Remembering What God Has Done
January 1, 2017
Scripture: Esther 9:1-10:3
I. God wants you to remember that your sorrow can turn into joy.
A. In Esther 3:13 we read that Haman, the enemy of the Jews, had written an edict saying all of the Jews of the Persian Empire would be killed on the 13th day of the 12th month of the year. But what actually did happen on the 13th day of the 12th month of the year? “Now in the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king’s command and edict were about to be carried out, on the very day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain the mastery over them, the reverse occurred: the Jews gained mastery over those who hated them” (Esther 9:1).
B. All the Jews’ sorrow had been turned into joy. The Jews would not die. They would live! In the book of Esther God did not work a miracle to save the Jews. God simply worked through providence. Divine providence means that God rules over all people, actions and circumstances through the normal and ordinary course of human life, without supernatural intervention. Just remember that God is a God who saves, and you will be on your way to experiencing joy again.
II. God wants you to remember that He can defeat your enemies.
A. The enemies of the Jews were human enemies. Verse 5 says that the Jews struck all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying them, and did as they pleased to those who hated them. In the capital city of Susa the Jews killed 500 people (vs. 6). Then in vs. 8-10 we read that the Jews killed the 10 sons of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. Finally, in vs. 16, we read about how the Jews killed 75,000 people of those who hated them from all of the different provinces of Persia. This was clearly a major victory for the Jews over their enemies.
B. Who is the enemy of Jesus and of us? Satan. John 10:10: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” Satan has three evil purposes for you. The good news is that Jesus has defeated your enemy. See Colossians 2:13-15. Jesus fought the holy war that needed to be fought against sin and Satan and death. And Jesus won! Each year when we come to Christmas and Easter, God wants us in the church to remember that our enemy has been defeated.
III. God wants you to remember that we’re still waiting for the King.
A. The book of Esther ends in a strange way. After telling the story of how God saved the Jews from genocide in the Persian empire, the author adds a P.S. In Esther 10:1 we read, “King Ahasuerus imposed tax on the land and on the coastlands of the sea.” Then in vs. 2-3 we read about how Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to the king and did good things for the Jews. What is the point of these verses? The more things change the more they stay the same. After God saved the Jews from genocide, King Ahasuerus was still the king. It was a good thing that there was now a Jew who was number 2 in the kingdom. But the fact remained that King Ahasuerus was still in control, and the king’s main interest was himself. For God’s people to have true peace they needed a different king: God’s King and Messiah Jesus.
Application:
Don’t despair. King Jesus is coming! Remember His coming when life is hard.
Sources:
The book of Esther
Commentaries by Iain Duguid, Karen Jobes and Frederic Bush