The Alternative

Dr. Tony Evans: I know the score may be against you, but I know somebody who knows how to take the ball and score a touchdown.

Guest (Male): Dr. Tony Evans talks about what happens when we let the Lord call the plays in our lives.

Dr. Tony Evans: I know a quarterback who can turn losers into winners.

Guest (Male): This is the Alternative broadcast, featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. God has a purpose for each of us, and no matter how many detours we take, He still knows the way to get us where we're meant to be. Today, Dr. Evans explains how to make the most of the journey and how to recognize the destination God has designed just for you. Let's listen.

Dr. Tony Evans: As we've been going to the book of Esther, we've been attacking the theology of luck. You cannot have divine providence and luck, chance, fate, happenstance because the providence of God means that God is in control by either causing or allowing all things. As you have seen through the book of Esther, God's providence allows for evil. God does not do evil, He does not endorse evil, but He utilizes it to accomplish His purposes. Our responsibility is to be aligned with God so that we are being moved as He moves us, so that we're picking up signals that He gives us. The major problem is not that God is being God. The major problem is we're so misaligned with Him that we miss Him in what He is doing, even in the negative, bad circumstances that come our way.

Esther is a beautiful young lady, and through a series of providential events, she becomes wife of the king. Mordecai, her cousin, has set this thing in motion. But Mordecai will not bow before Haman, the second in charge. Haman decreed to kill all the Jews. Mordecai says to Esther, "You've been called to the kingdom for such a time as this. It's not just that you're pretty. It's not just that you're in the king's palace. He allowed you to be pretty and He allowed you to be in the king's palace because He had a kingdom purpose for you to perform in this arena."

And so now we come to the final two chapters. Verse one of chapter nine: "Now in the 12th month, that is the month of Adar, on the 13th day, when the king's command and edict were about to be executed, on the day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain the mastery over them, it was turned to the contrary so that the Jews themselves gained the mastery over those who hated them."

Ah, it's when everything it says turned to the contrary. In other words, He flipped it on the day. Just in case you didn't know it, all of us have a day. Oh, you don't believe me? All you got to do is read Ephesians chapter six, verses 10 to 18. He calls it the evil day. That's the day the devil has determined to do you in. That's the day the devil has determined to destroy your life. That's the day when the devil through the Hamans that he brings into our experience wants to ruin your future. That's the day on that day. Well, wait a minute. This day is 12 months later, but you have to understand, God's been setting it up for a year. It didn't come and fully reveal itself till the day because God is always moving over a period of time to bring His conclusion about at the right time.

Now we're told in verse four that Mordecai had become great in the king's house. His fame spread throughout all the provinces, for the man Mordecai became greater and greater. On this day now, it's time for them to get involved in the will of God because we're told in verse six, at the citadel in Susa, the Jews killed and destroyed 500 men. On top of that, we learn in verse 10, this included the 10 sons of Haman. The decree was if anybody comes at you Jews based on the decree of Haman, you're able to get them back.

The king comes to Esther, and the king says, "The Jews have killed 500 guys, including the 10 sons of Haman." Verse 12: "And what else you want?" Esther says, "Let the edict that we can kill our enemies go for another 24 hours. Extend it a day. When you extend it a day, hang Haman's 10 sons on the gallows." Now, chapter 10 only has three verses, and all three are about Mordecai. All three about how great Mordecai was and because he got positioned to do a lot of stuff, and it's about Mordecai. But the book is not named Mordecai. The book is named Esther.

What is it about this girl that God says, "I'm going to name this book in the Bible for her, not for her cuz, for her"? You get a clue right here. King says, "What you want me to do?" "I want you to extend the edict another day, and I want to hang his 10 sons who are already dead." Why are you going to put somebody on the gallows who's already dead? Because the sons have already been killed. We saw that in the earlier verses. "But I want to display them. I want to make them public."

When you extend it a day, they kill 500 plus the 10 sons of Haman. "King, let's go another 24 hours." Why? Because there's some other evil out there we haven't gotten to yet, and I need another day to wipe it all out. You know what makes Esther so special and significant? She didn't want to get rid of some of the sin; she wanted to get rid of all of it. "Give me more time so that we never have to deal with this mess again."

And then, take the 10 sons of Haman, and I want you to put them on the gallows. Then let me describe the gallows because most of you thinking about the Westerns where they're hung by the neck in the gallows. No, the gallows in biblical times in this age in Persia was to impale somebody on a stake. They were called gallows. You drive a stake through them and impale them. It was called the gallows that had been built for Mordecai that Haman wound up being crushed on or impaled on. The 10 sons have already been killed. "But I want you to put them on the gallows so that whenever anybody..." It's called running up the score in football. In football, when you want to run up the score on somebody, you've already won the game. There's a minute left in the game, and you're still scoring touchdowns and you're ahead by 25 points already. That's called running up the score.

And you know what? When you run up the score, you're showing off then. When you run off the score, you're letting them know you don't want to play with this, you don't want none of this. Because if you come at me again, I'm going to give you some more of this. It's called running up the score. It's making a big deal of who you were in order to make a point. Well, God used Esther to make a point. Point number one: don't get rid of part of the sin you're dealing with, get rid of all of the sin you're dealing with so that cancer of sin won't come back at you later on.

Remember, the only reason that they're having to deal with the enemy is because of Haman. Haman was from Agag. Agag was the king that Saul refused to kill. So when Saul refused to kill him, he had other lineage that came forward. So by the time you get to the book of Esther, there are thousands of people against the Jews because Saul didn't deal with it like God said deal with it years ago. Because if he would have dealt with it when God said deal with it, there wouldn't have been a Haman who was tied to Agag who would have put you in this problem to start with. That's why we're having issues in our country today because sins that didn't get dealt with years ago keep coming up, keep coming up, keep coming up, keep coming up because we don't cut the sin short.

We've got to do that in our personal lives. We've got to say, "I'm going to not only deal with a piece of the sin because if you cut out some cancer, whatever you leave behind is going to manifest itself one more time at the right season." So he says cut the whole sin. This woman says, "I want to get rid of this so my children, my grandchildren, and my great-grandchildren never have to face this mess again. And I want them to see what happens when God deals with evil by putting those 10 boys up there. Because I want them to see that God will even destroy your lineage if your lineage is carrying on your evil."

So this is a message for parents. If parents don't invest spiritually in their children, then what you're doing is perpetuating a generational evil. The book is named for Esther because she wanted to solve it once and for all. She wanted to get rid of all the evil, and she wanted to show what evil can do because it passes down to our children, to our youth, and to generations. So this woman takes the stand to deal with evil completely. She gets to be named as the author or as the headliner in the book.

Guest (Male): Dr. Evans will tell us more about that when he returns to continue our message after these words about Pathways. How often have you heard life is a journey? It's true. Every day of your life takes you somewhere you've never been before. You discover who you are and what you're made of as you face the unknown and uncertain, progress and pain, love and loss. What you might not know is that this journey comes with a guide.

Dr. Tony Evans: God uses negatives to accomplish positives. He connects things that don't look connectable. When the timing is right and everything is looking wrong.

Guest (Male): In his book, Pathways, Dr. Tony Evans helps you discover the very personal nature of God as He maneuvers you toward your purpose.

Dr. Tony Evans: God wants to use you. God wants to empower you because He wants you to make a difference even when it looks like it's not working out.

Guest (Male): Discover how to stay confident and committed no matter where your journey leads you and experience the joy and satisfaction God promises when you do. Pathways: From Providence to Purpose, from Dr. Tony Evans.

This is a powerful book that many people have found helpful as they navigate the ups and downs of life. And we'd really like you to have a copy. In fact, we'll send you one as our thank you gift when you make a donation to help us keep Tony's teaching on this station. The Alternative is a listener-supported ministry, and we're grateful for the part you play in helping us carry the good news to a needy world. Along with the Pathways book, we'll also include a special bonus gift right now: all six lessons in Tony's current series on the book of Esther, including one complete message we haven't had time to present on the air. This is the final day we'll be offering these two resources together, so make the arrangements right away at tonyevans.org or call us at 1-800-800-3222 where resource team members are standing by day and night to help you. That's 1-800-800-3222. Well, Dr. Evans returns now with the final portion of today's message. Let's join him.

Dr. Tony Evans: And so here we are. Mordecai records the events. He sends letters to the Jews throughout the provinces. Oh, and now cool and the gang, it's time to party. Celebration time is here because verse 22, they enter into a day of feasting and rejoicing and sending portions of food to one another and giving gifts to the poor. Oh, it's a time of celebration because it's a time of deliverance. Look, when God's day becomes your day, you're going to praise Him at another level.

You probably don't get into a big praise when you eat breakfast. You probably don't get into a big praise when you eat lunch. You probably don't get into a big praise when you eat dinner. In fact, you could probably pray your prayer and not think about it. "Lord bless this food to my body, nourish it to me, in Jesus' name, amen." It's kind of rote and mundane because it ain't a big deal. You expect to be able to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It's not a big deal. When God lets things go and let things get worse until He breaks through and let things get better, it's because He knows He's going to get some special kind of praise. He's not going to get no ordinary "Now I lay me down to sleep, pray the Lord my soul to keep, if I die before I wake, pray the Lord my soul to take." He ain't going to get that kind of prayer. He's going to get some glory, He's going to get some dancing, He's going to get some celebration. He's going to get some mighty praise.

This official celebration that they had because of this deliverance that God brought them through, verse 26: "Therefore they called these days Purim after the name Pur, and because of the instructions in the letter, both what they had seen in this regard and what had happened to them." Ah, this is sweet. He says this celebration that they're having, they said we're going to call this Purim. Well, remember the word Pur was the word Haman used for throwing the dice in chapter three, verse seven. He called it the Pur or the dice, the lot. So he threw the dice, it came up 12 months.

The Jews said, "Oh, well guess what? We're going to have a celebration, and we're going to celebrate it every year, and we're going to call it Purim." Verse 27: "The Jews established and made a custom for themselves, for their descendants, and for all those who allied themselves with them, so that they would not fail to celebrate these two days according to their regulation and according to their appointed time annually."

You know what they did? They answered the definition of this book. See, Pur was luck. It was to roll the dice and throw it down. They said, "Oh, I got your luck. We're going to call it Purim because we're going to celebrate God is the God of what people call luck." And every time we get it together, we're going to celebrate ain't no luck, just God and the providence of God. This celebration was to remind themselves that God was a providential God.

The subject of the book of Esther is the providence of God intervening on behalf of the people of God against the evil that is against the people of God in order to accomplish His kingdom program. This book of Esther is about the providence of God that looks like luck, chance, fate, and happenstance. It's the providence of God on behalf of the people of God against the evil one, Satan and his minions, against the people of God, in order to demonstrate for the glory of God the advancement of the kingdom of God.

And they said every year, we're going to do it for ourselves, watch this, and our descendants. So parents, you ought to be telling your kids the story. You ought to let them hear the story about how God came through. I took our kids some years ago, we were back in Baltimore, and my Aunt Louise happened to be over our house, and we gathered all of our kids around and my father was there, mother was there, and Aunt Louise began to tell the story of the history of our family and what had happened next. And she went back to places I didn't even know and told the story.

I was talking to my father the other day, and he began to tell me stories about some stories I didn't even know about when he didn't know how he was going to feed the family, and God came through just in the nick of time. And he didn't know how he was going to make ends meet, and God gave him a job just in the nick of time. He's repeating those stories to me. He's giving me my personal Purim. You've got to give your kids Purim so that when they run into the enemy, when they run into problems, when they run into defeats, when they run into difficulty, they can say they don't need lucky charms, they don't need a rabbit's foot. What they need is the knowledge that God is a God of Purim. He rolls the dice. He determines the outcome.

So I don't care what your boss has done to you; he doesn't determine where those dice fall. I don't care what the job has done to you; it doesn't determine where things are going to wind up. Only God will set in motion what is finally to happen in your life and in my life. It is God who will make the intersections.

Oh, it was 1936. The Third Reich was ruling in Germany. The Olympics were held in Germany. And out on the Olympic track comes a young man named James Cleveland Owens, better known as Jesse Owens. He comes out on the track and Hitler has said, "He's not human," because on that day he showed himself to be superhuman. He comes out in the long jump, gold medal. Comes out in the 100-yard dash, gold medal. Comes out in the 200-yard dash, gold medal. He's got three gold medals. Hitler has to get up and walk out because this nobody in Germans' mind had become somebody on enemy territory. Oh, but that's not all.

In the 4x100 relay, there was a Jewish runner. The Germans would not carry on the Olympics because of their hatred of the Jews with that Jewish runner. America had to make a decision: do we let the Jewish runner run or do we lose out on the whole race because of the racism of the Germans against the Jews? They decided to pull the Jew out and put Jesse Owens in a race he had not run. They said, "Jesse, we need you for the sake of this other kingdom called the United States of America. This other kingdom needs you to step in and run the first leg of the 4x100 relay."

Jesse Owens had not passed the baton, hadn't had practice. You got to practice to pass that baton. He had not done that. But he got in on the first leg of the race of the 4x100 relay. He outran everybody, and when he came to Ralph Metcalfe, he came and did a perfect passing of the baton, so that he walks away with four gold medals. I'm talking about in Germany, on enemy territory, when they thought he was subhuman. He showed what you can do when God is on your side.

Oh, but a lot of you were here for Super Bowl 51. In the third quarter, the New England Patriots were losing by 25 points. How you going to get back in the third quarter? You don't have enough time to overcome 25 points. But a couple of things happened. The Patriots got better and Atlanta made some mistakes. Instead of running the clock out, they made calls that kept the clock on the side of the New England Patriots. And slowly, over the rest of the quarter and a half, New England climbed back and they climbed back until you come to the end of the game and we got a tie ballgame.

And the ref tossed the coin, and when it hit and said the New England Patriots won the toss, I said, "It's a wrap." And the reason I said it's a wrap is because I knew who the quarterback was. See, because the quarterback is Tom Brady, I had no doubt that he would be able to not only overcome 25 points but in overtime to secure the victory. I don't know how long the devil's been beating you. I don't know how far behind you are and you feel like a loser. A loser in your life, a loser in your home, a loser in your circumstances, a loser in your finance, a loser in your future. I know the score may be against you, but I know a quarterback. I know somebody who knows how to take the ball, who knows how to call a play. I know a quarterback who can turn losers into winners. I know a quarterback who can turn defeat into victory. I know if you just let him have your life, he can throw a touchdown with your existence. So give God the ball of your life and let him score a touchdown with his providential care.

Guest (Male): The real game changer happens when you invite Jesus Christ into your life to rebuild you from the inside out, and that can happen for you today. Dr. Evans is here to explain.

Dr. Tony Evans: One of the great things all of us need in life is hope. Hope is expectation about the future, that things will be better where I'm going than where I am or where I've come from. And the greatest hope that's given to us by God is the hope of eternal life, that when this life is over, we immediately enter into God's presence and don't have to worry about the scourge called death. So if you want to bypass death, you can do that because there's the hope of the gospel, the good news that anyone who comes to Christ for salvation, recognizing their sinfulness and their need for forgiveness, will be given that salvation when they come to Jesus for it.

Guest (Male): Find out more about experiencing a personal relationship with the Lord when you visit tonyevans.org and click the link at the top of the homepage that simply says "Jesus." Tony has more there about the good news of kingdom-filled life. Check it out today.

Well, as I mentioned earlier, today is the final message we'll be presenting on the air from Dr. Evans' powerful series on the life of Esther. And that means it's the last day we'll be offering the complete bundle of all six full-length messages in the series along with Pathways, his popular companion book that explores how God can move all of us to purpose, joy, and satisfaction. They're available together as our gift in thanks for your donation to the Alternative ministry. Just visit tonyevans.org today for all the details or give us a call at 1-800-800-3222 where a friendly team member is ready to help with your request right now. Again, that's 1-800-800-3222 or online at tonyevans.org.

It's been said that if you put someone on a pedestal, they're likely to fall. But that's not an issue for the one who created gravity. Tomorrow on the Alternative, Dr. Evans explores why Jesus deserves our honor, respect, and reverence and how it changes us when we give it to Him. Be sure to join us.