God's Judgment
We can be certain that evil people
who have persecuted God's people
will one day be judged.
Here's Gene:
Now, this Principle--this Principle
actually relates to God's sovereignty.
It relates to God's sovereign plan
for the children of Israel.
And note how this plan is unfolding
right here in this incredible story.
Even though God's name is not mentioned,
you can see God at work in protecting
His people--His chosen people.
So let me take you to chapter 6, verse 1:
That night, sleep escaped the king...
Now this is right in the process of what
Esther is trying to do. And what
Mordecai is trying to do to save their people.
This is not an accident:
...That night sleep escaped the king,
so he ordered the book recording daily events
to be brought and read to the king. ...
I suppose he thought: Maybe if I just
have somebody read this stuff,
it'll put me to sleep.
Well what happened?
Those who were reading to the king that night--
and he couldn't sleep.
And you know as well as I know who's in control here
of keeping him from being able to sleep.
God's at work here.
...They found the written record of how
Mordecai had informed on Bigthana and Teresh,
two eunuchs who guarded the king's entrance,
when they planned to assassinate King Ahasuerus. ...
And you remember that appeared earlier
in the book of Esther. And so:
...The king [just] inquired, [he said,]
"What honor and special recognition
have been given to Mordecai for this act?" ...
He saved my life. And notice:
...The king's personal attendants replied,
"Nothing has been done for him."
Well this is the fascinating part of the story,
which really becomes intensely ironic.
Because at the break of day, or when it was daylight,
who should appear on the scene but Haman.
He walks into the palace.
And so consequently, the king said to Haman--
the first guy that appears on the scene, he says:
What should be done for the man
the king wants to honor?
Now what do you think Haman thought?
Well, who would he want to honor but me?
And so you pick up the story in Esther
chapter 6, verse 6, latter part of the verse:
Haman thought to himself, "Who is it
the king would want to honor more than me?" ...
I mean, he's coming off of this high.
He's just bragged to his wife.
He's bragged to his friends.
He's talked about all of his wealth.
He's talked about his position over everybody else.
So logically, who would the king want to honor but me?
...Haman told the king, [in answering the question,]
"For the man the king wants to honor:
Have them bring a royal garment
that the king himself has worn
and a horse the king himself has ridden...
He can just see himself
in that situation. And he says:
...which has a royal diadem on its head.
Put the garment and the horse
under the charge of one of the king's
most noble officials. ...
In other words, he's saying: Just go
and find someone next to me,
but under me, who is going to lead me
through the city and be honored.
He goes on to say:
...Have them clothe the man the king
wants to honor, parade him on the horse
through the city square, [and] proclaim before him,
'This is what is done for the man
the king wants to honor.' "
Well, you know what happened.
He goes home and he tells his wife.
We read about it in Esther 6:13--
that when he relayed this information to his wife
and his friends, they knew that Haman
was going to be doomed. Because he's being set up
to be revealed as the one who is
trying to destroy Mordecai.
So in Esther 6:13:
...Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends
everything that had happened.
His advisers and his wife Zeresh said to him,
"Since Mordecai is Jewish, and you
have begun to fall before him,
you won't overcome him,
because your downfall is certain."
In other words: Haman, you've had it.
Because what happened is that Haman
then had to be the one that led Mordecai
through the city in honoring him.
And he realized what humility this was
for this guy who thought he was
going to be the one that's honored.
And here he has to take his worst enemy
and honor him as he leads him through the city.
Honoring him in just the way that he outlined
that he should be honored.
And the king said : So be it.
Mordecai is the guy I want to honor.
And so he goes home and he says:
Whoa--here's what happened.
And they said: Haman, it's all over.
How would you like your wife
to say that to you?
I wonder what the dynamics were
when she said that? You've had it.
You'll never survive this. You're done.
And that's what happened. Esther 7:10:
...They hanged Haman on the gallows
he had prepared for Mordecai.
[And] then the king's anger subsided.
And by the way, there's another
interesting little twist to this whole story.
Because when Esther had that banquet,
you see, and said to the king: This is what
he has done. This is what Haman has done.
The king is so angry that he goes out on his porch
just to control himself.
And while he's out there Haman falls
on the couch where Esther is reclining.
And the king walks back in and he thinks
that Haman is trying to rape her.
He's pleading for mercy and
he's accused of raping.
And that's where they came in with a hood,
immediately took him out, hung him
on the gallows that he had built for Mordecai.
You talk about irony.
And that's what happened in this story.
Now there's a very important lesson, I think,
for all of us, in terms of what ultimately happened
to those who persecute God's people.
In the Scriptures, here's what we read.
It goes back to the Abrahamic covenant,
when God chose Abraham out of paganism.
And He said to Abraham:
I'm going to make you into a great nation...
And that great nation was the children of Israel.
Because from Abraham came Isaac,
then came Jacob, then came the 12 sons of Israel.
From that came the nation of Israel. And God said:
...[I'm going to] make you into a great nation,
I will bless you, I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you...
You can't miss who He's talking about here:
...I will bless those who bless you,
I will curse those who treat you with contempt.
And in this case, Haman really paid the ultimate price
for what he was trying to do to Israel.
To wipe them off the face of the earth.
What an incredible fulfillment that is
in relationship to what God said would happen.
Now we have to understand, God didn't choose
the children of Israel because He was
being particularistic and showing favoritism.
He chose them because--if you have
finished this verse, He said:
Abraham, through you the whole world
is going to be blessed because the Messiah
is going to come through your seed.
This was why God chose Israel--to be a blessing
to the whole world because of the Messiah.
Now this leads to an interesting question:
Though we're not to take the law
into our own hands,
what should be our civic responsibilities
as Christians and [as] citizens?
Now there's a very significant passage of Scripture
that Paul wrote to the Romans, chapter 13, verse 4.
And notice what Paul said.
Now this is in the midst of the Roman government.
This was written when Nero was in charge.
This was written when Christians
were being persecuted. And he says:
For government is God's servant for your good. ...
That's why God has established governments.
Because if God hadn't established
governments all over the world,
we would be in chaos, absolutely.
If we have chaos now, think of what it would be
without governments.
Now when he says "God's servant,"
he's not talking about servanthood
in the same way as Jesus illustrated it
there when He washed the disciples' feet
and said: You're to serve one another.
He's talking about the fact that
government is to serve people.
And Paul goes on to say:
...But if you do wrong, be afraid,
because it does not carry the sword for no reason. ...
In other words: God established
governments to keep control.
And if you violate government rules,
regulations, other human beings,
you're going to pay the price for what you've done.
And he goes on to say:
...For government is God's servant, an avenger
that brings wrath on the one who does wrong.
In other words: If you want to live at peace,
do everything you possibly can not to violate
the government controls,
even in a pagan situation.
And the Roman government did protect people,
even though it was very corrupt.
They had very high laws in terms
of protecting people.
But it was ironic--you get into it, it had all kinds
of inconsistencies as well.
So basically, Paul is saying:
You've got to respect this government
because it's a servant of God.
He wasn't condoning what they were doing
in every respect.
Now this leads to a question that I
personally wrestle with and I think we all
need to wrestle with it.
And that is: What happens when a government
ceases being God's servant?
What is our responsibility?
And we've seen this happen.
We see this happening today in countries
that are doing things to other people
that are absolutely criminal in terms of
what they're trying to do and wipe them out.
That's been a story of history.
Well, one of the things that God has established,
I think, through certain countries in the world
where they have at least an ethic of honesty
and integrity and concern for people.
Is that we step in and we stop it.
And we say: As governments--other governments-
we're not going to let this government
destroy people literally and wipe them out.
And I believe that's part of God's plan too--
serving as God's servant.
But that doesn't always work either.
And the thing that I think about when I think
about this, is a man that I've admired greatly,
who is with Jesus.
His name is Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a great
Christian theologian in Germany.
He was a great pastor.
He had great passion for people.
And he was a conscientious objector in the sense
he was so compassionate that he didn't
even want to bear arms within the German army.
He said: My conscience won't let me do that.
But then he began to see what was happening
in Nazi Germany.
He began to see Jews--whole families, children--
literally being lined up. Shot. Killed. Destroyed.
And boy, did he wrestle with this
passage of Scripture in the book
of Romans that we just looked at.
They have ceased to be God's servant.
And what is my responsibility
as a Christian pastor and influential person
in this country?
And the irony is that he made the decision
to become a double agent.
And becoming a double agent,
that certainly involves deceit.
But as they looked at it, he said to himself:
There's a time, there's a place where I
must go by a higher law, as it were,
to protect people who are being wiped out
and destroyed.
A lot of people wrestle with
what Bonhoeffer did.
Now the irony is that he paid the ultimate price
for what happened there.
And I have here in my hands
one of the greatest books on Bonhoeffer,
by Metaxas.
And when he paid that ultimate price,
this is what he said:
"This is the end--for me the beginning of life."
That's an incredible example
of commitment to Jesus Christ.