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THE TABLES WERE TURNED Esther 9-10 I. PERIPETY
AND THE TURNING OF THE TABLES IN ESTHER A. Peripety is a change/reversal of fortune or reverse of
circumstances. B. Reversal/the turning of the tables is
one of the concluding themes of Esther. 1. “it
was turned to the contrary” (NASB95); “the tables were turned” (NIV); “the reverse occurred” (ESV); “the opposite happened” (Tanakh) (Esther 9:1). 2. “it was a month which was turned for them from sorrow into
gladness and from mourning into a holiday” (Esther 9:22). 3. “his wicked scheme which he had devised against
the Jews, should return on his own
head and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows” (Esther
9:25). 4. Haman had wonderfully laid out plans for
killing all the Jews. He had the power
and authority and wealth to carry out his plan, but in the end he was hanged
from his own gallows and all the enemies of the Jews were killed. C. Other reversals in Esther 1. Mordecai was clothed in sackcloth and
ashes (Esther 4:2) and at the end in royal robes (Esther 8:15; cf. 6:11). 2. Jewish Fasting is turned into feasting
(Esther 4:16 with 9:17-19). 3. Mordecai would not bow before Haman
(Esther 5:9) and Haman bows/falls before Mordecai (Esther 6:11,13). 4. Haman decreed all Jews were to be killed. Mordecai decreed that all enemies of the
Jews be killed (Esther 3:13; 8:11). 5. When Haman’s decree was published the
city of Susa was bewildered (Esther 3:15).
When Mordecai’s decree was published the city of Susa rejoiced (Esther
8:15). 6. When Haman’s edict was published in each
and every province there was “great mourning among the Jews, with fasting,
weeping and wailing; and many lay on sackcloth and ashes” (Esther 4:3). When Mordecai’s edict was published in each and every province there was “gladness
and joy for the Jews, a feast and a holiday.
And many among the peoples of the land became Jews, for the dread of
the Jews had fallen on them”
(Esther 8:17). 7. “The king took off his signet ring which he had taken
away from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the
house of Haman” (Esther 8:2; cf. 3:10). II. PERIPETY
AND THE TURNING OF THE TABLES AS A PRINCIPLE OF HISTORY A. The Scriptures begins and ends with
“reversal.” 1. The Bible begins with the heavens and
the earth and ends with the new heavens and the new earth. 2. The Bible begins in a garden and ends in
a city. 3. In Genesis 1 God creates the sun and
moon, and in Rev.21:23 the city has no need of the sun or of the moon for the
glory of God illumines it. 4. In Genesis 3 the earth and man are
cursed because of sin. In Revelation
21:3 there is no longer any curse. 5. Adam and Eve were driven from the garden
and not allowed to eat from the tree of life, in the new heavens and the new
earth the tree of life is restored (Rev.22:2,14). 6. In Genesis 3 Adam and Eve sin and
introduce death into the world. In
Revelation 20 death and Hades are thrown into the lake of fire. B. The story of the Bible and the story of all
history is God’s resolving the problem of the curse, sin and death. The Gospel is the story of God’s reversal
of things and putting everything right side in. C. A survey of some of the reversals in
Scripture: 1. “He turned the sea into dry land” (Psalm 66:6;
cf. Psalm 114:7-8). 2. Blessed are the poor in spirit, those
who mourn, those who hunger… (Matthew 5:1-12). 3. Woe to you who are rich, who are
well-fed, when men speak well of you…(Luke 6:20-28) 4. The last shall be first, giving is
receiving, dying is living, losing is finding, the least shall be greatest,
weakness is strength, serving is ruling… 5. The miracles of Jesus were reversals:
the blind see; the lame walk; the deaf hear… 6. The Pharisees stood condemned and the
sinners were entering before them into the kingdom! 7. When you go to a banquet where should
you sit? (Luke 14:10-11) When you
throw a banquet who should you invite?
D. The greatest reversal was the
Incarnation, cross and exaltation of Jesus (Matthew 10:38-39; 1 Corinthians
1; Philippians 2:5-11). III. OUTSIDE
OF CHRIST, MAN’S BEST LAID PLANS PRODUCE THE OPPOSITE OF THEIR
INTENDED GOAL (Psalm 33:10-11; cf.
Proverbs 16:9; 19:21; Isaiah 14:26,27) A. Many of the leaders of our nation think that
the answers to the world’s problems and the answer to radical Islam is some
form of freedom and democracy. 1. Our nation’s quest for freedom apart from God and His law, is
unwittingly contributing to the radicalization of Islam: a. Devout Muslims don’t want the FREEDOM to
choose sexual immorality and adultery. b. freedom to choose abortion. c. freedom that allows for the legalization
of pornography or public nudity. d. freedom that that can legalize
homosexuality. e. freedom of speech that allows for the
name of Jesus to be blasphemed or their prophet Muhammad.
3. Didn’t our nation’s Gospel of freedom backfire
when the Palestinians followed the democratic process and chose Hamas? B. Even the righteous sometimes find that
their best laid plans outside of Jesus Christ end up producing the opposite
of their intended goal. 1. Righteous Lot chose to reside in Sodom
and Gomorrah because he made a judgment with his eyes. Righteous Lot chose earthly prosperity
instead of seeking God’s face and he ended up losing all his wealth, his wife
and the purity of his daughters. (Genesis 13-14; 18-19) 2. Abraham and Sarah had no children. God promised them a son. After waiting years and years, Abraham
decided to take matters into his own hands and had a child with Hagar. Think of all the pain and heartache this
produced for Abraham and the Jews for generations. (Genesis 16) 3. The righteous can sometimes reverse
God’s plan and will and put their own plan and will at the forefront of their
life. We sometimes think that “God
with us” means “God follows us.” Sheep
don’t lead the shepherd, they follow the Shepherd. QUESTIONS FOR SABBATH DISCUSSION
& MEDITATION Pray that God would enable you and give you
the desire to be conformed to His Word as read and preached today. What is peripety? Give some examples of reversal in Esther. Give some examples of reversal in the
Bible. Explain how reversal is foundational to the
work of Jesus and His death on the cross. Why don’t Muslims want the freedoms of the
West? Could it be that our nation’s
freedoms are just as or perhaps more oppressive than nations without
democracies? Comment on the following quote from Senator
Barack Obama (D-Ill): “Democracy demands that the religiously
motivated translate their concerns into universal, rather than religion-specific,
values. It requires that their proposals be subject to argument, and amenable
to reason." Principles must be "accessible to people of all faiths,
including those with no faith at all. “Now, this is going to be difficult for
some who believe in the inerrancy [of sacred scripture]. But in a pluralistic
democracy, we have no choice. Politics depends on our ability to persuade
each other of common aims based on a common reality. . . . At some
fundamental level, religion does not allow for compromise. It's the art of
the impossible. If God has spoken, then followers are expected to live up to
God's edicts, regardless of the consequences. To base one's life on such
uncompromising commitments may be sublime; to base our policymaking on such
commitments would be a dangerous thing.” Have you misunderstood God’s promise to
always be with you (“God with us”) to mean God will always follow you? Have you sinfully tried “shepherding”
God? Do you make earthly plans and
then try to fit them into God’s will? |
