1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:01,625 2 00:00:01,667 --> 00:00:16,667 [music] 3 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:24,417 Our lives are marked by three things: 4 00:00:24,500 --> 00:00:27,250 sins, mistakes, and tragedies. 5 00:00:27,333 --> 00:00:29,500 These complicate our life, 6 00:00:29,583 --> 00:00:33,458 sometimes to the point of discouragement or despair. 7 00:00:33,500 --> 00:00:36,000 Sins, meaning the sins that we commit against others, 8 00:00:36,083 --> 00:00:38,167 the sins that they commit against us, 9 00:00:38,208 --> 00:00:40,625 or perhaps even sins that someone commits 10 00:00:40,667 --> 00:00:43,958 that aren't against us, but they affect us. 11 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:47,167 Mistakes being, not violation of God's laws, 12 00:00:47,208 --> 00:00:49,333 but just bad decisions. 13 00:00:49,375 --> 00:00:50,958 You're working for this company 14 00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:52,833 and you transfer to this company, 15 00:00:52,875 --> 00:00:55,000 and then they downsize and you lost your job, 16 00:00:55,083 --> 00:00:57,000 and at the time that you took it, 17 00:00:57,083 --> 00:00:58,750 you thought it was a good move, 18 00:00:58,833 --> 00:01:00,833 but it ended up being a bad move. 19 00:01:00,875 --> 00:01:03,833 You bought a home thinking that the market was strong and then 20 00:01:03,875 --> 00:01:06,167 you realized only Jesus is a sure foundation 21 00:01:06,208 --> 00:01:07,708 and everything else crumbles, 22 00:01:07,792 --> 00:01:09,750 and all of a sudden you're upside down. 23 00:01:09,833 --> 00:01:13,333 Those kinds of mistakes--you took the information you had 24 00:01:13,417 --> 00:01:15,833 and you made what you thought was a good decision, 25 00:01:15,917 --> 00:01:19,458 and then it ended up being a not so good decision. 26 00:01:19,500 --> 00:01:21,917 And thirdly, just tragedies; things that, frankly, 27 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:26,000 we just can't fully explain; the kind of stuff that Paul 28 00:01:26,083 --> 00:01:29,542 describes as: "Who has known the mind of the Lord?" 29 00:01:29,625 --> 00:01:32,000 We don't know what's happening, 30 00:01:32,083 --> 00:01:33,667 we don't know why it's happening, 31 00:01:33,708 --> 00:01:35,542 we don't know what God is doing, 32 00:01:35,625 --> 00:01:38,958 we don't see as God sees. 33 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:42,000 These are painful, hard circumstances, 34 00:01:42,083 --> 00:01:44,333 sometimes that we see coming, 35 00:01:44,375 --> 00:01:46,958 sometimes we don't see coming at all. 36 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:49,750 Recently, I was at one of the Mars Hill churches, 37 00:01:49,833 --> 00:01:52,542 and on my way in, there was a young woman 38 00:01:52,625 --> 00:01:54,542 and a really cute little girl, 39 00:01:54,625 --> 00:01:56,542 and they were greeting everyone and handing out 40 00:01:56,625 --> 00:01:59,667 some information about Mars Hill. 41 00:01:59,708 --> 00:02:02,625 And her husband and that little girl's dad was not there because 42 00:02:02,667 --> 00:02:07,625 he died in war, a soldier from Mars Hill Church. 43 00:02:07,667 --> 00:02:09,750 It's a tragedy. 44 00:02:09,833 --> 00:02:13,208 I won't even pretend to fully explain why that happens. 45 00:02:13,292 --> 00:02:15,958 Here's what I do know: when God made the world, 46 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:20,542 it was very good and there was no death, and tragedy happens, 47 00:02:20,625 --> 00:02:24,167 and mistakes happen, and sins happen, and it complicates life. 48 00:02:24,208 --> 00:02:27,542 And for you and I, as we open the pages of Scripture, 49 00:02:27,625 --> 00:02:29,958 I'd ask you to do that with me now. 50 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:32,333 Go to Esther 2:19. 51 00:02:32,417 --> 00:02:35,542 You'll see that the Bible talks a lot about people, 52 00:02:35,625 --> 00:02:38,167 because God knows people, and God loves people, 53 00:02:38,208 --> 00:02:40,417 and God made people. 54 00:02:40,500 --> 00:02:44,000 And God perfectly writes the Scriptures 55 00:02:44,083 --> 00:02:47,625 through human authors, and he teaches us about people, 56 00:02:47,667 --> 00:02:50,542 sometimes sins, and sometimes mistakes, 57 00:02:50,625 --> 00:02:52,667 and sometimes tragedies. 58 00:02:52,708 --> 00:02:55,833 So, one of the things that will help you and I study 59 00:02:55,917 --> 00:02:58,500 the Scriptures in general, but in Esther in particular, 60 00:02:58,583 --> 00:03:01,667 is looking for the sins, the mistakes, the tragedies, 61 00:03:01,708 --> 00:03:03,625 and how they complicate the story 62 00:03:03,667 --> 00:03:06,417 and they pain people's lives. 63 00:03:06,500 --> 00:03:09,458 And God puts these stories in the Scriptures 64 00:03:09,500 --> 00:03:13,167 for our instruction, we're told elsewhere. 65 00:03:13,208 --> 00:03:16,583 So, as we pick up the story, and the title of this sermon is, 66 00:03:16,667 --> 00:03:18,417 "Jesus Died a Better Death," 67 00:03:18,500 --> 00:03:21,667 we're going to pick it up in chapter 2:19. 68 00:03:21,750 --> 00:03:23,708 "Now when the virgins were gathered together 69 00:03:23,792 --> 00:03:25,208 the second time," 70 00:03:25,292 --> 00:03:27,833 So, here are all these women competitors for 71 00:03:27,875 --> 00:03:29,417 'The Bachelor: Persia.' 72 00:03:29,500 --> 00:03:34,000 Mordecai, her older cousin who adopted her and looked after her 73 00:03:34,042 --> 00:03:36,708 as a father figure when her parents died, 74 00:03:36,792 --> 00:03:38,333 she was an orphan child, 75 00:03:38,375 --> 00:03:40,542 "Mordecai was sitting at the king's gate." 76 00:03:40,625 --> 00:03:43,667 And here, this is where politics and business was transacted, 77 00:03:43,708 --> 00:03:47,125 and so Mordecai, he has an official governmental position. 78 00:03:47,167 --> 00:03:51,042 He works somewhere in the king's government. 79 00:03:51,125 --> 00:03:55,833 This is one who is holding some sort of public office. 80 00:03:55,917 --> 00:03:58,958 "Esther had not made known her kindred or her people, 81 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:02,208 "as Mordecai had commanded her, for Esther obeyed Mordecai 82 00:04:02,292 --> 00:04:04,583 just as when she was brought up by him." 83 00:04:04,667 --> 00:04:06,833 So, at this point, nobody knows that she's Jewish, 84 00:04:06,875 --> 00:04:09,500 and these are God's people in the old covenant. 85 00:04:09,583 --> 00:04:14,708 Mordecai told her, "Don't let anyone know of our belief in 86 00:04:14,792 --> 00:04:16,708 "belonging to the God of the Bible. 87 00:04:16,792 --> 00:04:19,833 "So, you know, don't click that box on your Facebook page. 88 00:04:19,875 --> 00:04:21,333 "Don't let anybody know. 89 00:04:21,375 --> 00:04:23,000 "Don't Twitter anything out. 90 00:04:23,083 --> 00:04:25,708 "Whatever you do, don't let folks know that you believe in 91 00:04:25,792 --> 00:04:27,375 the God of the Bible." 92 00:04:27,458 --> 00:04:30,708 Now, let me say, sometimes it's okay to not lead with that. 93 00:04:30,792 --> 00:04:32,125 Right? 94 00:04:32,167 --> 00:04:35,083 Let's say you're going into a job interview and they say, 95 00:04:35,167 --> 00:04:36,500 "Well, tell me about yourself." 96 00:04:36,542 --> 00:04:39,000 "I love Jesus. I love Jesus with all my heart. 97 00:04:39,042 --> 00:04:42,167 "Every day, I read a book about Jesus, and I pray to Jesus, 98 00:04:42,208 --> 00:04:43,542 "and I sing to Jesus. 99 00:04:43,625 --> 00:04:45,750 "Do you know Jesus? You need to know Jesus. 100 00:04:45,833 --> 00:04:47,500 I'm here to tell you about Jesus." 101 00:04:47,583 --> 00:04:48,917 That may explain your unemployment. 102 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:51,125 It's not, sometimes, the best way to lead. 103 00:04:51,167 --> 00:04:52,667 Right? 104 00:04:52,708 --> 00:04:54,167 Not the best way to lead. 105 00:04:54,208 --> 00:04:57,125 And so I'm not saying that we always need to start with 106 00:04:57,167 --> 00:04:59,250 our Christian faith, wear the t-shirt, 107 00:04:59,333 --> 00:05:04,792 and start with the slogan, but if your whole life is concealing 108 00:05:04,833 --> 00:05:09,208 your relationship with God because you don't want to suffer 109 00:05:09,292 --> 00:05:11,208 publicly, you don't want to be mocked, 110 00:05:11,292 --> 00:05:13,708 you don't want to be opposed, you don't want anybody 111 00:05:13,792 --> 00:05:16,208 to dislike you, then what you worship is not Christ, 112 00:05:16,292 --> 00:05:18,625 but ultimately, comfort. 113 00:05:18,667 --> 00:05:22,583 And I believe their decision is one of comfort. 114 00:05:22,667 --> 00:05:25,208 "If everybody knows what we really believe, 115 00:05:25,292 --> 00:05:28,208 "some will not like us, and it could hurt our upward mobility. 116 00:05:28,292 --> 00:05:29,917 "Therefore, let's conceal it." 117 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:33,000 And for some of you--some of you have been taught that faith, 118 00:05:33,083 --> 00:05:35,500 or religion, or spirituality is a private thing, 119 00:05:35,583 --> 00:05:37,083 not a public thing. 120 00:05:37,167 --> 00:05:39,417 It's something that you need to hold within you, 121 00:05:39,500 --> 00:05:41,542 but not share with others around you. 122 00:05:41,625 --> 00:05:46,750 And the God of the Bible, he wants you, if you belong to him, 123 00:05:46,833 --> 00:05:49,667 to be public with that faith. 124 00:05:49,708 --> 00:05:51,250 Faith must be public. 125 00:05:51,333 --> 00:05:54,125 It is never private. 126 00:05:54,167 --> 00:05:57,542 We want others to know the God who loves us so that they might 127 00:05:57,625 --> 00:06:02,000 love him, and we are a means by which others come to hear about 128 00:06:02,083 --> 00:06:06,000 the God of the Bible, and if we conceal our relationship with 129 00:06:06,083 --> 00:06:10,333 him, we are being unfaithful to him. 130 00:06:10,375 --> 00:06:13,333 But for so many, their income, their job, their politics, 131 00:06:13,375 --> 00:06:17,125 their family, their social network, their relationships, 132 00:06:17,167 --> 00:06:21,583 their comfort, and their convenience trump Christ. 133 00:06:21,667 --> 00:06:23,792 And so it is with Esther and Mordecai, 134 00:06:23,833 --> 00:06:25,500 and she's taking the instruction of Mordecai. 135 00:06:25,583 --> 00:06:28,333 "Don't tell anybody we belong to the God of the Bible." 136 00:06:28,375 --> 00:06:29,833 This is like some of you. 137 00:06:29,875 --> 00:06:32,000 You don't want to go public with your faith. 138 00:06:32,083 --> 00:06:34,917 You don't want to be baptized because that is a public thing. 139 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:37,125 You don't want to get up and take Communion 140 00:06:37,167 --> 00:06:38,708 because that is a public thing. 141 00:06:38,792 --> 00:06:40,917 When people are badmouthing Christians or Christianity 142 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:43,875 at your place of employment, or your school, 143 00:06:43,958 --> 00:06:46,792 or the professor's going after the dumb evangelicals again, 144 00:06:46,833 --> 00:06:52,500 you just stay quiet, because, for you, it's comfort over Christ. 145 00:06:52,583 --> 00:06:55,875 Mordecai and Esther are like that. 146 00:06:55,958 --> 00:06:58,625 "In those days, as Mordecai was sitting at the king's gate," 147 00:06:58,667 --> 00:07:00,375 so, he's transacting business, 148 00:07:00,458 --> 00:07:02,583 two guys we met previously in the book, 149 00:07:02,667 --> 00:07:05,083 "Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs--" 150 00:07:05,167 --> 00:07:06,500 We'll explain this: 151 00:07:06,542 --> 00:07:09,667 A eunuch is, by definition, someone who used to be happy, 152 00:07:09,708 --> 00:07:12,750 and--that's the technical definition of a eunuch. 153 00:07:12,833 --> 00:07:15,875 And the way it would work is the king had this huge harem 154 00:07:15,958 --> 00:07:17,375 with lots of women, 155 00:07:17,458 --> 00:07:20,250 and he knew that if he allowed men to work in 156 00:07:20,333 --> 00:07:23,083 the presence of these women, many of whom he neglected, 157 00:07:23,167 --> 00:07:25,250 never spoke to, didn't even know, well, 158 00:07:25,333 --> 00:07:27,667 these men would pursue these women and these women 159 00:07:27,708 --> 00:07:29,667 would fall in love with these men. 160 00:07:29,708 --> 00:07:33,167 So, what he would do is he would take and have them men castrated 161 00:07:33,208 --> 00:07:35,875 that worked in the presence of the harem. 162 00:07:35,958 --> 00:07:38,333 And history records that he would take upwards of 163 00:07:38,417 --> 00:07:41,708 500 young men a year and have them castrated. 164 00:07:41,792 --> 00:07:43,583 It's like being drafted in the military. 165 00:07:43,667 --> 00:07:46,083 You now belong to the king, he's called your number, 166 00:07:46,167 --> 00:07:47,792 he's going to castrate you, 167 00:07:47,833 --> 00:07:50,000 and you're going to work in the palace. 168 00:07:50,042 --> 00:07:53,417 And these two men are eunuchs who are supposed to be guards. 169 00:07:53,500 --> 00:07:56,125 So, think of King Xerxes like our president, 170 00:07:56,167 --> 00:07:59,833 and these would be his Secret Service detail. 171 00:07:59,875 --> 00:08:02,375 Now, what you're going to find is these two guys 172 00:08:02,458 --> 00:08:05,083 try and kill him. 173 00:08:05,167 --> 00:08:07,458 Well, of course they are. 174 00:08:07,500 --> 00:08:10,042 Back to my first point, he made them eunuchs. 175 00:08:10,125 --> 00:08:12,167 So, the story continues. 176 00:08:12,250 --> 00:08:14,500 I would. Right? 177 00:08:14,542 --> 00:08:17,000 You made me a eunuch, I'm going to kill you. 178 00:08:17,042 --> 00:08:20,375 That just seems--anyone should be able to connect those dots. 179 00:08:20,458 --> 00:08:24,000 It doesn't take a ton of theological work. 180 00:08:24,042 --> 00:08:26,458 "Two of the king's eunuchs, who guarded the threshold, 181 00:08:26,500 --> 00:08:29,500 "became angry and sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus." 182 00:08:29,542 --> 00:08:33,042 Ahasuerus is his Persian name, Xerxes is his Greek name. 183 00:08:33,125 --> 00:08:37,500 And this is a very significant issue in the ancient world. 184 00:08:37,542 --> 00:08:41,000 Those who were closest to the king were the most likely 185 00:08:41,042 --> 00:08:43,333 to betray the king. 186 00:08:43,375 --> 00:08:46,833 Ultimately, King Xerxes is gonna die at the hands of servants 187 00:08:46,875 --> 00:08:48,833 who are close to him. 188 00:08:48,875 --> 00:08:50,333 So it is in our day. 189 00:08:50,375 --> 00:08:52,125 If you're in leadership in business, 190 00:08:52,167 --> 00:08:53,917 if you're in leadership in ministry, 191 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:56,000 if you're in leadership in government, 192 00:08:56,083 --> 00:08:59,667 the most likely people to betray you are those closest to you. 193 00:08:59,750 --> 00:09:02,000 They can get jealous of your success, 194 00:09:02,042 --> 00:09:03,583 they can second guess your decisions, 195 00:09:03,667 --> 00:09:05,583 they can want to share in your glory, 196 00:09:05,667 --> 00:09:08,875 they can be manipulated by others, those who are critical, 197 00:09:08,958 --> 00:09:13,167 or have cash payouts, or want something to benefit you if you 198 00:09:13,208 --> 00:09:15,583 will just undermine them. 199 00:09:15,667 --> 00:09:18,292 Two things: for those of you who are leaders, 200 00:09:18,333 --> 00:09:20,875 be careful who you entrust and allow close to you. 201 00:09:20,958 --> 00:09:25,333 Number two, if you are someone who is in a position near those 202 00:09:25,417 --> 00:09:28,875 who are in leadership, make sure you always guard your heart and 203 00:09:28,958 --> 00:09:32,375 your motives, and that you don't just do what's in self-interest, 204 00:09:32,458 --> 00:09:34,792 but do what's in God's interest. 205 00:09:34,833 --> 00:09:38,750 Well, the situation here is one where now his life is in danger. 206 00:09:38,833 --> 00:09:41,833 This is an assassination plot. 207 00:09:41,875 --> 00:09:43,875 This would [be] lead story on CNN. 208 00:09:43,958 --> 00:09:46,208 This would be international news. 209 00:09:46,292 --> 00:09:48,875 This is the most powerful man on earth, 210 00:09:48,958 --> 00:09:53,792 and there's a plot for his execution and his murder. 211 00:09:53,833 --> 00:09:56,375 "And this came to the knowledge of Mordecai." 212 00:09:56,458 --> 00:09:57,917 So, Mordecai finds out. 213 00:09:58,000 --> 00:09:59,625 Somehow, he overhears. 214 00:09:59,667 --> 00:10:03,292 How many of you, if you were Mordecai, you'd just let it go. 215 00:10:03,333 --> 00:10:05,667 You're like, "He's kind of nasty. 216 00:10:05,750 --> 00:10:07,708 "He slept with my adopted daughter. 217 00:10:07,792 --> 00:10:10,792 You're going to kill him? Okay." 218 00:10:10,833 --> 00:10:13,167 Mordecai has a decision. 219 00:10:13,250 --> 00:10:18,375 Is he going to do a good thing for a bad man? 220 00:10:18,458 --> 00:10:20,833 Xerxes is a bad man. 221 00:10:20,875 --> 00:10:24,000 Will Mordecai do a good thing for a bad man? 222 00:10:24,083 --> 00:10:27,417 Will he say something and spare his life or will he continue to 223 00:10:27,500 --> 00:10:32,917 remain silent and allow Xerxes to be executed, 224 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:35,000 to be murdered? 225 00:10:35,042 --> 00:10:36,375 Well, here's what he does. 226 00:10:36,458 --> 00:10:38,500 Verse 22: "He told it to Queen Esther." 227 00:10:38,542 --> 00:10:42,250 His adoptive daughter that he raised is queen, 228 00:10:42,333 --> 00:10:45,250 and he tells her, "There's an assassination hit out 229 00:10:45,333 --> 00:10:47,000 on your husband." 230 00:10:47,083 --> 00:10:49,667 "And Esther told the king in the name of Mordecai." 231 00:10:49,708 --> 00:10:51,042 "Where did you learn this?" 232 00:10:51,125 --> 00:10:53,667 "I learned this from Mordecai." 233 00:10:53,708 --> 00:10:55,333 "When the affair was investigated." 234 00:10:55,417 --> 00:10:57,458 So, they go out and research it. 235 00:10:57,500 --> 00:10:59,542 And this is treason. 236 00:10:59,625 --> 00:11:01,583 Any of you with a military background, 237 00:11:01,667 --> 00:11:03,917 you know how serious this is. 238 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:05,833 Trying to kill a commanding officer, 239 00:11:05,875 --> 00:11:09,708 let alone a president, a king. 240 00:11:09,792 --> 00:11:12,708 It's investigated. Is this true? 241 00:11:12,792 --> 00:11:14,667 "It was found to be so." 242 00:11:14,750 --> 00:11:16,500 It's all true. 243 00:11:16,583 --> 00:11:19,500 The assassination attempt was uncovered. 244 00:11:19,583 --> 00:11:21,875 "So, the men were both hanged on the gallows." 245 00:11:21,958 --> 00:11:23,875 We'll come back to that in a moment. 246 00:11:23,958 --> 00:11:26,375 "And it was recorded in the book of the chronicles 247 00:11:26,458 --> 00:11:27,875 in the presence of the king." 248 00:11:27,958 --> 00:11:30,583 The reason that the Scriptures include that is it makes it 249 00:11:30,667 --> 00:11:34,625 clear that Xerxes knew exactly who was gonna kill him 250 00:11:34,667 --> 00:11:37,208 and exactly who saved his life. 251 00:11:37,292 --> 00:11:39,208 They bring the entire report. 252 00:11:39,292 --> 00:11:41,708 This is like a congressional hearing. 253 00:11:41,792 --> 00:11:44,833 They bring the entire report to King Xerxes. 254 00:11:44,917 --> 00:11:47,042 Here was the plot, it was uncovered. 255 00:11:47,125 --> 00:11:49,500 Here's all the documentation, here's all the witnesses, 256 00:11:49,583 --> 00:11:52,042 here's all the evidence, here was the plan, 257 00:11:52,125 --> 00:11:54,333 here was the buyout, here's the bank records, 258 00:11:54,375 --> 00:11:57,125 here's the payoff, here it is. 259 00:11:57,167 --> 00:12:02,833 And Mordecai is the one who saved your life. 260 00:12:02,875 --> 00:12:04,333 He overheard this, 261 00:12:04,375 --> 00:12:06,625 he found a back channel of communication, 262 00:12:06,667 --> 00:12:10,833 through Esther, so that you could get the truth without notifying 263 00:12:10,875 --> 00:12:13,917 those who wanted to kill you, because they would have found 264 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:16,708 out, and they would have hastened the assassination attempt. 265 00:12:16,792 --> 00:12:19,417 Mordecai saved your life, and it's all written down in 266 00:12:19,500 --> 00:12:22,208 the presence of the king in what they call the chronicles. 267 00:12:22,292 --> 00:12:24,500 That's the official records. 268 00:12:24,583 --> 00:12:29,708 These are the official court records of the day. 269 00:12:29,792 --> 00:12:33,083 And the two men who plotted the assassination of Xerxes, 270 00:12:33,167 --> 00:12:35,125 what happens to them? 271 00:12:35,167 --> 00:12:37,333 It says, "They were hanged on the gallows." 272 00:12:37,375 --> 00:12:40,417 Now, when we hear this, we can almost picture in our mind's eye, 273 00:12:40,500 --> 00:12:42,125 like an old western. 274 00:12:42,167 --> 00:12:44,833 Sort of a high platform, everybody's looking, 275 00:12:44,917 --> 00:12:47,333 a bunch of ropes with nooses hanging on them. 276 00:12:47,375 --> 00:12:48,750 You know, 277 00:12:48,833 --> 00:12:52,458 men, tied behind the back and at their ankles with rope, 278 00:12:52,500 --> 00:12:55,250 and then the trap door opens, and then they hang. 279 00:12:55,333 --> 00:12:59,250 That's not how it worked in Persia. 280 00:12:59,333 --> 00:13:03,208 It literally means they were hung on a tree. 281 00:13:03,292 --> 00:13:05,375 And there's a debate, historically, 282 00:13:05,458 --> 00:13:07,417 among the theologians and the archeologists, 283 00:13:07,500 --> 00:13:10,625 were they impaled or were they crucified? 284 00:13:10,667 --> 00:13:16,333 The truth is, crucifixion started at about this time, 285 00:13:16,375 --> 00:13:20,333 400-500 years before Jesus Christ was born, 286 00:13:20,375 --> 00:13:23,208 and it was created by the Persians. 287 00:13:23,292 --> 00:13:26,208 Crucifixion was later perfected by the Romans 288 00:13:26,292 --> 00:13:28,958 who murdered Jesus by crucifixion. 289 00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:34,375 This was a form of state-sponsored terrorism. 290 00:13:34,458 --> 00:13:38,000 This is like when a Muslim nation beheads somebody on TV. 291 00:13:38,042 --> 00:13:40,667 It's a public spectacle so that everybody knows, 292 00:13:40,750 --> 00:13:42,750 "Don't believe what they believe 293 00:13:42,833 --> 00:13:44,708 "and don't behave how they behave." 294 00:13:44,792 --> 00:13:48,625 And the point is, if you sin against a great king, 295 00:13:48,667 --> 00:13:53,292 he has a right to crucify you, and this is demonstrated 296 00:13:53,333 --> 00:13:56,667 publicly, and everyone sees it. 297 00:13:56,708 --> 00:14:00,292 The question remains: what happens to Mordecai? 298 00:14:00,333 --> 00:14:02,583 How many of you feel, at this point, 299 00:14:02,667 --> 00:14:04,333 Mordecai should get something? 300 00:14:04,375 --> 00:14:07,000 A prize, an award, a gold star, 301 00:14:07,042 --> 00:14:09,333 a lifetime supply of jelly beans. 302 00:14:09,375 --> 00:14:10,917 Something, right? 303 00:14:11,000 --> 00:14:12,500 Yay, Mordecai! 304 00:14:12,542 --> 00:14:14,208 They were going to kill the king, 305 00:14:14,292 --> 00:14:15,625 they didn't kill the king, 306 00:14:15,667 --> 00:14:17,000 the king crucified them. 307 00:14:17,083 --> 00:14:19,500 It seems like he should do something nice for you. 308 00:14:19,583 --> 00:14:20,833 Right? 309 00:14:20,917 --> 00:14:23,625 What does Xerxes do? Nothing. 310 00:14:23,667 --> 00:14:25,458 Nothing. 311 00:14:25,500 --> 00:14:27,458 Chapter 3, verse 1, "After these things." 312 00:14:27,500 --> 00:14:29,333 Five years later. 313 00:14:29,375 --> 00:14:31,833 Some of you are like, "Well, he didn't have time 314 00:14:31,875 --> 00:14:33,208 "to go to the store." 315 00:14:33,292 --> 00:14:34,625 Five years. 316 00:14:34,667 --> 00:14:36,833 He could have gotten him something at the mall. 317 00:14:36,875 --> 00:14:38,333 "Hey, thanks for letting me breathe." 318 00:14:38,417 --> 00:14:39,833 Five years. 319 00:14:39,917 --> 00:14:42,042 But this is Xerxes. 320 00:14:42,125 --> 00:14:44,833 He's this guy we see over, and over, and over. 321 00:14:44,917 --> 00:14:48,833 He is self-consumed; he's not others-concerned. 322 00:14:48,917 --> 00:14:54,458 He's self-consumed; he's not others-concerned. 323 00:14:54,500 --> 00:14:57,542 "After these things King Ahasuerus promoted--" 324 00:14:57,625 --> 00:14:59,333 Oh! Somebody's going to get a promotion. 325 00:14:59,375 --> 00:15:01,875 How many of you think, maybe, perchance, hypothetically, 326 00:15:01,958 --> 00:15:05,208 Mordecai should be considered? 327 00:15:05,292 --> 00:15:07,000 No. 328 00:15:07,042 --> 00:15:09,708 How many of you have this boss? 329 00:15:09,792 --> 00:15:12,500 Like, I could save their life and get demoted. 330 00:15:12,583 --> 00:15:14,000 It's biblical. 331 00:15:14,042 --> 00:15:15,875 It's right here. That's how bosses are. 332 00:15:15,958 --> 00:15:17,708 "After these things King Ahasuerus 333 00:15:17,792 --> 00:15:20,042 promoted Haman the Agagite." 334 00:15:20,125 --> 00:15:22,750 You just know this is going to be a bad guy. 335 00:15:22,833 --> 00:15:25,167 His name just sounds like a mouthful of gravel. 336 00:15:25,208 --> 00:15:27,167 The Agagite. 337 00:15:27,208 --> 00:15:29,042 It just sounds--Agagite. 338 00:15:29,125 --> 00:15:31,125 "We're the Agagites!" 339 00:15:31,167 --> 00:15:34,417 You can just tell, this guy's--yeah, he's not good. 340 00:15:34,500 --> 00:15:37,417 "Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha." 341 00:15:37,500 --> 00:15:39,917 And as I always say, the Bible words are hard. 342 00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:42,125 Read them fast, read them confident, read them loud, 343 00:15:42,167 --> 00:15:43,833 no one knows how to pronounce them. 344 00:15:43,917 --> 00:15:45,250 They'll assume you nailed it. 345 00:15:45,333 --> 00:15:46,833 Little Bible reading tip for you. 346 00:15:46,917 --> 00:15:50,333 "And advanced him and set his throne," he got a throne, 347 00:15:50,417 --> 00:15:53,250 "above all the officials who were with him." 348 00:15:53,333 --> 00:15:55,833 Now, the Jews would have heard this. 349 00:15:55,917 --> 00:15:58,250 They would have said, "The Agagites! 350 00:15:58,333 --> 00:16:00,833 "The Agagites! 351 00:16:00,875 --> 00:16:03,500 They're our enemies!" 352 00:16:03,583 --> 00:16:06,333 In the Old Testament, when God newly forms the nation 353 00:16:06,375 --> 00:16:09,292 of Israel, the first people to attack them, 354 00:16:09,333 --> 00:16:11,208 to basically be terrorists against them, 355 00:16:11,292 --> 00:16:14,833 to try and destroy and obliterate them: the Agagites. 356 00:16:14,875 --> 00:16:18,500 So, all of a sudden, you've got Mordecai saving Xerxes' life, 357 00:16:18,583 --> 00:16:22,833 and his new boss is Haman the Agagite. 358 00:16:22,917 --> 00:16:25,833 You see the tension in this story? 359 00:16:25,917 --> 00:16:28,042 Not only that, he gets a throne. 360 00:16:28,125 --> 00:16:30,833 You're poor, you sit on the floor. 361 00:16:30,917 --> 00:16:33,042 It's going okay, you get a chair. 362 00:16:33,125 --> 00:16:36,750 Once you get a throne, it's going pretty good for you. 363 00:16:36,833 --> 00:16:39,250 He gets a throne. He gets a little throne. 364 00:16:39,333 --> 00:16:40,708 He's like a little king. 365 00:16:40,792 --> 00:16:42,458 He's like a little god, Haman is. 366 00:16:42,500 --> 00:16:45,000 "Here's my throne." He rules over it. 367 00:16:45,083 --> 00:16:48,125 And now Mordecai, as a governmental official, 368 00:16:48,167 --> 00:16:51,833 and a citizen of Persia, he's under Haman the Agagite, 369 00:16:51,875 --> 00:16:54,917 the enemy of God's people who've been trying to destroy 370 00:16:55,000 --> 00:16:59,000 God's people for generations. 371 00:17:01,167 --> 00:17:05,125 "And all the king's servants who were at the king's gate 372 00:17:05,167 --> 00:17:07,583 "bowed down and paid homage to Haman, 373 00:17:07,667 --> 00:17:09,708 "for the king had so commanded concerning him. 374 00:17:09,792 --> 00:17:11,917 But Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage." 375 00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:13,500 Okay, here's the problem. 376 00:17:13,542 --> 00:17:15,500 Haman sits on his throne and says, 377 00:17:15,542 --> 00:17:18,458 "Everybody who comes before me, bow." 378 00:17:18,500 --> 00:17:22,667 Mordecai is present, and he doesn't bow, 379 00:17:22,708 --> 00:17:25,042 and it's going to be an awkward moment, right? 380 00:17:25,125 --> 00:17:28,708 A whole bunch of people bowing, Mordecai... 381 00:17:28,792 --> 00:17:31,667 just giving the stink eye to Haman. 382 00:17:31,708 --> 00:17:33,167 You know? 383 00:17:33,208 --> 00:17:35,333 "I'm not bowing. I'm not bowing." 384 00:17:35,417 --> 00:17:38,125 He's up on his tip-toes like, "I'm anti-bowing. 385 00:17:38,167 --> 00:17:40,750 I am not bowing." 386 00:17:40,833 --> 00:17:43,750 And all the other guys are looking like, "Oh, really? 387 00:17:43,833 --> 00:17:45,458 What happens if you don't bow?" 388 00:17:45,500 --> 00:17:47,167 They're all wondering, because now, 389 00:17:47,208 --> 00:17:48,833 Haman's being publicly opposed. 390 00:17:48,875 --> 00:17:50,542 He's being publicly ridiculed. 391 00:17:50,625 --> 00:17:52,042 He's being publicly undermined. 392 00:17:52,125 --> 00:17:54,250 It's defiance. 393 00:17:54,333 --> 00:17:58,667 Now, I'm not sure that this is a good move by Mordecai. 394 00:17:58,708 --> 00:18:00,708 You can discuss this in your Community Group, 395 00:18:00,792 --> 00:18:02,208 your women's Bible study. 396 00:18:02,292 --> 00:18:03,917 You can debate it. 397 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:06,917 Some would say, "Well, he wanted to be worshiped as a god." 398 00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:08,333 I don't think so. 399 00:18:08,375 --> 00:18:10,333 In that day, politically, you would bow. 400 00:18:10,375 --> 00:18:13,333 In some Asian cultures you still bow, right? 401 00:18:13,375 --> 00:18:15,708 It's just a sign of respect. 402 00:18:15,792 --> 00:18:17,958 In the military, you salute. 403 00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:20,667 Someone comes across, a higher ranking official, you salute. 404 00:18:20,708 --> 00:18:22,458 It's a sign of respect. 405 00:18:22,500 --> 00:18:24,750 Even if you don't really appreciate the person, 406 00:18:24,833 --> 00:18:26,958 you salute the uniform. 407 00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:29,333 You respect the chain of command. 408 00:18:29,417 --> 00:18:32,208 In British culture, you come before the queen, you bow, 409 00:18:32,292 --> 00:18:34,500 you curtsey, whatever the case may be. 410 00:18:34,583 --> 00:18:37,250 It's just a sign of respect. 411 00:18:37,333 --> 00:18:39,667 Here, Mordecai, all of a sudden, he's gotten tough. 412 00:18:39,708 --> 00:18:41,958 Up until this point, he's a jellyfish. 413 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:44,333 No vertebrae at all in this guy. 414 00:18:44,417 --> 00:18:45,833 He's just a total coward. 415 00:18:45,917 --> 00:18:48,125 My view. 416 00:18:48,167 --> 00:18:51,167 He doesn't tell anybody, "I belong to the God of the Bible." 417 00:18:51,208 --> 00:18:54,667 They come along and say, "Hey, we'd like your probably teenage, 418 00:18:54,708 --> 00:18:58,708 "adopted daughter to go to the spa for a year 419 00:18:58,792 --> 00:19:01,500 "at the Playboy Mansion and sleep with the king." 420 00:19:01,542 --> 00:19:03,583 And he doesn't say anything, doesn't do anything, 421 00:19:03,667 --> 00:19:05,417 doesn't fight it, goes along with it. 422 00:19:05,500 --> 00:19:08,917 Now, it says that he's worried, and he checks on her every day. 423 00:19:09,000 --> 00:19:11,208 So he's sort of a nervous Nellie, all right, 424 00:19:11,292 --> 00:19:13,208 but he's not really a courageous Cam. 425 00:19:13,292 --> 00:19:15,792 He doesn't really do anything. 426 00:19:15,833 --> 00:19:18,333 And all of a sudden he's like, "That's it! 427 00:19:18,417 --> 00:19:21,708 "I'm gonna make my stand here on the bowing! 428 00:19:21,792 --> 00:19:24,833 "You can sleep with her, but bowing, that's the line." 429 00:19:24,875 --> 00:19:27,250 It's a weird place to draw the line, right? 430 00:19:27,333 --> 00:19:29,542 It's a weird place to draw the line. 431 00:19:29,625 --> 00:19:31,750 It's a weird place. 432 00:19:31,833 --> 00:19:33,958 The sleeping with my teenage girl, 433 00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:36,042 that's where I draw the line! 434 00:19:36,125 --> 00:19:38,958 He's like, "Oh, that's not a problem, but this bowing thing, 435 00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:41,042 I can't do that." 436 00:19:41,125 --> 00:19:43,625 So, he picks a really weird place to sort of-- 437 00:19:43,667 --> 00:19:45,167 and some guys are like that. 438 00:19:45,208 --> 00:19:47,417 Like, you're never tough, and then you get tough 439 00:19:47,500 --> 00:19:50,458 at the wrong time. And we're sort of glad about that, 440 00:19:50,500 --> 00:19:54,458 but you've still got to work on your timing. 441 00:19:54,500 --> 00:19:55,958 Wrong time. 442 00:19:56,000 --> 00:19:58,333 Here's tough guy Mordecai. 443 00:19:58,375 --> 00:19:59,833 A little rap for you. 444 00:19:59,875 --> 00:20:01,250 It's free. You're welcome. 445 00:20:01,333 --> 00:20:02,750 Tough guy Mordecai, 446 00:20:02,833 --> 00:20:06,542 he's going to stand up to Haman the Horrible. 447 00:20:06,625 --> 00:20:08,500 So what's Haman going to do now? 448 00:20:08,583 --> 00:20:10,333 What would you do? 449 00:20:10,417 --> 00:20:13,917 You're the boss, you sit on a throne, you rule and reign, 450 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:19,083 and one guy just keeps--his whole life is just flicking you. 451 00:20:19,167 --> 00:20:20,500 Just flicking you. 452 00:20:20,542 --> 00:20:23,250 You been in a car with kids? You been that kid? 453 00:20:23,333 --> 00:20:25,000 You're doing a road trip your parents. 454 00:20:25,042 --> 00:20:27,000 You're like, "They won't stop flipping flicking me! 455 00:20:27,042 --> 00:20:29,000 They're always flicking me. They keep flicking me." 456 00:20:29,042 --> 00:20:30,375 Mordecai's a flicker. 457 00:20:30,458 --> 00:20:31,792 He just keeps flicking. 458 00:20:31,833 --> 00:20:33,292 "I'm not bowing. I'm not bowing. 459 00:20:33,333 --> 00:20:35,292 "Didn't bow yesterday, not going to bow today. 460 00:20:35,333 --> 00:20:38,292 See you tomorrow! Guess who's not bowing?" 461 00:20:38,333 --> 00:20:40,000 It gets to the point where Haman, 462 00:20:40,042 --> 00:20:41,750 he's starting to go crazy. 463 00:20:41,833 --> 00:20:43,292 He's starting to go nuts. 464 00:20:43,333 --> 00:20:45,000 Now Mordecai's a rock in his shoe. 465 00:20:45,042 --> 00:20:48,000 He's waking up in the morning, "Oh, I'm going to see him. 466 00:20:48,042 --> 00:20:50,750 "I'm going to see him today. He's not going to bow. 467 00:20:50,833 --> 00:20:52,167 "He's not going to bow. 468 00:20:52,208 --> 00:20:53,667 "Man, this guy's driving me crazy. 469 00:20:53,708 --> 00:20:55,042 He's frustrating me." 470 00:20:55,125 --> 00:20:56,458 What's he going to do? 471 00:20:56,500 --> 00:20:58,667 Verse 3: "Then the king's servants who were at 472 00:20:58,708 --> 00:21:00,208 "the king's gate said to Mordecai, 473 00:21:00,292 --> 00:21:01,958 'Why do you transgress the king's command?'" 474 00:21:02,000 --> 00:21:03,333 Uh-oh. Now it's escalated. 475 00:21:03,417 --> 00:21:04,750 You're not just disobeying Haman. 476 00:21:04,833 --> 00:21:07,250 The king Xerxes, the guy who thinks that the sun 477 00:21:07,333 --> 00:21:10,042 speaks through him, high self-esteem in that guy, 478 00:21:10,125 --> 00:21:12,042 called himself king of kings, lord of lords. 479 00:21:12,125 --> 00:21:13,708 Sound familiar? 480 00:21:13,792 --> 00:21:16,458 That guy, Xerxes, he's the one who said that everybody 481 00:21:16,500 --> 00:21:18,000 needs to bow down to Haman. 482 00:21:18,042 --> 00:21:20,000 "Mordecai, when you don't bow down to Haman, 483 00:21:20,042 --> 00:21:23,375 you're disobeying Xerxes, the lord." 484 00:21:23,458 --> 00:21:25,292 "'Why do you transgress the king's command?' 485 00:21:25,333 --> 00:21:27,083 And they spoke to him," what? 486 00:21:27,167 --> 00:21:29,500 "Day after day." 487 00:21:29,542 --> 00:21:32,792 Mordecai is holding his ground. 488 00:21:32,833 --> 00:21:35,833 "And he would not listen to them, and they told Haman, 489 00:21:35,917 --> 00:21:38,083 "in order to see whether Mordecai's words would stand, 490 00:21:38,167 --> 00:21:41,042 for he had told them that he was a Jew." 491 00:21:41,125 --> 00:21:44,167 All of a sudden, he pulls out his religious beliefs, 492 00:21:44,250 --> 00:21:47,458 totally for his own game. 493 00:21:47,500 --> 00:21:49,000 "How come you won't bow down?" 494 00:21:49,042 --> 00:21:51,250 "I'm Jewish. I'm Jewish. 495 00:21:51,333 --> 00:21:54,542 "I forgot to tell you guys that for, I don't know, 40 years. 496 00:21:54,625 --> 00:21:57,292 Whoops. I'm Jewish." 497 00:21:57,333 --> 00:21:59,000 How many of you are that way? 498 00:21:59,042 --> 00:22:01,417 You're like drunken thief, you know, 499 00:22:01,500 --> 00:22:04,417 and all of a sudden your friends want to do something terrible 500 00:22:04,500 --> 00:22:05,917 and you're like, "I'm a Christian." 501 00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:08,125 They're like, "What? What kind of Christian are you?" 502 00:22:08,167 --> 00:22:13,125 "I'm the hypocritical kind. We're a huge denomination." 503 00:22:16,125 --> 00:22:18,167 And how many of you are like that? 504 00:22:18,208 --> 00:22:20,792 You keep your faith a private matter until it benefits you, 505 00:22:20,833 --> 00:22:23,667 and then all of a sudden you're really committed. 506 00:22:23,750 --> 00:22:26,000 Up until this point, he's living in Persia. 507 00:22:26,042 --> 00:22:27,667 He's not supposed to be. 508 00:22:27,750 --> 00:22:30,375 He doesn't tell anybody he loves the God of the Bible. 509 00:22:30,458 --> 00:22:32,583 There's no evidence that he prayed, read the Scripture, 510 00:22:32,667 --> 00:22:34,583 tithed, went to the temple, offered a sacrifice, 511 00:22:34,667 --> 00:22:36,000 sang a song. 512 00:22:36,042 --> 00:22:40,542 He doesn't defend the honor of his adoptive daughter. 513 00:22:40,625 --> 00:22:42,500 He's eating the king's food. 514 00:22:42,542 --> 00:22:44,000 "Do you want a ham sandwich?" 515 00:22:44,042 --> 00:22:46,000 "Yeah, can I get some bacon on that?" 516 00:22:46,042 --> 00:22:48,167 He's a total compromised hypocrite, 517 00:22:48,250 --> 00:22:50,042 and then as soon as they're like, 518 00:22:50,125 --> 00:22:51,792 "Well, you're going to get in trouble." 519 00:22:51,833 --> 00:22:54,792 "I'm Jewish, do I get the 'get out of jail free' card? 520 00:22:54,833 --> 00:22:56,167 I have religious convictions." 521 00:22:56,250 --> 00:22:58,958 And let me ask you this: how many of you, 522 00:22:59,000 --> 00:23:01,958 you really don't love God, you really don't walk with God, 523 00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:05,167 but you'll pull out the card when it's for your convenience? 524 00:23:08,833 --> 00:23:10,542 That's what he does. 525 00:23:10,625 --> 00:23:12,708 "I'm Jewish, does that help?" 526 00:23:12,792 --> 00:23:14,500 Well, let's see. 527 00:23:14,583 --> 00:23:16,500 Verse 5: "And when Haman saw that Mordecai 528 00:23:16,583 --> 00:23:18,667 did not bow down or pay homage to him--" 529 00:23:18,750 --> 00:23:21,542 How many of you, you're like Haman? 530 00:23:21,625 --> 00:23:24,375 You just can't let it go. 531 00:23:24,458 --> 00:23:26,750 Like, Haman's life is going good, right? 532 00:23:26,833 --> 00:23:30,375 He's got a throne, he's ruling and reigning, 533 00:23:30,458 --> 00:23:32,750 everybody bows down to him except for one guy. 534 00:23:32,833 --> 00:23:34,292 What does he become obsessed with? 535 00:23:34,333 --> 00:23:36,792 One guy. 536 00:23:36,833 --> 00:23:38,583 We get like that, don't we? 537 00:23:38,667 --> 00:23:40,750 Everything in life is great except for one thing, 538 00:23:40,833 --> 00:23:42,292 and that's what we obsess over. 539 00:23:42,333 --> 00:23:46,583 That's what we freak out about. That's who we're frustrated by. 540 00:23:46,667 --> 00:23:49,167 "Haman was filled with fury." 541 00:23:49,208 --> 00:23:51,375 He's not happy. 542 00:23:51,458 --> 00:23:53,375 He is angry. 543 00:23:53,458 --> 00:23:55,792 "But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone." 544 00:23:55,833 --> 00:23:57,792 Haman's thinking, "I want to kill that guy, 545 00:23:57,833 --> 00:24:00,333 "but I don't want to do it with my hands. 546 00:24:00,375 --> 00:24:02,500 I've got to get somebody else involved." 547 00:24:02,583 --> 00:24:04,458 How many of you are like that? 548 00:24:04,500 --> 00:24:06,833 You don't like them, but you don't talk to them, 549 00:24:06,917 --> 00:24:08,250 you talk about them. 550 00:24:08,333 --> 00:24:10,000 You don't want to deal with them, 551 00:24:10,083 --> 00:24:12,250 so you send somebody else to deal with them. 552 00:24:12,333 --> 00:24:15,750 He's this real passive-aggressive character. 553 00:24:15,833 --> 00:24:19,167 He won't just walk up to Mordecai and have the conflict. 554 00:24:19,208 --> 00:24:21,750 He's going to build an entire case 555 00:24:21,833 --> 00:24:25,625 and create an entire scenario where he can destroy him 556 00:24:25,667 --> 00:24:28,458 without getting his hands dirty. 557 00:24:28,500 --> 00:24:32,167 Leaders, we've got to be careful we don't act like this. 558 00:24:32,208 --> 00:24:37,458 We're all prone to it, that we take offense at one person, 559 00:24:37,500 --> 00:24:42,750 and rather than dealing with them, we plot against them. 560 00:24:42,833 --> 00:24:45,667 "So, as they had made known to him the people of Mordecai, 561 00:24:45,708 --> 00:24:47,958 "Haman sought to destroy," what? 562 00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:50,333 "All the Jews, the people of Mordecai, 563 00:24:50,417 --> 00:24:53,667 throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus." 564 00:24:53,708 --> 00:24:55,708 "I won't bow down." 565 00:24:55,792 --> 00:25:00,083 "Then I will kill you, and everyone else who's like you." 566 00:25:00,167 --> 00:25:03,375 It sort of backfired on Mordecai, right? 567 00:25:03,458 --> 00:25:05,417 He was thinking pulling out his religion card 568 00:25:05,500 --> 00:25:06,875 would save his life. 569 00:25:06,958 --> 00:25:09,375 Now it's going to cost everyone else their life. 570 00:25:09,458 --> 00:25:12,375 "Oh, you're a Jew? Then I hate Jews!" 571 00:25:12,458 --> 00:25:14,833 Haman becomes the first Hitler. 572 00:25:14,875 --> 00:25:17,333 This is a plot for genocide. 573 00:25:17,375 --> 00:25:20,750 He's going to destroy an entire community of people, 574 00:25:20,833 --> 00:25:24,833 primarily because they're God's covenant people. 575 00:25:24,917 --> 00:25:28,125 See, the names change but the script doesn't. 576 00:25:28,167 --> 00:25:30,833 Satan writes it, hands it to Haman. 577 00:25:30,875 --> 00:25:34,042 "Hate God's people, the Jews, seek to commit genocide, 578 00:25:34,125 --> 00:25:35,833 and destroy them." 579 00:25:35,875 --> 00:25:38,667 Years later, Hitler comes along and Satan hands him 580 00:25:38,708 --> 00:25:40,333 the same script. 581 00:25:40,417 --> 00:25:43,250 "Hate the Jews, plan genocide, use the government, 582 00:25:43,333 --> 00:25:45,750 try to destroy them all." 583 00:25:45,833 --> 00:25:48,750 You need to know that there is a continual conflict between 584 00:25:48,833 --> 00:25:52,125 God and Satan, and God's people and Satan's people, 585 00:25:52,167 --> 00:25:56,042 and Satan sometimes empowers people to try 586 00:25:56,125 --> 00:25:57,833 and destroy God's people. 587 00:25:57,917 --> 00:26:03,292 And here, it happens in the days of Mordecai. 588 00:26:03,333 --> 00:26:06,125 You ready for a tough-- let me say this too. 589 00:26:06,167 --> 00:26:08,333 I'll ask you a tough question in a moment. 590 00:26:08,375 --> 00:26:11,708 How many of you are horrified that a government could 591 00:26:11,792 --> 00:26:17,792 send forth a decree for the execution of an innocent people? 592 00:26:17,833 --> 00:26:21,042 And how many of you know we don't have the moral high ground 593 00:26:21,125 --> 00:26:27,750 in a nation that has sanctioned the murder of the unborn? 594 00:26:27,833 --> 00:26:32,750 We take life every week; we do it legally, 595 00:26:32,833 --> 00:26:35,625 but it's not holy. 596 00:26:35,667 --> 00:26:37,917 You and I need to be very careful 597 00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:41,333 when we read the Scriptures, that we don't come to them with 598 00:26:41,417 --> 00:26:46,625 a haughty, religious, self-righteous high ground. 599 00:26:48,792 --> 00:26:51,833 We're no better than the Persians. 600 00:26:51,917 --> 00:26:56,542 They would slaughter innocent people who hadn't done anything, 601 00:26:56,625 --> 00:26:59,750 and we do as well, and they can't vote, 602 00:26:59,833 --> 00:27:02,917 so it doesn't bother us. 603 00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:06,292 We've got to be very careful if we're going to condemn 604 00:27:06,333 --> 00:27:11,167 holocausts that we condemn all holocausts, 605 00:27:11,250 --> 00:27:17,250 not just the ones that are apart from our watch. 606 00:27:19,208 --> 00:27:22,167 To this day, on Purim, the Jewish holiday, 607 00:27:22,208 --> 00:27:27,542 they read this story, and Haman is jeered and hissed. 608 00:27:27,625 --> 00:27:34,167 He's a man who is despised by the Jewish people. 609 00:27:34,208 --> 00:27:37,167 Now, in reading this, again, we can read it religiously. 610 00:27:37,208 --> 00:27:38,708 "Haman's an awful man. 611 00:27:38,792 --> 00:27:41,042 "Thank you Lord, I'm better than Haman." 612 00:27:41,125 --> 00:27:44,250 Or I can ask you a very difficult question. 613 00:27:44,333 --> 00:27:47,250 "Who would you kill if you could?" 614 00:27:47,333 --> 00:27:52,750 Don't say it, especially if they came to church with you. 615 00:27:52,833 --> 00:27:55,167 If I came to you and I said, "You know, 616 00:27:55,208 --> 00:27:58,667 the Lord told me you get to whack one person." 617 00:27:58,708 --> 00:28:02,000 You get a--so here's the card, and it just says, you know, 618 00:28:02,042 --> 00:28:04,708 "From the Lord, one free whacking," 619 00:28:04,792 --> 00:28:07,875 and then there was a blank line--you got to write in 620 00:28:07,958 --> 00:28:09,292 anybody's name you wanted. 621 00:28:09,333 --> 00:28:12,667 Would you or would you not write somebody's name down? 622 00:28:12,750 --> 00:28:14,917 Some of you say, "Well, they deserve it, 623 00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:16,500 so it's not a bad--" 624 00:28:16,542 --> 00:28:20,500 Jesus says in Matthew 5 that murder and hatred 625 00:28:20,583 --> 00:28:22,958 are on the same highway, one's just further down 626 00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:26,250 the road, that when we hate someone, 627 00:28:26,333 --> 00:28:28,833 we commit murder in our heart against them. 628 00:28:28,917 --> 00:28:33,750 The difference is, sometimes, Haman had the legal ability 629 00:28:33,833 --> 00:28:37,458 to kill, and we lack the legal ability to kill, 630 00:28:37,500 --> 00:28:42,542 so we have murder in our heart that doesn't quite 631 00:28:42,625 --> 00:28:45,042 extend to our hands. 632 00:28:45,125 --> 00:28:46,750 Who do you hate? 633 00:28:46,833 --> 00:28:50,542 If you could, who would you kill? 634 00:28:50,625 --> 00:28:53,542 Who would you kill? 635 00:28:53,625 --> 00:28:56,208 Again, Haman's in a position where if he hates you, 636 00:28:56,292 --> 00:29:00,625 he could kill you, punish you. 637 00:29:00,667 --> 00:29:04,000 We hate people, we punish them, and we tend to cause those 638 00:29:04,042 --> 00:29:07,833 who are close to them, family, friends, coworkers, neighbors, 639 00:29:07,875 --> 00:29:12,333 to suffer with them as additional punishment of them. 640 00:29:12,375 --> 00:29:15,000 And when we seek that kind of vengeance, 641 00:29:15,042 --> 00:29:19,042 we're practicing the same attitude and disposition 642 00:29:19,125 --> 00:29:22,417 as Haman. 643 00:29:22,500 --> 00:29:25,542 Again, friends, I love you, I'm your pastor, 644 00:29:25,625 --> 00:29:29,250 but I want us to be very careful when we read the Scriptures that 645 00:29:29,333 --> 00:29:34,458 every time we see a bad guy, we realize that's either us, 646 00:29:34,500 --> 00:29:41,333 or apart from the grace of God, it could be. 647 00:29:41,417 --> 00:29:43,042 The story continues. 648 00:29:43,125 --> 00:29:47,125 "In the first month," verse 7, "which is the month of Nisan, 649 00:29:47,167 --> 00:29:49,333 in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus." 650 00:29:49,417 --> 00:29:51,333 All of this is historical. 651 00:29:51,375 --> 00:29:53,167 It shows that God works in history. 652 00:29:53,208 --> 00:29:54,708 He works in people's lives. 653 00:29:54,792 --> 00:29:57,042 He works in nations. 654 00:29:57,125 --> 00:30:00,000 It's not just therapy, good ideas on how to live 655 00:30:00,083 --> 00:30:01,625 a better life. 656 00:30:01,667 --> 00:30:04,125 It's not just philosophy, speculation about life and God. 657 00:30:04,167 --> 00:30:07,500 It's theology, God revealing himself in history to peoples, 658 00:30:07,583 --> 00:30:09,833 times, places. 659 00:30:09,917 --> 00:30:12,542 "They cast Pur (that is, they cast lots)." 660 00:30:12,625 --> 00:30:15,542 You're going to hear later in the Book that Esther institutes 661 00:30:15,625 --> 00:30:18,000 the feast of Purim, and it is named after this. 662 00:30:18,042 --> 00:30:20,583 And here, it means the casting of lots, 663 00:30:20,667 --> 00:30:23,583 and what this is is divination. 664 00:30:23,667 --> 00:30:28,292 In that day, these men, like Haman--he's not an atheist. 665 00:30:28,333 --> 00:30:32,667 He's very spiritual, but he worships a god other than 666 00:30:32,750 --> 00:30:35,375 the God of the Bible. 667 00:30:35,458 --> 00:30:37,458 You need to know that spirituality is 668 00:30:37,500 --> 00:30:39,375 a very dangerous thing. 669 00:30:39,458 --> 00:30:42,083 Now, they won't tell you that. 670 00:30:42,167 --> 00:30:45,292 They'll tell you that spirituality's a good thing, 671 00:30:45,333 --> 00:30:47,083 but when we're talking about spirits, 672 00:30:47,167 --> 00:30:48,958 we're talking about angels and demons, 673 00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:52,083 clean and unclean spirits, holy and unholy spirits, 674 00:30:52,167 --> 00:30:54,542 obedient and disobedient spirits, 675 00:30:54,625 --> 00:30:57,458 and to open yourself up to the spirit realm is to 676 00:30:57,500 --> 00:31:00,917 potentially open yourself up to the demonic. 677 00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:04,167 And what he's doing here in the casting of lots is he's 678 00:31:04,208 --> 00:31:07,208 asking the spirit realm, and the spirits, and the demons: 679 00:31:07,292 --> 00:31:09,667 guide the dice, make the decisions, 680 00:31:09,708 --> 00:31:13,458 put together the plan for the destruction of God's people. 681 00:31:13,500 --> 00:31:15,000 Satan is always involved. 682 00:31:15,083 --> 00:31:17,667 Paul says it this way in Ephesians 6: Our battle, 683 00:31:17,708 --> 00:31:20,292 our war is not against flesh and blood but powers, 684 00:31:20,333 --> 00:31:21,667 principalities, and spirits. 685 00:31:21,750 --> 00:31:24,583 Haman is no victim, but he's empowered by Satan and demons 686 00:31:24,667 --> 00:31:27,542 who are helping to organize a plan for the destruction 687 00:31:27,625 --> 00:31:30,500 of God's people. 688 00:31:30,542 --> 00:31:33,292 It's not enough to be spiritual, friends. 689 00:31:33,333 --> 00:31:38,083 In fact, spirituality can be the most dangerous thing of all. 690 00:31:38,167 --> 00:31:40,792 If it's not from Christ, if it's not for Christ, 691 00:31:40,833 --> 00:31:44,083 if it's not through Christ, if it's not to Christ, 692 00:31:44,167 --> 00:31:46,375 then it's to be condemned. 693 00:31:46,458 --> 00:31:50,583 And he is here practicing divination. 694 00:31:50,667 --> 00:31:53,750 "And they cast it month after month till the twelfth month, 695 00:31:53,833 --> 00:31:55,667 which is the month of Adar." 696 00:31:55,708 --> 00:31:59,250 So, they're asking the demonic realm to put together a plan 697 00:31:59,333 --> 00:32:02,958 for the genocide of God's people. 698 00:32:03,000 --> 00:32:05,625 "Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, 699 00:32:05,667 --> 00:32:08,000 "'There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed 700 00:32:08,083 --> 00:32:10,750 among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom.'" 701 00:32:10,833 --> 00:32:12,667 Big problem. It's everywhere. 702 00:32:12,708 --> 00:32:16,250 "Their laws are different from those of every other people." 703 00:32:16,333 --> 00:32:18,583 They have this thing called the Scriptures. 704 00:32:18,667 --> 00:32:20,875 "And they do not keep the king's laws." 705 00:32:20,958 --> 00:32:22,333 They're kind of like Vashti. 706 00:32:22,417 --> 00:32:24,583 Sometimes they say no. 707 00:32:24,667 --> 00:32:27,667 "So that it is not to the king's profit to tolerate them." 708 00:32:27,750 --> 00:32:29,667 And this isn't good for you, King. 709 00:32:29,708 --> 00:32:31,167 I'm just looking out for you. 710 00:32:31,208 --> 00:32:32,667 "If it please the king, 711 00:32:32,708 --> 00:32:35,250 let it be decreed that they be destroyed." 712 00:32:35,333 --> 00:32:37,333 So, here's the plan. 713 00:32:37,417 --> 00:32:41,083 "I will pay 10,000 talents of silver into the hands of those 714 00:32:41,167 --> 00:32:43,667 "who have charge of the king's business, 715 00:32:43,708 --> 00:32:46,333 that they may put it into the king's treasuries." 716 00:32:46,417 --> 00:32:48,583 I'm going to make you a lot of money 717 00:32:48,667 --> 00:32:50,250 and get rid of your problem. 718 00:32:50,333 --> 00:32:51,958 "So the king took his signet ring," 719 00:32:52,000 --> 00:32:54,083 this is power of attorney, 720 00:32:54,167 --> 00:32:57,167 "from his hand and gave it to Haman the Agagite, 721 00:32:57,208 --> 00:33:01,458 "the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews. 722 00:33:01,500 --> 00:33:04,458 "And the king said to Haman, 'The money is given to you, 723 00:33:04,500 --> 00:33:10,833 the people also, to do with them as it seems good to you.'" 724 00:33:10,875 --> 00:33:17,333 Question: how do you tell the story 725 00:33:17,375 --> 00:33:21,375 in such a way that it benefits you? 726 00:33:21,458 --> 00:33:22,875 We all do it, right? 727 00:33:22,958 --> 00:33:25,000 It starts when you're little. 728 00:33:25,042 --> 00:33:27,667 You do something evil against your sibling, 729 00:33:27,708 --> 00:33:31,083 they start screaming, you try to run to mom and dad first 730 00:33:31,167 --> 00:33:36,667 and tell your version first. 731 00:33:36,708 --> 00:33:39,000 Proverbs says it rightly, 732 00:33:39,042 --> 00:33:43,500 "Everyone seems right until the other side is heard." 733 00:33:43,542 --> 00:33:46,167 Here's what Haman does: he runs to Xerxes. 734 00:33:46,250 --> 00:33:49,542 "Let me explain to you exactly what's going on. 735 00:33:49,625 --> 00:33:51,958 "There are these people called Jews. 736 00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:53,792 "They have a book called Scripture. 737 00:33:53,833 --> 00:33:55,833 "They obey laws they say are from God. 738 00:33:55,917 --> 00:33:58,292 "They think their God's bigger and better than you, 739 00:33:58,333 --> 00:33:59,958 "and this is a real problem. 740 00:34:00,083 --> 00:34:01,417 "I'm here to fix it. 741 00:34:01,500 --> 00:34:03,417 "Let me destroy them, and I'll plunder them, 742 00:34:03,500 --> 00:34:05,000 take all their money." 743 00:34:05,083 --> 00:34:06,500 Just like Hitler did. Right? 744 00:34:06,583 --> 00:34:09,250 "Get the fillings out of their teeth and melt it down. 745 00:34:09,333 --> 00:34:10,667 "I'll split it 50/50. 746 00:34:10,708 --> 00:34:13,208 "I'll give you tax revenue that is equal to 50% 747 00:34:13,292 --> 00:34:16,750 "of the annual income of the entire empire. 748 00:34:16,833 --> 00:34:19,333 "This is a massive business opportunity. 749 00:34:19,375 --> 00:34:21,333 "There is profit to be made. 750 00:34:21,375 --> 00:34:24,250 "All we need to do is kill these evil people and plunder 751 00:34:24,333 --> 00:34:28,833 their goods, and I'll split it with you." 752 00:34:28,917 --> 00:34:31,542 And Xerxes doesn't do his homework. 753 00:34:31,625 --> 00:34:34,333 Xerxes doesn't get both sides of the story. 754 00:34:34,375 --> 00:34:38,417 Xerxes doesn't investigate the facts. 755 00:34:38,500 --> 00:34:42,000 Xerxes says, "That's a great plan. 756 00:34:42,083 --> 00:34:44,167 "Here's the power of attorney. 757 00:34:44,208 --> 00:34:49,542 You now have control over their life and death." 758 00:34:49,625 --> 00:34:52,333 Sometimes it's really easy to only get partial information, 759 00:34:52,375 --> 00:34:55,333 misinformation, and make a decision that affects 760 00:34:55,417 --> 00:34:58,667 a lot of people that you don't even know. 761 00:34:58,708 --> 00:35:02,500 Deeply convicting and concerning. 762 00:35:02,583 --> 00:35:06,500 So, pray for me, and pray for your leaders, and pray for us. 763 00:35:06,542 --> 00:35:09,125 Xerxes doesn't know these people. 764 00:35:09,167 --> 00:35:11,792 Xerxes doesn't love these people. 765 00:35:11,833 --> 00:35:14,208 Xerxes only gets reports about these people. 766 00:35:14,292 --> 00:35:16,667 And here's the truth: leaders get in real trouble 767 00:35:16,708 --> 00:35:20,333 when you're only dealing with numbers and not faces. 768 00:35:20,375 --> 00:35:22,500 For those of you who are leaders in business, 769 00:35:22,583 --> 00:35:25,333 or leaders in politics, or leaders in ministry-- 770 00:35:25,417 --> 00:35:26,750 God knows numbers. 771 00:35:26,833 --> 00:35:28,167 He also sees faces. 772 00:35:28,208 --> 00:35:31,042 He loves people, not just crowds. 773 00:35:31,125 --> 00:35:33,750 People with faces, and names, and stories. 774 00:35:33,833 --> 00:35:36,667 Xerxes doesn't care about people. 775 00:35:36,708 --> 00:35:39,833 All he cares about is numbers, and he's willing to reduce 776 00:35:39,875 --> 00:35:45,750 the number of people to increase the number of dollars. 777 00:35:45,833 --> 00:35:48,958 This is what we do. Right? 778 00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:51,125 Every election year, 779 00:35:51,167 --> 00:35:53,458 the signet ring goes on our finger, 780 00:35:53,500 --> 00:35:56,417 and the case is made through partial truths. 781 00:35:56,500 --> 00:36:00,208 If you have wealth, vote for this person to lower your taxes, 782 00:36:00,292 --> 00:36:02,083 more money for you. 783 00:36:02,167 --> 00:36:04,208 If you're poor, vote for the other person. 784 00:36:04,292 --> 00:36:07,917 They'll tax the rich and give more of the wealth to you. 785 00:36:08,000 --> 00:36:10,333 And it's all about misinformation and personal, 786 00:36:10,375 --> 00:36:12,708 financial gain. 787 00:36:12,792 --> 00:36:16,208 We need to be careful when we read Xerxes that we ask, 788 00:36:16,292 --> 00:36:19,750 "How am I like Xerxes or how, apart from the grace of God, 789 00:36:19,833 --> 00:36:21,833 could I be like Xerxes?" 790 00:36:21,875 --> 00:36:23,667 You ready for the next hard question? 791 00:36:23,708 --> 00:36:25,167 Here it is. 792 00:36:25,208 --> 00:36:27,458 How are you lazy and greedy like Xerxes? 793 00:36:27,500 --> 00:36:31,250 I didn't ask if. 794 00:36:31,333 --> 00:36:33,333 I didn't ask, "Are you hypothetically, 795 00:36:33,417 --> 00:36:35,833 "potentially inclined toward the direction of laziness 796 00:36:35,917 --> 00:36:38,458 and greed like Xerxes?" Because then you would think, 797 00:36:38,500 --> 00:36:43,208 "Well, I know someone who is." 798 00:36:43,292 --> 00:36:46,333 We're prone toward laziness. Right? 799 00:36:46,375 --> 00:36:48,708 We don't do our homework, we don't research, 800 00:36:48,792 --> 00:36:50,458 we don't investigate. 801 00:36:50,500 --> 00:36:53,708 Xerxes was told, "They're bad people, they're hurting you, 802 00:36:53,792 --> 00:36:55,333 you should destroy them." 803 00:36:55,417 --> 00:36:57,042 He said, "Sounds good. 804 00:36:57,125 --> 00:36:59,000 Decision." 805 00:36:59,083 --> 00:37:01,083 Leaders are not just to make decisions, 806 00:37:01,167 --> 00:37:03,000 they're to make the right decisions, 807 00:37:03,083 --> 00:37:07,000 and that takes the right information. 808 00:37:07,083 --> 00:37:09,000 And how are we greedy? 809 00:37:09,083 --> 00:37:12,333 How many decisions do we make based solely upon, 810 00:37:12,375 --> 00:37:17,667 "This will generate more income toward me." 811 00:37:17,708 --> 00:37:22,542 Sometimes, the best thing is not what's in our interest 812 00:37:22,625 --> 00:37:25,708 but in the interest of others. 813 00:37:25,792 --> 00:37:27,708 Does Xerxes need the money? 814 00:37:27,792 --> 00:37:29,750 Yes or no? 815 00:37:29,833 --> 00:37:31,458 Xerxes doesn't need anything. 816 00:37:31,500 --> 00:37:34,333 This guy just threw a 6-month open bar party 817 00:37:34,417 --> 00:37:36,167 for tens of thousands of people, 818 00:37:36,208 --> 00:37:38,625 and then opened a spa for hundreds of women 819 00:37:38,667 --> 00:37:40,250 for 12 months. 820 00:37:40,333 --> 00:37:43,417 He not only has a palace, he has two! 821 00:37:43,500 --> 00:37:45,833 It's like somebody who's got a really nice house 822 00:37:45,917 --> 00:37:47,500 and a really nice vacation house. 823 00:37:47,583 --> 00:37:49,542 They're doing fine. 824 00:37:49,625 --> 00:37:52,167 He's worshiped as a god. 825 00:37:52,208 --> 00:37:55,167 This guy has more money than he knows what to do with, 826 00:37:55,208 --> 00:37:57,333 but the Bible's right. 827 00:37:57,375 --> 00:38:01,000 "He who loves money never has enough." 828 00:38:01,042 --> 00:38:04,708 We need to be careful and cautious and ask, 829 00:38:04,792 --> 00:38:06,833 "How are we like Xerxes?" 830 00:38:06,875 --> 00:38:09,583 We believe things about people, negative things that are said, 831 00:38:09,667 --> 00:38:11,583 criticisms, gossip. 832 00:38:11,667 --> 00:38:13,083 We don't even know them. 833 00:38:13,167 --> 00:38:14,833 We haven't even checked the facts. 834 00:38:14,875 --> 00:38:16,958 Or greed. 835 00:38:17,000 --> 00:38:20,917 We make decisions solely based upon the bottom line, 836 00:38:21,000 --> 00:38:24,458 not the glory of God and the good of others. 837 00:38:24,500 --> 00:38:27,042 Friends, this is so important. 838 00:38:27,125 --> 00:38:29,167 Some of you are leaders in your family. 839 00:38:29,208 --> 00:38:31,125 Some of you are leaders in business. 840 00:38:31,167 --> 00:38:33,250 Some of you are leaders in ministry. 841 00:38:33,333 --> 00:38:35,042 Some of you are leaders in politics. 842 00:38:35,125 --> 00:38:37,667 I don't want us to just be a self-righteous, judgmental, 843 00:38:37,708 --> 00:38:41,833 hypocritical, moralistic people who say, "Haman's bad. 844 00:38:41,917 --> 00:38:43,750 "Xerxes is bad. 845 00:38:43,833 --> 00:38:46,042 Thank you, God, that I'm good." 846 00:38:46,125 --> 00:38:48,625 Say, "You know what? I could be like Haman. 847 00:38:48,667 --> 00:38:50,250 "I could be like Xerxes. 848 00:38:50,333 --> 00:38:52,167 "I could get furious with one person, 849 00:38:52,208 --> 00:38:54,167 "and take my wrath out against them, 850 00:38:54,208 --> 00:38:56,542 "and punish others just to cause additional suffering. 851 00:38:56,625 --> 00:38:59,500 "I could be like Xerxes, lazy, not do my homework, 852 00:38:59,583 --> 00:39:02,833 "just make financial decisions, and hand away authority, 853 00:39:02,875 --> 00:39:05,500 "and not love and know people, 854 00:39:05,583 --> 00:39:08,917 just counting numbers not seeing faces." 855 00:39:09,000 --> 00:39:11,917 Deeply convicting for me as your pastor. 856 00:39:12,000 --> 00:39:14,375 Man, I don't want to be that, but I know, 857 00:39:14,458 --> 00:39:16,542 apart from the grace of God, that's the inclination 858 00:39:16,625 --> 00:39:19,833 of every human heart. 859 00:39:19,875 --> 00:39:22,625 So, what's going to happen now? 860 00:39:22,667 --> 00:39:26,542 I mean, this is quite a mini-series, right? 861 00:39:26,625 --> 00:39:29,667 I mean, you tune in the next week like, 862 00:39:29,708 --> 00:39:31,500 "I've got to see what happens. 863 00:39:31,583 --> 00:39:34,125 "We've got Mordecai, we've got an Agagite, we've got Esther. 864 00:39:34,167 --> 00:39:36,250 "She still hasn't said or done anything yet. 865 00:39:36,333 --> 00:39:38,125 "Is she going to be okay? 866 00:39:38,167 --> 00:39:41,167 "Xerxes just gave away all the authority and power 867 00:39:41,208 --> 00:39:43,667 of the kingdom." 868 00:39:43,708 --> 00:39:46,167 Here's the next episode. 869 00:39:46,208 --> 00:39:48,667 "Then the king's scribes were summoned on the thirteenth day 870 00:39:48,708 --> 00:39:50,833 "of the first month, and an edict, 871 00:39:50,875 --> 00:39:52,833 according to all that Haman commanded." 872 00:39:52,917 --> 00:39:56,542 Haman wrote up the policy and the king just signs it-- 873 00:39:56,625 --> 00:39:59,125 "was written to the king's satraps," 874 00:39:59,167 --> 00:40:01,542 these are the provincial rulers, 875 00:40:01,625 --> 00:40:03,667 "governors over the provinces and to the officials 876 00:40:03,708 --> 00:40:06,417 "of all the peoples, to every province in its own script 877 00:40:06,500 --> 00:40:08,208 "and every people in its own language. 878 00:40:08,292 --> 00:40:11,125 "It was written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with 879 00:40:11,167 --> 00:40:12,917 the king's signet ring." 880 00:40:13,000 --> 00:40:16,958 Now, Xerxes rules like a god, and when he says something it's like 881 00:40:17,000 --> 00:40:20,333 inerrant Scripture, and so the scribes, 882 00:40:20,417 --> 00:40:22,500 they write it down, right? 883 00:40:22,542 --> 00:40:25,667 It's like Paul or Moses getting a word from the Lord 884 00:40:25,750 --> 00:40:27,292 and writing it down. 885 00:40:27,333 --> 00:40:28,875 That's what the scribes here do. 886 00:40:28,958 --> 00:40:30,333 "What does the king say? 887 00:40:30,417 --> 00:40:32,167 We write it down, word for word." 888 00:40:32,250 --> 00:40:35,167 And then they do the same thing we do with the Bible. 889 00:40:35,208 --> 00:40:37,667 They translate it into all the languages of the people, 890 00:40:37,708 --> 00:40:40,292 because the empire ruled over many nations. 891 00:40:40,333 --> 00:40:43,167 And then they created the first postal system. 892 00:40:43,208 --> 00:40:45,875 The Pony Express in the U.S. literally borrowed 893 00:40:45,958 --> 00:40:48,000 it's slogan, it's motto, 894 00:40:48,042 --> 00:40:52,542 from the Persian mail delivery system. 895 00:40:52,625 --> 00:40:57,083 And then, copies are made, and it is sent out 896 00:40:57,167 --> 00:41:00,458 for everyone to hear and obey. 897 00:41:00,500 --> 00:41:03,333 And like Scripture, it can't be changed. 898 00:41:03,417 --> 00:41:06,208 They called it the Laws of the Medes and Persians. 899 00:41:06,292 --> 00:41:10,750 And out goes the decree: "Kill all of God's people." 900 00:41:10,833 --> 00:41:15,042 How many of you are expecting God to intervene at this point, 901 00:41:15,125 --> 00:41:21,542 a miracle, an angel, a prophet? 902 00:41:21,625 --> 00:41:23,792 God doesn't speak. 903 00:41:23,833 --> 00:41:25,667 God doesn't act. 904 00:41:25,708 --> 00:41:29,083 It just keeps going. 905 00:41:29,167 --> 00:41:32,542 Verse 13: "Letters were sent by couriers to all the king's 906 00:41:32,625 --> 00:41:35,500 "provinces with instruction to destroy, to kill, 907 00:41:35,542 --> 00:41:38,667 and to annihilate all Jews," all of God's people. 908 00:41:38,750 --> 00:41:40,792 Heavy language. 909 00:41:40,833 --> 00:41:45,875 Destroy, kill, annihilate, 910 00:41:45,958 --> 00:41:48,292 young and old," 911 00:41:48,333 --> 00:41:52,667 little girls with pigtails, little boys who are swimming 912 00:41:52,708 --> 00:41:59,500 in the river, toddlers who are learning how to walk, 913 00:41:59,542 --> 00:42:04,417 chubby-faced kids who are learning how to speak, 914 00:42:04,500 --> 00:42:08,333 and old--grandmas who can't even get up and run 915 00:42:08,417 --> 00:42:11,750 when the soldiers come, 916 00:42:11,833 --> 00:42:13,542 grandpas whose hearing is so bad, 917 00:42:13,625 --> 00:42:18,667 they didn't even hear the door get kicked down. 918 00:42:18,750 --> 00:42:21,167 Everybody's going to die. 919 00:42:21,250 --> 00:42:23,542 It's satanic, it's demonic. 920 00:42:23,625 --> 00:42:27,083 God brings life, Satan brings death. 921 00:42:27,167 --> 00:42:32,792 This is evil unvarnished and evil unmasked, 922 00:42:32,833 --> 00:42:38,000 through a man who's unrepentant, and that's all that it takes. 923 00:42:38,042 --> 00:42:41,750 "Women and children, 924 00:42:44,042 --> 00:42:47,667 in one day." 925 00:42:47,708 --> 00:42:51,292 One day. 926 00:42:51,333 --> 00:42:55,375 Xerxes has the largest army in the history of the world. 927 00:42:55,458 --> 00:42:58,583 Herodotus, the Greek historian, says it was at least 928 00:42:58,667 --> 00:43:03,417 a few hundred thousand soldiers, maybe a few million, 929 00:43:03,500 --> 00:43:08,542 and the decree comes to the commanders and to the generals: 930 00:43:08,625 --> 00:43:15,167 "Grab your weapons, go find babies, little girls, boys, 931 00:43:15,208 --> 00:43:19,208 "grandmas and grandpas, pregnant women. 932 00:43:19,292 --> 00:43:25,333 Slaughter them all." 933 00:43:25,375 --> 00:43:29,333 People are not good by nature. 934 00:43:29,417 --> 00:43:34,958 People are not morally upright and devout by nature. 935 00:43:35,000 --> 00:43:38,458 This is the human heart, untethered from the restraining 936 00:43:38,500 --> 00:43:41,958 grace of God. 937 00:43:42,000 --> 00:43:44,750 "The thirteenth day of the twelfth month, 938 00:43:44,833 --> 00:43:47,833 which is the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods." 939 00:43:47,917 --> 00:43:51,125 That's how he's going to pay off Xerxes. 940 00:43:51,167 --> 00:43:53,333 He's going to kill them, take all their stuff, 941 00:43:53,375 --> 00:43:55,833 and give a percentage of it to the king. 942 00:43:55,875 --> 00:43:58,750 "A copy of the document was to be issued as a decree 943 00:43:58,833 --> 00:44:00,708 "in every province by proclamation 944 00:44:00,792 --> 00:44:03,500 to all the peoples to be ready for that day." 945 00:44:03,542 --> 00:44:04,917 They announced it in advance. 946 00:44:05,000 --> 00:44:08,833 Can you imagine the terror and the horror? 947 00:44:08,875 --> 00:44:13,292 "It's coming, 948 00:44:13,333 --> 00:44:17,292 the execution of all of us." 949 00:44:19,167 --> 00:44:23,750 See, friends, we die a little bit at a time, 950 00:44:23,833 --> 00:44:27,458 but we're all going to die, and we tend not to live under 951 00:44:27,500 --> 00:44:32,333 the horror and the terror of it until people die all at once. 952 00:44:32,375 --> 00:44:35,042 That's why disasters and tragedies, 953 00:44:35,125 --> 00:44:39,542 they grip international attention and focus. 954 00:44:39,625 --> 00:44:43,542 There's funerals every day, but when there are mass graves, 955 00:44:43,625 --> 00:44:47,125 it gets our attention. 956 00:44:47,167 --> 00:44:49,750 "The couriers went out hurriedly by order of the king, 957 00:44:49,833 --> 00:44:52,333 "and the decree was issued in Susa the citadel. 958 00:44:52,375 --> 00:44:56,417 And the king and Haman sat down to," what? 959 00:44:56,500 --> 00:44:59,542 What do they sit down to do, Mars Hill? 960 00:44:59,625 --> 00:45:05,333 To have a drink. 961 00:45:05,375 --> 00:45:08,500 It's the same thing that a lot of guys do after they close 962 00:45:08,542 --> 00:45:11,625 a big deal in business, and they haven't really prayed about it 963 00:45:11,667 --> 00:45:14,167 or considered the implications on others. 964 00:45:14,250 --> 00:45:15,917 Just have a drink. 965 00:45:16,000 --> 00:45:17,625 "What a great day. 966 00:45:17,667 --> 00:45:19,458 "Boy, we really made some money today. 967 00:45:19,500 --> 00:45:21,500 "We are so rich. We are so powerful. 968 00:45:21,583 --> 00:45:26,833 Yeah, we destroyed some people, but I'll drink to that." 969 00:45:26,917 --> 00:45:29,458 Friends, there's nothing wrong with making money. 970 00:45:29,500 --> 00:45:32,833 There's something horribly wrong in making money by destroying 971 00:45:32,875 --> 00:45:39,167 innocent people. And they sit down to have a drink. 972 00:45:39,208 --> 00:45:43,000 "But the city of Susa was thrown into confusion." 973 00:45:43,083 --> 00:45:45,750 What this means is as the citizens heard, 974 00:45:45,833 --> 00:45:48,708 those who were not Jewish, many were revolted. 975 00:45:48,792 --> 00:45:50,667 They said, "We love these people. 976 00:45:50,708 --> 00:45:52,667 "They're our neighbors, they're our friends, 977 00:45:52,708 --> 00:45:55,042 "they're our coworkers. 978 00:45:55,125 --> 00:45:57,042 "These are decent neighbors. 979 00:45:57,125 --> 00:45:59,250 These are good citizens." 980 00:45:59,333 --> 00:46:02,625 Mars Hill, may we live in such a way that when persecution 981 00:46:02,667 --> 00:46:05,000 or opposition comes against Christianity, 982 00:46:05,083 --> 00:46:07,583 that those who are non-Christian would say, 983 00:46:07,667 --> 00:46:09,792 "Wait, they love the whole city. 984 00:46:09,833 --> 00:46:11,500 "They serve the whole city. 985 00:46:11,583 --> 00:46:13,208 They cared about everybody," 986 00:46:13,292 --> 00:46:15,708 because we're made in the image and likeness of God. 987 00:46:15,792 --> 00:46:18,708 "We don't agree with them and we don't worship the same God, 988 00:46:18,792 --> 00:46:20,458 "but we don't want them to die. 989 00:46:20,500 --> 00:46:22,167 They love us and we love them." 990 00:46:22,208 --> 00:46:25,042 God's people are to live lovingly in the culture 991 00:46:25,125 --> 00:46:28,250 in such a way that even the non-Christians know that 992 00:46:28,333 --> 00:46:31,167 God loves them because we love them. 993 00:46:31,208 --> 00:46:33,417 This is so important. 994 00:46:33,500 --> 00:46:37,708 We don't just love Christians, we love non-Christians too. 995 00:46:37,792 --> 00:46:40,458 We don't just love those who love our God, 996 00:46:40,500 --> 00:46:43,167 we love those who will even worship false gods. 997 00:46:43,208 --> 00:46:45,958 And yes, I said false. 998 00:46:46,000 --> 00:46:49,667 But we can disagree in such a loving way that we're 999 00:46:49,708 --> 00:46:52,833 a blessing to the city and we're a blessing to others, 1000 00:46:52,917 --> 00:46:56,042 and they know we love them even if we disagree with them. 1001 00:46:56,125 --> 00:46:58,167 And so uproar came through Susa. 1002 00:46:58,208 --> 00:47:00,708 May it always be that way with us. 1003 00:47:00,792 --> 00:47:03,625 May those who disagree with us be silenced by others 1004 00:47:03,667 --> 00:47:07,333 who disagree with us but have been well-loved by us. 1005 00:47:07,375 --> 00:47:09,833 Now, I told you at the beginning of the sermon, 1006 00:47:09,875 --> 00:47:11,375 three things painfully mark our lives. 1007 00:47:11,458 --> 00:47:12,792 Do you remember them? 1008 00:47:12,833 --> 00:47:18,500 Sins, mistakes, tragedies. 1009 00:47:18,583 --> 00:47:21,917 They are everywhere in this story. 1010 00:47:22,000 --> 00:47:25,667 Fifteen things I'll share with you, some are sins, 1011 00:47:25,708 --> 00:47:28,125 some are mistakes, some are tragedies, 1012 00:47:28,167 --> 00:47:32,917 some are combinations of two or three. 1013 00:47:33,000 --> 00:47:36,333 Here's the big idea: it shouldn't be happening. 1014 00:47:36,417 --> 00:47:38,917 It shouldn't be like this. 1015 00:47:39,000 --> 00:47:41,542 Just like our world, just like your life, 1016 00:47:41,625 --> 00:47:43,542 it shouldn't be like that. 1017 00:47:43,625 --> 00:47:45,250 It's wrong. 1018 00:47:45,333 --> 00:47:49,667 It's not right. 1019 00:47:49,708 --> 00:47:52,542 Number one: generations prior to Esther, 1020 00:47:52,625 --> 00:47:55,167 God's people should not have continued in sin 1021 00:47:55,208 --> 00:47:57,167 so that they were exiled. 1022 00:47:57,208 --> 00:47:59,458 The whole reason they're in Persia is this: 1023 00:47:59,500 --> 00:48:01,125 generations prior--and here's the truth. 1024 00:48:01,167 --> 00:48:04,375 Sometimes the stuff of your life that is most painful was made 1025 00:48:04,458 --> 00:48:07,125 generations before you were born, 1026 00:48:07,167 --> 00:48:10,417 but it implicates and affects you. 1027 00:48:10,500 --> 00:48:13,000 Generations prior, they were sinning against God, 1028 00:48:13,042 --> 00:48:15,417 so God had them exiled to Babylon. 1029 00:48:15,500 --> 00:48:17,333 Had they not sinned against the Lord, 1030 00:48:17,417 --> 00:48:19,333 they wouldn't have been exiled to Babylon. 1031 00:48:19,375 --> 00:48:21,958 The Jews weren't supposed to be here in the first place. 1032 00:48:22,000 --> 00:48:23,750 They're supposed to be in Jerusalem. 1033 00:48:23,833 --> 00:48:26,000 They're here because of unrepentant sin. 1034 00:48:26,083 --> 00:48:28,333 Had they not sinned, they wouldn't be here. 1035 00:48:28,417 --> 00:48:29,833 So it is with us, right? 1036 00:48:29,917 --> 00:48:31,833 How many of you, the hard, difficult, arduous, 1037 00:48:31,917 --> 00:48:35,208 painful circumstances of your life, your parents' sin, 1038 00:48:35,292 --> 00:48:36,833 your grandparents' sin, 1039 00:48:36,875 --> 00:48:38,542 your great- great-great-grandparents' sin, 1040 00:48:38,625 --> 00:48:41,750 your sin got you in a place you're not supposed to be in 1041 00:48:41,833 --> 00:48:43,458 the first place? 1042 00:48:43,500 --> 00:48:46,833 Number two: once freed, all of God's people should have obeyed 1043 00:48:46,917 --> 00:48:49,208 Isaiah and returned to Jerusalem. 1044 00:48:49,292 --> 00:48:51,250 The Bible says that a king, Cyrus, 1045 00:48:51,333 --> 00:48:54,333 came along, and he liberated the captives from Babylon. 1046 00:48:54,417 --> 00:48:57,708 He was not a godly man, but he was a man with a conscience 1047 00:48:57,792 --> 00:48:59,833 who didn't believe that one person should own another. 1048 00:48:59,917 --> 00:49:01,667 He opposed slavery. 1049 00:49:01,750 --> 00:49:04,375 And as soon as there was liberation for the Babylonian 1050 00:49:04,458 --> 00:49:07,917 captives, God spoke through Isaiah and said, "Go home. 1051 00:49:08,000 --> 00:49:10,167 "Go to Jerusalem. 1052 00:49:10,250 --> 00:49:12,333 Rebuild the city and the temple." 1053 00:49:12,375 --> 00:49:14,708 That's literally where God's presence would be. 1054 00:49:14,792 --> 00:49:16,667 "Return to the Lord." 1055 00:49:16,708 --> 00:49:18,458 Isaiah commanded it. 1056 00:49:18,500 --> 00:49:20,125 Some obeyed it. 1057 00:49:20,167 --> 00:49:22,333 You'll read about them in the Book of Nehemiah 1058 00:49:22,375 --> 00:49:23,708 and the Book of Esther. 1059 00:49:23,792 --> 00:49:26,458 He is a contemporary to Esther, and those are the people 1060 00:49:26,500 --> 00:49:29,458 who went back to Jerusalem to rebuild the city and the temple. 1061 00:49:29,500 --> 00:49:31,625 They went back to the Lord. 1062 00:49:31,667 --> 00:49:34,833 This tells us what happens to those who disobeyed. 1063 00:49:34,875 --> 00:49:38,833 They didn't go home, they didn't obey Isaiah, and it's been some, 1064 00:49:38,875 --> 00:49:43,458 I think, 40-50 years. 1065 00:49:43,500 --> 00:49:46,333 They shouldn't even be there. 1066 00:49:46,417 --> 00:49:50,250 Number three: the death of Esther's parents was tragic. 1067 00:49:50,333 --> 00:49:54,458 We know not how they died, but anytime there's a child who 1068 00:49:54,500 --> 00:49:58,542 loses both mother and father, through sickness, through war, 1069 00:49:58,625 --> 00:50:03,458 through famine, whatever the case may be, through tragedy, 1070 00:50:03,500 --> 00:50:06,625 it's devastating. 1071 00:50:06,667 --> 00:50:08,750 I've got five kids. 1072 00:50:08,833 --> 00:50:12,458 I can't imagine my kids without Grace and I, 1073 00:50:12,500 --> 00:50:15,417 let alone my daughters. 1074 00:50:15,500 --> 00:50:18,042 It's a tragedy. 1075 00:50:18,125 --> 00:50:21,500 Number four: Esther and Mordecai should have been walking 1076 00:50:21,542 --> 00:50:23,333 faithfully with God. 1077 00:50:23,417 --> 00:50:26,000 Thus far, in the Bible, we don't see them praying, 1078 00:50:26,042 --> 00:50:29,500 reading Scripture, tithes, offerings, sacrifices, 1079 00:50:29,542 --> 00:50:33,042 going to Jerusalem, talking to God, obeying the dietary laws, 1080 00:50:33,125 --> 00:50:35,458 maintaining sexual purity. 1081 00:50:35,500 --> 00:50:38,000 Nothing! 1082 00:50:38,042 --> 00:50:39,750 Nothing. 1083 00:50:39,833 --> 00:50:41,250 They're not walking with God. 1084 00:50:41,333 --> 00:50:42,833 There's no indication. 1085 00:50:42,917 --> 00:50:45,667 All those who are walking with God walked to Jerusalem. 1086 00:50:45,708 --> 00:50:49,667 Those who didn't walk with God stayed in Persia. 1087 00:50:49,750 --> 00:50:52,375 Number five: Esther and Mordecai should not have concealed 1088 00:50:52,458 --> 00:50:54,375 their faith so long. 1089 00:50:54,458 --> 00:50:56,375 At some point, they should have gone public. 1090 00:50:56,458 --> 00:50:58,375 At some point, they just should have said, 1091 00:50:58,458 --> 00:51:00,458 "We believe in the God of the Bible. 1092 00:51:00,500 --> 00:51:01,917 We're one of his people." 1093 00:51:02,000 --> 00:51:04,833 Had they done that, the decree likely would not have gone out 1094 00:51:04,917 --> 00:51:07,833 to destroy all the Jews, because who's a Jew? 1095 00:51:07,917 --> 00:51:11,250 Esther, the queen. 1096 00:51:11,333 --> 00:51:14,417 And if she would have been public with her faith as soon as 1097 00:51:14,500 --> 00:51:16,750 Haman said, "I'm going to murder all those people," 1098 00:51:16,833 --> 00:51:23,167 the king would have said, "You can't murder my wife." 1099 00:51:23,250 --> 00:51:26,833 Number six: Xerxes should not have divorced his wife, Vashti. 1100 00:51:26,917 --> 00:51:29,167 He didn't have grounds for divorce. 1101 00:51:29,208 --> 00:51:32,667 You're drunk, asking your wife to parade before a bunch of 1102 00:51:32,708 --> 00:51:34,500 drunken soldiers. 1103 00:51:34,542 --> 00:51:36,000 She says no. 1104 00:51:36,042 --> 00:51:37,458 You should not divorce her. 1105 00:51:37,500 --> 00:51:41,583 You should punch yourself in the head for being a complete tool, 1106 00:51:41,667 --> 00:51:44,792 but you should not divorce your wife. 1107 00:51:44,833 --> 00:51:46,667 He should have never divorced her. 1108 00:51:46,750 --> 00:51:48,583 She didn't deserve it. 1109 00:51:48,667 --> 00:51:50,958 He should have apologized. 1110 00:51:51,000 --> 00:51:55,500 Number seven: Xerxes should not have taken bad counsel, 1111 00:51:55,542 --> 00:51:59,083 run the "Bachelor of Persia," turned the palace into 1112 00:51:59,167 --> 00:52:02,042 the Playboy Mansion, and brought in all the beautiful women 1113 00:52:02,125 --> 00:52:04,750 to take their virginity, and pick his favorite one. 1114 00:52:04,833 --> 00:52:07,333 That should have never happened. 1115 00:52:07,417 --> 00:52:09,125 That's wrong. 1116 00:52:09,167 --> 00:52:12,500 It's just wrong. 1117 00:52:12,583 --> 00:52:18,333 Do you see there's a lot of wrong here? 1118 00:52:18,417 --> 00:52:23,125 The Bible's the most honest book that's ever been written. 1119 00:52:24,708 --> 00:52:27,833 Number eight: Mordecai should not have allowed Esther 1120 00:52:27,917 --> 00:52:31,375 to enter the competition. 1121 00:52:31,458 --> 00:52:36,375 She's probably a teenager, she has no mom or dad, she's poor. 1122 00:52:36,458 --> 00:52:39,042 Hundreds of women are going to compete, 1123 00:52:39,125 --> 00:52:42,000 hundreds of women are going to sleep with the king, 1124 00:52:42,042 --> 00:52:44,167 and he let her go. 1125 00:52:44,208 --> 00:52:49,875 I can tell you, as a dad with daughters, Mordecai's a failure. 1126 00:52:49,958 --> 00:52:52,083 He didn't say anything, he didn't do anything. 1127 00:52:52,167 --> 00:52:54,000 Some men's sin are sin of commission. 1128 00:52:54,042 --> 00:52:56,333 Most men's sins are sin of omission. 1129 00:52:56,417 --> 00:52:59,583 Guys will say this all the time: "I didn't do anything wrong." 1130 00:52:59,667 --> 00:53:01,958 Here's the problem: you didn't do anything. 1131 00:53:02,000 --> 00:53:05,042 You didn't say anything, you didn't do anything. 1132 00:53:05,125 --> 00:53:07,542 He's willing to die on the hill of bowing. 1133 00:53:07,625 --> 00:53:10,042 If you want to die for a noble cause, 1134 00:53:10,125 --> 00:53:12,708 make it the cause of a young woman and her purity, 1135 00:53:12,792 --> 00:53:15,125 and her chastity, and her integrity, 1136 00:53:15,167 --> 00:53:18,958 especially if you've adopted her. 1137 00:53:19,000 --> 00:53:20,917 Mordecai should have fought for Esther. 1138 00:53:21,000 --> 00:53:22,542 He should have died for Esther. 1139 00:53:22,625 --> 00:53:25,167 He should have declared war for Esther. 1140 00:53:25,208 --> 00:53:27,667 And men, I'm asking you to do the same thing 1141 00:53:27,708 --> 00:53:29,208 for your daughters. 1142 00:53:29,292 --> 00:53:31,917 Love them, serve them, protect them, encourage them, 1143 00:53:32,000 --> 00:53:35,958 and make sure that just because some guy asks for them, 1144 00:53:36,000 --> 00:53:39,667 that you're not complicit by permitting the wrong kinds 1145 00:53:39,708 --> 00:53:45,167 of men to have access to our women, our daughters. 1146 00:53:45,208 --> 00:53:48,667 She should have never been part of the harem. 1147 00:53:48,708 --> 00:53:53,500 No way. 1148 00:53:53,583 --> 00:53:57,042 Number nine: Esther should have not lost her virginity 1149 00:53:57,125 --> 00:53:59,250 to a pagan Gentile. 1150 00:53:59,333 --> 00:54:01,417 Amen? 1151 00:54:01,500 --> 00:54:04,000 He's maybe 15-20 years older. 1152 00:54:04,083 --> 00:54:05,667 He mistreats women. 1153 00:54:05,750 --> 00:54:07,875 He's got an entire harem. 1154 00:54:07,958 --> 00:54:10,833 She should not have slept with him. 1155 00:54:10,875 --> 00:54:13,208 I'm not necessarily saying it's entirely her fault. 1156 00:54:13,292 --> 00:54:16,250 I'm just saying it's wrong. 1157 00:54:16,333 --> 00:54:18,833 Xerxes shouldn't be a man like that. 1158 00:54:18,875 --> 00:54:21,833 Mordecai shouldn't be a man who allows that. 1159 00:54:21,875 --> 00:54:24,833 And yeah, it would have been okay for her to declare war 1160 00:54:24,875 --> 00:54:26,625 and say no too. 1161 00:54:26,667 --> 00:54:28,458 Number ten: you sum it all up, 1162 00:54:28,500 --> 00:54:32,833 Esther should not be the queen of Persia. 1163 00:54:32,917 --> 00:54:36,750 Number 11: after Mordecai saved the king's life, 1164 00:54:36,833 --> 00:54:39,167 he should have not been overlooked. 1165 00:54:39,208 --> 00:54:41,208 He should have been honored, respected, 1166 00:54:41,292 --> 00:54:45,208 revered, not neglected. 1167 00:54:45,292 --> 00:54:51,958 Number 12: Mordecai probably should have bowed to Haman. 1168 00:54:52,000 --> 00:54:54,167 You know, a little salute the uniform, 1169 00:54:54,208 --> 00:54:57,250 little bow of respect and honor as is common 1170 00:54:57,333 --> 00:54:59,333 in Eastern cultures. 1171 00:54:59,417 --> 00:55:01,000 Not a big deal. 1172 00:55:01,083 --> 00:55:04,417 He probably should have bowed. 1173 00:55:04,500 --> 00:55:11,292 Number 13: Haman should never have been born. 1174 00:55:11,333 --> 00:55:13,625 Haman should have never been born. 1175 00:55:13,667 --> 00:55:17,333 Now, theologically, this is true. 1176 00:55:17,375 --> 00:55:24,042 The Book of Esther is subtle, it's quiet, 1177 00:55:24,125 --> 00:55:27,500 and it whispers a lot of truth. 1178 00:55:27,583 --> 00:55:30,500 Earlier in the book, we learn that Mordecai was a descendant 1179 00:55:30,583 --> 00:55:34,333 of someone named Saul, and here we learn that Haman is 1180 00:55:34,375 --> 00:55:39,333 a descendant of Agag. 1181 00:55:39,375 --> 00:55:41,667 Well, the Jews would have read this and said, 1182 00:55:41,708 --> 00:55:43,667 "Well, that's way back in the Old Testament, 1183 00:55:43,708 --> 00:55:45,750 generations prior." 1184 00:55:45,833 --> 00:55:49,167 The Agagites kept trying to destroy and annihilate 1185 00:55:49,208 --> 00:55:50,667 God's people. 1186 00:55:50,708 --> 00:55:53,750 They were trying to do the same thing that Haman and Hitler do, 1187 00:55:53,833 --> 00:55:57,167 and so God told King Saul, "Destroy all the Agagites, 1188 00:55:57,208 --> 00:56:04,000 kill them all, and don't take any of their plunder." 1189 00:56:04,042 --> 00:56:06,500 What Saul did was disobey the Lord. 1190 00:56:06,542 --> 00:56:08,292 He didn't kill them all. 1191 00:56:08,333 --> 00:56:10,833 He let the king live-- the Agagite king live, 1192 00:56:10,875 --> 00:56:14,625 and rather than rejecting all of the wealth, 1193 00:56:14,667 --> 00:56:19,417 he took it to make himself rich, because even God's people, 1194 00:56:19,500 --> 00:56:23,042 grievously, can act like Xerxes. 1195 00:56:23,125 --> 00:56:25,667 It's about the power, and the money, and the comfort, 1196 00:56:25,708 --> 00:56:27,042 and the control. 1197 00:56:27,125 --> 00:56:30,042 It's not about the glory of God and the good of others. 1198 00:56:30,125 --> 00:56:31,500 So, Mordecai's, I don't know, 1199 00:56:31,583 --> 00:56:33,333 great-great-great-great- grandfather didn't kill 1200 00:56:33,375 --> 00:56:35,458 Haman's great-great- great-great-grandfather 1201 00:56:35,500 --> 00:56:38,167 like the Lord said, so now Haman's going to try 1202 00:56:38,208 --> 00:56:40,917 and kill Mordecai. 1203 00:56:41,000 --> 00:56:46,417 Haman should have never been born. 1204 00:56:46,500 --> 00:56:51,250 Number 14: Haman should not have sought to take out his wrath 1205 00:56:51,333 --> 00:56:54,750 against one man, Mordecai, on all Jews. 1206 00:56:54,833 --> 00:56:57,542 That's racism. 1207 00:56:57,625 --> 00:57:01,833 And number 15: Xerxes should not have given his signet ring, 1208 00:57:01,875 --> 00:57:04,167 power of attorney, unlimited authority, 1209 00:57:04,250 --> 00:57:08,208 access to the nuclear button, proverbially speaking, 1210 00:57:08,292 --> 00:57:11,125 without checking the facts, doing his own homework, 1211 00:57:11,167 --> 00:57:13,917 and trusting more than one man's judgment. 1212 00:57:14,000 --> 00:57:16,458 It's all wrong. 1213 00:57:16,500 --> 00:57:18,417 It's all wrong. 1214 00:57:18,500 --> 00:57:21,708 It's not supposed to be this way. 1215 00:57:21,792 --> 00:57:24,125 God doesn't show up, God doesn't send a prophet, 1216 00:57:24,167 --> 00:57:26,750 God doesn't speak from heaven, God doesn't do a miracle. 1217 00:57:26,833 --> 00:57:28,667 There's no burning bush. 1218 00:57:28,708 --> 00:57:33,333 There's no evidence that God, in any way, shows up, 1219 00:57:33,417 --> 00:57:36,750 speaks, or acts. 1220 00:57:36,833 --> 00:57:38,750 How do we interpret all this data? 1221 00:57:38,833 --> 00:57:40,833 What do we do with it? 1222 00:57:40,917 --> 00:57:44,333 What do you do with it? 1223 00:57:44,417 --> 00:57:48,125 Another question: What sins, mistakes, 1224 00:57:48,167 --> 00:57:52,458 and tragedies are ruling your life? 1225 00:57:52,500 --> 00:57:56,833 Your life has been, will be, or is presently in the place of 1226 00:57:56,875 --> 00:57:58,417 the story of Esther. 1227 00:57:58,500 --> 00:58:00,875 It's dark. 1228 00:58:00,958 --> 00:58:02,625 The clouds have rolled in. 1229 00:58:02,667 --> 00:58:04,125 The fog is thick. 1230 00:58:04,167 --> 00:58:06,375 God can't be seen. 1231 00:58:06,458 --> 00:58:08,083 Where are we going? 1232 00:58:08,167 --> 00:58:09,500 What are we doing? 1233 00:58:09,542 --> 00:58:10,917 Is there a way out? 1234 00:58:11,000 --> 00:58:12,583 Is there any hope? 1235 00:58:12,667 --> 00:58:14,792 Some of you revisit your life, and you're obsessing 1236 00:58:14,833 --> 00:58:16,167 over the details. 1237 00:58:16,250 --> 00:58:17,667 "This was a sin I committed. 1238 00:58:17,708 --> 00:58:19,208 "This was a sin they committed. 1239 00:58:19,292 --> 00:58:22,208 "Man, this goes all the way back to my parents, my grandparents, 1240 00:58:22,292 --> 00:58:23,625 "my great-grandparents. 1241 00:58:23,667 --> 00:58:26,333 "That was a mistake. I thought it was a good idea. 1242 00:58:26,417 --> 00:58:28,333 "It was a bad idea. That's a tragedy. 1243 00:58:28,417 --> 00:58:29,833 "I can't believe they got cancer. 1244 00:58:29,917 --> 00:58:31,333 I don't know what happened there." 1245 00:58:31,417 --> 00:58:34,833 And you're devastated, and it feels like all of these events 1246 00:58:34,917 --> 00:58:37,458 of your life, they've overtaken you. 1247 00:58:37,500 --> 00:58:40,833 It's like your life is this huge river with a strong current 1248 00:58:40,875 --> 00:58:45,417 toward death, and you're just in it, being drug along, 1249 00:58:45,500 --> 00:58:50,000 and the decisions are made, and the circumstances are set, 1250 00:58:50,083 --> 00:58:52,958 and your fate is sealed. 1251 00:58:53,000 --> 00:58:54,667 You shouldn't have slept with him, 1252 00:58:54,708 --> 00:58:56,167 you shouldn't have gotten pregnant, 1253 00:58:56,208 --> 00:58:57,542 you shouldn't have gotten married, 1254 00:58:57,625 --> 00:58:59,000 you should have finished college, 1255 00:58:59,083 --> 00:59:00,583 you shouldn't have resigned the job, 1256 00:59:00,667 --> 00:59:02,583 you shouldn't have walked away from the Lord, 1257 00:59:02,667 --> 00:59:04,083 you shouldn't have started drinking that, 1258 00:59:04,167 --> 00:59:05,583 you shouldn't have started smoking that, 1259 00:59:05,667 --> 00:59:07,583 you should have never been at the casino. 1260 00:59:07,667 --> 00:59:10,083 Whatever your thing is, should have never been dating 1261 00:59:10,167 --> 00:59:12,083 them, should have never stayed with him, 1262 00:59:12,167 --> 00:59:14,083 should have never put up with that. 1263 00:59:14,167 --> 00:59:15,500 All the "What if?", 1264 00:59:15,542 --> 00:59:16,833 the "How come?", 1265 00:59:16,917 --> 00:59:21,542 the "Where's he?" 1266 00:59:21,625 --> 00:59:25,833 And this is where people's lives in the Bible need to be 1267 00:59:25,917 --> 00:59:29,833 interpreted, as our lives need to be interpreted, 1268 00:59:29,917 --> 00:59:33,125 through a world view, a set of presuppositions and assumptions. 1269 00:59:33,167 --> 00:59:35,708 So, atheists would come to this text or circumstances 1270 00:59:35,792 --> 00:59:37,917 in your life and say, "See, there's no God. 1271 00:59:38,000 --> 00:59:40,333 "He doesn't show up, he doesn't act, he doesn't speak. 1272 00:59:40,417 --> 00:59:43,750 "If there is a God, wouldn't he show up and say or do something? 1273 00:59:43,833 --> 00:59:46,750 "He doesn't say or do anything in the whole Book of Esther. 1274 00:59:46,833 --> 00:59:49,167 There's the evidence. There is no God." 1275 00:59:49,208 --> 00:59:51,750 The agnostics would come along and say, 1276 00:59:51,833 --> 00:59:54,167 "There's no proof that there's God. 1277 00:59:54,208 --> 00:59:55,958 "He doesn't speak or show up. 1278 00:59:56,000 --> 00:59:59,125 "We're not willing to go so far as to deny his existence, 1279 00:59:59,167 --> 01:00:03,625 "but if there is a God, there's no evidence that's conclusive. 1280 01:00:03,667 --> 01:00:05,458 "He's not showing up in the Scriptures. 1281 01:00:05,500 --> 01:00:07,250 "He's not showing up in my life. 1282 01:00:07,333 --> 01:00:09,458 He's not saying or doing anything." 1283 01:00:09,500 --> 01:00:12,458 Along would come the deists like our founding fathers, 1284 01:00:12,500 --> 01:00:15,125 Thomas Jefferson, and like many young people today whom 1285 01:00:15,167 --> 01:00:17,458 the sociologist, Christian Smith, calls 1286 01:00:17,500 --> 01:00:19,958 moralistic, therapeutic deists. 1287 01:00:20,000 --> 01:00:23,167 "There is a God, but he lives far away and he doesn't want 1288 01:00:23,208 --> 01:00:24,667 "to get involved in our business. 1289 01:00:24,708 --> 01:00:26,375 "It's very messy, and difficult, and complicated, 1290 01:00:26,458 --> 01:00:27,792 "so you're on your own. 1291 01:00:27,833 --> 01:00:29,792 "Good luck. He wants you to do well. 1292 01:00:29,833 --> 01:00:33,458 "He left us a few therapists to give us ideas on how to pick up 1293 01:00:33,500 --> 01:00:36,500 "the mess that we've made, but he's not coming down. 1294 01:00:36,542 --> 01:00:38,000 "He's not getting involved 1295 01:00:38,042 --> 01:00:40,000 "and he's not going to do anything miraculous. 1296 01:00:40,042 --> 01:00:42,958 He's not going to speak or act. You're on your own." 1297 01:00:43,000 --> 01:00:44,875 To quote Al Pacino in a great film: 1298 01:00:44,958 --> 01:00:47,500 "He's an absentee landlord." 1299 01:00:47,542 --> 01:00:50,167 You're on your own. 1300 01:00:50,250 --> 01:00:51,833 Determinists would come along and say, 1301 01:00:51,917 --> 01:00:54,083 "No, this is all part of his sovereign plan. 1302 01:00:54,167 --> 01:00:55,500 "This is what he wants. 1303 01:00:55,542 --> 01:00:57,500 Everything that happens is God's will." 1304 01:00:57,542 --> 01:01:01,042 This is hard Islam or hard Calvinism. 1305 01:01:01,125 --> 01:01:04,750 God is sovereign, which we believe because the Bible says, 1306 01:01:04,833 --> 01:01:08,958 but they'll call into question the goodness of God. 1307 01:01:09,000 --> 01:01:11,750 Not everything that happens is God's will, 1308 01:01:11,833 --> 01:01:14,833 and sometimes people mean well, but they're not articulate. 1309 01:01:14,917 --> 01:01:16,250 They'll say things like, 1310 01:01:16,333 --> 01:01:17,750 "Well, everything happens for a reason." 1311 01:01:17,833 --> 01:01:19,750 No, some things are wrong. 1312 01:01:19,833 --> 01:01:21,958 Now, God can use them for a good reason, 1313 01:01:22,000 --> 01:01:23,500 but they're wrong things. 1314 01:01:23,542 --> 01:01:26,500 God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. 1315 01:01:26,542 --> 01:01:28,000 God is good, he's not evil. 1316 01:01:28,042 --> 01:01:30,667 God's not in heaven going, "Let's see how many men who 1317 01:01:30,750 --> 01:01:35,333 think they're God can I hand teenage girls to?" 1318 01:01:35,417 --> 01:01:37,000 I'm a father. 1319 01:01:37,042 --> 01:01:39,875 That's not the heart of God the Father. 1320 01:01:39,958 --> 01:01:42,167 God's not in heaven saying, "Today, 1321 01:01:42,250 --> 01:01:46,875 "my plan is murder of millions, dozens, hundreds, thousands, 1322 01:01:46,958 --> 01:01:49,083 "whatever the case may be, 1323 01:01:49,167 --> 01:01:53,750 from the Hamans to the Hitlers, people." 1324 01:01:53,833 --> 01:01:58,667 People will say, "Well, everything's 1325 01:01:58,750 --> 01:02:01,042 according to his plan." 1326 01:02:01,125 --> 01:02:03,542 No, there are rebels who are fighting against his plan 1327 01:02:03,625 --> 01:02:06,167 and sinners who are sinning against his plan. 1328 01:02:06,208 --> 01:02:08,208 "Well, everything has a reason." 1329 01:02:08,292 --> 01:02:11,458 Not everything is God's will, 1330 01:02:11,500 --> 01:02:15,000 but everything is used for God's will. 1331 01:02:15,083 --> 01:02:17,542 There's a big difference. 1332 01:02:19,667 --> 01:02:23,083 There's a big difference. 1333 01:02:23,167 --> 01:02:26,167 Everyone who sinned, they're responsible for their sin. 1334 01:02:26,208 --> 01:02:28,000 All the mistakes that were made, 1335 01:02:28,042 --> 01:02:29,875 they contribute to the complexity. 1336 01:02:29,958 --> 01:02:33,167 The tragedy that happens is not how it would have been if sin 1337 01:02:33,250 --> 01:02:40,167 hadn't entered the world and there was no death. 1338 01:02:42,833 --> 01:02:45,375 And there's an intonation of hope, 1339 01:02:45,458 --> 01:02:49,375 and we miss it because the calendar is different. 1340 01:02:49,458 --> 01:02:52,167 But here in verse 7 and verse 13 of chapter 3, 1341 01:02:52,208 --> 01:02:54,542 it gives us some indications of the timing. 1342 01:02:54,625 --> 01:02:57,875 Haman's decree for the murder of God's people, 1343 01:02:57,958 --> 01:03:02,667 it is sent forth on the eve of Passover, 1344 01:03:02,708 --> 01:03:06,458 which goes all the way back to Exodus 12. 1345 01:03:06,500 --> 01:03:08,833 Different nation; it's not Persia, it's Egypt. 1346 01:03:08,917 --> 01:03:11,167 Different ruler; it's not Xerxes, it's Pharaoh. 1347 01:03:11,208 --> 01:03:14,333 But the same thing, there is one who is worshiped like a god, 1348 01:03:14,417 --> 01:03:18,042 ruling over God's people and abusing them. 1349 01:03:18,125 --> 01:03:21,250 And the problem is that God's people are in exile away from 1350 01:03:21,333 --> 01:03:23,917 home on both accounts, because of their own sin 1351 01:03:24,000 --> 01:03:28,042 and the discipline of a holy and righteous God. 1352 01:03:28,125 --> 01:03:31,333 And so they need to deal with their sin that they could be 1353 01:03:31,417 --> 01:03:36,250 delivered from their slavery, their bondage, their exile. 1354 01:03:36,333 --> 01:03:41,500 And so the decree is given that death is coming to every home 1355 01:03:41,583 --> 01:03:45,333 with one exception: those homes that acknowledge their sin 1356 01:03:45,417 --> 01:03:48,042 and repent of it. 1357 01:03:48,125 --> 01:03:50,958 And sometimes faith is an inward conviction and sometimes 1358 01:03:51,000 --> 01:03:53,250 it's an outward action. 1359 01:03:53,333 --> 01:03:56,708 We know what you believe by how you behave. 1360 01:03:56,792 --> 01:04:01,000 And they take, based upon God's commands beginning in Exodus 12, 1361 01:04:01,083 --> 01:04:05,417 a lamb without spot or blemish, showing sinless. 1362 01:04:05,500 --> 01:04:09,333 They confess their sins so there's imputation or reckoning, 1363 01:04:09,375 --> 01:04:11,875 so that their sins go to the animal, 1364 01:04:11,958 --> 01:04:15,000 and now it becomes a substitute, and then they take the animal 1365 01:04:15,083 --> 01:04:18,250 and they slaughter it so that the animal dies and the blood 1366 01:04:18,333 --> 01:04:20,667 is shed, because the wage for sin is death, 1367 01:04:20,708 --> 01:04:23,542 and the animal dies as the substitute. 1368 01:04:23,625 --> 01:04:25,042 And then, in faith, 1369 01:04:25,125 --> 01:04:26,708 as a demonstration of their faith, 1370 01:04:26,792 --> 01:04:29,500 they take the blood of the animal, and they cover 1371 01:04:29,583 --> 01:04:32,042 the door post to their home, showing outwardly and publicly, 1372 01:04:32,125 --> 01:04:34,833 unlike Mordecai and Esther who want to have a private faith. 1373 01:04:34,917 --> 01:04:38,542 This is a public faith, that we worship the God of the Bible, 1374 01:04:38,625 --> 01:04:41,333 that we're sinners, that we deserve death, hell, 1375 01:04:41,417 --> 01:04:44,000 and the wrath of God, and there is a substitute 1376 01:04:44,083 --> 01:04:45,500 that has shed its blood, 1377 01:04:45,583 --> 01:04:49,208 paid its life, without spot or blemish, a lamb for us. 1378 01:04:49,292 --> 01:04:52,708 And then that night, death comes through the nation, and it brings 1379 01:04:52,792 --> 01:04:55,750 death to the first-born son in every home with one exception: 1380 01:04:55,833 --> 01:04:59,042 those homes who are literally covered by the blood of the lamb 1381 01:04:59,125 --> 01:05:02,417 in faith and repentance. 1382 01:05:02,500 --> 01:05:06,500 And the decree from Haman is on the eve of Passover. 1383 01:05:06,583 --> 01:05:10,667 He's not the first one to try and destroy God's people, 1384 01:05:10,750 --> 01:05:13,708 and as God delivered them from Egypt, 1385 01:05:13,792 --> 01:05:18,333 he will deliver them from Persia many years later. 1386 01:05:18,417 --> 01:05:20,625 And this is all leaning toward Jesus. 1387 01:05:20,667 --> 01:05:23,417 The whole Bible's one story with one hero. 1388 01:05:23,500 --> 01:05:25,667 Jesus comes. 1389 01:05:25,708 --> 01:05:28,167 Like Mordecai and Esther working together as cousins, 1390 01:05:28,208 --> 01:05:32,542 Jesus worked with his cousin, John the Baptizer. 1391 01:05:32,625 --> 01:05:35,333 And when John the Baptizer sees his cousin, 1392 01:05:35,417 --> 01:05:39,167 Jesus, coming--here's the truth: Jesus is a King, 1393 01:05:39,208 --> 01:05:42,333 seated on a throne like Xerxes, and he does something that 1394 01:05:42,417 --> 01:05:44,333 Xerxes never does. 1395 01:05:44,417 --> 01:05:47,250 He gets off his throne, and he comes into human history, 1396 01:05:47,333 --> 01:05:54,000 and he humbles himself to not just see numbers but faces. 1397 01:05:54,083 --> 01:05:55,958 And he loves people, and he serves people, 1398 01:05:56,000 --> 01:05:57,833 and he knows people. 1399 01:05:57,875 --> 01:06:04,125 And God becomes a man, and John looks at Jesus and says, 1400 01:06:04,167 --> 01:06:06,875 "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins 1401 01:06:06,958 --> 01:06:08,875 of the world." 1402 01:06:08,958 --> 01:06:10,708 The fulfillment of Passover. 1403 01:06:10,792 --> 01:06:12,125 This is what Paul says. 1404 01:06:12,167 --> 01:06:13,875 I think it's in 1 Corinthians 5:7. 1405 01:06:13,958 --> 01:06:17,042 He says--Paul says, "Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been slain." 1406 01:06:17,125 --> 01:06:23,042 Jesus is our Passover, and what happens is Jesus comes, 1407 01:06:23,125 --> 01:06:27,042 our great King, the greater Xerxes with the greater kingdom, 1408 01:06:27,125 --> 01:06:30,333 the kingdom of God. 1409 01:06:30,375 --> 01:06:33,833 And like Mordecai to Haman, we don't bow down to him, 1410 01:06:33,875 --> 01:06:36,333 and he doesn't act like Haman. 1411 01:06:36,375 --> 01:06:38,458 He doesn't get proud and arrogant, 1412 01:06:38,500 --> 01:06:44,042 and he doesn't have angry, vengeful wrath against us. 1413 01:06:44,125 --> 01:06:48,500 He loves us and he serves us. 1414 01:06:48,583 --> 01:06:54,500 And like the two men that we read of in Esther 2-3, 1415 01:06:54,583 --> 01:06:57,250 we plot the King's murder. 1416 01:06:57,333 --> 01:07:02,208 We conspire to murder the King of kings. 1417 01:07:02,292 --> 01:07:06,708 And unlike Xerxes, he doesn't have us crucified. 1418 01:07:06,792 --> 01:07:11,125 He allows us to crucify him. 1419 01:07:11,167 --> 01:07:15,208 And our humble, loving, gracious, servant King, 1420 01:07:15,292 --> 01:07:17,833 who deals with faces and not just numbers, 1421 01:07:17,875 --> 01:07:23,958 looks people in the eye who have plotted his demise and says, 1422 01:07:24,000 --> 01:07:26,417 "Father, forgive them." 1423 01:07:26,500 --> 01:07:30,333 Jesus forgives all the sins, 1424 01:07:30,417 --> 01:07:33,333 Jesus works out all the mistakes, 1425 01:07:33,417 --> 01:07:36,958 and Jesus takes the worst tragedy and makes it 1426 01:07:37,000 --> 01:07:42,750 into the greatest glory. 1427 01:07:42,833 --> 01:07:47,833 And this whole book is about him. 1428 01:07:47,875 --> 01:07:52,833 Father God, I pray for us as a people. 1429 01:07:52,875 --> 01:07:55,833 God, 1430 01:07:55,917 --> 01:07:59,833 we are prone to be like Xerxes: 1431 01:07:59,917 --> 01:08:06,667 lazy, greedy, self-indulgent. 1432 01:08:06,750 --> 01:08:10,375 We're prone to be like Haman: 1433 01:08:13,000 --> 01:08:17,333 consumed by what other people think about us, 1434 01:08:17,375 --> 01:08:20,333 wanting lots of glory and praise, 1435 01:08:20,417 --> 01:08:23,458 very angry when we don't get it. 1436 01:08:23,500 --> 01:08:27,750 Lord, we are prone to be like Esther and Mordecai: 1437 01:08:27,833 --> 01:08:30,250 a private faith, it's not a public faith, 1438 01:08:30,333 --> 01:08:33,625 and so it's a hypocritical faith. 1439 01:08:33,667 --> 01:08:37,000 Lord, we tend to take the moral high ground and look down on 1440 01:08:37,083 --> 01:08:40,000 nations that slaughter innocents while ours is perhaps 1441 01:08:40,083 --> 01:08:46,542 the most guilty of ever. 1442 01:08:46,625 --> 01:08:51,625 Lord Jesus, thank you that you are a King above all kings 1443 01:08:51,667 --> 01:08:55,375 who sits on a throne above all thrones, 1444 01:08:55,458 --> 01:08:58,167 and you don't treat us like Xerxes though we've plotted 1445 01:08:58,208 --> 01:09:00,542 murder against you. 1446 01:09:00,625 --> 01:09:06,792 You've used your death for our life, and you don't crucify us. 1447 01:09:06,833 --> 01:09:10,000 You're crucified by us and for us. 1448 01:09:10,042 --> 01:09:16,833 Lord Jesus, I'm astounded at how bad we are, 1449 01:09:16,917 --> 01:09:19,500 and how good you are, 1450 01:09:19,542 --> 01:09:21,833 and I pray for us as a people, 1451 01:09:21,917 --> 01:09:24,042 that we would keep the Scriptures open, 1452 01:09:24,125 --> 01:09:26,167 and our hearts open, and our minds open, 1453 01:09:26,250 --> 01:09:29,667 so that we would know, and love, and serve you as our great King. 1454 01:09:29,750 --> 01:09:31,958 In Jesus' good name, amen.