The book of Esther reads like a novel as it tells the story of how a beautiful, Jewish orphan girl rises to wield significant power in a pagan king’s court. God would ultimately use her to save the Jews from genocide. A recurring theme in Esther is that God raises up the most unlikely people to fulfill His will. Everything happens for “such a time as this."

The book of Esther makes it clear that God is in control of history even when rulers make unwise and evil decisions based on sinful motivations. Even the smallest impulses and motivations of men and women gone astray are used in the hands of God to rescue His people. God is always skillfully directing all things. He is after all, not only the God of the rulers of the kings of the earth, He is also the God of the gallows.

Well, let's pray. Oh, Lord, I praise you for giving us one testimony after another in your holy word that teaches us your power, your absolute mastery over every human being in the world, and how you do all things for your own glory and for the prosperity of your own church, as we see in this book of Esther. Lord, I pray you give us eyes to see and ears to hear what you have to say to us today. Thank you for your mercy that falls upon us as we can contemplate your Word. Amen.

Okay, so open up to the book of Esther. So Esther is the story of how a beautiful Jewish orphan rises to wield significant power in a pagan king's court and God is going to use this orphan girl to save the Jews from genocide. And it's hard to read Esther without thinking about the Holocaust and Adolf Hitler and the slaughter of six million Jews because Haman is the Hitler figure in this book. It reads like a novel, it's exciting, it's a real page-turner. In looking at this, I've realized I've thought of Esther in some wrong ways.

So I'll try to communicate those to you. What we find here in this book is that God raises up people to do His will. And everything happens. Everything happens for such a time as this. And while it's a very precious thing to read those words in the context of Esther, everything is like that.

Not just the big times, but every time has it been appointed by God for such a time as this in order to do His glory. And so Esther makes it clear that God's in control of history, even when the rulers are unwise and evil decisions are being made on the basis of sinful attitudes. He works through the immaturity, he works through the self-serving impulses of people, the self-serving impulses of people, and he orchestrates the smallest thoughts and impulses and motivations of men and women. And I think when we get to the end of this you'll see why I say that. But God is always skillfully and precisely moving everything for his own glory And I think that's the primary message of Esther.

Because in Esther, there's a chain of seemingly small and random events. They arise out of the hearts of pagan kings and his subjects. And they're living in a city, a pagan city, but all of them are connected to God's plan to preserve his people. And these events almost bring the characters to complete destruction, but God orchestrates them for the blessing of His people. Now, there's a book I'd like to recommend.

It's written by Alexander Carson. You can get it from Chapel Library. It's free online. I ordered some hard copies. It's called, Confidence in God in Times of Danger by Alexander Carson, and it's about Esther.

And he demonstrates how the events in Esther have all been brought about by God for His glory. Let's talk about the time frame. The time frame is between Ezra six and seven. We were in Ezra recently. This is between the first return led by Zerubbabel and the second return led by Ezra.

And you have people that stayed in Persia. They disobeyed the Lord. Ahasuerus is a king. He's also known as Xerxes, and he has a feast that's recorded in the first chapter that takes place in 483 BC. The historian Herodotus in his book The Histories tells us of Ahasuerus' invasion of Greece.

He even tells us about this banquet that's recorded here in the book of Esther. He tells us that the long gathering, the six month summit that Ahasuerus held, was for the purpose of planning a military invasion against Greece. And he did engage in that military invasion. He attacked Greece after the time of consultation with his military leaders and this final party on the last week of this summit. And he engaged in battle, and he's defeated by the Greeks at the Battle of Salamis, and he retreats back to his homeland.

And Herodotus tells us that he seeks consolation in his harem. And this would be the time when Queen Esther is on the throne. So this testimony of Esther is corroborated in a number of places in the history books that come out of the world. Now I want to talk about some of the literary features because there are so many interesting and really unusual features of this book. It is one of only three books in the Bible that are primarily about women.

Ruth is the other, and Song of Solomon sort of passes the test for a book about a woman, and Esther. So those are the three books in the Bible that feature women. One of the most startling things about the book is that there's not a single mention of God. There's not a single mention of prayer. There's not a single mention of worship.

The temple is not even on the radar screen. However, the name of the ruler appears 175 times. And this gives you an idea of the world view of all the characters who are involved in this story. And in this story, While there are no explicit statements or connections with God, divine intervention is really the central thrust of this whole book. While God and His working is imperceptible and the people aren't talking about God because they don't have God in their minds.

God is moving. God is the central character, even though He's not even mentioned. He's always orchestrating everything for his own glory. He's the main character. There are no miracles in the book.

There are changes of minds. There are unsavory motivations. There are prideful uprisings in the heart. There's hatred and the things that hatred creates and all of them have been orchestrated by God, every single one of them. And you'll see that the saving of the Jews couldn't happen unless there was an impulse toward evil in the heart of somebody in this story.

It's really a remarkable book. How about the New Testament use of Esther? There is none. The New Testament does not refer to anything in the book of Esther. Jewish scholars after the writing added 107 verses to the inspired version.

And there have been questions about why it's even in the Bible. You know Martin Luther expressed his displeasure at the book of Esther. He thought it should not have been included in the canon of Scripture. But the Jews love the book of Esther. Luther hated the book, but why is it included?

It's included because it is part of the canon of Scripture. If you go to Luke chapter 24, verse 44, you read these words. Then he, the Lord Jesus, said to them, "'These are the words which I spoke to you while I was with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms concerning me." Now when the Lord Jesus Christ speaks of these categories of Scripture, we have to recognize that in the Hebrew Bible, Esther belonged in those categories of Scripture. And you see the same thing in Matthew chapter 5 where Jesus says, I did not come to destroy the law or the prophets. I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill.

So Esther is included in the canon of scripture because it is part of these categories of scripture that the Lord Jesus Christ has corroborated their inclusion. Why is God not mentioned? The more I read the book, I came to the conclusion that God is not mentioned because the Jews who were living in Babylon had lost their distinctiveness while they were living in Babylon. And the Jews in Babylon were a direct fulfillment to Deuteronomy chapter 31 verses 16 through 18 in the song of Moses where the Lord said to Moses, Behold, you will rest with your fathers and this people will arise and play the harlot with the gods of the foreigners of the land, where they go among them. They will forsake me and break my covenant, which I have made with them.

Then my anger shall be aroused against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them. And they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them, so that they will say in that day, Have not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us? And I will surely hide my face in that day, because of all the evil which they have done and that they have turned to other gods." And then God, the Lord says to Moses, now write down this song and teach it to the children of Israel. And this song, he says, will be a witness against the children of Israel. And my perspective is that the reason God is not mentioned in Esther is because God is not on the minds of anybody in Esther.

If he were, he would have been spoken of. And the reality is that God commanded the children of Israel to return to Jerusalem. And the book of Esther stands as a testimony to a disobedient people who did not. There were many who did not return to the land, despite the explicit appeals to get out of Babylon. They had no affection for the worship of God, nor the inheritance of God, nor the law of God, and they broke the law of God over and over again, as we'll see as we get into the book.

So while the name of God is absent from the book of Esther, God is not absent from the story because he's controlling everything. The characters are interesting. Ahasuerus is drunk. God uses this feast that Ahasuerus designed to exalt himself to begin a chain of events that would lead to the protection of the Jewish people. In a drunken party came the beginning of the rescue of the people of God.

That's exactly what happened. You know, As I read Esther, sometimes I feel like I've gone back to the days of the judges, where every man did what was right in his own eyes, where immaturity and debauchery and falsehood and rejecting God's ways is just the sort of the normal fare for everything and for everybody because you don't really find a lot of holiness in the book of Esther anywhere. Ahasuerus is sleeping with a multitude of women to test them and one night Ahasuerus cannot sleep and he asks for the archives. And this was a remarkable... This is sovereignty of God.

God doesn't allow a man to sleep and as a result the people of God are saved. It's such a remarkable story. But this is a king who's emotional, he's foolish, he's boisterous, He's given to extremes. And then you have his wife, Vashti. Vashti is a rebellious woman.

God uses her rebellion to set in motion the conditions that protect the Jews as well. Women didn't act this way in Persian society. It was highly unusual for a woman to do this, particularly in the king's court. And it was so unusual that when she was invited to come to the party and to show herself to all of Hasher's friends, when she refused to do that, the nobles rose up and said, we need to do some legislation so that doesn't happen again. It just, it wasn't done.

And so Vashti is a rebellious woman as well. But at the same time, you find the women in the book of Esther are very interesting. They're kind of spunky. They have a lot to say. They're going somewhere.

And a lot of times they're a lot smarter and wiser than their husbands. And some may say that, you know, whoever recorded the things about Esther, you know, had a high view of women and a low view of men. Well, I think, I don't think that, I think that the one who wrote the book of Esther was documenting exactly what happened. And we have this reflection. But I think you do find this picture of self-indulgent men in this book.

Ahasuerus was the son of Darius. He was called Xerxes as well. You read about him in history books by the name of Xerxes. Esther was unusually beautiful. Her name means myrtle or hadassah and the myrtle tree was a beautiful tree, fairly small, fragrant, beautiful leaves, white flowers, brides wore myrtle flowers on their wedding dresses and things like that.

So that's her name. And she's born into the community of the captives in Babylon. She had never seen her homeland. She grew up in Persia and so by the time you meet her in the king's court, she looks like a Persian, she talks like a Persian, she acts like a Persian, she thinks like a Persian. And she does the things that Persians do, pagan Persians.

She just is falling right along, right in with everything that Persian society embraces. And in God's providence, she was unusually beautiful. And in chapter 1, we read that at least a hazardous thought that she was the most beautiful woman in 127 provinces. And how did that happen? This was beauty that was given to her.

She acquired it by no gift except from God. She involved herself in a form of prostitution. She was paid handsomely for her favors. And further, for a Jew to be involved in this would be a criminal activity. It was a crime to join in a concubine.

You know, the book of Ezra makes this very clear. Ezra is a contemporary. Ezra is happening right at the same time. And remember what happened in Ezra? What was it that caused such a disturbance in the soul of Ezra?

Marrying pagan wives. So the marrying of pagan spouses was not something that was accepted in Israel. And yet Esther seems to have no problem with it at all. And so, you know, Ezra commands these kinds of marriages to be broken up, remarkably. At the same time, the impulses, the decisions, the situations that led to the saving of the Jews in Babylon.

We're all governed by God. And you can take great encouragement in the book of Esther. God uses everybody and everything. He's no respecter of persons. Every single person on the planet is being directed by Almighty God.

And then you have Haman. Haman, he casts lots to determine when to kill Mordecai. He... And you see remarkable providences in the whole story with Haman as well. He casts lots to determine the day he's going to kill Mordecai.

And in God's providence, the lot falls on 11 months, so he doesn't get to kill him right away. He doesn't get to move quickly and there's enough time that passes for a lot of stuff to happen. For all these other things to be arranged. But it all started with the throw of the dice Because as Proverbs 16 33 says, the lot is cast into the lap, but the answer is from the Lord. And God uses this lot throwing, this dice throwing that Haman engages in.

Esther is one of the vivid examples of how God uses all things for his glory. And here's the message. God is your deliverer. And everything that happens in your life happens for such a time as this. Every moment is just as special as another.

And God will use the impulses of all the people around you in order to glorify Himself, because that is what God is doing. So the storyline begins in a hazardous palace in Susa. He's just completed this long planning session and he pulls out all the stops and he has a party for everybody from the highest to the lowest in the kingdom. At the conclusion of the banquet, he calls his wife, asks she to come, and she says, I'm not coming. She was having a party with the other women, and so she rebels against him.

And, you know, the nobles are worried that she's going to start a feminist rebellion and that now all the wives are going to treat their husbands the same way. So they want to pass a law that Vashti can't go near Ahasuerus again. And so, in order just to scare women away from ever saying no to their husbands like this again. And so that's chapter one. And then, you know, Esther is the servant girl, and she participates in this sordid means to give King Ahasuerus a new wife.

He gathers all the gorgeous women from 127 provinces, and he gathers them together and he goes through a long, arduous screening process that involves breaking God's laws of morality. But something happens, and Mordecai hears a plot to kill the king, another providence. He just hears it. Do you remember when Paul's nephew in the New Testament, he was just standing around in a crowd and this little nephew, we think he's a little nephew, he heard a rumor, he heard of some men who were entering into a pact not to eat until they killed the Apostle Paul. So this boy came and told Paul.

But this is the same kind of thing that happened. Mordecai's just in the right place at the right time. He hears it. And so he takes it to Esther and he says, You should tell the king there's some people who are going to kill him. There's some people who hate him.

And so she does that and he is acknowledged, he's identified as the one, And his name goes into the records of Persia. And then later on, that night, that a hazardous can't sleep, for some reason, he calls for the records. And they bring him the records. And he looks at the record of Mordecai saving his life and he turns to his servant and he says, did we ever honor this man? And the servant said, no we didn't do anything.

And he said, oh, we must. So he brings Mordecai in to honor him. And right when he does that, who's at the door? Haman. Haman is there, and his plan is to kill him the next day.

And now Ahasuerus has made the connection that he doesn't want this man to die. But all these providences, You know what? Why did the man just suddenly one night find himself not able to sleep? The tiniest motivations, the most insignificant things that happen in this world are governed by God. And everything is governed by God for one purpose, and that is to preserve the Church of Jesus Christ and to glorify Jesus Christ.

That's the purpose of everything. You might look at what's gone on in your life and what people have done to you or things that have happened to you. Don't misunderstand. All these things have been designed to glorify God every single turn of your life. No matter how you've been hurt, no matter how you've been offended, no matter what you've lost, no matter what you've gained, all of it figures in and you'll never know exactly how until that great day.

But you will look back and you will be amazed at how God arranged every single thing. You'll realize what he meant when he said, the hairs on your head are numbered. You'll understand more deeply by when he said, I keep all your tears in a bottle. I know everything. I'm governing everything." So that's the story and God uses all of this in order to to save his people.

Haman is called in. He's already built the gallows for Mordecai and the gallows were probably just a long, a 75 foot long pole and Haman was going to impale him on the pole. This is how ancient Near Eastern kings like to display their enemies after they killed them. So it probably wasn't, you know, a hang in gallows like you had in the Old West. I don't think you should picture that.

Picture a 75 foot long pole with a man hanging on the top of it after being skewered. I know it's kind of disturbing to think about that, but you know again we're in a pagan land. We're in Persia. Okay, we're in a place where people get their heads chopped off for the slightest thing. So Haman builds this gallows and guess who ends up on it?

Himself. He built his own gallows and he didn't know it. Because Haman had gone to Ahasuerus and told Ahasuerus that the Jews were against him and would destroy him, the impulsive Ahasuerus issued an edict that the Jews would be killed. So he issued an edict that he could not revoke. And then after this happened, after Haman was exposed, then the king had to figure out what to do as a result of this problem that he had now that a law had been made that the Jews would be killed on a certain day.

So he issues another edict. He can't take back that first edict, but he added something to it by saying that the Jews could defend themselves and they could take the spoil of anybody who attacked them. So that's what happened. And the day came because, remember, the dice was thrown and there was a particular day 11 months away from the time that Haman began to plot against Mordecai, and to that day, to that day the attack took place. 75, 000 Persians died.

75 innocent people, and again it's just another mark of the worldliness and all that was running. Let's talk about Christ in You know, in Esther, Haman mounts an attempt to stop the people of God, to destroy them, to perform a genocide against them in order to completely wipe them out. If Haman had been successful, every Jew would have been wiped out in the 127 provinces of Persia, And it probably would have been a near comprehensive genocide of the Jews and they would cease to exist. And what Esther is declaring is that nothing can stop the work of the kingdom of God, and specifically, nothing can stop the birth of Christ, because had Haman been successful, the Lord Jesus Christ would not have been born. All of those who came before Christ would have been wiped out.

And King Herod tried the same trick in his genocide of the boy children during the time of Jesus. It's not a new trick that rulers try in order to wipe out the people of God. But I think you see the Lord Jesus Christ's power to destroy all of his enemies in spite of their worldly power. The devil's powers are always temporal. His days are numbered.

And so the purpose of the book of Esther is to display that there is nothing that stands in the way of God in the preservation of his church. And not Haman, not the greatest king in the ancient Near East, can get rid of the church. You know, people, nations, institutions have attempted to stamp out the knowledge of Jesus Christ. It never works. It never has worked.

And it never will work. Because Jesus Christ is going to glorify Himself by the preservation of His people. OK, let's just walk through the book a little bit here. You see the outline in front of you. I've divided it up into four sections.

So in chapter 1, the king calls for this six-month-long military campaign. This summit, he concludes it with this great feast, and it's a drunken feast. And I think it's interesting to look into the window of what it was like to live in Persia. And it might provide a tip as to why so many of the Jews refused to leave Babylon. Life was good in Babylon.

Wealth was in Babylon. Luxury, opulence, And you see that here. Look at verse four in chapter one. When he showed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the splendor of his excellent majesty for many days, 180 days in all. When these days were completed, the king made a feast, lasting seven days for all the people who are present in Shushan the Citadel, from great to small, in the court of the garden of the king's palace." And then you see in verse 6 and verse 7, you see all of this remarkable abundance.

The most expensive types of things you can imagine were just the common things for people. You know, why did people not leave Babylon? Life was good in Babylon. But the prophet Isaiah cried out over and over again, get out of Babylon. Leave.

And they refused to leave. And then in the same chapter, you have this feminist uprising at the hands of Vashti, Queen Vashti. And then the king receives counsel in verses 13 through 18 and the men are really clear. They do not want this to happen to their wives at all. So let's take some actual legal action in order to limit that type of thing.

So the king issues a decree and now it's a law that wives will honor their husbands And not just the king's wives, not just the nobles, but everyone great and small, their wives have to honor their husbands. You know, so they had they made a law about that. You know, that doesn't happen early by law, it happens by work of the Holy Spirit. That's one thing they didn't understand. So chapter 2, the king finds a new queen by sordid means and then also enters into this conflict between Mordecai and Haman.

And they'd hated each other because there was hatred that went back many, many years. Haman was an Agagite, and Agag was the king that Saul was commanded to kill and Saul refused to do it. So the prophet Samuel obeyed God and hacked him to pieces. But this bitterness that went back to that time continued on for hundreds and hundreds of years and these people were living with insolence and hatred toward one another And that was really the source of this whole conflict that finds itself in this whole context of Esther. So this whole process of finding the beautiful virgins is described there.

And then toward the end of the chapter, Mordecai discovers this plot. And when we get to chapter 3, enter Haman. He's the Agagite, and He was a descendant of Kish from Benjamin. So, Benjamin and the tribe that Mordecai was from were at odds. And so Haman, he plots to kill the Jews.

He wants to kill all the Jews. In verse 1, we see that Ahasuerus advanced him to the seat above all the princes. But when he was elevated to a place of authority, something happened that changed the whole course of the story, and that is Mordecai would not pay homage. Mordecai wouldn't bow down to him because they hated each other. And so when that happened, Haman decided to exterminate the Jews.

And in verse 5 we read, when Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage, Haman was filled with wrath. And that was really the motivation for it all. God is using all this wrath, He's using all this hatred for His own glory. In verse 8 In chapter 3, Haman makes the argument to Ahasuerus that the Jews are a stench, they're a danger. And he says it's not fitting for the king to let them remain.

And he says, if it pleases the king, let a decree be written that they be destroyed." You know Haman is an evil man and he hates the people of God. And then in verse 13 there's this method for determining the day of the killing of the Jews and that that's determined there. Chapter 4, when Mordecai learns all that happened, he tears his clothes, he puts sackcloth and ashes on, he goes out in the midst of the city and he's crying with bitterness because he understands that this probably is going to happen, that the Jews are going to be exterminated and the Jews are weeping and mourning and fasting and wailing all over the province. And then Esther is informed what happens, what is going to happen. And so then Mordecai encourages Esther to go in and talk to the king, and she finally does that.

And in chapter 4, you find the most famous statement in the book of Esther. And it's couched in the context of verse 14. For if you remain completely silent at this time now this is Mordecai speaking to Esther. If you remain silent at this time Relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this." Those really are inspiring words.

Here's one thing I want to try to communicate about this, about these words. They are incredibly inspiring. They're incredibly powerful. But when is such a time as this? When is it?

Like when did all this unfold? Well it actually started in a drunken party. That was one time that was for such a time as this. It began there. It was fueled with with the hatred of a man who hated the people of God.

That was also a time, such a time as this. Don't despise your times. Don't despise the things that are happening to you now. They may seem little to you, They may seem horrible to you, but we often read these words, you know, that Esther was there for such a dramatic time as this, but the truth is there were many, many times such as this for her, and that's what created the situation. And, you know, we tend to just think of our lives in terms of these big, shining moments like this.

But God is bigger than that and He's the one that has ordained all of our moments. And you can see it there. And then that other famous statement is in the same chapter in verse 16, where she says, and so I will go to the king. She agrees to finally go, which is against the law. So she knew she was doing something contrary to the law.

And then she says, and if I perish, I perish. Two remarkable statements, just within a few verses of each other here in this book. And then in chapter 5, the story continues on. There's an interesting moment in chapter 5 in verse 14 where Haman's wife becomes his counselor. And you'll run into his wife Zareesh a couple of times.

And you know at the beginning I said that this book has a lot of women in it and the women, you know, are quite active. They're full of counsel. They're not wallflowers. And Haman's wife, Zarish, is one of those as well. Chapter 6, the king couldn't sleep and he recalls Mordecai's kindness.

I think that's such a remarkable moment. You know, Who was it that just picked up the right scroll? Who was it that picked up the right scroll in the middle of the night and brought it to a king and his eyes fell on those words? And who could have known that Haman would be entering into the room right after this realization took place? God orchestrates everything.

He does everything for his own glory. I love this section in chapter 6. And then in chapter 7, the plot continues to work for the final elimination of Haman. And Esther invites Haman to two different banquets, and she has a purpose. She's very strategic.

She's a smart girl, and so she's setting this thing up because she understands who she's dealing with. She's dealing with Adolf Hitler of the Jews. And so she's given half the kingdom. And so she rises in prominence. And then in chapter 8, King Ahasuerus bequeathes the wealth of the house of Haman to her, to Esther.

And then Ahasuerus takes off his signet ring, which he took off of Haman's hand, and he gave it to Mordecai. And then, Esther appointed Mordecai over the house of Haman. So now you have Esther, she has power, she's ruling, and she sets up her uncle to be a significant leader in the state. And so she's crowned, And so she's crowned. There's this exaltation of both Mordecai and Esther.

And then Mordecai and Esther and Ahasuerus have to deal with this problem that they have because the king issued an edict that the Jews could be killed and he has to deal with that. So he issues another edict that says the Jews can protect themselves if they want to. So He has this taken throughout all 127 provinces. Imagine how long that took. It may have taken a couple of months to do that because the distances were significant.

And then fear falls upon the people. God puts fear in the heart of the Persians toward the Jews. And so they were able to have a great victory. The Jews were glad at this edict that was issued and they were filled with confidence and God caused the people to fear. This was another act of providence.

And then chapter 9. Chapter 9 is the day of slaughter. When you get to chapter 9, you have arrived on March 7th, 473 BC and on that day 75, 000 Jews were 75, 000 Persians were slain as the Jews were defending themselves. And then there's the Feast of Purim, the Feast of the Dice. That's what Purim means, the Feast of the Dice.

How about that? Yeah, we're gonna go to the Feast of the Dice. Why? Well, that was how this whole arrangement to kill the Jews took place. So now the Jews celebrate Purim, and it certainly was not a feast that God in his law called for.

Let's recognize that. This was an extra biblical feast that was concocted out of pragmatism, out of the self-flattering pagan world that Esther and Mordecai and Ahasuerus had become accustomed to. And so they created the Feast of the Dice. And then finally in chapter 10, three verses in chapter 10. It's the last chapter in the book.

And look at verse 3. For Mordecai the Jew was second to king of Hazaras, and was great among the Jews, and well received by the multitude of his brethren, seeking the good of his people, and speaking peace to all his countrymen. Isn't it interesting how God uses the impulse of a man's mind at a drunken party? How about that? You know, I hope you feel safe in your Father's world who's governing everything.

Now I want to give you some lessons. The salvation of the Jews began with the smallest of impulses in a pagan king exalting himself before his subjects. Thoughts came to his mind that ultimately led to the preservation of the Jews. I've tried to repeat that a number of times because I really hope you'll remember that. Secondly, one orphan who is regarded more beautiful than all the women in the ancient Near East was chosen.

Why? Why? Where did she get her beauty? From God, alone. It was God who gave her the look to appeal to this shallow self-indulgent king.

Next, she married a pagan king which was prohibited by the Word of God. Deuteronomy 7 makes this clear. Ezra should absolutely clarify the entire matter. It was contrary to the will of God, for the people of God to marry foreigners. And yes, God even uses the lawbreakers to save His own people.

God's no respecter of persons. He will use anyone and everyone to glorify His name. To glorify His name. And what about rumors? God is the one who controls the rumors.

He causes things to be heard and things not to be heard. And Mordecai heard a rumor of an assassination plot. Why? Why? Why was he at the right place at the right time?

That one rumor. Well, here's the truth. The providence of God is seen and every change of this book and the most insignificant events are very clearly being orchestrated by God. And then how was it that the Jews were going to be killed? The roll of the dice.

Why is it that the dice rolled an 11-month time frame? Why? It was just the rolling of the dice. It's because God controls even the rolling of the dice for his own glory, to protect his own people. Nothing happens in the world that is not designed for the purpose of the glory of God and the salvation of sinners.

Everything happens. All of history, every mind, every action is designed for that one thing and I think that's what we learn in the book of Esther. A king can't sleep. You know last night I couldn't sleep. It was two o'clock in the morning and my eyes were wide awake and I realized if I just lay there I was gonna lay there for two hours it happens to me all the time so I got up and I got some work done why did that happen I didn't I didn't orchestrate that I could not sleep was God God was orchestrating everything, and I don't know why.

And then why did that man walk into that vault of the scrolls and pick up that one scroll in the nick of time. Do you think God is sovereign? Do you really believe that God is sovereign? Do you think He's that sovereign? Or do you just have this general idea about God's sovereignty and the big things, the big old things that happen, God is sovereign.

Well, the book of Esther is sitting before you here to convince you otherwise. That the slightest impulse is nothing but the result of a majestic sovereign God who rules everything. Let me just finish with a quote from Alexander Carson from this book that I referred to at the very beginning. The book of Esther teaches us to see the hand of God, not only in the great events of the world, but in all the transactions of men. It calls on us to see Him in every occurrence of every day in our lives, and to trust Him for provision, protection, health, comfort, peace, and all the blessings of life.

Innumerable dangers are around us every moment. It is only the arm of God can ward them off from us. There it is. That's the book of Esther. How God uses pagan kings, disobedient children of Israel, in order to save His people.

That's the holiness of God.