Esther: Security Through People

Let's go back 2500 years to the Medo-Persian Empire. Here we meet someone named Esther, a woman who had an identity trap. She sought security through people. The story is amazing, revealing how God can work through subterfuge and the machinations of evil men to accomplish his purposes. Stay with us.

From Chicago, this is The Moody Church Hour, a weekly broadcast of worship and teaching with Pastor Philip Miller. Today, the fifth in a series of messages about identity traps. Our Bible character to learn from will be Esther, a woman who sought security through people. Here now is Pastor Philip, along with worship leader Tim Stafford.

Well, hey, everybody, and welcome to The Moody Church. We're so glad you've joined us for worship today as we lift high the name of Jesus and discover where our true security lies in this life. We're looking at Esther from the Old Testament, her story, and how she goes from living in the shadows to finding freedom in the security as a child of God that will transform her life.

So let's pray that would happen in our lives today. Would you join me in prayer as we begin? Let's pray. Father, we thank you that you are the security our souls most desperately need. You are the safe place where we can be ourselves and know who we truly are.

As we look at the life of Esther, would you teach us how to be courageous in our identity as your beloved children? We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. The grace of God has reached for me and pulled me from the raging sea and I am safe on this solid ground. The Lord is my salvation.

I quit on that fear when darkness falls. His strength will help me scan these walls. I'll see the dawn. Of the rising sun, the Lord is my salvation who is like the Lord our God, strong to save faith in love. My land is free and a rich free one.

The Lord is my salvation, my hope is in the Lord. He loves each promise of his word when winter fades and the spring will come, the Lord is my. Salvation in times waste times of me when I know lost when I am weak and oh His grace will renew these things The Lord is my salvation Who is our God Lord our God strong to save faithful love My led His faith and the victory won The Lord is my salvation And when I reach my final day, He will not leave me in the grave, but I will rise, He will call me home. The Lord is my salvation, the Lord our God, strong to save things born in love by bed His name and the victory one. The Lord is my salvation.

Glory be to God, the Father, glory be. To God, the Son. Glory be to God, the Spirit. Glory be to God, the Father. Glory be to God, the Son.

Glory be to God, the Spirit. Lord is my salvation, Lord is my salvation. Lord is my salvation. Welcome back to Identity Traps. We're looking at nine ways we lose ourselves and how Jesus makes us whole.

Hole. We all build an identity. Around our deep identity needs for significance, security, and satisfaction. And we've been looking, the first three messages, we were looking at the significance. Cluster here, right?

We can fall into the trap of looking for significance. for our identity in people like Joseph did or through power like Jacob did, or through possessions. like Zacchaeus did, but We ultimately, hopefully, will learn what each of these individuals learned, and that is that our significance. That our souls long for is found ultimately in being an adopted child. child of our Heavenly Father.

And in Jesus, that's exactly who we are. We are children of the king. There's no greater significance than that.

Now, today we're going to turn the corner. We're going to start looking at the security. cluster now. We're going to go back 2,500 years, 2,500 years, to the Medo-Persian Empire. And we're going to discover Esther's identity trap.

Which is seeking security through people. Security through people. And we're going to see today how God loves Esther out of her orphan-hearted instincts and into the true security that can only come as a child of God.

So we're going to look at the entire book of Esther today. Why do I do this to myself? We're going to look at the entire book of Esther, 10 chapters. Woo, here we go. We're going to see Esther's secret, Esther's peril, and Esther's courage.

this morning. Ask your secret peril and courage. There's your outline. Would you bow your heads? Let's pray as we dive in.

Father, teach us. where our true security lies this morning. We all want to be safe. We all want to be okay. Teach us how to live as your children.

For Jesus' sake. Amen. Amen. All right, first of all, Esther's secret. Esther's secret, go to Esther chapter 1.

We're going to look at. The first four verses quickly here. This is how it begins.

Now in the days of Ahazarus, the Ahazarus who reigned from India to Ethiopia over 127 provinces, In those days, when King Ahasarus sat on his royal throne in Susa, the citadel, in the third year of his reign, he gave a feast for all his officials and servants. The army of Persia and Media and all the nobles and governors of the provinces were before him. And well, he showed them the riches of his royal glory and the splendor and pomp of his greatness for many days, 180 days.

Okay, just pause for a moment. We're obviously in a very ancient setting here, just to get our bearings. This is toward the end of what we call the exile.

So the Jewish people were exiled through a series of events. The first one was the northern kingdom of Israel was defeated by Assyria in 722 BC. They were carried off. Then the southern kingdom of Israel was defeated in 586 by the Babylonians. And there were three waves of deportations as people were taken out of the land.

And then, and this is what the book of Daniel tells us about, the Medo-Persian Empire rose in 538 BC under the leadership of a guy named Cyrus the Great. You may know his name. And then beginning with Cyrus, the leader of the Medo-Persian Empire, he decides to be Mr. Nice Guy.

So the Assyrians, the Babylonians ruled through fear. He's going to try to ingratiate himself to his captive people. And he starts allowing the Jewish people to return to the land. And they return in three waves. In 538 BC, a guy named Zerubbabel, this is a great name.

Say Zerubbabel? Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel goes back with 50,000 Jewish people to rebuild some of the houses and begin reconstruction of the temple that had been destroyed. In around 458, this is a guess, we're not exactly sure, Ezra heads back to the land of Israel to do a spiritual rebuilding.

So he is going to teach the law of God and he's going to reestablish spiritual community. Then in 445 BC, Nehemiah goes back and his task is to rebuild the wall and bring protection to the city.

Now the events of Esther take place between 478 and 473 BC, which is after Zerubbabel, but before Ezra and Nehemiah.

Okay, so Zerubbabel has gone back, he's beginning construction on the temple, rebuilding the houses, but Ezra has not gone back to reestablish spiritual worship and all of this in the community. Nehemiah has not gone back to build the wall. Right in the middle we get the events of Esther.

Now This is important. We're gonna see why this is important later. But Mordecai and Esther, the lead characters we're gonna meet later in the story, their families had the chance to go back to the land. with Zerubbabel and they chose to stay in Persia. It's an important detail.

We'll get there. The events of Esther take place under the fourth Persian king, down from Cyrus the Great. The fourth person king is Ahazarus. He's also known in history as Xerxes I, if you know that name. He ruled from 486 to 465.

You can actually go see his tomb in the necropolis in Iran. It's amazing.

So our story begins here as Ahazarus, Xerxes I throws a lavish feast, six months in length, would have had approximately 15,000 guests. at this feast. And then he chases it in verses we didn't read with a special seven-day feast just for the men of Sousa the Citadel. The Sousa the Citadel was the inner city within the city, built up higher, the palace is there, and so it was a walled city within the city. It's where all the elites lived, it's where all the power brokers were.

The who's who of government and military officials, the social elite, the inner circle, those are the people at the seven-day feasts. And then his wife, Queen Vashti. throws a separate feast for the women.

Okay? That's the setup.

Now jump down to verse 10, Esther 1, 10 through 12. On the seventh day of the feast, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mechumen, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcass. The seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King By the way, some of you might be looking for baby names. Uh These would be great. I'll give you 20 bucks if you choose one of these for your child, okay?

It's a standing offer. Standing offer.

Alright, especially carcass. That's awesome.

So these are the seven eunuchs who serve in the presence of King Hazarus to bring Queen Vashti before the king with her royal crown in order to show the peoples and princes her beauty, for she was lovely to look at. But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king's command, delivered by the eunuchs, and the king became enraged and his anger burned within him.

So here you have a drunken emperor full of vanity. He summons Vashti to parade around for his drunken friends to gawk at. You know, come wearing your crown. Just your crown. Uh oh.

And she refuses. And the king is outraged. Don't you know who I am? I'm the greatest king in the world. Yeah.

Verse 16. Then Matthew men said in the presence of the king and his officials, Not only against the king has Queen Vashti done wrong, but also against all the officials and all the peoples who are in all the provinces of King Ahazarus. For the queen's behavior will be made known to all women, causing them to look at their husbands with contempt. And they will say, King Ahazarus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, and she did not come. This very day, the noble women of Persia and Media who have heard of the queen's behavior will say the same to all the king's officials, and there will be contempt and wrath in plenty.

So this is funny. I mean, it's terrible, but they just, this good old boys club wants to stamp out this women's liberation movement, right, before it gets out of hand, right?

So this is their plan. Verse 19, if it please the king, let a royal order go out from him. And let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, so that it may not be repealed. that Vashti is never again to come before King Ahazarus. And let the king give her royal position to another who is better than she.

So when the decree made by the king is proclaimed throughout all the kingdom, for it is vast, look at him buttering him up, for it is vast. All the women will give honor to their husbands, high and low alike. This advice pleased the king and the princes, and the king did as Mehumen or Mamuchin proposed.

So that's how King Ahazarus becomes queenless.

Okay, this is all set up to the main story.

Now, between chapters one and two, there's a time gap of four years. During this time, Ahazarus, Xerxes I, launches a campaign against. Ancient Greece. which is thwarted. It's recorded for us in Herodotus' History of the Persian Wars.

The Spartans, if you know this story, the 300 Spartans under Leonidas repel him, they hold their ground, and Hazarus or Xerxes, however you want to call him, is sent back to Persia, lonely, insecure, devastated. And his staff see him moping about and they're like, we've got to find a way to get his head off of this defeat.

Okay? Chapter 2, verse 2. Then the king's young men who attended him said, Let beautiful young virgins be sought out for the king. And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom to gather all the beautiful young virgins to the harem in Sousa, the citadel, under the custody of Hegei. The king's eunuch who is in charge of the women.

Let their cosmetics be given to them, and let the young women who please the king be queen instead of Vashti. This pleased the king, and he did so.

So in Sousa the Citadel, again, the city within the city where all the social elites lived, they would have rounded up at least dozens of young women, probably of teenaged age. And they were rounded up, brought into the king's harem. Only one of them is going to be queen.

So this is sort of like the Bachelor Medo-Persian edition, okay? Only one big difference, and that is these girls are not volunteering. They're conscripted. And this isn't all that romantic because remember, the king is not a very good guy. He's egotistical, he's angry, he's impulsive, he's lustful, he's dehumanizing.

He just discarded Vashti for almost no reason, right?

Now he's using his power to exploit and use these women for his own selfish gain. I mean, this is not a good situation, okay? It's kind of messed up. Esther chapter 2, verses 5, 7 to 10.

Now, there was a Jew in Susa, the citadel, whose name was Mordecai. He was bringing up Hadassah, that is Esther, the daughter of his uncle, for she had neither father nor mother. The young woman had a beautiful figure and was lovely to look at, and when her father and mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.

So, when the king's order and his edict were proclaimed, and when many young women were gathered in Susa, the citadel in custody of Haggai. Esther was also taken into the king's palace and put in the custody of Haggai, who had charge of the women. And the young woman pleased him and won his favor. And he quickly provided her with cosmetics and a portion of food and with seven chosen young women from the king's palace and advanced her and her young women to the best place in the harem. Esther had not made known her people, or her kindred.

She's not explaining that she's a Jew. for Mordecai had commanded her not to make it known.

So here we have Hadassah, which in Hebrew means myrtle. Her Persian name is Esther, which means star. You can hear it in there: Estar, right? Estar. She's an orphan.

Her father and mother have passed away, and so.

Now her cousin Mordecai is raising her. Mordecai lives in Susa, the citadel. This is not an insignificant detail. This is again where all the upwardly mobile people lived. It was very expensive, but it's where the affluent and the in-crowd were.

This is important because not only did Mordecai and his family choose to stay in Persia when they had the chance to go back with Zerubbabel and rebuild the city and trust in the work of God in rebuilding the people. But now he is moved into the very heart of Persian society. He's ambitious, you see. He's well connected. He's in with the right circles.

He's blending in. to Persian life. and he's slowly selling out. I think that's why he tells Esther to keep her Jewish identity secret. He's like, look, don't let your Jewishness get in the way of being the queen of Persia.

Don't let it get in the way of climbing the social ladder. The king doesn't want a Jew for a wife. Keep that quiet. Keep that little fact to yourself.

Now I admit I'm pretty disappointed with Mordecai right here. Because his job as the surrogate father was to protect Esther. Yes? That's his whole job. But nowhere does he try to get her out of this awful situation.

He doesn't move out of the citadel. He doesn't protest once against what's happening. He doesn't advise Esther to resist in any way. Any dad worth their salt would coach their daughter to find a way to disqualify herself from this situation. Be loud and obnoxious.

Chew with your mouth open, whatever it takes. Don't become a finalist. Do what Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did when they found a way. They said, Listen, we're not going to eat the meat sacrificed. To idols.

Find some moral line, Esther, and hold your ground. Stay true to the Lord, He'll be with you. I don't want my relative's little girl to get used up and discarded, or to sleep her way to the top in order to marry some pagan playboy known for drunkenness, narcissism, and rage. No amount of riches and opulence is worth it. None of that can make up for a bad marriage.

But but Mordecai doesn't say any of that. Does he? He doesn't do what a good father should have done. He doesn't step up and protect Esther.

Now why? I think it's because Mordecai thought this was a good deal. This was their big break. I mean, Esther could be queen of Persia. This is their ticket to the inner sanctuary of Persian society.

All of Mordecai's strategic efforts are starting to pay off. He was right to stay in Persia. He was right to relocate to the citadel. And now Esther has a shot to be queen? Live in the palace, all his dreams are coming true.

Friends, don't you see Mordecai is not trusting in God here? He's not behaving like a faithful Israelite. Choice after choice, he's selling out, and he's using Esther now to get ahead in Persian society. It's really quite sad, actually. And Esther, I think, Esther just wants to be safe.

You know, her own parents aren't there to protect her. Mordecai isn't stepping up to protect her.

Well, maybe if she just does whatever it takes. to please the king. maybe his protection will be enough. Esther too. Verse 12.

Now, when the turn came for each woman to go into King Ahazarus, after being 12 months under the regulations for the women, 12 months of beauty pampering. How about that? Since this was the regular period of their beautifying. Six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with spices and ointments for women. When the young women went into the king in this way, she was given whatever she desired to take with her from the harem to the king's palace.

In the evening, she would go in, and in the morning, she would return to the second harem in the custody of Shazgaz. Oh, another good name. $50 if you name your kid Shazgaz, okay? The king's eunuch who is in charge of the concubines. She would not go into the king again unless the king delighted in her.

and she was summoned by name.

So here's the deal. You get one night with the king. Whatever clothing, whatever supplies, whatever you want to make the night memorable, it's yours. And in the morning, you're just a concubine unless the king remembers your name. and then you get a second interview.

Okay? So, the name of the game is to make an unforgettable first impression. And so these ladies are all trying to outdo the others. Trying to be more beautiful, more alluring, more seductive. They're using every trick.

in the book. Verse 15, when the turn came for Esther to go into the king, she asked for nothing except what Haggai the king's eunuch, who had charge of the women, advised. He knows what the king likes. He gives her the inside scoop.

Now Esther was winning favor in all the eyes of those who saw her. And when Esther was taken to King Ahazarus into his royal palace in the tenth month, which is the month of Tebeth in the seventh year of his reign, the king loved Esther more than all the women. She won grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins. And so he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. And thus Esther the nobody, the Jew, becomes the queen of Persia.

And Esther finds herself coming under the protection of the most powerful person on the planet. And so, don't you see, friends, Esther's identity is formed around finding security through people. Finding security through people. Esther will be whomever she needs to be. to make the king happy.

And to know the security of his protection. And it's easy, friends, to fall into this kind of a trap. of looking to people for security. When we need a romantic partner to know that we're okay, or we need to fit in with a certain group in order to feel safe, or we need a virtue signal that we're on the trending side of the latest cultural moment to be secure. Whenever we decide that we will be whomever we need to be to fit in, we're looking for security through people.

And like Esther, we live like orphans in the universe. That's Esther's secret, okay?

Now, Esther's peril. At the end of chapter 2, which we won't read, Mordecai overhears a couple of disgruntled palace employees named Big Then and Teresh planning to assassinate the king, and he turns them in. And both end up executed. The king is safe, and Mordecai ends up on the king's radar. But the king still doesn't know the connection between Esther and Mordecai.

Chapter 3. Verse 1, After these things, King Ahazarus promoted Haman, the Agagite, the son of Hamadatha, and advanced him and his throne above all the officials who were with him. And all the king's servants who were at the king's gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman. for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage.

So now we have a new character. This is Haman the Agrogite. He's promoted to be the viceroy, the right-hand man of the king. All the servants are bowing down, paying homage, except for one, and that's Mordecai, who won't bow. Why?

Well, it may be moral conviction. God's people were to bow down and worship God alone, and this is more than just reverence, this is homage, this is worship, and maybe Mordecai is refusing on principle. But there also appears to be something deeper than that. and that's ancestral hostility. Haman is not of Persian ethnicity.

He's an agagite. A descendant of Agag. the Amalekite king The sworn enemy of Israel that King Saul refused to. kill as God ordered him to do. This is in 1 Samuel 15.

And ever since Saul let Agag live, There had been animosity and constant conflict between the Jews and the Amalekites. And so as Haman walks by, Mordecai no doubt is thinking, I'm not bowing down to that agagite, no way. And if he comes after me to retaliate, he doesn't know it, but I just saved the king's life. I've got that pretty little ace up the sleeve if things get out of hand.

Now Haman notices that here's a Jew refusing to bow down. It's very ethnic. It irks him. Haman decides that this dishonor is the perfect excuse to go after not just Mordecai, but every single one of the Jewish people. He decides to finish what great, great, great, great, great-grandfather Agag.

started, he's going to wipe out the Jewish people once and for all. That's his plan. Esther 3, verse 8. Then Haman said to King of Hazarus, There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom. Their laws are different from those of every other people, and they do not keep the king's laws.

So it is not to the king's profit to tolerate them. If it please the king, let it be decreed that they be destroyed. And I will pay 10,000 talents of silver. This is. It's over $100 million, okay?

It's a lot of money. I will pay 10,000 talents of silver into the hands of those who have charge of the king's business, that they may put it into the king's treasuries.

So the king took his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman, the Agagite, the son of Hamaditha, the enemy of the Jews. The signet ring was used to sign documents, to press it into wax as a signature, giving the ring as a blank check. Whatever you need to do, Haman, you've got it. Verse 13, letters were sent by couriers to all the king's provinces with instructions to destroy, kill, and annihilate all the Jews, young and old, women and children, in one day, the 13th day of the 12th month, which is the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods.

So in 11 months' time, From this proclamation, the Jews are to be destroyed, killed, and annihilated, all of them. Men, women, children, everybody. This is state-sanctioned genocide. And when the Jews heard the news, they wept. for the doom that had befallen them.

But Mordecai sends a message to Esther, pleading with her to intervene on behalf of her people. And this is how she replied, Esther 4, verse 11. All the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, There is but one law. to be put to death. except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter.

so that he may live. But as for me, I've not been called to come into the king these 30 days. If I approach the Persian king, without his summons. And he's in a bad mood. I'm a goner.

And besides that, I don't even know where I stand with him now. I mean, it's been a month since he wanted me around. He's much more interested in his harem than me these days. It's a risk. To which Mordecai responds, verse 13.

Do not think to yourself that in the king's palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, Relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, 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. Yes. Esther, you won't be able to escape this one.

Sure, nobody knows you're a Jew yet. But it'll come out. And when it does, they're going to come for you too. There will be nowhere to run. No place to hide.

and no one to protect you. And in this moment, friends, Esther's Security. is shattered. The very king who she had looked to for protection. It is his ring that is on on the decree that has sealed her peril, right?

Esther's orphan-hearted identity strategy. in the end leaves her insecure and vulnerable. Esther's orphan-hearted identity strategy leaves her insecure and vulnerable. Think about it, she's lost the protection of her parents. Mordecai has failed to keep her safe.

and now her own husband is neglecting her. and her life is hanging by a threat. She's insecure, she's scared, she's vulnerable. Where can she possibly turn? That's Esther's peril.

Now Esther's courage. Esther's courage. Chapter four, verse sixteen. This is Esther's reply. Go and gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf.

Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.

So Esther calls a fast. She knows she can't face this moment alone. She needs the solidarity of her own people. But more than that, she needs the protection of her God. Because what is the word that goes with fasting that's missing here?

What word always goes with fasting? Prayer and fasting, right? But it's not here. It doesn't say anything about prayer. It's conspicuously absent, right?

You want to fill it in, don't you? You know what else is conspicuously absent in the book of Esther? The name of God. He is never mentioned by name in the book. And yet, God is so obviously moving in the shadows.

His fingerprints are everywhere. And ironically, the absence of the name of God actually helps you see Him more clearly, can't you? And so as a reader, you're supposed to auto-fill God's name, His sovereignty, into the story. And I think in the same way we are meant to auto-fill prayer into this fast. Because of course they prayed.

Why do you fast if you're not going to pray? The whole point of fasting is to pray and fast. It's an intensification of prayer. And ironically, the absence of the word prayer draws our attention. We actually can see it more clearly.

So in this moment, what I think is going on is that Esther realizes she needs protection. Beyond anything the king will be able to provide. And so she calls a fast because she's beginning to look for protection somewhere else.

Okay? Esther chapter 5. Let's keep going. On the third day, Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king's palace, in front of the king's quarters, where the king was sitting on his royal throne inside the throne room opposite the entrance to the palace.

So here we are, right, heart pounding. Palms sweating, throat thickening. And when the king saw Queen Esther, Whoa. Standing there in the court. She won favor in his sight, and he held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand.

And Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter. And the king said to her, What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given you even to the half of my kingdom. And Esther said, if it please the king, let the king and Haman come today to a feast that I have prepared for the king.

And the king said, Bring Haman quickly so that we may do as Esther has asked.

So the king and Haman came to the feast that Esther had prepared. This is so savvy. She doesn't come right out with her heart's request. She's building up to it. And she knows her man.

She knows how he loves a good feast. And she wants to remind him what he's been missing this whole month without her being around. She knows the way to his heart. And then she includes Haman in the invitation because you keep your friends close and your enemies... Closer, yes.

Godfather reference in Chicago, nailed it, okay. Um. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. As they were drinking wine after the feast, the king said to Esther, What is your wish? It shall be granted you.

And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom it shall be fulfilled. Then Esther answered, My wish and my request is: if I found favor in the sight of the king, and may it please the king to grant my wish and fulfill my request, let the king and Haman come to the feast that I will prepare for them, and tomorrow I will do as the king has said. This is amazing. She's so coy.

She knows what she's doing. She's letting the suspense ripen. She knows him. She knows how her mystique intrigued him and how now she's got him curious and he's like a dog with a bone and he can't let it go, right?

So then the king and Haman, they head out and they have very different nights, very different evenings. Haman, whose hate for the unbowing Mordecai is rising to a fever pitch, builds a pike gallows, a giant wooden spike 50 cubits, 75 feet high, to impale him on one day. He's streaming of murder. The king, on the other hand, can't dream at all. He has trouble sleeping.

He orders the royal archives to be read. And it just so happens that the guy picks the section where Mordecai found out the assassination plot and turned him in. And the king goes, did we ever do anything for that guy? And they said, no. And he said, well, let's solve that tomorrow.

And so the king orders Haman to go through the streets. And give Mordecai a parade, which incenses Caman even more.

So here we are, fast forward, we're now in the evening of the second feast that Esther threw. And this is her finest hour. This is Esther chapter 7.

So the king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther. And on the second day they were drinking wine after the feast. The king again said to Esther, What is your wish? Queen Esther, it shall be granted you. What is your request?

Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.

Okay, this is it. the point of no return. Then Queen Esther answered, If I found favor in your sight, O king, And if it please the king, let my life be granted me for my wish. and my people. for my request.

For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have been silent, for our affliction is not to be compared with the loss to the king. In this moment, Esther finally owns her Jewish heritage. And in doing so, she steps into the crosshairs. To be annihilated along with everyone else in the Jewish people.

This is bold and gutsy. And notice her diplomacy. If it had just been slavery, I wouldn't have said anything. Because it's not compared to the inconvenience, the loss to you, the king. What are the losses?

that he's going to face.

Well, he's going to lose his viceroy. Amen. It's Esther or Haman, right? He's going to lose the 10,000 talents of silver that were going to go into the treasury. The king's going to lose credibility in the eyes of all the people because it's his signet ring that's on the decree.

But the king isn't aware of any of that yet. Verse five. Then King Ahazarus said to Queen Esther, Who is he? Where is he that has dared to do this? And Esther said, A foe, an enemy, this wicked Haman.

Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen. This dramatic, biting, forceful staccato is in the Hebrew. It's hard to convey. This foe, this enemy, this wicked Haman. This is so courageous.

This is so brave. Where did it come from? Where did all of this come from? Friends, Esther's courage reveals that she has found a greater security through a better protector. Don't you see that?

Esther's courage reveals that she has found a greater security through a better protector. Esther's willingness to put herself at risk before the king shows that his protection is not the one that she's trusting in anymore. She's not taking refuge in his protection. She's looking elsewhere for security. She's finding protection under the shadow of another.

Don't you see? She's begun to take refuge in God. She's throwing herself on his protection. She's resting her soul on his goodness to her. She's identifying herself as a child of the covenant-keeping God.

This is an identity transformation.

Now the question is, will God come through for her? Will he come through for her? Or will God do what every other human being has done all along. and betray her trust. This is a gutsy move.

Esther chapter 7. Verse 7, and when the king rose in his wrath from the wine drinking and went into the palace garden, first of all, why doesn't he immediately jump to Esther's defense? Why doesn't he just go boom?

Well, you're out of here, Haman. Because he's conflicted. He does not know what to do. Esther Wives in the ancient world were political tools in many ways. They helped you create stability in your kingdom, and you know, it wasn't the romantic culture that we have today.

And so he's not sure: does he want his wife or does he want his right-hand man? Heyman's well connected, he's rich, I mean he's an asset.

Okay, so he's conflicted. King leaves. But Haman stayed to beg for his life from Queen Esther. For he saw that harm was determined against him by the king.

So he sees where this might be going. And the king returned from the palace garden to the place where they were drinking wine as Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was.

Now, this is opaque to us, but according to Persian law, no man was to come within seven feet of one of the members of the king's harem. Standards were even higher for the Queen. To invade their personal space was to violate them. in people's minds. When Heyman falls on the Queen's couch, he's massively out of line.

And the king said, Will he even assault the queen in my presence, in my own house? And as the word left the mouth of the king, they covered Haman's face, put a bag over his head. Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, said, Moreover, the gallows that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, whose word saved the king, is standing at Haman's house, fifty cubits high. And the king said, Hang him on that.

So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai, and then the wrath of the king abated.

So God, friends, comes through for Esther and for all of his people. And Haman is impaled on the pike gallows that he built for Mordecai. Mordecai is promoted, he gets Haman's job, he gets to be viceroy. And then the law that had been written, that was irrevocable, the law of the Medes and Persians, could not be revoked, Esther and Mordecai talked the king into a strategy to issue a new decree to allow the Jewish people to defend themselves. against attack, to arm themselves and defend.

And on the 13th day of the twelfth month, when the genocidal onslaught occurred, The Jewish people defended themselves and some 75,000 Persians actually died attacking them. which was a tragic loss. of life. Right?

Now just a quick aside here. If only Saul had obeyed God. Have you ever thought of that? All of this could have been avoided. God knew there was a genocidal maniac in his lineage.

And God would have to rise up and protect his people, and 75,000 Persians. would be senselessly lost. because of Haman's plot. See, Saul thought he was being more merciful than God. when he spared Agag's life.

But he wasn't. He wasn't. He was badly wrong. Friends, never Underestimate. The danger.

of your disobedience. Never underestimate. the danger. of your disobedience. But through it all, God protects his people.

That's the main point. God is faithful when his people have been faithless. And through the courage of Queen Esther, God saved the day. And Esther discovers that to be a child of the covenant-keeping God is the safest possible place. on Earth.

To be a child of the living God. Yeah. being queen of Persia every day. Every day. Because the security our souls seek is found in the protection of our Father.

the security our souls seek. is found in protection. of our Father. Friends, that's better. Than being in the in crowd.

It's better than being popular. It's better than being on the right side of this cultural moment. being in the inner circle. It's the safest place to be. is a child.

of the Most High God. And I think there's something beautifully ironic here. Because the way we become children of God is because of what Jesus did for us, right? He saved us. At the end of the book of Esther, The wicked man is hung on the tree.

And the righteous man wears the crown and the robes. But in Jesus' story, the righteous man is hung on the tree. And you and I get to wear The robe and the crown. Because salvation came differently the second time around. And that's why we are children.

of God. It's because of him. As the Apostle Paul writes in Romans chapter 8, What then shall we say against these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No. In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life nor angels or rulers nor things present nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Friends, on the cross, Jesus lost.

Security. To secure you forever as a child of God. And no matter what happens. We're going to be okay. Because Jesus is with us always.

He said, Behold, I am with you always to the very end of the age. You can't beat security like that. Amen? And let's pray. Father Forgive us for looking to the wrong things to make us safe.

Help us to rest as your beloved children. Under your good, watchful care. You're a good father. And we give ourselves to you. In Jesus' name.

Amen. And then I want to read for our benediction these words. This is a psalm. Yeah. was written on behalf of the Jewish people.

confessing their trust. in God, that he would be their protector and their defender. God is our refuge and our strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear. Though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God. the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her. She shall not be moved. God will help her when the morning dawns.

The nations rage, the kingdoms totter, he utters his voice, the earth melts. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our fortress. Come, behold the works of the Lord, how he has brought desolations on the earth. He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth.

He breaks the bow and shatters the spear. He burns the chariots with fire. Be still. and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations.

I will be exalted in all the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our fortress. On today's Moody Church hour, we heard Pastor Philip Miller with the fifth message in a series he's calling Identity Traps. We heard about Esther seeking security through people.

Next time, we'll hear about Gideon, who sought security through power. Plan to join us. Dory, the girl nobody loved. It's a heart-wrenching story of how God took a child abandoned in an orphanage and gave her a whole new life. Written by Erwin Lutzer, this book will demonstrate that there is hope, even when no hope is visible.

Dory, the girl nobody loved, will be sent to you as our gift when you give a gift of any amount to support The Moody Church hour. Call us at 1-800-215-5001. That's one eight hundred two one five five oh one. Online, go to MoodyChurchHour.com. That's moodychurchhour.com.

or write to us at Moody Church Media, sixteen thirty five North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, six oh six one four. Ask about Dory, the girl nobody loved, when you write her call. Join us next week for another Moody Church Hour with Pastor Philip Miller and the congregation of historic Moody Church in Chicago. This broadcast is a ministry of The Moody Church.