Under Threat
Series: Esther- For such a time as this
Speaker: John Lau
Date: 2nd November 2025
00:00:00 --> 00:00:12 Welcome, and if you have not met me, I'm John. I was on staff here last few years after I graduated from Moore Theology College, and I've been a member of this church for many years now.
00:00:12 --> 00:00:26 And now I work in Anakin A, an agency of Sydney Anakin to help strengthen churches and transform community in the world's poorest nations in partnership with global church.
00:00:26 --> 00:00:38 We have started looking into the Old Testament book of Esther last week, and we'll look into the second half of chapter 2 and the whole of chapter 3 today.
00:00:39 --> 00:00:48 So please keep your Bible open to that session, and you can also use our St. Paul's app to take notes and also follow along today.
00:00:48 --> 00:00:56 So out of the total 66 books of the Bible, there are only two books that are named after a woman.
00:00:57 --> 00:00:59 Esther is one of them, and the other is Ruth.
00:01:00 --> 00:01:06 And as already mentioned last week, Esther is the only book in the Bible that did not mention God at all.
00:01:07 --> 00:01:09 There is something unique about this book.
00:01:09 --> 00:01:15 The book of Esther is set in Susa, the capital city of Persia.
00:01:15 --> 00:01:23 During the time of King Cersei, he was the king that defeated the Babylonians, the captives of God's people.
00:01:24 --> 00:01:29 And Susa's son was the king that allowed the captive to move back to the promised land,
00:01:30 --> 00:01:36 the land that God has set aside for his people to dwell and to form a nation under his name.
00:01:36 --> 00:01:42 It is also supposed to be the place where God's blessing goes out to every nation.
00:01:43 --> 00:01:50 However, God's people rebelled against God, and they were exiled from the promised land to Babylon.
00:01:51 --> 00:01:57 One of the reasons they rebelled against God was that, like many other people around the world now,
00:01:58 --> 00:01:59 have a small view of God.
00:01:59 --> 00:02:09 People do not accept or believe in one true God that is universal and is the creator and ruler of the universe.
00:02:10 --> 00:02:17 God's people demand to have a human king instead of having God as the ultimate ruler and king above them.
00:02:18 --> 00:02:22 They want to appear as the same as the nations around them.
00:02:22 --> 00:02:29 And many modern people today do not ask for a king above them, but make themselves the king of their life.
00:02:30 --> 00:02:35 Believing putting themselves as the center of their life is the best way to live.
00:02:35 --> 00:02:43 They believe that would be the best way to express the meaning of their existence, to be the king of their own life.
00:02:43 --> 00:02:52 Many cultures believe God is limited by location and assign certain God to a particular group of people.
00:02:53 --> 00:02:57 They will assume Indian will be Hindu and Asian will be Buddhist.
00:02:58 --> 00:03:01 Some people will think being a Christian is something for a Westerner.
00:03:01 --> 00:03:12 People will consider a religion if it somehow provides benefit for their career advancement or help them to settle into a new culture.
00:03:13 --> 00:03:16 They are not interested in having a relationship with God.
00:03:17 --> 00:03:23 God is God's people who are created by God and do not honor or glorify their creator.
00:03:23 --> 00:03:31 So God used the Gentiles as a tool to exercise his discipline on his people and to show his mercy and grace.
00:03:32 --> 00:03:38 The book of Esther is part of the books in the Old Testament, then known as the post-excelic book,
00:03:39 --> 00:03:43 that show God is everywhere and he's not restricted by location.
00:03:43 --> 00:03:47 And he's always ready and at work to save his people.
00:03:47 --> 00:03:49 And he's still saving today.
00:03:49 --> 00:03:56 Many people, when we read the Bible, especially the Old Testament, will complain that it is hard to follow.
00:03:57 --> 00:03:59 I used to think that way too.
00:03:59 --> 00:04:08 Until I learned that looking out for repeated themes and topics as I read can help me to maintain a focus and get more out of my reading.
00:04:08 --> 00:04:12 One example is someone always finds their future wife at a well.
00:04:12 --> 00:04:19 So whenever a well is mentioned in a passage, I will look out for any nuptial arrangement.
00:04:20 --> 00:04:24 One of the words that characterize the book of Esther is banquet.
00:04:26 --> 00:04:31 There are only 10 chapters in Esther, but there are 10 banquet scenes in that book.
00:04:32 --> 00:04:40 And in fact, nearly half of the occurrence of the Hebrew term for banquet in the whole Bible appear in Esther.
00:04:40 --> 00:04:47 So banquet forms a structuring device in the narrative of Esther.
00:04:47 --> 00:04:51 It has a cone shape or chaiistic structure.
00:04:53 --> 00:04:57 A chaiism is when you see something presented as A, B, C, and C, B, A.
00:04:58 --> 00:04:59 So it's gone up and down.
00:05:00 --> 00:05:09 The first few banquet I mentioned in chapter 1 is sponsored by King Circe and by Queen Fashti.
00:05:09 --> 00:05:14 They are mirrored and contrasted by the festival announced in chapter 9.
00:05:14 --> 00:05:18 The first three denote excess and exclusion.
00:05:20 --> 00:05:27 As only the close circle of the king are invited and the woman are invited separately in their parties.
00:05:28 --> 00:05:33 The last three banquet are festivals celebrating deliverance and acceptance.
00:05:33 --> 00:05:42 Starting countrywide, then in Cersia, and in subsequent years, everyone is invited to celebrate together
00:05:42 --> 00:05:48 and provide a contrast to the exclusivity of the first few banquets.
00:05:48 --> 00:05:54 When you read the Bible, there's a big banquet at the end of the Bible.
00:05:54 --> 00:05:55 So look out for that as well.
00:05:57 --> 00:06:01 Our passage situated between the Esther's banquet that King Circe organized
00:06:01 --> 00:06:04 when he crowned her as queen
00:06:04 --> 00:06:08 and the private banquet Haman has with King Circe
00:06:08 --> 00:06:11 after they created a threat for God's people.
00:06:12 --> 00:06:17 Esther organized two banquets after that to save God's people from Haman's threat.
00:06:17 --> 00:06:24 There are continued reversal between what people are doing and what God is doing
00:06:24 --> 00:06:26 between all these banquets.
00:06:27 --> 00:06:30 So keeping this in mind as you journey through the book of Esther,
00:06:31 --> 00:06:32 remember the chiasm.
00:06:32 --> 00:06:36 Look out and compare and set in the background of each banquet.
00:06:36 --> 00:06:42 It will help you appreciate what God is doing to save his people from the threat they are under.
00:06:42 --> 00:06:44 So let's look at the nature of these threats.
00:06:45 --> 00:06:48 The first threat is a foreign king's under threat.
00:06:49 --> 00:06:56 After we were told that King Circe gave a banquet to celebrate crowning Esther as his new queen,
00:06:57 --> 00:06:59 the first Esther's banquet of the book,
00:06:59 --> 00:07:03 we were told in later half of chapter 2, 7, verse 18,
00:07:03 --> 00:07:06 that he proclaimed a holiday throughout the province
00:07:06 --> 00:07:10 and distributed gifts with royal liberality.
00:07:11 --> 00:07:15 The holiday referring to here is not just a public holiday.
00:07:16 --> 00:07:18 It's also understood as a test amnesty.
00:07:19 --> 00:07:22 Imagine you're told you do not need to pay your tests.
00:07:23 --> 00:07:25 This would be a great celebration.
00:07:26 --> 00:07:29 Everyone would be overjoyed, except for some.
00:07:29 --> 00:07:33 Someone is not happy with what King is doing
00:07:33 --> 00:07:38 to a point that they are conspiring to threaten King's life.
00:07:39 --> 00:07:42 Two of King's officials become angry at the king.
00:07:43 --> 00:07:45 They conspire to assassinate him.
00:07:46 --> 00:07:49 We do not have many details of the circumstance of this conspiracy.
00:07:50 --> 00:07:55 We know it was during the second gathering of the king's virgins.
00:07:55 --> 00:07:58 So maybe they are having another banquet.
00:07:58 --> 00:08:03 Maybe the banqueting just keep going on and on and on and on.
00:08:04 --> 00:08:07 And these two officials have no way to make more money
00:08:07 --> 00:08:09 from collecting extra tests
00:08:09 --> 00:08:12 because there's a nationwide test holiday.
00:08:13 --> 00:08:16 We do not know the exact reason why they are angry.
00:08:17 --> 00:08:21 I believe we are provided with limited information for a reason.
00:08:21 --> 00:08:27 It might be fun and intriguing to speculate on what we do not know,
00:08:28 --> 00:08:31 which a lot of us, myself included, tend to do.
00:08:32 --> 00:08:36 But to do so may not be most beneficial to us when we read God's words.
00:08:37 --> 00:08:42 As we read God's words, the key is to focus on the bits we can be certain of
00:08:42 --> 00:08:46 rather than speculate on what we cannot know,
00:08:46 --> 00:08:48 even if that is what we might want to know.
00:08:49 --> 00:08:55 We live in a time where many believe to exercise constraint on our mind
00:08:55 --> 00:08:59 and curiosity is infringing on human rights and freedom.
00:09:00 --> 00:09:07 The world we are in today subscribe to a view that human is the highest form of intelligence
00:09:07 --> 00:09:11 and should be allowed to redefine reality for themselves.
00:09:12 --> 00:09:15 They should be allowed to choose their own pronouns
00:09:15 --> 00:09:20 and should not be submitted to the reality that is defined by their creator God.
00:09:21 --> 00:09:27 People take it to themselves to be the prosecutor and the judge.
00:09:28 --> 00:09:32 I'm angry enough to kill eye for eye, tooth for tooth.
00:09:32 --> 00:09:39 I'll put up with you for now until I hold a more prominent position and have more power.
00:09:40 --> 00:09:42 When that happens, I'll show you who the boss.
00:09:43 --> 00:09:46 No gratitude or appreciation towards each other.
00:09:48 --> 00:09:50 I was absent a couple of weeks ago.
00:09:50 --> 00:09:51 I was actually working.
00:09:52 --> 00:09:57 I drove the dean of Ascension School of Theology from Egypt to do a church visit.
00:09:57 --> 00:10:02 And he noticed during the few weeks that he was staying in Sydney,
00:10:02 --> 00:10:06 people keep using their horn in traffic all the time.
00:10:06 --> 00:10:10 And he noticed there's a sense of being angry on the road.
00:10:11 --> 00:10:15 These two angry officials provide us with contrasts
00:10:15 --> 00:10:18 that highlight the beauty of Esther's character.
00:10:19 --> 00:10:21 In chapter 2, verse 20, it says,
00:10:21 --> 00:10:28 Esther had kept secret his family background and nationality just that Mordecai had told her to do.
00:10:29 --> 00:10:34 For she continued to follow Mordecai's instruction as she had done when he was bringing her up.
00:10:35 --> 00:10:40 Esther continued to follow Mordecai's instruction as she had done when he was bringing her up.
00:10:41 --> 00:10:45 Becoming a queen did not change how Esther conducted herself,
00:10:45 --> 00:10:47 nor her attitude towards Mordecai.
00:10:47 --> 00:10:55 She might have started more with a sense of survival when she stepped in her palace,
00:10:55 --> 00:10:57 aiming to be the next queen.
00:10:58 --> 00:11:03 We can consider she was doing things against God by going into a beauty pageant
00:11:03 --> 00:11:05 or sleeping with a foreign king.
00:11:06 --> 00:11:10 But we are starting also to see how God is changing her and growing her.
00:11:11 --> 00:11:16 Her voluntary submission to God's authority of those God put in her life
00:11:16 --> 00:11:17 is such a beautiful thing.
00:11:17 --> 00:11:21 It's getting more rare in our current ages.
00:11:22 --> 00:11:27 We'll see more of how God transformed Esther as we continue in the next few weeks.
00:11:29 --> 00:11:31 God is working in Esther's life,
00:11:31 --> 00:11:34 and he's also working all the time to save his people.
00:11:35 --> 00:11:38 There's no coincidence under God.
00:11:38 --> 00:11:40 Everything under God is for a purpose.
00:11:40 --> 00:11:49 Mordecai happened to be sitting at the king's gate while the two king's officials conspired to assassinate the king.
00:11:49 --> 00:11:51 It was no coincidence.
00:11:52 --> 00:11:54 Everything is under the sovereignty of God.
00:11:55 --> 00:12:02 It was under God's control that Mordecai was there to find out about the plot in verse 22,
00:12:02 --> 00:12:04 and in turn tell Queen Esther.
00:12:04 --> 00:12:09 God used Mordecai and Esther to save a foreign king's life.
00:12:09 --> 00:12:12 It was not just for immediate deliverance.
00:12:13 --> 00:12:15 It will have a greater deliverance later.
00:12:16 --> 00:12:20 God used Esther and Mordecai to save the Gentile king.
00:12:20 --> 00:12:47 After only reading three chapters of Esther so far,
00:12:47 --> 00:12:54 my impression of King Esther is he would not be my top choice to fit the category of someone to be saved.
00:12:54 --> 00:13:00 He's boastful, excessive, he's a big show-off, has no respect towards women,
00:13:01 --> 00:13:05 he's hyper-emotional, and easily angered, easily manipulated.
00:13:06 --> 00:13:11 So if God would save even him, there is hope for everyone and anyone,
00:13:12 --> 00:13:17 especially King Esther participated in threatening the life of God's people.
00:13:17 --> 00:13:23 The threat towards God's people was brought on by Haman,
00:13:24 --> 00:13:27 someone that King Cersie raised to prominent position.
00:13:28 --> 00:13:33 The passage is not explicit with the reason King Cersie left Haman,
00:13:33 --> 00:13:36 elevating him and giving him a seat of honor,
00:13:36 --> 00:13:39 higher than that of all the other nobles.
00:13:39 --> 00:13:43 We know that Haman is rich from verse 9,
00:13:43 --> 00:13:46 and maybe he brought his position with his world.
00:13:48 --> 00:13:51 And can also work out roughly how long
00:13:51 --> 00:13:55 after Mordecai spoiled the assassination plot,
00:13:55 --> 00:13:57 did Haman find favor with the king
00:13:57 --> 00:14:01 by comparing the time Esther became queen in 2.16,
00:14:02 --> 00:14:06 which say she was taken to King Cersie in the royal residence
00:14:06 --> 00:14:09 in the tenth month, the month of Tibet,
00:14:10 --> 00:14:12 in the seventh year of his reign,
00:14:12 --> 00:14:15 to verse 7 of chapter 3,
00:14:15 --> 00:14:17 which refers to the twelve years of King Cersie.
00:14:17 --> 00:14:24 We can assume the refusal of Mordecai to kneel or pay honor to Haman
00:14:24 --> 00:14:29 can be up to five years long from Esther become queen.
00:14:30 --> 00:14:34 Mordecai is slowly become the dust of Haman's sore eyes.
00:14:35 --> 00:14:38 His refusal to kneel and pay honor
00:14:38 --> 00:14:41 is a direct challenge to Haman's authority.
00:14:41 --> 00:14:44 I believe it would not be wrong
00:14:44 --> 00:14:47 to assume that Mordecai refused to pay him honor
00:14:47 --> 00:14:49 because of the first two commands
00:14:49 --> 00:14:52 of God's law in the Ten Commandments,
00:14:53 --> 00:14:56 which say you shall have no other gods before me
00:14:56 --> 00:14:59 and shall not bow down or worship any created things.
00:15:00 --> 00:15:03 So what would you do if you are Mordecai?
00:15:03 --> 00:15:06 Would you hold firm to God's command
00:15:06 --> 00:15:10 or will you comply with what's demanded of you from the world
00:15:10 --> 00:15:14 and pay honor to another human being?
00:15:15 --> 00:15:19 I find it interesting that the royal official at the king's gate
00:15:19 --> 00:15:22 were giving Mordecai a tough time day after day.
00:15:23 --> 00:15:26 It was them who report him to Haman.
00:15:27 --> 00:15:29 It says in chapter 3, verse 4,
00:15:29 --> 00:15:31 therefore they told Haman about it
00:15:31 --> 00:15:34 to see whether Mordecai's behavior would be tolerated,
00:15:34 --> 00:15:36 for he had told them he was a Jew.
00:15:36 --> 00:15:42 Why are they interested to see whether Haman would tolerate
00:15:42 --> 00:15:44 Mordecai's behavior or not?
00:15:44 --> 00:15:46 What does that have to do with them?
00:15:47 --> 00:15:50 Are they trying to assassinate Mordecai's character,
00:15:51 --> 00:15:55 trying to cancel him because he's not willing to join the flow?
00:15:56 --> 00:15:59 Isn't that what the world is doing every day
00:15:59 --> 00:16:03 to those who stand up for what they believe to be true and right?
00:16:03 --> 00:16:08 At the same time, I also wonder why did Mordecai tell Esther
00:16:08 --> 00:16:12 to keep her family background and nationality a secret
00:16:12 --> 00:16:14 when she became the queen,
00:16:15 --> 00:16:18 but not hold back from telling others he is a Jew?
00:16:20 --> 00:16:25 Haman said to the king in chapter 3, verse 8 to 9,
00:16:25 --> 00:16:30 There is a certain people dispersed among the people
00:16:30 --> 00:16:32 in all the province of your kingdom
00:16:32 --> 00:16:34 who kept themselves separate.
00:16:35 --> 00:16:38 Their customs are different from those of all other people,
00:16:39 --> 00:16:41 and they do not obey the king's law.
00:16:41 --> 00:16:45 It is not in the king's best interest to tolerate them.
00:16:46 --> 00:16:47 If it pleases the king,
00:16:47 --> 00:16:50 let the decree be issued to destroy them.
00:16:50 --> 00:16:52 I will give 10 talents of silver
00:16:52 --> 00:16:55 to the king's administrator for the royal treasury.
00:16:57 --> 00:17:00 God's people are threatened to be destroyed
00:17:00 --> 00:17:02 because they keep themselves separate from others.
00:17:03 --> 00:17:07 They hold to a different custom of those of all people.
00:17:08 --> 00:17:10 If you are a Christian, a follower of Jesus,
00:17:11 --> 00:17:14 is that what your unbelieving relatives,
00:17:14 --> 00:17:16 friends or colleagues said of you?
00:17:16 --> 00:17:18 Would they see a difference in your life
00:17:18 --> 00:17:20 that are so glaring at that
00:17:20 --> 00:17:24 that cause discomfort in theirs?
00:17:25 --> 00:17:27 I'm not talking about carrying a sense
00:17:27 --> 00:17:29 that you are holier than thou
00:17:29 --> 00:17:32 or you are the privileged and accepted one
00:17:32 --> 00:17:35 where the rest of the world is condemned in the wrong
00:17:35 --> 00:17:38 or always putting up a fight
00:17:38 --> 00:17:39 to challenge others' authority.
00:17:40 --> 00:17:43 I'm talking about holding on to God's truth
00:17:43 --> 00:17:45 and showing love to everyone,
00:17:46 --> 00:17:47 being servant of all.
00:17:47 --> 00:17:49 loving righteousness,
00:17:50 --> 00:17:52 but not in a self-righteous sense.
00:17:54 --> 00:17:55 Jesus called his follower
00:17:55 --> 00:17:57 the salt and light of this world
00:17:57 --> 00:17:59 when he gave his lesson on the mountain
00:17:59 --> 00:18:01 in Matthew 5.
00:18:02 --> 00:18:07 Salt is to bring peace and healing to this world.
00:18:07 --> 00:18:10 And he commanded his follower in verse 16
00:18:10 --> 00:18:13 to let your light shine before others
00:18:13 --> 00:18:15 that they might see your good deeds
00:18:15 --> 00:18:17 and glorify your Father in heaven.
00:18:17 --> 00:18:20 And he promised that his follower
00:18:20 --> 00:18:23 would be persecuted and threatened
00:18:23 --> 00:18:25 because that is how the world treated him.
00:18:26 --> 00:18:29 He come to that which is his own,
00:18:29 --> 00:18:32 but his own did not recognize or receive him.
00:18:33 --> 00:18:34 The world rejected Jesus
00:18:34 --> 00:18:36 because their deeds were evil.
00:18:37 --> 00:18:39 He is a light that come into the world,
00:18:39 --> 00:18:42 but people love darkness instead of light
00:18:42 --> 00:18:45 and fear that the deed will be exposed
00:18:45 --> 00:18:49 so they did not come into the light.
00:18:50 --> 00:18:53 Or are you living in darkness
00:18:53 --> 00:18:57 or are you truly living as the light of this world?
00:18:57 --> 00:19:01 What is your attitude towards being threatened
00:19:01 --> 00:19:03 or persecuted for your faith in Jesus?
00:19:04 --> 00:19:08 Do you consider it blessed to join the millions of people,
00:19:09 --> 00:19:11 millions of believers and prophets
00:19:11 --> 00:19:14 who stand up for their faith and God's people?
00:19:14 --> 00:19:19 Are you compliant and compromising, lady,
00:19:20 --> 00:19:22 so to avoid any form of suffering?
00:19:23 --> 00:19:25 Jesus' teaching and encouragement
00:19:25 --> 00:19:28 to his followers from his lesson on the mountain
00:19:28 --> 00:19:31 are blessed are those who are persecuted
00:19:31 --> 00:19:33 because of righteousness,
00:19:34 --> 00:19:36 for there is the kingdom of heaven.
00:19:36 --> 00:19:39 Blessed are you when people insult you,
00:19:40 --> 00:19:40 persecute you,
00:19:41 --> 00:19:43 and falsely say all kinds of evil against you
00:19:43 --> 00:19:44 because of me.
00:19:45 --> 00:19:46 Rejoice and be glad
00:19:46 --> 00:19:49 because great is your reward in heaven,
00:19:49 --> 00:19:50 for in the same way,
00:19:51 --> 00:19:53 they persecute the prophets who were before you.
00:19:55 --> 00:19:58 But we should never actively seek persecution,
00:19:58 --> 00:20:01 as some religious leaders do in countries
00:20:01 --> 00:20:02 that are more restricted
00:20:02 --> 00:20:05 to jump up outside support for themselves,
00:20:05 --> 00:20:07 seeking earthly reward.
00:20:09 --> 00:20:12 When the life of a foreign king was under threat,
00:20:13 --> 00:20:17 God used his people to eliminate the threat
00:20:17 --> 00:20:18 and save the king.
00:20:19 --> 00:20:21 A king that was put in place by him
00:20:21 --> 00:20:22 but did not love his people.
00:20:23 --> 00:20:25 A king that loved the praise of man
00:20:25 --> 00:20:26 more than the praise of him.
00:20:28 --> 00:20:31 As we come to the end of today's passage,
00:20:31 --> 00:20:32 it said,
00:20:32 --> 00:20:35 the courier went out,
00:20:35 --> 00:20:37 spurred on by the king's command,
00:20:37 --> 00:20:42 and on the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa.
00:20:43 --> 00:20:45 The king and Haman sat down to drink,
00:20:45 --> 00:20:49 but the city of Susa was bewildered.
00:20:50 --> 00:20:52 The king and the perpetrator
00:20:52 --> 00:20:54 to threaten the lives of God's people
00:20:54 --> 00:20:57 having a banquet to sit down and drink,
00:20:57 --> 00:21:00 and the city was bewildered and disturbed.
00:21:00 --> 00:21:01 In the coming weeks,
00:21:02 --> 00:21:03 we'll see how God turned things around
00:21:03 --> 00:21:06 for the benefit of his people.
00:21:07 --> 00:21:10 We'll witness how God also turned things upside down.
00:21:11 --> 00:21:12 The high will be brought low,
00:21:13 --> 00:21:14 and the lowly will be lifted up,
00:21:14 --> 00:21:16 for he is the servant God.
00:21:17 --> 00:21:19 While you wait to see the deliverance of God,
00:21:19 --> 00:21:21 even if you feel threatened,
00:21:23 --> 00:21:25 be the salt and light of this world.
00:21:26 --> 00:21:28 Let your light shine before others,
00:21:28 --> 00:21:29 that they might see your goodies
00:21:29 --> 00:21:32 and glorify your Father in heaven.