A Boomer in the Pew

A Series on the Book of Esther

This is designed as a landing page for all the posts that I did on my series on the Book of Esther:

#1 - God Behind the Scenes
#2 - When Pride meets Humility
#3 - The Price of Righteousness
#4 - Decision Making when it Counts
#5 - A Well Laid Plan (Part 1)
#6 - A Well Laid Plan (Part 2)
#7 - The Blessings of Faithfulness
#8 - Handling Power
#9 - The Kingdom of God is a Party

These notes and thoughts were taken from nine teachings that Jamie Rasmussen (Senior Pastor at Scottsdale Bible Church) did on the Book of Esther.  I have also included links, in each of the posts, to Jamie's audio file for each of the sections.

I hope these messages prosper your path as much as they did ours.

Book of Esther - The Kingdom of God is a Party

The photograph to the left was taken from the Yeshuat Yisrael Messianic Jewish website as they celebrate Purim.

Esther 9:17-32

The book of Esther ends with a celebration called Purim, which for 2,500 years the Jewish people have celebrated to remember the faithfulness of God in saving them from annihilation at the evil hands of Haman.

Our Scottsdale Bible Church Senior Pastor, Jamie Rasmussen taught us that, "Whenever God moves uniquely and powerfully in our lives, it is worth celebrating". 

Our Jewish brothers and sisters have clearly set the standard in this regard.  Every time God moved in a powerful way,  there was a feast or a naming of a special place to remember and honor God for His faithfulness to His people.

Why is it that the Protestant church seems to lack in this area?  I know, we have Christmas, Easter and Good Friday, but come on, hasn't God been faithful to the Christian church since the time of Martin Luther?

Isn't there something worth throwing a party about?

I think that we could learn a thing or two from our Jewish and Roman Catholic friends in this regard. 

I have greatly enjoyed reading and learning from the book of Esther and look forward to the next chapter in my journey through God's word.

Link to Jamie Rasmussen's last sermon on the book of Esther.

Book of Esther - Handling Power

This painting is, "The Triumph of Mordechai", by Jacob Willemsz. de, the Elder.

Esther 9:1-16

These are my notes and thoughts from Jamie Rasmussen's 8th installment on the book of Esther at Scottsdale Bible Church.

There has now been a significant transfer of power in our story.

Through Esther's faithfulness to God, Mordecai has gone from someone who sits at the king's gate everyday to being pranced around town on the king's horse by Haman, to seeing Haman hung on the same gallows that were built for his destruction to finally becoming second in command in the Persian nation.  An incredible series of events!

We pick up our story in chapter 9 with the edict still in place for the annihilation of the Jews.  Evidently, in that culture, once the king made an edict even the king did not have the power to undue his own command.  Therefore, the day for the annihilation of the Jews, as proclaimed by the now dead Haman, was still at hand.

The book of Esther tells us that Haman wasn't the only man in the land that was looking for the destruction of the Jews.  Evidently, in this vast kingdom, there were many people who, for one reason or another, were looking forward to this day.  There were other enemies of the Jews in the nation of Persia.

With the power given to him by King Ahasuerus, Mordecai set out to defend the Jewish nation.  Under Mordecai's power was the full strength of the king's army and the whole government.  With this power Mordecai killed those who were set on his (the Jews) destruction.  That day Haman's 10 sons and 75,000 others were put to death.

It is interesting to note that in this bloody scene, Mordecai only killed those who intended to kill the Jews, he only killed men and he didn't take any plunder.  He could have taken the lands and wealth of those who opposed him but he didn't!

As Jamie Rasmussen commented from the pulpit, how on earth do we draw lessons from this bloody scene?  Jamie's answer was power.  How do we understand power and how do we handle it when we have it?

Please read on...

Book of Esther - The Blessings of Faithfulness

"The Banquet of Esther and Ahasuerus" by Jan Victors, c1640.

Esther 7:1-8:17

These are my notes on the 7th installment of Jamie Rasmussen's (the senior pastor of Scottsdale Bible Church) teachings on the Book of Esther.

In our last episode, as you recall, there was a lot of action going on behind the scenes between Esther's two banquets.

This episode finds us at Esther's second banquet and she drops the bomb that she is about to be killed and as a matter of fact, killed at the hand of Haman's edict. 

King Ahasuerus becomes upset and instead has Haman hanged from the gallows that Haman had constructed to hang Mordecai.  Queen Esther's second request is that her people, the Jewish nation, be spared the annihilation that Haman had put in place. 

King Ahasuerus gives Esther Haman's estate and she in turn gives it to Mordecai.  Then is a wild turn of events, King Ahasuerus gives Mordecai his signet ring (this puts Mordecai in a royal position of honor) and appoints him to prepare an edict to protect the Jews. 

Fast horses run out into the kingdom proclaiming Mordecai's proclamation and the whole Jewish nation began to celebrate.

Wow...what an incredible turn of events!  So how do we apply this story to our lives today?
 

Book of Esther - A Well Laid Plan (part 2)

Mosaic "Esther with Mordecai" by Lilian Broc (contemporary).

Esther 5:1-6:14

These are my notes on the continuing series with Jamie Rasmussen, senior pastor at Scottsdale Bible Church.

If you read my notes about part one of this series you can understand that I was looking forward to this particular message (part2).  I explained, in the previous post, that my wife and I are currently in "wait mode" and working hard to have "God room" in our lives.

To be honest, I don't really know what I was expecting.  Perhaps some lightening bolt moment where everything now seems clear.  Some clear message, from God, that says, "there David, go here".

So...there we are...sitting in the pew.  Jamie says, "How do we carve out more God room in our lives?"  I have my pen at the ready.  I am ready to hear the voice of God on high.  "How do we carve out more God room in our lives?"  Wait!

What?  Wait?  Are you kidding?  Wait?  I must not have cleaned out my ears well this morning.  Wait?  Come on Jamie, wait?  I have been waiting for a year.

Book of Esther - A Well Laid Plan (part 1)

The Triumph of Mordecai, study for a tapestry cartoon, 1736–39
Jean François de Troy (French, 1679–1752)

Esther 5:1 - 6:14

In this installment of the book of Esther we see Esther moving forward with the decision to approach the king (her husband) and plea for the safety of the Hebrew nation in spite of the real possibility that this could be her own undoing.

She makes the decision and says, "If I perish, I perish".

Her biggest fear was approaching the king.  If you approached the king's inner chamber, without an expressed invitation from the king then you were killed.  If the king was in a good mood and he decided to extend his golden scepter towards you then you lived. 

Esther puts on her royal robes and stands in front of the royal hall where the king can see her.  As we mentioned before, he was enthralled with her beauty and thankfully extends the golden scepter to Esther sparing her life.

The king inquires of her visit and he states that she can have what ever she likes (even up to half the kingdom!).  She tells the king that she would like the king and Haman to join her in a banquet that she has prepared.

The king summons Haman and they immediately attend Esther's banquet.  After a nice meal and some wine the king again asks about Esther's request again reminding her that she can have up to half of the kingdom.  Esther's response is that the king and Haman join her at another banquet the next day.

In the meantime, after the dinner, Haman is headed home and runs into Mordecai again.  Once again Mordecai refuses to bow down to him.  Haman is enraged and his family and friends recommend that he build a 75 foot high gallows and seek to have Haman hung right away.

That night the king can't sleep and decided to have the "book of chronicles" read to him (this is the book of his official edicts and actions).  He finds that Mordecai has not been rewarded for saving the king's life.  As he learned of this he further learns that Haman is in the outer court and summons him into his court.

He asked Haman, "what should I do for a man that I delight in?"  Haman thinking that the king is thinking of him, suggests that "this man" be dressed in royal robes upon the king's horse and paraded through the town proclaiming him to be a delight to the king.  To Haman's horror, the king orders Haman to do this deed for Mordecai and that Haman should personally parade Mordecai around the town.

Haman is grief stricken and humiliated from this task and runs home afterwards with his head hung.  His family tells him that he had better be careful regarding this man Haman to which the king's  eunuchs rush him off to the next banquet.

This is the end of our story for this episode.  Now...how to apply this to our lives today!

Book of Esther - Decision Making When It Counts

This painting is "Esther Preparing to Intercede with Assuerus", Rembrandt, c. 1633, Oil on canvas from the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Canada

This is the fourth installment on the book of Esther taught by Senior Pastor Jamie Rasmussen at Scottsdale Bible Church.

Esther 4: 1-17

In our last episode we saw that Haman had just struck a deal with the king to have all the Jews annihilated.  We pick up the story here with Mordecai, and all the Jews in the land, in bitter wailing and weeping as the edict of their destruction was becoming known around the land.

Esther learns of her uncle's bitter weeping and instructs her handmaidens to learn of the problem.  Mordecai send back a copy of the edict and instructs Esther to go before the king and plead for her people (remember that the king does not know that Esther is a Hebrew).

Esther sends back that she is afraid and would likely be killed if she were to approach the king on the matter (the king had a policy of death if you were seen in his chambers without his expressed invitation, unless he felt merciful and extended his golden scepter).

Mordecai sends back that God will save His people, with or without her help.  If it is to be without her help, it would likely be to her destruction anyway.  He tells her that she likely has been put in this position, by God, to intercede for just this very task.  She then commits to the task and asks that all the Jews fast and pray three days for her safety.

 

Book of Esther - The Price of Righteousness

Scottsdale Bible Church - the painting to the left is Rembrandt's "Haman sets forth to honor Mordecai" from c1665.

This is the third installment of my notes from Jamie Rasmussen's message on the book of Esther.

This particular message covers Esther 2:21 - 3:15.

We pick up the story from last week with Mordecai making his daily trip to the king's gate to check up on Esther to make sure she is alright.

While sitting at the king's gate Mordecai overhears a plot to assassinate the king and he relay's this message to Esther.  Esther informs the king of the plot and the would be assassins are hung. 

Next we find that a man named Haman (he was a Agagite which was a tribe that had for many centuries but at odds/war with the Hebrews) had found favor and friendship with the king and was elevated to a position of high honor.  As such, it was custom to bow down before him (as though he were a god) however Mordecai refused to do so.  Haman becomes infuriated and makes a deal with the king to have every Jewish person in the kingdom killed (estimated to be 1-3 million people).

Book of Esther - When Pride Meets Humility

Scottsdale Bible Church - the painting to the left is, "Queen Esther before King Ahasuerus", by Francesco Caucig (Austro-Hungarian  1755-1828).

Jamie Rasmussen, Senior Pastor at Scottsdale Bible Church, has been leading us in a study through the book of Esther.

Last week we did a behind the scenes look at the book and now we start off into the text with Esther 1:1 - 2:20.

King Ahasuerus was the king of the largest kingdom (Persia) known to man at the time.  He was very proud and arrogant and decided to host a banquet to display his riches to the world.  For a full six months he displayed his vast wealth before the world. 

It was suggested that he should also display his beautiful wife to the world as well.  His wife, not wanting to be treated in this way, refused and was ultimately banished.  Then King Ahasuerus is convinced that he should take a new wife and a beauty pageant ensues to find this next wife.

In the harem of girls to be paraded before the king, we are introduced to a humble and beautiful Hebrew woman by the name of Esther.  Esther was an orphan girl being raised by her uncle Mordecai as his own daughter.  Esther was "taken" to the kings palace and soon found herself Queen Esther but kept her heritage a secret from the king and his court as her uncle Mordecai had instructed her to do.

This is the backdrop to which Jamie begins to unpack our lesson...

Book of Esther - God Behind the Scenes

Scottsdale Bible Church - the new year finds our church in a new study of the book of Esther.  To the left is a painting attributed to Jan Lievens (Dutch, 1607-1674) called, "The Feast of Esther".

One of the things that I love about Scottsdale Bible Church is that the church serves heavy portions of "meat" in their quest to disciple and serve the Body of Christ.

The book of Esther is the 16th book of the Bible and is found in the Hebrew Canon (Old Testament).  The book is very much a historical account and is told in story book form dating back to 480 B.C.

The primary point of the book is that sometimes God seems to take a back seat, in our lives, while he is actually up to something life changing and significant!

Jamie Rasmussen, our Senior Pastor, teaches us that there are three compelling truths that will be unveiled in the riveting story that is about to unfold: