A Hatred Toward God’s People

David Sorn 6/16/24 Renovation Church Series: “Esther” Title: “A Hatred Toward God’s People” INTRODUCTION (Series Slide) Good morning. I’m still David Sorn.. As a church, we are spending our summer studying the book of Esther in the Old Testament. It’s an amazing book. Many consider it one of the great stories of history. And every good story has a conflict or a crisis point. And that’s where we are in the Book of Esther today Esther 2:19 23 Page 341 Let me catch you up if this is your first week here for this series. The Book of Esther starts in the year 483BC in the city of Susa, in the Kingdom of Persia, which is in modern day Iran. In chapter 1, we are introduced to the King of the Persian Empire, King Xerxes. And he’s embarrassed by his wife, so he deposes her as Queen. Then, in the first part of chapter 2, King Xerxes takes young women from all over the Persian Kingdom…and decides that he will take the one who pleases him most as his new wife. And surprisingly, Esther, the Jewish exile, is selected as Queen, but nobody knows she is Jewish at this point. Meanwhile, her cousin Mordecai, who is more like an adopted Father, is watching over her. Okay, now that we’re all caught up, let’s continue our story. (Esther 2:19 23) – NIV 19 When the virgins were assembled a second time, Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate. 20 But Esther had kept secret her family background and nationality just as Mordecai had told her to do, for she continued to follow Mordecai’s instructions as she had done when he was bringing her up. 21 During the time Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s officers who guarded the doorway, became angry and conspired to assassinate King Xerxes. 22 But Mordecai found out about the plot and told Queen Esther, who in turn reported it to the king, giving credit to Mordecai. 23 And when the report was investigated and found to be true, the two officials were impaled on poles. All this was recorded in the book of the annals in the presence of the king. Now I’m not going to dive into this particular section this week, but it’s going to play a very important part later on – so keep this little story in mind!” Okay, let’s keep reading. Chapter 3 now. (Esther 3:1 5) – NIV After these events, King Xerxes honored Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, elevating him and giving him a seat of honor higher than that of all the other nobles. 2 All the royal officials at the king’s gate knelt down and paid honor to Haman, for the king had commanded this concerning him. But Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor. 3 Then the royal officials at the king’s gate asked Mordecai, “Why do you disobey the king’s command?” 4 Day after day they spoke to him but he refused to comply. Therefore they told Haman about it to see whether Mordecai’s behavior would be tolerated, for he had told them he was a Jew. 5 When Haman saw that Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor, he was enraged. Okay, let’s stop here for a second. (Title Slide) So, when all of the other royal officials kneel down and give honor to Haman, Mordecai the Jew does not. Now, this is not actually because Haman is asking to be worshipped. We know from History that the Persian leaders didn’t request that. And also, there is no Biblical command against bowing or honoring a political leader…like one might bow or curtsey in front of the King of England. So what’s going on here? Why won’t Mordecai bow? What’s happening is Mordecai actually feels an acute disdain for Haman, not only because of Haman’s pride and poor character, but because of who Haman is. And the clue is in how Haman is described in verse 1. He is called Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite. And later in verse 10, Haman is once again called “the Agagite,” and here the author adds, “The enemy of the Jews” Well who in the world are the Agagites?!? They are descendants of King Agag, who was the leader of the Amalekites. Well, who are the Amalekites?!? The Amalekites were a people group who ruthlessly attacked the Israelites as they were wandering through the desert after fleeing from Egypt. If you’ve ever read the book of Exodus before, this is that famous battle where when Moses holds his hands up, Joshua and the Israelites are winning the battle, and when his hands go down, they’re losing. That battle was against these evil Amalekites. And the Lord says that He will blot out the name of the Amalekites as a righteous judgment for what they did in attacking an innocent, wandering people group. Well, years later, that’s about to come to fruition in 1 Samuel 15. This what the Lord says to King Saul of Israel (1 Samuel 15:2 3a) – NIV 2 This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. 3 Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. (Title Slide) And so their judgment has come. This seems strong to us, but this indeed happens often in the Bible…and in history. Nations receive holy judgment from God after prolonged periods (hundreds of years) of sinning… …and they often suffer immensely or they disappear altogether. But we don’t always get the behind the scenes look at it like we do here. And so Saul is supposed to carry out God’s righteous judgment against this nation, but he only partially obeys God. He leaves alive the King of the Amalekites, King Agag, and presumably others get away as well. But nothing ever goes well when you partially obey God. And thus Saul’s disobedience is going to have consequences on Saul’s own people years later. In fact, Esther 2 tells us that Mordecai and Esther are even Saul’s direct descendants! They are Benjamites from the line of Kish, like Saul! But now, Haman, a descendent of King Agag has risen to 2nd in command in the most powerful nation on earth. Haman the Agagite shouldn’t even exist, but because of Saul’s disobedience, there he is. And watch the vile wickedness he is about to unleash. Let’s keep reading in verse 6 now (Esther 3:6 15) – NIV 6 Yet having learned who Mordecai’s people were, he scorned the idea of killing only Mordecai. Instead Haman looked for a way to destroy all Mordecai’s people, the Jews, throughout the whole kingdom of Xerxes. 7 In the twelfth year of King Xerxes, in the first month, the month of Nisan, the pur (that is, the lot) was cast in the presence of Haman to select a day and month. And the lot fell on the twelfth month, the month of Adar. 8 Then Haman said to King Xerxes, “There is a certain people dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom who keep themselves separate. Their customs are different from those of all other people, and they do not obey the king’s laws; it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them. 9 If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them, and I will give ten thousand talents of silver to the king’s administrators for the royal treasury.” 10 So the king took his signet ring from his finger and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. 11 “Keep the money,” the king said to Haman, “and do with the people as you please.” 12 Then on the thirteenth day of the first month the royal secretaries were summoned. They wrote out in the script of each province and in the language of each people all Haman’s orders to the king’s satraps, the governors of the various provinces and the nobles of the various peoples. These were written in the name of King Xerxes himself and sealed with his own ring. 13 Dispatches were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces with the order to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews—young and old, women and children—on a single day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods. 14 A copy of the text of the edict was to be issued as law in every province and made known to the people of every nationality so they would be ready for that day. 15 The couriers went out, spurred on by the king’s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa. The king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was bewildered. (Title Slide) Okay, so what we see here is a hatred toward God’s people. And this is not an uncommon scene throughout the Bible, and throughout history…both against Jews and Christians. And maybe you’ve always wondered: “Why is that?” Why, throughout history has there been such a seemingly undeserved hatred of God’s people” And I want to answer that question for you today and give you 3 reasons why. #1: SPIRITUAL EVIL Let’s start with the first one. WHY ARE GOD’S PEOPLE OFTEN HATED? #1: Spiritual Evil We talked about this back when we were going through Ephesians 6 earlier this year. Do you remember what Paul said? (Ephesians 6:12) – NIV For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Our real struggle is not against the rulers of countries, but against the devil and his demons. WHY ARE GOD’S PEOPLE OFTEN HATED? #1: Spiritual Evil Even in Esther, this isn’t ultimately a conflict between two ethnic groups. This is a spiritual battle that is as old as the opening chapters of the Bible when Satan begins warring against God’s people. 1 Peter 5:8 tells us this about the devil. (1 Peter 5:8) – NIV Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. John 10 tells us that the devil’s mission is to steal, kill, and destroy. So why is there such extreme hatred for God’s people often seen in history? Because the devil wants to destroy us. #2: GOD’S PEOPLE LIVE DIFFERENTLY Let’s take a look at a 2nd reason WHY ARE GOD’S PEOPLE OFTEN HATED? #1: Spiritual Evil #2: They live differently This is embedded in Haman’s half truth in verse 8 Look at verse 8 again (Esther 3:8) – NIV 8 Then Haman said to King Xerxes, “There is a certain people dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom who keep themselves separate. Their customs are different from those of all other people, and they do not obey the king’s laws; it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them. Now, it’s not true that the Jews didn’t obey the laws of Persia. But it is true that they lived differently. Their views about God were very different. They believed that idols were not God. And furthermore, they believed there was only ONE God, and that they worshipped the one true God. Their customs were different Their views on morality, sex, holiness, food, the sabbath, purity, justice were all very different than the pagan people around them. And some of the pagans hated them for it. And this kind of thing is still true today. I got saved right before I went to college, and I went to a university where almost everyone went out drinking and partying on the weekends. And when I didn’t go with, it made some of the people in my dorm quite angry that I lived differently. Even if I never said anything to them about it! So why would they hate me for it? Because the fact that I’m living differently makes them have to question their own moral choices. And people don’t generally enjoy that process. Another reason people often hate God’s people for living differently is because they don’t understand WHY we believe the things we do and live the way we do. For example, in our “what does the Bible teach about Gender & Sexuality series” from this past January, we talked about how Christians are often called hateful bigots for holding to a Biblical view that acting out on same sex desires is wrong. And yet, Jesus clearly calls us to not hate anyone, but love people. But the Bible says that when we “love people,” that doesn’t mean we have to then condone absolutely everything they do. Just because you tell your kids an action they do is wrong, doesn’t mean you don’t love them. But the nuance of that is not typically understood by the culture at large And so Christians often receive hate for their Biblical views. And let me say, at least part of the lack of understanding here is our fault. People “out there” can’t understand people they don’t know. And so the answer for the future can’t be for Christians to just retreat further into our own enclaves. Yes, we need our own strong Christian friendships and communities…but we must also be out there…pointing to the forgiveness of Jesus. And speaking truth to the darkness. #3: GOD’S PEOPLE ANSWER TO A HIGHER AUTHORITY Let’s look at a 3rd reason now: WHY ARE GOD’S PEOPLE OFTEN HATED? #1: Spiritual Evil #2: They live differently #3: They answer to a higher authority When we get to chapter 4, we’re going to see Esther actually go against the King’s laws for how to approach him, in order to ask the king to spare her people. Why would she go against the king’s authority? Because she answers to a higher authority. In the New Testament, in Romans and in the Book of Acts, we learn, that normally, as Christians we are to respect our authorities… …but if those authorities should ask us to do something against God, we need to live by our Higher Authority, God Himself. And this is often a huge reason why God’s people are often are hated and persecuted. This is really true in places like China today, and in other totalitarian states. In a country like China, the communist party wants total control over what every Chinese citizen can and cannot do. And so persecution has ramped up significantly against God’s people there over the last 5 or so years simply because Christians have a higher authority than Xi Jinping, the leader of China. If Xi Jinping tells them they can only meet for worship in non government sanctioned churches, they don’t care. They have a higher authority that tells them they need to worship as He lays out in His Word. And thus they are hated because they cannot be controlled. AND SO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? And so what does this mean for us? It means that if you really want to follow Jesus…. I mean really follow Him, not just be a cultural Christian and say you believe in Jesus but live like everyone else in the world… If you really want to follow Him, you should expect persecution. Look at the words of Jesus here (John 15:18 20a) – NIV 18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. (Title Slide) What Jesus is saying is that if no one ever pushes back on you for being a Christian, than you’re not living as a Christian...(that is like Christ) When I was in Mozambique last year, I asked them to send me to the Muslim neighborhoods because I had studied the Quran and the life of Muhammad. And while preaching the first day, I was taken by the police to the local market jail for 3 hours. And then stopped again by the police two more times that week. But I knew, and our team who experienced similar things knew, that if we weren’t bringing a powerful message…(if we just had a message about “how to be nice,” or “how to improve your finances”…they wouldn’t stopped us… And the same is true in your life. If you never speak up about the things of eternity, and if you don’t live any differently than anyone else, no one will ever negatively react to your life. And being a Christian isn’t just about being nice…and moral…or loving. To truly imitate Christ we have to also speak the truth. I mean, think about it: There has never been a greater example of a life marked by love, ever, than Jesus Christ. He is the truest and best example we have of a loving life, and yet, He was hated…and killed. (2 Timothy 3:12) – NIV 12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted And so when persecution does come to you (because you have a higher authority, you speak/act differently, you’re a target for the enemy,” …youmust, like the Jews of Esther’s day, trust in God. Let me tell you one thing I saw in studying this passage this week that I’ve never seen before in all my previous times in reading Esther. Look at verse 7 one more time. (Esther 3:7) – NIV 7 In the twelfth year of King Xerxes, in the first month, the month of Nisan, the pur (that is, the lot) was cast in the presence of Haman to select a day and month. And the lot fell on the twelfth month, the month of Adar. (Title Slide) So what’s happening here is Haman is having a lot cast (think like rolling a di with many, many sides…each representing a different month). And whatever that di lands on, is going to be the day that they will exterminate the Jews, God’s people. And we’re told that they were casting the lot in the 1st month of the year. And the lot rolls around, and eventually settles on the 12th month. So the genocide is set for 11 months later. There is a verse in Proverbs that says this: (Proverbs 16:33) – NIV The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord. That’s saying that even when people are doing something as silly or trivial as throwing dice…God is in control. (Title Slide) And God is in control here in the Persian palace. And He pushes that di to roll over to the 12th month…11 months later. And THAT…is going to give TIME. Time for Esther to save the day. But the decree begins to go out anyway all across the Kingdom. And the messengers decree that the Jews will be exterminated in 11 months. And what’s crazy is that the decree goes out on the Eve of Passover. Many Jews would have heard during the week of Passover. a holy week where Jews celebrate the story from the Book of Exodus, where they were delivered out of bondage in Egypt, by the sacrifice of the lamb and God’s hand. And so when they heard the news, that the Persians were going to exterminate them, they had to now figure out in THEIR GENERATION…FOR THEMSELVES…would God deliver them? Is God still sovereign? Or is that just a story from back in Exodus? And for many of us, these questions will be increasingly asked of us Is God still sovereign? Or is that just a story from back in Esther? And even if things get impossibly hard, may we have the same attitude as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the Book of Daniel, whom the Babylonians tried to throw in the fire for not bowing down to their culture and their gods… These 3 faithful men said this: (Daniel 3:17 18) NIV 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” Trust in God. No matter what. Let’s pray.