(Breath of Life Theme Music) 00:00:01.26\00:00:06.90 Sermon #B709 - For Such A Time As This 00:00:06.94\00:00:20.18 Dr. Byrd: Esther 4:13.Esther 4:13-14. Esther 4:13-14. Just two verses of Scripture. We are 00:00:20.22\00:00:31.53 going to read them now and I will read it in your hearing. The word of God says, "Then 00:00:31.56\00:00:39.80 Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, "Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the 00:00:39.83\00:00:46.11 king's house, more than all the Jews." Verse 14, "For thou altogether holdest thy peace at 00:00:46.14\00:00:55.75 this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another 00:00:55.78\00:01:04.23 place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art 00:01:04.26\00:01:14.74 come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" That is the real tag of this sermon today for 00:01:14.77\00:01:22.71 such a time as this. We are praying. God, we thank you. We are grateful for the music that 00:01:22.74\00:01:28.22 has inspired us today, and the reminder that we must praise you for your grace and your mercy. 00:01:28.25\00:01:32.35 We thank you for the conversation we have had today with our special guest. 00:01:32.39\00:01:36.39 We thank you for all that has been said and done. Our worship and giving. Our worship and 00:01:36.42\00:01:42.33 prayer. But Lord, we need a word from you right now. Speak to your people. Speak to the 00:01:42.36\00:01:51.57 computer airwaves. Speak through the internet. Speak through smartphones. Speak through the 00:01:51.61\00:01:58.38 television broadcast. May your people not see me, but see thee living and working through me. 00:01:58.41\00:02:03.39 Forgive me and my sins. And Lord, as we always say when we get to the appeal, when we get 00:02:03.42\00:02:11.23 to the appeal, just Lord show up and show out. Show up and show out, and pricks someone's heart 00:02:11.26\00:02:17.83 today. They might surrender and give their life to you. Not I but Christ be seen, be felt, be 00:02:17.87\00:02:24.81 heard. We praise you and we thank you. We are begging for forgiveness of sin. It is in 00:02:24.84\00:02:41.22 Jesus's name we pray. Amen, and amen for such a time as this. Many people read the Bible, and 00:02:41.26\00:02:49.13 when they read the Bible, they read the stories of amazing men. Noah and Moses, Abraham and 00:02:49.16\00:03:07.25 Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, Elijah and Elisha, David and Solomon, Peter, James and John, the 00:03:07.28\00:03:18.59 Apostle Paul, and Jesus the Christ himself. But today let me be clear that the Bible also has 00:03:18.63\00:03:27.37 lots of stories of incredible women too. I wish I had a witness in this place. 00:03:27.40\00:03:29.67 Strong and brave women who led armies and challenge kings. Prophetic women who heard and 00:03:29.70\00:03:41.78 obeyed the voice of God. Wise women who made difficult decisions and led the people 00:03:41.82\00:03:49.12 back to God. Loyal women who stayed faithful to God even when their situations seen perilous. 00:03:49.16\00:03:56.13 Women who did the right thing no matter what anyone else did, but changed the course of history 00:03:56.16\00:04:06.11 forever. So on this Sabbath, let me begin by saying, do not 00:04:06.14\00:04:12.41 forget the women. Do not think that we made it where we are as men, as a church, as a 00:04:12.45\00:04:23.69 community, as a people, without women. Women are more than just child-bearers, child nurturers, 00:04:23.73\00:04:32.83 food preparers, or homemakers. Women are leaders, preachers, teachers, presidents, 00:04:32.87\00:04:46.08 professors, doctors, dentists, accountants, attorneys, judges, pharmacists, senators, 00:04:46.11\00:04:55.99 congresswomen, mayors, mothers, and wives, all wrapped up in one. All throughout history, God 00:04:56.02\00:05:04.50 has placed women in specific places for such a time as this. One example of this is Queen 00:05:04.53\00:05:16.88 Esther. Now it's interesting my friends that out of all the 66 books in the Bible, only two, 00:05:16.91\00:05:26.82 Esther and Ruth are named after women. But somebody knows it's not always about the quantity. 00:05:26.86\00:05:30.76 It is about the quality. I wish I had somebody in this place. So while there are only two books 00:05:30.79\00:05:39.47 named after women in the Bible, women are all throughout the Bible. I want to be clear with 00:05:39.50\00:05:46.57 any biblical misogynists out there. That just because only two biblical books are named 00:05:46.61\00:05:53.82 after women does not mean that women are to be less than or inferior to men. Because in the 00:05:53.85\00:06:02.49 Bible, there are two books, Esther and Song of Solomon, that never mentioned the name of God 00:06:02.52\00:06:06.26 in them. But that doesn't mean that God is less than or inferior just because the name 00:06:06.29\00:06:10.70 of God is not mentioned in Esther or Song of Solomon, nor does it mean that God is not all 00:06:10.73\00:06:14.34 throughout these books. Because if you read the book of Esther carefully, in the Book of 00:06:14.37\00:06:18.57 Esther, any reader with some level of discernment, 00:06:18.61\00:06:23.38 comprehension, and understanding recognizes that God is the main character in this book. 00:06:23.41\00:06:29.18 In fact, in the Book of Esther, God is putting himself on display, even though he is 00:06:29.22\00:06:39.79 unnamed. Read Esther. Yes, the book tells Esther's story, but the book is about God. God's 00:06:39.83\00:06:50.84 awesome power. God's miraculous movements. God's mind-blowing mercy. God's divine deliverance. 00:06:50.87\00:06:59.55 God's astounding actions. Don't get it twisted today. The Book of Esther is about God. 00:06:59.58\00:07:06.55 In Esther chapter 1, it begins by telling us of the massive Kingdom of Ahasuerus. Several 00:07:06.59\00:07:17.97 years into his reign, he calls a six-month strategic war-planning summit in the capital city of 00:07:18.00\00:07:27.21 Shushan. He does this because he's making preparations for the invasion of Greece because 00:07:27.24\00:07:33.55 remember he wants to get back at him. He's confident at this summit that he's going to be 00:07:33.58\00:07:40.19 victorious over the Greeks. He ends this six-month planning summit with a 7-day banquet. 00:07:40.22\00:07:47.03 He plans to have an extravagant celebration with the best decorations, the best food, and 00:07:47.03\00:07:58.44 the best dishes. But he also wants the best entertainment. 00:07:58.47\00:08:02.31 And his version of the best entertainment is putting his wife at the time, Queen Vashti, 00:08:02.34\00:08:12.59 on full display. He commands Queen Vashti to show up on the 7th day of the celebration and 00:08:12.62\00:08:20.86 present herself. But Vashti tells her husband, the king, "I am not coming to your party. I 00:08:20.90\00:08:29.37 am not here to let my dignity and my class be compromised by walking in front of some 00:08:29.40\00:08:38.85 intoxicated, perverted men." The king is furious. How dare she tell him, the king, her husband, 00:08:38.88\00:08:46.69 what she is going to do. Because back in those days, women were to do as women were told. 00:08:46.72\00:08:50.59 The king is livid, and he is concerned that his queen's actions would start a Women's 00:08:50.63\00:08:58.00 Liberation Movement. It's all in the Bible. Because if the queen got away with this kind of 00:08:58.03\00:09:02.77 behavior, then every other woman in the empire would feel empowered to do the same. So 00:09:02.80\00:09:10.38 what does the king do? He demotes her. She is no longer the queen. He then announces he 00:09:10.41\00:09:18.45 is going to get a new queen. And he makes it clear that no one better disobey the king, not 00:09:18.49\00:09:29.70 even the queen or she will be replaced. Now, for four years, there is no queen. But the Bible 00:09:29.73\00:09:36.84 says in Esther 2, that the king's staff members tell him it is time to select a queen. 00:09:36.87\00:09:43.31 They tell him to call all the beautiful young virgins of the land to come to Shushan and 00:09:43.35\00:09:48.08 after a period of time, let the young woman who pleases the king most become queen. King liked 00:09:48.12\00:09:57.59 this. Ahasuerus liked this, and he agrees to it. So all these women come to Shushan for a 00:09:57.63\00:10:01.76 beauty competition. There have to be thousands of women because remember it was every mother's 00:10:01.80\00:10:05.13 and father's dream for their daughter to be the queen, 00:10:05.17\00:10:08.14 and it was every young lady's dream in the Kingdom to become 00:10:08.17\00:10:11.81 the queen. Now, in chapter 2 of Esther, we then learn of Mordecai and Esther. They are 00:10:11.84\00:10:19.85 both Jews. They both live in Shushan. They are cousins, but Mordecai is about 15 years older 00:10:19.88\00:10:27.09 than Esther. Esther's parents died when she was a little girl, which means it left her an 00:10:27.12\00:10:32.43 orphan. So then, Mordecai raises Esther as if she were his own daughter. Esther was beautiful, 00:10:32.46\00:10:41.60 the Bible says, just gorgeous. She was noticed by the king's 00:10:41.64\00:10:45.41 staff. She was selected to be in the group that goes on to the next round of the competition 00:10:45.44\00:10:51.18 that goes later to the king's palace to live so she could continue to participate in the 00:10:51.21\00:10:58.79 beauty contest for the queen. Now, God's name is not mentioned in this book. And God's name is 00:10:58.82\00:11:07.96 not mentioned yet in this story, but God is moving. 00:11:08.00\00:11:10.80 The day has come that it's Esther's turn. It's time for her to appear before the king. 00:11:10.83\00:11:19.41 Esther walks before the king. Now remember, the king has seen thousands of women. 00:11:19.44\00:11:26.25 Not just the 400 that made it to the next round, 00:11:26.28\00:11:28.92 but he has seen thousands of women from all over the Persian Empire who wanted to be queen. 00:11:28.95\00:11:36.06 It was just the final 400 who make it to the palace. The king sees Esther. And after he has 00:11:36.09\00:11:46.17 seen Esther, he would never be the same again. He is wooed by her beauty. Smitten by her 00:11:46.20\00:11:59.31 charm. Taken by her grace. She's fine, and she's the one. He selects Esther to be his queen. 00:11:59.35\00:12:08.82 Now, I need you to understand friends what's going on here. Esther, a Jewish orphan. Esther, 00:12:08.86\00:12:18.33 not a Persian, is elevated to the highest position that any woman could have in the entire 00:12:18.37\00:12:25.67 world at that time. Again, God's name is not mentioned, but God 00:12:25.71\00:12:32.45 is moving. Mordecai tells her to keep her Jewishness a secret because there was a lot of 00:12:32.48\00:12:40.09 prejudice in the Persian Empire, just like there's a lot of prejudice in the world today. 00:12:40.12\00:12:43.93 Esther is Jewish. She is classy. She is charming. She is articulate. She is smart. She is 00:12:43.96\00:12:55.90 beautiful, and she is a woman. Esther is crowned Queen. But because he is concerned about 00:12:55.94\00:13:07.68 his cousin who he has raised as his daughter, Mordecai hangs around the palace. Mordecai 00:13:07.72\00:13:17.26 hangs around the palace because he has raised Esther as his child. He does not want anybody 00:13:17.29\00:13:25.33 messing with his child. I can relate. I have three daughters. To talk about me, to mess with 00:13:25.37\00:13:38.21 me, to mistreat me is one thing. But when you talk about my daughters, mess with my 00:13:38.25\00:13:48.32 daughters, mistreat my daughters, we all have some problems. I wish I had a witness 00:13:48.36\00:13:50.23 in this place. Mordecai hangs around the palace to get whatever word he can from Esther 00:13:50.26\00:13:56.87 and about Esther. And while he is hanging around the palace, he learns that two of the king's 00:13:56.90\00:14:03.77 doorkeepers, Bigthan and Teresh are their names, that they plan to assassinate the king. 00:14:03.81\00:14:10.18 Because these were officials who guarded the king's private quarters, they had access to the 00:14:10.21\00:14:15.22 king. They could kill him which reminds me, it's not always those on the outside you got to 00:14:15.25\00:14:19.72 watch but sometimes it's the ones on the inside that you got to keep your eyes on. 00:14:19.75\00:14:23.66 I wish somebody knew what I was talking about. 00:14:23.69\00:14:25.66 Remember friends on January 6, the attack on the United States Capitol did not come from the 00:14:25.69\00:14:31.50 outside. It came from the inside. It was not international terrorist. It was domestic 00:14:31.53\00:14:38.81 terrorist. It was not one political party trying to kill persons of the other political 00:14:38.84\00:14:43.88 party. It was people in the same political party trying to kill one of their own in their own 00:14:43.91\00:14:51.12 political party. I wish I had time. 00:14:51.15\00:14:52.75 Mordecai hears Bigthan and Teresh's plan. He tells Esther. Esther tells the king. 00:14:52.79\00:15:04.20 When the matter is investigated, it is true. Bigthan and Teresh are then hung on the gallows. 00:15:04.23\00:15:14.24 Mordecai's actions are written in the royal record because loyalty needed to be rewarded 00:15:14.28\00:15:22.68 just as much as disloyalty needed to be punished. Again, God's name is not mentioned, but 00:15:22.72\00:15:31.83 God is moving. We are now in chapter 3. And we meet a man by the name of Haman. Haman is a 00:15:31.86\00:15:39.37 Persian. Haman is on the king's staff. The king likes Haman and Haman is elevated in the 00:15:39.40\00:15:47.21 Kingdom. But there is bad blood between Haman and Mordecai. 00:15:47.24\00:15:52.28 Now, because of Haman's standing in the royal palace, when he walked in everybody bow down. 00:15:52.31\00:15:59.35 But Mordecai didn't bow. He didn't bow because he couldn't stand Haman. This made Haman's 00:15:59.39\00:16:08.60 blood boil. So Haman then strategizes to kill not only Mordecai but also Mordecai's 00:16:08.63\00:16:17.37 people because if he just kills Mordecai, Mordecai's people, the Jews, would later come and kill 00:16:17.41\00:16:25.55 him. So Haman goes to the Persian astrologers and magicians and tells them to come 00:16:25.58\00:16:32.75 up with a day when they can execute the genocide of the Jews. They give him a date. 00:16:32.79\00:16:38.99 Haman then goes to the king and tells him that throughout the Persian Empire there are Jews 00:16:39.03\00:16:43.80 who are a threat to his empire and they need to be destroyed. The King thinks it's a great 00:16:43.83\00:16:51.44 idea, and he gives Haman his seal stamp so Haman can authorize the genocide of all 00:16:51.47\00:16:58.81 the Jews in the Persian Empire. We are now at chapter 4. We are now where our text of Scripture 00:16:58.85\00:17:06.19 is. There is wailing and there is gnashing of teeth among the Jews that on a specific date 00:17:06.22\00:17:16.03 they are going to all be killed. Mordecai is upset. He tells Esther what is going on. He 00:17:16.06\00:17:22.27 tells her, "You've got to go to the king and you've got to plead for your people." But see, it is 00:17:22.30\00:17:31.38 really not that simple. Because in Persia nobody including the queen went before the king 00:17:31.41\00:17:37.95 without a personal invitation. In fact, anybody who went into the presence of the king without 00:17:37.99\00:17:44.46 being invited could be killed on the spot. So Esther would not only be breaking royal protocol 00:17:44.49\00:17:49.43 if she just went to the king without an invitation, but she would also be risking her life. 00:17:49.46\00:17:58.14 And the only way her life or anyone else's life would be spared is if when she walked in 00:17:58.17\00:18:06.48 that the king extended his golden scepter. Esther then says in verse 16, "Go get all the 00:18:06.51\00:18:12.95 Jews in Shushan and let's fast. And I will go to the king, which is against the law. Good 00:18:12.99\00:18:21.26 trouble: and if I perish, I perish. But even if it costs me my life, I've got to do what 00:18:21.30\00:18:26.70 I've got to do and I've got to protect my people." Now notice I wish I had time. Notice in the 00:18:26.74\00:18:35.78 text that Esther does not mention prayer. She only mentions fasting. And there can 00:18:35.81\00:18:41.08 be however no fasting without prayer. I wish somebody knew what I was talking about. For 00:18:41.12\00:18:45.12 three days she prays, and she fasts. Chapter 5 begins. Esther goes in to see the king. She 00:18:45.15\00:18:55.60 walks in. She is graceful. She is beautiful. She is charming. He looks at her and his mind 00:18:55.63\00:19:03.81 goes back to when he first saw her. He's got a smile on his face and without hesitation he 00:19:03.84\00:19:12.71 extends the golden scepter, and then he says, "Esther O Queen, what is your request because 00:19:12.75\00:19:22.99 baby, I will give you half of the kingdom." Now, you know Esther must have been a Bad Mama 00:19:23.02\00:19:28.40 Jama if he is going to give up half of the kingdom just by him looking at her. Are you hearing 00:19:28.43\00:19:34.27 what I am saying? But Esther doesn't want half of the kingdom. In fact, Esther doesn't 00:19:34.30\00:19:43.71 want any of the kingdom. Esther just wants to save her people. Esther then asks the king for a 00:19:43.75\00:19:54.29 banquet with her, him, and Haman in Haman's honor. The king agrees at this banquet. The 00:19:54.32\00:20:02.96 first banquet, the King asks Esther what she wants, but the timing isn't right. 00:20:03.00\00:20:05.57 That is what some of us have to realize sometimes that our timing is not God's timing. 00:20:05.60\00:20:10.61 God's timing is the best timing. So she replies, she says, "Okay. I just want another banquet 00:20:10.64\00:20:19.35 tomorrow. I want another banquet tomorrow with you, with me, and Haman again in Haman's honor. 00:20:19.38\00:20:28.86 "But Esther" the king says we already had a banquet. We are already here together. Why do we 00:20:28.89\00:20:35.86 have to do this again tomorrow?" God's name is not mentioned, but 00:20:35.90\00:20:43.67 God is moving. Haman is loving this. Two banquets on consecutive days in his honor, 00:20:43.71\00:20:52.98 Haman's feeling good about himself. He heads home, but on the way out of the palace he 00:20:53.01\00:21:03.83 sees his rival. He sees his nemesis. He sees Mordecai. And just the sight of Mordecai get 00:21:03.86\00:21:12.43 his blood boiling. He's had enough of Mordecai. And so he decides that he is going to kill 00:21:12.47\00:21:20.18 Mordecai. The Bible says he erects some gallows and decides he is going to hang and execute 00:21:20.21\00:21:28.98 Mordecai the next day. Haman goes to sleep that night. He sleeps soundly because he is 00:21:29.02\00:21:36.22 dreaming about how he is going to kill Mordecai the next day. Now back at the palace, and we 00:21:36.26\00:21:44.47 are in chapter 6. The king is in his bed, just like Haman is in his bed. But the difference 00:21:44.50\00:21:50.54 between the king and Haman is, Haman can sleep, but the king can't sleep. The king is 00:21:50.57\00:21:57.18 tossing. The king is turning. And we don't know what the cause of the king's insomnia is, but 00:21:57.21\00:22:06.69 the king then does a strange thing. The king tells his staff to go get the royal records and 00:22:06.72\00:22:14.93 read them to him. And maybe he says do this because reading the royal records would help put him 00:22:14.96\00:22:23.30 to sleep. Again, God's name is not mentioned, but God is moving. Because remember 00:22:23.34\00:22:30.58 friends, it was put in the royal records five years earlier how Mordecai was the one who exposed 00:22:30.61\00:22:41.66 the assassination attempt on the king. When the king starts reading the royal records, he 00:22:41.69\00:22:51.87 reads how Mordecai saved his life. He all of a sudden gets up and says, "What honor or dignity 00:22:51.90\00:23:02.94 has been bestowed on Mordecai for saving my life?" The king's servants answered, "Nothing." 00:23:02.98\00:23:09.68 The king wants to change that now. The king wants to rectify that now. God's name is not 00:23:09.72\00:23:18.29 mentioned, but God is moving. The next morning, Haman wakes up. He gets dressed. He goes to 00:23:18.33\00:23:24.63 the palace for work. And he goes to the king to ask the king to authorize the hanging of 00:23:24.67\00:23:31.61 Mordecai that he has built these gallows for already. But before he can ask the king for 00:23:31.64\00:23:38.45 permission to hang Mordecai, the king then asked him, "What do I do for a man that I want to 00:23:38.48\00:23:46.22 honor?" Now Haman thinks the king is talking about him, but the king is really talking about 00:23:46.25\00:23:54.20 Mordecai. So Haman answers and says, "Give him the best robe and let him ride on the king's 00:23:54.20\00:24:00.54 horses." Again, God's name is not mentioned, but God is moving. The king then tells 00:24:00.57\00:24:09.54 Haman, "Good idea. You go and hurry up and get the robe and the horse that you suggested and 00:24:09.58\00:24:17.65 give it to Mordecai and leave nothing undone for what you have spoken." Haman thinking it is 00:24:17.69\00:24:24.93 for him, it is for his archrival. Haman then leads the parade for the very man he wants 00:24:24.96\00:24:33.17 to kill. Somebody knows late in the midnight hour God will turn that thing around that he will 00:24:33.20\00:24:41.58 work it out in your favor. After the parade, Haman goes home to his wife and family. He thinks 00:24:41.61\00:24:47.88 he is going to get some sympathy from them, but he doesn't get it. In fact, his wife and his 00:24:47.92\00:24:53.29 friends tell him, "You are the one that is going to die. The Jewish man you are trying to 00:24:53.32\00:25:02.63 kill is being honored by the king." Haman goes back to the palace for a second banquet. He 00:25:02.66\00:25:11.71 sits down at the king's table for another surprise. The king asked the Queen Esther, "Esther, 00:25:11.74\00:25:21.25 what do you want?" The timing is now right. The table is now set. At this second banquet, Esther 00:25:21.28\00:25:30.66 doesn't hesitate. We are now in chapter 6. Esther response, "Please O King, spare me and 00:25:30.69\00:25:46.04 spare my people. We have been sold to be destroyed and killed." The king looks at his 00:25:46.07\00:25:52.41 wife and he says, "Who is threatening the Queen's life? Who is he? Where is he?" Haman 00:25:52.45\00:26:01.92 is sitting there sweating. His face has gone red because he doesn't know what is going to 00:26:01.96\00:26:09.63 happen. And remember, he doesn't know that Esther is a Jew. Esther then looks him dead in 00:26:09.66\00:26:15.97 the eye and she says, "The adversary and the enemy is the wicked Haman." The king is 00:26:16.00\00:26:19.91 furious. He goes back in the recesses of his mind and he remembers the decree Haman made 00:26:19.94\00:26:25.85 him sign a couple of months earlier. How Haman had misrepresented the Jewish people 00:26:25.88\00:26:32.62 as a political threat to the Empire and how he had literally signed a decree into law that 00:26:32.65\00:26:44.23 involved the murder of his own wife. All of a sudden guards cover Haman's face and the 00:26:44.27\00:26:53.94 guards take him out to the very gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. They put him on the 00:26:53.98\00:27:07.36 gallows that he built for somebody else, and he dies. After Haman was hanged, Mordecai 00:27:07.39\00:27:23.87 and Esther flourished in the Persian Kingdom of King Ahasuerus. The king exalted 00:27:23.91\00:27:38.45 Mordecai to second-in-command. And the king continues to love his queen against all odds. 00:27:38.49\00:27:50.70 Esther and Mordecai, the Jews had not just been spared, but they had also been elevated. 00:27:50.73\00:27:56.84 God's name is never mentioned in the Book of Esther, but God is always at work. For the 00:27:56.87\00:28:03.35 narrowing down of the thousands of women in Persia to the four hundred to the one Jew, Esther, 00:28:03.38\00:28:07.72 for such a time as this. Thank you very much for tuning in to this week's Breath of Life 00:28:07.75\00:28:12.39 broadcast. We hope and pray that you've been blessed by Dr. Byrd's inspirational message. If 00:28:12.42\00:28:14.66 you would like to hear this sermon in its entirety, please feel free to visit us at 00:28:14.69\00:28:20.66 www.breathoflife.tv. Or, call us at (256) 929-6460. 00:28:20.70\00:28:26.60 [END] 00:28:26.63\00:28:41.65