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Amen. All right, we're there in Esther chapter number nine, and of course on Sunday mornings we've been going through this series entitled For Such a Time as This, and it's really been a verse-by-verse study through the book of Esther, and we are of course continuing through this narrative in the Bible, and usually, I mentioned this last week, usually when people think of the book of Esther, they think of the story found between chapters one and chapter seven. Chapters one and seven deal with Esther, Mordecai, and Haman, and at the end of chapter seven Haman dies, but the book does not end there. The book continues through chapter eight, nine, and chapter ten, and there's more that happens. Even after Haman's death, there's an aftermath of Haman that needs to be dealt with, and this morning I want us to walk through this chapter. We're going to look at every verse in this, or excuse me, not every verse. We're going to look at about half the chapter, and some of the verse at the end, and then we'll cover the rest of it next week, but I want to point out for you and highlight for you five lessons that we see in this chapter, five things that we notice in this chapter, and of course, like always, I would encourage you to write these things down on the back of your course of the week. There's a place for you to take down some notes, and maybe you can jot these things down as you study them together, but we see here in Esther chapter nine, if you look at verse one, the Bible says this. On the twelfth month, that is the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same. Of course, this is the big day that the book of Esther has been building towards, the day when the persecution of the Jews is to come, when the king's commandment and his decree drew near to be put in execution, in the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them, though it was turned to the contrary that the Jews had rule over them that hated them. The Bible tells us here that this day comes, this is the day that Haman had planned earlier in the book. In fact, keep your place right there in Esther nine and flip back with me to Esther chapter three, earlier in the book, verse number 13, to notice this day that Haman had planned. Haman had basically manipulated the king into passing a law that there would be a set day in the calendar where anyone who wanted to could kill the Jews. They could kill God's people, of course, in the Old Testament here, referring to the Jews. Esther chapter three, verse 13, the Bible says, and the letters were sent by post into all the king's provinces. Notice what's to happen on this day, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish all Jews. The Bible tells us, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to take the spoil of them for a praise. So Haman had passed this law, and he actually, the Bible tells us, he had this idea on the first month of the year. The law is not until the last month of the year, and the Bible tells us that he cast per, or he cast lots to choose that day, and of course, he probably thought that the gods had helped him and had ordained that day. But this is the day that was chosen, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar. And that's what we find ourselves, if you go back to Esther chapter nine and verse one, now in the twelfth month, that is the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king's commandment and his decree drew near to be put in execution in the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them. That day has come, the day when the enemies would think that they would be able to have power over the Jews. And what we see in this chapter, and if you're jotting down some notes, and I'd encourage you to write down these points or these statements, the first thing we see is the practice of self-defense. And honestly, what we primarily see in this chapter is the Jews defending themselves. Of course, Haman had devised a day for all who hated the Jews to be able to kill them, both young and old, women and children. They could kill the Jews without any repercussions, without any legal issues as a result on that day. But of course, Mordecai, and we've been studying this through the book of Esther, and I don't have time to go back and re-preach all the sermons. You're welcome to go back and listen to them on our website or our YouTube channel. But Mordecai devised a counter plan for the Jews to defend themselves against their enemies. If you remember, we talked about it last week, that the law could not be repealed. The law of the Medes and the Persians could not be altered. Once it was passed, that was it. But Mordecai and Esther were able to devise a counter plan. In Esther chapter 9 and verse 2, the Jews gathered themselves together in their cities. They were allowed at this time to gather themselves throughout all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus. So it's not like the Jews were just scattered around and anyone who wanted to just walk up to somebody and kill them or beat them or whatever. Now under Mordecai's law that has been passed, the Jews were gathered themselves together in their cities. They could gather together on this day. Of course there's strength in numbers. Throughout all the providence of the king Ahasuerus, notice, to lay hand on such as sought their hurt and no man could withstand them for the fear of them fell upon all the people. So they were allowed to defend themselves, verse 3, and all the rulers of the provinces and the lieutenants and the deputies and the officers of the king helped the Jews. And of course, we'll talk about why they helped them in a minute, but they were also given the resources of the king, the power structure of the king, the deputies, the lieutenants, the officers. They helped the Jews because the fear of Mordecai fell upon them. For Mordecai was great in the king's house and his fame went out throughout all the provinces. For this man Mordecai watched greater and greater. Notice verse 5. Not only were Mordecai able to devise this counter plan, but we're told that the Jews were able to gather successfully and defend themselves. Thus the Jews smote all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, the slaughter, and the destruction and did what they would unto those that hated them. And in Shushan the palace, the Jews slew and destroyed 500 men. The Bible says, and Parshan Datha, and Daphan, and Aspetha, and Paretha, and Adeliah, and Aradetha, and Parmasthah, and Arisei, and Araday, and Vehasetha, the sons of Haman, the sons of Hamadetha, the enemy of the Jews slew they, but on the spoil laid they not their hand. On the day the number of those that were slain in Shushan the palace were brought before the king. Now I want you to notice verse 12. And the king said unto Esther the queen, the Jews have slain and destroyed 500 men in Shushan the palace. And the ten sons of Haman, what have they done in the rest of the king's providences? Now what is thy petition? So he asks this question. He says, what's happened in the rest of the providences? Then he asks Esther, he asks, what is your petition? And it shall be granted thee, or what is thy request further? And it shall be done. Now we see the king offering for Esther, what is it that you would like done? Verse 13. And then said Esther, if it please the king, let it be granted to the Jews which are in Shushan to do tomorrow also. Because remember Haman set up one day and Mordecai passed a law that they would defend themselves on that one day and that the king's resources would be used to help them. The lieutenants and the deputies, the officers, the rulers would help the Jews. But now Esther is asking for another day. She says to do tomorrow according unto this day's decree and let Haman's ten sons be hanged upon the gallows. The king commanded it so to be done and the decree was given at Shushan and they hanged Haman's ten sons for the Jews that were in Shushan, notice, gathered themselves together on the 14th day also of the month Adar and slew 300 men at Shushan but on the prey they laid not their hands. But the other Jews that were in the king's providences gathered themselves together and stood for their lives and had rest from their enemies and slew of their foes seventy and five thousand but they laid not their hands on the prey. So we have 500 put to death, killed in Shushan and then Esther asks for an additional day to be able to defend themselves on the 14th day and according to verse 15 an additional three hundred men at Shushan were killed on the second day and for the rest of the kingdom on the 14th day the Bible says that the Jews slew of their foes seventy and five thousand. So what is it that we're seeing here? What is it that we can learn from this chapter? Well keep your place here in Esther, this is obviously our text for this morning, go with me if you would to the book of Exodus towards the beginning of the Old Testament you have Genesis and Exodus, Exodus chapter 22. The first thing we see is the practice of self-defense and you know the Bible teaches this concept of self-defense. Today you have Christians who take this idea that we're supposed to be these pacifists who never defend themselves, who just allow people to hurt them and hurt their families. Now of course we understand when it comes to relationships, we're not talking about life and death situations here, the Bible teaches that we should esteem others better than ourselves. The Bible teaches that we should turn the other cheek. The Bible teaches that we should suffer ourselves to be the fraud and the Bible says to love your enemies and bless them that hurt you and pray for them that despitefully use you. We understand those things in a relational sense but when it comes to somebody actually wanting to kill you or your family, hurt your family, the Bible teaches the concept of self-defense. Exodus 22, look at verse 2, I'll show this to you in scripture, Exodus chapter 22 and verse 2. The Bible says this, Exodus 22, this is the law of God, if a thief be found breaking up, so you catch somebody breaking into your house, notice what the Bible says, and be smitten that he die, there shall no blood be shed for him. Now the Bible is telling us if someone breaks into your house and the context is if somebody breaks into your house in the middle of the night or at night and I'll show that to you in a minute, this is not referring to the daytime but at night, the laws of God said that if you smoke them or if they be smitten that they die, there shall no blood be shed for them. What is God saying? No blood shall be shed for them. No one's gonna get put to death, no one's gonna get executed, no one's gonna get punished for taking the life of someone who broke into your house in the middle of the night. You say why? Because God gives this right of self-defense in scripture, if somebody breaks into your house in the middle of the night, you can say, well they were just there to steal but they weren't gonna hurt us. Yeah, but you don't know that. I mean if somebody's breaking into your house in the middle of the night, you should just assume that they're gonna try to do the worst possible things. So the Bible says if a thief be found breaking up and be smitten that die, there shall no blood be shed for him. And look, by the way, this is just, not only is this biblical justice, this is common sense. I mean we live in a society today that has gone insane. We live in a society today where somebody could break into your house in the middle of the night, fall down the stairs and sue you and win. This is not what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches this concept of self-defense. Now let me say this, to an extent, there is a limit to self-defense. Look at verse 3, if the son be risen upon him. So this is a different situation, guys breaking into your house, but it's during the daytime. If the son be risen upon him and then you kill him, there shall be blood shed for him. For he should make full restitution if he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft. So the Bible is saying, look, obviously at night you can't see what weapons people have, you don't know what they're up to. God says if you smite them and they die, you're not gonna be held accountable for that. But he says that also doesn't mean that in the middle of the day, some teenagers going in through your window, you can't just plunge in them to death. There's a limit to it, obviously the Bible teaches, but there is this concept of self-defense. So look, that doesn't mean that we go and grab your AR-15 and start patrolling the cities at night trying to find problems. That's not what the Bible is referring to. So when it comes to defending yourself, your family, your loved ones, the Bible teaches this concept of self-defense. This is what the Jews were doing. They were defending themselves because the enemies of God's people wanted to hurt them. They thought on this day that they would have power over them and God sanctions this idea of self-defense. Go to the book of Psalms if you would, Psalm 144. If you open up your Bible just right in the center, you'll more than likely fall in the book of Psalms, Psalm 144. You know, and look, the Bible teaches for a pastor, part of the pastoral qualifications, it says that he be not a brawler or a striker. You know, the Bible says that a man that is going to go into ministry can't be someone who's just looking for fight, trying to get into fight. A striker means you're punching people. You know, a brawler means you're getting into fights or looking for fights to get into. These are things that God says that the man of God should not do. But that doesn't mean that you can't defend your family. You don't go looking for a fight, but if your family's in danger, the Bible teaches this concept of self-defense, Psalm 144. Look at verse one, the Bible says this, a Psalm of David, blessed be the Lord my strength. This is David speaking, he says, blessed be the Lord my strength. Notice what David said, which teacheth my hands to war and my fingers to fight. David said, you know, God's the one who taught me to war. God's the one who taught my fingers to fight. You know, the Bible says that God is a man of war. So we understand this concept of self-defense. We see the practice of self-defense. Go back to Esther chapter 9, if you would, while you go there, I'll read to you out of Luke chapter 11 and verse 21. You go back to Esther 9, let me just read this verse for you, Luke chapter 11 and verse 21. The Bible says this, when a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace. So the Bible teaches this concept, we see in this chapter the practice of self-defense. And by the way, that's why there's nothing wrong, that's with us, it's a good thing. We're getting ready here soon and these things take time for the training and for things to be done properly and in order and logistically and legally. But you know, we're getting ready to roll out a safety team for our church, an armed safety team. And you say, you know, is that really needed? Well, you know, watch the news and tell me if you think it's needed. But you say, is there something wrong with that? There's nothing wrong with defending yourself. The Bible teaches the concept of self-defense and that's what we see here. In fact, that's the primary thing we see in this chapter is just God's people defending themselves against their enemies. Now again, we're not talking about relationally, we're not talking about, you know, with your neighbor they're just being mean to you, they're being rude to you, your coworker's being rude to you. In those instances, you know, we turn the other cheek, we love our neighbor as ourself, we love our enemies, we esteem others better than ourselves. But when it goes from, oh, they're, you know, just being mean to you because you're a Christian or they don't like you because of some stand you take or you will go get drunk with them or whatever. But when it goes from that to they pull a knife out and they're trying to kill you, then defend yourself. We're not pacifists. We see this practice of self-defense. Go back to Esther chapter 9, look at verse 2. With that said though, not only do we see the practice of self-defense, but then we see the principle of safety. I was recently having this conversation just earlier this week. You know, here's what the Bible says. The Bible says the horse is prepared for the day of battle. The Bible says the horse is prepared for the day of battle. What does that mean? That means that you prepare yourself, you get ready, you do, you set up a safety team, you know, at your house, you legally get a gun, you know, of course you gotta throw that in nowadays, but you know, you do whatever you need to do to prepare yourself. Here's what the Bible says, the horse is prepared for the day of battle, but safety's of the Lord. So there's a practice of self-defense, but then there's a principle of safety. What is it? The principle of safety is this, that ultimately God is the one who keeps us safe. Esther chapter 9, look at verse 2. Esther chapter 9 verse 2, the Bible says this, the Jews gathered themselves together in their cities, throughout all the provinces of the king of Hasierus to lay hands on such as sought their hurt. And by the way, let me just say this about the principle of safety, safety's of the Lord. That's not prosperity gospel, that doesn't mean that, oh, safety's of the Lord, so nothing bad's ever gonna happen to me. That's not what the Bible teaches. If that's what you think, you haven't been paying attention. Because you know, we've been preaching through the book of Esther, we've been preaching through the book of Job, we've been preaching through all sorts of concepts, look, the Christian life is not a life that is not without troubles, in fact tonight I'm gonna be preaching a sermon about how we are troubled on every side, how the Christian life is a life full of troubles and trials and persecutions. The principle of safety is not that safety's of the Lord, therefore nothing bad's gonna happen to me. The principle of safety is that safety's of the Lord, therefore the Lord is with me. I will fear no evil. Therefore, if bad things happen to me, Job, if bad things happen to me, Joseph, if bad things happen to me, Esther, it was filtered through God, it was ordained through God, and I can walk with God through that. Notice verse 3, Esther chapter 9 verse 3. All the rulers of the provinces and the lieutenants and the deputies and the officers of the kings helped the Jews. Now why did these people help the Jews? They said, oh, they were just nice people that wanted to help the Jews. Unfortunately I doubt it. They helped the Jews, why? Notice why, verse 3, because, because the fear of Mordecai fell apart. See, you say, well, why couldn't these people be just nice people? Because they were politicians, that's why. They were rulers and lieutenants and deputies and officers and governors. Why did they help the Jews? Because the fear of Mordecai fell apart. See, they had been watching. They were paying attention. They saw the way the wind was blowing. When Haman was on top, when Haman was exalted, they had no problem with, sure, we're going to hunt the Jews down and we can take their prey. No problem. But now they've seen Haman hanged. Now they've seen Mordecai exalted. They see which way the wind is blowing. They see the way that Ahasuerus, the king, wants things to be done. They realize now, oh wait, the king's wife, Queen Esther, is herself a Jew. So they side with the Jews. Why? Because the fear of Mordecai fell upon them. Look at verse 4. For Mordecai was great in the king's house, and his fame went out throughout all the provinces. For this man, Mordecai, waxed greater and greater. Here's the interesting thing. They weren't afraid of Mordecai before. They weren't afraid of Esther before. But when God shows up and when God decides, when God puts his power, when God puts his might, when God puts his fear in them, the Bible says, no, they're going to help the Jews. Why? Because the fear of Mordecai. It's not necessarily that they liked Mordecai. They were afraid of Mordecai. And it wasn't necessarily that they were afraid of the man Mordecai, but they were afraid of the man's God. They had seen what God had done for Mordecai and Esther. They had seen that God had worked providentially, that the invisible hand of God had labored on behalf of Esther and Mordecai on the other side. And the fear of their God fell upon them. Keep your place right there in Esther. Go to the book of Genesis, if you would, Genesis chapter 35. First book in the Bible. Should be fairly easy to find. Genesis 35. We could probably preach a whole sermon on this subject. I'm not going to do that. But I do want to just show you one example. We see the practice of self-defense, but we also see the principle of safety. What's the practice of self-defense? The horse who prepared for the day of battle. What's the principle of safety? The safeties of the Lord. That God can put his fear on you and cause for people to not rise up against you. Not because they're afraid of you, but because they're afraid of your God. I can give you lots of examples. I'll just give you one. Genesis 35. Look at verse 1. And God said unto Jacob, arise and go up to Bethel and dwell there, and make there an altar unto God that appearth unto thee when thou fled is from the face of Esau thy brother. Now, God is appealing to Jacob here, and this is after Jacob's two sons have murdered and slaughtered the men of Shechem. And Jacob is afraid because he says, you guys basically are these serial killers. You went into the city and killed all these men, and now everybody's going to hate us and they're going to begin to persecute us. Jacob doesn't know what to do. God comes to Jacob and says, I want you to go up to Bethel and dwell there. He says, you fled there when you were fleeting from the face of Esau, and I want you to flee there now. And by the way, side note, Bethel is a picture of the house of God. Whenever you're afraid, it's good to flee to the house of God. But I want you to notice verse 5. And they journeyed. Notice what the Bible says. His sons just killed an entire village city of men. And the terror of God was upon the city that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob. You know that God is a better bodyguard than you are? That God is mightier than you are, stronger than you are, more fierce than you are? You know, instead of being worried about how, you know, and look, I'm for self-defense. I just preached it. I'm for you guys having guns and knives and whatever, you know, as long as you're safe with it and all that stuff and you're legal. Make sure I say that. But you know, instead of having your confidence in how big your gun is, you ought to have your confidence in how big your gun is. I was recently telling, I think Brother Matt and Miss Casey were talking about this. You've heard me tell the story, but years ago when my wife had first gotten married, we were, I don't know, 18, 19 years old. And we lived in these apartments. And you know, like always, we lived in the ghetto. And we lived in these apartments, and they were just ran down and lots of shady individuals, you know. People just looked like they were up to no good. And we lived in this upstairs apartment, and this was before we had kids. I think it was before we had kids. I don't know, my wife's. Whenever I tell a story that involves her, she has to go take care of the baby, I'm sure. But this was before we had kids, and we had this upstairs apartment. And you know, I was working. Of course, she stayed home, and she had a part-time job. I think this was before we knew better. But she would run errands and do the groceries and laundry or whatever, and she'd be always coming up and down these stairs, coming up and down these stairs. The problem is the guys that lived below us, these young people that lived underneath us, just ghetto, thug, big, ugly, bad-looking guys, and you know, a couple of girls or whatever. And they would always hang out. They lived in the downstairs apartment, but they'd always hang out in that staircase where my wife would have to pass by, and they were always kind to her and whatever. But she would always, every time she saw them, she'd give an invitation to church, invite them to church, and she'd try to preach the gospel to some of them. I think she might have got a couple of them saved, and it was just something she did. I don't even know that I ever even really saw these guys, because I would get up and go to work and come back, and I never really saw them. She'd tell me about them, but she would always be trying to give the gospel to these guys and give them an invitation. Whenever there was a new friend, hey, I want to invite you to church and these things. Fast forward a few months later, we bought a car, the car we have right now. We bought a brand new Honda Civic. This was like, I don't know, 17 years ago or something, 15 years ago. And my wife, as she was out and about, she was doing the laundry, and she had to go down to the laundry mat in this apartment complex with the laundry, and she had the keys to our car and to our house in that basket, and it must have fell as she was going back and forth, and she didn't realize it. I came home, and I opened the door, so we didn't realize she was missing her keys. Her kids had been missing for probably a day or so before we even realized it. In fact, we realized it when we were getting ready to go to church on Sunday morning, that we couldn't find our keys, and we looked and did the best we could. We couldn't find them, so we just kind of said, well, we got to go to church. We don't want to be late, and then we came back from church and spent the entire afternoon looking for them, came back from Sunday night service and spent the entire evening looking for them, could not find these keys, could not find these keys, keys to a brand new Honda Civic, could not find these keys. At the time, we had a second vehicle, a little red Toyota Celica, and that was the car that my wife had when we got married, because she was cool. When we got married, I had a pale red Chevy Cavalier, but we got rid of that thing, and I married her for her Celica, but anyway, that's a different story. On Monday morning, I was sitting in the Toyota Celica with just a couple slots parked away from our brand new car that we couldn't get into because we lost the keys. I'm sitting there, and it's a cold day, and I'm letting the car warm up, and I'm reading the Bible and having my devotions as I'm letting the car warm up before I go to work. These guys just catch my attention from the rear view mirror and from the side mirror. I see these young people just walking up and down the parking lot, and as they get closer to our car, I hear the beep from our Honda Civic, like someone pressed the button, and then as soon as I heard that, I heard one of them say, that's the one. I realized these people have our keys, and they're looking to see which car it belongs to, and they found it. I don't know why I did this. I was stupid because 18-year-olds are stupid or whatever because these guys were big. I'm not that big to begin with, but even if I was a normal-sized guy, these guys were big. There was three of them, and there was this girl, and I get out of the car, and I run over and said, you got the keys to my car, and they've got the keys in their hand, and I grab the keys, and I'm trying to pull them away. Now we got this tug-of-war, so it's two big guys, and then the third guy, which seems to be the leader just standing back watching this whole thing unfold, and I'm trying to get the keys. This girl starts screaming in my ear and saying all sorts of things to me or whatever, and I'm telling them, we lost those keys. Those keys belong to us. They're like, well, how do we know? And we're just going back and forth, and it dawns on me like, I'm probably going to die. These guys are big, and what am I doing here? I'm taking the keys. They said, well, how do we know? How do we know you're not lying? I remember saying to them, I said, I'm a Christian. I wouldn't lie, as if Christians don't lie. The guy that was standing back, who seemed like the leader of the whole thing, his facial expression changed, and he said, get back his keys. And they said, what? He said, get back his keys. We're not messing with him. And they said, what? Why? And the girl starts screaming at him. He said, no, no, no, we don't mess with Christians. Your wife's the one that keeps inviting us to church, right? And I said, yeah, yeah, it's my wife. I hope it's my wife. They said, no, no, no, we don't mess with Christians. They gave back his keys. They gave back my keys. It's like, man, can you wash it for me? He said, what was that? That wasn't the fear of me, but it was a fear of God. Let me tell you something. You live right. You do right. You stay out of trouble, and you be a soul winner, and you live separated lives, and you live righteous lives, and you'll see God put his fear upon you. And people might not be afraid of you. There might not be anything to be afraid of. The Bible says that the lieutenants, and the deputies, and the officers, and the gangbangers, and the thugs helped the Jews, helped God's people because the fear of Mordecai, and because the fear of Mordecai's God fell upon them. So we prepare the horse for the day of battle. But you know what? Ultimately, safety's of the Lord. We see in this chapter the practice of self-defense. We see the principle of safety. We see number three this morning, I'd like you to notice. We see the problem with spoil. I'd like you to look at verse 10, Esther chapter nine, verse 10. The moral story is this, my wife lost the keys, but it was also her testimony that got them back. So I couldn't be mad at her about that. Look at verse 10. The 10 sons of Haman, the sons of Hamadatha, the enemies of the Jews, look at verse 10. Look at the last part of verse 10. Slew they, but on the spoil laid they not their hand. I want you to understand something. In fact, go back to Esther chapter three, if you would, and look at verse 13. When Haman devised this plan against the Jews, he had ulterior motives. He wanted to kill the Jews because Mordecai would not bow to him, and he hated Mordecai and Mordecai's people. However, getting the rest of the kingdom to want to kill the Jews was going to be a different story. So I want you to notice in Esther chapter three, verse 13, the Bible says this, and the letters were sent by post into all the king's provinces to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even unto the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar. How did he motivate people to want to do this? Look, last part of verse 13, and to take the spoil of them for a prey. The way that Haman motivated people to want to kill the Jews was he said, hey, on this day you get to kill whatever Jew you'd like to. All of God's people, you can kill them. And people might ask, well, why would I want to kill one of the Jews or one of God's people? And then Haman says, and by the way, when you kill them, you can take everything they own. You can take their spoil. You can take the spoil of them for a prey. Here's what's interesting. When you fast forward to Esther chapter nine, and you look at verse 10, and this is highlighted throughout, when the Jews counterbalanced and they counter-defended themselves, they made a rule. Esther chapter nine, verse 10, the ten sons of Haman, the sons of Haman, the enemy Jews slew they, notice, but on the spoil lay they not their hand. Skip down to verse number 15, for the Jews that were in Shushan gathered themselves together on the fourteenth day also of the month Adar and slew 300 men at Shushan. Notice these words, but on the prey they laid not their hand. Look at verse 16. But the other Jews that were in the king's provinces gathered themselves together and stood for their lives and had rest from their enemies and slew of their foes, 70 and 5,000, but they laid not their hands on the prey. God's people, when they defended themselves, the Jews, they said, hey, we're going to defend ourselves, but we're not going to take anything. We're not going to lay our hands on the prey. Now the enemy, Haman, used that to motivate people against them, and by the way, the world is highly motivated by money. I mean, these people were willing to kill an entire group of people just to get their stuff. This is why the Bible says the love of money is the root of all evil. The word spoil means booty, loot, or plunder. We would call it money or material things. They wanted to take the spoil of them, and look, this is how the world works. Do you think that out in the world we could find, as many men have showed up this week after working their secular jobs, showed up to work at this building, took time off of their secular jobs to work at this building, do you think we could find that many worldly guys to volunteer and do that kind of stuff? The world's just motivated by money. The world's going to say, show up for a volunteer work day. I'll show up if you pay me, because that's all they're about. All their life is about the things they own, and they don't realize that things own them. The money they have, you know what, there's more to life than money. Some people are just motivated by, well, I'm not going to do, I'm not going to go there, I'm not going to accomplish these things. It's great to be able to have a community of believers that say, hey, you know what, there's more important things than money. Like what? Like the work of God. You say, like what? Like family? I mean, just yesterday, I was having a good time yesterday, my sons and I were working over at the building, and there was a few guys there, of course, and I had a good time working with my sons, putting up drywall, putting up insulation, learning how to put up insulation and drywall and cut drywall and things. We're having a good time. I had a great time this week watching some of these young teen boys at work. Man, I had a good time watching Thomas over there working with some of the men in the church alongside a grown man from the church with his young teen boy, teaching him how to do things and teaching him how to, I had a good time watching Johnny with his dad up on the scissor lift working and watching, hey, you can't put a monetary value on that. You can't put a monetary value on spending time with your son, spending time with other men from the church. You can pay me to do that. The world is only motivated by money. These people, they say, Heyman says, let's kill the Jews. Why? For money. Sure. Let that never be said of God's people. In fact, the Jews, when they defended themselves, they said, hey, we're going to defend ourselves against the people that want to destroy us and kill us, but we're not going to lay our hands upon the prey. But on the spoil laid they not their hand, verse 10. But on the prey, they laid not their hand, verse 15. But they laid not their hands on the prey, verse 16. They chose to not lay their hand on the spoil. So we see the practice of self-defense, we see the principle of safety, but then we see the problem with the spoil. You say, what's the problem with the spoil? What's the problem with spoil? If they're going to kill them anyway, why does it matter to take stuff from them? How many people who value the things of this world would even think that way, first of all? It's like the song we sang this morning. The things of earth will dim and lose their value if we recall they're barred for a while. You say, what's the problem with the spoil? They chose not to take the spoil. You say, why? Here's why. Because the spoil would cloud their judgment. That's why. See, they were supposed to defend themselves against their enemies. But if Mordecai passed this law that said, hey, you can defend yourself against your enemies and you can take their spoil, there might be a temptation there for them to even kill people that maybe weren't their enemies. There might be a temptation there for them to just go and slaughter and kill people just for their stuff. Mordecai did not want their spoil to cloud their judgment. So he says, hey, we're going to defend ourselves, but we're not going to do like they do. And by the way, as Christians, we should just know we should not live like the world lives. He said, we're not going to just take money from people. We're going to defend ourselves, but we're not going to lay our hands on the spoil. You say, why? Because I don't want, Mordecai would say, I don't want the financial game to cloud your judgment. The finances may cloud your judgment. Go back to Exodus, if you would, Exodus 23. We were just there a little bit ago, Genesis, Exodus, Exodus 23. They chose not to take their spoil to not cloud their judgment. If there was a temptation or an enticement there that, oh, I could get stuff too, then they might go overboard. They might kill people that they didn't have to kill. They might kill people that weren't even their enemy just to get their stuff. So how can we apply that today in our lives? Here's how. Learn this, money will cloud your decision making ability. Money, spoil, pray, wealth, mammon, material stuff will cloud your decision making process, your decision making ability. Exodus 23 and verse 8, notice what the Bible says, and thou shalt take no gift for the gift blinded the wise and perverted the words of the righteous. And of course, this is being spoken to a judge. God says, if you have to make a judgment call, if you have to decide on whether something's right or whether something's wrong, he says, thou shalt take no gift. Even in our day today, it's illegal to give, they get around it, but it's illegal to give a judge a bribe or a gift to get, hey, before you decide on this court case, let me give you this real nice gift. You say, what's wrong with it? And thou shalt take no gift for the gift blinded the wise and perverted the words of righteousness. Go to Proverbs 17, Proverbs 17, if you open up right in the book of Psalms, and by the way, keep your place in Exodus if you would, we're going to come back towards that section of the Bible and go to Proverbs 17. If you open up your Bible right in the center, you're more than likely to find the book of Psalms, right after Psalms, you have the book of Proverbs, Proverbs 17, do me a favor, also keep your place in Proverbs because we're going to leave it and we're going to come back to it. Proverbs 17, notice what the Bible says, a wicked man taken the gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment. And again, I'm not against giving gifts, and if you give gifts in a way that's authentic and sincere, that's fine, and there's nothing wrong with even receiving gifts. But the Bible just tells us this, that money, gifts, things have a way of clouding your decision making ability. You say, okay, I see that in scripture, so what do I do? Here's what you do. Somebody needs to just write this down. Do not make life altering decisions solely based on money. Do not make life altering decisions solely based on money. You say, why? Because money has a way of altering your decision making process, and by the way, let me say this, if you're not sure if you're making the right decision, factor out money and then make the decision. If you're not sure if you're making the right decision, factor out money and ask yourself, if there was no financial gain or loss, if there was no financial issue with this decision, would I still be making it? The Bible says, but they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. The Bible says that the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some have coveted after, erred from the faith. Money has a way of clouding your decision making process. Somebody was just recently telling me about an individual who made a decision to send his wife to work and they've got little children and they've got a baby and little kids and he sends his wife to work because she's got student loans or he has student loans or something and they're going to pay these things off. And he had all sorts of biblical reasons why it was okay for him to do that. But you know, at the end of the day, if you factor money out and make that decision, you wouldn't make that decision. And let me tell you something, every time you make a decision based on money, you will live to regret it because money has a way of clouding your decision making process. Money has a way of, of not allowing you to think well, to think properly. So look, when it comes to major decisions, never make a life altering decision solely based on money. And if you're not sure if you're making the right decision, factor money out. You say, well, what would that do? You know what that would do? That would keep you from taking a promotion somewhere where there's no good church for you to go to. That would keep you from taking a job that caused you to miss Sunday morning church or Sunday night church or Wednesday night church. That would keep you from doing things that would not allow you to serve God, to be with God's people, to be in the, look, doesn't the Bible say that Christ, which is our life, if God is our life, if Christ is our life, if God's people are our lives. Here's all I'm telling you, there's a problem with spoil. And when you make life altering decisions solely based on money, remember this ugly face, you will live to regret it. And if you're not sure, you say, I'm not sure if I'm making the right decision, okay, factor out money. I mean, if there was no financial gain, would you still be sending your wife off 40 hours a week? You say, well pastor, you know, you get paid to be a pastor. Well, here's the thing, for the first four years, I didn't get paid. And if you took money away, I'd still do this. I did it, four years. Look, factor out money and all of a sudden you'll see with clarity, wait a minute, no, I wouldn't do that. Factor out money, men, and all of a sudden you think, no, wait, maybe I do want to come home and have dinner with my wife and kids every night. Maybe I don't want to send my wife to work so she can homeschool the children and read the Bible with them and teach them and guide them every day. Well, when you factor money out, you say, oh, it's not about money. Okay, factor out your toys, factor out your vacation, factor out your mammon and your wealth, factor all those things out. Because look, when you remember that those things are borrowed but for a while, they begin to lose their dim, they begin to lose their value. So we see the practice of self-defense, we see the principle of safety, we see the problem with spoil. Let me give you a fourth one this morning, go back to Esther chapter nine. Keep your places there in Proverbs and Exodus. We see the promise of sowing. And I don't want to spend too much time on this because we've been looking at this a lot in the book of Esther, but I do want to show it to you. Esther nine, verse 23, and the Jews undertook to do as they had begun. And as Mordecai had written unto them, because Haman the son of Hamadatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had devised against the Jews to destroy them and had cast purr, that is the law, to consume them and to destroy them. But when Esther came before the king, he commanded by letter that his wicked devise, which he devised against the Jews, notice these words, should return upon his own head and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows. We see the promise of sowing, and we've talked about it throughout this series, so I won't spend a lot of time on it, but just don't forget that you reap what you sow. It's a promise. Be not deceived, God is not mocked, for whatsoever man soweth, that shall he also reap. Let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap, but we faint not. You say, what happened to Haman? He reaped what he sowed. He sowed all this hardship and destruction on the Jews, and it was returned upon his own head. We see the promise of sowing. And I'd like you to notice, lastly this morning, not only do we see the practice of self-defense, we see the principle of safety, we see the problem with the spoil, we see the promise of sowing. I'd like you to notice, lastly, we see the passing down of sin, the passing down of sin to the next generation. If you haven't been paying attention this morning and you want to get this point, I'm going to need you to just kind of pay attention for a little bit, because there's a few things I need to bring to your attention. I want you to notice two ancient relationships and one ancient rivalry in this passage. In this book of Esther, and it's not just really obvious, but there are two ancient relationships that are weaved through the book and one ancient rivalry. I'd like to point it out to you. Go back to Esther chapter 2 and verse 5. Esther chapter 2 and verse 5. Remember when Mordecai was first introduced to us? Esther chapter 2 verse 5, the Bible says this, Now in Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew whose name was Mordecai. I want you to notice where Mordecai comes from, his lineage, his descendancy. The son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite. I want you to notice the last part of that verse, verse 5. Mordecai was the son of Kish, a Benjamite. Often in the Bible when you see these terms son of, it's teaching us about their lineage, their descendancy. It's the modern or the ancient equivalent to our modern use of last names. In fact, many of the last names today when somebody has a last name Thompson, that really derives from the idea that they're the son of Tom or Johnson is the son of John. Here we're told that Mordecai was the son of Kish, a Benjamite. Now that doesn't mean that he was directly the son of Kish, but he's from that lineage, from that descendancy. He descended, we're told of a certain Jew whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite. I want you to remember those words, Kish, Benjamite. Keep your place right here in Esther. Go to the book of 1 Samuel chapter number 10. In the Old Testament, you have these one and two books, 1 Samuel, 1 Kings, 1 Chronicles. Find 1 Samuel chapter 10 and look at verse number 20, 1 Samuel chapter number 10 and verse 20. 1 Samuel chapter 10 and verse 20, the Bible says this, 1 Samuel chapter 10 verse 20, and when Samuel had caused all the tribes of Israel to come near, this is when Samuel is choosing a king for the nation of Israel. The Bible says when Samuel had caused all the tribes of Israel to come near, the tribe of Benjamin was taken. We read that Mordecai was the son of Kish, a Benjamite. Notice verse 21. When he had caused the tribe of Benjamin to come near by their families, the family of Mitra was taken and Saul, who we know became the first king of Israel, the son of Kish was taken. And when they sought him, he could not be found. The Bible tells us when Saul became the first king of Israel, we get his lineage and we know that the tribe of Benjamin was taken, that the king would come from the tribe of Benjamin, so we know that Saul was a Benjamite. And then specifically, we're told that Saul is the son of Kish. When Esther 2 5, we're told that Mordecai was the son of Jeor, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite. What that tells us is that Mordecai was a descendant of Saul, of the tribe of Benjamin, of the son of Kish. Mordecai is a descendant of Saul. You say, that's interesting. It gets even more interesting. Keep your place right there in 1 Samuel. Go to Esther chapter 9. Remember, we have Mordecai, the hero of the story, right? Then we have the villain of the story, Haman. Notice what the Bible tells us about Haman, where Haman came from. Esther chapter 9, verse 24. Because Haman, the son of Hamadatha, notice this, the Agagite. The Bible tells us Haman is the Agagite. He's a descendant of this group called Agagites, the enemy of all the Jews. So what does that have to do with Saul? Go back to 1 Samuel 15. There's a very famous story in the life of Saul in which one of the tasks that God gave Saul was to bring judgment upon a group called the Amalekites. First Samuel 15, verse 2, Thus saith the Lord of hosts. This is God speaking. First Samuel 15, 2, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel. And I don't have time to develop it, but when Moses brought out the children of Israel, he asked for permission to be able to use the road of the Amalekites as they traveled. The Amalekites actually came out and fought against them. These are people who just came out of slavery and God had to protect them and help them. And now that the nation of Israel is established, they have a king, 1 Samuel 15, 2, Thus saith the Lord of hosts. I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he did wait for him in the way when he came up from Egypt. Now go, this is God speaking to Saul, the first king of Israel. Now go and smite Amalek, notice, and utterly destroy all that they have. And spare them not, but slay both man and women, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass. And of course we know that these Canaanites were a bunch of reprobates and all sorts of bad things were happening and God says, Saul, the son of Kish of the tribe of Benjamin, I want you to go and smite the Amalekites, utterly destroy them, all that they have. Look at verse 7, 1 Samuel 15, verse 7, And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until I'll come as to shore. That is over against Egypt, look at verse 8, and he took Agag, the king of the Amalekites alive and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. I want you to notice, if you didn't catch it, Mordecai is the son of Kish, Abenjemite. He's a descendant of Saul, the son of Kish, Abenjemite. Haman is referred to as the Agagite, which means that he's a descendant of this man named Agag, two ancient relationships. I want you to notice, and you say, I don't know. That seems a little odd. We're told that the book of Esther takes place about 400, 500 years after. I didn't check that number myself, but we know it's hundreds of years later. But here's what I think. I believe that nothing in the Bible is incidental, coincidental, or accidental. I think if God takes the time to tell us that Mordecai is a descendant of a man named Kish, Abenjemite, and he also tells us that Haman is a descendant of a man named Agag, and he's referred to as the Agagite, and as far as I can tell, the only two connections in the Bible are between Agag, 1 Samuel 15, and the Agagite, Esther 9, 24. That means that in the book of Esther, we have weaved through it these two ancient relationships. Now that's interesting in and of itself. What's even more interesting is that these two ancient relationships have one ancient rivalry. 1 Samuel 15, verse 9, but Saul and the people spared Agag. God said, kill them all. Saul spared Agag, and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and the fatlings and the lambs and all that was good and would not utterly destroy them, but everything that was vile and refused that they destroyed utterly. Then came the word of the Lord unto Samuel saying, it repented me that I have set up Saul to be the king, for he has turned back from following me and hath not performed my commandments. Now just side note here, God told Saul, kill the Amalekites, everyone. Saul kills everyone except for Agag, and God says, he has not performed my commandment. Let me tell you something, partial obedience is still disobedience. Notice what the Bible says in the last part, verse 11, and it grieved Samuel and he cried unto the Lord all night. This is actually what ends up taking Saul from the kingdom. God takes the kingdom from him and he gives it to a man that is better than him, to David. But I want you to notice that Saul was supposed to kill this man Agag, he spared Agag. Now later on Samuel does kill Agag, but apparently, apparently, Agag had some children. And those children had children, and those children had children, and they became known not as the Amalekites because the Amalekites, for all intents and purposes, had been destroyed. But Saul, the son of Kish, a Benjamite, decided to spare a man named Agag, who ended having a descendant named the Agagites. One of those descendants was named Haman, and Haman decides to go to war against a man named Mordecai, who's a descendant of Kish, who's a descendant of the tribe of Benjamin, who's of the tribe of Saul. The plot thickens. It seems like there might have been more motivation to kill Mordecai and the Jews than just the fact that Mordecai would not bow to Haman. You say, well, what does that mean and what can we learn from that? Here's what we can learn. If you, dad, if you, mom, choose to not get control over the sin in your life, you choose not to fight that battle. I mean, God tells you to kill Agag. You say, who's Agag? Agag is sin. It's a picture of sin. Agag is your temper, dad. Agag is your back talking, mom. Agag is your gossiping, mom and dad. Agag is all the crap you talk about the pastor and the pastor's wife and the work day. Agag is your rebellion. Agag is your bad attitude. Agag is your drinking. Agag is your pornography. Agag is your drugs. Agag is your pill taking. Agag is, whatever sin you choose not to fight, what you say, I'll fight them all, but I'll spare this one. I'll fight them all, but I'll keep this one. Let me tell you something. You go ahead and keep that one, but your descendants will have to fight that battle. Saul can kill Agag today, and if he chooses not to, then Mordecai will have to fight him later on. I mean, isn't it true that our sins get passed down to our children? I mean, the Bible teaches this. It's called generational curses. I mean, tell you something, mom. You can sit there and say, well, it's just the way I am. I just, you know, I tell the truth, and I just have a bad attitude, and I just talk crap about my husband, and I rebel against him in front of my children. It's just the way I am. Well, that's the way your daughter's going to be. You choose to not fight that Agag, but she may need to later on. You say that, it's just the way I am. I just have a short fuse and a short temper, and I just get upset. I just scream and yell at everybody. Well, it's funny how our kids end up being just like us. Well, you know, I smoke, and I tell my kids not to, don't smoke, kids. Do as I say, not as I do. I don't know why my kids grow up to smoke. I don't know why my kids grow up to smoke pot. I don't know why my kids are a bunch of drunkards. I mean, sure, we have some social drinking in our house, but not my kids are drunkards. Here's why. Because when you fail to kill Agag, the Agagites will come for your children. And you say, well, it worked out for Mordecai. Mordecai ended up killing him and the Agagites. That's true. But you know what would be better? If Mordecai never had to fight him to begin with. You know what would be better? If Mordecai never had to fight that battle because he had a mom and he had a dad that said, we're going to fight that battle on your behalf. We're not going to keep an Agag in the house. You know, it's the Agag called the television in your house. It's the Agag called the unfiltered internet that you're allowing in your children's house. It's the Agag called the worldly music that you just don't want to get rid of. It's the Agag called the Disney movies. It's the Agag called the worldly things that you allow in your house. You say, well, I don't think it's a big deal. Let's just spare Agag. That Agag might come back for your children later. What's wrong with the Disney movie? What's wrong with the Disney movie is that the same wicked reprobate actors on that Disney movie that your kids watch when they're little are the same wicked reprobate actors they're going to watch when they're teenagers. Not on Disney. I don't think it's a big deal. Okay. Let your kids be persecuted by the Agagites. You think this is coincidental? I mean, you think God's up in heaven right now thinking like, wow, that was good. I never saw that. God put this in the Bible for a reason. Two ancient relationships, one ancient rivalry. The soul could have been a blessing to Esther and Mordecai and his descendants, but he wasn't because he wanted to spare Agag. I'm just wondering what curse you're handing down. You make your little excuse, I know it's a sin, but it's not a big deal. Why would an Agag turn into the Agagites who come after your children? I know I drink a little bit, but okay. Look, I'm not going to be mad at you. My wife and I will walk through it when your kids have addictions and whatever, we'll walk through it with you, but you know what would be best? You know what would be best is if you fought that battle and didn't make them fight it later on. Mordecai, the son of Kish of the tribe of Benjamin, had to fight Haman, the Agagite, because Saul, the son of Kish of the tribe of Benjamin, wanted to spare Agag. And we see about the passing down of sin to our next generations. So here's a question I have for you, Mom and Dad. What sins are you passing down? Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord, for your word. Thank you for the Bible. Thank you for these stories. Lord, I have to believe that there's nothing in the Bible that's incidental, accidental, or coincidental. It's all in there for a reason. Lord, I pray you'd help us. Help us to learn the lessons from this chapter. Lord, help us to learn that there is a practice of self-defense and there is a principle of safety that the horse is prepared for the day of battle, but safety is of the Lord. Help us to remember that there are problems with spoil. Money has a way of affecting our decision-making ability. Help us to remember the promise of sowing that we do reap what we sow. And help us especially, those of us that are parents, to remember that there is a such thing as a passing down of sin to our children. We can kick the can down the road, but those chickens will come home to roost one day. Lord, help us to be parents. I pray that there be moms and dads who would decide today, you know, I need to kill a guy. I need to get that sin out of my life because I don't want my kids to deal with it in the future. Father, I pray you'd help us. In the matchless name of Christ, we pray, amen.