14 Sep The God who is other

Esther 3-4

I’ve got four kids. One boy, three girls. Noah, my boy, was playing with the two older girls. He said ‘Jemima, you’re mini-mum 1.0’. ‘Libby, you’re mini-mum 2.0’ Noah is thinking oldest to youngest, but when Libby heard this, she was thinking, ‘Why am I 2.0?’ To her, 2.0 is not as good, second in rank, and not order. Kezia, my wife, was trying to explain to her, ‘No. No. 2.0 is actually a good thing. Usually, version 2.0 is the newer, improved, updated version’. It all got very confusing.

The last time I was here at Rock, we started the Book of Esther with Esther 1-2. Well, today, we continue with Esther 3-4. I think sometimes like kids working out the difference between version 1.0 and version 2.0, we can be just as confused about God. I’ve called today’s message ‘The God who is other’, following on from last time, ‘The God who is there’, but what does it mean that God is other? Maybe we imagine God to be like us, made in our image, but just a little bit bigger than us. He’s ‘God’ after all. But he still thinks like us. He talks like us. He moves like us. He sounds like us. God is version 2.0, the newer, updated, improved model of ourselves.

But as we’ll see, God is so much more greater than we could ever imagine. God is different from us, unlike us. He’s not constrained or limited by our imagination, nor does he fit into the neat box of our expectations. In fact, trying to fit God into a box is like trying to fit one of Cinderella’s step-sister’s feet into the glass slipper. It just won’t fit. There is no ought or should with God. He stands alone, one in splendour, glory, honour and power. God is completely other.

And this is helpful to remember, especially when we’re faced with

1. The seemingly illogical
2. The downright impossible
3. The utterly unthinkable

Those are my three headings today.

 

1. The seemingly illogical.

I still remember the shock I experienced the first time I went over to one of my friend’s houses from school. Yes, I grew up in Australia, but I had a very Indonesian upbringing. And there were three things that really shocked me. The first is the way that my friends don’t take off their shoes before going into the house. I was horrified the first time I watched my friends walk straight in with their shoes, put their feet up on the couch, go into their bedrooms. The second one is I noticed that while I showered at the end of the day, it was the last thing I did before I went to bed, my friends would shower in the morning, having gone straight to bed the night before. I mean, what about all that sweat and dirt that you’re bringing into bed? Gross. As my mum would say, showering in the morning is also the quickest way to get sick. But the final thing. I remember being at camp and it was my turn to wash the dishes and my friends simply plugged the sink and started filling it up with water and detergent, and then proceeded to dip dishes into the water, give it a bit of a scrub, and then left it to dry on a drying rack without so much as giving it a rinse to wash off the soap. This was the final straw for me. I thought to myself, what is with these people, sloshing around their dishes in dirty water and letting the soap dry on the dishes?

And yet, sometimes our experience of God can be a bit like this. We look at what God is doing in our lives and it seems completely illogical to us. Why does God do it the way he does? It seems strange to us. We figure that surely, the best route from point A to point B is straight. That’s the fastest, easiest, best way. And yet, God goes round and round, backwards, and a few more loops before getting to where he wanted to get to all along. Why didn’t he just get there straight away? And it’s the same with the Book of Esther. Although there is no mention of God anywhere in the Book of Esther, God’s fingerprints are everywhere. And even though it doesn’t make any sense to us and it all seems a bit illogical, God is working in unseen, hidden ways, directing, ordering, arranging the events of our lives according to his good purpose and will.

At the end of Esther 2, Esther has just replaced Queen Vashti, and we read that Mordecai foils a plot to assassinate King Xerxes. But as we get to Esther 3, it says there

1 After these events (that is, the events of Esther 2), King Xerxes honored Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, elevating him and giving him a seat of honor higher than that of all the other nobles.

You’d think that the most logical thing for King Xerxes to do would be to elevate Mordecai. That would fit the flow of the story. Mordecai has just saved the king’s life. And so, King Xerxes rewards Mordecai. But instead, we meet the final main character in the Book of Esther, Haman, and he’s the one elevated by King Xerxes. God, what are you doing?! Wouldn’t it make the most sense to promote Mordecai? That would seem to be the most logical next step, if the story of Esther really is about God’s deliverance of his people. You’ve already got Esther in the palace. Get Mordecai in, and you’ll have significant power and influence, which you’ll be able to use to save God’s people. But that doesn’t happen. It seems God thinks differently from us and he elevates Haman instead. Because maybe this isn’t so much about getting Mordecai into power, but about getting Haman into power, because that’s how God will eventually rescue his people. But you can see how for Mordecai, Esther, Haman’s elevation doesn’t make sense. God seems to be completely illogical. But it’s not only the elevation of Haman, but the conflict that results in the edict decreeing the genocide of God’s people, the Jews. I mean, really? It just seems so over the top.

See there

2 All the royal officials at the king’s gate knelt down and paid honor to Haman, for the king had commanded this concerning him. But Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor. 3 Then the royal officials at the king’s gate asked Mordecai, “Why do you disobey the king’s command?” 4 Day after day they spoke to him but he refused to comply. Therefore they told Haman about it to see whether Mordecai’s behavior would be tolerated, for he had told them he was a Jew.

We aren’t told why Mordecai refuses to honour Haman. Is he a bit upset that King Xerxes has elevated Haman instead of him? Maybe. But that seems a bit petty to me. Or maybe Mordecai thinks that honouring Haman is the equivalent of idol worship? I don’t think so. Bowing is a common way to honour to someone. Like you would stand up when a new guest walks into a room. Or like how the Japanese bow. There is nothing religious about it. Just a sign of respect. Some commentators suggest that Mordecai’s refusal is actually the result of a deep-seated, long-standing, centuries-old conflict between God’s people, the Jews, and the Amalekites.

It’s interesting that earlier Haman is introduced in 3.1 as

1 … Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite

This is significant. Haman was a descendant of Agag. Now, who is Agag? Well, he’s the king we read about in 1 Samuel 15 that Israel’s first king, King Saul, failed to kill, so that the Prophet Samuel had to put him to death before the Lord at Gilgal. What’s this got to do with Mordecai?

Well, in Esther 2, Mordecai is introduced in 2.5 this way

5 Now there was in the citadel of Susa a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin, named Mordecai son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish

King Saul was from the tribe of Benjamin. And so Mordecai, who is also from the tribe of Benjamin, is King Saul’s descendant. Maybe there’s some connection there. A longstanding feud between two families. But there’s more. Because Agag is an Amalekite king. Who are the Amalekites? They’re the ones we read about in Deuteronomy 25, who when the Israelites were fleeing Egypt, it says

18 When you were weary and worn out, they met you on your journey and attacked all who were lagging behind; they had no fear of God.

And when the Israelites finally defeated the Amalekites, it says in Exodus 17

14 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven … 16 “Because hands were lifted up against the throne of the LORD, the LORD will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation.”

There’s a lot of bad blood between the Amalekites and the Israelites. Is this why Mordecai responds the way he does? Maybe. But all of this to say, whatever the reason, ‘What are you doing, God? Why are you allowing this to happen?’ Mordecai seems to be making things worse for God’s people, not better.

See there in

5 When Haman saw that Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor, he was enraged. 6 Yet having learned who Mordecai’s people were, he scorned the idea of killing only Mordecai. Instead Haman looked for a way to destroy all Mordecai’s people, the Jews, throughout the whole kingdom of Xerxes.

What are God’s people going to do now? And yet, could it be that God is other, he doesn’t think like we do, and so in those moments when God seems to do what is illogical, when he does doesn’t make sense to us, and we don’t understand, could it be that the problem is with us and not with God? That just because I don’t see or understand, I can’t make sense of it, doesn’t mean that God isn’t doing something. That God has his own logic

Charles Spurgeon, writing on Philippians 4.11, says this

If you are poor you should be well content with your position, because depend upon it, it is the fittest for you. Unerring wisdom cast your lot … Remember this, had any other condition been better for you than the one in which you are, God would have put you there. You are put by him in the most suitable place, and if you had had the picking of your lot half-an-hour afterwards, you would have come back and said, ‘Lord, choose for me, for I have not chosen the best after all’ … Then be content; you cannot better your lot. Take up your cross; you could not have a better trial than you have got; it is the best for you; it sifts you the most; it will do you the most good, and prove the most effective means of making you perfect in every good work and work to the glory of God.

His point is this: we don’t know what is good, what is best for us. Only God does. And so, the next time God does something completely illogical, consider saying to God, ‘Lord, choose for me, for I do not know what is best.’

 

2. The downright impossible.

As we keep going in the story, it’s clear God’s people are in an impossible situation. See there

7 In the twelfth year of King Xerxes, in the first month, the month of Nisan, the pur (that is, the lot) was cast in the presence of Haman to select a day and month.

One commentator describes the process of casting lots this way. They’d work their way through each month and roll two dice, each with ‘yes’ and ‘no’. If both dice landed on ‘yes’, then that would be the month chosen. The same thing happened with days.

Keep reading with me

7 … And the lot fell on the twelfth month, the month of Adar. 8 Then Haman said to King Xerxes, “There is a certain people dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom who keep themselves separate. Their customs are different from those of all other people, and they do not obey the king’s laws; it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them.

Haman is clever isn’t he? He never names the Jews. He says, a certain people who are dispersed among the people and are disobedient, rebellious, a nuisance and stirring up trouble. Little does King Xerxes know that his own wife is a Jew. And more than that Mordecai, who has just saved his life, well, he’s also a Jew!

He goes on

9 If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them, and I will give ten thousand talents of silver to the king’s administrators for the royal treasury.” 10 So the king took his signet ring from his finger and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. 11 “Keep the money,” the king said to Haman, “and do with the people as you please.”

It’s an impossible situation. You can imagine how the exiles might be feeling. King Xerxes has just signed off on an edict which will result in the complete annihilation of the Jews. Again, the same questions come up. ‘What are you doing God? Why would you allow this to happen? Why don’t you stop this? What about the promises, the covenant you made with your people? Is this the end? Has God forgotten his people? Has he abandoned them forever?’

How does God as ‘other’ help us when we are facing seemingly impossible situations? Well, keep reading with me

12 Then on the thirteenth day of the first month the royal secretaries were summoned. They wrote out in the script of each province and in the language of each people all Haman’s orders to the king’s satraps, the governors of the various provinces and the nobles of the various peoples. These were written in the name of King Xerxes himself and sealed with his own ring. 13 Dispatches were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces with the order to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews—young and old, women and children—on a single day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods.

What’s the significance of this? Well, did you notice what day the edict was written? See there in

12 Then on the thirteenth day of the first month

This was the day before the Jews celebrate the Passover. Leviticus 23.5 says that

5 The LORD’s Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month.

So, try to imagine this. As the royal secretaries are writing the edict that orders the destruction of the Jews, somewhat coincidentally, randomly, or maybe even providentially, the Jews are getting ready to celebrate the most important event of the year in the Jewish calendar. The sole purpose of which was to be an annual reminder for the Jews of the time when God rescued his people out of another seemingly hopeless situation, when God’s people were slaves in Egypt, and God passed over every Israelite household which had the blood of the lamb spread across it, and at the same time, killing the firstborn of every Egyptian household which did not have the blood on the door.

You couldn’t have planned it any better. It’s almost as if God meant it to be this way, to give his people hope and confidence in the midst of such uncertainty, so that, just as God had done before, God would do it again and rescue his people. And this is everything. To know that God arranged it this way, that God ordered everything according to his will, that every single event sits in the sovereign care of God for his people, that changes everything.

Adoniram Judson, a missionary to Myanmar, had suffered greatly in his life, but reflecting on his life, he said this

If I had not felt certain that every additional trial was ordered by infinite love and mercy, I could not have survived my accumulated suffering

Do you hear what he’s saying? The only way I’ve been able to endure through suffering, the way I cope with the darkness, get through life, is because of the sure fact that I know God has ordered everything, including my sufferings, according to his infinite love and mercy. And so, whatever I am experiencing, whatever I am going through, God has allowed it, he stands behind it, underneath it, as my Father in Heaven who loves me and does not withhold anything good from me.

Are you beginning to get a sense of why God as ‘other’ matters? If we limit God only according to what we think God can do, what he’s capable of, what we believe is possible, then the darkness is overwhelming. But today, God is challenging our assumptions and our beliefs about God, so that in those times when things seem most helpless, impossible, we can be sure that God is greater still. That’s point two.

 

3. The utterly unthinkable.

As we turn to Esther 4, things are not looking good. See there in

1 When Mordecai learned of all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the city, wailing loudly and bitterly.

And it’s not just Mordecai. It says there in

3 In every province to which the edict and order of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing. Many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

How is God going to get his people out of this one? What’s it going to take, what is God’s solution to rescue his people? Esther hears about Mordecai. At first, she’s unsure why Mordecai is in distress. She’s completely unaware of the edict that has gone out against her people, the Jews. She sends Mordecai clothes, hoping that’ll fix everything. I mean, come on, Mordecai, get dressed. What are you doing, going around in sackcloth, wailing? You’re making a scene! But Mordecai refuses. It’s only later that Esther finds out what’s happened. It says there

7 Mordecai told him (that is, one of Esther’s attendants) everything that had happened to him, including the exact amount of money Haman had promised to pay into the royal treasury for the destruction of the Jews. 8 He also gave him a copy of the text of the edict for their annihilation, which had been published in Susa, to show to Esther and explain it to her, and he told him to instruct her to go into the king’s presence to beg for mercy and plead with him for her people.

Esther probably is wishing she’d never asked. Ignorance is bliss. But now that she knows, what is she going to do about it? Will she do nothing and ignore the plight of her people? Or will she advocate for her people? It’s a difficult one. If Esther does what Mordecai suggests, it’ll be very costly for her. In fact, she’ll probably be put to death as a result. She explains there in

11 “All the king’s officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that they be put to death unless the king extends the gold scepter to them and spares their lives. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king.”

It’s an awful predicament. Esther has to choose between doing the unthinkable and going uninvited to the king to plead for the safety of her people, or ignoring Mordecai’s pleas and deal with the extermination of her people to save her own life?

What would you do? I guess what it comes down is how much she identifies with her own people? Is the LORD, Yahweh, still her God? Are the Jews still her people? It’s a very similar situation to Moses, who was taken in as Pharaoh’s daughter’s own son and grew up in a privileged royal position in Egypt, and yet, later on in life, he was forced to choose between his own people and those who had raised him. It’s a question of identity. Because you see, Esther wasn’t always Esther. She went by another name before, the name given to her at birth. In Esther 2, we read in

7 Mordecai had a cousin named Hadassah, whom he had brought up because she had neither father nor mother. This young woman, who was also known as Esther, had a lovely figure and was beautiful. Mordecai had taken her as his own daughter when her father and mother died.

Esther has to choose. ‘Who am I? Where is my allegiance? Whom do I serve? Am I Esther or Hadassah?’ And Mordecai has more to say to Esther. I’m not sure whether Mordecai is challenging her, reminding her, advising her or threatening her. See there from

12 When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai, 13 he sent back this answer: “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. 14 For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”

Mordecai’s final challenge is particularly compelling. Could it be that this is why you’re in the position that you’re in, ‘… for such a time as this’? That this isn’t random, or an accident, or coincidence. No. God has orchestrated the events of Esther’s life so that when her people needed her the most, she can actually be of help. And this seems to sway Esther. Esther chooses the unthinkable and risks her own life, even death, if that’s what it comes to, to save her own people. All she asks Mordecai is

16 “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.” 17 So Mordecai went away and carried out all of Esther’s instructions.

This is remarkable. Esther rises to the occasion it’d seem she’d been born for. And yet, in some ways this isn’t surprising, because God who is other, is also the God of the unthinkable. Ultimately, Esther foreshadows the One who will come who is greater than Esther.

Esther risks her royal position, her status as Queen, favour with the King, her very own life to save her people, the Jews. She’s even willing to die for them: ‘If I perish, I perish’, she says. But Jesus Christ is greater. See, he doesn’t just risk his position, he actually gives up the riches and glory of heaven for his people, that he might advocate for them. And not only is he willing to lose his life, but he became one of us, while we want to keep our lives, Jesus freely gives away his life, and he actually loses his life, crucified on a cross for us, in our place, for our sins.

God is in the habit of doing the unthinkable. He did it before with Esther. And he’s done it again in an even greater way with Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world, that all who come to him may be saved. Don’t be amazed at Esther’s sacrifice, as great as it is. Be amazed at Jesus’ sacrifice for you. Jesus is the true and better Esther, to whom Esther is a pointer

I’ll finish here. Do you see? Our God is greater than anything or anyone we would’ve imagined. And thank God for that. Thank God that God is not like us. He is the God of the seemingly illogical, downright impossible, and utterly unthinkable. Thank God that he doesn’t think like us, that he isn’t just version 2.0, a little bit bigger than us. Thank God that his ways are not our ways, that he doesn’t think as we do or do as we might do. He’s altogether different from us, more wonderful, than we ever dreamed. Thank God that we don’t know, we don’t always understand, we can’t make sense of what God is doing, we’re not in control of our own lives. No.

God is altogether different from us. He must be bigger. He must be greater. He must be wiser. He must be purer, good, more faithful and loving. He must be more powerful in every way. He must be completely sovereign.

For God to be other, to be unlike us, it’s a comfort for us as Christians and makes us approach the things we may not understand humbly, not presuming to know the mind and will of God. As Romans 11 says,

33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! 34 “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” 35 “Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?” 36 For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.

When I was younger, when we wanted to say that something was really big, we’d say infinity. I’m smarter than you times infinity. Oh yeah? Well, I’m smarter than you infinity +1. I’m learning that these days, if you want to communicate the bigness of something, you say, ‘Google flex’. So, here it goes. I don’t even know if I’m using this the right way. But God is google flex bigger than us and that’s a good thing. Let’s pray and then praise him, our God who is other.

 

 

 

Discussion questions:

1. What struck you the most from the sermon?
2. Have you ever been in a situation where it seemed that what God was doing was illogical, but it turned out to be something far better? Share your story.
3. What are some personal challenges you face in trusting God when life does not work out the way you expected?
4. How does the Gospel assure you to trust the God who is other?