Live Free with Josh Howerton - For Such a Time as This | Ep. 192 | Tuesday, October 31, 2023

Episode Date: October 31, 2023

Mordecai, Esther’s cousin, discovered a plot against the king and ultimately saved the king’s life. Haman, one of the king’s officials, hated Mordecai because he would never bow when Haman walked by. He didn’t want to just punish Mordecai but the entire Jewish population. He convinced the king to issue a decree declaring all Jews would be killed on a specific date. Who could rescue them? Was Esther made queen for such a time as this? For more information, visit lakepointe.church/dailydrive

Thanks for tuning in to today's Daily Drive with Lake Point Church, a daily dose of God's Word for your morning drive. When the word, not the world, becomes the majority of your week, your life will start to change. For that reason, our prayer is that God will speak to you through today's devotional. For more digital content to feed your faith, visit lakepoint.comit. Church slash daily drive. And now let's dive in to today's devotional. Hey, thanks for joining us on the Daily Drive podcast. Hope you having a great day. My name is Mike Bro, and grateful that you would tune in.

And this week, we are binge watching another mini-series together. And no, it's not on Prime or Hulu or Netflix, you can find it in the pages of the Old Testament of the Bible. It is the fascinating and gripping story of a young girl named Esther. We watched the first two short episodes yesterday, and just to catch you up real quickly, this creepy, egotistical, highly intoxicated king named Xerxes, banishes his wife, the queen, for failing to, quote-unquote, perform for him and his buddies. And at their suggestion,

he rounds up all the young virgins in the province and has them come to the palace. In a scene that seems like straight out of the bachelor, he auditions these girls and is impressed by, and chooses to give the rose, or the crown, to this lovely Jewish orphan girl by the name of Esther. So let's dig in. Episode 3 today is criminal minds. There are a few criminal minds in this story, Big Thana, Toresh, and Haman, and Mordecai, Esther's older cousin who ends up being her adoptive father. He ends up being the lead undercover investigator in each case. You see, Mordecai has this job at the king's gate. And one day over here is two of the king's guards, Big Thana and Tureh, plotting to assassinate the king. Well, Mordecai tells Esther, who reports it to the king,

giving all the credit to Mordecai. And when the report was investigated and found out to be true, these two really bad guys, they lose their lives. And the end of verse 23 adds this. This was all recorded in the book of the history of King Xerxes reign. You'll need to hang on to that for a future episode. This kind of goes into Mordecai's personnel file in the HR department. On such and such a date, Mordecai saved the king's life.

Then there is the criminal mind of a man named Haman. And just like most great villains and movies or novels, Haman is on the inside. He's the right-hand guy. He's the highest-ranking official in the empire with an ego to match. I mean, his position was so high that when he passed by other officials, they would all bow down to him in reverence and fear.

Except for this one guy. There was this Jewish man who worked the front gate, who believed in bowing only to God. You guessed it, Mordecai. So day after day, Haman passes by the king's gate and everyone bows. Mordecai perhaps gives a smile and a knot of the head, but he doesn't bow down. And this makes Haman furious. In fact, he is so filled with rage, he decides to do something about it.

It says this in Esther 3, verse 6. He had learned of Mordecai's nationality. So he decided it was not enough to lay hands on Mordecai alone, Instead, he looked for a way to destroy all the Jews throughout the entire empire of Xerxes. Talk about an overreaction? Talk about an ego out of control? So in the month of April, they cast lots. They roll the dice to see when it would be a good day on the calendar to annihilate all the Jews.

And they land on March 7th, almost a year later. It looked like a good day for ethnic cleansing. Schedule is free. So Haman goes and coerces the king to sign off on this point. plan, explaining to him that there was this certain race of people scattered throughout all the provinces that were different from everyone else. They keep separate, they have different laws. In fact, old king, they refuse to obey your laws, which isn't true at all. But this egomaniac appeals to the self-centered nature of the king and convinces him that there is this disrespectful

race of people that should be destroyed and their money and belongings taken. And the king agrees He's telling Haman, well, the money and people are both yours to do with as you see fit. And so later that week, on April 17th, the decree is written, translated into the language of each province and sent with messengers to deliver them, saying, all Jews, young and old, including women and children, must be killed, slaughtered, and annihilated on a single day. This was scheduled to happen on March 7th of the next year. Wow. Can you imagine that? I mean, this horrific, a sinister plan from the criminal mind of a very evil man.

And think about what it must have been like for the Jewish people, that these messengers were coming to deliver the news, and on the front page it reads, on March 7th, every Jew, young and old, will be killed. Can you imagine? What it must have been like to have a date like that circled on your calendar? 11 months to anticipate your death of the death of those closest to you, 11 months to pack up and start running, but run to where? They had no real home. Well, as the news spreads,

the entire Jewish community begins to weep and wail. They cover themselves in burlap and ashes, which was a traditional manner of brokenness and mourning, desperately asking God to intercede on their behalf. And it says in chapter 4, verse 1, when Mordecai learned about all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on burlap and ashes, and went out into the city crying with a loud and bitter whale. Well, this news about Mordecai weeping and wailing, laying in sackcloth, travels back to Esther. So she sends a messenger to find out what in the world was wrong with her dear cousin, her adoptive father. Mordecai relays the entire story to Esther and says, Go to the king, beg for mercy, and plead for your people. And Esther sends back a reply that goes

something like this. You've got to be kidding. I can't do that. Everyone knows that to go to the king uninvited is against the law and the punishment is death. I mean, the only exception is if the king holds out his gold scepter as an invitation, and I don't see that happening. I mean, we have been married for almost five years. The king hasn't asked for me in 30 days, if you know what I'm saying. It's not a real good time for me to reveal my secret heritage or to ask the king for any favors. This is way too risky. This is way too much of an ask of me. Now, Esther had to believe that a response would be sufficient, that Mordecai would certainly understand. After all, he loved her, he was her protector. There was no way he would actually expect her to take a risk like that.

But Mordecai sends back this now famous reply to Esther and says this, don't think for a moment that because you're in the palace you will escape when all other Jews are killed. If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some of their place. But you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this? Not exactly what Esther was expecting to hear. Mordecai is reminding her that although she is queen live in a plush, sheltered life on the inside of that palace, with maids and servants and a walk-in closet full of designer clothes, she is still Jewish, and this decree applies to her as well, and even if she does manage to escape it, those closest to her will not.

So he asked her to find some courage, to not back down, to not take the easy way out. He challenged her by saying, who knows, maybe you were in the palace, maybe just maybe, you were made queen for such a time as this. You see, gang, the opposite of courage is not fear. It's self-preservation. It's wanting to protect ourselves, shield ourselves, keep ourselves safe and comfortable. Have you been there? Man, I have.

I love what Karen Job says. Esther had to overcome herself in order to do what God had created her and positioned her to do. You ever have to overcome yourself? Man, I have almost every day. So let's just hit pause right there. And maybe you can just pray a simple prayer for your day today. Maybe you can pray, Lord, help me overcome myself. Help me overcome myself.

And grab some of your courage from my day. today. I'm praying for you today. See you back tomorrow for the rest of episode three. Thanks for tuning in today. For more biblical teaching and worship, join us for our church online live weekend services on Saturdays at 6 p.m. and Sundays at 9.30 and 11 a.m. Central Standard Time. Also, if this podcast was helpful to you, would you be sure to rate, review, and share this podcast to help get the word out. For more information, about all digital ministries of Lake Point. Visit lakepoint.

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