1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:04,770 The king took his ring from his hand, and gave it to Haman the 2 00:00:04,520 --> 00:00:08,940 son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews’ enemy. 3 00:00:09,869 --> 00:00:14,059 “The silver is given to you, the people also, to do with them 4 00:00:13,859 --> 00:00:15,359 as it seems good to you.” 5 00:00:15,985 --> 00:00:18,345 That’s where Sunday’s episode left us. 6 00:00:18,685 --> 00:00:22,905 A king hands his ring to the enemy of a whole people, and the 7 00:00:22,705 --> 00:00:24,345 young queen doesn’t even know. 8 00:00:25,085 --> 00:00:28,525 And here’s what most readers never notice: in the whole book of 9 00:00:28,325 --> 00:00:30,565 Esther, God is never named. 10 00:00:31,305 --> 00:00:32,665 So where is he? 11 00:00:39,476 --> 00:00:42,856 Hi, and welcome to First Light Bible Study. 12 00:00:43,376 --> 00:00:46,196 Grab your Bible, and a cup of coffee if you like. 13 00:00:46,896 --> 00:00:50,976 On Sunday we heard the first part of Esther, word for word. 14 00:00:51,356 --> 00:00:55,956 Tonight we’ll look underneath it: six things most of us were never 15 00:00:55,756 --> 00:00:59,296 shown, and one question that runs through all of them. 16 00:00:59,676 --> 00:01:01,296 First, where are we? 17 00:01:01,616 --> 00:01:03,256 The book opens like this. 18 00:01:03,727 --> 00:01:12,787 Now in the days of Ahasuerus (this is Ahasuerus who reigned from 19 00:01:12,587 --> 00:01:17,327 India even to Ethiopia, over one hundred twenty-seven provinces), 20 00:01:17,981 --> 00:01:25,001 Most scholars identify Ahasuerus with the Persian king the Greeks 21 00:01:24,801 --> 00:01:28,801 called Xerxes, the first of that name. 22 00:01:29,181 --> 00:01:33,421 He ruled from about four eighty-six to four sixty-five BC. 23 00:01:34,341 --> 00:01:38,481 India here means the lands along the Indus River, and Ethiopia 24 00:01:38,281 --> 00:01:40,481 is Cush, south of Egypt. 25 00:01:41,501 --> 00:01:46,161 Susa, the royal city, stood in what is now southwestern Iran. 26 00:01:46,792 --> 00:01:48,932 So why are Jewish families there? 27 00:01:49,412 --> 00:01:53,212 Mordecai’s family had been carried off from Jerusalem to Babylon 28 00:01:53,012 --> 00:01:54,972 more than a century earlier. 29 00:01:55,672 --> 00:01:59,872 Later, Persia’s King Cyrus let the exiles go home. 30 00:02:00,312 --> 00:02:01,072 Many went. 31 00:02:01,652 --> 00:02:02,512 Many stayed. 32 00:02:03,452 --> 00:02:08,632 Esther is their story: God’s people, living as a minority in someone 33 00:02:08,432 --> 00:02:09,392 else’s empire. 34 00:02:14,338 --> 00:02:17,678 Here’s the first thing, and it’s the big one. 35 00:02:18,058 --> 00:02:22,318 Read all ten chapters of Esther, and you won’t find the word God, 36 00:02:22,118 --> 00:02:24,318 or the LORD, even once. 37 00:02:24,678 --> 00:02:26,278 No prayer is mentioned. 38 00:02:26,758 --> 00:02:28,038 No prophet speaks. 39 00:02:28,578 --> 00:02:30,158 No miracle happens. 40 00:02:30,918 --> 00:02:35,878 An ancient Greek version later added prayers and God’s name, and 41 00:02:35,678 --> 00:02:39,398 Catholic and Orthodox Bibles include that longer text. 42 00:02:39,198 --> 00:02:43,558 Tonight we’re reading the Hebrew, which our translation follows. 43 00:02:44,206 --> 00:02:46,886 So is God simply absent? 44 00:02:47,386 --> 00:02:50,726 The prophet Isaiah gives us words for exactly this. 45 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:56,120 Most certainly you are a God who has hidden yourself, God of Israel, 46 00:02:56,320 --> 00:02:56,860 the Savior. 47 00:02:57,419 --> 00:03:00,999 A God who hides himself, and is still the Savior. 48 00:03:01,879 --> 00:03:04,539 Jewish teachers noticed this long ago. 49 00:03:04,939 --> 00:03:09,119 One old reading in the Talmud even hears Esther’s name in Deuteronomy, 50 00:03:08,939 --> 00:03:13,039 where God says, I will surely hide my face. 51 00:03:13,499 --> 00:03:16,699 In Hebrew, I will hide sounds like Esther. 52 00:03:17,459 --> 00:03:19,799 Hidden isn’t the same as absent. 53 00:03:20,279 --> 00:03:24,359 This whole book teaches us how to look for God when we can’t see 54 00:03:24,159 --> 00:03:25,559 his name on anything. 55 00:03:30,456 --> 00:03:31,116 Second. 56 00:03:31,936 --> 00:03:34,436 Look at how power works in chapter one. 57 00:03:34,856 --> 00:03:39,676 A hundred and eighty days of display, a seven day feast, and then 58 00:03:39,476 --> 00:03:40,456 one refusal. 59 00:03:41,276 --> 00:03:44,196 We’re never told why Queen Vashti wouldn’t come. 60 00:03:44,496 --> 00:03:47,456 But watch what the king’s advisers do with it. 61 00:03:47,949 --> 00:03:51,079 “If it pleases the king, let a royal commandment go from him, 62 00:03:50,879 --> 00:03:54,119 and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, 63 00:03:53,919 --> 00:03:57,312 so that it cannot be altered, that Vashti may never again come 64 00:03:57,112 --> 00:03:58,699 before King Ahasuerus; 65 00:03:59,329 --> 00:04:01,069 So that it cannot be altered. 66 00:04:01,449 --> 00:04:05,989 The book of Daniel describes the same thing: the law of the Medes 67 00:04:05,789 --> 00:04:08,049 and Persians, which doesn’t alter. 68 00:04:08,689 --> 00:04:12,249 Hold on to that, because it matters later in the story. 69 00:04:12,669 --> 00:04:16,829 Once a Persian law is sealed with the king’s ring, not even the 70 00:04:16,629 --> 00:04:17,989 king can take it back. 71 00:04:18,689 --> 00:04:21,789 One refusal becomes a decree to every province. 72 00:04:22,149 --> 00:04:24,269 The empire looks unstoppable. 73 00:04:24,069 --> 00:04:27,669 It runs on feasts, moods and paperwork. 74 00:04:28,242 --> 00:04:30,222 But Scripture sees kings differently. 75 00:04:30,778 --> 00:04:34,818 The king’s heart is in the LORD’s hand like the watercourses. 76 00:04:35,298 --> 00:04:37,218 He turns it wherever he desires. 77 00:04:37,783 --> 00:04:40,723 Like a farmer guiding water down a channel. 78 00:04:41,383 --> 00:04:45,823 In Esther, the king never once asks what God wants. 79 00:04:46,023 --> 00:04:48,823 And yet his heart keeps being quietly turned. 80 00:04:49,283 --> 00:04:53,043 In chapter two, his anger cools, and he remembers. 81 00:04:58,028 --> 00:04:58,668 Third. 82 00:04:59,368 --> 00:05:02,768 Meet our heroine the way the narrator introduces her. 83 00:05:03,268 --> 00:05:06,568 He brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter; 84 00:05:08,128 --> 00:05:10,568 for she had neither father nor mother. 85 00:05:11,304 --> 00:05:13,364 Neither father nor mother. 86 00:05:13,864 --> 00:05:17,844 So Mordecai, her cousin, took her for his own daughter. 87 00:05:18,204 --> 00:05:20,364 That’s the first kindness in the story. 88 00:05:21,404 --> 00:05:23,704 Notice too that she has two names. 89 00:05:23,504 --> 00:05:29,424 Hadassah is Hebrew for myrtle, a fragrant evergreen. 90 00:05:30,024 --> 00:05:33,744 Esther is most likely Persian, from the word for star. 91 00:05:34,144 --> 00:05:37,764 A Hebrew name at home, and a Persian name in public. 92 00:05:38,287 --> 00:05:42,707 Esther had not made known her people nor her relatives, because 93 00:05:42,507 --> 00:05:45,947 Mordecai had instructed her that she should not make it known. 94 00:05:46,703 --> 00:05:51,463 The chapter says it twice, in verse ten and again in verse twenty. 95 00:05:51,863 --> 00:05:53,783 She keeps her people a secret. 96 00:05:54,583 --> 00:05:58,843 We aren’t told exactly why, and the Bible doesn’t grade it. 97 00:05:59,043 --> 00:06:03,343 It simply shows us a young woman far from home, learning to live 98 00:06:03,143 --> 00:06:05,443 wisely in a world that isn’t hers. 99 00:06:06,023 --> 00:06:10,083 Through Jeremiah, God had told the exiles how to live. 100 00:06:10,564 --> 00:06:13,904 Seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried 101 00:06:13,704 --> 00:06:19,144 away captive, and pray to the LORD for it; for in its peace you 102 00:06:18,944 --> 00:06:20,124 will have peace. 103 00:06:20,650 --> 00:06:25,250 Faith that has to live quietly, among people who don’t share it. 104 00:06:25,530 --> 00:06:27,250 Many of us know that feeling. 105 00:06:32,213 --> 00:06:32,793 Fourth. 106 00:06:33,433 --> 00:06:37,293 If you were with us for Ruth, listen for a familiar word. 107 00:06:37,673 --> 00:06:41,053 In the women’s house, Hegai takes a liking to Esther. 108 00:06:41,556 --> 00:06:45,196 The maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness from him. 109 00:06:45,572 --> 00:06:46,312 Kindness. 110 00:06:47,072 --> 00:06:52,852 In Hebrew, that’s hesed, the very word at the heart of Ruth: loyal 111 00:06:52,652 --> 00:06:55,672 love, kindness beyond what you owe. 112 00:06:56,092 --> 00:06:58,592 And it comes again when Esther meets the king. 113 00:06:59,486 --> 00:07:04,136 The king loved Esther more than all the women, and she obtained 114 00:07:03,936 --> 00:07:08,696 favor and kindness in his sight more than all the virgins; so 115 00:07:08,496 --> 00:07:12,636 that he set the royal crown on her head, and made her queen instead 116 00:07:12,436 --> 00:07:13,296 of Vashti. 117 00:07:14,035 --> 00:07:15,635 Favor and kindness. 118 00:07:16,155 --> 00:07:19,735 Now listen to an older story with the very same words. 119 00:07:20,175 --> 00:07:25,575 A young Hebrew, far from home, in a foreign court, rising to the 120 00:07:25,375 --> 00:07:25,855 top. 121 00:07:26,215 --> 00:07:27,575 Joseph, in Egypt. 122 00:07:28,038 --> 00:07:32,318 But the LORD was with Joseph, and showed kindness to him, and 123 00:07:32,118 --> 00:07:34,898 gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. 124 00:07:35,685 --> 00:07:36,685 Do you see it? 125 00:07:36,945 --> 00:07:41,765 In Joseph’s story, the narrator tells us plainly: the LORD was 126 00:07:41,565 --> 00:07:42,665 with Joseph. 127 00:07:43,145 --> 00:07:47,825 In Esther’s, the same favor and kindness show up, and the narrator 128 00:07:47,625 --> 00:07:50,905 leaves the first half of that sentence for us to fill in. 129 00:07:51,625 --> 00:07:54,905 Many readers have noticed Esther echoing Joseph. 130 00:07:54,705 --> 00:07:58,865 It’s one way this book points to God without naming him. 131 00:08:03,708 --> 00:08:04,188 Fifth. 132 00:08:05,268 --> 00:08:09,188 At the end of chapter two there’s a short scene that’s easy to 133 00:08:08,988 --> 00:08:09,508 skip. 134 00:08:09,928 --> 00:08:12,688 Two of the king’s doorkeepers plot against him. 135 00:08:13,248 --> 00:08:16,168 Mordecai, sitting in the king’s gate, finds out. 136 00:08:16,548 --> 00:08:20,528 He tells Esther, and she tells the king, in Mordecai’s name. 137 00:08:21,208 --> 00:08:22,728 The plot is stopped. 138 00:08:23,168 --> 00:08:26,048 And then the narrator adds one quiet line. 139 00:08:26,492 --> 00:08:29,712 and it was written in the book of the chronicles in the king’s 140 00:08:29,512 --> 00:08:29,992 presence. 141 00:08:30,532 --> 00:08:31,372 That’s all. 142 00:08:31,872 --> 00:08:32,872 No reward. 143 00:08:33,292 --> 00:08:34,352 No thank you. 144 00:08:34,572 --> 00:08:38,572 Just a line in the royal records, rolled up and put away. 145 00:08:39,212 --> 00:08:44,512 Then, in the very next verse, someone gets promoted, and it isn’t 146 00:08:44,312 --> 00:08:45,152 Mordecai. 147 00:08:45,512 --> 00:08:46,432 It’s Haman. 148 00:08:47,132 --> 00:08:51,692 Hold on to that scroll, because it comes back in Part 2. 149 00:08:52,092 --> 00:08:56,912 For now, just notice how unfair it feels when faithfulness seems 150 00:08:56,712 --> 00:08:57,372 forgotten. 151 00:08:57,895 --> 00:09:00,595 The New Testament speaks right into that feeling. 152 00:09:01,123 --> 00:09:05,583 For God is not unrighteous, so as to forget your work and the 153 00:09:05,383 --> 00:09:07,943 labor of love which you showed toward his name, 154 00:09:08,432 --> 00:09:09,672 The king forgot. 155 00:09:10,312 --> 00:09:11,332 God doesn’t. 156 00:09:16,205 --> 00:09:17,345 Last one. 157 00:09:17,985 --> 00:09:21,345 Haman is called the Agagite. 158 00:09:21,145 --> 00:09:25,725 Agag was king of the Amalekites in King Saul’s day, and Mordecai’s 159 00:09:25,525 --> 00:09:30,465 family tree includes Kish, a Benjamite, the name and tribe of 160 00:09:30,265 --> 00:09:31,125 Saul’s father. 161 00:09:31,705 --> 00:09:34,285 Many readers hear an old story replaying. 162 00:09:35,225 --> 00:09:37,285 So why won’t Mordecai bow? 163 00:09:37,645 --> 00:09:41,625 The text gives one clue: he had told them that he was a Jew. 164 00:09:42,205 --> 00:09:44,245 Some see an ancient feud. 165 00:09:44,045 --> 00:09:49,205 Others see a man who won’t give a mere human the honor that belongs 166 00:09:49,005 --> 00:09:49,745 to God. 167 00:09:50,165 --> 00:09:51,825 The text leaves it open. 168 00:09:52,380 --> 00:09:57,480 Haman’s anger goes far beyond one man, to Mordecai’s whole people. 169 00:09:57,800 --> 00:10:02,400 And to choose his day, he does what many in his world did. 170 00:10:02,740 --> 00:10:04,000 He casts lots. 171 00:10:04,621 --> 00:10:08,941 In the first month, which is the month Nisan, in the twelfth year 172 00:10:08,741 --> 00:10:15,301 of King Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman 173 00:10:15,101 --> 00:10:19,321 from day to day, and from month to month, and chose the twelfth 174 00:10:19,121 --> 00:10:21,161 month, which is the month Adar. 175 00:10:21,576 --> 00:10:25,336 Pur means a lot, and later the book names a whole feast after 176 00:10:25,136 --> 00:10:27,896 it: Purim. 177 00:10:27,696 --> 00:10:30,136 Haman trusted chance to pick his day. 178 00:10:30,396 --> 00:10:34,416 And the lot fell in the last month of the year, almost a year 179 00:10:34,216 --> 00:10:34,816 away. 180 00:10:35,276 --> 00:10:39,456 Time for a forgotten scroll to be read, and a hidden queen to 181 00:10:39,256 --> 00:10:39,816 speak. 182 00:10:40,716 --> 00:10:42,196 Proverbs puts it plainly. 183 00:10:42,706 --> 00:10:47,006 The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the 184 00:10:46,806 --> 00:10:47,226 LORD. 185 00:10:47,690 --> 00:10:49,750 Haman thought he was rolling dice. 186 00:10:50,510 --> 00:10:53,550 Scripture says the dice never have the last word. 187 00:10:54,310 --> 00:10:56,330 The apostle Paul puts it this way. 188 00:10:56,699 --> 00:11:00,819 We know that all things work together for good for those who love 189 00:11:00,619 --> 00:11:03,999 God, for those who are called according to his purpose. 190 00:11:04,544 --> 00:11:06,504 That doesn’t mean everything is good. 191 00:11:07,044 --> 00:11:09,804 Part 1 ends with a ring in the wrong hand. 192 00:11:10,164 --> 00:11:14,004 But God is at work in all things, even the ones that look like 193 00:11:13,804 --> 00:11:14,344 chance. 194 00:11:14,896 --> 00:11:16,636 So what do we do with all this? 195 00:11:17,456 --> 00:11:22,216 First, when you can’t see God’s name on your situation, that doesn’t 196 00:11:22,016 --> 00:11:23,536 mean he isn’t in it. 197 00:11:24,196 --> 00:11:28,996 Second, ordinary kindness, like Mordecai taking in an orphan, 198 00:11:29,116 --> 00:11:31,536 is often how God’s care arrives. 199 00:11:32,276 --> 00:11:37,396 And third, faithfulness that seems forgotten is never forgotten 200 00:11:37,196 --> 00:11:37,976 by God. 201 00:11:38,386 --> 00:11:42,686 The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the 202 00:11:42,486 --> 00:11:42,906 LORD. 203 00:11:47,370 --> 00:11:49,770 Here’s a question to sit with this week. 204 00:11:50,530 --> 00:11:53,950 Where in your life does God feel hidden right now? 205 00:11:54,290 --> 00:11:57,830 And looking back, where can you see that he was there all along? 206 00:11:58,690 --> 00:11:59,990 Take a moment with that. 207 00:12:00,450 --> 00:12:02,230 You can pause the video if you like. 208 00:12:10,703 --> 00:12:14,603 If you’d like, tell us in the comments which of these six things 209 00:12:14,403 --> 00:12:15,543 was new to you. 210 00:12:15,803 --> 00:12:17,391 We read every one. 211 00:12:17,641 --> 00:12:18,561 Let’s pray. 212 00:12:19,261 --> 00:12:23,201 Faithful God, thank you that you are with us even when we can’t 213 00:12:23,001 --> 00:12:23,941 see your hand. 214 00:12:24,361 --> 00:12:28,581 When our days feel like chance, remind us that they are in your 215 00:12:28,381 --> 00:12:29,001 keeping. 216 00:12:29,441 --> 00:12:34,861 Make us kind like Mordecai, wise like Esther, and faithful when 217 00:12:34,661 --> 00:12:35,761 no one is watching. 218 00:12:35,561 --> 00:12:39,221 Thank you for Jesus, who shows us your face. 219 00:12:39,641 --> 00:12:41,441 In Jesus’ name, amen. 220 00:12:42,056 --> 00:12:45,516 If you haven’t seen it yet, watch Esther, part one. 221 00:12:45,796 --> 00:12:46,816 It’s right here. 222 00:12:47,176 --> 00:12:52,336 New First Light Bible Stories premiere every Sunday at 8 PM Eastern, 223 00:12:52,836 --> 00:12:55,416 with a Bible study like this one every Wednesday. 224 00:12:56,016 --> 00:13:01,336 This Sunday: Esther, part two, where Mordecai asks the question 225 00:13:01,136 --> 00:13:03,056 this whole book turns on. 226 00:13:03,516 --> 00:13:05,736 Subscribe and tap the bell.