Message of the Week

The Little White Community Church

Scripture:  Esther 2:1-4, 17-18

Sept. 29, 2024

Message: “The Persians!”        

by Pastor George Gnade

Intro: 1. Last week we studied the prayer Daniel prayed in Dan. 9. In this prayer, he confessed all the sins of the Jewish people, asked God for His forgiveness, and mercy, and prayed God would let them return to their own land.

a. They had been in Babylon for almost 70 years, and Daniel claimed God’s promise made to Jeremiah that He would allow His people to return.

b. In Daniel’s dreams, he was told by God that the Babylonians would be defeated by the Persians.

2. In Dan. 1-5, we learned how God used Daniel and his friends to have an important influence during the reign of the Babylonians.

a. Today I would like us to consider how God answered Daniel’s prayers during the reign of the Persians. 

b. Let us briefly consider how this happened. 

A. Cyrus the Great was the Persian king that God raised up to deliver the Jews from the Babylonians. 

1. The Medes and the Persians worked together to accomplish this task. As soon as the battle was won, Cyrus the Great placed Darius the Mede over the Babylonians.

a. Some believe Darius was the general working under Cyrus who entered the city by night, killed King Belshaz-zar, and took over the city. This was his reward. 

b. In Dan. 6, we learned how Darius rewarded Daniel, who had predicted how all of this would happen, by making him one of the highest leaders in the kingdom.

2. Because of jealousy, others plotted against Daniel. We all know how he was cast into the lions’ den. But God delivered him from the lions. This made a lasting impression on Darius. 

a. Did you ever ask yourself the question: How did this effect Cyrus the Great?

b. Did you ever consider the possibility that Darius the Mede shared these stories we learned about Daniel with Cyrus?  

3. First Daniel had predicted how the Persians would defeat the Babylonians. Then God saved his life from the lions. Who would want to anger a God like that? 

a. As Daniel is begging God to forgive His people and allow them to return to their own land, somehow God did influence Cyrus the Great to allow them to go.

b. So we are told in II Chronicles 36: 22-23: “The Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a procla-mation throughout his realm and put it into writing... ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and He has appointed me to build a temple for Him in Jerusalem. Anyone of His people- may the Lord his God be with him, and let him go up.”’

B. The second Persian king to consider is Artaxerxes. 

1. In Dan. 10, we find Daniel on his knees again. This time God warns him of the dangers that would arise because of the kings of Persia. So much so that the Lord Jesus, appearing as an angel, would stand up against them and using Michael, the archangel, to assist Him.

2. After the Jews returned, they started rebuilding the temple. But opposition arose from their neighbors who wrote King Artaxerxes, claiming the Jews were a rebellious people and their work should be stopped.  And for about 15 yrs. the work was stopped (Ezra 4:12-24).  

3. This is a reminder to us that most kings are not Christians. We can’t expect them to agree with us. Opposition is common. So it was with the Persians.

C. The third Persian king of importance was Darius the Persian. He was a different king than Darius the Mede.

1. He was the king in the days of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah (See Zech. 1:1).  At that time, Zerubbabel was the governor of Judah. 

a. God used these prophets to encourage the people to go back and finish the work on God’s temple. But they had to get permission from Darius to do so.

b. So the leaders of the Jews wrote the king a letter in which they shared how Cyrus the great had originally given them permission but the work had been stopped. 

2. Praise the Lord, God prepared his heart to be open to this request. So King Darius authorized them to complete what they had started (Ezra 5:1 -6:12). In fact, he even authorized that gold and silver from the royal treasury would be added to the temple. 

3. Beloved, there will always be opposition to the work of the Lord. But when men of prayer step out in faith, it is amazing how God often reopens doors and blesses the work He calls us to do. 

D. The fourth Persian king to consider was Xerxes. In the Book of Esther, he is called King Ahasuerus.

1. King Ahasuerus was very rich and powerful. When his queen disobeyed him, he disposed of her. But other matters had to be dealt with first. 

a. He was contending with the Greek armies and lost an important battle. In fact, that was the beginning of the decline of the Persians. 

b. But upon returning from battle, he finally decided to search for a new queen. Most of you who know your Bibles know that Esther was chosen. But the king did not know she was a Jew. 

2. Soon after she became the queen, an important leader named Haman, who had a lot of influence with the king,  developed a deep hatred toward the Jews. He had the king create an edict to have all the Jews in his kingdom killed!

a. Alarmed, Esther’s cousin, a man named Mordecai, warned Queen Esther and begged her to go and ask for help from the king (Esther 4:12-17).

b. By God’s grace, Esther was used of God to turn the tables. So the Jews were spared (Esther 6-8).

3. But none of this was luck! All of it goes back to Daniel pleading for His people. It goes back to angels in heaven keeping watch over the affairs of men. It goes back to Michael the Archangel working behind the scenes to help protect God’s people (See Dan. 10). 

E. The fifth Persian king to consider was also named Artaxerxes. He ruled after Xerxes.   

1. He ruled in the days of Nehemiah. In fact, Nehemiah was his cupbearer.  But Nehemiah received word that Jerusalem was in big trouble (Neh. 1). 

a. It’s walls had been burned down and there was no protection from those living around them.

b. But God laid it on his heart to ask the king for permission to go to Jerusalem. After much prayer, he found the courage to ask. Because God heard his prayer, he was given permission to go and help rebuild the city.

2. This decree made by King Artaxerxes happened in 458 B.C.  It played a very important part in God’s plans for His people. We will learn more about that next week as we continue our study of Dan. 9.

In conclusion: We can expect many world leaders to give us trouble, but we must never forget God is on our side. When we pray like Daniel prayed, it is amazing what God will do, and how even the hearts of kings can be changed.