THE PRESUMING HEART

 THE PRESUMING HEART

Esther 7:1-5 (KJV)

So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen.

And the king said again unto Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition, queen Esther? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy request? and it shall be performed, even to the half of the kingdom.

Then Esther the queen answered and said, If I have found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request:

For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not countervail the king's damage.

Then the king Ahasuerus answered and said unto Esther the queen, Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in his heart to do so?

 

The story of Haman is one of the most tragic, I think, in all of the Bible.

 

This upwardly mobile and obviously gifted man went from:

·   Potential to Poverty

·   Power to Penury

·   Popularity to Pole hanging

 

And his fall happened because he hated the Jewish people so much that he could be satisfied with nothing less than the extermination of the entire race.

 

Genocide.

 

When the king found out he put the question this way, “Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in his heart to do so?”

 

Presume in his heart.

 

It’s an interesting phrase I hope to explore during the course of this message.

 

Presume, this is the only time in the Bible where the specific Hebrew word is translated with the word, “presume.”

 

It’s not a wrong translation, but a specific one to this Scripture.

 

Presume.

Webster’s 1828 Dictionary gives these definitions of the word, 

·   “To venture without positive permission

·   To form confident or arrogant opinions … before the cause of confidence.

·   To make confident or arrogant attempts.”

 

I think the King James Bible translators knew exactly what they were doing.

 

In attempting to exterminate the Jews, 

·   Haman ventured to far with positive permission. 

·   He formed arrogant opinions without cause about himself and about the Jews. And then 

·   He made an arrogant attempt to exterminate the Jews without figuring the consequences of the attempt.

 

Presume is the perfect word for this account.

 

Presume. 

Most of the definitions for this Hebrew word sound something like this, “To fill up. To be full of.”

 

A New Testament parallel would be, 

Acts 5:3 (KJV)

But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? 

 

The Ancient Hebrew Lexicon traces it back to piling grains one upon another until full.

 

One of the ancient meanings is, “A recess for filling.”

 

When I was in High School, I drove a wheat truck during the harvest two summers. 

 

I am picturing right now that combine as it cut and thrashed the wheat from the stocks. 

 

The combine had a long chute to the side of it with an auger. At the right time I would pull alongside the combine, under the auger, and pace the machine so the combine operator could move the wheat he was threshing and place it, little by little into me truck’s bed.

 

My truck had a recess made specifically to collect and pile up that grain until it was full.

 

The Bible teaches us that the heart of man is a vessel, made to fill up.

 

In this corrupt world, it is most often filled with all the wrong things.

Matthew 15:17-20 (KJV)

Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? 

But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. 

For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: 

These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.

 

I. HAMAN

When we study the life of Haman we learn that he had spent a lifetime, filling his heart, one grain at a time, with such hatred for the Jews, that he arrogantly presumed to have the power to exterminate the entire race and ended up instead seeing himself hanged.

 

In Haman’s story we have,

A. Past Family history 

Amalekites

Haman is identified five times as Haman, the Agagite.[1]  

 

Agag was the royal name of the kings of Amalek. 

The Amalekites were the sworn enemies of Israel all the way back to Moses and Joshua in the wilderness (it was the Amalekites Joshua fought as Aaron and Hur held up Moses’ hands).[2]

 

When Saul disobeyed the Lord and did not kill Agag, the king of Amalek, Samuel, the man of God, did the deed himself.[3]

 

It had been hundreds of years since Samuel had killed Agag, but family hatred lasts a very long time. Just look at what is happening in American today, all because of what happened in America prior to the Civil War.

 

B. Personal character

Pride

I doubt that there is anyone with much power who is not, in some measure, corrupted by pride. 

 

Pride was the downfall of Lucifer. 

·   It is one of his temptations to mankind (the pride of life).[4]

·   It is one of the sins of the heart.[5]

·   To be lifted in pride makes one vulnerable to the condemnation of the devil.[6]

 

Haman was growing in power in Persia and he loved to brag about it.

 

Except for one problem. 

 

There was this Jew named Mordecai who refused to bow before him.

 

Haman could not be happy so long as Mordecai was alive.

Esther 5:10-13 (KJV)

Nevertheless Haman refrained himself: and when he came home, he sent and called for his friends, and Zeresh his wife.

And Haman told them of the glory of his riches, and the multitude of his children, and all the things wherein the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king.

Haman said moreover, Yea, Esther the queen did let no man come in with the king unto the banquet that she had prepared but myself; and to morrow am I invited unto her also with the king.

Yet all this availeth me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate.

 

C. Prejudiced counselors 

Friends and family

Haman bragged to his wife and to his friends about all of his glory and then griped about Mordecai sitting at the king’s gate.

 

So they offered to him some counsel.

Esther 5:14 (KJV)

Then said Zeresh his wife and all his friends unto him, Let a gallows be made of fifty cubits high, and to morrow speak thou unto the king that Mordecai may be hanged thereon: then go thou in merrily with the king unto the banquet. And the thing pleased Haman; and he caused the gallows to be made.

 

The problem with taking counsel from people close to you is that they are close to you.

 

They seldom see, or if they do see, they are hesitant to point their finger in your face and tell you when you are wrong.

 

Turned out Haman was wrong.

And the gallows his friends and family counselled him to build was the very gallows upon which he was killed.

 

“Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in his heart to do so?”

 

II. HEARTS

Your heart is a vessel designed to be filled.

 

Too many hearts are filled with things that lead to their own destruction.

 

It happens usually, slowly, over time, almost without us knowing it.

 

One grain at a time – until it is nearly too late to turn around.

A. Hurt

Maybe you’ve been hurt. A wrong was done to you. Perhaps more than once.

 

B. Bitterness 

Bitterness is a desire for revenge.

 

C. Unforgiving 

I heard the other day that forgiveness is a decision we make to release a person from the feelings of anger we have at them.

 

D. Family pain

Like what happened to the Amalekites, Haman’s family or to the slaves in America.

 

E. Memories of trouble

Some people say, “I’ll forgive, but I will not forget.” Each time we rehearse that trouble in our mind, we put another grain inside the recess of our heart.

 

F. Prejudices 

Haman was prejudiced against the Jews, wasn’t he? 

He had prejudged them.

 

He was predisposed to dislike their religion, their God, their customs and their culture.

 

G. Envy

To want what someone else has. 

·   It might be money 

·   It might be property

·   It might be a job

·   It might be a family

·   It might be perceived happiness

They’ve got it. You want it.

 

H. Jealousy

To want to be who someone else is.

·   Loved

·   Popular

·   Respected

It gnaws on you that they have risen to a place in life you have not been able to attain.

 

I. Greed

To want more than you have. Too much more.

 

There is nothing wrong with desiring to improve your circumstances.

 

Greed is an unnatural desire that can lead to using 

·   illegal, 

·   unethical or 

·   immoral 

means to get gain.

 

J. Lust for power

To crave authority, or influence.

 

Jesus said, 

Matthew 20:25-27 (KJV)

But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. 

But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; 

And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:

 

If we aren’t purposeful about it, our hearts will get filled up with these. The devil will make sure of it because he is purposeful.

 

All of that will lead to hatred. The Bible says hatred is equal to murder.[7] And listen to this, 

Revelation 21:8 (KJV)

But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

 

You say, “I’m saved, so I can’t go to hell.”

 

Oh yeah? If you can hate a person and not have any desire to repent of it, how do you really know that the Holy Spirit dwells in you?

 

Conclusion

You heart is a vessel, created to be filled.

 

Dump all of that wicked stuff out. Repent of it and, grain by grain, fill it with:

·   The Holy Spirit

·   Humility 

·   Honest love

·   Hot preaching 

·   Home (local) church

 

There will be no room for the one when the other has filled it.

 

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[1] Esther 8:3 (KJV)

And Esther spake yet again before the king, and fell down at his feet, and besought him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman the Agagite, and his device that he had devised against the Jews.

[2] Exodus 17:10-11 (KJV)

So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.

 And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.

[3] 1 Samuel 15:32-33 (KJV)

Then said Samuel, Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came unto him delicately. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past.

And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal.

[4] 1 John 2:16 (KJV)

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

[5] Mark 7:22 (KJV)

Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:

[6] 1 Timothy 3:6 (KJV)

Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.

[7] 1 John 3:15 (KJV)

Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

WHERE IS GOD WHEN GOD’S NOT THERE?

Esther 2:5-7 (KJV)

Now in Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew, whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite;

Who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captivity which had been carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away.

The Book of Esther is one of the most intriguing books in our Bible.

The story is compelling, dramatic and full of intrigue.

• ·   There are spies, informants, assassins and opportunists
• ·   There is a grudge that is carried something 600 years
• ·   There is a Cinderella story of a poor Jewish girl who becomes queen
• ·   There is a plot to annihilate an entire race of people
• ·   There is an upset that ends in the defeat of their enemies

From the theological point of view the most intriguing thing about the book of Esther is,

• ·   There is no mention of God at all

This has caused any number of theological airheads to argue that it should not be in the Bible.

It must not be, they reason, a godly book if God is not in it.

They forget that, in the process of regular life, we all go through times when God is not seen in:

·   The words that are spoken or

·   The letters that are written but in

·   The actions that are taken

How we behave speaks much more about God’s presence in our lives that what we say does.

That leads me to bring the message I have for you this morning, “Where is God When God’s Not There?”

We contend that, though God in not mentioned by name in the book of Esther, He is clearly present.

God is seen,

I. IN THE CHARACTER OF THE MAN NAMED MORDECAI

Esther 2:5-7 (KJV)

Now in Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew, whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite;

Who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captivity which had been carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away.

This point brings in the theme of my preaching for this year, “Ye Which Are Spiritual.”

Though the Bible never uses the word Spiritual to refer to Mordecai, he is, without question, an example of spirituality.

Mordecai was a Jew, very likely taken captive by the Babylonians. He has a cousin named Esther, whose parents were probably killed during the conquest. Mordecai takes her in and raises her.

Give the circumstances it would not have been that difficult for Mordecai to take up a grudge against the Babylonian king, looking for opportunities to do him evil.

It is not at all what we see, what we know is that:

A. He stayed at the king’s gate

Esther 2:11-19 (KJV)

And Mordecai walked every day before the court of the women's house, to know how Esther did, and what should become of her.

Now when every maid's turn was come to go in to king Ahasuerus, after that she had been twelve months, according to the manner of the women, (for so were the days of their purifications accomplished, to wit, six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet odours, and with other things for the purifying of the women;)

Then thus came every maiden unto the king; whatsoever she desired was given her to go with her out of the house of the women unto the king's house.

In the evening she went, and on the morrow she returned into the second house of the women, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king's chamberlain, which kept the concubines: she came in unto the king no more, except the king delighted in her, and that she were called by name.

Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her for his daughter, was come to go in unto the king, she required nothing but what Hegai the king's chamberlain, the keeper of the women, appointed. And Esther obtained favour in the sight of all them that looked upon her.

So Esther was taken unto king Ahasuerus into his house royal in the tenth month, which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.

And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favour in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti.

Then the king made a great feast unto all his princes and his servants, even Esther's feast; and he made a release to the provinces, and gave gifts, according to the state of the king.

And when the virgins were gathered together the second time, then Mordecai sat in the king's gate.

One of the things that I have learned in studying history is to judge a person according to their experience and not according to our own.

Historians recognize, for instance, that George Washington owned slaves.

But they also acknowledge that he believed slavery to be wrong.

How is it possible for the two of those things to be equally true?

It’s because of the day in which he lived.

He believed it to be wrong, he just had not figured out how to free them without creating havoc:

·   On the economy and

·   On the slaves themselves

He and Jefferson and Madison all believed that slavery must be ended but that you couldn’t just dismiss them all – it would be about that same as closing down all the car factories.

·   You would ruin those businesses and

·   You would leave all those people without the means to taker care of their families.

The people who are knocking down the statues in the south are trying to interpret history according to their own experience. They are making unwise choices because of it.

Same thing happens with much of the Old Testament.

Be careful about judging Mordecai and Esther (or God for that matter) for doing things you wouldn’t do today.

Esther, this Jewish girl gets to be queen partly by not telling the king she is a Jew.

And Mordecai encouraged her not to tell!

Every day, the Bible says, that Esther was in the palace, preparing herself to meet the king, Mordecai came to the king’s gate to see how she faired.

I liken this to coming every day to the throne of God to see how my kids are doing – to petition the Lord for them.

While he was there

B. He listened to the leaders’ speaking

Esther 2:21-22 (KJV)

In those days, while Mordecai sat in the king's gate, two of the king's chamberlains, Bigthan and Teresh, of those which kept the door, were wroth, and sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus.

And the thing was known to Mordecai, …

While Mordecai is at the King’s gate, he makes himself an informed person.

Mordecai found out about the plot to kill the king, but he also very likely found out about a lot of other things.

If you are going to be at the throne of God you might as well learn all you can while you are there.

·   Learn about God’s plans

·   Learn about God’s prophesies and

·   Learn about God’s promises

·   Learn about God’s principles

·   Learn about God’s precepts and

·   Learn about God’s proclamations

While you are learning those things, you will also, no doubt learn that God has an enemy and that we are not ignorant of his devices.

Once Mordecai learned about the plot

C. He protected his king’s life

Esther 2:22-23 (KJV)

And the thing was known to Mordecai, who told it unto Esther the queen; and Esther certified the king thereof in Mordecai's name.

And when inquisition was made of the matter, it was found out; therefore they were both hanged on a tree: and it was written in the book of the chronicles before the king.

Mordecai was an informant to the king.

He didn’t just know that someone was taking dirt about the king,

Mordecai told on them!

There is a difference between gossip and taking action with your words:

·   Gossip tells things that might not be true to people who can’t do anything about what you tell them

·   Action tells things we know or suspect to be true to those who can do something constructive with what you tell them

Further,

D. He trusted the Lord’s timing

Esther 4:13-14 (KJV)

Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house, more than all the Jews.

For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

We’ve obvious jumped a bit forward in the book, by this time.

Another character has been introduced into the drama of the book of Esther, Haman.

Haman has two very big character flaws:

1. He is a self-centered man

2. He has a grudge against the Jews

Haman is so focused on himself and his own ambitions that it’s going to kill him. Before it does, it almost kills off all of Israel.

Haman worked for the king and in his roll, felt like he deserved to be reverenced. When everyone bows to him except Mordecai, Haman can’t bear it.

The reason Mordecai won’t bow is because he is a Jew.

Haman, the Bible tells us, was an Agagite.

His story goes back nearly 600 years when Israel’s first king, Saul was commanded to kill all of the Amelekites.[1]

The king of the Amelekites was a man named Agag. Saul did not kill him but took him captive. When the prophet Samuel found out, he pronounced that the kingdom would be removed from Saul and he hewed Agag to pieces.

Haman’s ancestors had apparently survived that attack by the Jews, carried the story from generation to generation and Haman hated the Jews because of it.

That’s not surprising.

There are people to this day who say they won’t worship a God who commanded the Jews to wipe out whole nations or who allowed the persecutions carried out by Christians so-called during the Dark Ages.

Haman makes plans to kill all the Jews in the realm of Babylon.

Mordecai believes that God has put Esther on the throne for such a time as this.

And then

E. He saw God’s protection

God worked things in such a way that:

·   Mordecai was publically honored and Haman was the man who had to make it happen

·   Haman was killed on the gallows he had constructed for Mordecai and

·   The Jews were spared and their enemies were destroyed

God is present in the book of Esther in a man of character named Mordecai.

God is seen,

II. IN THE PLACING OF ESTHER AS QUEEN

Esther 4:13-14 (KJV)

Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house, more than all the Jews.

For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

Mordecai’s question to Queen Esther is one that has to be considered.

·   She is from a despised nation of people

·   She is the child of killed parents

·   She is an orphan raised by her unknown cousin

·   She becomes queen of the most powerful country in the world at that time and

·   She happens to be queen at the precise time a very real threat is made against her race

The odds of this happening by chance are just impossible.

This is God.

I want to tell you today….

God is.

·   You may not feel Him in every moment of your day

·   You may not see Him in all of the problems you face

·   You may not think that He cares about you and your life

But God is.

·   That there is a planet that will sustain life is a matter only explainable by God

·   That there is an ecological system that sustains life on this planet is only explainable by God

·   That there is a being such as is human, who is aware of his existence, knowledgeable of his past and considerate of his future is only explainable by God

God is

And because He is we are as accountable to Him as Esther was in her day.

Where is God when God is not there?

God is seen,

III. IN THE PROTECTION OF THE APPLE OF HIS EYE

Esther 10:1-3 (KJV)

And the king Ahasuerus laid a tribute upon the land, and upon the isles of the sea.

And all the acts of his power and of his might, and the declaration of the greatness of Mordecai, whereunto the king advanced him, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia?

For Mordecai the Jew was next unto king Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted of the multitude of his brethren, seeking the wealth of his people, and speaking peace to all his seed.

Ahasuerus is believed to be Xerxes, the father of Darius, who made Daniel chief among the presidents.

Even when things seemed terrible for the Jews:

·   They were captives

·   They were homeless

·   They were hated

God was looking out for them, giving them evidence of His love and of His plan for their good.

And the same thing is true for you.

·   God does love you.

·   God has prepared every good thing possible for you

You might be facing problems that seem impossible to overcome just now, but do not lose heart or hope.

Conclusion

Perhaps you are here this morning without hope your sins forgiven and an eternal home in heaven.

It is as simple to have as for the asking

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Let us show you from the Bible how to be saved for sure – forever.

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[1] 1 Samuel 15.