Joseph Prince - Introducing The Story of Esther
This is an excerpt from: Where Is God In The Midst Of Your Trouble?
Okay, let's go into the Word right now, the story of Esther. So, her parents died and Mordecai took care of her. Mordecai obviously is a very elderly man and he took care of her. And the time came, chapter 1, all the Indians gonna love this. Chapter 1, verse 1, "It came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus (this was the Ahasuerus who reigned over one hundred and twenty-seven provinces, from India..." And all the Indians said? Amen. "To Ethiopia". So, India is mentioned in the Bible. Do you know China is mentioned in the Bible also? All right, you can do a search it's called sinnim, S-I-N-N-I-M, -im is just plural, sin, S-I-N is where you get chin later on. So, the Bible prophecies about his people coming back from the land of China as well. Anyway, India is here, good.
"In those days when King Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the citadel, in the third year of his reign he made a feast for all his officials and servants - the powers of Persia and Media, the nobles, and the princes of the provinces being before him — he showed the riches of his glorious kingdom, the splendor of his excellent majesty for many days, one hundred and eighty days in all". And by the way, at one time, don't forget, after King Nebuchadnezzar came the Medo-Persian, the breast of silver of the vision that Daniel interpreted for Nebuchadnezzar, the times of Gentiles. They reigned across all the way from northern Africa, Ethiopia, all the way to India. That's a wide compass of land and many other lands were undiscovered during that time, okay? So, they were the ruling power of that day.
So, this king, he was inviting everyone to come to his place in Shushan. If you can actually look up this in on YouTube as well as Documentary Channel. Today is it's called Susa, it's the story of Susa, S-U-S-A, Shushan, right? And in fact, you can see literally, can see they have unearthed, they have unearthed the palace. Of course, you can't see the structure anymore. You can see the ground though. And in chapter 1, it talks about black and white marble. I have seen with my own eyes. One of my missionary friends in the '90s, he went down there, he took a picture of his standing on the black and white marble. He showed it to me and you still can see and it's in chapter 1. It talks about the black and white marble flooring. So, the palace has been uncovered. Okay so, it is still there if you are keying in, okay, studying and all that, not now, of course, but it's Susa, okay, which is Shushan, ancient Shushan. And the story happened there.
So, the Bible tells us during this time he was eating and all that, and it was hundred and eighty days of celebration. Can you imagine or not? All kinds of food. And the Bible says that they were drinking wine from goblets of gold, vessels of gold. So, finally after 180 days was over, he has a special party thrown for his special friends in his palace garden for another seven days. On the seventh day, he invited his queen. He said, "Go get my queen," because he was so proud of her beauty. And he says, "Let her put on her crown when she comes". So, they went to get her, but she said no. She said no to her husband, and this is where the story gets exciting because long before the evil happened, God was arranging circumstances already. So, she said, "No," and the king says, "What"? And his wise men were around him. He says, "Did y'all hear that"? And the wise man says, "King, if this is not handled, all the women of the entire kingdom of Persia will not respect their husbands when they hear this happen".
So, let's follow the story. Drop down, "If it pleases the king, they said, let a royal decree go out from him, and let it be recorded in the laws of the Persians and the Medes, so that it will not be altered, that Vashti shall come no more before King Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal position to another who is better than she". So, you know who is that, right? Esther, so God was working behind the scenes already. And drop down, "When the king's decree which he will make is proclaimed throughout all his empire (for it is great), all wives will honor their husbands, both great and small. And the reply pleased the king".
Now, this is a turning point. Okay, this is the turning point. Look at the phrase, "All wives will honor," and look at it in the Hebrew. "hiu' wakaal hanaashiym yitanuw" which is to give from Nathan, okay? Look at this, can you see yud hei vav hei in reverse? Okay, יהוה. It's in reverse. Now, we say, "No it's English, it's correct. It's forward". But remember Hebrew reads from right to left, so it's reversed. You know why is it reversed? Out of these four acrostic, listen, two are reversed, two are forward. When it's forward, God is ruling directly. When it is reversed, he's overriding. He's overruling. And you see right now he's overruling, deposing Queen Vashti, preparing the place for Esther who will be in a position to help her people.