Today on the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. And Supreme wants to be celebrated and never forgotten.
So that the Jewish nation would never ever forget the astonishing deliverance. from the hatred of Persia. And how God had delivered them. Welcome to the Verdict, featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe, senior pastor of Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. Today, we're continuing our study in the Book of Esther.
Despite the plotting of an evil man, God has delivered his people. We'll learn how they celebrate during the annual Feast of Purim. We're reminded that God always wins, and it points us to an even greater victory. To tell us more, here's Pastor John Monroe. I trust you're enjoying this little series on Esther.
Repeatedly we see in Esther that God's hand is invisible. In fact. The name of God is not even mentioned. But God never abandons his people. He's always with us.
working out His purposes for His glory and for our good. No. In the story of Esther, we come towards the end of the book. Chapter 9. the Jewish nation is spared.
And now the people rejoice. Here is the institution of the Feast of Purim.
so the nation of Israel would never forget their supernatural deliverance. May we never forget what God in His grace has done, is doing and will do. in our lives. Yes. from the most horrible situations of life.
God's glory shines. Esther chapter Nine. I'm sure all of us enjoy times of celebrations. We like times of family reunions, graduations, weddings, parties, Thanksgiving and Christmas. These are times when we step back, as it were, from the normal routine of life.
If every day were the same Life would be rather dull, wouldn't it? Rather tedious and perhaps lacking joy and sparkle. And I would remind you that God didn't make us as machines. We're not computers. To grind relentlessly day after day in the constant routine of life.
But rather, we are human beings made in the image of God, and from time to time, it's very important that we step back, as it were. That we stop a routine, that we take a break. that we rest and we celebrate. And days of rest. Times of reflection, times of celebration, times of festival were written into the Mosaic law.
The Lord Himself rested on the seventh day. uh we're told from all the work he had done in Genesis two verse two. And one of the Ten Commandments, the one that we tend to forget, is there was a commandment to remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. One day in the life of the Jewish people was to be different. As we read our Old Testament, we see, interestingly, that even the animals were to be given a day of rest.
That the cow and the oxen that were working had to rest as well. And certainly, the people of God were to step back from what they were normally doing. and to have one day particularly of worship. And so in the Jewish calendar Uh there were these major festivals. Times of praise, times of reunion, of joy, of celebration, of remembrance.
And in our study of Esther, we come this evening to chapter nine, and the subject is the Feast of Purim. Uh this celebration was not part of the mosaic law. It began, in fact, at the time. of Esther and Mordecai. in the kingdom of Persia.
And among our Jewish friends, the Feast of Purim continues to this day. You say, what's it all about? We're going to learn what it's about. It's a time of celebration, it's a time of remembrance of the goodness of God. That God in His grace, God in His goodness delivered the Jewish nation.
They were on the point of extinction, they were about to be wiped out. And God Miraculously. intervene. That's something to celebrate, isn't it? And the Jewish people to this day do that in a feast.
of Purim. I think an understanding of this will help us in understanding one of our major feasts of the followers of Jesus. I'm referring, of course, to the Lord's Supper. The feast of communion is described. In Scripture, it is a command of the Lord.
We're commanded to do this. Jesus says: do this in remembrance of me. It's not something we do in a mindless, mechanical, ritualistic way, and saying, well, this is something that we've to get through.
Something that we tack on at the end of a service just as a matter of routine or ritual, but no. The Lord surely would have us remember him. Would surely have us break bread thoughtfully and joyfully and reverently. And very meaningful. And I think an understanding of the Feast of Purim that we're going to look at this evening will help us.
Uh to truly Celebrate and proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. I trust. It will be an encouragement and a motivation to us.
So let's open our Bibles to Esther chapter 9. It's quite a long chapter. And we're going to see, first of all, in the first 19 verses, that the enemies of the Jews are defeated. In self-defense and I emphasize self-defense The Jews slay their enemies. Let me read with you the first 11 verses, first of all, in Esther 9, verses 1.
Through 11.
Now, in the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king's command and the edict were about to be carried out, on the very day. Isn't God's timing perfect? On the very day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain mastery over them. The reverse occurred. The Jews gained mastery over those who hated them.
Isn't that wonderful? It's a kind of summary. Uh of the chapter. The Jews gathered in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, that's the Persian kingdom, to lay hands on those who sought their harm. And no one could stand against them, for the fear of them had fallen on all the peoples.
All the officials of the provinces and the satraps and the governors and the royal agents also helped the Jews, for the fear of Mordecai had fallen on them. For Mordecai was great in the king's house, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces, for the man Mordecai grew more and more powerful. The Jews struck all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying them, and did as they pleased to those who hated them. In Susa, the citadel itself, the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men. And also killed.
Persian Adatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, Porantha. Adelia, Aridatha and Parmashta. And the Risai, and the Ridai, and Vesatha. I hope I pronounced them right. My Persian is a little rusty.
Verse 10. The ten sons of Haman, the son of Hamadatha, the enemy of the Jews. But they laid no hand on the plunder. That very day, the number of those killed in Susa, the citadel, was reported to the king. Let's just stop there.
Here. We read of in self-defense, the Jewish people are killing some of their enemies. As I say, verse 1 is a summary statement.
Now remember at this time there are two edicts in effect. The first edict was instigated by the wicked Haman. We read in verse thirteen of chapter three His edict was to destroy to kill and to annihilate all Jews. Young and old, women and children, and one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar and to plunder their goods. And it's calculated that there was about half a million Jews, 500,000 Jews, throughout the Persian Empire at this time.
So here was an edict by evil Haman. And it was for a radical mass. We call it genocide today. That was the edict. The second edict Remember, was the one instigated by Esther and Mordecai, giving the Jewish people the right.
of self-defense and to kill anyone who attacked them. Scripture is very clear that the law of the Medes and the Persians couldn't be revoked.
So, in order to neutralize the first edict instigated by evil Haman, the king did allow Mordecai and Esther. Edict. In Persia, clearly there was anti-Semitism, hatred. of the Jews. That hatred has continued down through the centuries today.
You ask why? Of all the nations in the world, Has the Jewish nation Right to today as I speak. Been so persecuted, so hated, they're very small, they're in a very small country. Why is there such hatred? against them.
My mother used to tell this story that I'm going to tell you in. My mother's a very truthful person. She liked history, but I thought, is this just the story or is it really true?
So I checked it out with apologies to my mother. Um But uh she's told the story of uh the The Irish politician in the House of Commons. His name was Daniel O'Connell. And he was taunting the then British Prime Minister, who was Israeli, who was in fact Jewish. He did, I think.
For political purposes, supposedly convert to Christianity. But he was Jewish, and known he was Jewish. And this MP was taunting the Prime Minister, as politicians like to do, against the other ones, and he was mocking him for being Jewish, and Israeli was a very smart Um Prime Minister, and here was Disraeli's reply. He said, Yes, I am a Jew. And when the ancestors of this right honourable gentleman were brutal savages in an unknown island, referring to islands.
Mine were priests in the Temple of Solomon, and were giving law and religion to the world. That's a good response, isn't it?
Okay. When your people were savages, Mine were priests in the temple. of the Lord. But here, this anti-Semitism, this terrible hatred of the Jews is seen in this little book. of Esther.
And the day was selected by him and To totally wipe out, totally annihilate, totally destroy the Jewish. Nation. But Did you see the wonderful words of verse one? The Jews. gained mastery over those who hated them.
That's happened over and over again, hasn't it? in Jewish history. Such hatred continues. To this day.
Now, on that day, We read that the Jews were ready to vent to defend themselves against anyone who sought to harm them. And it it's amazing that the rulers of Persia identified then with the Jewish people. Chapter eight, verse seventeen: For fear of the Jews had fallen on them. Verse 2 of chapter 9: For the fear of them, the Jews, had fallen on all peoples. Verse 3, For fear of Mordecai had fallen on them.
Verse four, and the man Mordecai grew more and more powerful. Here is someone who's at the bottom of the poll. Here is someone that's got a death sentence against them, and he becomes more. And more. Powerful.
And we read that in Susa, the capital, 500 Persians were killed by the Jews. Also the ten sons of Haman, the evil Haman, were killed. They may may well have tried to avenge their father's death. But notice that although the decree Allowed the Jews to defend themselves and permitted them to take plunder. the plunder of anyone who attacked them, we read in verse 10.
The ten sons of Haman, the sons of Hamadatha, the enemy of the Jews, but they laid no hand on the plunder. See, if the Jews had taken the plunder, the accusation against them would have said that all they really wanted, these greedy Jews, all they wanted were the possessions. But the act of defense by the Jews was not out of vengeance. It wasn't to get more possessions, it was for self-defense. and self.
preservation.
Now in verses twelve through nineteen The king grants another day. For the Jews' enemies to be destroyed. Verse twelve. The king said to Queen Esther, In Susa, the citadel, the Jews have killed and destroyed 500 men, and also the ten sons of Haman. What then have they done in the rest of the king's provinces?
Now, what is your wish? It shall be granted you. And what further is your request? It shall be fulfilled. And Esther said, If it please the king, let the Jews who were in Susa be allowed tomorrow also to do according to this day's edict, and let the ten sons of Haman be hanged on the gallows.
So the king commanded this to be done. A decree was issued in Susa, and the ten sons of Haman were hanged. The Jews who were in Susa gathered also on the 14th day of the month of Adar, and they killed 300 men in Susa, but they laid no hands on the plunder. Notice that it said again expressly. Verse 16 Now the rest of the Jews who were in the king's provinces also gathered to defend their lives and got relief from their enemies and killed seventy five thousand of those who hated them.
But they laid no hands on the plunder. This was on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth day they rested and made that day of feasting, made that a day of feasting and gladness. But the Jews who were in Susa gathered on the thirteenth day and on the fourteenth, and rested on the fifteenth day, making that a day of feasting and gladness. Therefore the Jews of the villages, who live in the rural towns, hold the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day for gladness and feasting, as a holiday. and there's a day on which they send gifts of food.
To one another. Isn't that interesting?
So, at the request of Esther, the king grants another day for the Jews to continue to destroy their enemies. We're not given the reason why Esther requested this. She's neither commended or condemned for the action, but it might well have been that the king's secret service agents, his CIA, his FBI, his MI6 or MI5, whatever it was, his secret service, as it were, may well have reported to Esther that some of the Persians were planning further attacks against the Jews, whatever the reason. the action is taken. And to make a public example and a warning, Esther receives permission.
From the king for Haman, this enemy of the Jew, this evil man, for him to be hanged on the gallows. And this was.
So on the next day, we read that 300 men in Susa are killed by the Jews. And again, their plunder is not taken. On the thirteenth day of Adar, 75,000 people who hated the Jews and sought to kill them were then. Where Were themselves killed, and then the Jews assembled to rest, to feast. And to rejoice.
You say, well, Was it wrong for the Jews to kill their enemies?
Well, what do you think? What do you think of it, people? in defending themselves against people who want to kill them. How do you feel as Americans? If there were people who wanted to kill, all Americans.
Whether it's the North Koreans or the Iranians or whoever it is, pick anyone you want. How would you feel? If that country said we're going to wipe from the face of the earth every single country American. Their enemies wanted to carry out an ethnic cleansing, wanted to carry out genocide, as Saddam Hussein did with the Kurds in North Iraq, you remember, as Assad, the present ruler of Syria, has done to some of his own people with chemical warfare and other things, as other dictators have done. In the history of this world, there have been people.
Even in recent history, who have carried out ethnic cleansing, genocide, trying to obliterate. a whole nation or a whole section of society. What are people to do? when there are such wicked enemies.
Well, the king of Persia very wisely gave the Jews the right to defend themselves. And the killing of the Persians by the Jew, I repeat, was not out of vengeance. but was out of self-defense and out of self-preservation and obviously was under the sovereign hand. of God.
Now in verses twenty through thirty two, Our lives were going fairly quickly here. We have the institution of the Feast of Purim, let me read the scripture with you. Esther nine verse twenty. And Mordecai recorded these things and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, obliging them to keep the 14th day of the month of Adar and also the 15th day of the same year by year, as the days on which the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the day that had been turned, notice this, a day that had been turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday, that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, days for sending gifts of food to one another and gifts to the poor.
So the Jews accepted what they had started to do. and what Mordecai had written to them. For him and the agagai, the son of Hamadatha, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them. And had cast pure, that is, cast lots, to crush and to destroy them. But when it came before the king, here's a summary of it.
He gave orders in writing that his evil plan that he devised against the Jews should return on his own head. And that he and his son should be hanged on the gallows. Therefore they call these days purim, after the term pure. Therefore, Because of all that was written in this letter, and of what they had faced in this manner, and of what had happened to them, the Jews firmly obligated themselves and their offspring, and all who joined them, that without fail they would keep these two days according to what was written, and at the time appointed every day, that these days should be remembered. That's it.
These days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation in every clan, province, and city, and that these days of Purim should never fall into disuse among the Jews, nor should the commemoration of these days cease among their descendants. Then Queen Esther, The daughter of Abihil and Mordecai the Jew gave full written authority, confirming the second letter about Purim. Letters were sent to all the Jews, to the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, in words of peace and truth. But in those days of Purim, Should be observed at their appointed seasons as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther obligated them. And as they had obligated themselves and their offspring with regard to their fasts and their lamenting.
The command. Isn't this interesting? Yeah. This young woman. Who we thought was about to be killed, who wondered, if I perish, I perish.
Think of the wonder of it. The command of Queen Esther confirmed these practices of Purim. And it was recorded.
So here is a proclamation by Mordecai that annually, on the 14th and 15th day of Adar, the Feast of Purim was to be celebrated. The reason is given in verse twenty-two. This is the day that the Jews got relief from their enemies. The months that have been turned for them. from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday.
What are they to do on these holidays? Days of feasting. Days of gladness, days of joy. days of sending food to one another. We still do that, don't we?
Potlarks and things like that. It may have been better than this. No green beans, please. Thank you. Sending gifts of food to one another and gifts to the poor.
What was the point? The Jews were never ever to forget. Their deliverance from Haman, the adversary of all the Jews who had schemed against them.
Now this word purim is the plural form of the Pra-Persian word pure. In Persian, as in Hebrew, the plural is made by I am.
So it is purim, meaning the lot. The name Was a reminder to the Jews of how God, remember the story earlier, had used the casting of the lot. To deliver them from their wicked enemies, particularly from Him, and the very personification of evil and hatred. Proverbs 16, verse 33, the lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord. The Lord is sovereign even over the casting of the dice, the casting of the lot.
And so Purim was to be celebrated and never forgotten. This is the verdict featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe. There's still more to hear when John returns in just a moment, so stay with us. From matters of truth and identity, to the subjects of love and grace, our world seems more confused than ever. but to find truth and certainty about who we are and find peace, we must turn our attention away from the world and look to the Word of God.
To help you do that, John wrote a booklet titled Eternal Security, Finding Certainty in a Chaotic World. Through this special resource, John shares his personal testimony, along with a careful examination of Scripture, to offer us clarity on matters of eternity. Get your copy today by visiting our website at the verdict. org. While you're there, consider making an investment in this Bible teaching ministry.
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Now, here's Pastor John Monroe.
Well, what's your verdict? Can you think of a devastating situation in your life which God then used for His glory and for your blessing? Often we just see the blackness. The silence is deafening and we feel so alone. If you're in that situation today, I want to encourage you.
God is at work. And when you realize that God is at work, you celebrate His goodness. You give thanks for His goodness endures forever. Don't forget to tune in next time as we continue the remarkable story of Esther. Thanks for joining us today on The Verdict.
I'm Michelle Davies. Today's program with Pastor John Monroe was produced and sponsored by Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
