Saul and Esther

September 3, 2023

Because I was preaching in Akeley, PA this morning, I didn’t get to hear pastor Joe’s first sermon in his series on Esther, but I read Linda’s notes and plan to catch up; I’m eager to hear what he has to say. This evening, I read through this short OT book. There are many things to learn from it, but tonight, one alone stands out to me. The story is about how God orchestrated circumstances to deliver his people from what could be described as one of the first of many pogroms. 

You can read the backstory for yourself; it’s a marvelous account of near-miraculous events, but let’s begin in chapter 3:

“After these things (What things, you ask? Read chapters 1 and 2!), King Ahasuerus promoted Human the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him and set his seat above all the princes who were with him.” (v.1)

This Haman is our antagonist, the one who plotted to destroy all the Jews living in the far-flung Persian kingdom. Notice his ancestry—he is an Agagite. Some 600 years previously, this name pops up in 1 Samuel 15:8. Agag was the king of the Amalekites whom Saul was commanded to annihilate. Saul fought the Amalekites, but in blatant disobedience to God’s command, he saved Agag alive. Agag (and by extension, his family) were to have been executed. They were not, and now 600 years later, this name surfaces in Haman, the would-be destroyer of God’s people.

Critics have often cited such passages as 1 Samuel 15 as examples of barbaric customs that sully the validity of the Bible as a standard for today’s living. That’s an argument for another time and place. What I see here is something far more significant and sinister. It’s this:

Generational sins have long shadows.

My preaching this morning came from Judges 2:7 & 10-11: 

“The people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD which he had done for Israel…When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the LORD nor the work which he had done for Israel. Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baals.”

Saul’s failure to obey God not only cost him his kingdom; 600 years later, that single act of disobedience came back to haunt God’s people. God worked it all out, but wouldn’t it have been better if such deliverance hadn’t been necessary? 

I wonder what failure, what disobedience, what negligence in me will stretch far into the future? I’ve seen it happen; the sins of the fathers get passed down from one generation to another until someone finally steps up and says, “The buck stops here,” and breaks the curse. I’ve also seen the benefits of generational blessings in my own life, having been recipient of the example, the faith, and the prayers of parents, and having received the merciful privilege of passing this to my children, and seeing them pass it along to theirs. 

Generational curses do cast long shadows, but generational blessings throw light beams of blessing even farther down the road. The Bible says the curses can last to the second and third generation, but the blessings go for a thousand generations. Saul’s disobedience cast that long shadow, but Esther’s courageous obedience put an end to it. Instead of a Saul, may we be Esthers to our generation!