Remember: Grace and Peace

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The Human Mind, Forgetfulness, and the Call to Remember God

The human mind is quite fascinating. The brain, for example, contains somewhere between 80 billion and 100 billion neurons. I'm just going to move this because this is going to bother me. It's so close.

Information can travel up to over 500 kilometres an hour in our brains. It's always active even when we sleep. It doesn't even have any pain receptors and can't feel any pain. According to rough calculations, we can store up to 2 .5 million gigabytes of information in our brain.

It's even possible to remember things that we have actually never done. I believe in 2015, a study was published in a psychology journal. In this experiment, they took people and interviewed them. They presented them with false memories that the people didn't know never happened to them.

By applying these certain interview techniques, 70 of participants ended up remembering or admitting to crimes they had actually never confessed or committed, rather. I don't know about you, but that's fascinating to me when I consider how many things I forget all the time.

Not only these menial things of where I put my keys or my wallet or anything. No, but how quickly I often forget the things of God. How often in my daily life I forget His great works and deeds and His blessings to me.

How often do we not even remember a sermon from a week or two ago? So it's no surprise, really, to see the scriptures speak often of remembering, is it not? In Psalm 42, my soul is cast down within me, therefore I remember you.

The remedy is to remember the Lord. Psalm 77 says, I will remember the deeds of the Lord. Yes, I will remember your wonders of old. Or the prophet Isaiah. Remember this and stand firm. Recall it to mind, you transgressors.

Remember the former things of old, for I am God and there is no other. I am God and there is none like me. The Lord has truly done great deeds, but we must constantly fight against not forgetting them.

And also fight to remember them. At the end of the book of Esther here, in chapter 9 and 10, we are reminded once again of the great works of God. And we are likewise encouraged to remember them, to commit ourselves to remember them.

For the one who remembers praises and worships. There is no glory given to the Lord by the one who does not remember Him. Who does not consider Him, who has no regard for Him. And of course we know the one who doesn't remember Him at all, will one day be forgotten eternally.

And so if you would, and haven't already, join me in Esther chapter 9 and 10 to work some of these things out. I want to keep in step with the narrative. And so we want to look at three events that take place here.

First, I want us to consider a great reversal in the first half of chapter 9 from verses 1 through 16. A great reversal. And then secondly, this reversal commemorated in verses 17 and 32. And then I want us to consider a greater reversal still anticipated in the last few verses of chapter 10.

The Great Reversal in Esther 9:1-16

And so beginning in chapter 9, if you're there with me, verses 1 through 5. Now in the 12th month, which is the month of Adar on the 13th day of the same, when the king's command and edict were about to be carried out, on the very day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain the mastery over them, the reverse occurred.

The Jews gained mastery over those who hated them. The Jews gathered in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to lay hands on those who sought their harm. And no one could stand against them for the fear of them had fallen on all peoples.

All the officials of the provinces and the satraps and the governors and the royal agents also helped the Jews for the fear of Mordecai had fallen on them. For Mordecai was great in the king's house, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces.

For the man Mordecai grew more and more powerful. The Jews struck all their enemies with a sword, killing and destroying them, and did as they pleased to those who hated them. While the day has come, the day that 11 months prior, Haman and his advisors, by the casting of these lots, determined to be the right day to destroy the Jews.

This dreaded 13th day of the month of Adar. And of course we know that by the working of the hidden hand of God through Mordecai and Esther, the Jews were allowed by this royal law to defend themselves, to kill their enemies, and even plunder their goods.

What a strange year that must have been if you think about it. A whole nation for several months looking ahead to this day on which this civil war was to happen. Where two groups of people were legally allowed to shed bloods in the street by killing one another.

We've been so blessed it's hard to wrap our heads around it. But in a few months, there will be people out there allowed to slaughter us because we're the people of God. Certainly the Jews are allowed to defend themselves, but what would happen?

Who would be victorious? What would the consequences be? Surely these are questions that cross the people's minds between chapter 8 and chapter 9. Well, the answer is given rather quickly in the opening verse of chapter 9.

On the very day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain the mastery over them, the reverse occurred. The Jews gained mastery over those who hated them. Very anticlimactic for the great resolution of the story that the book has been heading toward.

There's no drama, there's no excitement, there's almost no tension at the end. The suspense is gone in an instant. The Jews win. Done. But that's not the end. There's this great reversal in these chapters here.

And what a beautiful reversal, for the lack of a better term really, the fortunes of his people. We've already seen this somewhat in chapter 8 when we compared Mordecai and Haman and his decree to the decree of Haman and his wicked plot, how Mordecai by no works of his own ended up taking over Haman's position and formulated his decree.

And now this theme of this reversal, really it is a fine thread that tracks through the whole book from beginning to end, comes to its full conclusion. It is a reversal that the Lord brings about. And it goes from looming destruction for the people of God to victory.

And it is not just a mere victory. It is a comprehensive victory, a definitive victory. You see the hope of the Persians to gain mastery over the Jews is turned into them being overwhelmed. The enemy's false hope is turned, reversed into the reality of defeat and victory for the people of God.

To the point that no one can stand against them because the fear had fallen on all people. At the surface, this can seem a little bit odd. There's now this tremendous victory. After all, they met on a level playing field.

Were there not a law of death against the law to defend oneself with the exact same stipulations? But the thing is that God is involved. And when God is involved, there is no such thing as a level playing field between him and the enemies of his people.

There's only rebellious vermin against an almighty creator. And the gap between them is far too great to comprehend or even for any human tongue really to put into words. I trust you've seen this throughout the book how the Lord has orchestrated one event after the other to work this victory for his people through Mordecai and Esther.

That Mordecai is in this position that he's in, full support of the king. And you notice that even now the officials of these different government branches in verse 3 are the fear of Mordecai. And this is not a commanded fear, by the way, like that of Haman was.

You remember that the king commanded all his officials to bow down to him. No, this is a fear because Mordecai has become more and more powerful to the point that the officials of the kingdom in all the provinces now help and fight with and for the Jews.

You see, the Lord has worked this great reversal in which his people receive help from this unlikely source, from the very men that wrote that first law decreeing their death. But this victory is complete because it spans throughout the whole kingdom.

Look at verse 6 all the way through 16. In Susa, the citadel itself, the Jews killed and destroyed 500 men and also killed Parshendatha and Dalphon and Aspithah and Horethah and Adalia and Eredithah and Parmashtah and Eresai and Eredi and Bezaithah, the ten sons of Haman, the son of Hamadathah, the enemy of the Jews.

But they laid no hand on the plunder. That very day, the number of those killed in Susa, the citadel, was reported to the king, and the king said to Queen Esther, In Susa, the citadel, the Jews have killed and destroyed 500 men and also the ten sons of Haman.

What then have they done in the rest of the king's provinces? Now what is your wish? It shall be granted you. And what further is your request? It shall be fulfilled. And Esther said, If it please the king, let the Jews who are in Susa be allowed tomorrow also to do according to this day's edict and let the ten sons of Haman be hanged on the gallows.

So the king commanded this to be done. A decree was issued in Susa, and the ten sons of Haman were hanged. The Jews who were in Susa gathered also on the 14th day of the month of Adar, and they killed 300 men in Susa, but they laid no hands on the plunder.

Now the rest of the Jews who were in the king's provinces also gathered to defend their lives and got relief from their enemies and killed 75 ,000 of those who hated them, but they laid no hands on the plunder.

First, the Jews defeated their enemies in the citadel. The citadel archaeologists have actually found this city and excavated it, and the citadel is a rectangular raised platform in the middle of the capital, and it contains all the royal quarters and the palace of the king.

And in that part of the city alone, right in the center of the power of this kingdom, right at the heart of it, 500 men were killed, right under the king's nose, including the ten sons of Haman. It was common practice of ancient warfare that when the opposing leader was killed, his family was killed as well to prevent the possibility of future revenge.

What's interesting is that we're given all of their names here. It emphasizes, I believe, that the defeat of Haman is definite and complete. There will be now no legacy of Haman left behind. There's no one left that can continue his war on the people of God for him.

But I think it also goes beyond that, because it mentions three times that they laid no hands on the plunder. Now, we've looked at some of this before. Saul and Agag in 1 Samuel 15, you don't have to go there again.

But this taking plunder was normal warfare, part of normal warfare. And it was even allowed under Mordecai's law. However, it was not allowed in the Old Testament when the Lord had specifically forbidden it, because he had devoted certain people to complete destruction.

And that was the case with Saul and the Amalekites. And he had, instead of destroying everything, he had taken some of the spoil. And so what we see here is that the Jews in Persia, whether they knew it or not, I'm not quite settled on, but they complete now what Saul had failed to do.

What the Lord said he would do, he has now done through them. And so even the failure of Saul years ago has now been fully reversed. The Lord has accomplished the victory over the enemy of his people completely.

Additionally, the victory is so great that when the king finds out about this, he even offers Esther a further request. His people have been killed in the royal quarters, and he offers another request, to which Esther replies by asking for the sons of Haman to be hanged.

Again, another common ancient practice, as barrack as it may seem to us. It was meant to further humiliate one's fallen enemy. It's kind of similar to how King Saul, when he was defeated, he was decapitated and humiliated by being hung on the wall of Beth-shan for all to see.

Now what has caused some people great trouble is, why would Esther ask for a second day of murder? After all, some argue that they were only allowed to be attacked on the 13th day, according to the law.

So on the 14th day, they would have been completely safe. And so what Esther does here is she goes beyond what is necessary without any justification of her request. She's just become this vengeful queen now for no obvious reason.

That's actually a very fairly common view today. One scholar said that Esther is almost universally evaluated in negative terms for requesting the second day of killing. The problem is the text doesn't even give us directly her motives.

So what do we do with this? Is Esther a moral monster that has simply gone beyond what is necessary? Is the Lord pouring out unjust wrath? I believe we're given somewhat of a hint, though I admit it's a small one.

500 men were destroyed in the citadel. That fact is mentioned three times in verses 6 and verse 11 and verse 12, together with the fact that they laid no hands on the plunder. And then Esther asks once again for Susa in her request, the rest of the city.

And then in verse 15, 300 men are destroyed. And again mentioning that no hands were laid on the plunder. Three times we're mentioned or given that there are three locations where no hands were laid on the plunder, the citadel, Susa, and the rest of the provinces in verse 16.

I think Esther is simply asking for another day. For some reason, we don't know why, there was reason to believe there might be more enemies on the following day. And their laying no hands on the plunder is simply a sign that they were not vengeful, but simply concerned about their well-being and self-defense.

There's reason not all of their enemies had made themselves known. At the very least, I think if we try to make sense of this, of Esther's motives and the absence of judgment, I think if anything it should give us reason to really reflect on it rather than try to solve it with absolute certainty.

You see, all the men and all the women throughout history that the Lord has used are sinful and capable of great wrongdoings, and the Bible has never shied away from putting those forth. Whether it was King David or Esther, the great men and women of God are sinners.

If we look at that, it reminds me of the one that will judge rightly. That will judge every case, every matter, every word perfectly. That will defeat his enemies when he returns without any unjust anger and vengeance.

That will defend and save his people according to his perfect justice. Praise God for it, that no man will receive injustice, and that no mistakes will be made. The victory spans throughout the whole kingdom.

75 ,000 are killed in all the provinces, and the Jews are given this great relief. So this reversal brings about this definitive, this complete victory for God's people. But this act of God then is secondly commemorated in the second half of chapter 9, beginning in verse 17.

Commemorating the Deliverance in Purim

It says, This was on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth day they rested and made that a day of feasting and gladness. But the Jews who were in Susa gathered on the thirteenth day and on the fourteenth, and rested on the fifteenth day, making that a day of feasting and gladness.

Therefore the Jews of the villages who live in the rural towns hold the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day for gladness and feasting, as a holiday, as a day on which they send gifts of food to one another.

The immediate response to what happened is one of celebration, one of remembrance. Those in the provinces rest and made the fourteenth day a day of feasting and gladness, and those in the capital the fifteenth.

And reading of this response is, it's not out of the ordinary. At least it shouldn't be to us. Throughout the Scriptures, God's people have been marked by remembering His works, have they not? It's always been a part of their worship.

Noah, if you think of Noah after the flood, what is the first thing he does when he gets out of the ark? He builds an altar to the Lord and worships. Moses, when he leads Israel out of Egypt and across the Red Sea, and all their enemies are destroyed, they sing a song of praise to the Lord in Exodus 15.

The Passover was given as a memorial to remember their deliverance from slavery in Egypt. It's a recurring theme in the Psalms, where the Lord's deeds are remembered and He's praised for it. And it's the mark of the Christian as well in the New Testament.

In Colossians 1, Paul speaks about his prayer for the Colossians to the end, that they would walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him. And this fully pleasing Him in Colossians 1, 12 and 13 includes giving thanks to the Father who has delivered them from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.

Likewise in Ephesians, Paul urges his readers to give thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's a normal occurrence for the people of God to praise Him by giving thanks because they remember His deeds.

The problem is when we look a little closer at ourselves, I think we must realize something and be honest and confess we are a thankful people, generally speaking. And that we are a grateful people for what the Lord has done for us in Christ.

We acknowledge that we could have never done it and we're thankful that He has drawn us to Himself because we would have never come ourselves. But I want to ask you this, how often in your worship, in your private worship between you and the Lord, do you actually go and thank Him?

Not just have a general sense of thankfulness, but actually thank Him for what He has done. When is the last time that you thanked Him for having given you His Word? In a language that you can read, in a language that you can understand, that He has especially revealed Himself to you in the Scriptures that you can know Him.

Have you ever thanked Him for creation? The millions of different kinds of trees and plants and birds and creeping things that all point to His majesty. That you can see His glory in the things that have been made.

Have you thanked Him for things like His immutability? That His attributes do not change? That He always will be holy as He is holy and as He was holy, as He always has been. That His counsel does not change.

And therefore, He is reliable and trustworthy and salvation for those in Christ will always be sure. You see, we're generally thankful people. But I'm afraid that in our worship, in our praying, that far too often we try to get more from Him than we give Him in thanksgiving and adoration.

We have an infinite amount of things to remember and praise Him for in creation, in His Word, even in the doctrines we hold dear. Think about the truths of Scripture. Thank Him for these truths. Praise Him for these truths.

We have just as much reason to praise Him in this way as we have need to ask of Him. You see, when we're in glory, we'll not spend time asking of Him. No, we'll spend time praising Him. We'll do so without ever getting tired.

Let us get our balance right now before we get there. Remembering His words, thanking and praising Him now. He's already worthy. He's always been worthy. So let us not forget, not to cease to give thanks to God our Father, remembering His deeds.

I think there's more for us to consider still in verses 20 through 32. Mordecai and Esther make this celebration official. They institute it as a feast for the Jews. Verse 20. Feasting and gladness. Days for sending gifts of food to one another and gifts to the poor.

So the Jews accepted what they had started to do and what Mordecai had written to them. For Haman the Agagite, the son of Hamadathah, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them and had cast poor, that is, lots, to crush and to destroy them.

But when he came before the king, he gave orders in writing that his evil plan that he had devised against the Jews should return on his own head and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.

Therefore, they called these days Purim, after the term poor. Therefore, because of all that was written in this letter and of what they had faced in this matter and of what had happened to them, the Jews firmly obligated themselves and their offspring and all who joined them that without fail they would keep these two days according to what was written and at the time appointed every year, that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, in every clan, province, and city, and that these days of Purim should never fall into disuse among the Jews, nor should the commemoration of these days cease among their descendants.

Then Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail and Mordecai the Jew, gave full written authority, confirming the second letter about Purim. Letters were sent to all the Jews to the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus in words of peace and truth, that these days of Purim should be observed at their appointed seasons as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther obligated them and as they had obligated themselves and their offspring with regard to their fasts and their lamenting.

The command of Esther confirmed these practices of Purim and it was recorded in writing. What had started out as this natural response is turned into an official feast. Mordecai records these events and sends letters to all the Jews in Persia, tells them to make the 14th and 15th day of this month an annual holiday, to remember it as a day on which they got relief from their enemies, to remember it as the month in which they've gone from sorrow, of being condemned to death, into gladness of having prevailed and been given victory, to be generous, to send gifts to one another and the poor.

And so the Jews gladly accept it. They've already been celebrating it that way. And the feast becomes officially known as Purim, based on the term Pur, those were the lots that Haman had used in chapter 3 in his divination to determine this day of destruction.

Now like other Old Testament feasts, it was to happen at the same time every year and was to be recurring throughout all their generations. Similar to the Passover, it was to be handed down to their descendants so they would not forget what had happened.

This is actually still the case today. The Jews still celebrate this very feast. Usually it's around the time of mid-February to March. People actually now dress up in costumes and celebrate. Some synagogues actually put on like a play like we would maybe think of on Christmas.

They still send food to friends. They have particular food they eat on these days. The Book of Esther is read in its entirety in the synagogue. People cheer when the name of Mordecai is read and they boo and hiss at the name of Haman.

So they have held themselves to this command that Mordecai and Esther give to the people. Now there are of course several feasts in the Old Testament that make up the Jewish calendar, but one difference is that this feast here is not directly instituted by God.

All the other feasts we have are given and established in the Pentateuch, ordained by God through Moses. But this one is put into practice by Mordecai and Esther and neither of them is told by God to do so.

But what it does here is it begins with the recognition that it is good to remember the deeds of the Lord. And so I think the heart of what they're celebrating is exactly right. To specifically remember the rest and the relief the Lord has given to His people.

The deliverance that He's providentially and sovereignly worked. I don't know if you realize, but we do something similar still today. We have these holidays every year to remember our Lord's birth and His death and His resurrection because we recognize that it is good to remember Him.

But we certainly see in how these festivities more often than not trump the supposed substance of our remembering. So as we consider the remembrance here regularly on days and this feasting on the works or remembering the works of God in this way is transferring us from darkness to light, from death to life.

I want to put forth to you two ways in which you can faithfully, regularly remember Him, rejoice in Him, praise Him and thank Him. There are two things the Lord has actually given you, dear Christian.

It's going to blow your mind. First, you've been given a feast. Right there. That table. The Lord's Supper. You want a feast? You want to celebrate what the Lord has done? Come to that table. Christ Himself said, what did He say?

Do this in remembrance of Me. There is no better thing given to the Christian to remember Christ than the Lord's Supper. Where the actual bread and the cup they represent the entirety of His work for you.

This is a feast where all of God's people from near and from far come and celebrate this great reversal that He has worked in your life for your good. Right? I think of Gideon in the book of Judges. Right?

Israel is doing evil in the sight of the Lord and they're given into the hands of the Midianites and Gideon is raised up to deliver the nation. And for 40 years they have rest from their enemies. But then Gideon dies and as soon as Gideon dies it says the people turned from the Lord.

They did not remember the Lord their God. The One who had delivered them. After 40 years they immediately do not remember their God. You see, man is a forgetful creature. You can walk out of here in an hour or so at the end of this and don't even remember the songs we sung.

What we prayed for. There is a reason we do this Lord's Supper every week. We believe it's the greatest means the Lord has given you. That you will not forget Him and what He's done for you because you would forget.

The second thing the Lord has given you. He's given you a feast. He's given you a day. The Lord's day. Today. The fact that the New Testament calls it the Lord's day is an act of remembering His glorious resurrection.

It's the day on which He rose victoriously from the grave. It is a looking back on the day that death could not hold Him and a looking ahead to the day when we will be raised with Him. You see, you've been given a day.

Not once a year. Right? On a certain month. Every week. One in seven. On which you're free to do nothing else than rest in Christ. Praise Him. Thank Him. And adore Him. That's why we encourage you. Brothers and sisters.

To prepare your hearts on Saturday. Because to come ready. I like what men throughout history have said. Every Sunday is Christmas. Every Sunday is Easter. Every Sunday is Thanksgiving. Every Lord's day is a gift given to you from God to remember and rejoice in Christ.

Take some time on Saturday night. Sunday morning. Read the scriptures. Read a sermon. Pray. Beseech the Lord that He would be with us. That He would not hide His face from us. That the Spirit would come and work among us.

That we would see the glory of God in Christ as we remember Him. That your hearts would be warmed to see Him and rejoice in Him. That's what this day is about. The Jews have experienced the providence of God.

They've gone from death to victory. They've committed themselves to remember this deliverance. We've been given two means by our Lord Himself. To remember His deliverance for us. Even as the Jews remember their blessing.

The Greater Reversal in Esther 10 and the Coming King

There's still a greater one to come. There remains a need and there's an anticipation. Here in chapter 10 for a greater reversal still to occur. Chapter 10 verse 1. And He was great among the Jews and popular with the multitude of His brothers.

For He sought the welfare of His people and spoke peace to all His people. The book closes in an interesting fashion. The author returns to speak about the hashuera. Specifically mentioning this odd detail of imposing taxes.

The only other time taxes were mentioned. Is when the king grants a remission of them. At the crowning of Esther's queen. Now he imposes them. Because there's this theme of his power and might. That he actually showed off at the very beginning in chapter 1.

When he held this half year long feast. That theme is picked up here again. But what's the deal with this? I think we're invited to compare the hashuera and Mordecai. Right here in these three verses.

The king imposes these taxes in the whole land. Including the coastlands. In other words in the whole kingdom. By his power and his might. He is the one that has advanced Mordecai to the position that he had.

Then there's Mordecai. He's the second in command. He's underneath the king. He was great among the Jews. Very popular and liked no doubt. He sought their welfare. He gave them this law of life. He ensured for them peace.

But the thing is as great as Mordecai is here. At the end of this book. With all that he has accomplished. He is not their king. He's not the sovereign ruler of the people. That power still belongs to a hashuera.

Yes the Jews have gained this great victory. Yeah they can celebrate every year this feast. But a hashuera still rules the land. He still reigns supreme. Just as at the beginning of the book. Over all 127 provinces.

He still has the power to impose tax. Whether he needs to replace some funds. Now that 75 ,000 people have died. He can do this whenever he wants to. And desires to do so. He can promote Mordecai sure.

He can take him down. He can crown Esther. He can take her crown. He's never been one to follow protocol. He does what he pleases. Whenever he pleases. The Jews have received rest from their enemies. But not from a hashuera.

They're still at his mercy. They're still his subjects. Even with Mordecai being second in command. And so a greater deliverance must still come. When the king is no longer an unjust and a wicked Persian ruler.

But when the very king of righteousness. In the line of David from the tribe of Judah. Will rule his people. Wielding the scepter of justice rightly. When his throne will be established forever. Yes they can rejoice in their victory.

But they're looking ahead still. Brothers and sisters. At the end of this book. There's a greater. There's a looking ahead still to Jesus Christ. Verse 3. Actually if you have a King James. You notice this.

Because I like the way they put it. At the very end. When it speaks about his Mordecai. Speaking peace to his people. The Hebrew is actually seed. He spoke peace to all his seed. And it's the same word that is used in Genesis 3 .15.

It is the same word that refers to Abraham's offspring. Being given the land. Inheriting it. Being as numerous as the dust of the earth. By accomplishing peace. Mordecai has preserved the physical offspring of Abraham.