1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:01,500 2 00:00:01,583 --> 00:00:16,583 [music] 3 00:00:21,750 --> 00:00:23,167 Howdy. 4 00:00:23,250 --> 00:00:24,833 If I were to meet you-- 5 00:00:24,875 --> 00:00:27,292 this is one of the great joys of the job. 6 00:00:27,333 --> 00:00:29,500 You get to meet people and ask questions like, 7 00:00:29,542 --> 00:00:31,333 "Tell me a little bit about yourself." 8 00:00:31,375 --> 00:00:33,000 What's your standard, canned response? 9 00:00:33,042 --> 00:00:34,417 What's your common line? 10 00:00:34,500 --> 00:00:37,500 How do you most frequently introduce yourself? 11 00:00:37,583 --> 00:00:40,833 And there's a lot that gets revealed in there because when 12 00:00:40,875 --> 00:00:42,625 you're trying to make a first impression, 13 00:00:42,667 --> 00:00:44,625 you're trying to present yourself to someone 14 00:00:44,667 --> 00:00:47,833 in such a way that they'll know who you are or at least 15 00:00:47,875 --> 00:00:50,500 who you want them to think you are. 16 00:00:50,542 --> 00:00:52,125 Right, single people? 17 00:00:52,167 --> 00:00:54,375 That's how that works. 18 00:00:54,458 --> 00:00:57,333 And what we call that--you'll hear this a lot at Mars Hill. 19 00:00:57,375 --> 00:00:59,583 We call that our identity, how you perceive yourself, 20 00:00:59,667 --> 00:01:02,125 or at least how you present yourself to be perceived 21 00:01:02,167 --> 00:01:04,083 by others. 22 00:01:04,167 --> 00:01:06,917 Out in psychology, they'll talk about your self-image 23 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:08,625 or your self-esteem. 24 00:01:08,667 --> 00:01:11,708 What we're talking about is who you perceive yourself to be 25 00:01:11,792 --> 00:01:14,000 or who you present yourself to be. 26 00:01:14,042 --> 00:01:17,417 That's, in fact, your identity, and your identity really 27 00:01:17,500 --> 00:01:19,208 determines your destiny. 28 00:01:19,292 --> 00:01:22,208 Who you think you are determines how you live 29 00:01:22,292 --> 00:01:24,500 and the kinds of decisions you make, 30 00:01:24,583 --> 00:01:26,208 the things you decide you will do 31 00:01:26,292 --> 00:01:28,417 and you will not do. 32 00:01:28,500 --> 00:01:31,000 And as we hit this point in Esther, 33 00:01:31,083 --> 00:01:34,000 we look at the fact that Jesus gives a better identity in 34 00:01:34,083 --> 00:01:40,417 Esther 5:1-14, and what you're going to see is a case study 35 00:01:40,500 --> 00:01:44,292 with Esther and her identity, and a man named Haman 36 00:01:44,333 --> 00:01:46,000 and his identity. 37 00:01:46,083 --> 00:01:50,125 And let me say that how we come to understand ourselves 38 00:01:50,167 --> 00:01:53,375 and our identity, it starts when you're little. 39 00:01:53,458 --> 00:01:55,917 Were you the cute one, the not-so-cute one? 40 00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:58,167 Were you the chubby one, the skinny one? 41 00:01:58,250 --> 00:01:59,583 Were you the smart one? 42 00:01:59,667 --> 00:02:01,042 Were you the funny one? 43 00:02:01,125 --> 00:02:03,583 This can be in relation to your siblings or friends 44 00:02:03,667 --> 00:02:05,000 that you know. 45 00:02:05,042 --> 00:02:07,708 As you get a little bit older, are you the jock, 46 00:02:07,792 --> 00:02:09,125 the athletic one? 47 00:02:09,167 --> 00:02:10,833 Are you the artist, the creative one? 48 00:02:10,875 --> 00:02:12,208 Identity starts to get established. 49 00:02:12,292 --> 00:02:13,708 People start to give you nicknames, 50 00:02:13,792 --> 00:02:15,875 some of them negative, some of them positive. 51 00:02:15,958 --> 00:02:18,583 That helps to establish for you, yet again, 52 00:02:18,667 --> 00:02:20,792 the beginnings of an identity, who you are, 53 00:02:20,833 --> 00:02:22,917 who you perceive yourself to be. 54 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:24,833 You hit junior high and everybody's confused 55 00:02:24,875 --> 00:02:26,208 about their identity. 56 00:02:26,292 --> 00:02:28,708 That's one of the main objectives of junior high is 57 00:02:28,792 --> 00:02:30,417 absolute confusion and photos that you regret 58 00:02:30,500 --> 00:02:32,000 for the rest of your life. 59 00:02:32,042 --> 00:02:33,375 That's junior high. 60 00:02:33,458 --> 00:02:35,875 And in junior high, you don't know who you are. 61 00:02:35,958 --> 00:02:38,625 You're like, "What am I? What group do I fit in?" 62 00:02:38,667 --> 00:02:41,000 Because that becomes the age when people start to gather 63 00:02:41,083 --> 00:02:42,417 according to identity groups. 64 00:02:42,500 --> 00:02:44,875 So, it's jocks over here... artists over there... 65 00:02:44,958 --> 00:02:47,625 creative kids over here... smart kids over here... 66 00:02:47,667 --> 00:02:50,000 smokers over there... non-smokers over here. 67 00:02:50,042 --> 00:02:52,417 Everybody organizes in groups. 68 00:02:52,500 --> 00:02:54,500 And then you start approaching your teen years, 69 00:02:54,583 --> 00:02:57,125 your high school years, and now your identity's largely formed 70 00:02:57,167 --> 00:02:59,000 by, well, what's your grade point average? 71 00:02:59,042 --> 00:03:00,667 Are you dating anyone? 72 00:03:00,750 --> 00:03:02,208 Are you single? 73 00:03:02,292 --> 00:03:04,292 What are your hobbies, your likes, your activities? 74 00:03:04,333 --> 00:03:06,333 And how do you dress to present yourself? 75 00:03:06,375 --> 00:03:09,417 And a lot of that helps establish for you an identity. 76 00:03:09,500 --> 00:03:13,333 That's why sometimes students will have a crisis where they're 77 00:03:13,375 --> 00:03:16,917 changing their appearance, hair color, clothing, 78 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:19,625 to fit in with a different crowd, to be approved, 79 00:03:19,667 --> 00:03:22,000 to assume an identity so that then they can have 80 00:03:22,083 --> 00:03:23,833 a tribe to run with. 81 00:03:23,875 --> 00:03:26,333 And what helps to sort of increase and exacerbate 82 00:03:26,375 --> 00:03:29,292 all this: social media. 83 00:03:29,333 --> 00:03:30,667 Instagram. 84 00:03:30,750 --> 00:03:34,083 What photos am I going to put up to show you who I am? 85 00:03:34,167 --> 00:03:35,500 And Facebook. 86 00:03:35,542 --> 00:03:38,500 What am I going to tell you I'm doing and not doing? 87 00:03:38,542 --> 00:03:39,875 Or Twitter. 88 00:03:39,958 --> 00:03:42,875 What am I going to link to or what things am I 89 00:03:42,958 --> 00:03:44,292 going to comment on? 90 00:03:44,333 --> 00:03:46,500 All of which is trying to create an identity. 91 00:03:46,542 --> 00:03:50,208 This is who I am and who I want you to perceive me to be. 92 00:03:50,292 --> 00:03:52,917 It continues on into college, and then you have a chance 93 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:54,333 to sort of reset. 94 00:03:54,375 --> 00:03:56,500 It's like, well, maybe high school didn't go well. 95 00:03:56,583 --> 00:03:57,917 I want to reinvent myself. 96 00:03:58,000 --> 00:03:59,375 I'm going to do things differently. 97 00:03:59,458 --> 00:04:01,375 And again, an identity gets established by dating 98 00:04:01,458 --> 00:04:03,083 relationships, and grade point average, and major, 99 00:04:03,167 --> 00:04:05,208 and performance in class and other activities, and groups. 100 00:04:05,292 --> 00:04:07,208 And then you graduate and identity's set by, 101 00:04:07,292 --> 00:04:08,708 well, what job did you get? 102 00:04:08,792 --> 00:04:11,833 Are you going on to grad school? Or are you in a relationship? 103 00:04:11,875 --> 00:04:14,500 Are you seeing anyone? Are you able to buy a condo? 104 00:04:14,583 --> 00:04:17,625 What kind of car do you drive? You paid off your school loans? 105 00:04:17,667 --> 00:04:20,333 Do you have a social life? What hobbies do you enjoy? 106 00:04:20,375 --> 00:04:22,292 Who do you hang with? And it continues. 107 00:04:22,333 --> 00:04:24,208 You get married, now your identity's in relation 108 00:04:24,292 --> 00:04:25,625 to someone else. 109 00:04:25,667 --> 00:04:27,333 And then it's: can we have kids? 110 00:04:27,375 --> 00:04:28,708 Can we not have kids? 111 00:04:28,792 --> 00:04:30,875 If we have kids, do we like these kids? 112 00:04:30,958 --> 00:04:33,000 What are we going to do with these kids? 113 00:04:33,083 --> 00:04:34,500 Can someone please take these kids? 114 00:04:34,583 --> 00:04:37,167 And all of a sudden, you've got an identity crisis because 115 00:04:37,250 --> 00:04:38,583 you have a life change. 116 00:04:38,667 --> 00:04:41,583 And what happens is some of us never really get clear on 117 00:04:41,667 --> 00:04:44,292 who we are, or at least who we're supposed to be. 118 00:04:44,333 --> 00:04:46,208 And some of us are continually conflicted. 119 00:04:46,292 --> 00:04:48,833 It's almost as if there's an identity crisis. 120 00:04:48,875 --> 00:04:51,917 Back to the case study in Esther. 121 00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:56,875 Esther is a woman who has two names in the book of Esther: 122 00:04:56,958 --> 00:05:00,750 Hadassah, which is her Hebrew name, and then Esther, 123 00:05:00,833 --> 00:05:03,208 which is her Persian name. 124 00:05:03,292 --> 00:05:06,625 And throughout the book, it's as if she has a continual 125 00:05:06,667 --> 00:05:08,875 identity crisis and conflict. 126 00:05:08,958 --> 00:05:10,417 Who is she? 127 00:05:10,500 --> 00:05:12,125 Is she a Hebrew girl? 128 00:05:12,167 --> 00:05:13,667 Is she a Persian girl? 129 00:05:13,750 --> 00:05:16,583 Is she one of God's people or not one of God's people? 130 00:05:16,667 --> 00:05:19,000 Is her ultimate allegiance to King Xerxes 131 00:05:19,083 --> 00:05:21,583 or to the King of kings? 132 00:05:21,667 --> 00:05:24,500 Is she going to keep disobeying the Bible and eating the king's 133 00:05:24,583 --> 00:05:26,917 food or is she going to start obeying the Bible 134 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:28,833 and not doing things the king wants? 135 00:05:28,875 --> 00:05:30,417 If she keeps disobeying the Lord, 136 00:05:30,500 --> 00:05:32,875 she'll have a comfortable life, but if she starts obeying 137 00:05:32,958 --> 00:05:34,917 the Lord, her life could be very difficult, 138 00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:37,417 perhaps her life even taken. 139 00:05:37,500 --> 00:05:41,292 Throughout the book, it's as if, until this point in chapter 5, 140 00:05:41,333 --> 00:05:42,875 she really is duplicitous. 141 00:05:42,958 --> 00:05:44,833 She has dual identity. 142 00:05:44,875 --> 00:05:47,500 That's why they give her, I believe, two names. 143 00:05:47,583 --> 00:05:49,333 She has conflicted identity. 144 00:05:49,375 --> 00:05:51,333 How many of you are like that? 145 00:05:51,375 --> 00:05:53,208 Sometimes Christian, sometimes not. 146 00:05:53,292 --> 00:05:55,500 Sometimes holy, sometimes unholy. 147 00:05:55,542 --> 00:06:01,167 Sometimes living for God, sometimes hiding from God. 148 00:06:01,208 --> 00:06:05,125 Sometimes being generous, sometimes being greedy. 149 00:06:05,167 --> 00:06:06,875 Sometimes living for the glory of God, 150 00:06:06,958 --> 00:06:08,875 sometimes living for your own convenience. 151 00:06:08,958 --> 00:06:11,833 And there's a conflicted identity. 152 00:06:11,875 --> 00:06:16,000 And what happens in chapter 5 is that a series of circumstances 153 00:06:16,083 --> 00:06:20,000 press Esther to arrive at an identity, 154 00:06:20,042 --> 00:06:21,792 and the same thing happens for Haman, 155 00:06:21,833 --> 00:06:23,583 and they both respond differently, 156 00:06:23,667 --> 00:06:27,208 so they make fantastic comparative case studies. 157 00:06:27,292 --> 00:06:32,833 We'll start with Esther's identity in Esther 5:1-8. 158 00:06:32,875 --> 00:06:36,167 "On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in 159 00:06:36,250 --> 00:06:37,875 "the inner court of the king's palace, 160 00:06:37,958 --> 00:06:40,083 "in front of the king's quarters, while the king 161 00:06:40,167 --> 00:06:41,583 was sitting on his royal throne." 162 00:06:41,667 --> 00:06:43,417 This dude's always sitting on his throne, 163 00:06:43,500 --> 00:06:45,500 usually with a drink, doing something nefarious. 164 00:06:45,583 --> 00:06:46,917 Alright? 165 00:06:47,000 --> 00:06:49,625 "Inside the throne room opposite the entrance to the palace." 166 00:06:49,667 --> 00:06:51,167 According to historical records, 167 00:06:51,250 --> 00:06:53,208 this is a magnificent throne room. 168 00:06:53,292 --> 00:06:57,917 They had 36 pillars, 65 feet high, and in that day, 169 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:01,250 without modern architecture, that's quite a feat. 170 00:07:01,333 --> 00:07:03,917 And it was entirely designed so that wherever you stood in 171 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:06,708 the room, you would not have an obstructed view 172 00:07:06,792 --> 00:07:08,625 of the king's throne. 173 00:07:08,667 --> 00:07:11,708 This was all about the king on his throne, in his glory, 174 00:07:11,792 --> 00:07:15,417 living and acting like a little god. 175 00:07:15,500 --> 00:07:17,625 And she enters into that place. 176 00:07:17,667 --> 00:07:19,000 Verse 2. 177 00:07:19,083 --> 00:07:20,917 "And when the king saw Queen Esther 178 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:22,917 standing in the court, she won favor," 179 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:24,417 or grace, "in his sight." 180 00:07:24,500 --> 00:07:27,375 The story of Christianity is that Jesus is our King, 181 00:07:27,458 --> 00:07:30,792 and we find favor, or grace, in his sight. 182 00:07:30,833 --> 00:07:34,417 There's a little bit of an echo here to how we come into 183 00:07:34,500 --> 00:07:37,208 relationship with God. 184 00:07:37,292 --> 00:07:40,292 "She won favor in his sight, and he held out to Esther 185 00:07:40,333 --> 00:07:42,292 "the golden scepter that was in his hand. 186 00:07:42,333 --> 00:07:44,833 Then Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter." 187 00:07:44,875 --> 00:07:48,625 Here's what's going on: Xerxes is the King of Persia. 188 00:07:48,667 --> 00:07:50,917 He rules and reigns over the largest, most affluent, 189 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:53,667 most powerful empire in the history of the world. 190 00:07:53,750 --> 00:07:56,208 He deposed his wife because she disobeyed him, 191 00:07:56,292 --> 00:07:59,208 but he had a foolish request for her to parade before 192 00:07:59,292 --> 00:08:00,792 a drunken mob of men. 193 00:08:00,833 --> 00:08:02,208 She said no. 194 00:08:02,292 --> 00:08:03,708 He just didn't like being disobeyed, 195 00:08:03,792 --> 00:08:05,625 so he divorced and banished her. 196 00:08:05,667 --> 00:08:07,083 Some 4 years later, 197 00:08:07,167 --> 00:08:09,417 he holds a competition and he spends one night 198 00:08:09,500 --> 00:08:12,208 with perhaps hundreds of women, one night at a time, 199 00:08:12,292 --> 00:08:14,417 and he takes the one that is his favorite 200 00:08:14,500 --> 00:08:16,125 and he announces her as queen. 201 00:08:16,167 --> 00:08:18,000 That's Esther. 202 00:08:18,042 --> 00:08:20,875 And at this point, they've been married some 5 years, 203 00:08:20,958 --> 00:08:22,333 but they're not close. 204 00:08:22,375 --> 00:08:26,000 We read in chapter 4 that she had not seen him in 30 days, 205 00:08:26,083 --> 00:08:29,208 and it wasn't because he was off doing missionary work. 206 00:08:29,292 --> 00:08:31,500 They lived in the palace together. 207 00:08:31,583 --> 00:08:33,375 She's over in the women's quarters, 208 00:08:33,458 --> 00:08:36,333 he's over in the men's quarters, and that means he is bringing 209 00:08:36,375 --> 00:08:39,417 through different women from his harem, night after night, 210 00:08:39,500 --> 00:08:43,833 and has not had any contact with his queen for a month. 211 00:08:43,875 --> 00:08:47,417 And during this season, what had happened was Xerxes 212 00:08:47,500 --> 00:08:51,625 had empowered a man named Haman to be a bit of a right-hand man, 213 00:08:51,667 --> 00:08:54,917 kind of a vice president if you will. 214 00:08:55,000 --> 00:08:58,500 And everyone bowed down to Haman based upon Xerxes' decree, 215 00:08:58,583 --> 00:09:01,875 everyone with the exception of a Jewish man named Mordecai. 216 00:09:01,958 --> 00:09:05,167 And as we've looked at it, Mordecai was really stubborn. 217 00:09:05,250 --> 00:09:06,917 It wasn't that big of a deal. 218 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:08,917 In my opinion, he should have bowed down. 219 00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:11,125 It's just saluting the uniform and it's showing 220 00:09:11,167 --> 00:09:12,583 deferential respect. 221 00:09:12,667 --> 00:09:15,500 Well, Mordecai decides when everyone else bows, he won't. 222 00:09:15,583 --> 00:09:20,500 Haman gets furious and Mordecai won't stop doing it. 223 00:09:20,583 --> 00:09:23,917 Is there something that you do to drive someone crazy 224 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:25,500 and you keep doing it? 225 00:09:25,583 --> 00:09:27,167 Then you're like Mordecai. 226 00:09:27,250 --> 00:09:28,625 That's what he does. 227 00:09:28,667 --> 00:09:32,000 So then Haman decides he's not only going to destroy Mordecai, 228 00:09:32,042 --> 00:09:35,333 he's going to assassinate-- he's going to murder, 229 00:09:35,375 --> 00:09:38,083 commit genocide on all the Jewish people. 230 00:09:38,167 --> 00:09:39,792 Mordecai's Jewish. 231 00:09:39,833 --> 00:09:43,292 Fifteen million people are going to be put to death 232 00:09:43,333 --> 00:09:45,333 in a holocaust. 233 00:09:45,375 --> 00:09:48,292 Now, Esther's in the palace and she hears of this. 234 00:09:48,333 --> 00:09:51,125 This man, Mordecai, was her adoptive father, 235 00:09:51,167 --> 00:09:52,625 her older cousin. 236 00:09:52,667 --> 00:09:56,000 Her parents died when she was young, so she's an orphan girl. 237 00:09:56,042 --> 00:09:59,375 And since she, too, is Jewish, yet no one yet knows it. 238 00:09:59,458 --> 00:10:03,625 Her identity, her true identity, has been concealed. 239 00:10:03,667 --> 00:10:08,000 She has to devise a plan by which to try 240 00:10:08,083 --> 00:10:10,500 and save her people. 241 00:10:10,542 --> 00:10:16,125 Now, because she is Persian royalty and Jewish ancestry, 242 00:10:16,167 --> 00:10:20,375 she has the opportunity to be a mediator of sorts 243 00:10:20,458 --> 00:10:24,792 and to represent the people before the king, 244 00:10:24,833 --> 00:10:29,625 kind of like Jesus does between us and God the Father. 245 00:10:29,667 --> 00:10:34,000 Him being both divinity and humanity, 246 00:10:34,083 --> 00:10:38,833 he's able to represent God to us and us to God. 247 00:10:38,875 --> 00:10:41,125 Esther's in a position like that. 248 00:10:41,167 --> 00:10:43,917 She's Persian royalty and Jewish ancestry, 249 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:47,333 so she's in this position of mediating this conflict 250 00:10:47,375 --> 00:10:50,000 and alleviating this death sentence. 251 00:10:50,042 --> 00:10:52,917 But here's the problem: the rule is--the law is you can only 252 00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:56,375 enter the king's presence if he invites you. 253 00:10:56,458 --> 00:10:59,125 This guy really doesn't like to get interrupted. 254 00:10:59,167 --> 00:11:03,000 So he sits on his throne in his majestic palace, 255 00:11:03,083 --> 00:11:06,917 and if you come before him seeking the presence of the king 256 00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:09,917 uninvited, he would have the scepter, 257 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:14,083 the accouterment for reigning as a king in his hand, 258 00:11:14,167 --> 00:11:17,375 and if he tipped it toward you, you could walk forward, 259 00:11:17,458 --> 00:11:20,875 touch the end of it, and that was agreeing that he 260 00:11:20,958 --> 00:11:23,417 had invited you and that you had received his invitation 261 00:11:23,500 --> 00:11:24,833 to a meeting. 262 00:11:24,875 --> 00:11:28,625 If he didn't tip his scepter, they chopped your head off. 263 00:11:28,667 --> 00:11:31,833 So, this is the kind of thing you don't just gamble on. 264 00:11:31,875 --> 00:11:35,000 You don't try to get a meeting with the king unless you really, 265 00:11:35,042 --> 00:11:38,708 really, really need one and you're fairly certain that 266 00:11:38,792 --> 00:11:42,125 he's going to take your appointment. 267 00:11:42,167 --> 00:11:46,000 And what Esther says is--she says, "If I perish, I perish." 268 00:11:46,042 --> 00:11:48,583 That's what she says at the end of chapter 4. 269 00:11:48,667 --> 00:11:53,375 She, like Jesus, is willing to die to save her people. 270 00:11:53,458 --> 00:11:56,917 Now here, what happens is, she dresses up in royal robes 271 00:11:57,000 --> 00:12:00,750 so she's respecting and honoring her husband king, 272 00:12:00,833 --> 00:12:03,125 even though he's not a particularly honorable 273 00:12:03,167 --> 00:12:05,833 or respectable man. 274 00:12:05,875 --> 00:12:08,708 She's a wise woman. 275 00:12:08,792 --> 00:12:11,625 She's demonstrating great wisdom here. 276 00:12:11,667 --> 00:12:15,000 Much of this scene between her and Haman is almost 277 00:12:15,083 --> 00:12:17,708 an illustration of the big ideas of Proverbs. 278 00:12:17,792 --> 00:12:20,625 Proverbs is about wisdom and folly, 279 00:12:20,667 --> 00:12:23,208 and Esther acts in a way that is very wise, 280 00:12:23,292 --> 00:12:26,792 and Haman acts in a way that is very foolish. 281 00:12:26,833 --> 00:12:29,625 They're illustrations of wisdom and folly. 282 00:12:29,667 --> 00:12:31,833 So she's acting very wisely. 283 00:12:31,875 --> 00:12:36,167 She's been fasting and had her people fast before she seeks 284 00:12:36,250 --> 00:12:40,167 to have access to the king to appeal for the life 285 00:12:40,250 --> 00:12:43,500 of the people who are under death sentence. 286 00:12:43,583 --> 00:12:46,333 And she knows that the king cares a lot about appearances. 287 00:12:46,375 --> 00:12:49,292 In fact, the reason he got rid of his first wife, she, 288 00:12:49,333 --> 00:12:52,208 in his mind, dishonored him in front of others, 289 00:12:52,292 --> 00:12:54,000 and he doesn't like that. 290 00:12:54,083 --> 00:12:56,000 So, she dresses up in royal robes. 291 00:12:56,083 --> 00:12:58,792 This is respect. 292 00:12:58,833 --> 00:13:02,083 Ladies, you should influence your husband, 293 00:13:02,167 --> 00:13:05,125 and the easiest way to do that is respectfully. 294 00:13:05,167 --> 00:13:08,125 That's why the Bible says that a wife should respect her husband, 295 00:13:08,167 --> 00:13:10,792 not because it's trying to put women down, 296 00:13:10,833 --> 00:13:14,583 but it's trying to help women be more influential. 297 00:13:14,667 --> 00:13:21,375 She is very respectful, and by dressing in royal robes, 298 00:13:21,458 --> 00:13:24,208 she knows that when she enters the king's court, 299 00:13:24,292 --> 00:13:25,792 everyone will be looking at her. 300 00:13:25,833 --> 00:13:28,292 "Why is she here? This is an unusual occurrence. 301 00:13:28,333 --> 00:13:30,375 We weren't expecting this. She's uninvited." 302 00:13:30,458 --> 00:13:32,583 It's a little tense. 303 00:13:32,667 --> 00:13:36,000 But as he looks at her, King Xerxes does, 304 00:13:36,042 --> 00:13:39,708 he sees a wife who's respectful. 305 00:13:39,792 --> 00:13:42,000 She's not yelling at him. 306 00:13:42,083 --> 00:13:43,708 She's not screaming at him. 307 00:13:43,792 --> 00:13:45,833 She's not browbeating him. Alright? 308 00:13:45,875 --> 00:13:48,208 She doesn't have her hands on her hips and doing 309 00:13:48,292 --> 00:13:50,625 the chicken neck, giving it to him in front of 310 00:13:50,667 --> 00:13:54,208 the 10,000 Immortals who are his body guard. 311 00:13:54,292 --> 00:13:56,833 She's respectful. 312 00:13:56,875 --> 00:13:59,875 My assumption is that she's a gracious woman, 313 00:13:59,958 --> 00:14:04,417 and a kind woman, and that even the look on her face is not 314 00:14:04,500 --> 00:14:08,167 antagonistic or disrespectful. 315 00:14:08,250 --> 00:14:13,125 And he extends the scepter and she receives it. 316 00:14:13,167 --> 00:14:15,000 Now she's going to go have this conversation. 317 00:14:15,083 --> 00:14:16,417 Verse 3. 318 00:14:16,500 --> 00:14:19,417 "And the king said to her, 'What is it, Queen Esther? 319 00:14:19,500 --> 00:14:21,833 "'What is your request? 320 00:14:21,875 --> 00:14:25,292 It shall be given you, even to the half of my kingdom.'" 321 00:14:25,333 --> 00:14:27,708 That was a fairly common statement. 322 00:14:27,792 --> 00:14:30,292 No one would ever take the king up on it, 323 00:14:30,333 --> 00:14:32,833 but he would throw that out there, 324 00:14:32,875 --> 00:14:36,208 just sort of appearing to be very generous. 325 00:14:36,292 --> 00:14:39,500 And if you took him up on it, it'd probably be a problem. 326 00:14:39,583 --> 00:14:45,125 There's an occasion later where John the Baptizer suffers 327 00:14:45,167 --> 00:14:47,708 because a king makes a similar statement. 328 00:14:47,792 --> 00:14:50,083 "You can have up to half of my kingdom," 329 00:14:50,167 --> 00:14:53,000 and a young woman actually takes him up on it and says, 330 00:14:53,042 --> 00:14:54,708 "Well, I'll take John the Baptizer's head 331 00:14:54,792 --> 00:14:56,125 on a platter." 332 00:14:56,167 --> 00:14:58,417 So this was kind of common nomenclature among kings 333 00:14:58,500 --> 00:14:59,917 in ancient times. 334 00:15:00,042 --> 00:15:02,667 And people didn't generally take them up on the offer, 335 00:15:02,750 --> 00:15:04,625 but he tells her, "Half of my kingdom," 336 00:15:04,667 --> 00:15:09,500 which is maybe 1 1/2 million square miles. 337 00:15:09,583 --> 00:15:11,417 It's quite an offer. 338 00:15:11,500 --> 00:15:14,167 "And then Esther said," 339 00:15:14,250 --> 00:15:16,375 verse 4, "'If it pleases the king.'" 340 00:15:16,458 --> 00:15:18,125 You notice she's respectful? 341 00:15:18,167 --> 00:15:22,417 She's direct, she's courageous, she's wise, she's bold, 342 00:15:22,500 --> 00:15:25,583 but she's respectful. 343 00:15:25,667 --> 00:15:28,875 There's so much to learn here for those of you who are 344 00:15:28,958 --> 00:15:33,917 under authority, how to engage with those in authority. 345 00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:37,208 This can be, if you are a young person, your parents. 346 00:15:37,292 --> 00:15:42,208 This can be, if you're an employee, your employer. 347 00:15:42,292 --> 00:15:46,125 This can be, if you're a church member, your elders. 348 00:15:46,167 --> 00:15:48,208 This can be, if you're a citizen, 349 00:15:48,292 --> 00:15:50,625 your governmental leaders. 350 00:15:50,667 --> 00:15:54,333 Whatever the case may be, when you're under authority, 351 00:15:54,375 --> 00:15:56,917 even if you don't believe the authority's right--and here, 352 00:15:57,000 --> 00:15:58,708 Xerxes is not a good man. 353 00:15:58,792 --> 00:16:00,333 He's not a godly man. 354 00:16:00,417 --> 00:16:02,125 He's not a right man. 355 00:16:02,167 --> 00:16:04,333 But he's still a powerful man. 356 00:16:04,375 --> 00:16:07,583 And so what Esther does wisely, rightly, 357 00:16:07,667 --> 00:16:11,792 in a way that's exemplary, she approaches him respectfully. 358 00:16:11,833 --> 00:16:13,625 Do you see that? 359 00:16:13,667 --> 00:16:18,208 She approaches him respectfully. 360 00:16:18,292 --> 00:16:21,583 "If it pleases the king, let the king and Haman," 361 00:16:21,667 --> 00:16:25,125 the guy who's set out the death sentence to murder 362 00:16:25,167 --> 00:16:29,125 15 million Jewish people of which she is one, 363 00:16:29,167 --> 00:16:30,917 though they do not know. 364 00:16:31,000 --> 00:16:33,292 Her identity, at this point, is concealed. 365 00:16:33,333 --> 00:16:35,833 It's not yet been revealed. 366 00:16:35,875 --> 00:16:39,208 "Let the king and Haman come today to a feast that I 367 00:16:39,292 --> 00:16:40,833 have prepared for the king." 368 00:16:40,875 --> 00:16:43,083 Well, this is a nice request, right? 369 00:16:43,167 --> 00:16:45,167 "Esther, you're here. What do you want?" 370 00:16:45,250 --> 00:16:48,000 "I would like to throw a magnificent dinner party 371 00:16:48,083 --> 00:16:52,208 for you and your right-hand men." 372 00:16:52,292 --> 00:16:54,500 How many of you are a little surprised that 373 00:16:54,583 --> 00:16:56,000 that's the request? 374 00:16:56,083 --> 00:16:59,125 What about all the people that are going to die? 375 00:16:59,167 --> 00:17:01,875 How many of you, when there's something that's important, 376 00:17:01,958 --> 00:17:06,792 you emotionally get ahead of the circumstances 377 00:17:06,833 --> 00:17:08,667 and you make it worse? 378 00:17:08,750 --> 00:17:10,625 You talk about it too early. 379 00:17:10,667 --> 00:17:12,792 You haven't really gathered your thoughts. 380 00:17:12,833 --> 00:17:15,000 You haven't put a game plan together. 381 00:17:15,083 --> 00:17:17,333 You just leak and freak. 382 00:17:17,375 --> 00:17:19,625 You're just talking about it and getting really emotional. 383 00:17:19,667 --> 00:17:22,417 I call it leak and freak. 384 00:17:22,500 --> 00:17:25,125 All of a sudden, your frustration, your anxiety, 385 00:17:25,167 --> 00:17:26,667 it's welling out of you. 386 00:17:26,750 --> 00:17:28,375 "How are you doing?" "Not so good." 387 00:17:28,458 --> 00:17:30,208 People can see it on your face. 388 00:17:30,292 --> 00:17:31,708 "What are you so distressed about?" 389 00:17:31,792 --> 00:17:34,167 "Oh, let me tell you." 390 00:17:34,250 --> 00:17:38,625 She's able to maintain her emotional composure. 391 00:17:38,667 --> 00:17:43,917 What she realizes is it's not yet time to tell the king to 392 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:47,292 reverse the decision that Haman has issued to save 393 00:17:47,333 --> 00:17:49,708 15 million lives because, "Ah ha! 394 00:17:49,792 --> 00:17:51,417 "You're married to a Jew. 395 00:17:51,500 --> 00:17:54,583 "Sorry I haven't told you that for the 5 years of our marriage. 396 00:17:54,667 --> 00:17:56,000 Whoops!" 397 00:17:56,042 --> 00:17:57,500 There's a lot here that's complicated. 398 00:17:57,583 --> 00:18:01,458 "I'm one of God's people. I think you're a false god. 399 00:18:01,500 --> 00:18:03,667 Do you like the robes? I hope so." 400 00:18:03,750 --> 00:18:05,875 You know? It's awkward, right? 401 00:18:05,958 --> 00:18:09,500 There's a lot of toothpaste to get back in this Persian tube. 402 00:18:09,583 --> 00:18:11,000 Right? 403 00:18:11,042 --> 00:18:13,083 Like, there's a lot that's just wrong. 404 00:18:13,167 --> 00:18:16,000 And so rather than her launching in with, "I'm a Jew. 405 00:18:16,083 --> 00:18:18,583 "He's Hitler. They're going to die. 406 00:18:18,667 --> 00:18:23,292 You need to do something," she's wise about it. 407 00:18:23,333 --> 00:18:26,833 She's trying to rebuild the relationship that is 408 00:18:26,875 --> 00:18:29,875 at least strained with her husband. 409 00:18:29,958 --> 00:18:31,708 She's not seen him in a month 410 00:18:31,792 --> 00:18:33,792 and he's not been faithful to her. 411 00:18:33,833 --> 00:18:38,708 And so she's trying to earn his trust, keep an eye on Haman, 412 00:18:38,792 --> 00:18:41,833 and put together a wise plan. 413 00:18:41,875 --> 00:18:45,292 It's good, when needed, to do something, 414 00:18:45,333 --> 00:18:49,500 but make sure you wisely do the right thing, at the right time, 415 00:18:49,583 --> 00:18:52,292 in the right way, with the right motive, 416 00:18:52,333 --> 00:18:55,875 or you could end up with the wrong result. 417 00:18:55,958 --> 00:18:59,833 She's very wise. 418 00:18:59,875 --> 00:19:02,208 "So the king and Haman came to the feast 419 00:19:02,292 --> 00:19:03,833 that Esther had prepared." 420 00:19:03,875 --> 00:19:06,000 Who wouldn't come to a dinner party? 421 00:19:06,042 --> 00:19:08,917 That's pretty much all these guys do in the whole book. 422 00:19:09,000 --> 00:19:12,500 Almost every page, oh look, more wine, more food. 423 00:19:12,583 --> 00:19:14,000 Duh. 424 00:19:14,083 --> 00:19:16,792 These guys are fine with eating and drinking. 425 00:19:16,833 --> 00:19:18,667 That's what they love to do. 426 00:19:18,750 --> 00:19:21,417 "And as they were drinking wine after the feast." 427 00:19:21,500 --> 00:19:24,208 Timing. 428 00:19:24,292 --> 00:19:26,292 Right? 429 00:19:26,792 --> 00:19:28,333 Right? 430 00:19:28,375 --> 00:19:32,208 Now, I shouldn't say this, and we may edit it out. 431 00:19:32,292 --> 00:19:34,125 Okay? 432 00:19:34,167 --> 00:19:36,333 But how many of you women have noticed, 433 00:19:36,375 --> 00:19:38,417 if there's something you're frustrated about, 434 00:19:38,500 --> 00:19:44,083 talking to your husband after dinner when he's having 435 00:19:44,167 --> 00:19:50,125 a beverage has greater success rates than before dinner 436 00:19:50,167 --> 00:19:53,208 and before the beverage? 437 00:19:53,292 --> 00:19:57,125 Just something to pray about as I was reading the Scriptures. 438 00:19:57,167 --> 00:20:00,667 "As they were drinking wine after the feast, 439 00:20:00,750 --> 00:20:04,000 the king said to Esther, 'What is your wish?'" 440 00:20:04,083 --> 00:20:06,583 He's like, "Certainly, this can't be it. 441 00:20:06,667 --> 00:20:09,917 "You risked your life to cook me dinner? 442 00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:11,833 There must be more." 443 00:20:11,875 --> 00:20:14,708 "It shall be granted to you. And what is your request? 444 00:20:14,792 --> 00:20:16,833 Even to the half of my kingdom." 445 00:20:16,875 --> 00:20:19,125 He loves public show. Right? 446 00:20:19,167 --> 00:20:21,292 Guys who are proud and arrogant, I mean, 447 00:20:21,333 --> 00:20:23,833 just--they love doing everything in front of a crowd. 448 00:20:23,875 --> 00:20:27,208 You give them a crowd and the more generous they become. 449 00:20:27,292 --> 00:20:28,917 "'It shall be fulfilled.' 450 00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:32,875 Then Esther answered, 'My wish and my request is--'" 451 00:20:32,958 --> 00:20:34,500 Everybody's leaning forward. 452 00:20:34,542 --> 00:20:36,125 What is it that she wants? 453 00:20:36,167 --> 00:20:38,875 "If I have found favor in the sight of the king, 454 00:20:38,958 --> 00:20:42,208 "and if it pleases the king to grant my wish and fulfill my 455 00:20:42,292 --> 00:20:45,500 "request, let the king and Haman come to the feast I will prepare 456 00:20:45,583 --> 00:20:49,000 for them, and tomorrow I will do as the king asked." 457 00:20:49,083 --> 00:20:50,583 "What do you want?" 458 00:20:50,667 --> 00:20:52,208 "Let's all have dinner." 459 00:20:52,292 --> 00:20:53,625 Dinner comes. 460 00:20:53,667 --> 00:20:55,000 "What do you want?" 461 00:20:55,083 --> 00:20:57,583 "Let's have dinner again and we'll talk about it tomorrow." 462 00:20:57,667 --> 00:21:00,333 She's being loving, gracious, kind. 463 00:21:00,417 --> 00:21:03,417 She's demonstrating what Galatians calls the fruit 464 00:21:03,500 --> 00:21:09,625 of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, 465 00:21:09,667 --> 00:21:13,500 gentleness, self-control. 466 00:21:13,542 --> 00:21:15,333 You see that? 467 00:21:15,375 --> 00:21:18,125 Esther has come into her own faith. 468 00:21:18,167 --> 00:21:21,583 She's come into a maturing relationship with God. 469 00:21:21,667 --> 00:21:25,917 She is now starting to own her own faith. 470 00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:28,292 She's thinking of others and not just herself. 471 00:21:28,333 --> 00:21:30,125 She's active and not passive. 472 00:21:30,167 --> 00:21:31,917 She's speaking and not silent. 473 00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:35,125 She's taking a risk, which is faith, 474 00:21:35,167 --> 00:21:39,667 and she's not cowering in terror, which is fear. 475 00:21:39,750 --> 00:21:43,333 And let me say this: what has happened for her is that she 476 00:21:43,375 --> 00:21:47,000 has received a new identity. 477 00:21:47,083 --> 00:21:53,833 It's no longer Hadassah and Esther. 478 00:21:53,875 --> 00:21:58,708 This woman has no longer a conflicted identity. 479 00:21:58,792 --> 00:22:03,000 Now, she's still a Persian princess, but that explains her, 480 00:22:03,083 --> 00:22:06,333 it does not define her. 481 00:22:06,375 --> 00:22:08,000 This is important for your identity. 482 00:22:08,083 --> 00:22:10,125 I've been working on this a ton, 483 00:22:10,167 --> 00:22:11,625 and when we hit Ephesians, 484 00:22:11,667 --> 00:22:13,833 we're going to look at this, starting in January, 485 00:22:13,875 --> 00:22:15,208 for 16 weeks. 486 00:22:15,292 --> 00:22:18,333 I wrote a whole book on it. We're going to look at identity. 487 00:22:18,375 --> 00:22:21,333 But let me say this: as we did interviews for the book, 488 00:22:21,375 --> 00:22:24,333 one woman in the church who had a very painful life story, 489 00:22:24,375 --> 00:22:27,000 she made a statement that was so profound I borrowed it 490 00:22:27,083 --> 00:22:28,500 for the book. 491 00:22:28,542 --> 00:22:31,000 And she said, "The things that have happened to me 492 00:22:31,042 --> 00:22:33,833 might explain me, but they don't define me." 493 00:22:33,875 --> 00:22:35,875 I thought that was brilliantly insightful from 494 00:22:35,958 --> 00:22:38,000 a very wise woman. 495 00:22:38,083 --> 00:22:41,208 Now, Esther's parents died and she's an orphan. 496 00:22:41,292 --> 00:22:43,917 That may explain her, but it doesn't define her. 497 00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:47,000 Mordecai's not been the greatest adoptive father. 498 00:22:47,042 --> 00:22:49,625 That may explain her, but it doesn't define her. 499 00:22:49,667 --> 00:22:52,000 She entered a competition that was really unholy, 500 00:22:52,042 --> 00:22:55,083 and that may explain her, but it doesn't define her. 501 00:22:55,167 --> 00:22:56,708 She was the queen of Persia. 502 00:22:56,792 --> 00:23:00,792 That may explain her, but it doesn't define her. 503 00:23:00,833 --> 00:23:03,500 Her identity has changed. 504 00:23:03,583 --> 00:23:06,917 She now knows that she belongs to God. 505 00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:08,417 That's why in chapter 4, 506 00:23:08,500 --> 00:23:11,333 she asks people to be fasting for her, 507 00:23:11,375 --> 00:23:15,000 so that within 3 days, she would go before the king 508 00:23:15,083 --> 00:23:17,417 to try and save her people. 509 00:23:17,500 --> 00:23:20,000 Isn't it interesting that salvation takes 3 days? 510 00:23:20,083 --> 00:23:22,417 That's the same number of days that the Lord Jesus 511 00:23:22,500 --> 00:23:24,500 was in the tomb. 512 00:23:24,583 --> 00:23:27,417 It took 3 days for his resurrection and our salvation. 513 00:23:27,500 --> 00:23:32,625 It takes 3 days of them not feasting but fasting. 514 00:23:32,667 --> 00:23:35,000 The kingdom of God operates differently than the kingdoms 515 00:23:35,083 --> 00:23:36,708 of the world. 516 00:23:36,792 --> 00:23:39,208 While they're feasting, God's people are fasting, 517 00:23:39,292 --> 00:23:42,833 waiting the 3 days for Esther to enter into the presence 518 00:23:42,875 --> 00:23:44,333 of the king. 519 00:23:44,375 --> 00:23:46,333 And our King Jesus is nothing like this. 520 00:23:46,375 --> 00:23:49,792 Our King Jesus welcomes us to come into his presence. 521 00:23:49,833 --> 00:23:52,708 The Bible calls his throne a throne of grace, 522 00:23:52,792 --> 00:23:55,000 so he's nothing like Xerxes. 523 00:23:55,083 --> 00:23:58,333 We don't have to cower in terror for the children of God coming 524 00:23:58,375 --> 00:24:00,792 before the presence of God. 525 00:24:00,833 --> 00:24:04,125 But Esther's identity here has changed. 526 00:24:04,167 --> 00:24:07,625 She's one of God's people. 527 00:24:07,667 --> 00:24:10,708 See, if your identity is "I'm not one of God's people" versus 528 00:24:10,792 --> 00:24:13,500 "I'm one of God's people," it changes everything. 529 00:24:13,583 --> 00:24:15,208 If you're not one of God's people, 530 00:24:15,292 --> 00:24:17,833 then your identity's something that must be achieved 531 00:24:17,875 --> 00:24:21,625 by your beauty, your success, your income, 532 00:24:21,667 --> 00:24:24,417 your grade point average, your dating relationship, 533 00:24:24,500 --> 00:24:27,208 your marital status, your athletic performance, 534 00:24:27,292 --> 00:24:30,833 your parental approval, what clothes you wear, 535 00:24:30,875 --> 00:24:34,625 what car you drive, what neighborhood you live in. 536 00:24:34,667 --> 00:24:37,583 If you're one of God's people, your identity is not achieved, 537 00:24:37,667 --> 00:24:41,125 it's received. 538 00:24:41,167 --> 00:24:44,125 You're loved, you're forgiven, you're cared for, 539 00:24:44,167 --> 00:24:46,167 you're blessed. 540 00:24:46,250 --> 00:24:48,625 You've found favor in the sight of God. 541 00:24:48,667 --> 00:24:50,708 You don't have to impress anyone. 542 00:24:50,792 --> 00:24:54,500 You don't have to do anything. 543 00:24:54,542 --> 00:24:57,500 You know what happens to a child when they're born? 544 00:24:57,583 --> 00:25:00,875 The parents love them. 545 00:25:00,958 --> 00:25:02,875 The child hasn't performed yet, 546 00:25:02,958 --> 00:25:05,917 the child hasn't accomplished yet, 547 00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:08,833 the child hasn't achieved yet. 548 00:25:08,875 --> 00:25:12,167 They don't work for their identity, 549 00:25:12,250 --> 00:25:14,792 they work from their identity. 550 00:25:14,833 --> 00:25:19,375 They're loved, they're cared for, they're part of the family. 551 00:25:19,458 --> 00:25:22,792 So it is when we're born again in Jesus Christ. 552 00:25:22,833 --> 00:25:25,417 We receive a new identity. 553 00:25:25,500 --> 00:25:28,375 And we don't live for our identity. 554 00:25:28,458 --> 00:25:30,375 That's the problem with the whole world, 555 00:25:30,458 --> 00:25:33,333 and marketing and advertising just pressures you to compete 556 00:25:33,375 --> 00:25:37,917 and to purchase so that you can produce an identity. 557 00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:42,000 We don't work for our identity, we work from our identity. 558 00:25:42,083 --> 00:25:45,083 If God loves us, well, then we can just love others, 559 00:25:45,167 --> 00:25:47,833 and we don't need to manipulate them to love us 560 00:25:47,875 --> 00:25:50,083 so that we can be loved. 561 00:25:50,167 --> 00:25:54,917 If God cares for us, well, that means we don't so desperately 562 00:25:55,000 --> 00:26:00,167 need other people to be there for us, and when they fail us, 563 00:26:00,208 --> 00:26:02,625 we can forgive them, because we're still cared for 564 00:26:02,667 --> 00:26:05,417 because God cares for us. 565 00:26:05,500 --> 00:26:09,833 When we sin, it's not the end because God forgives sin, 566 00:26:09,875 --> 00:26:12,375 and he changes people, and there's hope for us. 567 00:26:12,458 --> 00:26:14,417 You see how it works? 568 00:26:14,500 --> 00:26:17,125 The whole world lives for their identity. 569 00:26:17,167 --> 00:26:19,833 Only a Christian can live from their identity. 570 00:26:19,875 --> 00:26:23,292 For the non-Christian, identity is something achieved. 571 00:26:23,333 --> 00:26:26,833 For the Christian, it's something received. 572 00:26:26,875 --> 00:26:30,208 And what happens to those who pursue their identity in 573 00:26:30,292 --> 00:26:37,167 their own activity, it ends up in misery one of two ways. 574 00:26:37,250 --> 00:26:41,833 You either set for yourself an identity you aspire to. 575 00:26:41,875 --> 00:26:44,333 "I want to be married. I want to have kids. 576 00:26:44,375 --> 00:26:47,083 "I want to make money. I want to get a degree. 577 00:26:47,167 --> 00:26:50,083 "I want to own a company. I want to buy a house. 578 00:26:50,167 --> 00:26:52,583 I want to be healthy. I want to lose weight." 579 00:26:52,667 --> 00:26:54,417 Whatever it is, your identity. 580 00:26:54,500 --> 00:27:00,542 If you labor for that and you accomplish it, you're proud. 581 00:27:00,625 --> 00:27:03,000 You're going to see that in a moment with Haman. 582 00:27:03,083 --> 00:27:05,500 You're arrogant. "Look at what I've done." 583 00:27:05,542 --> 00:27:07,208 You're bragging, and self-righteous, 584 00:27:07,292 --> 00:27:08,625 and self-justified. 585 00:27:08,667 --> 00:27:11,583 And then you start to have contempt for other people. 586 00:27:11,667 --> 00:27:13,417 "Oh, they're not smart. They don't try. 587 00:27:13,500 --> 00:27:17,208 They don't work hard. I did it, so can they." 588 00:27:17,292 --> 00:27:22,000 Or, if you try, and fail, you're depressed. 589 00:27:24,250 --> 00:27:26,417 "I got dumped." 590 00:27:26,500 --> 00:27:28,667 "I'm not valedictorian." 591 00:27:28,750 --> 00:27:32,208 "I didn't make varsity." 592 00:27:32,292 --> 00:27:34,792 "Nobody asked me out." 593 00:27:34,833 --> 00:27:37,375 "I'm getting older and I don't know if I'm ever 594 00:27:37,458 --> 00:27:40,333 going to get married." 595 00:27:40,375 --> 00:27:44,167 "We tried to have kids and we can't conceive 596 00:27:44,250 --> 00:27:46,583 "or we keep having miscarriages. 597 00:27:46,667 --> 00:27:48,833 I don't know." 598 00:27:48,875 --> 00:27:51,333 "I thought they would never leave me nor forsake me 599 00:27:51,375 --> 00:27:53,500 "and we'd be together forever, 600 00:27:53,583 --> 00:27:58,708 and I got served divorce papers." 601 00:27:58,792 --> 00:28:01,667 "I was going to be healthy and live a really long life 602 00:28:01,750 --> 00:28:05,417 and the doctor said it's cancer." 603 00:28:05,500 --> 00:28:08,292 Despair. 604 00:28:11,292 --> 00:28:16,500 Her identity has changed, 605 00:28:16,542 --> 00:28:19,000 so she can say things like, 606 00:28:19,042 --> 00:28:23,625 "If I perish, I perish," meaning, 607 00:28:23,667 --> 00:28:28,333 "If I die, I die." 608 00:28:28,375 --> 00:28:30,708 Let me ask you a question. 609 00:28:30,792 --> 00:28:34,917 It's for discussion in your group or in your family. 610 00:28:35,000 --> 00:28:37,500 What is your identity? 611 00:28:37,542 --> 00:28:39,000 Back to my original question. 612 00:28:39,042 --> 00:28:40,583 If you were to introduce yourself, 613 00:28:40,667 --> 00:28:44,208 how would you present yourself 614 00:28:44,292 --> 00:28:47,833 or want yourself to be perceived? 615 00:28:47,875 --> 00:28:49,708 I'm not talking about your theoretical, 616 00:28:49,792 --> 00:28:51,333 theological identity. 617 00:28:51,375 --> 00:28:56,125 I'm talking about your practical identity. 618 00:28:56,167 --> 00:29:00,167 What's your functional identity? 619 00:29:00,250 --> 00:29:03,125 And sometimes we don't even know that we have a false functional 620 00:29:03,167 --> 00:29:07,417 identity until it changes and life circumstances 621 00:29:07,500 --> 00:29:10,167 throw us off-kilter. 622 00:29:10,250 --> 00:29:15,292 And some of us have a conflicted identity just like Esther did. 623 00:29:15,333 --> 00:29:20,917 It's Hadassah and Esther, but she comes to a firm foundation 624 00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:25,125 of a new identity as someone who belongs to God, is loved by God, 625 00:29:25,167 --> 00:29:30,208 has found favor in the sight of God, is forgiven by God, 626 00:29:30,292 --> 00:29:35,917 is helped by God, is loved by God. 627 00:29:36,000 --> 00:29:38,708 And that changes how she perceives herself, 628 00:29:38,792 --> 00:29:42,000 and that changes how she lives her life. 629 00:29:42,083 --> 00:29:45,875 What's your actual, factual, practical identity, 630 00:29:45,958 --> 00:29:47,583 not your functional, theological, 631 00:29:47,667 --> 00:29:49,708 theoretical identity. 632 00:29:49,792 --> 00:29:52,208 Who are you? 633 00:29:52,292 --> 00:29:54,917 Case study in Esther. 634 00:29:55,000 --> 00:29:56,625 Compare that. 635 00:29:56,667 --> 00:29:59,500 Case study with Haman. 636 00:29:59,542 --> 00:30:03,000 Haman's idolatry, Esther 5:9-14. 637 00:30:03,083 --> 00:30:05,208 "And Haman." Alright. 638 00:30:05,292 --> 00:30:11,208 This man loves glory, he loves power, he loves recognition, 639 00:30:11,292 --> 00:30:14,000 he loves control. 640 00:30:14,083 --> 00:30:16,708 His identity is in success. 641 00:30:16,792 --> 00:30:19,792 His identity is in public recognition. 642 00:30:19,833 --> 00:30:25,833 His identity is in public honor. 643 00:30:25,875 --> 00:30:28,917 "And Haman went out that day," what? 644 00:30:29,000 --> 00:30:30,833 "Joyful and glad of heart." 645 00:30:30,875 --> 00:30:32,833 Why? 646 00:30:32,875 --> 00:30:35,833 Because Esther, the queen, invited him to dinner 647 00:30:35,875 --> 00:30:39,917 with the king. 648 00:30:40,000 --> 00:30:42,708 He's made it! 649 00:30:42,792 --> 00:30:47,333 He's so important, he's so successful. 650 00:30:47,375 --> 00:30:49,417 He's made it! 651 00:30:49,500 --> 00:30:53,375 His identity is in his idolatry and he's made it! 652 00:30:53,458 --> 00:30:55,708 He's Haman the Great. 653 00:30:55,792 --> 00:30:59,292 He's never been happier, he's never been prouder. 654 00:30:59,333 --> 00:31:04,125 I mean, his shoulders are high, his gaze is straight forward, 655 00:31:04,167 --> 00:31:06,500 he is smiling. 656 00:31:06,583 --> 00:31:08,625 There's a song in his heart 657 00:31:08,667 --> 00:31:12,292 and there is a quickening to his step. 658 00:31:12,333 --> 00:31:16,167 This is the best day of Haman's whole life. 659 00:31:16,250 --> 00:31:19,792 He was chosen by Xerxes the Great, 660 00:31:19,833 --> 00:31:21,625 the king of kings, lord of lords, 661 00:31:21,667 --> 00:31:23,167 to be the right-hand man. 662 00:31:23,250 --> 00:31:27,333 Xerxes says everyone needed to bow down before him and now he's 663 00:31:27,375 --> 00:31:34,333 going to dinner with Xerxes the king and the queen. 664 00:31:35,250 --> 00:31:37,083 Imagine this was you. 665 00:31:37,167 --> 00:31:38,917 The phone rings. "Hello, who is it?" 666 00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:40,625 "It's the President." "What do you want?" 667 00:31:40,667 --> 00:31:42,917 "We wondering if it would work for you 668 00:31:43,000 --> 00:31:45,000 to come over for dinner?" 669 00:31:45,083 --> 00:31:46,667 "Like, a huge event?" 670 00:31:46,750 --> 00:31:49,125 "No, just the three of us." 671 00:31:49,167 --> 00:31:50,708 Yes. 672 00:31:50,792 --> 00:31:53,125 How quick would it take you to Twitter that? 673 00:31:53,167 --> 00:31:54,500 Right? 674 00:31:54,583 --> 00:31:57,833 You're like, "Hold on a sec. Tell the world I've made it. 675 00:31:57,875 --> 00:31:59,583 "Look what I've done! 676 00:31:59,667 --> 00:32:02,333 "Make sure I get a photo when I'm there. 677 00:32:02,375 --> 00:32:05,208 "Got to put that on Instagram, let everybody know. 678 00:32:05,292 --> 00:32:09,917 There's only three of us." 679 00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:13,417 "But when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate." 680 00:32:13,500 --> 00:32:15,000 So, he's leaving the party. 681 00:32:15,083 --> 00:32:17,000 This is kind of funny. 682 00:32:17,083 --> 00:32:19,667 He's leaving the king's party, who's he see? 683 00:32:19,750 --> 00:32:25,208 Mordecai, the guy who wouldn't bow down to him over, and over, 684 00:32:25,292 --> 00:32:28,708 and over, the guy who's made a real stink about it, 685 00:32:28,792 --> 00:32:31,083 the guy who's wearing sackcloth and ashes, 686 00:32:31,167 --> 00:32:35,167 the guy who's doing a public protest. 687 00:32:37,792 --> 00:32:40,583 What do you think Mordecai's going to do? 688 00:32:40,667 --> 00:32:43,125 Okay, just something to kick around in your group. 689 00:32:43,167 --> 00:32:46,000 Do you think at this point, since there is a death sentence 690 00:32:46,083 --> 00:32:48,917 on 15 million people because he didn't bow, 691 00:32:49,000 --> 00:32:51,125 that it might be a good idea for Mordecai 692 00:32:51,167 --> 00:32:55,125 to start bowing right about now? 693 00:32:55,167 --> 00:32:56,708 Here goes Haman. 694 00:32:56,792 --> 00:32:58,375 "Hi, hi, hi, hi, hi." 695 00:32:58,458 --> 00:33:00,667 Like, I would be making up for lost bows. 696 00:33:00,708 --> 00:33:02,083 Right? 697 00:33:02,167 --> 00:33:04,083 What do you think Mordecai's going to do? 698 00:33:04,167 --> 00:33:05,708 Here comes Haman. 699 00:33:05,792 --> 00:33:08,333 This is great. 700 00:33:08,375 --> 00:33:12,917 "He neither rose nor trembled before him." 701 00:33:13,000 --> 00:33:16,583 Just... 702 00:33:16,667 --> 00:33:18,125 Right? 703 00:33:18,167 --> 00:33:20,292 He's not bowing. 704 00:33:20,333 --> 00:33:22,333 "Haman! Haman! 705 00:33:22,375 --> 00:33:25,083 "How you doing, buddy? No bow today. 706 00:33:25,167 --> 00:33:28,583 How was dinner? No bow." 707 00:33:28,667 --> 00:33:31,083 You kind of see a crowd of people around because 708 00:33:31,167 --> 00:33:33,000 it's outside, it's public. 709 00:33:33,083 --> 00:33:34,625 This is a big event. 710 00:33:34,667 --> 00:33:36,167 Everybody knows who Mordecai is now 711 00:33:36,250 --> 00:33:37,792 because a decree was sent out 712 00:33:37,833 --> 00:33:41,833 to kill 15 million people who are of the same race as him. 713 00:33:45,000 --> 00:33:50,500 I don't know if he's right and courageous 714 00:33:50,583 --> 00:33:53,125 or wrong and stupid. 715 00:33:53,167 --> 00:33:55,083 And let me say, that's a fine line. 716 00:33:55,167 --> 00:33:56,833 Amen? 717 00:33:56,875 --> 00:34:00,667 Stupid and courageous, it's a fine pencil line. 718 00:34:00,708 --> 00:34:05,083 You can cross it pretty easily. 719 00:34:05,167 --> 00:34:07,292 Well, what is Haman going to do now? 720 00:34:07,333 --> 00:34:09,500 "Nevertheless, Haman restrained himself." 721 00:34:09,583 --> 00:34:11,667 Right? 722 00:34:11,750 --> 00:34:14,625 Oh, first of all, it says, "And he was filled with wrath 723 00:34:14,667 --> 00:34:18,625 against Mordecai," so he's--you can see it. 724 00:34:18,667 --> 00:34:20,833 Can you just see Haman's face? 725 00:34:20,875 --> 00:34:23,625 He's furious, he's unhappy, he's upset. 726 00:34:23,667 --> 00:34:25,375 "Mordecai. 727 00:34:25,458 --> 00:34:27,917 "I just had dinner with the king and the queen, 728 00:34:28,000 --> 00:34:30,500 "and now I see Mordecai, and he won't bow. 729 00:34:30,583 --> 00:34:32,208 I hate that guy." 730 00:34:32,292 --> 00:34:34,375 Okay? You can just see it. 731 00:34:34,458 --> 00:34:37,333 You can just see it. Right? 732 00:34:37,375 --> 00:34:42,000 "And he was filled with wrath against Mordecai. 733 00:34:42,042 --> 00:34:46,833 "Nevertheless, Haman restrained himself and went home, 734 00:34:46,875 --> 00:34:51,083 and he sent and brought his friends and his wife Zeresh." 735 00:34:51,167 --> 00:34:53,667 What's he going to do? Get a crowd. 736 00:34:53,750 --> 00:34:56,292 "Guys, let me tell you what happened to me. 737 00:34:56,333 --> 00:34:58,333 You'll never guess what I did." 738 00:34:58,375 --> 00:35:00,500 He gets his friends and his wife. 739 00:35:00,542 --> 00:35:02,917 The wives play a prominent role. 740 00:35:03,000 --> 00:35:07,000 Vashti with Xerxes, now Esther with Xerxes. 741 00:35:07,083 --> 00:35:08,417 "And Haman recounted to them." 742 00:35:08,500 --> 00:35:10,333 What's he going to do? 743 00:35:10,375 --> 00:35:11,875 Brag. 744 00:35:12,792 --> 00:35:16,125 Brag. 745 00:35:16,167 --> 00:35:19,792 That's why he didn't assault Mordecai. 746 00:35:19,833 --> 00:35:23,708 As angry as he was at Mordecai, it was more important for him to 747 00:35:23,792 --> 00:35:27,167 rush home, while there was still time at night to gather a crowd 748 00:35:27,250 --> 00:35:29,667 and talk about how great he was 749 00:35:29,750 --> 00:35:32,208 and what he'd experienced that night. 750 00:35:32,292 --> 00:35:37,375 "Haman recounted to them the splendor of his riches." 751 00:35:37,458 --> 00:35:40,625 See, we do this by the car we drive. 752 00:35:40,667 --> 00:35:43,250 We do this by the clothes we wear. 753 00:35:43,333 --> 00:35:45,000 We do this when we introduce ourselves. 754 00:35:45,083 --> 00:35:46,417 "Where do you live?" 755 00:35:46,500 --> 00:35:49,542 And then we want people to ask us, "Well, where do you live?" 756 00:35:49,625 --> 00:35:52,333 so we can tell them, "I live in," wherever we live. 757 00:35:52,375 --> 00:35:55,750 We have our own ways of displaying our splendor 758 00:35:55,833 --> 00:35:59,750 and our riches. 759 00:35:59,833 --> 00:36:04,500 "The number of his sons, all the promotions with which the king 760 00:36:04,542 --> 00:36:09,583 "had honored him, and how he had advanced him above the officials 761 00:36:09,667 --> 00:36:11,875 and the servants of the king." 762 00:36:11,958 --> 00:36:16,208 "I am so important. I am so rich. 763 00:36:16,292 --> 00:36:20,833 "I am so close to the king and queen. 764 00:36:20,875 --> 00:36:24,500 You are so lucky to know me." 765 00:36:24,583 --> 00:36:29,000 He's audacious, he's boastful. 766 00:36:29,083 --> 00:36:33,917 God opposes the proud and he gives grace to the humble. 767 00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:39,708 It's just not going to go well for Haman. 768 00:36:39,792 --> 00:36:44,333 "Then Haman said, 'Even Queen Esther,'" 769 00:36:44,417 --> 00:36:47,917 that he doesn't know is a Jew, 770 00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:52,125 "'let no one but me come.'" 771 00:36:52,167 --> 00:36:54,542 "The guest list was one. 772 00:36:54,625 --> 00:36:59,792 I'll give you two guesses who that might have been!" 773 00:37:04,458 --> 00:37:07,000 The guy's just full of himself, right? 774 00:37:07,042 --> 00:37:09,708 Like us. 775 00:37:09,792 --> 00:37:11,708 Like, "Mark, you have more people on Facebook, 776 00:37:11,792 --> 00:37:13,833 Twitter, and Instagram." 777 00:37:13,875 --> 00:37:16,458 Okay, like me. Alright? 778 00:37:19,000 --> 00:37:21,417 Gosh, I've done this, man. 779 00:37:21,500 --> 00:37:23,333 A lot. Right? 780 00:37:23,375 --> 00:37:26,208 Like, "Here I am with so and so! Look what I've done! 781 00:37:26,292 --> 00:37:28,000 "Hey, I've accomplished something! 782 00:37:28,042 --> 00:37:30,417 Let me tell everyone." 783 00:37:30,500 --> 00:37:32,792 Dang it. 784 00:37:38,875 --> 00:37:44,292 The hypocrisy of people like me, it's intolerable. 785 00:37:46,333 --> 00:37:50,250 Please let everyone know how humble I am in admitting that. 786 00:37:50,333 --> 00:37:56,000 That would help my cause. 787 00:37:57,583 --> 00:38:02,000 And he goes on, "And tomorrow also I am invited by her 788 00:38:02,083 --> 00:38:03,500 together with the king." 789 00:38:03,542 --> 00:38:05,625 "And guess what I'm doing tomorrow night? 790 00:38:05,667 --> 00:38:09,667 Same thing. Guest list of one!" 791 00:38:09,750 --> 00:38:12,708 Now, who do you admire the most? 792 00:38:12,792 --> 00:38:14,708 Like, who's your person? 793 00:38:14,792 --> 00:38:16,333 Right? 794 00:38:16,375 --> 00:38:19,625 It could be a rock star, politician, business leader. 795 00:38:19,667 --> 00:38:23,292 Like, on your bucket list is, "Before I die, 796 00:38:23,333 --> 00:38:29,625 if I could have dinner, a meeting, an hour with them." 797 00:38:29,667 --> 00:38:34,417 See, Haman, Xerxes is on his bucket list. 798 00:38:34,500 --> 00:38:35,875 "Yay! 799 00:38:35,958 --> 00:38:37,667 I got to have dinner with Xerxes." 800 00:38:37,750 --> 00:38:41,083 Xerxes and Esther invite him back to a second night. 801 00:38:41,167 --> 00:38:43,833 How many of you would be like this with Jay-Z, 802 00:38:43,917 --> 00:38:47,042 or Steven Spielberg, or the President, or-- 803 00:38:47,125 --> 00:38:50,333 I don't know, whomever. 804 00:38:50,417 --> 00:38:53,833 An athlete, a rock star. 805 00:38:53,875 --> 00:38:56,250 That would be amazing. 806 00:38:56,333 --> 00:38:58,833 It could even be a spiritual leader. 807 00:38:58,875 --> 00:39:00,917 That would be amazing. 808 00:39:01,000 --> 00:39:04,083 This is Haman. 809 00:39:04,167 --> 00:39:06,417 Oh boy. 810 00:39:06,500 --> 00:39:07,917 Verse 13. 811 00:39:08,000 --> 00:39:09,917 "Yet all this is worth," what? 812 00:39:10,000 --> 00:39:12,333 "Nothing to me." 813 00:39:12,375 --> 00:39:15,208 When you have idolatry, everything goes out of 814 00:39:15,292 --> 00:39:21,125 perspective and proportion. 815 00:39:21,167 --> 00:39:25,583 "So long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate." 816 00:39:25,667 --> 00:39:28,792 This guy's had the best day ever. 817 00:39:28,833 --> 00:39:30,417 Okay? 818 00:39:30,500 --> 00:39:34,917 Here's his day: "I'm the second most powerful man on the earth. 819 00:39:35,000 --> 00:39:38,000 "I'm very, very rich. The king is my friend. 820 00:39:38,083 --> 00:39:41,500 "His wife likes me. I keep eating dinner with them. 821 00:39:41,583 --> 00:39:43,667 "I get to do whatever I want. 822 00:39:43,750 --> 00:39:45,875 "Everything in my life is perfect. 823 00:39:45,958 --> 00:39:48,000 I even have a wife and some friends." 824 00:39:48,083 --> 00:39:52,000 There's a miracle, right? 825 00:39:52,083 --> 00:39:55,000 "But there's one thing that's not right. 826 00:39:55,083 --> 00:40:00,000 "One guy in the whole kingdom won't bow down, 827 00:40:00,083 --> 00:40:03,708 and that ruins everything." 828 00:40:03,792 --> 00:40:05,500 How many of you are like that? 829 00:40:05,542 --> 00:40:07,208 How many of you are like me? 830 00:40:07,292 --> 00:40:08,917 I'm the guy with the critical eye. 831 00:40:09,000 --> 00:40:11,417 Everything could be fine, one thing could not be fine, 832 00:40:11,500 --> 00:40:14,500 and I'm not fine. 833 00:40:14,542 --> 00:40:16,417 That's me. 834 00:40:16,500 --> 00:40:18,500 I'm the guy with the critical eye. 835 00:40:18,542 --> 00:40:20,000 "That's not right. That's not right. 836 00:40:20,042 --> 00:40:21,583 "That's wrong. 837 00:40:21,667 --> 00:40:23,000 "That wasn't supposed--everything's 838 00:40:23,083 --> 00:40:25,417 almost perfect." 839 00:40:25,500 --> 00:40:28,292 And I can obsess over the thing that was wrong, 840 00:40:28,333 --> 00:40:31,083 the thing that was missed, the offense that was made, 841 00:40:31,167 --> 00:40:32,667 the failure that occurred. 842 00:40:32,750 --> 00:40:34,583 I can obsess. 843 00:40:34,667 --> 00:40:36,583 I can get so narrow in my thinking, 844 00:40:36,667 --> 00:40:40,917 so frustrated in my feeling, that everything else 845 00:40:41,000 --> 00:40:43,333 loses perspective. 846 00:40:43,375 --> 00:40:44,750 That's Haman. 847 00:40:44,833 --> 00:40:46,833 We're all prone to this, right? 848 00:40:46,875 --> 00:40:51,833 It's just one guy, and it's not even a very important guy. 849 00:40:51,875 --> 00:40:54,500 It's a guy with very little going on. 850 00:40:54,583 --> 00:40:57,167 Mordecai's not a big deal. 851 00:40:57,208 --> 00:41:01,000 Mordecai's not a big deal. 852 00:41:01,042 --> 00:41:03,500 The issue is not Mordecai. 853 00:41:03,542 --> 00:41:07,667 The issue is Haman's idolatry is respect, and honor, 854 00:41:07,750 --> 00:41:10,708 and recognition. 855 00:41:10,792 --> 00:41:15,500 And Mordecai just happens to be the one who exposes his idol. 856 00:41:15,583 --> 00:41:19,500 "Then his wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him." 857 00:41:19,542 --> 00:41:21,500 So, they're going to give counsel. 858 00:41:21,583 --> 00:41:23,792 Ladies, feel free to counsel your husband, 859 00:41:23,833 --> 00:41:27,000 but if he's an idiot, give him good counsel, not bad counsel. 860 00:41:27,042 --> 00:41:29,000 They're going to give him bad counsel. 861 00:41:29,042 --> 00:41:31,000 How many of you have friends like this? 862 00:41:31,042 --> 00:41:33,167 You pick your friends because they agree with you. 863 00:41:33,250 --> 00:41:36,708 That's your definition of smart. 864 00:41:36,792 --> 00:41:38,208 Let that one sit. 865 00:41:38,292 --> 00:41:39,708 It's like a grenade. 866 00:41:39,792 --> 00:41:41,125 I just pulled a pin. 867 00:41:41,167 --> 00:41:44,125 It's going to go off in a minute and hit you, right? 868 00:41:44,167 --> 00:41:46,833 Like, we tend to think, "Oh, I need people like me 869 00:41:46,917 --> 00:41:49,167 that are smart, who agree with me." 870 00:41:49,208 --> 00:41:53,417 If your spouse and your friends only ever agree with you, 871 00:41:53,500 --> 00:41:56,667 they're not helping or loving you. 872 00:41:56,708 --> 00:42:00,333 So, here's what they're going to tell them. 873 00:42:00,375 --> 00:42:03,125 "Let a gallows fifty cubits high be made." 874 00:42:03,167 --> 00:42:04,625 Okay. 875 00:42:04,667 --> 00:42:07,417 That's 75 feet. Alright? 876 00:42:07,500 --> 00:42:11,500 King Solomon's palace was 30 feet high. 877 00:42:11,583 --> 00:42:13,333 This is huge. 878 00:42:13,375 --> 00:42:14,833 They don't have cranes. 879 00:42:14,875 --> 00:42:17,208 Seventy-five feet high is huge. 880 00:42:17,292 --> 00:42:19,917 It's so huge that some of the commentators are like, 881 00:42:20,000 --> 00:42:21,792 "That must be a hypothetical number. 882 00:42:21,833 --> 00:42:24,667 "That must be an allegory. 883 00:42:24,750 --> 00:42:27,500 "That can't be an actual number. 884 00:42:27,542 --> 00:42:33,333 That is gigantic. Gigantic." 885 00:42:33,375 --> 00:42:35,833 Why does he want it so high? 886 00:42:35,875 --> 00:42:38,167 Well, I'll tell you what he's going to do. 887 00:42:38,250 --> 00:42:40,500 He wants to crucify Mordecai on it, 888 00:42:40,542 --> 00:42:45,833 so he wants it as high as possible so everybody sees. 889 00:42:45,917 --> 00:42:51,167 Don't disobey Haman. 890 00:42:51,208 --> 00:42:52,833 He's making a public spectacle. 891 00:42:52,917 --> 00:42:55,000 That's the goal. 892 00:42:55,083 --> 00:42:58,250 How many of you, in your rage, you want to make it public? 893 00:42:58,333 --> 00:43:00,708 In your vengeance, you want to make it public. 894 00:43:00,792 --> 00:43:04,000 You don't just want them to hurt and suffer, 895 00:43:04,083 --> 00:43:09,333 you want them to hurt and suffer in front of an audience. 896 00:43:09,375 --> 00:43:14,625 Bitter people do horrible things. 897 00:43:14,667 --> 00:43:18,208 "Let a gallows fifty cubits high be made and let--in the morning, 898 00:43:18,292 --> 00:43:23,000 "rather, tell the king to have Mordecai hanged upon it. 899 00:43:23,042 --> 00:43:27,417 Then go joyfully with the king to the feast." 900 00:43:27,500 --> 00:43:31,333 "Tomorrow will be a perfect day if I can not only have dinner 901 00:43:31,375 --> 00:43:37,375 with the king and the queen, but if I can crucify Mordecai." 902 00:43:37,458 --> 00:43:40,875 "This idea pleased Haman." 903 00:43:40,958 --> 00:43:43,125 He was happy again. 904 00:43:43,167 --> 00:43:45,250 "And he had the gallows made." 905 00:43:45,333 --> 00:43:48,750 When we think of the gallows, as I told you earlier in the book, 906 00:43:48,833 --> 00:43:50,958 we tend to think of, like, the Old West, 907 00:43:51,000 --> 00:43:52,958 where there's a platform, and a trap door, 908 00:43:53,000 --> 00:43:54,958 and a noose that goes around someone's neck, 909 00:43:55,000 --> 00:43:57,125 and the floor falls out. 910 00:43:57,167 --> 00:44:01,417 In that day, this would have been a high, high pole. 911 00:44:01,500 --> 00:44:04,167 It literally means to be hung on a tree. 912 00:44:04,250 --> 00:44:05,625 Kind of like Deuteronomy says, 913 00:44:05,667 --> 00:44:07,875 "Cursed is everyone who's hung on a tree." 914 00:44:07,958 --> 00:44:11,000 And the Persians, as I told you in a previous sermon, 915 00:44:11,083 --> 00:44:14,000 they invented crucifixion and the Romans mastered it 916 00:44:14,083 --> 00:44:15,917 in the days of Jesus. 917 00:44:16,000 --> 00:44:18,208 And it started with impaling, running somebody through, 918 00:44:18,292 --> 00:44:21,417 and then hanging them up in display. 919 00:44:21,500 --> 00:44:26,583 So here, his plan was to either impale Mordecai and hang him up 920 00:44:26,667 --> 00:44:28,583 or crucify him and hang him up. 921 00:44:28,667 --> 00:44:33,333 Either way, it's fair to say that Haman was going to crucify 922 00:44:33,375 --> 00:44:38,958 Mordecai, 75 feet up, for everyone to see. 923 00:44:45,500 --> 00:44:50,708 Here's Haman's idolatry. 924 00:44:53,625 --> 00:44:59,667 You and I will form an identity, and if our identity is 925 00:44:59,708 --> 00:45:02,792 in our idolatry, it leads to our misery. 926 00:45:02,833 --> 00:45:05,167 That's the way that it works. 927 00:45:05,250 --> 00:45:08,125 And what idolatry is this: idolatry is the problem 928 00:45:08,167 --> 00:45:10,500 in the Bible. 929 00:45:10,583 --> 00:45:13,417 A great biblical counselor, David Powlison, says that it is, 930 00:45:13,500 --> 00:45:16,375 quote, "The problem in the Bible." 931 00:45:16,458 --> 00:45:21,125 Underlying sin is idolatry. 932 00:45:21,167 --> 00:45:24,375 And what happens is we take good things 933 00:45:24,458 --> 00:45:27,875 and we make them God things. 934 00:45:27,958 --> 00:45:30,792 What's Haman's idolatry? 935 00:45:30,833 --> 00:45:33,625 What's his identity idolatry? 936 00:45:33,667 --> 00:45:37,333 Power, control, recognition, 937 00:45:37,375 --> 00:45:43,542 respect, obedience, deference. 938 00:45:43,625 --> 00:45:45,750 He would call himself a leader, but he's really 939 00:45:45,833 --> 00:45:49,417 just an idolater. 940 00:45:49,500 --> 00:45:53,625 Now, here's what happens: good things become God things, 941 00:45:53,667 --> 00:45:55,500 and that's a bad thing. 942 00:45:55,583 --> 00:46:00,917 Is it bad for a man to appreciate respect and honor? 943 00:46:01,000 --> 00:46:02,667 Yes or no? 944 00:46:02,750 --> 00:46:04,083 Yes, it's a good thing. 945 00:46:04,167 --> 00:46:05,708 That's why the Bible says, "Children, 946 00:46:05,792 --> 00:46:08,083 honor your mother and father." 947 00:46:08,167 --> 00:46:12,000 Church members, honor your pastors and leaders. 948 00:46:12,083 --> 00:46:15,500 Citizens, honor your governing officials. 949 00:46:15,583 --> 00:46:19,083 The Bible's not against honor, but we can take something like 950 00:46:19,167 --> 00:46:25,000 honor, or obedience, or deference and have it be such 951 00:46:25,083 --> 00:46:30,708 an identity for us that we worship it, we live for it. 952 00:46:30,792 --> 00:46:33,917 And here's what happens: if you idolize one thing, 953 00:46:34,000 --> 00:46:35,833 you demonize the other thing. 954 00:46:35,875 --> 00:46:38,417 That's what Jonathan Edwards said, the greatest theologian, 955 00:46:38,500 --> 00:46:41,208 I believe, in the history of the United States of America. 956 00:46:41,292 --> 00:46:43,167 He said, "If you idolize, you demonize." 957 00:46:43,208 --> 00:46:45,167 Do you know what Haman has done? 958 00:46:45,208 --> 00:46:47,958 He's idolized his race, the Persians. 959 00:46:48,000 --> 00:46:49,833 You know what he's going to do? 960 00:46:49,875 --> 00:46:51,458 Demonize the Jews. 961 00:46:51,500 --> 00:46:54,542 That's how racism comes into being. 962 00:46:54,625 --> 00:46:58,208 Haman is going to idolize honor, and so he's going to demonize 963 00:46:58,292 --> 00:47:02,208 Mordecai who dishonored him. 964 00:47:02,292 --> 00:47:05,625 He idolizes public recognition, so he's going to demonize 965 00:47:05,667 --> 00:47:09,792 Mordecai for not recognizing him publicly. 966 00:47:09,833 --> 00:47:16,292 And what he's going to do, then, is seek to crucify him publicly, 967 00:47:16,333 --> 00:47:22,500 to make him suffer, to make him pay. 968 00:47:22,542 --> 00:47:28,500 This is the root of so much human conflict and strife. 969 00:47:28,542 --> 00:47:30,917 We idolize our nation, we demonize other nations. 970 00:47:31,000 --> 00:47:33,625 We idolize our race, we demonize other races. 971 00:47:33,667 --> 00:47:38,000 We idolize our religion, and we demonize all other people, 972 00:47:38,083 --> 00:47:39,500 and we don't love them. 973 00:47:39,583 --> 00:47:43,042 We don't have to agree with them, but we don't love them. 974 00:47:43,125 --> 00:47:47,458 We idolize our income, we demonize anyone who would do 975 00:47:47,500 --> 00:47:51,542 anything that might reduce our bottom line. 976 00:47:51,625 --> 00:47:55,000 We idolize comfort, we demonize anyone who would cause us 977 00:47:55,083 --> 00:47:58,333 to be uncomfortable. 978 00:47:58,417 --> 00:48:02,708 We idolize love, and if they should fail us, 979 00:48:02,792 --> 00:48:06,500 we demonize them. 980 00:48:06,583 --> 00:48:09,917 See, Esther is growing and maturing. 981 00:48:10,000 --> 00:48:13,917 She's got wisdom, and patience, and prudence, and self-control, 982 00:48:14,000 --> 00:48:17,833 and a wise plan for the good of others, 983 00:48:17,875 --> 00:48:23,833 because Esther's identity is in "child of God." 984 00:48:23,875 --> 00:48:27,000 Haman's identity is in his performance 985 00:48:27,083 --> 00:48:29,500 and others' perception of him. 986 00:48:29,542 --> 00:48:32,208 Haman's identity is in his idolatry, 987 00:48:32,292 --> 00:48:38,167 and what happens is people violently defend their idols. 988 00:48:38,250 --> 00:48:40,125 We see this throughout the book of Acts, 989 00:48:40,167 --> 00:48:43,833 why there's riots around Paul and why there's so much conflict 990 00:48:43,917 --> 00:48:45,750 around Christianity. 991 00:48:45,833 --> 00:48:49,542 Because Christianity comes along to reset your identity 992 00:48:49,625 --> 00:48:52,125 and to remove your idolatry. 993 00:48:52,167 --> 00:48:54,458 And people violently defend their idols. 994 00:48:54,500 --> 00:48:58,833 You don't, oftentimes, know what your idol is until it's 995 00:48:58,917 --> 00:49:02,875 under threat of being taken. 996 00:49:02,958 --> 00:49:05,333 You're dating someone, and all of sudden you feel like 997 00:49:05,375 --> 00:49:10,708 the relationship is shaky, and you go to a very dark place. 998 00:49:10,792 --> 00:49:15,083 God gives you a child, you love them as you ought and should, 999 00:49:15,167 --> 00:49:19,000 but you don't perhaps recognize that so much of your identity is 1000 00:49:19,042 --> 00:49:21,625 established in parenting that all of a sudden, 1001 00:49:21,667 --> 00:49:23,917 the child gets sick or diagnosed with something, 1002 00:49:24,000 --> 00:49:26,875 or they get hurt, or there's a threat of them not living, 1003 00:49:26,958 --> 00:49:30,625 and you go to a very dark place. 1004 00:49:30,667 --> 00:49:33,833 And I'm not talking just grieving, 1005 00:49:33,875 --> 00:49:38,375 I'm talking warring against God or others. 1006 00:49:40,875 --> 00:49:43,625 What do you get emotional about? 1007 00:49:43,667 --> 00:49:46,083 What frustrates you? 1008 00:49:46,167 --> 00:49:48,000 What causes you to get angry? 1009 00:49:48,083 --> 00:49:49,917 What causes you to seethe? 1010 00:49:50,000 --> 00:49:52,000 What causes you to get depressed? 1011 00:49:52,083 --> 00:49:55,583 What causes you to get happy, overjoyed? 1012 00:49:55,667 --> 00:49:58,333 We've just seen the emotional spectrum in Haman. 1013 00:49:58,375 --> 00:50:03,000 When his idol is fed, he is so happy. 1014 00:50:03,042 --> 00:50:08,333 When his idol is threatened, he is so violent. 1015 00:50:08,375 --> 00:50:11,000 Some in our culture will be diagnosed bipolar. 1016 00:50:11,042 --> 00:50:13,667 Sometimes they're idolatrous, 1017 00:50:13,750 --> 00:50:16,167 which causes their emotional instability. 1018 00:50:16,250 --> 00:50:19,500 When their idol is flourishing, they are overjoyed. 1019 00:50:19,583 --> 00:50:24,167 When their idol is threatened, they become violent. 1020 00:50:24,250 --> 00:50:29,500 Haman is a case study in idolatry. 1021 00:50:29,583 --> 00:50:33,000 You ready for your question? 1022 00:50:33,083 --> 00:50:39,208 What's your idolatry? 1023 00:50:39,292 --> 00:50:42,958 If you're not sure, follow your emotions. 1024 00:50:43,000 --> 00:50:44,417 Where do you get happy? 1025 00:50:44,500 --> 00:50:46,125 Where do you get sad? 1026 00:50:46,167 --> 00:50:47,708 Where do you get overjoyed? 1027 00:50:47,792 --> 00:50:49,542 Where do you get really depressed? 1028 00:50:49,625 --> 00:50:51,167 What are you afraid of losing? 1029 00:50:51,208 --> 00:50:53,125 Who are you afraid of losing? 1030 00:50:53,167 --> 00:50:55,125 Where are you afraid of failing? 1031 00:50:55,167 --> 00:51:00,500 What, if it was made public about you, would destroy you? 1032 00:51:05,083 --> 00:51:06,417 I love you. 1033 00:51:06,500 --> 00:51:07,917 I'm your pastor. 1034 00:51:08,000 --> 00:51:10,708 I get to teach the Bible. 1035 00:51:10,792 --> 00:51:16,000 The final line of 1 John, he says to his church, 1036 00:51:16,083 --> 00:51:21,667 "Dear children of God, keep yourselves from idols." 1037 00:51:21,750 --> 00:51:24,917 That's the invitation of a loving pastor who wants 1038 00:51:25,000 --> 00:51:28,708 the best for his people. 1039 00:51:28,792 --> 00:51:33,292 He wants them not to use God to feed their idolatry, 1040 00:51:33,333 --> 00:51:38,292 but to remove their idolatry and be satisfied in their identity 1041 00:51:38,333 --> 00:51:42,250 as children of God. 1042 00:51:42,333 --> 00:51:47,542 This is the one thing that changes everything. 1043 00:51:47,625 --> 00:51:50,625 I have good news for you. 1044 00:51:50,667 --> 00:51:56,208 You don't have to live with your identity in your idolatry. 1045 00:51:56,292 --> 00:51:58,167 You don't have to. 1046 00:51:58,208 --> 00:51:59,917 Haman never changes. 1047 00:52:00,042 --> 00:52:01,583 That's sad. 1048 00:52:01,667 --> 00:52:03,625 He never repents. 1049 00:52:03,667 --> 00:52:06,000 You're going to read it in the coming weeks, 1050 00:52:06,042 --> 00:52:10,500 but his life ends miserably and tragically, shamefully, 1051 00:52:10,583 --> 00:52:15,833 and the one thing he didn't want: publicly. 1052 00:52:15,875 --> 00:52:18,833 Because idols lie. 1053 00:52:18,875 --> 00:52:22,625 They promise a heavenly, peaceful existence 1054 00:52:22,667 --> 00:52:28,167 that they cannot deliver. 1055 00:52:28,250 --> 00:52:32,333 Now, Esther, in comparison, back to our case study, 1056 00:52:32,375 --> 00:52:38,625 she has a change of identity and her life doesn't end in brutal, 1057 00:52:38,667 --> 00:52:41,500 shameful tragedy and misery. 1058 00:52:41,583 --> 00:52:46,000 It's not perfect, but it's noble. 1059 00:52:46,083 --> 00:52:48,833 She's not so consumed with herself, 1060 00:52:48,875 --> 00:52:52,458 she's concerned about others. 1061 00:52:52,500 --> 00:52:57,500 She's willing to lose her life if others might be saved. 1062 00:52:59,833 --> 00:53:04,625 In a tragic, weird twist, Haman wants to take everyone else's 1063 00:53:04,667 --> 00:53:07,875 life and he ends up losing his own, 1064 00:53:07,958 --> 00:53:11,208 whereas Esther was willing to lose her life, 1065 00:53:11,292 --> 00:53:16,667 but God allowed her to be spared. 1066 00:53:16,750 --> 00:53:20,000 What's your idolatry? 1067 00:53:20,042 --> 00:53:24,333 Let me say this: idolatry is usually a good thing 1068 00:53:24,375 --> 00:53:28,000 in a bad place. 1069 00:53:28,083 --> 00:53:31,500 Being healthy is a good thing. 1070 00:53:31,583 --> 00:53:34,667 Being in a loving relationship is a good thing. 1071 00:53:34,750 --> 00:53:36,333 Being married is a good thing. 1072 00:53:36,375 --> 00:53:42,125 The Bible says, "He who finds a wife finds what is good." 1073 00:53:42,167 --> 00:53:43,750 Children are a blessing. 1074 00:53:43,833 --> 00:53:45,542 It's good to be a parent. 1075 00:53:45,625 --> 00:53:47,417 Having a job is a good thing. 1076 00:53:47,500 --> 00:53:49,958 It's a noble, good thing to work. 1077 00:53:50,000 --> 00:53:52,250 Performing well in school is a good thing. 1078 00:53:52,333 --> 00:53:55,167 Maximizing your abilities, whatever they might be, 1079 00:53:55,208 --> 00:54:01,583 artistic or athletic, that's a good thing. 1080 00:54:01,667 --> 00:54:06,708 Our idolatry is usually a good thing in a God place, 1081 00:54:06,792 --> 00:54:12,208 which is a bad thing. 1082 00:54:12,292 --> 00:54:18,000 Let me close with this: Jesus gives a better identity. 1083 00:54:18,083 --> 00:54:20,125 Haman lived for his glory, 1084 00:54:20,167 --> 00:54:24,625 but Jesus lives for the glory of God. 1085 00:54:24,667 --> 00:54:27,375 Haman made God's people his enemy, 1086 00:54:27,458 --> 00:54:30,125 but Jesus makes his enemies his friends. 1087 00:54:30,167 --> 00:54:31,833 Amen? 1088 00:54:31,875 --> 00:54:33,500 There's good news. 1089 00:54:33,583 --> 00:54:36,000 Thank you Lord Jesus, you don't treat us like 1090 00:54:36,083 --> 00:54:38,333 Haman treated Mordecai. 1091 00:54:38,375 --> 00:54:42,500 Thank you Lord Jesus that though we've not bowed down to you, 1092 00:54:42,583 --> 00:54:47,333 you don't declare war on us. 1093 00:54:47,417 --> 00:54:51,667 Haman would not forgive one man for one thing, 1094 00:54:51,708 --> 00:54:56,958 but Jesus will forgive anyone for anything. 1095 00:54:57,000 --> 00:54:59,708 Haman made a cross to hang a man upon, 1096 00:54:59,792 --> 00:55:05,000 but Jesus came as a man to hang upon a cross for all men. 1097 00:55:05,042 --> 00:55:10,500 Haman forced people to bow to him in fear, 1098 00:55:10,583 --> 00:55:15,875 but Jesus invites people to bow to him in love. 1099 00:55:15,958 --> 00:55:21,208 Haman boasted about what he had done, which is pride, 1100 00:55:21,292 --> 00:55:27,833 but when we boast of what Jesus has done, it is worship. 1101 00:55:27,875 --> 00:55:31,792 Haman sought to achieve his identity through his works, 1102 00:55:31,833 --> 00:55:37,708 but in Jesus, we receive a new identity, through his works. 1103 00:55:37,792 --> 00:55:41,250 Esther waited 3 days to leave her chambers and save her 1104 00:55:41,333 --> 00:55:46,250 people, but Jesus waited 3 days to leave his tomb 1105 00:55:46,333 --> 00:55:49,250 and save his people. 1106 00:55:49,333 --> 00:55:54,167 Esther was clothed in royal robes, but in Jesus Christ, 1107 00:55:54,208 --> 00:55:58,667 we are clothed in the splendor of the righteousness 1108 00:55:58,708 --> 00:56:01,292 of our King. 1109 00:56:01,333 --> 00:56:05,208 Esther was welcomed into the presence of King Xerxes but 1110 00:56:05,292 --> 00:56:10,625 once, but because of King Jesus, we are welcome into the presence 1111 00:56:10,667 --> 00:56:13,833 of God continually. 1112 00:56:13,875 --> 00:56:17,500 Esther prepared a lavish banquet for King Xerxes, 1113 00:56:17,583 --> 00:56:23,167 but King Jesus is preparing a more lavish banquet for us. 1114 00:56:23,250 --> 00:56:26,708 And Xerxes offered Esther half his kingdom, 1115 00:56:26,792 --> 00:56:31,792 but our King Jesus offers us his entire kingdom. 1116 00:56:31,833 --> 00:56:37,000 Lord Jesus, we thank you that in you, 1117 00:56:37,042 --> 00:56:40,833 there's a better identity. 1118 00:56:40,875 --> 00:56:46,833 Lord God, I thank you for the practical insights of Scripture, 1119 00:56:46,875 --> 00:56:52,333 the God-given wisdom of Esther, 1120 00:56:52,417 --> 00:56:58,333 the demonically empowered foolishness of Haman. 1121 00:56:58,417 --> 00:57:02,792 God, as we read the story, we know we're all capable, 1122 00:57:02,833 --> 00:57:05,500 and even in varying ways, at various times, 1123 00:57:05,583 --> 00:57:08,625 to various degrees have been like Haman. 1124 00:57:08,667 --> 00:57:13,917 But God, I pray for us all, that we would experience that change 1125 00:57:14,000 --> 00:57:20,083 of identity as Esther did, that we would no longer be 1126 00:57:20,167 --> 00:57:22,875 hypocritical or duplicitous. 1127 00:57:22,958 --> 00:57:25,708 God, we find great encouragement that she's referred to as 1128 00:57:25,792 --> 00:57:32,500 Hadassah and Esther, almost double-minded, inconsistent, 1129 00:57:33,333 --> 00:57:35,500 not wholeheartedly committed. 1130 00:57:35,583 --> 00:57:38,000 We're so much like her. 1131 00:57:38,083 --> 00:57:40,625 So that, God, when she has a change of heart, 1132 00:57:40,667 --> 00:57:43,125 and a change of mind, and a change of life, 1133 00:57:43,167 --> 00:57:47,750 and a change of conviction, it gives us hope that if we turn 1134 00:57:47,833 --> 00:57:51,042 from sin and trust in you, Lord Jesus, 1135 00:57:51,125 --> 00:57:54,750 you will not respond to us as Haman did, 1136 00:57:54,833 --> 00:57:58,042 and seek to murder us because you died for us. 1137 00:57:58,125 --> 00:58:01,667 That we don't need to approach your throne with the kind of 1138 00:58:01,750 --> 00:58:04,875 terror that she did before Xerxes, 1139 00:58:04,958 --> 00:58:08,292 that your throne of grace is always open. 1140 00:58:08,333 --> 00:58:11,417 And God, I pray for these considerations and conversations 1141 00:58:11,500 --> 00:58:14,000 among our people. 1142 00:58:14,083 --> 00:58:17,500 Holy Spirit, I invite you to work in their hearts and their 1143 00:58:17,542 --> 00:58:21,500 minds, to know that who they are is not marked by what 1144 00:58:21,583 --> 00:58:25,125 they've done or what's been done to them, 1145 00:58:25,167 --> 00:58:28,833 but rather what Jesus has done for them. 1146 00:58:28,875 --> 00:58:31,917 And God, we thank you for a new identity, and we confess, 1147 00:58:32,000 --> 00:58:36,083 apart from this new identity, we just trade one idolatrous 1148 00:58:36,167 --> 00:58:39,375 identity for another. 1149 00:58:39,458 --> 00:58:43,167 We go from one false promise to another. 1150 00:58:43,208 --> 00:58:47,458 We go from one fatal misery to another. 1151 00:58:47,500 --> 00:58:52,542 And Lord Jesus, we thank you that you save us from a foolish, 1152 00:58:52,625 --> 00:58:58,542 fruitful--fruitless, rather, fateful life. 1153 00:58:58,625 --> 00:59:02,208 Lord Jesus, our hearts are glad because you're our King, 1154 00:59:02,292 --> 00:59:06,417 and I pray for my friends that we would now respond to you 1155 00:59:06,500 --> 00:59:11,125 in worship and receive from you an understanding of who we are 1156 00:59:11,167 --> 00:59:12,667 in Jesus' good name, amen.