Esther 3:7 Star Bellied Sneetches. Stars upon thars. We tend to despise what is not like us.

Pride is the need to be more important. Think more highly. Servanthood is free of that. How to tell when you are a servant. How you feel when someone treats you like one. A bad guy does well. A good guy is overlooked. Mordecai exposed the plot but Haman got the promotion. Bad people often succeed and good people sometimes languish in obscurity. That tells us not to measure a man by his success. We do this in the age of broadcast. Image is everything. He must be significant because hes done so well. On the other hand, he must be a loser because hes done so poorly. Sitting in an eagles nest doesnt always mean you are an eagle. Sitting in a crows nest doesnt necessarily mean you are a crow. We struggle with this. Good guys sometimes fail and bad guys often succeed. Mordecai, the good guy couldnt stand Haman the bad guy. He was a bad guy. Agagite. Hater of the Jews. Anti-semite. Its hard to love someone that hates you. Even harder to bow to that person. And this created the problem. Haman succeeded and mordecai refused to bow. Soe there was a conflict. Haman was furious. Mordecai said that he didnt do it because he was a Jew. Haman already hated Jews. He was agagite. But now he had a reason to hate and a focue of his hate and the means to carry out his hate. Esther 3:7 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. Scholars put this at 474 BC. Haman couldnt decide what to do so he cast lots. Pur is the Assyrian expression for casting lots. Notice he identifies it. Pur, that is the lot, goral. They understood the goral. Lot. The Bible doesnt say that casting lots is wrong. Lot decides between the mighty. The New testament they cast lots to determine Judas replacement. Joshua cast lots to distribute the lands to the tribes. We get the term from the division of the promised land during the days of Joshua. Each allocation was known as a lot. It became a synonym for station in life. Thats my lot in life. David said, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot (goral) secure. (Psalm 16:5-6).This is something different. Casting lots here is a form of divination. Haman is trying to figure out what to do with Mordecai, but he cant get a clear signal. He is afraid of overreaching and thus bringing condemnation upon himself. So he takes a full year to consider his options and cast the lots. The lot was cast in the month of Nisan. Nisan is the Babylonian name for the month. The Jewish name was Abib, or Aviv. Aviv is the Jewish equivalent to January, first month of the year although Nisan for them was March April. This was the date of the first Passover and thus the beginning of the Jewish calendar.

God controlled this lot because he gave his people 11 months. What if Haman had said, Next week. There wouldnt have been time. God controls even the pagans and their ways. Proverbs 16:33 the lot is cast into the lap but its every decision is from the lord. Haman cast the lot in the month of Nisan. Nisan was the first month because it was the month of Passover. The actual Passover occurred after a 14 day waiting period. Watch what happens in th verse 12. the decree went out on the 13 of Nisan. Thats Passover eve. Pur is the singular, Purim, is plural. Im being the Hebrew for plural. Cherub is an angel, cherubim is a lot of angels. Purim is a festival the Jews celebrate to this day and they do it in honor of Esther and the way she delivered the Jews. From Wikipedia Purim (Hebrew: Prm "lots", from Akkadian pru) is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the deliverance from Haman's plot to annihilate all the Jews of the Persian Empire, who had survived the Babylonian captivity, after Persia had conquered Babylonia who in turn had destroyed the First Temple and dispersed the Jewish people; as recorded in the Biblical Book of Esther. It is characterized by public recitation of the Book of Esther, giving mutual gifts of food and drink, giving charity to the poor, and a celebratory meal (Esther 9:22); other customs include drinking wine, wearing of masks and costumes, and public celebration. Purim is celebrated annually on the 14th of the Hebrew month of Adar, the day following the victory of the Jews which was on the 13 day of Adar. (In cities that were protected by a wall in the time of Joshua, including Susa and Jerusalem, Purim is celebrated on the 15th of the month, known as Shushan Purim). As with all Jewish holidays, Purim begins at sundown on the previous secular day. Apparently, after a year of indecision Haman took action. He might have used that year to solidify his position. It tells us a couple of things. First the gravity of the situation. Second, the determination of this wicked man. Haman was determined to wipe out his enemy once and for all.

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 kings laws, so it is not in the kings interest to let them remain. Subterfuge always deals in deception. Yes there were a people scattered. Yes, they did have different laws and those laws sometimes caused consternation. People will paint it in the worst possible light. If you are a leader hearing a negative report about a worker dont be quick to hear that. Think with discernment. Proverbs 18:17 The first to plead his case seems right, Until another comes and examines him. Question is why would King Ahasuerus issue a decree to kill all of the Jews over this one isolated conflict. The truth is this was undoubtedly the tip of the iceburg. There is a note in Ezra 4:6 while describing the situation in Jerusalem Ezra talks about how the inhabitants made it difficult for the Jews. They hired counselors to frustree them. They also sent derogatory messages to the Persian king. Remember, Jerusalem was a part of the Persian empire.

Ezra 4:6-7 describe how this was an ongoing strategy down through the decades. 6 Now in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. They wrote these inflammatory statements during the reign of Ahasuerus. Xerxes. Then verse 7 says they did it also during the rule of Artaxerxes. 7 And in the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and the rest of his colleagues wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the text of the letter was written in Aramaic and translated from Aramaic. Point is, this probably wasnt the first bad news the king had received concerning these Jews. This was the straw on the back of the camel. We get a glimpse here of the distinctive nature of the Jews. They have always been like this. No other people has ever been able to maintain its heritage the way the Jews have. Put them in Russia, or America, or Brazil and they are still Jews. In fact, this distinctiveness is what creates the persecution. People and cultures tend to attack that which will not conform. Theres more here than meets the eye. History has shown that the enemy is forever trying to wipe out the chosen ranks of Israel. Why is that? Those who view things in a purely secular light think that it has to do with the closed ranks of the Jewish nation. Even Churchill made this assessment following the holocaust of WWII. Jews 'partly responsible' for their troubles: Churchill Mar 10 08:08 PM US/Eastern The Second World War prime minister Winston Churchill argued that Jews were "partly responsible for the antagonism from which they suffer" in an article publicised for the first time Sunday.Churchill made the claim in an article entitled "How The Jews Can Combat Persecution" written in 1937, three years before he started leading the country.He outlined a new wave of anti-Semitism sweeping across Europe and the United States, which was followed by the deaths of millions of Jews in the Holocaust under the German Nazi regime."It would be easy to ascribe it to the wickedness of the persecutors, but that does not fit all the facts," the article read."It exists even in lands, like Great Britain and the United States, where Jew and Gentile are equal in the eyes of the law and where large numbers of Jews have found not only asylum, but opportunity."These facts must be faced in any analysis of anti-Semitism. They should be pondered especially by the Jews themselves."For it may be that, unwittingly, they are inviting persecution -- that they have been partly responsible for the antagonism from which they suffer."The article adds: "The central fact which dominates the relations of Jew and non-Jew is that the Jew is 'different'."He looks different. He thinks differently. He has a different tradition and background. He refuses to be absorbed."The article was discovered by Cambridge University historian Richard Toye in the university's archive of Churchill's papers. At the time, Churchill's secretary advised him it would be "inadvisable" to publish it and it never saw the light of day. So the core of the issue is the distinctiveness of the Jews. We hate that which will not conform. And yet the real issue wasnt even Jewish. It was between Mordecai and Haman. As far as we know, Mordecai was the only Jew that wasnt obeying the kings decree to bow to Haman. Yet racism tends to generalize. All Jews. All blacks. All Baptists. All Hispanics. All . . . not all. Just one.

We saw a similar broadening of the issues when Vashti wouldnt bow and the adviser said they needed another law to oppress all women everywhere. 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 kings business, to put into the kings treasuries." Haman sweetens the offer by adding money. Its not just a national security crises, Ill pay to eradicate this pest. This shows the heart of a man at its very darkest. All of this over one mans refusal to bow. The ten thousand talents of silver were desperately needed after the kings disasterous Greecian campaign. Darius, Xerxes father received 14560 talents in tribute. So this represents 2/3s of the foreign income. Where would he get that much money? From the jews he killed. Just like Hitler. Acquisition by theft. 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. Kings, they are an impetuous breed. It comes from a lifetime without accountability and never having to say you are sorry. 11 The king said to Haman, "The silver is yours, and the people also, to do with them as you please." 12 Then the kings scribes were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and it was written just as Haman commanded to the kings 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 kings signet ring. Thirteenth day of the first month. This is the eve of Passover. The day before the Passover. Talk about humbling the people and getting their hearts right for deliverance. Talk about reminding them who the deliverer is. Talk about reminding them that they are not safe in a foreign land. 13 Letters were sent by couriers to all the kings 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 kings 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. The message went out in systematic form. Darkness is very organized. Especially when it wants to do a big work. The Jews are to be exterminated. All because one man refused to bow. Was it Mordecais pride that created this situation? If so then God can use even that. He often used mistakes and even wrong motives to accomplish his purpose. You see, he is about to pull esther from the outside and force her to show her hand. She would have to confess her alegience.

God always does that. He demands allegiance and he forces confessions. Meantime, Jeremiah 12:1 why do the wicked prosper. Mordecai must have wrestled with this. Maybe you do. The fact that Xerxes failed to honor mordecais faithfulness would have created bitterness. But God had a bigger plan. That oversight was the very thing that would save the nation. His timing is perfect. God works even trhough evil. When Peter and John were released they led the church in a prayer service. Acts 4:27 27 "For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur. Karen Jobes wrote It was not in spite of the greatest injustice and most concerted evil against Jesus that God achieved his work of atonement, but through those very acts of injustice and evil. What a mind-boggling mystery!