When we open God’s Word together we are not looking away from the world, we are looking to get wisdom for our life in the world. A good grasp of the context of any given passage in God’s Word should help give us a better grasp of the context of any given problem in our weeks. Scripture provides perspective, not distraction. We don’t bury our heads in the Bible like an ostrich, the Bible elevates our viewpoint like that of an eagle (Isaiah 40:31). Being still before the Lord (Psalm 46:10) isn’t quietism, it’s consecrated agency to get to work by faith not the flesh.

So we come back to the story of Esther. It is a story of God’s providence—that is, God’s attention and activity concentrated everywhere—for His people that is providentially relevant again.

When we look around, and certainly when we hear of events such as are dominating our news cycle, hatred appears to run the world. Titus 3:3 describes the life of unbelievers as “passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.” Hatred results in anger, anger energizes attention, and this is why hatred on news channels sells advertising. Those who fear the Lord know that hatred really just attempts to run the world, but even hatred can't avoid being under God's control and accomplishing God's purposes.

Not all hatred is unlawful. In fact, “the fear of the Lord is hatred of evil” (Proverbs 8:13). We sing, “O you who love the LORD, hate evil!” (Psalm 97:10). The object of hatred determines whether the hatred is right or whether hatred is evil. In this part of Esther, hatred is not of the good kind. Though foiled for a moment, hatred is incited and inflated until it becomes an extinction-level threat to God's people.

And also in this part of Esther, the divine Author uses foreshadowing, irony, generational conflict, tension, and dice to keep our attention, and to build our faith.

Chapter 2 began with a plan to please the king. Hundreds of women had a turn to please the king, and Hadassah/Esther won grace and favor in the king’s sight. The king was pleased, but not everyone was pleased with the king.

There's a new queen in town, and Esther seems to have arranged an official position for her cousin Mordecai. For Mordecai to be sitting at the king's gate meant he had some authoritative role in the city administration. The men at the gate might not have been in the king’s inner circle, but they heard disputes, they made decisions.

The virgins were gathered together the second time, is this the group of ladies that didn’t get a turn because the king chose Esther?

Then in verse 20 the human author repeats that Esther had not make known her Jewish identity. Esther followed her cousin's counsel, just as she had done when he was raising her.

While Mordecai was in the gate he learned of assassination plan. Bigthan and Terish were two of the king's security team (verse 21). They guarded the threshold, meaning that they protected his private bedroom. They became angry, though we're not told exactly why. It made them mad enough to want to kill the king.

Mordecai apparently did not have access to Ahasuerus directly, but he did tell Esther, and she told Ahasuerus on behalf of Mordecai. The conspiracy was investigated and confirmed (verse 22). The penalty was death. To be hanged on the gallows does not mean hanged as with a rope with a noose around the neck, but impaled—the typical Persian punishment, with a stake through the body, lifted up for all to see.

All this was captured in the official records, but no thanks or honor of any kind is given to Mordecai. Alright. But it does sort of stink compared with what happens next in the story. And those who knew the story knew that it was a part to be resolved in chapter 6. (For what it’s worth, Ahasuerus was assassinated in his bedroom in 465 BC, about 12 or so years after this foiled attempt.)

In a plot surprise, a different man than the man who saved the king's life gets honored by the king. It was After these things, so we're supposed to appreciate these episodes next to each other, though this happens two or three years later.

Haman is the last main character for us to meet in the book. He is Haman, the Agagite, which turns out to be important. The king gave Haman the second seat in the empire, the vizier, and all the king's horses and all the king's men bowed down to Haman for the king had so commanded (verse 2). This detail, along with the lack of any details about why Haman was to be honored, suggests that Haman himself was not easy to honor. It required a mandate from the monarch.

But Mordecai did not bow down. Why not? While the text doesn't spell it out, enough clues make the answer clear. How Haman is introduced as the Agagaite, along with the repeated keeping their ethnicity concealed, the fact that Mordecai does reveal it now, along with the target of Haman’s hatred. This is a longstanding conflict.

King Agag ruled the Amalekites. The Lord told King Saul to destroy all the Amalekites, in fulfillment of Deuteronomy 25:17-19. But in 1 Samuel 15 Saul took the best, made up an excuse, and when Samuel arrived he "hacked Agag to pieces." That happened over five centuries before Haman and Mordecai, but the enmity remained.

The other guys in the gate urged Mordecai to keep himself out of trouble. But apparently Mordecai explained himself, he had told them that he was a Jew.

Initially Haman didn't even notice. But when it was so helpfully brought to his attention, along with the reason for it, Haman was filled with fury. It wasn't enough for him to destroy one Jew, he wanted to get rid of them all.

Nine years have passed since the initial feast in chapter 1, and five have passed since Esther took on the royal crown in chapter 2. Now in the first month of Ahasuerus' twelfth year, the fortune tellers and astrologers and event planners get together.

It was apparently a thing to get together at the beginning of the year and throw dice to determine when certain things should be done. The Persian name of the clay cubes is Pur, and purim is the plural form, which we know from the end of the book is part of the reason for the book (Esther 9:26-31), that is, to explain the Feast of Purim.

Haman casts lots to determine when it would be best to kill all the Jews. What good news would his gods give him? It wasn’t so great, he’d have to wait almost a year. Turns out, a lot can happen in a year.

Then he went to Ahasuerus to get official permission. Note that he does not even say who he's lobbying against, there is a certain people (verse 8), and the king doesn't ask. Haman dances around the truth, occasionally stepping on it, but mostly spinning up accusations to make his case. He also offers to pay 10k worth of silver talents into the king's treasuries. Herodotus notes that the typically annual tribute was 15k, so Haman is offering 2/3rds of a year of income for the privilege of getting what he wants; it was about 300 tons. He is his own one-man lobby for genocide.

Now Haman, the Agagite, is called the enemy of the Jews (verse 10). He's got full palace authority for this intended genocide.

The exact dating of when the scribes were called to write the decree of destruction is not just a demonstration of historical accuracy, it is historical irony. The thirteenth day of the first month is one day before the Jews celebrate Passover. Passover is the feast the reminded them of their deliverance from slavery in Egypt. They had been sold again, not to slavery, but to slaughter.

The Persian post office was back in action, and the announcement went throughout all the empire with instruction to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all Jews, young and old, women and children, in one day.

The final sentence of the chapter is the most chilling, at least in terms of the gleeful and yet callous hatred. The king and Haman pour themselves a drink to celebrate their impressive work. The city, though, was in confusion. What in the world?

How specifically should this passage change how we respond to threats, hatred, or seemingly hopeless situations?

Remember that Haman’s type of hatred still exists, not only in forms of anti-semitism, but in the desire to destroy others. And remember more than that, God is sovereign. Even “every decision of the lot is from the Lord” (Proverbs 16:33). The Lord is at work in the story.

Do the right thing even if there is no immediate reward. Don’t be distressed by evil men (Psalm 37:1). Even when the laws of the land decree lots of destruction, “the Lord laughs at the wicked, for He sees that his day is coming” (Psalm 37:13).

God governs the lots. God rules over lobbies, including those that lobby for death. God remembers the lowly, and lifts up their heads with wisdom for our life in a world of hate.

You are a clay pot filled with the treasure of the gospel. Jesus Christ is Lord, that is your message, He is your model. Some clay pots are broken in a moment, others are used up and worn out. When grace sloshes out from our pots the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.

Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.

We are still in the setup part of this story. The theme of the book is the covenant people protected by Providence, but we’re through chapter 1 and we haven't heard about any Jews yet or about any threats against them. We will meet two of the three remaining key characters in this chapter, who both happen to be Jews, though, at least in this chapter, they keep that part of their identity hidden.

Esther 2 is like a mule wearing mascara: it carries a lot of weight but the closer you look the less pretty it is. This part of the story is not fun, though of course it's no less providential. It's not romantic, nor is it a comedy for most involved. The only way to view anything here as glamorous is through part-egesis, that is, only looking at parts of the text.

Two comments on the context. The last paragraph of chapter 2 concerns a different episode than the first 18 verses. It's a bridge not just to the next chapter, but another providential brick in the wall for the main conflict in the book. We'll let verses 19-23 introduce the next message. And also for context, we should note the references to time. The chapter opens with "after these things,” and those “things” took place in the third year of Ahasuerus' reign (1:3). The climax of this little plot takes place in the tenth month of the seventh year of his reign (2:16). Plus part of the action includes twelve months of beautification for a whole harem. The point being, the royal crown had no queen for four years.

A lot happened in those four years that this book does not include. We know from Herodotus and other histories that Ahasuerus, a.k.a. Xerxes, did muster the army of the Medes and Persians and crossed the Hellespont and attacked Greece and lost. Most of his money was gone and his reputation caked with mud.

To one extent or another, Ahasuerus is licking his wounds like a dog after being neutered. Whatever contempt he earned from banishing Vashti and broadcasting it throughout the empire, his military losses didn’t help. He's humbled, and he's lonely.

We can see two parts in verses 1-18, the plan in general and then how it affected two people in particular (1-11), followed by the process and also how it affected one person in particular (12-18).

If you were a king, how difficult would it be to find a queen? It could be harder than you think, though it probably also doesn’t need to be as expensive and time consuming as the plan to please the king is here.

We note that Ahasuerus seems almost regretful. He wasn't angry anymore, but now he looks around and realizes he's lonely. Maybe there were political motivations, a benefit to having a queen, though no motivation like that is mentioned. It would be hard to argue that the plan he agrees to is for sake of the empire's good.

He misses Vashti, but he made a law that she couldn't see him again. And the guys around him make sure that he doesn't try to figure out a way to get Vashti back, because who would she have taken it out on? So they propose something that the king could do, though they don't stop to consider if he should.

They will create a new government office, the Department of Beautification. Officials throughout the empire (in all the provinces) will search and then secure and then send any good-looking single ladies to Susa (verse 3). This will not be a volunteer opportunity. The women will be sought out and gathered and brought under custody.

The desired demographic is beautiful young virgins, unmarried females, not sure how young would be too young. How much of a head's up did families have? Could they successfully hide their pretty daughters somewhere? Were there some fast weddings with less prudent marriages? Did some of the young women think of it as a possible rags to riches upward social climb? How many realized what the stakes would be if they weren't selected by the king?

Herodotus wrote that 500 young boys were gathered every year and castrated. As one commentator observed (Jones), maybe it would be better to be a girl after all.

Let their cosmetics be given them. A smearing with oil or ointment as an aid to beauty, skin treatments, facials, also called “beauty treatments” (NASB).

The plan was fit to please a king.

We finally meet the crucial cousins.

Mordecai had relatives who had been taken captive under Nebuchadnezzar, and this is a Babylonian name (similar to those given in Daniel 1:7). He was living in the capital city, so to be clear, he had not returned to Israel.

Perhaps one reason for staying was because he was taking care of his uncle's daughter. We know her as Esther, the Babylonian version of her name, perhaps related to their goddess Ishtar. Her name in Hebrew is Hadassah, which means “myrtle.” There are prophecies of myrtle — with their green leaves and white flowers and dark berries — that replace brier as a sign of the Lord’s giving life and joy (Isaiah 55:13, Baldwin). That she is given two names in the story suggests that she was caught between two cultures.

Whatever other qualities she had, she was “lovely in form and features” (NIV). She was more than just a pretty face.

So she was taken along with many other young women into custody. All the women were taken care of, but they were not free. As we'll see, they would never be free again.

Once inside the palace Esther stood out. She gained favor with the man in charge of the women, a man named Hegai (verses 8-9). He even gave her a team of (more homely?) young women to serve her.

And following her cousin's counsel she did not reveal that she was a Jew (verse 10). Not only do we want to know why, we probably should ask if it was okay. Was she even trying to follow the Jewish laws, including what she ate and what she did on the Sabbath?

This is an ugly part after the process of beautification.

There are estimates on how many women we're talking about. If you calculated one woman per night over four years, you'd have 1460. The Jewish historian Josephus gave a number closer to 400, but he didn’t reveal his source.

The women were given The Treatment™. It was a twelve month program, half a year with oil of myrrh and half of year with spices and ointments for women (verse 12). Even though the middle east has been known for its perfumes and such, this would be expensive: twelve months of perfume for one night of performance.

There were two groups: the Already's and the Not-Yets. You got one shot, one night with the king. We can easily speculate that some days the king was busy, some days he was bored, some days he was more drunk, some days he was distracted. Were there some women that he had taken away as soon as he saw them?

And what does it mean that she was given whatever she desired to take with her from the harem? What kinds of things could she take with her?

Did they talk? Flirt? Play games? Just get in bed?

But in the morning she would be moved to the second group, under the custody of Shaashgaz (verse 14), still belonging to the king but likely to never seek the king again. Were there any he asked for a second or third time? We're not told. They could not leave, they could not get married to someone else, they lived with all the other leftover ladies, and whatever children came about.

Then the turn came for Esther (verse 15). What did she take with her? Nothing except what Hegai the king’s eunuch…advised.

What about her did the king fall in love with? Was this love at first night?

It is a problem that Hadassah spent the night with the king; isn't fornication sin? It is a problem that Hadassah married the king; isn’t a Jew marrying a Gentile sin?

The fact is that the king loved Esther more than all the women, and she won grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. (verse 17)

Ahasuerus throws another great feast (verse 18). The ESV translates that he “granted a remission of taxes” while the NASB understands that he “made a holiday.” He relieved some sort of burden for sake of a banquet.

We know that the heart of the king is in the hands of God and that God turns it wherever He wants (Proverbs 21:1). This is an example of why people say that God draws straight lines with crooked sticks. Even if Esther was reluctant, she still compromised, and yet God was at work.

This is a story of pretty people that is not pretty, of powerful people ruled by their passions not principles.

“The author is carefully stacking the odds against the success of Esther and Mordecai” (Jones).

The moral of the story is that God uses characters who aren’t obviously full of morals. Esther was fit — by God — to please a king, and He got her into position.

By God's grace you are being filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him (Colossians 1:9-10).

As a Christian YOU are being FIT to please the King of kings. Align all your conduct with His cares.

Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible. (Ephesians 6:23–24 ESV)

The point of this part of the story is simple: boot the bad queen and make room for a new one. The book is named after the new one.

But not only is the royal breakup and banishment not necessary, did we really need to know about it? The author of the book could have easily picked up when Esther was already the queen; saved some papyrus and ink. There certainly is some entertainment value. There is also some insight into the kind of trouble that could happen when you lit the fuse of a Persian potentate. And also there is an appreciation for the kinds of things God does in His providence to get players into position.

Verse 19 is the key verse: "let the king give her (that is, Vashti's) royal position to another who is better (that is, more obedient) than she." The fact that this is the advice, and the fact that this advice pleased the king, are facts that reveal the power of a king's foolishness.

Ahasuerus (known in Greek as Xerxes) is the head of a vast kingdom covering parts of three continents, the largest superpower up to that point in history. In his third year he held a six-month exposition of "the splendor and pomp of his greatness" (verse 4). All the VIPs in the empire got a taste of the royal riches. And then Ahasuerus threw a week-long feast in his palace courtyard in Susa, decorated with the most expensive materials (verses 6-7). It was like a beer garden where everyone drank from a cup of gold, and the bar was open. He apparently had to make a decree that you did not have to drink so much (verses 7-8).

On the seventh day Ahasuerus' heart was "merry with wine" and he had his personal attendants fetch his wife (verses 10-11). She'd been giving her own feast for the women and Ahasuerus wanted to show off her beauty to the men. "But Queen Vashti refused to come" (verse 12). The king was big mad, and it was a big embarrassment. He's been angling to go to war with Greece and he can't even get his wife to come across the hall.

Rather than get our outline from the sequence in the paragraph, let's consider three parts of the king's power.

Vindictive means desiring to punish. He was enraged, and he wants revenge not reconciliation.

The king is only quoted once in the whole chapter, and it's a question (verse 15). But his question isn't for Vashti, his question isn't for the eunuchs, it is for his royal advisors. They are the wise men who knew the times (verse 13), his intelligence cabinet. There were seven of them, those who saw the king's face, and sat first in the kingdom (verse 14). They have access to the king, they give counsel to the king, and they help make up the mind of the king.

Even if you lived next door, you would not likely ask the Supreme Court justices to make a decision about what to do with your wife who didn't do the dishes when you told her. And even if the justices were in the room at the time, not only would your wife's refusal not rank as a political problem, you'd probably figure that you could (and that it would be less complicated if you would) deal with it yourself.

Ahasuerus is in a room full of fumes, a toxic mix of alcohol and arrogance. He asks, According to the law, what is to be done…? (verse 15) Of course there was no existing law. He's looking for help to deal with this slight of his position. He's exerting power in order to deal with his apparent-to-all lack of power.

He even talks about himself in the third person; she has not performed the command of King Ahasuerus. There’s no view toward working it out with her, he wants to take his bad feelings out on her. It’s not a diss track, but it is a diss decree, and it’s vindictive.

Vast means extensive, and Ahasuerus' power covers a lot of ground both legally and geographically.

As I said, there was no existing case on the books for this situation. Those “proficient in laws and legalities” (verse 13 NET, in Hebrew pronounced dāt and dîn) were going to have to make something up.

Perhaps they cover the king’s weak spot for a minute, but they de-escalate nothing. Memucan ramps it up from a personal affront to a wrong...also against all the officials and all the peoples who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus (verse 16). All women are going to hear about it and it will cause them to look at their husbands with contempt (verse 17). Even the seven argue, either from fear or for flattery, that the noble women...will say the same to all the king's officials, and there will be contempt and wrath in plenty (verse 18). These women are going to be out of control. Talk about vast contempt.

The king's power is vast enough to make a law, and that sort of law will at least be pretended to be unalterable. The rule will be legal, but it's barely rational. This is a rule based on an exception, a one-time dilemma. What’s more, it’s a rule based on the emotional embarrassment of barely a minute. And now Vashti won’t even be in the same room as him ever again (verse 19).

This new decree gets top priority and an immediate press release to all parts and provinces in the empire, proclaimed throughout all his kingdom, for it is vast (verse 20). There were 127 provinces; who knows precisely how many people groups and particular languages there were. But in the capital city there were translators and scribes, and this news was going out to all of them (verse 22). It’s vast.

Vain means in this case not just selfish but self-defeating. His power is useless for what he says it's for. He’s trying to cover his butt, now everyone knows the emperor has no clothes.

What was the reason for involving the Seven? To run some interference for the king's reputation. Vashti's behavior called Ahasuerus' power into question, right? But this way of handling it would make sure to broadcast throughout the whole realm not only about her refusal, but about Ahasuerus' petty and vindictive use of power.

For that matter, you can punish external displays of contempt, but you can't enforce true honor in the heart. This kind of control is grasping oil; the tighter you clench the more you lose. It’s vain, futile.

The final summary of the decree aims that every man be master in his own household (verse 22) …, ha, like Xerxes? Every man will just banish his disrespectful wife out and get a new one?

It took an act of Congress to deal with a husband's humiliation, and in so doing, he guaranteed that more people would know about his weakness: all the royal provinces, every province and every people. As Warren Weirsbe wrote in his commentary, this is “an edict that was unnecessary, unenforceable, and unchangeable.” It is vanity of vanities.

This isn't fault-finding against the patriarchy, but it does show how hard it is to rule the world and not be an idiot. When you have almost limitless power then you also have an almost limitless platform to display your foolishness. Typically the people closest to you will help you do it. Ahasuerus enshrines his vanity more publicly and more permanently than it would have been had he laughed it off. Talk about blowing your marital spat out of proportion.

Power is still power, even if it's contemptible. We never hear from or about Vashti again, though the details of history demonstrate that she is very likely the mother of Artaxerxes. Ahasuerus is arrogant, somewhat arbitrary, surrounded by advisors who apparently want him to be happy more than just, and this is the kind of ego and temperamental administration that Mordecai and Esther and the rest of the Jews have to deal with.

Contrast this with God's power. It is vast, but not vindictive and never vain.

Even God's power over Ahasuerus and the Persian empire stands in contrast. What Ahasuerus meant to save face, God used to save the Jews. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God who can give you worldwide platform to be a joke. The law of royal vanity made for vast contempt, against Ahasuerus.

Three narrative reminders: 1) Pretentious men become punchlines. 2) Demanded respect earns none. 3) Rules made to cover insecurity work in reverse.

Psalm 37 reminds us: Don’t be distressed by evil men. Fret not! Trust in the Lord and do good. Delight yourself in the Lord. Commit your way to the Lord. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him. Fret not! The Lord delivers those who take refuge in Him.

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. (2 Peter 3:18 ESV)

There is a phrase that describes people who live like there is no god, even if they say that there is one: practical atheism. The story of Esther is the opposite. God’s name never appears in Esther, but His hand is behind every move. We wouldn't call it practical theism, but we could call it practical providence.

Providence is God’s sovereign and active governance of all creation, guiding everything toward His wise and loving purposes. In The Wealth of Nations Adam Smith referred to “an invisible hand.” Though we don’t see it directly, God’s hand is personal, not a force or fate, not chance or luck. Providence is the word that describes God’s work in ordinary means, though He can also work in extraordinary miracles.

The reason for reading and re-telling the story of Esther is given near the end of the book (Esther 9:23-28). It explains the origin of the Feast of Purim, and purim refers to a kind of casting of lots, similar to our dice. Proverbs 16:33 says, “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.” The Feast of Purim isn't commanded in the books of Moses, but it continues to be celebrated almost 2500 years later by orthodox Jews. Esther is not only about providence, but of providential protection.

It takes place when Ahasuerus reigned over the Persian Empire. That's his name in Hebrew, though history books typically refer to him by his Greek name, Xerxes I. This puts the story of Esther on the timeline between Ezra chapters 6 and 7. We didn’t stop in the middle of the Ezra series because, while an appropriate chronological interruption, Ezra-Nehemiah is one account and Esther probably wasn’t even written by the same author.

Remember that Cyrus decreed that captives could return home (Ezra 1:1-4), including any Jews that wanted to return to Israel and rebuild their temple. The first wave left with Zerubbabel, while Ezra and then Nehemiah came on the scene 70 years later. Ahasuerus was mentioned in Ezra 4:6, the recipient of a letter trying to stop the Jews from building in Jerusalem. And we meet Nehemiah in Susa as the cup-bearer to Xerxes’ son, Artaxerxes (Nehemiah 1:1).

The book of Esther is about 55 years after Cyrus’s decree and reminds us that most Jews did not go home. They were scattered in different places throughout the Persian Empire, including a large population in Susa, one of the capital cities. What about those Jews who stayed behind? God had promised to deliver His people from captivity and return them to the land, but would He protect Hie people who remained outside the land? Esther answers, after dramatic and perilous tension, a resounding Yes.

One of God's frequent, and so we can surmise one of His favorite, story-telling devices is reversal of fortune. Also included are ironies, coincidences, foreshadowing, warning characters, and unlikely heroes. The story begins with a banquet, ends with a banquet, and refers to at least two or three banquets in the middle.

As for the main divisions in the book:

And again the theme of Esther is: The covenant people protected by Providence

Every good story starts with setting and backstory. This one begins with a lot of ballyhoo.

Ahasuerus inherited a huge empire; he reigned from India to Ethiopia over 127 provinces, what we know that area as modern Pakistan to northern Sudan. The Persian army swept up peoples wherever they went. There was nowhere to hide.

As we enter this story, Ahasuerus was in the third year of his rule, 483 BC, feeling so good about himself that he wanted to take over more of the world. The fact that the army of Persia and Media and the nobles and governors of the provinces were before him indicates that he was both showing off his riches and his royal glory and the splendor and pomp of his greatness, but also in the beginning stages of preparing for battle. Herodotus makes it plain, recording that Xerxes said:

“I was struck by the realization that we could gain glory; take possession of lands fully as extensive, productive, and fertile as those which we have now; and at the same time obtain vengeance and retribution, too. That is why I have assembled you here to communicate my thoughts to you. I intend to bridge the Hellespont and lead my army through Europe to Hellas, so that we can punish the Athenians for all that they did to the Persians and to my father. Now you saw how even Darius had his mind set on marching against these men, but that he did and did not have the opportunity to exact vengeance on upon them, I, however, on his behalf and that of the rest of the Persians, shall not give up until I conquer Athens and set it on fire….” (The Histories, Book 7 Section 8, found on page 496 of The Landmark edition)

Darius lost at Marathon in 490, then died in 486, after which Xerxes took power. It’s now 483. The Battle of Thermopylae took place in 480, which the Persians won, but then Xerxes lost at Salamis a couple weeks later. Xerxes married Esther in the seventh year of his reign, 479 (Esther 2:16), and the book of Esther ends with events in the twelfth year of Xerxes 473 (3:7). That means that everyone who read Esther knew that this party was exaggerated hype; a ballyhoo banquet.

Some sort of celebration took place for 180 days, but it may have been a rotation of officials rather than six months of no one being at their posts. He was showing off, buying loyalty, gathering support. At the end of this convention he threw a feast lasting for seven days. Verse 8 is an interesting decree, that ”There is no compulsion” which may indicate that you didn’t have to drink every time the king did.

Herodotus noted that a lot of Persians made decisions drunk and then approved them sober.

“[Persians] are accustomed to deliberating on the most serious business while they are drunk, and whatever decision they reach in these sessions, it is proposed to them again the next day by the host in whose house they had deliberated the night before. Then, if the decision still pleases them when they are sober, they act on it; if not, they give it up. Conversely, whatever provisional decisions they consider while sober, they reconsider when they are drunk.” (Book 1 Section 133, page 72 of The Landmark edition)

This is a big buildup, a banquet for the army, a banquet for the citizens of Susa, a ballyhoo to psych everyone up to go to war.

Verse 9 says that Queen Vashti also gave a feast for the women, though gender segregated banquets weren’t the cultural norm. It is part of the set up.

On the last day the heart of the king was merry with wine, isn't necessarily the same as drunk, but close enough for government work.

Something provoked Ahasuerus to send for the Queen. She was lovely to look at, and Ahasuerus wanted other other guys to have a look.

Making a judgment about whether Vashti was boldly virtuous or willfully rebellious is not the point. Did she refuse being objectified? Was she refusing a kind of ancient drunk-dial? In the end, her reasons are irrelevant.

The point is this: at the height of his power, displaying his wealth and preparing to lead his nation into battle, Ahasuerus couldn’t even get his own wife to follow orders. Mike Tyson once said that everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. He might have also said, everyone has a plan until they try to make the queen obey. The king did not take being turned down in front of all his officials very well.

Ahasuerus’ unbelievable power was completely dependent power. This moment reveals the irony. It was embarrassing.

The author of Esther isn’t focused on the queen’s refusal as foreshadowing of the upcoming military loss, but as opening up the queen’s seat for another woman to fill.

Esther is a story of providence. There’s no naming of God, no mention of Jerusalem or the temple, no prayers, no Books of Moses. Instead, “Esther loses her virginity in the bed of an uncircumcised Gentile to whom she is not married” (Jobes), and the Jews kill almost 76,000 men. It’s not quoted in the NT. Not everyone loves the story, including maybe most famously for us, Martin Luther, who called himself an enemy of Esther and questioned Esther’s place in Scripture. But still God’s hand is all over these pages.

Esther is the narrative form of Romans 8:28. It is the story version of “don’t lose heart.”

“God was not overt, His word not direct, and His face not revealed, still, behind the veil of purim, God’s providence towards His people, would uphold them against adversary and ideological force alike, as in Passover of old.” (Abraham Cohen, quoted in Baldwin)

“Providence is God’s attention concentrated everywhere” (Augustus Strong, Systematic Theology). “Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep” (Psalm 121:4).

Remember, “Providence is God’s attention concentrated everywhere” (A. Strong). Lift up your eyes, your help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth (Psalm 121:1-2). He sees, He takes note, He strengthens the heart of those who commit themselves to Him (Psalm 10:14, 17).

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

“For who has known the mind of the Lord,

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. (Romans 11:33–36 ESV)

"Do not grow weary in doing good." This is Paul's command in 2 Thessalonians 3:13. Christians are not allowed to collapse.

As we considered last Lord's Day, the word engkakeo occurs six times in the New Testament and is translated either as “grow weary" or "lose heart." Always this is what we're not to do. The idea behind the word is to do badly in a situation. Flexibility is one thing; crumpling into a puddle is prohibited.

There are four arenas in which we are called to keep heart:

So, if at the heart of losing heart is a failure in the situation, what went wrong? And if we get this right, here is where we scratch at the how we can not grow weary.

Again, the temptation to lose heart is as necessary as the imperative to not to. You must not quit, and also you must know what it's like to want to quit. When you’re ready to walk away—what do you need? You need to recognize four parts of reality.

These are four axioms, meaning established truths that are self-evidently true. They are as true as the law of gravity. God made the world one way not another. God made the world to work one way not another. You do not make these things true, but if you do not identify and acknowledge them then your worldview is off.

I'm emphasizing this because, while we do need faith to see and hold onto these truths, faith is not in an imaginary object. Our faith is in the deeper magic (think of how Aslan not just described it, but depended on it), the principles by which God governs the cosmos. It’s not just that keeping heart is God’s will, we keep heart because of God’s will.

The four axioms undergird the four arenas.

In the parable Jesus told in Luke 18 about the persistent widow pestering the unjust judge, Jesus does not try to prove anything. He compares His Father to a self-absorbed and reluctant judge in order to highlight His Father's character. We don't pray to make God listen, we pray because He is the listening God.

The argument is a lesser-to-greater, an "if this, then how much more so this." But again, this assumes the greater is true.

Jesus told the parable "to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart" (Luke 18:1), and how He effects this is by building up their faith/their heart in who the God of sovereignty and justice and time and attention is.

If we think that God doesn't care, we are saying that we do not accept who He told us He is. If we think God won't act, it exposes our wrong theology. The reality is, God wills solutions through supplications. To deny this reality is pride. Those who keep heart in supplication remember what is true.

Christians are correct to resist pragmatism, that is, we shouldn't do whatever gets results. But in some cases this has become a justification to "let go and let God." Pragmatism does get results, but it sows to the flesh. The opposite is sowing to the Spirit, and it too guarantees results.

Paul said, "in due season we will reap, if we do not give up" (Galatians 6:9). This statement is not a motivational cat poster. It is part of the deep magic. It is realty, which we can deny but which we cannot disrupt. Paul argues from it; it is the basis on which ("for") we ought not grow weary of going good. Faithful sowing brings fruitful seasons because God is not mocked.

The "Creator of the ends of the earth" (Isaiah 40:28) is indefatigable in this. He doesn’t grow weary of turning seeds into fruit. God can create out of nothing, but He does not violate math on earth. Grace gives what we don’t deserve, but grace never multiplies by zero. Burying your talent is not the same as sowing your talent.

Included in this axiom is the principle of growth, and even of compounding interest. Of all the options for how the world could work, God loves both being unto becoming, when the immature develop maturity, for humans to start as babies, for Time and Effort to have their place. Sweat equity is part of the cosmos.

While we could say that laziness is a denial of reality, laziness always works, as in laziness is a cause with it's own guaranteed effects. Cause and effect is an inescapable reality. Everything is a kind of seed, even hoarding your seed. To deny your agency is laziness. Those who keep heart in sowing expect a harvest because God says to expect it.

God is the listening God, and God is the merciful God. Jonah was big mad about it (Jonah 4:1-4). He knew that if he told the truth in Nineveh that God would grant repentance and then accept that repentance. “I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.”

Paul endured by this axiom. “Having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart" (2 Corinthians 4:1). The ministry is a speaking ministry, proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ as Lord. Of course, that reality is veiled to those who are perishing. But in our world blindness isn’t sovereign, God's mercy is sovereign over blindness.

"For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:6). The reality works through embodied ministry as well. "So death is at work in us, but life in you" (2 Corinthians 4:12). God makes it happen. His mercy saves and transforms. We can no more stop God's mercy than we can stop God’s existence. (See also Exodus 33:17-23, especially verse 19, which is quoted in Romans 9:15.)

If we do not speak it is because we do not believe (see 2 Corinthians 4:15). To attribute to God’s mercy the weakness of our mercy, or to act as if others don’t deserve mercy, is short-sighted and self-righteous respectively. Instead, Christians, keep heart! God's eternal purpose has been to glorify Himself through blessing rebels into the joys of a life of submission.

Both 2 Corinthians 4:17 and Ephesians 3:13 share a trifecta: both verses have the same word for “affliction" (even though translated as “suffering" by ESV in Ephesians), the same for “glory,” and the same for "don't lose heart." The word affliction refers to trouble that inflicts distress.

It’s the same word that goes to work in Romans 5.

we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (Romans 5:2b–5 ESV)

Pressure produces endurance, endurance shapes character, character fuels hope, and hope ends in no shame. In other words, the end of the troubles is glory. We know the reality that fire is hot and light is bright but somehow we think that glory is easy. God highly exalted Christ Jesus after Christ Jesus humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death (Philippians 2:8-9). So “have this mind among yourselves” (Philippians 2:5).

Charles Spurgeon said in his sermon “Holding Fast the Faith”:

“Doth that man love his Lord who would be willing to see Jesus wearing a crown of thorns, while for himself he craves a chaplet of laurel (an evergreen garland)? Shall Jesus ascend to his throne by the cross, and do we expect to be carried there on the shoulders of applauding crowds? Be not so vain in your imagination.”

Being awesome doesn't feel awesome, and being transformed into glory usually doesn't feel glorious. Not yet. Ah, but don't lose heart! The process of being tempted to lose heart is when your heart has reason to rejoice in hope of the glory of God! Trouble is no time for self-pity. Those who know the plot keep heart.

Having a difficult season in your marriage? Wondering if your kid will get through this phase? Frequent antagonism from an unbelieving co-worker, neighbor, extended family member? Don’t grow weary. These axioms aren’t wishful thinking.

There is no time to faint because God wills answers, God wills fruit, God wills mercy, and God wills glory. Here is a weltanschauung without wobbles. So Christian, keep heart!

Brothers, do not grow weary in your praying, in your seed sowing, in your gospel ministering, in your trouble enduring. Believe what is true, that God answers, God gives fruit in season, God delights to show mercy, God is preparing you for an eternal weight of glory. Keep heart! (And keep company!)

Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all. (2 Thessalonians 3:16 ESV)

This sermon started a couple weeks ago while working through my regular Bible reading plan. 2 Thessalonians 3:13 provoked me in a couple ways.

“As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good.” (ESV)

The first thing that I thought was that I wanted to see what the Greek word was behind "grow weary" and then see if it's used in other verses. The second thing I thought was that it really seems like one of those exhortations that can feel useless because it states the obvious.

Any husband learns quickly the single most counterproductive instruction in the English language. Not only does it not typically hit the target, the exhortation accomplishes the opposite. When you are in a discussion or situation when things are tense, or are starting to get that way, and you say, "Calm down,” has that ever calmed anyone down? It’s the same when you say, "Just relax."

So now let's say you were in a situation that was hard enough to make you tired, as is the reason why it's called a "hard" situation, and you are looking haggard like a rubber band that’s been holding your mailbox together for twenty years, and someone said to you, "Hey, don't be tired!” You might have some choice words for that fellow.

But there it is from Paul to the Thessalonians: “do not grow weary.”

In context, it’s actually tougher than it first appears. The ESV starts a new paragraph at verse 13, but most translations place this sentence mid-paragraph or even at the end (also represented, respectively, in the Greek UBS4 and TGNT). It follows a long and repetitive stretch addressing the issue of idle brothers, those who made it harder for others because they weren’t willing to work (verses 6-12). They were "not busy at work, but busybodies" (verse 11), working their criticisms from the sidelines. "Do not grow weary in doing good" isn't just a contrast in outcome, it's a call to suck it up when you’re surrounded by annoying people who want you to do their work for them while they’re complaining about what you’re doing.

We'll get to the word itself in a moment. It is used five other times in the New Testament, though this is the only time it's in the form of a command. But it is a command.

It's a command because a certain kind of weariness is a threat. The boat is tipping and taking on water. Your eyes are as wide as the main sail, your heartbeat visible through your life-jacket. People are freaking out. When dad says, "Just relax," the listener might wonder how but probably not why. We need neither to panic and jump overboard or just lay down because then we’re all going to drown.

I find this exhortation: "do not grow weary in doing good" to be relevant. It hits my heart. Because it is a biblical command, it has required my own biblical repentance for disobeying the command.

I don’t want to be dramatic here, but I do work hard to not look like I'm having problems. Especially when fulfilling the role of minister, I seek to do the work and point to the Word rather than say everything I’m dealing with. People want me to fix things, people think because I’m trying to have a good attitude that I must not care about fixing things.

I’m saying this not just to be honest, but for your encouragement. No one lives by faith who does not know great tests of faith. Lewis talked about this in Mere Christianity.

"You find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down. A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later."

It's why Paul told the Corinthians, "we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself," so that they would "rely not only ourselves but on God who raises the dead," and so be able to "comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God" (2 Corinthians 1:8-9, and 3).

I know what it's like to have the weakness of my heart exposed. I know the temptation to grow weary and lose heart. Though on one hand I would say I've never been tempted to give up faith in Christ, I would also have to say that I’ve been tempted to believe that I could somehow have my faith and not the difficulty. You too? We have to obey: "do not grow weary in doing good.”

When I looked at the Greek text for 2 Thessalonians 3:13 I found that the word for “grow weary” is a form of engkakeo (ἐγκακέω). It seemed familiar, as if I'd spent some time digging into dictionaries for that word before. And indeed I had.

It is the word used in 2 Corinthians 4:1 and 16, though in those verses the ESV translates it as "we do not lose heart." Grow weary and lose heart are two ways to say the same thing. There is always a negative before it in the New Testament, so don’t do it. And we might say the positive alternative, “Keep heart!”

William Tyndale, the first to map the meaning to an English word, translated it as "faynte." Other modern takes have "discouraged" or "give up." A well known Greek dictionary: “to lose one’s motivation in continuing a desirable pattern of conduct or activity” (BAGD).

The word is formed from "in" and “do badly.” So it's doing the bad/wrong thing in the midst of a (hard) situation. By extension it's being overwhelmed when you were meant to be the one doing the whelming. It's being worn down by circumstances when the circumstances call you to work through. You want to quit holding up the roof, but all the other columns went home; it’s up to you.

So this kind of losing heart is culpable negligence. Don't do it. Collapse is not neutral. Collapse is bad! Collapse is disobedient.

The word occurs six times in the New Testament in at least four contexts, four arenas in which you ought not lay down.

The first occurrence of engkakeo is in Luke 18:1. "And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart." The parable is not subtle. The widow kept bothering the unjust judge by her continual coming. She didn’t give up, she made him give up.

The point of the parable is that God is better than any human judge, so keep praying. “And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night?" But the final rhetorical question is, “when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (verse 8). We have not because we ask not, and we ask not because we lose heart.

Twice engkakeo belongs with doing good. We've already seen the command in 2 Thessalonians 3:14, and it is the word found in Galatians 6:9, "And let us not grow weary of going good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up."

This work is like seed. We recognize the analogy from the context. “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap” (verse 7). It’s easy to take this as warning only, but it is a promise. Sown seed will succeed—because God is not mocked. Laying down in the ditch beside the field with your bag still full of seed because you are tired and you think the sowing won't work anyway is not just lazy, it’s defiant. Again, it is culpable negligence.

Paul particularly connects engkakeo with the work of the ministry of the Word in 2 Corinthians 4:1. "Having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart." "Ministry" is a form of diaconia, so serving, and the rest of the paragraph is about God's Word and proclaiming and embodying the gospel. It’s sovereign mercy that God’s Word accomplishes His purposes, to save and to transform to glory (2 Corinthians 3:18). Does God use your breaking points to show that the surpassing power belongs to Him (2 Corinthians 4:7-9)? Does God make it that when death is at work it us it brings life to others (2 Corinthians 4:10-12)? Then keep heart!

The final two uses of engkakeo come in contexts of pain. And here we can see twofold division, which is between our own suffering and the suffering of others.

2 Corinthians 4:16-17, "So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison."

Ephesians 3:13, "So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory."

Not only does lose heart occurs in both, so glory belongs with both. It is good when suffering increases your capacity. It is good when others suffer for you.

Again, the temptation to lose heart is as necessary as the imperative to not to. You must not quit—but you will know what it’s like to want to. And in that minute, when the towel is in hand and you’re ready to throw, what do you need? This will require a part two of the sermon.

Christian, this is no time to faint because there is no time to faint. The Lord commands: keep heart! Your people need you not to collapse. God is working for your share of glory, and it includes not growing weary in your walk against the wind.

Maybe you’re thinking, “I’ve already lost heart.” Look again to the Lord.

they who wait for the LORD shall renew

Einstein probably didn't define insanity as doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results. Paul did define mockery of God as sowing one kind of seed and expecting different fruit, which also applies to not sowing and still expecting fruit. Sow, and keep heart!

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. (Galatians 6:7–9 ESV)

The end of the return-from-exile record, all has been heard. And…it's sort of a let down. Maybe this is the kind of story arc that inspired Tolkien to imagine the need for scouring the Shire after the climax at Mt. Doom. Of course Nehemiah, let alone the Holy Spirit, could have finished the story on the high note, but there are some Very Important Principles we can take away.

There are five final issues Nehemiah addresses.

The first problem is that one of the guys who should have been on Nehemiah's side made room for one of the guys who was Nehemiah's nemesis to take up shop in a temple office.

Before looking at the situation, we've actually skipped forward some unspecified number of years in the story. Nehemiah writes, While this was taking place, I was not in Jerusalem (verse 6). All five of these issues apparently happened after he went back to see the king in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes. He'd first come to Jerusalem in the 20th year (Nehemiah 2:1, 445 BC), so he'd been governor for 12 years. He doesn't say why he went back, but then he asked leave of the king and came to Jerusalem. Artaxerxes died in 424, so Nehemiah’s return was sometime between 433 and 424.

It was on his return that he discovered the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah. Eliashib was the name of the high priest (see Nehemiah 13:28). In verse 4 Eliashib was one of the priests "appointed over the storerooms" (see also 12:44). It doesn’t seem that the high priest would be in charge of the closets, but it also seems odd to have two men both named Eliashib subverting Nehemiah in similar ways. Tobiah was an Ammonite (Nehemiah 2:10) who had married a Jew, so he had family ties inside the walls, and clearly had his own ideas for who should be in charge.

Eliashib prepared for Tobiah a large chamber...in the courts of the house of God. It was a big room used for storing the tithes and worship supplies, and now this enemy of the Jews was given a headquarters from which to do business in what should have been the center of Jewish life. What would this even look like today, giving the local head of Planned Parenthood an office next to the pastors’ offices in a local church? They really must not have expected Nehemiah to come back.

And I was very angry, and I threw all the household furniture of Tobiah out of the chamber. He got the temple rooms cleansed.

Remember in Nehemiah 10 when the people made a new resolve to support the work of the temple? And in chapter 12 the people “rejoiced over the priests and Levites who ministered” (verse 45). They've already stopped; when the cat’s away the mice quit paying their taxes. Here's the second issue: I also found out that the portions of the Levites had not been given to them so they left the city and went back to their farms where they could support themselves.

Nehemiah confronted the officials (verse 11). This exact word is used two more times (verses 17 and 25), with the formality of taking them to court. The leaders should have done better; he “set them in their place” (KJV).

In verse 14 we see the first of four calls for God to remember in the chapter. Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for his service. It’s fascinating that good deeds translates the well-known Hebrew word hesed, so “loyal deeds” (NASB), “what…so faithfully done” (NIV). It was “personified hesed” (Breneman).

One of the things that made Israel unique among the nations is that God had given them the Sabbath day as part of the Mosaic Covenant, with particular instructions/prohibitions. Their failure to honor the Sabbath day was one of the reasons God judged them through the Babylonians in the first place (verse 18). But they had become slack.

Here is the third issue. Nehemiah saw in Judah people treading winepresses on the Sabbath, and bringing in heaps of grain and loading them on donkeys, and also, wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of loads (verse 15). They were working, which is exactly what the Fourth Commandment prohibits. Others were trading or buying. There were some who were not Jews that were selling, so apparently some of the Jews thought purchasing food/supplies wasn't against the Law.

He confronted the nobles (verse 17).

Some of the merchants moved their tables outside the walls. Nehemiah had the gates shut from Friday night to Saturday night, and even stationed some of his own men as guards. On weekends the sellers lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice, and Nehemiah made them a deal they could not refuse. I warned them and said to them..., "If you do so again, I will lay hands on you." And it’s actually sort of funny, they didn’t come back (verse 21).

Then he set up a more longterm solution, transferring the duties from his servants to the Levites. They were to help keep the temple sanctified, so now also the Sabbaths.

Remember this also in my favor, O my God, and spare me according to the greatness of your steadfast love (verse 22). Nehemiah showed steadfast love for God (verse 14) just as God showed steadfast love to Nehemiah.

The fourth issue also had already been dealt with, by Ezra and by Nehemiah, but continued to require fresh attention.

It wasn't just the fact of marriages between Jews and non-Jews that got Nehemiah's attention. Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and they could not speak the language of Judah (verse 24). This was a cultural issue, sure, but even more so a religious issue. How were they going to learn the law of the Lord if they could not understand the language of the law?

So I confronted them and cursed them and beat some of them and pulled out their hair (verse 25). You won't find this sort of corporal punishment many places in the Bible, by example or by explicit "do this" instruction. Somehow it must have made sense to get their attention. Cursed is what they agreed to in Nehemiah 10:29-30.

He made them vow, and reminded them of the soul-implications from the life of Solomon. Did not Solomon king of Israel sin on account of such women? (verse 26) He really did sin, and no amount of public relations spin could keep his behavior or the consequences hidden.

The other nemesis, Sanballat, is referred to again. A grandson of Eliashib the high priest married a daughter of Sanballat, so Sanballat’s son-in-law. This son must have been in a meeting, and either based on something annoying he said or just his presence irritated Nehemiah so that I chased him from me.

Then this "remember" is different. Remember them, O my God, because they have desecrated the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites (verse 29).

The last section isn't as much a new issue as it is a summary of Nehemiah's work to sanctify and supply the worship of the house of the Lord. He established the duties and provided for wood and firstfruits. Rebuilding the house of the Lord in Jerusalem is where it all started with Cyrus’ decree (Ezra 1:2-4).

Remember me, O my God, for good.

Why weren't there better systems/persons in place to keep things running while Nehemiah left? It’s a reasonable question. That said, Nehemiah kept doing what he could. “If on his first visit he had been a whirlwind, on his second he was all fire and earthquake” (Kidner). Nehemiah’s second admin reforms had even more spoude.

Here are some very important principles.

The real anti-climax of Nehemiah is not about Tobiah's storage-closet in the temple, but where is the glory of the Lord filling the temple? Where is the King of David?

Of course He did come, four centuries later, and cleanse the temple. He is coming again to judge the world. And yet we who read Revelation 20 as prophecy of future events believe that near the end of the Millennial Kingdom, after a thousand years of the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, ruling in perfect justice and mercy, even then a final resistance will be made.

The forgotten rule of reformation is that reformation is always necessary. Only in the eternal kingdom will we not have sin to battle. Don’t like the current results? Praise the Lord, you’re reading the story rightly.

What a day when the walls of Jericho fell. What a day when the walls of Jerusalem were finished. Praise the Lord when He thwarts the wicked. Praise the Lord when He exalts the righteous. And still there are trees that need more manure every Monday. Keep fearing, keep reforming.

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20–21 ESV)

It's good to thank the Lord. Thankful people move in the opposite direction from apathetic or anxious people. Gratitude and Joy know how to stop and smell the roses while also knowing that there will be more weeding to do to keep the roses from being choked.

Apathy and anxiety are weeds, and they both grow in the soil of living only by sight not by faith. When you look around and see all the problems, and you think it's not worth the effort, you do nothing. Or, when you look around and see all the problems, you think there's no time to sleep and AAAAAAA!

Thanks and joy grow in the soil of filtering what you see as you live by faith. Faith doesn't deny good fruit, faith doesn't deny the need to get back into the field and sow and water and weed.

This all connects with Nehemiah 12. There's a list of men from multiple generations whom the Lord used to get the people where they're at. They're back in the holy city, they're back listening to the Law, and they're back with a wall built. It’s time to thank the Lord, then establish pure worship for sake of God’s blessing.

Verses 1-26 include the families of worship leaders (priests and Levites) from the initial return from Babylon to the time of Nehemiah, about two generations.

The first group came up with Zerubbabel, and we remember him from Ezra 1-2 and the original decree by Cyrus that the Jews could head home.

Verses 1-9 are priests and Levites in the first generation of returnees. Verses 10-11 are the high priests from 538 BC until Nehemiah’s day around 445. Then verses 12-25 are priests and Levites of the second generation, followed by some notes on the sources of info. It's appropriate to remember them now as having done the work to get the city and people where they are today.

A few comments about the extra descriptions in verses 22-26. Darius the Persian is distinguished from "Darius the Mede" in Daniel. The Book of the Chronicles could be translated "the book “of day-to-day events” per Kidner) and so it isn't the same as what we have as 1&2 Chronicles.

The group who stood opposite (verse 24) are not antagonists, but antiphonal singers, that is, back-and-forth singers. The group was to praise and to give thanks, according to the commandment of David, the man of God, watch by watch. These are vocational minstrels, so to speak.

Man of God in verse 24 applies to David when referencing his organization of worship liturgy. He's called "man of God" again in verse 36. Moses was the first one to get this label (Deuteronomy 33:1), and Paul picks up on it in his letter to Timothy (1 Timothy 6:11).

In the days of Nehemiah the governor and of Ezra, the priest and scribe put both names in the same verse for the first time. Some assume that the time of these two men in Jerusalem did not overlap because they aren't directly connected anywhere else. That assumption leads another assumption that someone else must have added one of the names to this verse later. Others assume that because Nehemiah is named first that our timeline of Ezra returning before Nehemiah must be wrong. But the order is due to their positions: governor (who organized the wall building) first and then the priest.

"The wall was finished" according to Nehemiah 6:15. Now the dedication of the wall is described in 12:27. A lot has happened between, but that doesn't require a long delay. Nehemiah was setting up the repopulation, and personally setting up the ceremony (see "I" in verse 31).

The only other comparable moment in Ezra-Nehemiah is the completion of the temple (Ezra 3:10-13). The thanks and joy of the people made a ruckus. There is even more of that here. There were singers, there was a procession, there were sacrifices, and joy is the theme.

They called the Levites into town (verse 27), made sure they were purified (verse 30), and then divided them into to “thanks-choirs” (verse 31). One of the choirs went south/counterclockwise, the other went north/clockwise, and met together in the temple (verse 40). They had strings (harps and lyres v.27), percussion (cymbals v.27), brass (trumpets vv.35, 41), and vocals.

The who thing started because of the report: “The wall of Jerusalem is broken down” (Nehemiah 1:3). Nehemiah had walked the walls (Nehemiah 2:13-15), and now they were in a completely different condition.

Something like Psalm 147 might have gone with the dedicated joy. Or:

Walk about Zion, go around her,

The phrase On that day in verse 44 and again in 13:1, with another time indicator in 13:4, means the first few verses of chapter 13 go along with dedication day.

That's signifiant because the partying didn’t make them passive. Gratitude got to work. There is a time to sing and a time to separate from foreigners. Joy before the Lord belongs with obedience to the Lord.

In the first section (verses 44-47), men were appointed to take care of the supplies for the ongoing service of worship. Things were set apart (verse 47) for those leading the liturgical charge.

In the second “on that day” section (13:1-3), based on the Book of Moses (in particular Deuteronomy 23:4-7), the people separated those of foreign descent, and see Balaam (see Jim's message). As we've seen, this is less about race/nation and more about refusing to worship false gods, though Israel's relationship between the magistrate and morals was even more direct than ours. This is the only place this vocabulary of the assembly of God is found in the Bible.

Our God turned the curse into a blessing! Their dedicated joy also recognized how God brought them from captivity to blessing.

A man of God is known by his joy in ordered worship and obedience to the Word. The assembly of God is known by their thanks to God and ordering their ways before God.

It's easy to imagine that some of those who read the list of names could come up with a list of problems that So-and-so had (“I’ve really got a problem with Bakbukiah and Unni and their brothers...”). It's easy to imagine someone with a bad attitude watching the thanksgiving-choirs and assuming that it was just a show (“Those cymbals were way too loud.”).

But don't you want to be in the rejoicing ruckus? Don't you want to sing in thanks and work from thanks? Living by faith we need not be apathetic or anxious. We don't need to read a list of shoulders before every party, or to march choirs around the roof perimeter. But we could. We are an assembly of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one who turns curse into blessing.

The apathetic aren’t motivated to work on their apathy by faith. The anxious worry about whether they are working by faith, maybe it’s not enough or maybe it’s fleshly. But the Lord is faithful. He will establish and guard you. Look to your God who turns curse into blessing.

May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ. (2 Thessalonians 3:5 ESV)