state when the state threatens to crush religious liberty. The state

has a right to our loyalty as long as it recognizes its place in God's

providence. When it begins to encroach on God's domain, then our

loyalty to God demands that we defy the state. The state becomes

Satanic when it demands of us allegiance due only to God. We must

chose then either to deify the state, or defy the state.

We know the issue of bowing to Haman was an attempt to deify

the state, for we have the record of Herodotus the ancient historian.

He tells us of others who came to Xerxes, and who refused to

acknowledge him as god. He tells of the Lacedoemonians whom the

guards forced to their knees before Xerxes, yet, they refused to bow

their heads, for they said they had not come to Persia for the

purpose of worshipping a man. Xerxes excused them from bowing,

for he had respect for their religious liberty. Haman, you will note,

never told Xerxes that his hatred of the Jews and Mordecai stemmed

from Mordecai's refusal to bow to him. This was never reported to

Xerxes at all, for if it had been, he would have nipped it in the bud

right there, for he allowed for religious liberty.

Haman is the culprit in the book of Esther, for his personal

hatred, based on his desire to be treated like deity, is the cause for all

the evil in the book. He plotted to get all the Jews killed so Xerxes

would never even know why. What we are dealing with here is a

corrupt politician in an otherwise reasonably just government.

Haman had let power go to his head, and he will not tolerate being

treated as secondary to God. He will get revenge on those who dare

to put God first. The lesson of Esther is that the believer can never

do anything other than defy those who presume to take God's place.

The history of America revolves around this basic principle.

A hundred years before the revolutionary war, king Charles II of

England demanded that the Mass. colony relinquished its religious

liberty, and let the Church of England control things, with only

church members having the right to vote. The Puritans were

enraged, and went into their pulpits preaching that they must defy

the kings orders. Better that they die free than submit to such

tyranny. The king heard of their rebellion, and ordered 5,000

troops to sail to Mass. to crush the rebellion. Increase Mather called

for a day of prayer and fasting, and later they learned that king

Charles had died on that very day of 1685. The result was the army

never set sail. The Puritans were convinced that defiance to a state

which threatens religious liberty is obedience to God. This principle

became the foundation for the American Revolution.

The result is we are a nation where the right to defy the

government is guaranteed. If the state tries to interfere with our

religious liberty, we can take the state to the supreme court, and

fight for our rights. We have a Constitution which gives us a right

to protest and demonstrate against our governments policies.

Thank God for freedom that most of the world has never known.

What we have is based on the basic truth that man has the right to

put God first, and to defy any authority that tries to take that first

place in our lives.

Most of us have never lived through a period where the state is

deified, and demanded absolute allegiance. Hopefully we will never

have to, but the Christians under Hitler had to. I never realized until

recently that Hitler established his own church in Germany. It was

called The German Church Of Positive Christianity. Its design was

to counter-act all Christian opposition, and destroy Christianity. It

was extremely effective, and won most of the youth of Germany.

Julius Leuthenses wrote, "Adolf Hitler is own living witness of the

present era, who confirms the good work of the eternal Divine Spirit

in history, and who, through his activity, enables us to understand in

a new way the teachings of Christ and His mission. Our watchword

is not that Hitler is equal to Christ, but: Through Hitler to Jesus

Christ."

That is just the beginning. Soon the preaching of the cross was

forbidden in church. The picture of Hitler was hung in front of all

churches, and he was referred to in official statements as the way,

the truth, and the light. All Germans were urged to die for him,

and make their dying words heil Hitler. Hitler was so clever, only

the devil himself could have been guiding him, for he completely

revised Christianity, and made Nazism a perverted Christianity. He

declared mount Hesselberg his sacred mountain, and Julius

Streicher his high priest. Standing before the bonfire he said,

"When we look into the flames of this holy fire, and throw our sins

into them, we can descend from this mountain with clean souls. We

do not need priests and ministers. We have become our own

priests."

Hitler actually became a god to millions of people who could not

see their folly until it was to late. I share this because Hitler and

Haman were two of a kind. There pride, racial hatred, and abuse of

power make them brothers of the pit. Both sought to wipe out the

Jewish race. But there were Mordecai's in Hitler's day as well.

They defied the state, and fought Hitler, and they made a difference.

The tragic fact is, these Mordecai's were two few in number. The

majority of Christians, both Catholic and Protestant, were deceived

by Hitler's clever use of patriotism. The people were whipped into a

religious frenzy of love and loyalty to the Fatherland. Hitler could

do not wrong, and Germany could do no wrong. The Patriotic

fervor so captivated Christians, that the voices of the church in

opposition were muted. Hitler was free to do the works of Satan

with little resistance. Millions of Christians cooperated in the

killing of 6 million Jews.

It is the story of history repeating itself over and over again,

because of idolatry. God's people bowed down to a false god, and as

always, the result is tragic judgment. Had there been more

Mordecai's defying the state when it began to encroach on God's

territory, the tragic and demonic history of Germany could have

been avoided. Many Christian leaders are writing today of the

danger of an American Civil Religion. It uses Christian

terminology, just as Hitler did, but it is not Christian. It is a state

religion that is designed to convince Christian people that

everything the state does is the will of God. It is a powerful political

tool.

Because of the ever present danger of the state becoming a god,

the Christian must be all the more conscious of the need to exalt the

Lordship of Jesus. Nothing is Christian, no matter how good, or

how American, which does not bow to Jesus Christ, and confess Him

as Lord. Mordecai, as a Jew, would bow to none but Jehovah, and

you and I, as Christians, can bow to none but Jesus. Because it is so,

we must be ready to both defend and defy the state.

8. COINCIDENCE OR PROVIDENCE? Based on Esther 6:1-11

Everyone experiences coincidence somewhere in life. Two people

say the same thing at the same time. You go to call someone and the

phone rings, and it is the person you were going to call. You flip

open the hymnal, and it opens right to the number you were looking

for. On and on we could go until we listed one you have

experienced, for coincidence is common to all.

But sometimes coincidence rises to a level that is more amazing.

Such is the case with the death of my father. The coincidence is in

relation to Lavonne's father. It is not very likely there are many

mates in the world who had fathers with the same name of Charles,

who lived in the same town, worked in the same meat packing plant,

lived in the same house where they both died, only a few feet apart,

although ten years apart, both in the night in similar ways, and both

were buried in the same cemetery, on the opposite side of town from

where they died.

Lest you puzzle over why they both died in the same place, let me

explain. My parents bought Lavonne's parents trailer home after

her father died. You have to admit this is an unusual series of

coincidences. It is rather amazing to me just because it is so highly

unlikely, but as far as I know, it has no significance whatever. I

share it for that very reason, to illustrate that coincidence, however

amazing, and contrary to the odds, may be no more than just a

matter of chance. Nothing would be affected in anyone's life, that

we are aware of, if our fathers had not lived and died with these

coincidences. I see no value or loss in what happened. It just

happened to work out that way.

Coincidence, therefore, does not necessarily have meaning. But

what if coincidence does have meaning? Then we rise to the level

where coincidence becomes providence. Providence is coincidence

with a purpose-God's purpose. It is no longer a mere matter of

chance, but is the fulfilling of God's plan in history. This too can be

illustrated by what took place when my father died. I had no

intention of going to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. I had already

written my parents and told them we would not be coming. Dad was

failing fast, however, and we did not know if he could hold out much

longer. Lavonne told this Jan Toy, and Jan shared with Steve, and

Steve talked to the deacons. He then called me and urged me to take

a few days off to go see my father.

I called home that night and mom said it would be appreciated if

I would come home for a few days. We went, and found dad in

terrible shape. He had aged 20 years in the months since I had last

seen him. We talked off and on through the day, and he listened to

one of my sermons on heaven that I had on tape. That night my

older brother and I visited with him. He was more alert than he had

been for sometime. In the morning mom called saying, "I think he is

gone." I leaped out of bed and ran into dad's room, and saw at a

glance that he was dead. I told mom to call his doctor. While she

was gone I pushed his eyelids closed.

I was surprised he had gone so fast, yet I was calm, for I had

prayed before going to sleep, "Lord if he cannot get well, take him

home." I was only repeating the prayer he had prayed himself a few

hours earlier. Lavonne and I were there to take mom to the funeral

home, and make all the arrangements, and then to the cemetery to

finish arrangements. Then we went back home to spend the day

contacting relatives all over the country. Had we not been there

when we were, we would have missed the chance to be with dad on

his last day, and mom would have been alone. Neither my brother

nor my sister could have helped her that day. It was perfect timing

that we had made it.

What a coincidence that the church would give me time off just

when it was most needed. Nobody could know it was the best time,

but God did, and so we see a coincidence with a purpose, and we

consider this the providence of God. God was working in minds,

events, and timing to accomplish a blessing in the lives of His people.

The blessings were so marvelous that none of us really started the

grief process until sometime later. The point of this long

introduction is to make clear that there is a distinction between

coincidence and providence.

Coincidence is a matter of chance, and it makes no real difference

in life, one way or the other. It may be amazing, but if it never

happened, no one would be hurt. If I had never gotten called by

someone I was going to call, or had never flipped open the hymnal to

the exact page, it would not have made any difference. Providence,

on the other hand has clear purpose and meaning. You can see the

hand of God in it, and you cannot help but thank and praise Him for

His guidance. Esther is a book that has one coincidence after

another. Because each of them is so vital to the survival of the Jews,

and to their victory over their enemies, it is a book that specializes in

the providence of God.

No where in the Bible will you find the providence of God more

conspicuous then in this book, where God is never mentioned.

Vashti, the Queen of Persia, rebels against her husband and loses

her throne, so that the Jews can have a Jewish Queen on the throne,

just when she was needed for their deliverance. What a coincidence!

The keeper of the harem favored Esther, and he helped her, out of a

host of beautiful girls, to so please the king, that she was selected as

the Queen. What a break!

Mordecai overheard two men plot to assassinate the king, and by

reporting it he saved the kings life. Now we come to chapter 6, and

the whole story revolves around an amazing coincidence. The king

could not sleep one night, and it happened to be the same night in

which Haman, the Jew hater, was plotting to destroy Mordecai.

What a marvelous coincidence that the king would call for the book

of memorable deeds to be read to him that night, and that the

forgotten deed of Mordecai would be read to him just minutes

before Haman came to request that Mordecai be hung. If this

coincidence had not take place, the whole story would have been

tragedy rather than comedy, and the Jews would have been

destroyed. Mordecai will be hung, or be a hero, and it all depended

upon the coincidence of the kings being read this particular page in

the record book he turned to.

The destiny of God's people swings on the hinge of coincidence,

but coincidence with such purpose and importance that we see

clearly the providence of God. It is the hand of God in history

directing the timing of events so as to determine the course of

history. There is no miracle here at all. Everything is perfectly

normal and natural. The king can not sleep, and so he calls for

records to be read. He may have done this three times a week for 20

years. There is nothing marvelous about it. But this night the

coincidence of reading about Mordecai's noble deed of saving his

life, just before Haman came to request his death, changed the

course of history. The coincidences of the book of Esther are not

amazing or startling in themselves. They are rather trivial even, but

the purpose they fulfill shows them to be the providence of God.

We need to be alerted to the providence of God in our lives by

evaluating coincidence. Because we take coincidence for granted, we

likely miss much of the evidence of God's leading in our lives. In

other words, we do not sense that everyday the trivial events,

contacts, and turn of events could be the providence of God.

Katherine Marshall tells of her experience after the death of Peter

Marshall. She was going to write the story of her famous husband's

life. But did not know how to get information on Peter's step-father.

She had exhausted all possible sources of information, she thought.

Then one night, an English couple she had met invited her to dinner.

In the course of the evening she felt and urge to tell them about her

need. She could have suppressed that urge, considering it to be

inappropriate, but she went ahead and shared.

The man interrupted her as she told of her need, and said,

"Certainly you couldn't be speaking of Peter Findlay?" "Yes," she

said, "Why?" The atmosphere was electrified. The man responded,

"I worked beside him for years in the same office at Stewarts and

Lloyds in Glasgow. I knew him well. What do you want to know?"

Katherine Marshall had just experienced coincidence with a

purpose, and thus, in the providence of God, she received what she

needed. There were 800 thousand people in the District of

Colombia, and only one of them knew anything about Peter Findlay,

and he was the one who invited her to dinner. That experience of

providence gave Katherine the courage she needed to go on to

become one of the greatest Christian authors of the 20th century.

By this event of providence, she heard God saying to her, "I'm in

this with you."

God may be seeking to guide us, and answer our prayers, by

means of purposeful coincidence. We need to be aware of this, and

learn to be more sensitive to this kind of leading in our lives. It may

be happening more than we realize, and we miss it, or because we do

not recognize it as the way God works, we fail to experience what

God has for us in His providence. I am not saying that God will

remove all of our problems if we are more sensitive to His

providence. I do not see any such promise in the Bible. But God

will work in all things for good with those who love Him, and are

called according to His purpose. This simply means we need to be on

the lookout for the purpose in coincidence, for this is one of the

common ways in which God brings good out of all sorts of

situations.

If a coincidence has no particular value, or purpose, then it is

coincidence, and that it that. It is a matter of chance events. By

chance events I mean, those things that happen that are not directed

by God's purpose, but are the result of the laws of nature He has

created. Because He created these laws, He is, in a sense, the author

of all that happens. But when he just allows the laws to function, and

does not enter into them to interfere for a specific purpose, you do

not call that providence.

For example, I worked for 4 years at a printing company. My

job included the laying out of paper for the paper cutter. I would

lay out tons of paper on any one day, and over the years filled out

thousands of orders. Every once in while I would go the shelves of

stock with an order. The order would call for 325 sheets of blue 20

lb. paper 18 by 34. I would start counting the sheets in an open

package, and to my surprise, I would end up with exactly 325

sheets-just what I needed. It was always a surprise, because it was a

rare coincidence, but it did happen, and I was impressed with how

often the unlikely could happen by chance. What I was experiencing

was coincidence. It had no meaning or purpose. It would happen to

anyone who spent hours everyday counting out paper. It was a

mere matter of chance. The only way it could be of value would be

if it happened every time, and made you the best paper counter in

the world, because you would not need to count at all, knowing the

package had just what you needed. If a coincidence does not serve

any meaningful purpose, it cannot be considered providential.

Paul Aurandt in The Rest Of The Story tells of a marvelous

coincidence in the filming of the Wizard of Oz. Frank Morgan

played the wizard, and Professor Marvel, the traveling sideshow

man that Dorothy met. MGM'S wardrobe department was notified

that they needed a coat for Professor Marvel. It had to reflect a sort

of shabby gentility, a grandeur gone to seed. The staff went to

second hand shops in Los Angeles, and they came back with 50

coats. The director and Frank met to select one. The one they

decided on was a Prince Albert coat, with a velvet collar. It was

worn, but spoke of former elegance.

One day, as the Professor Marvel scenes were being shot, Frank

Morgan pulled out the pocket of his coat, and he noticed the name of

the original owner. It was such a surprise, the MGM executives

wired the tailor in Chicago to confirm what they had discovered. It

was confirmed-the coat they had selected was originally made for

the man who wrote the book-The Wizard Of Oz. It is an amazing

story, it is so highly unlikely that you feel almost compelled to see

forces beyond man involved. But because it has no significance or

meaning, that is recorded, it is not likely it was providential. It

made no difference, for had it not been his coat it would have served

the same purpose. No purpose was achieved by this amazing

coincidence, and without purpose it is not providential.

Why is it important to make the distinction between coincidence

and providence? Because, if you don't, you end up with a superficial

theology that loses all sense of balance, and makes God responsible

for much that is evil and folly. Just as an example: If God is

responsible for all coincidence, then God is the key supporter of the

gambling establishments of the world, and thus, the great benefactor

of the Mafia, and other underworld organizations. Every time a slot

machine comes up with three of a kind, that is a coincidence. Every

time the roulette wheel stops where you have your money placed,

that is a coincidence. If God intervened in this system of chance, the

entire world of gambling could be eliminated in one day, for enough

of these coincidence would destroy gambling. Christians could own

Las Vegas in a week if God worked providentially in gambling. God

does not do so, however, for it is not His plan to prevent men having

a free choice to be foolish. Man is free to choose to gamble, and God

will not interfere with that choice.

The point is, gambling is a world of coincidence, and not a world

of providence. This is not to say, God never works providentially in

this realm, but in general it is a world system guided by the laws of

chance, and is not a God guided system. If it was, and all

coincidence was of God, then the Christian would have an obligation

to both gamble and promote it, as a way of achieving God's purpose

in history. Coincidence can be good, evil, or indifferent. Providence

is always good, for it is for the fulfilling of God's purpose.

Coincidence can be very negative. Two cars meet at the same time

at the intersection, and life is taken. Millions of coincidences happen

in which wrong timing leads to evil and death.

In Esther we see Haman being the victim of God's judgment

through His good providence to Mordecai. In other words, for

Mordecai to be spared, and all the Jews to be saved, the enemies of

the Jews had to be destroyed. So there can be a negative side to

providence as well. Haman was hung because of the providential

guidance of God in protecting Mordecai. If you can show that

tragedy to someone is the key to the survival of someone else in

God's will, you can see providence is good, even in negative results.

Most accidents, however, do not fall into this category, but are in the

category of coincidence which is determined by chance, and not by

God.

God still works in all things for good, and can bring values out of

life's negatives, but the negative is not necessarily a part of His plan.

If I chose to be a fool, and gamble away a thousand dollars, my loss

and depression may lead me to change my life in a very positive way.

This does not mean that God's plan was for me to be a fool and

gamble. It just means that His providence never ceases to seek ways

of bringing good out of evil. The evil, however, is not part of His

plan.

The entire issue of prayer is based on the distinction between

coincidence and providence. If all that happens in life is God's plan,

then, of course, prayer is meaningless, and we just as well sing,

whatever will be will be, and forget it. If, however, we live in a

world where there is a combination of natural law, and wills that

determine what happens, then prayer makes sense. What we are

doing in prayer is asking that God exercise His will, and guide

events to accomplish His purpose. Prayer is saying to God, "I know

you can make a difference in the events of life, and I want to

cooperate in seeing those differences made that fulfill your will for

me." Why pray, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven," if it

will be done regardless? The point is, it won't be done unless we

cooperate with God's providential guidance.

With this attitude in mind, you can face every day as an

adventure in which all that you do, and all that you say, can make a

difference in your own destiny, and the destiny of others. Even

trivial decisions can take you down a path to values you might have

otherwise have missed. God's method of guiding is not usually by

miracle, but by providence, as we see all through the book of Esther.

The Jewish race was saved in Esther by the providential timing of

trivial events. It is the most common way that God has for

protecting His people from tragedy yet today.

Let me close with an illustration of how God once providentially

answered the oft repeated prayer, "God save the Queen." Queen

Victoria was on the express train racing through the night to

London. Suddenly the engineer saw a strange sight in the engine's

headlight. A weird figure in a black cloak waving its arms caused

the engineer to grab for the brakes, and bring the train to a grinding

halt. He and his partner jumped out to see what it was. They

walked down the track, and stared in horror, for they saw a bridge

washed out, and toppled into the swollen stream. All would have

been killed had they not stopped. But they could not find the one

who warned them. The engineer climbed back into his cab and

switched on the lamp. At the base was a huge dead moth. He held it

up to the lamp, and it cast a shadow which explained what they saw.

The Queen was told, and she said, "I'm sure it was no accident. It

was God's way of protecting us." It was clearly an amazing

coincidence, that was also the providence of God.

9. THE HUMOR OF HISTORY Based on Esther 9:20-28

It was one of the greatest celebrations in the history of the

American people. The bells rang in Independence Hall in

Philadelphia. There was a hundred gun salute in City Hall Park of

New York. In Chicago there was a volunteer possession of people

seven miles long. In California they celebrated for two days. This

happened in May of 1869. It was when the railroad from Omaha

and the railroad from Sacramento met at Promontory Point, Utah.

The last spike of California gold was driven by Governor Leland

Standford. Two locomotives drew up close to each other, and the

news was sent by telegraph all over the country. People rejoiced

and celebrated because the United States was now, by means of the

railroad, really united. Carl VanDoren writes, "This was probably

the most important and most exciting non-military ceremony in the

whole history of the American people."

It thrilled a whole nation then, but today you would find it hard

to find an American who even knows it happened. Those few

historians who do know certainly do not throw a party to celebrate

it. Some great events in history do not live on to capture the minds

and hearts of all future generations. But, on the other hand, some

events live on perpetually, and even grow in their intensity with

time. Such is the case with the event called Purim. It means next to

nothing to us as Gentiles, but to the Jews it means a great deal. A

study of this Jewish holiday and feast will help us understand the

book of Esther, and the purpose for it being in the Bible.

One of the greatest paradoxes of history is that the Jews, who

have suffered so incredibly, have also been the source of incredible

laughter. Tevye, the Jewish father in Fiddler On The Roof, was a

funny man in a very unfunny and tragic situation. This has always

been the case with Jews who love the book of Esther, and keep the

feast of Purim. Purim, says Herman Wach, the Jewish author, is the

nearest thing in Judaism to a carnival. It is a time of riotous

rejoicing. In some places it has made a street festival just like the

Mardi Gras.

It is the one day in the year when disordered hilarity is permitted

in the synagogue. Reverence and restraint are virtues all year long,

but not on this day. They are cast to the wind, and what would be

outrageous any other time is permitted on this day. Children are

given noise makers of all kinds, and they take them into the

synagogue. All is silent as the first two chapters of the book of

Esther are read. Then the reader comes to chapter three where he

reads the name of Hamen the Agagite, and this triggers off a

hurricane of racket. Everyone stomps their feet, and the children

make a staggering contribution to the noise with their noise makers.

Eventually the dim dies down and the reader continues, but when he

comes to the name of Hamen again, all bedlam breaks loose. Since

Hamen is named often in the book of Esther, the amount of noise is

both frequent and enormous.

This celebration has been going on for well over two thousand

years among Jews all over the world. It is Christmas, Thanksgiving,

Easter, the Fourth of July, and Halloween all rolled into one great

two day celebration. Jewish schools have all sorts of plays, skits,

and music, to reenact the drama of Esther. Is the day of all kinds of

silliness, jokes, and laughter. Men and youth dress up like clowns

and play tricks, and tell jokes. Children wear masks and go from

house to house. Gifts are exchanged, and all are required to share

with the poor so that it is a fun day for all, no matter what their

economic condition.

Now you must certainly wonder why all of this hilarity, frivolity,

and laughter? What makes Purim so different from all other feasts

of Judaism? The answer is the profound Jewish conviction that the

drama of history is a comedy and not a tragedy. This is not to say

life is not full of tragic events, but rather, that when history is over,

God will have the last laugh, and there will be a happy ending for all

who are a part of the family of God. This is a basic Biblical

philosophy of life, and it explains how the Jews can be so optimistic

through all of their trials. It also explains why Christians have even

a greater hope because of the greater revelation we have of ultimate

victory in Christ.

Purim is a holiday which proclaims the humor of history. In a

very real sense the book of Esther is a joke book. It is based on the

same theme that makes millions of people laugh every day as they

watch cartoons. Evil plots are made to capture, injure, or destroy

the innocent, but they always backfire and injure the one who

planned them instead. That is the basic theme repeated in

multitudes of cartoons, and that it the theme of Esther. Hamen, the

powerful Jew hater, so despised Mordecai that he plots not only to

destroy him, but all of the Jews. He is so clever, as evil men often

are, that it looks like he has a fool proof scheme to annihilate them.

By surprising providential events, however, a Jewish woman

becomes the Queen, and by her superior cleverness Hamen the bigot

ends up swinging from the very gallows he built to hand Mordecai.

Mordecai then gets Hamens job as the leading official in the Persian

government. All of the Jews of the world are not only spared,

they end up with greater power and influence than they ever would

have had if wicked Hamen had not hated them so. It is another

great Biblical story of good out of evil, and that is why Esther and

Mordecai wrote letters to all of the Jews, and established the feast of

Purim, and ordered that it be a perpetual holiday for all of history.

Just as Jesus established the Lord's supper as a perpetual

remembrance of His death, that Christians might never forget the

source of their salvation, so the feast of Purim is established that

God's people might never forget that for them history is a comedy.

No matter how dark or miserable it gets, it will have a happy ending.

No matter how much you are forced to weep, tears will not endure,

for the story will end with laughter. Will there be laughter in

heaven? Just as certainly as there will be weeping in hell.

Christopher Fry wrote an article in Vogue back in 1951 in which

he describes the dream a friend shared with him. He dreamed of a

great book with a tragic page and then a comic page. He turned

them with excitement to determine which the last page would be, for

this would reveal if the meaning of life was to be tragic or comic.

The final page contained 100 words and they were uproariously

funny. He awoke laughing. This is the message of Esther and Job,

and the book of Revelation. Comedy and humor are not an escape

from reality, but, rather, an escape into ultimate reality and the

Kingdom of faith. There is salvation in a sense of humor. We are

not talking about saving faith in the sense of being granted eternal

life. Faith in Jesus Christ alone is the only faith that saves like that.

A sense of humor will not save anyone in this sense, but it will, and

has saved millions from the valley of pessimism and discouragement.

Carl Kassulke, the Minnesota Viking star football player, who

was paralyzed by a motor cycle accident, told of his experience in

the University of Minnesota hospital. He was always up to some

prank, but one night he threw a water balloon at one of his

roommates in the middle of the night. The bed was drenched, and

the roommate returned the attack. A near riot broke loose as half

the floor was awakened. It was the greatest water fight he ever had,

and they were all crippled. He writes, "In view of how easy it was to

become depressed about our future- and there were moments of

awful despair-we really needed some silliness in our lives."

Therapy was not enough. They needed the therapy of laughter and

humor to endure the battle. Suffering is serious business, but if you

take it too serious you become a frowning skeptic and a scowling

cynic. Even suffering must be faced with a sense of humor to allow

the healing of God to take place.

Bob Hope, and dozens of other comedians have traveled millions

of miles to bring laughter to men in the armed forces who faced

death constantly. This seems like a strange paradox. Those in the

gravest danger laughing at silly jokes. Is this a sign of man's

depravity to be filled with laughter in the face of man's greatest

enemy? No! It is not. It is, in fact, just the opposite. It is a sign of

mans being made in the image of God. It is proof that that image,

however marred by the fall, was not demolished, but continues to

shine even in fallen mankind.

A sense of humor in this war-torn, sin-scared world is a testimony

to the great Biblical truth that laughter will last forever when all

tears are wiped away. If people are funny, it is because God is the

author of humor, and he has built humor into history so that we

might see His smile and hear His laughter even where He is not even

mentioned. Esther is notorious for having no reference to God

whatever. As we study the book we will see that this is part of the

fun of it all. It is like Walt Disney's invisible man who can do all

sorts of amazing things without anyone seeing him. It becomes all

the more hilarious because he is apparently not there.

Esther seems like a totally secular story. There is nothing

religious about it. There is no worship, no prayer, and no reference

to God, Scripture, or preaching. If fasting was not in the book,

there would not be the slightest hint of anything religious. The

funny thing about it is-God is more active in this book then where

He is often mentioned. It is one of the most spiritual of all the books

of the Bible. And what makes it so unique is, it is fun to study it

because it is filled with humor-the humor of God's providence in

history. It is God's joke book revealing His sense of humor.

Judaism is an earthly religion, and so God's Old Testament

revelation of the humor of history ends with an earthly victory, and

an earthly feast with joy and laugher. In the New Testament Jesus

brings life and immortality to light through the Gospel, and so we as

Christians look at this same truth on a far higher level. We focus on

the great marriage supper of the Lamb as our goal, and basis for

optimism. Let us not forget, however, that we, like the Jews, still

need to live in time. Therefore, we still need to grasp the practical

and positive philosophy of life God gave us through the book of

Esther. The spirit of optimism was in Israel long before Esther, for

it goes with faith. Everyone looked at Goliath and said, he is so big I

can't mess with him. But David said, he is so big I can't miss him.

By faith in God the weak challenge the strong and they win, and the

heart is filled with laughter.

Christians can be a part of the problem instead of part of the

solution if they fail to develop a proper sense of humor. This is what

happened to the Pharisees in the time of Christ. They were godly

and sincerely religious people. They were not a part of the answer,

however, but a part of the problem, because they lacked a sense of

humor. They took themselves too seriously. This type of person

always becomes a legalist. Every T must be crossed just so. Every i

must be dotted just so. They make religion a burden rather than a

blessing like Jesus did. Jesus had fun in living, and He was being

supremely religious and spiritual all the time. Jesus said His

disciples did not fast because life with Him was like a wedding

reception where fasting was not appropriate. It was a fun-filled life

of service with singing and rejoicing, and feasting was appropriate

because so many people were being saved, healed, encouraged and

enriched.

The Pharisees did not like all of this light-heartiness connected

with religion. They saw some rules being broken. Never mind that

the man or woman who had been a cripple or blind for life is now

praising God with hilarious joy. The real issue for them was, are

these things appropriate on the Sabbath? No sense of humor and no

spirit of joy that responds with laughter when evil is overcome and

outwitted by the forces of good ever characterized the Pharisees. All

they cared about was being serious about every technicality of the

law. If you study history you will discover this pattern repeating

itself over and over again. When people cease to laugh, and take

everything too seriously, they do not develop true faith, but instead,

they destroy it.

The Quamram community left us the Dead Sea Scrolls. They

withdrew from life and became super-serious legalist. Laughter

and fun were banished. It is no wonder they became a dead end, and

ceased to exist as a channel God could use in history. Christians

have tried this same route and failed equally. The monasteries

became places of fanatical legalism where life was 100% serious

and solemn. Laughter was not only secular it was sinful. If God had

not raised up such fun-loving saints as Francis of Assissi, there would

have been little of value to come out of the millions of miserable man

hours spent in mindless obedience to man made rituals.

Any time you see a man or movement taking itself so serious it

cannot laugh at itself, you can be assured it has lost a key to balance,

and will likely go to an extreme, and cease to be an effective tool for

God. As a teen-ager I use to love to listen to that great Catholic

preacher on TV-Fulton J. Sheen. He was easy for me to listen to

because he was humorous. He was convinced Jesus came into this

world to teach men about the divine sense of humor. H e wrote these

words about Jesus- "Everything He said, everything He did, could be

summed up in these words: Nothing in this world is to be taken

seriously, nothing except the salvation of the soul. What shall it

profit a man if he gained the whole world and lose his own soul."

The Pharisees took everything to seriously, and the result was,

they made religious faith about as much fun as a one sided teeter

totter. The balance life will have ups and downs, for both sorrow

and joy are real and legitimate. The Pharisees lacked balance and

stressed only one side of the reality of life. Kierkegaard, the great

Danish theologian said that Christianity has the most humorous view

of life. Wise are those who see this and make sure that humor

plays a major role in their Christian life.

The cross was Satan's plot to destroy the Son of God. By it he

hoped to eliminate the plan of God to save man. This diabolic

scheme backfired and became instead the door to its fulfillment, and

the cause of his final defeat. The cross is a symbol of joy and

rejoicing because it is a symbol of the victory of good over evil. It is

the ultimate symbol of the humor of history.

If you saw a cartoon where huge tanks were sent out to do battle

with a rabbit, and you saw them coming back defeated, you would

laugh, for it would be ridiculous. The Bible is full of this humor. It is

not only in Esther, but in the New Testament where the combined

powers of Rome and Judaism came together to keep a dead man in

the tomb. The huge rock is sealed, the Roman guards are in place,

and yet the story ends with a dead man escaping. The resurrection

is God's delightful sense of humor at its greatest. It reveals that

history, for the believer is a comedy-a story with a happy ending.

Dante called his greatest work The Divine Comedy because he had a

Biblical view of history, and he knew when God wrapped it all up it

would have a happy ending.

The message of the Bible is clear-never give up, hang in there

however rough the battle, for the victory is certain, and in Christ we

will always have the last laugh. Eugene O'Neill captured this theme

in his play Lazarus Laughed. After His resurrection from the dead

Lazarus says, "I heard the heart of Jesus laughing in my heart-and I

laughed in the laughter of God." He had lost all fear of death,

and the play ends with Lazarus being threatened by the authorities,

but he does not deny his Lord, but instead, he dies a martyrs death,

laughing. That is the way all of God's children could die if they were

fully aware of the humor of history.

10. PROVIDENCE IN AMERICAN HISTORY Esther 10:1-3

Great leaders are often providentially preserved from what ought

to have been certain death. This happens before they rise to a level

where they are a blessing to many people. In the history of the Jews,

Mordecai is one of these leaders. He came within minutes of being

hung on a gallows, and instead, became a powerful leader for the

good of his people.You can go to Iran yet today, and in Hamadan,

North East of Baghdad, you will find the tomb of Esther and

Mordecai. Their dark hardwood coffins stand side by side, and the

Hebrew inscription craved along the upper edge is Esther 10:3.

God's providential protection of Mordecai changed the course of

history, and the Jews have celebrated the event every year since, on

the holiday called Purim.

The fourth of July brings us to the place where we see history

repeating itself. We celebrate this day for the same reason the Jews

celebrate Purim. It is a day of celebration for America, because God

just as clearly delivered our nation as He did the nation of Israel. It

was a matter of providence, just as sure as that we see in the book of

Esther. As we look at it, we soon see why it is that history repeats

itself. It is because God just loves to repeat a good story, and the

stories of the weak conquering the strong, and the simple outwitting

the wise, are His favorites.

George Washington, the father of our country, was one of the

most godly leaders in history, and God's providence in his life has

blessed all Americans, just as that in Mordecai's life has blessed all

Jews. We can't begin to share them all, but let me give you a taste.

In the battle of Monongahela, Washington was a young officer in the

Virginia Militia. In that battle this 23 year old officer had two horses

shot out from under him, and 4 musket balls passed through his coat.

The Indians, who were expert marksmen, were so impressed with his

survival that the chief prophesied he would be a famous leader, for

the Great Spirit protected him. The chief shared that with

Washington himself years later. Washington was not surprised, for

he sensed the hand of God on him also. He wrote to his brother after

the battle, "Death was leveling my companions on every side of me,

but by the all-powerful disposition of providence, I have been

protected."

It was no accident that Washington with his weak, untrained, and

outnumbered frontier farmers whipped the strong, and well trained

British soldiers. They were the best army in the world of that day. It

is the most common story of God's providence. It is David and

Goliath all over again. It is Mordecai and Haman again. Haman is

the next most powerful man next to the king. He had almost absolute

power. If he abused it, no questions were asked. He could do as he

pleased. Mordecai, on the other hand, was a Jew, and had no power

at all, in comparison. It was like the 13 colonies challenging the

mighty power of England. They didn't have a chance. But the

beauty of history is that it is not left to chance. God steps in, time

and time again, and the little guy wins.

By the providence of God, David won over Goliath, and went on

to become king of Israel. By the providence of God Mordecai won

over Haman, and went on to become a key leader in Persia. By the

providence of God Washington led the 13 colonies to victory over the

British, and went on to become the 1st president of the United States.

It is not coincidence that the pattern keeps repeating itself in history.

It is providence, because it is the way God loves to work, so we can

see His hand in history.

Let me share another parallel between the providence in

Mordecai's life, and that in the life of Washington. Mordecai's life

was spared because of some obscure servant opening the book of

records to the account of his saving the kings life. God has used

books to change the course of history for millions of people and many

nations. We see it in Washington's life as well. The British had held

Boston for a year and a half. They were secure there, with British

ships in the harbor. They were ready to blow anyone off the map

who dared to come near. Washington, on the hillside over looking

Boston, knew he did not dare to even fire a shot. Washington went

with his officers to try and figure out a way to retake this key city. It

seemed hopeless, and no idea stood a chance of succeeding.

That night, Rufus Putnam, a young amateur engineer, was

passing by General Willis Heath's quarters, and decided to pay him a

visit. While there he saw a book on the general's shelf on field

engineering. That discovery was a trivial thing, but it changed the

course of history. In that book Putnam found plans designed by the

French for a defensive weapon that would eliminate the threat of the

British cannons. It was a large wood frame filled with hundreds of

bundles of tightly bound sticks and dirt. He ran to share this

discovery with Washington. He saw the value of it immediately, and

commanded 800 men to work through the night constructing them.

At dawn, the British were stunned by what they saw. When the

cannon balls hit these barricades they bounced back doing no

damage whatever. The Americans in one night neutralized the

enemies key weapon. Now the Americans had the advantage, and so

the British pulled out of Boston. Washington marched in taking the

city without the loss of a single life.

Was that stumbling across an idea in a book a mere accident, or

was it the providence of God? Those who were there praised God. If

there is one word that stands out more than any other, when you

read the history of the Revolutionary War, it is the word providence.

It was in the vocabulary of nearly all who wrote of it. When

Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson drew up the draft of the

Declaration of Independence, the congress insisted that these words

be added. "And for the support of this declaration, with a firm

reliance on the Protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge

to each other our lives, our fortunes and our Sacred Honor!" Those

men who signed the Declaration risked everything to do so. Many of

them paid the price, and it was everything.

That is why the first vote was only 9 of the 13 colonies in favor.

The debate was hot and furious, and good men differed greatly on

their views of what was wise and right. They needed a unanimous

decision, and so the debate went on. There were many parallels with

the conflict we see in Esther. Haman hated Mordecai and his

religion. Britain hated the Americans for their religious liberty, and

for starting so many churches not loyal to the Church of England.

British troops turned many of the churches into barns for their

horses, or bars and grog shops. The pews and pulpits were burned.

More than 50 churches were totally destroyed, and many others

damaged severely. The spiritual conflict played a major role, and

those Americans who believed in religious liberty were the ones who

finally persuaded the others that the Declaration of Independence

had to be passed.

God worked in other providential ways, and when the next vote

was cast, it was 12 for and 1 abstaining. It was unanimous, and the

U. S. was born. The people of the colonies celebrated just like the

Jews celebrated Purim for their deliverance. The Americans will

celebrate the 4th of July until Christ comes again, just as the Jews

will celebrate Purim, for they both stand for the providence of God

in history.

John Adams, who fought for the Declaration, and later became

president of the U.S., wrote to his wife after it passed, and in that

letter he said of that day, "It ought to be commemorated, as the Day

of Deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought

to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports,

guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this

continent to the other, from this time forward and forevermore."

That sounds just like the words of Mordecai in chapter 9, where

Purim is to be celebrated by all Jews of all time forevermore.

As Americans we have experienced the providence of God just as

the Jews did in Esther. And as Baptists, we have experienced a

double dose. Few Baptists realize it, but in the thirty year period

from 1770 to 1800, when all the great events of the American

Revolution took place, the Baptists grew like wildfire. In that short

time they went from a place of relative obscurity to become the

largest denomination in America. Other churches were dying, and in

a state of decline, but when the Revolution was over the Baptists had

twice the number of people as the next largest denomination. In a

very real sense, the birth of our nation, and the birth of the Baptist

denomination went hand in hand, and this too was clearly

providential.

The Baptists had only a handful of churches in the 13 colonies in

1740. How did they grow so fast? It was because Baptists were

democratic in their form of church government. The very principles

that were driving the colonies to seek independence from the

oppressive authority of England were already seeing in operation in

the Baptist church. Most all other churches were run from the top

down. The people did not have the freedom to decide. Many were

still run by the state church in England, and others by a powerful

higher hierarchy. The Baptists alone were free and democratic. As

American people felt the need for freedom from political oppression,

they felt it also in the realm of religious oppression. New leadership

in the Baptist churches were sick and tired of mere survival within

the Puritan system. The Puritans did not allow for religious liberty,

but the Baptists became bold and aggressive, and were determined

that America would be the land of the free, where people could

worship with complete religious liberty.

Issac Backus, the Baptist leader in New England, began to write

tract after tract dealing with the folly of mixing the church and state.

People came to America to escape that sort of thing in England and

Europe. They came here to get away from a state controlled church.

He insisted that the state should have no control over the church.

The cry for religious liberty within the colonies became the cause of

Baptists. The Baptists were the most consistent people in their

longing for liberty, for they wanted it, not only from England, but

from the oppression in New England. Baptists were taxed in the

colonies to support the Puritan churches. They were experiencing

taxation without representation right here. The Baptists, therefore,

had a war going on two fronts. They fought for civil liberty from

England, and religious liberty within the colonies.

Roger Williams was the founder of the first Baptist church in

America. He didn't seem to have a chance. The law was against him,

and the church was against him, and the political leaders were

against him. It was the most spectacular trial in American history to

that point, when he was taken to court because of his fight for

religious liberty. He was found guilty and sentenced to banishment.

Americans were not yet ready for such radical liberty, and they

wanted this man out of the country. Fourteen men were hired to

surprise him in the night, and drag him to a ship where he would be

carried into exile. Governor Winthrop, who was his secret friend

sent him a warning. He kissed his wife and new born baby, and fled

into a blinding snow storm. For weeks he survived without bread or

any weapon. He ate roots and nuts, and was finally rescued by

friendly Indians.

It was only by the providence of God that his life was spared, and

that is why when he established a permanent home he called it

Providence, Rhode Island. It was the first place on earth where there

was total religious freedom, and separation of church and state. He

founded the first Baptist church of America there in 1639. His

marble statue stands in the Hall of Fame in the Capital building in

Washington D.C. More biographies of Roger Williams have been

written than of any other American next to Benjamin Franklin.

What he did laid a foundation for religious liberty for the rest of our

history.

The Baptist church had a spirit of liberty, which gave it a built in

appeal for an nation ready to fight for liberty. Baptists were so

clearly in tune with the temper of the times that people began to

regard the Baptists as the truly American church. The result was,

people flocked to the church of liberty, and the Baptists came

through the Revolution, the largest denomination in this new nation

of liberty. Ever since the Baptists have played a major role in the

history of our land. Samuel Francis Smith, a Baptist pastor,

wrote one of our finest patriotic hymns: My County Tis Of Thee.

Francis Bellamy, another Baptist pastor, wrote The Pledge of

Allegiance to the Flag. Mark Watkinson, still another Baptist pastor,

inspired the Secretary of the Treasury in 1861 to get congress to

approve putting, "In God We Trust," on U. S. coins. Baptists played

a key role in getting the Bill of Rights into the Constitution, and have

been the major force in maintaining the separation of church and

state.

The point of all this history is to illustrate that we celebrate the

4th of July for the same reason the Jews celebrate Purim. It is a day

to look back and see the providence of God in our history. It is a day

to recognize that we are a blessed people, because God does put His

hand into history and give victory to those who honor Him. It is

great to be an American, but greater yet to be a Christian of any

land, for the greatest liberty of all is to be set free from the power

and penalty of sin. All other freedoms are of little worth without

freedom in Christ. "If the Son shall set you free, you shall be free

indeed."