“Behind the Scenes” 6-16-24

Overview

Behind the Scenes

The Book of Esther holds a curious distinction: it is one of only two books in the Bible that never mention God by name (the Song of Solomon being the other). Yet from beginning to end, His fingerprints are everywhere. Set in Persia (modern-day Iran) around the mid-fifth century B.C.—roughly fifty years after Cyrus's edict permitted the Jews to return to Jerusalem—the story unfolds among Jews who remained behind under King Ahasuerus. After Queen Vashti's refusal to appear at the king's banquet, a year-long process of cosmetic preparation brings a group of women before the king, and a Jewish orphan named Esther, raised by her cousin Mordecai, is chosen as queen.

The crisis erupts when Haman, elevated above the king's officials, is enraged that Mordecai will not bow to him—a refusal rooted in the Jewish conviction that such reverence belonged to God alone. Haman manipulates the king into issuing a decree to annihilate the Jewish people Esther 3:8. When Mordecai urges Esther to intercede, she warns of the law that approaching the king uninvited could mean death Esther 4:11. Mordecai's reply has rung through the centuries: "Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for such a time as this" Esther 4:14. Esther chooses obedience over fear—"if I perish, I perish" Esther 4:16—calls a fast, and approaches the king. A sleepless night, a forgotten record of Mordecai's loyalty, and a courageous banquet bring the reversal: Haman is exposed and executed, and the people are spared Esther 7:3–6.

Why is God's name absent? Scripture does not say. But the effect is unmistakable: we are invited to look behind the scenes. God raises up Mordecai to raise up Esther. God places Esther in the king's court. God allows Mordecai to uncover an assassination plot whose record will resurface at precisely the right moment. God stirs courage in a young queen and turns the wickedness of Haman back upon his own head. None of it is labeled as divine activity—and yet all of it is.

This is how God most often works in our lives. The obvious acts of God—parting the Red Sea, multiplying the loaves, the miracles of Christ, and supremely the cross and empty tomb that secure our redemption—are gloriously visible. But most of the time, while we are in the middle of our circumstances, we cannot yet see how things will turn out. Esther reminds us that God's silence is never God's absence. He is always at work, weaving providence through ordinary decisions, timing, and even the courage of frightened people who choose to do right rather than wrong. Beloved, trust the One who has redeemed you—and trust His behind-the-scenes work in your life today.

Transcript

Would you open up your Bible's please with me to the Book of Esther for our time and God's 3s

word today? 8s

The Book of Esther in the Old Testament, and if you're using a Puedition of the Holy Scriptures, 9s

you'll find that Old Testament page 412 for our study. 16s

Esther the 4th chapter page 412 in the Puedition of the Bible. 21s

The category is Bible, and remember please your answers need to be in the form of a question. 28s

Are you ready? 38s

The longest book in the Bible. 40s

What is Jeremiah? 43s

This shortest book in the Bible. 48s

What is third John? 51s

Six hundred eleven thousand words. 55s

What are the number of words in the original languages that comprise Scripture? 64s

The longest Psalm. 73s

What is Psalm 119? 76s

These two never die. 81s

Who are inak and Elijah? 89s

God simply, the Scripture says, to them up. 95s

The number of books that do not mention God. 101s

What is? 111s

Two. 114s

Two books in the Bible. 116s

Don't mention God. 120s

Well, one of them is the song of Solomon or the song of songs. 123s

And the other? 130s

We hopped in the car once again today for another Sunday drive. 134s

And this time we're going to go to Iran. 140s

It's known as Persia in the Bible, but Iran today. 144s

And there we're going to meet someone by the name of Esther. 150s

Esther, whose name is the Esther associated with the book in the Bible. 155s

And the book of Esther never mentions God. 162s

So that begs the question, right? 171s

Why is God never mention in the book of Esther? 174s

The year is 539 BC. 184s

The king of Persia's Cyrus gives an edict for the Jews to be able to return back to Jerusalem. 190s

Persia has conquered Babylon. 199s

So now Persia is the world power and the edict is given. 203s

For the Jews to be able to go back to Jerusalem. 208s

But some of the Jews they stay in Persia. 211s

When we come to Esther, it's about 50 plus years, 50 plus years after the Babylonian empire had crumbled. 219s

And the king now of Persia after a couple of kings here is a fellow by the name of a Hezorus, a Hezorus. 231s

And as a Ristocides that he's going to throw a big banquet. 241s

In fact, the banquet is going to last 100 and 80 days. 245s

And on the last day of the banquet, he summons the queen to come. 253s

And the queen says, no, no. 260s

That makes the king absolutely furious. 265s

And he issues an edict. The Bible tells us. 273s

He issues an edict and he says that every man should be master in his own house. 276s

And the edict goes forth. 286s

And he decides, it's time for a new queen. 290s

So the plan is put into motion. 295s

For women to be brought before the king and the king then would decide who was going to be the next queen. 300s

That wasn't an immediate process. 308s

The Bible tells us. 311s

In fact, the Bible tells us that the women had to go through what are called cosmetic treatments. 313s

And it was rather lengthy. 323s

This was a Persian practice. 326s

And for six months, the women had to receive Mer oil. 328s

And then for the next six months, they received spices and ointment. 333s

And so the cosmetic treatments were 12 months in duration. 340s

Until finally, this group of women having completed their cosmetic treatments are then allowed to come before the king. 346s

We meet Esther and Mordekai. 361s

Esther was an orphan. 366s

Mordekai was the cousin of Esther. 370s

And Mordekai raised Esther. 374s

The women are brought before the king. 383s

And the Bible says that the king loved Esther. 387s

And the crown was placed on Esther's head. 395s

We also meet a person by the name of Heiman. 405s

Heiman is one of the nastiest people in all the scripture. 410s

And he was very, very high up in the hierarchy. 418s

Look when he plays it, chapter 3, please, of Esther, verse 2. 422s

Esther, chapter 3, verse 2. 428s

There it says, at all the king's servants who were at the king's gate, bow down and did obeasons to Heiman. 432s

For the king had so commanded concerning him, but Mordekai did not bow down or do obeasons. 439s

In person culture, if you bowed before someone, you're declaring that that other person is a god. 448s

So Mordekai, as you, well, he can't do that. 457s

So he doesn't. 461s

And Heiman becomes furious. 463s

And Heiman, he hatches a plot. 469s

Jump over, please, to chapter 3, verse 8. 476s

Then Heiman said to King, a hezeris, there's a certain people scattered and separated among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom. 482s

Their laws are different from those of every other people, and they do not keep the king's laws so that it's not appropriate for the king to tolerate them. 492s

If it pleases the king, let it decree be issued for their destruction, and I will pay 10,000 talents of silver into the hands of those who are in charge of the king's business so that they may be put into the king's treasury. 503s

Because one Jew, Mordekai, did not bow before him. 526s

He hatches the plot. 531s

Never mentioning the Jews here to the king, but just talking about this people, he hatches the plot because one didn't bow to him to wipe out all of the remaining Jews in Persia. 533s

And the king receives the plan and the king thinks it's a splendid plan. 548s

Splendid and so he issues the decree. 555s

The Jews, they're absolutely indistress. 563s

They don't know whether that day in which their alive is the day that they will be killed. 567s

Mordekai through his servant gets a copy of the decree to Esther. 577s

He wants her to enter Veean. 584s

And Esther through the servant sends a message back to Mordekai. 588s

Take a look, please, a chapter 4 of verse 11. 593s

This was Esther's message to Mordekai. 597s

All the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces know that if any man or women goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, 601s

there is but one law. 613s

All alike are to be put to death. 615s

Only if the king holds out the golden septor to someone, may that person live. 619s

I myself have not been called to come into the king for 30 days. 624s

Mordekai through the servant sends a response back to Esther. 633s

Verse 12. 639s

When they told Mordekai what Esther had said, Mordekai told them to reply to Esther, 642s

do not think that in the king's palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. 647s

For if you keep silence at such a time as this relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another quarter, 656s

but you and your father's family will perish. 664s

Who knows? 668s

Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for such a time as this. 670s

And Esther sends a response back to Mordekai, verse 15, 680s

then Esther said and replied to Mordekai, 684s

go gather all the Jews to be found in Susa and hold a fast on my behalf. 687s

And neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. 694s

I and my maids will also fast as you do. 699s

After that I will go to the king, though it is against the law, 704s

and if I perish, I perish. 708s

Esther decides, 717s

she is going to do the right thing instead of the wrong thing out of fear. 718s

That's quite a story, and how does all this turn out? 733s

How does it turn out? 740s

Esther requests a banquet with the king. 744s

And Esther says, I'd like to invite someone else. 749s

Esther says, I'd like all still invite, 754s

him and just the three of us for a banquet. 758s

Well, him and here's this. 763s

That's pretty heavy stuff, right? 767s

You're going to have a banquet, and it's just the king and the queen and himself. 769s

My will tells us though that the night before the banquet, 778s

the king couldn't sleep, and so he asked the servants to bring the book of the records, 780s

and to read the book of the records, that'll make him drowsy. 786s

And as the servant is reading, it comes across this record in the book of records 792s

about this person by the name of Mordekai, who found out about this assassination plot against the king. 796s

And turned in the two potential assassins to the king. 806s

The king was disturbed about this, because there was no record that Mordekai had ever been honored for this. 812s

And at very moment, hemen walks in, and the king turns to Hayman and says, 821s

this is what happened, this man was never honored. 827s

What do you think we should do for him? 830s

Mordekai, or rather Hayman, doesn't know that the king is talking about Mordekai. 834s

Hayman hates Mordekai. 842s

So Hayman comes up with all of these wonderful, wonderful things that should be done for Mordekai. 844s

banquet den occurs. 857s

Next day, King turns to Esther and says, 859s

what's your request? 864s

Book of the please, at chapter 7, verse 3, 867s

then queen Esther answered, 876s

if I have one your favorite O King and if it pleases the king, 880s

let my life be given me, that is my petition, and the lives of my people, that is my request. 885s

For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. 895s

If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have held my piece, 904s

but no enemy can compensate for this damage to the king. 908s

And King, a hezeris, said the queen Esther, who is he? 915s

And where is he? 921s

Who has presumed to do this? 922s

Esther said, a foe, an enemy, this wicked, Hayman, 927s

then Hayman was terrified before the king and the queen. 936s

Hayman is executed, the decree is reversed, quite the story in the story. 946s

But that doesn't answer the question, doesn't? 963s

It doesn't answer the question, why is God never mentioned in the book of Esther? 966s

I mentioned an assurment long gone by, how my wife Denise and I enjoy theater, particularly musicals. 982s

What I've developed, however, good or bad, is a habit when I see a show. 992s

A couple of times during this show, I find myself not looking where you should look, but looking elsewhere on the stage. 999s

Especially when there's dialogue where the characters come down front and they're starting to move and do set changes in the darkness or semi-darkness behind. 1010s

And it's then when I like to look where you're not supposed to look because the dialogue is supposed to pull you to the dialogue. 1021s

And so I like to look at what's going on behind the scenes at that moment. 1030s

When they're changing the set and you'll see maybe an actor exiting that drops down a prop on a table that's going to be used, 1037s

or you can see in the catwalk and actor slouch down coming in the darkness and you know, 1045s

He's going to show up where she's going to show up in the very next scene. 1052s

It's not habit, but I'd like to look away and see behind the scene. 1059s

I don't know why Esther, the book doesn't mention God, because there's no biblical answer to the question. 1075s

But the effect of it is you'll get to see behind the scenes of God. 1091s

You see behind the scenes of it all, God is at work. 1108s

Behind the scenes, God raises up mortikai to raise up Esther. 1114s

Behind the scenes, God and his sovereignty has mortikai discover the two potential assassins that would later than be read in the book. 1123s

And the effect of records to the king, because mortikai had foiled the plot. 1136s

Behind the scenes, we see God at work. 1143s

Having Esther included in that group of women that came before the king. 1148s

Behind the scenes, we see Esther coming to power. 1154s

God at work preserving his people. 1160s

Behind the scenes, then, you see that God was at work all along strengthening Esther and using mortikai as mortikai encourages her to do the right thing, not the wrong thing out of fear. 1164s

And we see God using that word and behind the scenes birthing in Esther, the courage to. 1180s

Sometimes we see the obvious things of God. 1192s

When the people came to the Red Sea and the hooffeets of Pharaoh's army is close behind them and God pulls back the Red Sea and they cross over on the dry ground. 1200s

That's the obvious action of God. 1212s

When Jesus takes the sack lunch of a boy and turns the meager sack lunch into a feast that fills the stomachs of 5,000 people to where they have left over is the obvious action of God. 1217s

When we see Jesus performing miracles, it's the obvious action of God. 1234s

When we receive the gospel, it's the expression of the obvious action of God. 1244s

For it's the thread that winds throughout all of Scripture, it's the promise that goes back to the early pages of Genesis. 1250s

And we see the anticipation of the Messiah and the Messiah being born and the Messiah going to the cross just as it had been prophesied to bear the sin of the world, your sin and my sin. 1257s

And through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, we see here this thread throughout all of Scripture come alive, this obvious action. 1276s

As through Christ, through the cross and the empty tomb, we're reconciled unto Him. 1287s

We know for sure that the sacrifice has been accepted because the tomb is empty. 1295s

There are some things of God that are just so obvious, the obvious actions of God. 1302s

But most of the time, most of the time, God's actions aren't so obvious. 1313s

His work isn't always so obvious when we're in the moment because oftentimes we don't know how things are going to turn out. 1332s

Until they turn out, but God is always at work, always and oftentimes behind the seeds. 1352s

The Book of Esther never mentions God. 1377s

And the effect is that we see the behind the seeds were of God. 1386s

Because while God may never be mentioned in the Book of Esther, we see the Messiah and the seeds were all over the place. 1400s

Beloved, trust in the one who has redeemed you and trust trust in His behind the seeds. 1418s

Thank you. 1449s