Light can be offensive. It hinders a thief, and shames an evil doer. Jesus said: “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil”. (John 3:19)
In this book of contrasts, last time we saw how God uses pain in both the believer and the unbeliever. The story that follows that one is perhaps the heart of the whole book, but follows the same pattern – a contrast between two different types of people, and HOW TRUTH WORKS DIFFERENTLY WITHIN MEN – BELIEVING AND UNBELIEVING. God’s work is not the same because THEY are not the same. The difference itself between the world and the believer are a major theme in Scripture.
- Without that understanding, the Christian can become too comfortable in the world they claim to be alien within. Many believers are lost satiating the desires of this life in exchange for walking as though the path here is but for a short season in the service of our King. No man soldiers well when distracted by the desire to live in comfort.
- Without that understanding, the Christian can become discouraged when they are attacked for being what the Scripture says they are to become – as though something strange was happening. Some believers, falsely promised that God is unduly focused on their pleasure and success in this life, become easily bruised and fickle in their following when God doesn’t give them the things they believe He should. Demoralized troops feel betrayed by their commander.
- Without that understanding, the Christian can become deluded into thinking that the warfare of the believer with the Enemy and his fallen dominion is a mere hyperbole in the Word – and not a real threat to our work. Armor perceived as unnecessary is armor left aside when the fiery darts rain down.
Key Principle: The mature believer must understand and work a strategy of life that fits a critical Biblical truth. That truth is this: The goals and standards of an unbelieving world force a conflict with the believer’s Biblical standard.
The armed spiritual conflict between two world views is to be expected and anticipated. Every key strategy of your life on earth is affected by fundamental truths.
- The first truth is one of our purpose, acknowledged in the key question: “Am I becoming the tool in the hand of the Lord that I was created to be?” This presupposes that the believer has grown in an environment where the Biblical values have been communicated clearly. That primary value, that I was created by a personal God for a specific purpose, was perhaps best articulated by Rev. Rick Warren’s best selling book called The Purpose Driven Life.
- The second truth is one of problem, acknowledged in this question, “What is keeping me from becoming the man or woman of God I was created to be?” This question presupposes the value of service to God, and recognizes the Gospel as an issue of surrender – not of some theological exercise. If we believe that “being saved” happens only when one surrenders their heart, their ethical measures, their futures and plans to the Savior that surrendered His life for them, than the outworking of that surrender is at first the removal of all self constructed roadblocks to obedience.
We must understand it clearly: The world’s spiritual system is AT WAR with the believer’s mind, ethics, standards and presuppositions. The ungodly are not offended that you live a different standard - they are upset that you have the audacity to think your standard can be RIGHT. That implies (and often overtly states) their lack of a Biblical standard WRONG. Darkness hates a tiny lit candle. Mature believers live with the anticipation of this misunderstanding.
It is into this world that a young woman named Hadassah was placed – a petite but powerful tool created to save a nation. Look with me at the passage as we see both the FACT of the war and the TRUTHS that guide us to face that war with confidence:
Fact #1: (3:1). The battle is much greater than we can often tell, and the stakes are higher than we believe.
God is at work in a cosmic battle that requires obedience of His followers, and a surrender to His understanding as BETTER THAN OURS.
Esther 3:1 After these events King Ahasuerus promoted Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him and established his authority over all the princes who were with him.
Two important corollary truths are found in 3:1:
1) Evil and undeserving men will advance in the system: Before their was Hitler, there was Haman. For reasons not mentioned in the text, Haman was “promoted” (giddal: from gadol – to make large, to swell the importance of) and “advanced” (nasaw: lifted or carried) and “established” (yasem: from “soom”; rendered into place) by King Ahasuerus. None of the words anticipate deserved credit, but all are “placement” terms. The undeserved nature of the appointment is suggested by the language of 3:1 and only clarified further by following the story and watching his character unfold in the narrative.
Here it is worth remembering: it is one thing to be placed into power, it is yet another wholly different thing to govern wisely. One can gain an office by trickery, but he will not maintain that office at a level higher than his own integrity and character.
2) Evil was at war long before I came on the scene: The identity of Haman is simply “the son of Hammedatha the Agagite”. On the surface, he was just another man from a line of a now long forgotten king of the Amalekite tribe of the deserts east of Israel and west of Persia. He was a prince of a forgotten and nearly exterminated clan.
Let’s go back through the Scripture, and we will see the problem with Haman’s family was one of the points of conflict of the two spiritual forces in the “battles of the ages”:
Israel traveled through the desert in Exodus 17:8-16. They left Egypt after the ten plagues, and saw the miracle of God opening the Sea of Reeds. They traveled onward to the desert and quickly became desperate for food and water. God led them to the bitter water at Marah to deal with them. He led them onward and gave them their first taste of Manna, and finally God told Moses to use his staff and strike the rocks for water. With food in their bellies and canteens full they journeyed to Rephidim – (a place that is soft on the ground – raphad – a picnic spread or resting place). In their stupor, the people suffered from an unprovoked attack by the Amalekites recorded this way:
Exodus 17:8 Then Amalek came and fought against Israel at Rephidim. 9 So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose men for us and go out, fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will station myself on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” 10 Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought against Amalek; and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 So it came about when Moses held his hand up, that Israel prevailed, and when he let his hand down, Amalek prevailed. 12 But Moses’ hands were heavy. Then they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it; and Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other. Thus his hands were steady until the sun set. 13 So Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. 14 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write this in a book as a memorial and recite it to Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” 15 Moses built an altar and named it The LORD is My Banner; 16 and he said, “The LORD has sworn; the LORD will have war against Amalek from generation to generation.”
Later, God commanded Israel to remember this attack when they got established in the land and destroy all the Amalekites: Deuteronomy 25:17 “Remember what Amalek did to you along the way when you came out from Egypt, 18 how he met you along the way and attacked among you all the stragglers at your rear when you were faint and weary; and he did not fear God. 19 “Therefore it shall come about when the LORD your God has given you rest from all your surrounding enemies, in the land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance to possess, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven; you must not forget.”
Time passed. Israelsettled the land. Joshua dies and Judges ruled. The last judge, Samuel, anointed the first Monarch, Saul the Benjamite, and he was given the opportunity to make good on Moses command.
1 Samuel 15 tells the story of the Amalekite war and Saul’s opportunity:
15:1 Then Samuel said to Saul, “The LORD sent me to anoint you as king over His people, over Israel; now therefore, listen to the words of the LORD. 2 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he set himself against him on the way while he was coming up from Egypt. 3 ‘Now go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”… 7 So Saul defeated the Amalekites, from Havilah as you go to Shur, which is east of Egypt. 8 He captured Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. 9 But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were not willing to destroy them utterly; but everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed….13 Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you of the LORD! I have carried out the command of the LORD.” 14 But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?” …20 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I did obey the voice of the LORD, and went on the mission on which the LORD sent me, and have brought back Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 21“But the people took some of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the choicest of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the LORD your God at Gilgal.”… 32Then Samuel said, “Bring me Agag, the king of the Amalekites.” And Agag came to him cheerfully. And Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.” 33 But Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hewed Agag to pieces before the LORD at Gilgal. 34 Then Samuel went to Ramah, but Saul went up to his house at Gibeah of Saul. 35 Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death; for Samuel grieved over Saul. And the LORD regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.
God made it clear it was His Word that was at issue: Samuel reminded Saul that God used him to choose Saul, and Saul must now continue to hear God’s voice through Samuel (15:1). He distinguished between opinion and God’s truth. This wasn’t his idea, it was what the Word of God was, and must be obeyed.
The Word was not new, but a reminder to obey a previously given command: Samuel said, “The Lord said He wants the Amalekites punished for previous sin, and you must take My people to do the work – eliminating entirely the tribe and all their animals. (15:2-3).
God’s desire was for His king to do the work and SAVE LIVES down the line – but the king failed to obey. Saul began to obey, and appears to completely understand the command. (15:4-7).
Archibald Rutledge wrote that one day he met a man whose dog had just been killed in a forest fire. Heartbroken, the man explained to Rutledge how it happened. Because he worked out-of-doors, he often took his dog with him. That morning, he left the animal in a clearing and gave him a command to stay and watch his lunch bucket while he went into the forest. His faithful friend understood, for that’s exactly what he did. Then a fire started in the woods, and soon the blaze spread to the spot where the dog had been left. But he didn’t move. He stayed right where he was, in perfect obedience to his master’s word. With tearful eyes, the dog’s owner said, “I always had to be careful what I told him to do, because I knew he would do it.” – Our Daily Bread.
Saul likely had no concept of the total picture of God’s agenda, nor cost of his disobedience: Saul killed the people as instructed, but did not kill Agag the tribal chief, nor the best of his animals (15:8). Little did Saul know that the enemy of the people of God would use this time to revive the battle between God and Satan in the people. Agag evidently used the time in captivity to procreate and leave a line on the earth that would come back to haunt Israel in the future (Esther 3:1). The delayed obedience nearly cost Israel elimination in the end (15:8-9).
Radio personality Paul Harvey tells the story of how an Eskimo kills a wolf. The account is grisly, yet it offers fresh insight into the consuming, self-destructive nature of sin. “First, the Eskimo coats his knife blade with animal blood and allows it to freeze. Then he adds another layer of blood, and another, until the blade is completely concealed by frozen blood. Next, the hunter fixes his knife in the ground with the blade up. When a wolf follows his sensitive nose to the source of the scent and discovers the bait, he licks it, tasting the fresh frozen blood. He begins to lick faster, more and more vigorously, lapping the blade until the keen edge is bare. Feverishly now, harder and harder the wolf licks the blade in the arctic night. So great becomes his craving for blood that the wolf does not notice the razor-sharp sting of the naked blade on his own tongue, nor does he recognize the instant at which his insatiable thirst is being satisfied by his OWN warm blood. His carnivorous appetite just craves more—until the dawn finds him dead in the snow!” It is a fearful thing that people can be “consumed by their own lusts.” Only God’s grace keeps us from the wolf’s fate. Chris T. Zwingelberg.
Saul was pretty satisfied with himself, but never stopped to ask if God was happy with him! Saul did not return directly to Gilgal to see Samuel, but went to Mt. Carmel to erect a monument to his victory before returning to Samuel. The night before Saul returned, the Lord spoke to Samuel and said, “Saul is finished!” Samuel cried through the night to the Lord. (15:10-12).
Denying one’s sin will not change the facts. Even after two millennia, man still operates on the mistaken idea that if he denies something long enough, it will somehow change the obvious. An Indy 500 racecar driver illustrates this idea as follows: “You don’t go look at where it happened,” said Scott Goodyear, who starts 33rd [speaking of race-car drivers who have been killed in crashes at the Indianapolis 500]. “You don’t watch the films of it on television. You don’t deal with it. You pretend it never happened.” The Speedway operation itself encourages this approach. As soon as the track closes the day of an accident, a crew heads out to paint over the spot where the car hit the wall. Through the years, a driver has never been pronounced dead at the racetrack. A trip to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Racing Museum, located inside the 2.5-mile oval, has no memorial to the 40 drivers who have lost their lives here. Nowhere is there even a mention. Source Unknown.
Fact #2: The enemy will tip his hand by using unethical standards (as judged by the Bible – 3:2-6).
3:2 All the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman; for so the king had commanded concerning him. But Mordecai neither bowed down nor paid homage. 3 Then the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate said to Mordecai, “Why are you transgressing the king’s command?” 4 Now it was when they had spoken daily to him and he would not listen to them, that they told Haman to see whether Mordecai’s reason would stand; for he had told them that he was a Jew. 5 When Haman saw that Mordecai neither bowed down nor paid homage to him, Haman was filled with rage. 6 But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told him who the people of Mordecai were; therefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus.
- Big view: The basis for his actions was no just EVIL, but a demonically charged HATRED, based on a long term battle declared in Heavenly places. You cannot know that if you do not understand the longer frame of history as SET IN THE WORD OF GOD.
- Revenge orientation: The enemy resorts, time after time, to blaming a race and justifying inhumane actions based on “they did it too!” ideology. When God’s Word is primary, revenge is not a motive – only obedience. Moses didn’t offer the people the command to get the children of Amalek – he said that God wanted it done. They were to obey, not enjoy the overthrow.
Fact #3: The enemy will use self made religious standards to convince workers that wrong is right (3:7).
7 In the first month, which is the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, Pur, that is the lot, was cast before Haman from day to day and from month to month, until the twelfth month, that is the month Adar.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary: “In the first month . they cast Pur, that is, the lot”: In resorting to this method of ascertaining the most auspicious day for putting his atrocious scheme into execution, Haman acted as the kings and nobles of Persia have always done, never engaging in any enterprise without consulting the astrologers, and being satisfied as to the lucky hour. Vowing revenge but scorning to lay hands on a single victim, he meditated the extirpation of the whole Jewish race, who, he knew, were sworn enemies of his countrymen; and by artfully representing them as a people who were aliens in manners and habits, and enemies to the rest of his subjects, he procured the king’s sanction of the intended massacre. One motive which he used in urging his point was addressed to the king’s cupidity. Fearing lest his master might object that the extermination of a numerous body of his subjects would seriously depress the public revenue, Haman promised to make up the loss.”
The false Zoroastrian predictive system had specific help from a spiritual power. The religion helped to confirm in the mind of Haman the timing to act. Think of it: He wanted a religious confirmation on when it would be ok to slaughter innocent people. He wasn’t just mad at one guy, he must have known his history. He carried his ancestry on his title, and waited for revenge – but needed a religious confirmation.
The Roman statesman/historian Pliny the Younger once observed, “The common people find all religions to be true. The philosophers find all religions to be false. The politicians find all religions to be useful.” Be wary of people reinventing what the Bible meant by things long understood so they can offer new liberties to people’s inner desire to do what they want for selfish purposes.
Fact #4: The enemy’s fingerprints are all over the destructive work of confusing morality, destroying innocence and causing pain to believers… but the story is not over! (3:8-4:3).
8 Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from those of all other people and they do not observe the king’s laws, so it is not in the king’s interest to let them remain. 9 “If it is pleasing to the king, let it be decreed that they be destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who carry on the king’s business, to put into the king’s treasuries.” 10 Then the king took his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. 11 The king said to Haman, “The silver is yours, and the people also, to do with them as you please.”
12 Then the king’s scribes were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and it was written just as Haman commanded to the king’s satraps, to the governors who were over each province and to the princes of each people, each province according to its script, each people according to its language, being written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king’s signet ring. 13 Letters were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces to destroy, to kill and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, women and children, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to seize their possessions as plunder. 14 A copy of the edict to be issued as law in every province was published to all the peoples so that they should be ready for this day. 15 The couriers went out impelled by the king’s command while the decree was issued at the citadel in Susa; and while the king and Haman sat down to drink, the city of Susa was in confusion.
4:1 When Mordecai learned all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city and wailed loudly and bitterly. 2 He went as far as the king’s gate, for no one was to enter the king’s gate clothed in sackcloth. 3 In each and every province where the command and decree of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing; and many lay on sackcloth and ashes.
There it is. Four simple facts.
- The battle is bigger and the stakes higher than we see.
- The enemy can be spotted in his unethical standards.
- The enemy will use self made religion.
- His fingerprints are traceable.
Why did God share this story?
Comfortable Christians need to be shaken up: We are not at home here. We cannot simply roll over in a world adrift and let them all alone. There is a fight that must be prepared for. We must get armed (Ephesians 6:10-20). We must not allow the comforts of this world to lull us into thinking that LIFE HERE IS THE POINT. No man soldiers well when distracted by the desire to live in comfort.
Discouraged Christians need the encouragement that being attacked for what the Scripture says is not something strange – though after our respite it may seem so. Walk away from the prosperity teaching lightweights that have dominated the Christian airwaves. Remember the Scriptures were forged by persecuted and obedient believers.
2 Thessalonians 1:3 “We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater; 4 therefore, we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure. 5 This is a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering.
Do you see it? The persecution for the faith seems to have aided them in growing their Biblical world view (faith) and their love for one another. The same could be said for the lasting influence of the Pilgrim generation that came to the New World persecuted and seeking a free place to live out God’s Word as they understood it. The PROSPERITY of Christianity in history has most often been accompanied by its defection from Biblical lifestyles (shrinking of faith) and its coldness among believers (defection from love). When truth reigns in the hearts of people, it is far easier to love for love’s sake. Cynicism is the daughter of unethical religion.
Deluded Christians need to clean off their dirty windshields and see what the road really looks like. God wasn’t kidding. Our children and our future is at stake if we won’t fight for it!
How shall we fight? Start by recognizing the battle is not political, nor simply moral – but spiritual. Another moral majority movement will help us far less than committing to walk with God today, put on your armor and seek His open doors to share your faith. Be unafraid – evil has gotten bolder – why should we shrink back?
Remember: Proverbs 21:28 “A false witness will perish, But the man who listens to the truth will speak forever. 29 A wicked man displays a bold face, But as for the upright, he makes his way sure. 30 There is no wisdom and no understanding, And no counsel against the LORD. 31 The horse is prepared for the day of battle, But victory belongs to the LORD.
The ungodly are not offended that you live a different standard - they are upset that you think your standard can be RIGHT. That declares their lack of a standard WRONG. Darkness hates a tiny lit candle. Dark men will relentlessly work to remove any light that shows their evil hearts. The mature believer must understand and work a strategy of life that fits a critical Biblical truth. That truth is this: The goals and standards of an unbelieving world force a conflict with the believer’s Biblical standard.
