Esther, Mordecai & Haman: God Loves Irony. Lesson 04 of the series: “Esther: A story of courage and faithfulness.” Irony = an outcome of events contrary to what was expected. I.
Ironically, Haman, an anti-Semitic Persian noble was defeated by a Jewish beauty queen. “When Haman told his wife, Zeresh, and all his friends what had happened, his wise advisers and his wife said, ‘Since Mordecai—this man who has humiliated you—is of Jewish birth, you will never succeed in your plans against him. It will be fatal to continue opposing him.’ While they were still talking, the king’s eunuchs arrived and quickly took Haman to the banquet Esther had prepared. So the king and Haman went to Queen Esther’s banquet. On this second occasion, while they were drinking wine, the king again said to Esther, ‘Tell me what you want, Queen Esther. What is your request? I will give it to you, even if it is half the kingdom!’ Queen Esther replied, ‘If I have found favor with the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my request, I ask that my life and the lives of my people will be spared. For my people and I have been sold to those who would kill, slaughter, and annihilate us...’ ‘Who would do such a thing?’ King Xerxes demanded. ‘Who would be so presumptuous as to touch you?’ Esther replied, ‘This wicked Haman is our adversary and our enemy.’ Haman grew pale with fright before the king and queen. Then the king jumped to his feet in a rage and went out into the palace garden. Haman, however, stayed behind to plead for his life with Queen Esther, for he knew that the king intended to kill him. In despair he fell on the couch where Queen Esther was reclining, just as the king was returning from the palace garden. The king exclaimed, ‘Will he even assault the queen right here in the palace, before my very eyes?’ …Then Harbona, one of the king’s eunuchs, said, ‘Haman has set up a sharpened pole that stands seventy-five feet tall in his own courtyard. He intended to use it to impale Mordecai, the man who saved the king from assassination.’ ‘Then impale Haman on it!’ the king ordered. So they impaled Haman on the pole he had set up for Mordecai, and the king’s anger subsided.” -Esther 6:13-14, 7:1-10 (NLT) Note: God is just and will punish wickedness. “The wicked… dig a deep pit to trap others, then fall into it themselves. The trouble they make for others backfires on them. The violence they plan falls on their own heads. I will thank the LORD because he is just; I will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.” -Psalm 7:11-17 (NLT) “Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes… the Lord just laughs, for he sees their day of judgment coming…their swords will stab their own hearts, and their bows will be broken.” -Psalm 37:7,13,15 (NLT) Life Application: We don’t need to get even with those who have hurt us. Instead we must show kindness. “Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, ‘I will take revenge; I will pay them back,’ says the LORD. Instead, ‘If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.’ Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.” -Romans 12:19-21 (NLT) Life Application: God loves to use ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things. God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.” -1 Corinthians 1:26-29 (NLT)
II. Ironically, Mordecai received Haman’s wealth and title and the Jews overpowered their enemies on the very day Haman had scheduled to wipe them out. “King Xerxes gave the property of Haman, the enemy of the Jews, to Queen Esther. Then Mordecai was brought before the king, for Esther had told the king how they were related. The king took off his signet ring—which he had taken back from Haman—and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther appointed Mordecai to be in charge of Haman’s property… Then King Xerxes said to Queen Esther and Mordecai the Jew, ‘…go ahead and send a message to the Jews in the king’s name, telling them whatever you want, and seal it with the king’s signet ring. But remember that whatever has already been written in the king’s name and sealed with his signet ring can never be revoked.’ So on June 25 the king’s secretaries were summoned, and a decree was written exactly as Mordecai dictated… The king’s decree gave the Jews in every city authority to unite to defend their lives. They were allowed to kill, slaughter, and annihilate anyone of any nationality or province who might attack them or their children and wives, and to take the property of their enemies. The
day chosen for this event throughout all the provinces of King Xerxes was March 7 of the next year… So on March 7 the two decrees of the king were put into effect. On that day, the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but quite the opposite happened. It was the Jews who overpowered their enemies… Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews, had plotted to crush and destroy them on the date determined by casting lots (the lots were called purim). But when Esther came before the king, he issued a decree causing Haman’s evil plot to backfire, and Haman and his sons were impaled on a sharpened pole. That is why this celebration is called Purim, because it is the ancient word for casting lots.” -Esther 8:1-12, 9:1, 24-26 (NLT) Note: “We may throw the dice, but the LORD determines how they fall.” -Proverbs 16:33 (NLT) Life Application: God can turn hard/painful things in our lives into blessings for us and others. “You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.” -Genesis 50:20 (NLT) “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” -Romans 8:28 (NLT) “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.” -Isaiah 53:5 (NIV) John Schmidt ● 09-07-14 ●
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Connect Group Questions To prepare for this week’s meeting, take some time to focus on the following questions and write out a few brief answers. Be prepared to share them with your group. My Story 1. What circumstances brought you to Centerpoint? …to your Connect Group? 2. Looking back at your notes from this week’s teaching on Esther, Haman & Xerxes and God love irony was there anything that particularly caught your attention, challenged or confused you? 3. What is the most ironic situation or outcome you have ever witnessed? What made the outcome so unlikely or unexpected? Going Deeper 1. Read Esther 9:20-23. Mordecai instructed Jews everywhere to celebrate Purim as a lasting memorial of God’s deliverance from genocide at the hands of Haman. Have someone look up on their smartphone when Purim will be celebrated in 2015. How do modern Jews celebrate the holiday of Purim? What is your favorite Christian holiday? Why? 2. What did David say about God and His justice in the following quotations?
Psalm 9:7-8
Psalm 25:8-9
Psalm 37:12-20
Psalm 51:4-5
How does it make you feel to know that God is just? 3. Dictionary.com defines irony as, “…an outcome of events contrary to what was, or might have been, expected”. Using this definition discuss the irony found in the following passages:
Genesis 50:15-20
1 Samuel 17:40-50
Matthew 20:20-28
Philippians 3:5-8
What other examples of irony in the Bible can you think of? Why does God like to turn human reasoning “upside-down” and do things in unexpected ways? Life Application 1. Proverbs 16:33 reads “We may throw the dice, but the LORD determines how they fall.” How have you seen God working in your life recently? If God is really working behind the scenes to guide us along the best pathways for our lives why do we often struggle with trusting Him with our careers, kids, or cash? 2. In his message this week John said that God loves to use ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things. Read 1 Corinthians 1:26-29 and discuss why God does this. What extraordinary things might God want to accomplish through Centerpoint? …though your Connect Group? …through you? 3.
Discuss the following quotation from The Case for Christianity by C.S. Lewis in which he discusses why God allows evil to exist: “God created things which had free will. That means creatures which can go wrong or right. Some people think they can imagine a creature which was free but had no possibility of going wrong, but I can't. If a thing is free to be good it's also free to be bad. And free will is what has made evil possible.
Why, then, did God give them free will? Because free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having. A world of automata -of creatures that worked like machines- would hardly be worth creating. The happiness which God designs for His higher creatures is the happiness of being freely, voluntarily united to Him and to each other in an ecstasy of love and delight compared with which the most rapturous love between a man and a woman on this earth is mere milk and water. And for that they've got to be free. Of course God knew what would happen if they used their freedom the wrong way: apparently, He thought it worth the risk. (...) If God thinks this state of war in the universe a price worth paying for free will -that is, for making a real world in which creatures can do real good or harm and something of real importance can happen, instead of a toy world which only moves when He pulls the strings- then we may take it is worth paying.” 4. Read Romans 12:19-21. Then discuss the following scenario: Your cousin hasn’t been the same since her husband Jim left her for another woman three years ago. She used to be happy, fun and outgoing but now she always seems moody, bitter, and easily angered. She has stopped going to church and has lost contact with most of her friends. While having lunch with her one day you ask her if she has ever considered discussing her situation with her pastor. “No way, I tried that once last year.’ she replies. “I am never going back to see him again. He actually suggested that I would be happier if I let go of my anger towards Jim. He said God would settle any score that needed to be settled. Can you believe that? If God is so good at handling things why didn’t he keep Jim from leaving me in the first place?” How do you respond? 5. Spend some time as a group praying for persecuted Christians in Iraq and other parts of the world. Ask God to rescue them and give them justice. Visit www.samaritanspurse.org and www.persecution.com to find out more. Resources: Character: Who You Are When No One Is Looking, by Bill Hybels, Inner Varsity Press, 1995. Esther: A Woman of Strength & Dignity, by Charles R. Swindoll, Thomas Nelson / 2008 For Such a Time as This: Queen Esther's Secrets for Strategic Living, by Ray Stedman, Discovery House / 2010 www.jewfaq.org for insights into Purim
