Romans 8:28 is one of the most mysterious and perhaps impossible to understand verses in all of the Bible. Although we read it without difficulty, it’s simple in concept, the reality of it is where the mystery lives. Romans 8:28 reads, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Easy to read, simple in concept, truly beyond reasonable grasp in this reality! The Bible says that we walk by faith and not by sight. The implication there, the imperative actually, is that faith itself is a form of sight… Faith grows not through striving but through cooperation. Cooperation with God in your life.

Repentance, (just a bonus here), is to confirm your thinking to God’s thinking. And in so doing, to begin to glimpse by faith. A new and a higher form of sight. Repentance is not a change of mind alone, it’s actually a change to how you approach life.

Faith is maturing when the impossible begins to sound logical to you. When the restrictions aren’t the focus, the obstacles blur to background, and your confidence in God and His perfect integrity takes control. Jesus said in Matthew 19:26, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Which is in and of itself entirely mysterious! Why? Because the implication, the affected subject is still men!

Esther is a book that allows us and gives us the real opportunity to observe the underlying sovereignty of God throughout impossible circumstance. As we study this book together, we will see as events seemed out of control to Esther, when the king dictated ruin for her people, when evil was positioned to triumph, God was at work! He works through their captivities, through their faithful obedience, through their victories, and even through their enemies! When life makes no sense, God is engaged and crafting and providing and protecting and preserving and preparing!

There’s this other underpinning of a theme in this book also and that is God’s faithfulness to His word. That we serve a God of perfect integrity! Mordecai says to Esther in Esther 4:14, “If you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father’s house will perish.” Mordecai’s words put on blast God’s eternal covenant with Abraham and David! Just one example… Others are peppered throughout these ten chapters!

Esther was the orphaned daughter of her father Abihail. She grew up in Persia with her older cousin, Mordecai, who raised her as if she was his own daughter. This unknown, unimportant, insignificant, parentless out-of-place Jewish girl becomes the queen of Persia, the reigning world power, and the person used by God to perform His word and preserve His people!

The author and the exact timing of the writing of this book are unknown. Although we have clues as to timing because the book covers the reign of Ahasuerus (whose Greek name was Xerxes) who ruled from 486 to 465 B.C. So, the events of this book occur around that time period.

Interestingly, the antagonist in this book is a character named Haman. It’s super interesting because of the history here. Haman was an Agagite. Why does that matter? When the Jews exited Egypt, we read in Exodus 17 that they were attacked by the Amalekites. The Amalekites were a people that came from Amalek who was a son of Esau. At the time of their attack of Israel, God pronounces a curse on them as a people.

Exodus 17:14 reads, “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Write this for a memorial in the book and recount it in the hearing of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.” This pronouncement was to be carried out by King Saul. We read in 1 Samuel 15:1-3, “Samuel also said to Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you king over His people, over Israel. Now therefore, heed the voice of the words of the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt. Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”

Here's however what King Saul did. He only partly obeyed. He did attack and he did essentially wipe them out…, except he took their king alive as sort of a trophy, King Agag, and he took the best of his livestock… Haman was a descendant of disobedience… And the entirety of this major issue, an issue that threatened the entirety of the nation of Israel, occurs through Haman almost 600 years later! Here’s the horrifying truth…, all of us have disobeyed God… and so in reality, we all have numerous Hamans in our present and in our future! Sounds terrible and it is…, and yet God’s word is true, specifically Romans 8:28. That’s the thrust of this book!

Esther Chapter 1 Verses 1 – 2

· We actually know quite a lot about this kingdom and this specific king from world history and archeological sources in addition to the Bible. Really cool, archaeologists have actually discovered the ruins of the very palace where the events we are about to read happened. There is so much to learn about this empire and how it was birthed from the Babylonians, administrated and even designed architecturally…

· We know when Xerxes was in power and so we are able to put a rough timeline around what we are about to read. For bearings purposes, we know at this time the Persian Empire was the largest single empire the world had ever seen. It stretched from Turkey, to Iraq, to Iran, to Pakistan and even through Israel to modern day Egypt and Arabia.

· This is the time of Ezra (some even arguing that Ezra could have been the author of this book). Ezra had returned to the Babylonian disaster left which they remembered to be Israel and a simple temple had been rebuilt (not having the glory of the previous Solomon’s temple). It would be in about 40 years that Nehemiah would return to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls of the city. So that gives you a bit of historical context as to the time of this book.

Esther Chapter 1 Verses 3 – 4

· This is truly the prime of the Persian Empire. So much so that the empire enjoys virtually no threat (Alexander is on his way soon) and the king throws a party for all of his loyal leadership from across his provinces. A six-month party!

Esther Chapter 1 Verses 5 - 8

· So, after the main party was complete, he then throws a seven-day party for everyone that was there in his capital. Opening the doors to the palace to anyone and everyone! Definitely this king was a popular king amongst the people!!

Esther Chapter 1 Verses 9 – 11

· There is some conversation about this command as in context to Vashti’s response (which we will see in just a moment), the command of the king was probably a bit more problematic than what we just read… Some say, and admittedly it makes sense in context, Xerxes has been partying for six months and a week. He is surrounded by folks pumping his ego and he has had a ton to drink on this last day of the last party… And so, some say that this command for her to appear to show her off in her crown essentially meant only in her crown!

· Now, you need to understand just a bit about who Vashti is… She was not Persian. She was Babylonian. According to the Haggadah, a book of Jewish tradition and folklore, Vashti was the daughter of the Babylonian King Belshazzar. Belshazzar, of course, was the son of Nebuchadnezzar. According to the tradition, the night Belshazzar was killed, Vashti was captured by the conquering Persians and in a moment of mercy and feeling sorry for the young girl who had lost her family and home, she was given to Xerxes as a wife….

· Who killed King Belshazzar? Cyrus. Cyrus had a son named Darius and Darius had a son named Xerxes. So, this is a rough situation… And Vasthi, here she comes… Or maybe better said, here she does not come…

Esther Chapter 1 Verse 12

· Called out of the feast that she herself was having for the ladies, most likely in an immodest and inappropriate, demeaning way, she refuses. According to some Jewish traditions, Vashti didn’t just refuse, she essentially refused telling the servants of the king to tell him that he’s drunk and acting like his fathers who were just countrymen in the kingdom of her fathers! Sick BURN! HA!!

· And so, Xerxes, six months and seven days of having his ego pumped, in the sight and knowledge of not only the powers from all of his provinces but also ALL of the people of his capital city, has just been owned by his wife. Do you think this will go well? It says here that he was furious and his anger burned within him.

· Now look, many pastors use this as a jumping off point to talk about marriage. I think that is comical. This is anything but a biblical marriage! Suffice it to say…, if Xerxes wanted to show off the beauty of his queen, he could have just told her that and then asked her what she wanted to do. Here are the most powerful words in any marriage that are never, almost never, (think about your own marriage…), almost never asked (in sincerity) by a wife to her husband or by a husband to his wife. “What do you want?” That single question with a willing heart to fully deliver is the absolute key to a marriage where two people live to serve each other… (unto the Lord), which guys, I’m just going to say, is heaven on earth (how God intended marriage to actually be). But we got people living for themselves, (hell on earth), in mostly all marriages. How about yours?

Esther Chapter 1 Verses 13 – 15

· Law was, no matter who you are, you’re dead….

Esther Chapter 1 Verses 16 – 22

· Tradition in the Jewish culture says that she wasn’t just exiled but that he had her killed. And he uses this insult against him in the only way a pride-filled carnal man knows how…, to turn it around to further his own ego.

· Jesus takes the transgressions against Him and He forgives, He pays the price Himself for His bride, a picture of strength and honor…, but Xerxes, a picture of the flesh, takes the transgression against Him and positions for the upper hand…, a picture of weakness, insecurity and childishness… And yet, mysterious, past rational thought and consideration, unknowingly to Xerxes, God will use even this king’s carnality to accomplish something. This will create the vacuum that pulls Esther into the story…