The Silhouette of God: King of Kings and Lord of Lords
Focus: Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords and God rules over history and the nations to sovereignly guide the entire world to his gospel ends in Christ.
The Whole World in His Hands
Turned in On Ourselves
All Things For Christ’s Ends
The Whole World in His Hands
God is sovereign (in control) of even seemingly disparate (disconnected) world affairs to work all things out for his Kingdom and gospel ends.
History is the story of God’s work to rescue and reconcile fallen humanity, moving and positioning his people amidst the events of international affairs for eventual worldwide evangelization and the spread of the gospel (good news) of Jesus Christ.
The story of the Bible begins with not only God’s good creation, but humanity’s rejection of God in the garden of Eden, the development of nations dealing with the consequences of sin and our separation from God, on a micro and macro scale (Genesis 4-11).
It continues with God’s subsequent plan of redemption since that time.
The hand of God has been sometimes silently, and other times overtly, ordering the affairs of the world for his ultimate gospel ends - redemption through Christ and his cross.
Long before Esther’s time, the people of Judah and Israel (later called Jews speaking of the region from which they hailed) had been scattered throughout the Near East by the Assyrians and Babylonians.
When we look at the three big diasporic acts of God’s judgments amongst his people, we see the prophets laying out for us exactly how we get to the book of Esther.
After the Assyrian judgments, the prophet Jeremiah gave the reason why the Israelites were being disciplined, going into exile in Babylon (modern day Iraq):
Jeremiah 1:16 ESV
“And I will declare my judgments against them, for all their evil in forsaking me. They have made offerings to other gods and worshiped the works of their own hands.”
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, first came and looted Jerusalem, carrying off the professional class of Israel to strip it of its culture and infuse the Babylonian influence (II Kings 24-25; II Chronicles 36; Jeremiah 52).
This was when Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abendegi were taken.
Ten years later, Nebuchadnezzar completely destroyed the city.
To this the prophet Jeremiah speaks:
Jeremiah 51:34 ESV
“Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me; he has crushed me; he has made me an empty vessel; he has swallowed me like a monster; he has filled his stomach with my delicacies; he has rinsed me out.”
Yet even before the total decimation of Jerusalem, God had made a redemptive promise:
Jeremiah 3:12-14 ESV
“Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, “‘Return, faithless Israel, declares the LORD. I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful, declares the LORD; I will not be angry forever. Only acknowledge your guilt, that you rebelled against the LORD your God and scattered your favors among foreigners under every green tree, and that you have not obeyed my voice, declares the LORD. Return, O faithless children, declares the LORD; for I am your master; I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.”
And so approximately 150 years before the Persian King Cyrus was born, and about 200 years before Cyrus would conquer Babylon, the prophet Isaiah spoke of the just king by name:
Isaiah 44:28 ESV
“Who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd, and he shall fulfill all my purpose’; saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,’ and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.’”
And so in the time of Cyrus, we see the unfolding stories of Ezra and Nehemiah who were sent back to Jerusalem to rebuild the altar and Jerusalem’s walls:
Ezra 1:4 ESV
“And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.”
And again, 150 years before Cyrus and the return to Jerusalem, God would give this command to his people to return to Israel and Jerusalem - the place in which his presence was represented at the time.
Isaiah 48:20 ESV
“Go out from Babylon, flee from Chaldea, declare this with a shout of joy, proclaim it, send it out to the end of the earth; say, “The LORD has redeemed his servant Jacob!”
And again, foreshadowing the Romans 10 gospel, Isaiah would declare good news of deliverance and freedom:
Isaiah 52:7-12 ESV
“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice; together they sing for joy; for eye to eye they see the return of the LORD to Zion. Break forth together into singing, you waste places of Jerusalem, for the LORD has comforted his people; he has redeemed Jerusalem. The LORD has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. Depart, depart, go out from there; touch no unclean thing; go out from the midst of her; purify yourselves, you who bear the vessels of the LORD. For you shall not go out in haste, and you shall not go in flight, for the LORD will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.”
*So God made a way for the displaced Israelites to return to Jerusalem, coming back to unadulterated worship of him in the place that represented his presence - but not everyone chose to go.
And so we have the scene set for the book of Esther when the Persian empire would rise as prophesied by Daniel in Babylon:
Daniel 11:2 ESV
“And now I will show you the truth. Behold, three more kings shall arise in Persia, and a fourth shall be far richer than all of them. And when he has become strong through his riches, he shall stir up all against the kingdom of Greece.”
In what places are you still lingering in compromise and captivity when God has said “Go out!”?
Esther 1:1-9 ESV
“Now in the days of Ahasuerus, the Ahasuerus who reigned from India to Ethiopia over 127 provinces, in those days when King Ahasuerus sat on his royal throne in Susa, the citadel, in the third year of his reign he gave a feast for all his officials and servants. The army of Persia and Media and the nobles and governors of the provinces were before him, while he showed the riches of his royal glory and the splendor and pomp of his greatness for many days, 180 days. And when these days were completed, the king gave for all the people present in Susa the citadel, both great and small, a feast lasting for seven days in the court of the garden of the king’s palace. There were white cotton curtains and violet hangings fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rods and marble pillars, and also couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl, and precious stones. Drinks were served in golden vessels, vessels of different kinds, and the royal wine was lavished according to the bounty of the king. And drinking was according to this edict: “There is no compulsion.” For the king had given orders to all the staff of his palace to do as each man desired. Queen Vashti also gave a feast for the women in the palace that belonged to King Ahasuerus.”
God moves both amongst his people who know him and those who do not, to ultimately make himself known in Christ.
The events of Esther take place about 100 years after Daniel and the exile in Babylon.
We are now in the reign of King Ahaseuerus, otherwise known as King Xerxes I who ruled from 486-464 BC.
There has been a change of empires - the Babylonians fell to the Persians and whereas the events of Daniel took place in Babylon, the Jewish diaspora of Esther’s story find themselves in Susa, in modern day Iran.
So who was King Ahasauerus?
He was the opulent son of King Darius of Persia, who then ruled the largest empire the world had ever known up to that day.
He ruled roughly 300 million square miles of territory, about the size of the United States of America.
That empire consisted of various people groups, languages and cultures that his father King Darius had overtaken as king and given to Ahasauerus to rule.
According to the writings of historians like Herodotus, when the book of Esther begins, we can ascertain that Ahasauerus would be in his mid-thirties, was considered to be like a god and his word was to be obeyed as such.
He had 10,000 bodyguards surrounding him called the immortals.
People who came to meet him and pass before him had to bow down and worship him like a god.
If someone tried to sit upon his throne or even stand upon the rug in front of it, they were executed.
He would throw large, lavish parties and sit upon his throne while people looked upon his glory and praised him.
He had women paraded in front of him to see which would be interesting to him that day.
When his army of several million went into battle, he would be carried on his throne so that he could watch his army's victories from a high place.
He referred to himself the “the Great king, the King of Kings, the king of countries containing many kinds of men”.
He wanted to be who Jesus actually is.
Ahasuerus ruled from modern day Pakistan to what is now Northern Sudan to the edges of Greece.
And he’s been having an open bar, godless party with his military men of thousands for the past six months.
When reading the Bible, we understand that there are things both prescriptive and descriptive within.
When God gives commands, they are prescriptive edicts to be obeyed.
When reading choices that godless men like Ahasaureurus make, they are descriptive of our human condition without Christ and all of our desperate need for a savior.
Esther 1:10-12 ESV
“On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha and Abagtha, Zethar and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus, to bring Queen Vashti before the king with her royal crown, in order to show the peoples and the princes her beauty, for she was lovely to look at. But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s command delivered by the eunuchs. At this the king became enraged, and his anger burned within him.”
*At the culmination of the drunken celebration, where the guest list is expanded for a week, ancient commentaries of the Targums and Midrash say that he may be asking Vashti to wear only her crown for she was lovely to look at.
If not undressed, she was at least underdressed and told to come before drunken soldiers who’ve been partying without restraint for six months.
Crazy!
The king who was treated as if he was a god was humiliated when Vashti refused to come.
Vashti made a noble, brave decision that cost her.
Turned in on Ourselves
Pride and sin leads us to places we would never have planned for ourselves.
God is moving for the salvation of his people even when we are slow in fulfilling our and if the bargain.
Have you ever asked yourself the question, “How did I even get here in life?”
Background of Esther and Mordecai
We don’t know how Esther got there and many times in life, we don’t know how we got in the situations in which we find ourselves.
All we know is that when God made a way tor his people to return to the place of worship, Mordecai and Esther would find themselves in Susa, which was a place of upward mobility.
It was the primary winter residence of the Persian Kings displaying immense wealth, housing royal treasuries, gold and silver adorned banquet spaces and a diverse population of nobles, officials and craftsmen from across the known world.
Esther 2:1-11
“After these things, when the anger of King Ahasuerus had abated, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what had been decreed against her. Then the king’s young men who attended him said, “Let beautiful young virgins be sought out for the king. And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom to gather all the beautiful young virgins to the harem in Susa the citadel, under custody of Hegai, the king’s eunuch, who is in charge of the women. Let their cosmetics be given them. And let the young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti.” This pleased the king, and he did so. Now there was a Jew in Susa the citadel whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, a Benjaminite, who had been carried away from Jerusalem among the captives carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away. He was bringing up Hadassah, that is Esther, the daughter of his uncle, for she had neither father nor mother. The young woman had a beautiful figure and was lovely to look at, and when her father and her mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter. So when the king’s order and his edict were proclaimed, and when many young women were gathered in Susa the citadel in custody of Hegai, Esther also was taken into the king’s palace and put in custody of Hegai, who had charge of the women. And the young woman pleased him and won his favor. And he quickly provided her with her cosmetics and her portion of food, and with seven chosen young women from the king’s palace, and advanced her and her young women to the best place in the harem. Esther had not made known her people or kindred, for Mordecai had commanded her not to make it known. And every day Mordecai walked in front of the court of the harem to learn how Esther was and what was happening to her.
The way that Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abendego stood for God was exemplary and God came through on their behalf.
Again, they were taken captive following King Nebuchadnezzar’s first siege of Jerusalem in 605 BC.
They were able to stand on the wisdom of the Proverbs which said:
Proverbs 25:26 ESV
“Like a muddied spring or a polluted fountain is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked.”
They were determined not to be those people.
Esther and Mordecai represented something different.
Amidst the synchrotistic culture, Mordecai and Esther were living dual lives, hiding their faith.
*How have we done the same and in what ways has it led to compromise and trouble like Esther’s “one night with the king”?
We readily denounce King Ahasuerus’ pride, but were Esther and Mordecai that different?
What were they after in the decisions that they were making?
*What are we chasing in life and is it leading to compromise or the expression of Biblical conviction?
In life, people are driven to discontent, poor choices and sin when we look to obtain glory and honor that belongs to God alone.
There is a Latin term possibly coined by Saint Augustine and further extrapolated by the reformer Martin Luther which is Incurvatus in se, or “curved in on itself,”
It takes the good things of God and makes them all about us.
“Our nature, by the corruption of the first sin, so deeply curved in on itself that it not only bends the best gifts of God towards itself and enjoys them (as is plain in the works-righteous and hypocrites), or rather even uses God himself in order to attain these gifts, but it also fails to realize that it so wickedly, curvedly, and viciously seeks all things, even God, for its own sake.”
-Martin Luther
*What we can relate with when looking at Esther and Mordecai is that no one is righteous - not even one - there is no grounds for us to feel morally superior to others, but instead understand our universal need of a savior.
Things are not always what they seem - test yourselves to see whether you are in the faith.
Again, when our waters are muddied, we don’t know how we end up in many of life’s circumstances.
We just know we respond to our circumstances and depend on God to pull us out.
The book of Esther is a message of God’s grace.
God moves in the midst of our immovement.
God saves in the midst of our sin.
All Things for Christ’s Ends
Christ comes to save and redeem us from the messes that we’ve made in our own sinful pride.
What we find in life is that no matter who we try to compare ourselves to, whenever we look in the mirror, we are all in need of a savior.
One thing we need to embrace is that God is God and he is committed to us as individuals, as his children, he is ultimately bound himself to fulfilling his plans, not our own, because they are wiser, more comprehensive and are better for his glory and our good in the end.
Even in the temptation of Christ, we learn how the enemy of our souls tries to pervert our sight.
There is one King of Kings and Lord of Lords, whose glory alone we are to marvel at and live for.
It is Jesus Christ.
Luke 4:5-8; 13-15 ESV
And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’” ….
And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.”
Repeat: God is moving and positioning his people for the worldwide spread of his gospel and Kingdom throughout history.
*How does God want to use every place that he’s positioned me for his Kingdom glory and gospel good?
It is why the Apostle Paul would later write:
Romans 5:6-8 ESV
“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
As we repent of our sin and efforts to seek our own glory, we can turn to Jesus who laid down his glory to love us, faithfully lived sinlessly to sanctify us, and died sacrificially at the cross to reconcile, not dispose of us.
It is then that we can see clearly that God, by his grace, is working all things towards his gospel ends in Christ and we can find our place in his plan.
