Providential Insomnia.

If you have a bible this morning open it up to Esther 6.

I have titled the message this morning… Providential Insomnia.

Pray with me…

Where have we been? A-lot has been happening the last few weeks to shift the story in a different direction. Remember this story heated up after Esther became queen, and her cousin who told her to tell no-one of her kinship would not bow down to haman, causing this man to be enraged to the point where he wanted not only Mordecai dead, but all the Jews, and his plan was to bribe the king in such a way to fill his pocket books and get his way, but we know God was up to something, and Mordecai begs Esther to be this intercessor for the Jewish people, and Esther as we begin to see lays down her fear and comes to the realization that maybe I was born for this moment, and she goes and approaches the king and through God’s providence the King finds her beauty to be so satisfying that he offers up half of his kingdom to her. And instead of her just asking to save her people then, she calls for a feast for the King and Haman, after the feast Haman rather than being filled with joy ends up getting so upset that when he saw Mordecai on his way home he could not enjoy the moment, and had gallows built for Mordecai to meet his fate.

So today we see God work yet again without saying a word, prompting the king to not be able to sleep. “Providential Insomnia” like the title said…

So for our main idea this morning, I want you to see this…

In God’s power he gives the king a sleepless night in order to honor the one who never got honored.

follow along with me as I read the first three verses this morning..

Esther 6:1–3 ESV

1 On that night the king could not sleep. And he gave orders to bring the book of memorable deeds, the chronicles, and they were read before the king. 2 And it was found written how Mordecai had told about Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, who guarded the threshold, and who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. 3 And the king said, “What honor or distinction has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?” The king’s young men who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.”

first point I want you to take note of is this..

Sleepless nights often lead to investigations.

I know many of us when we cannot sleep we go down these rabbit trails finding out something we may not know or watching endless mindless videos, or read the chronicles of memorable deeds like the King here. . The King did not have the same sort of luxuries if you want to call them that to help pass time when we are trying to sleep.

The Greek version of this text actually says God caused the king to not be able to sleep. Which is fitting for how this story has been unfolding…

So he calls for the book of memorable deeds, the chronicles, and they were read before the king.

Remember I told you this isn't the chronicles we have in our scriptures these are things recorded by them to keep tract of those who did as the title of it says memorable deeds. So as they are being read to the king, Mordecai’s name is read about how he saved the Kings life, and he is like wait a min, what did we do for him… And they are like nothing..

Which is highly uncharacteristic of a Persian King. One Scholar says this… It was important that Persian kings publicly reward those who were loyal as a means of promoting their own safety in such treacherous times. Herodotus records examples of two such honors. In one instance Xerxes granted land to two ships’ captains who had assisted in a battle against the Greeks and recorded one of them in the list of the “King’s Benefactors.” In another incident, a man was made governor of Cilicia for saving the life of Xerxes’ brother.

Its clear to see in the text that God providentially caused this man to not sleep, and to not fall asleep when being read these deeds. Which may be hard for some of us when we are read stories or preached too... So he begins to make the wrong right…

Listen to the next several verses starting in verse 4…

Esther 6:4–11 ESV

4 And the king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king’s palace to speak to the king about having Mordecai hanged on the gallows that he had prepared for him. 5 And the king’s young men told him, “Haman is there, standing in the court.” And the king said, “Let him come in.” 6 So Haman came in, and the king said to him, “What should be done to the man whom the king delights to honor?” And Haman said to himself, “Whom would the king delight to honor more than me?” 7 And Haman said to the king, “For the man whom the king delights to honor, 8 let royal robes be brought, which the king has worn, and the horse that the king has ridden, and on whose head a royal crown is set. 9 And let the robes and the horse be handed over to one of the king’s most noble officials. Let them dress the man whom the king delights to honor, and let them lead him on the horse through the square of the city, proclaiming before him: ‘Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.’ ” 10 Then the king said to Haman, “Hurry; take the robes and the horse, as you have said, and do so to Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king’s gate. Leave out nothing that you have mentioned.” 11 So Haman took the robes and the horse, and he dressed Mordecai and led him through the square of the city, proclaiming before him, “Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.”

Second thing I want you to take note of this morning is this…

God reverses the plans of the proud..

Again we see God working out his divine providence. As we have seen being many times in this book, the King does not like to make decisions on his own, he loves to seek council from others, and the fact that Haman is in the court is ironic isn't it. Its another example of Gods power.

Remember Haman was no doubt going to the king to ask him to hang Mordecai on those gallows which he just built, and we see that in the text.

And so the King’s mens say Haman is there, and we know Haman is the King’s right hand man, so he is like let him come on in…

So the King asks him a question? What should should be done to the man whom the king delights to honor?

And here we see the arrogance of Haman yet again. Remember last week when he is talking about all the riches he has, about all his power, his sons, and so he thinks the King is about to honor him, and so he answers according to his own desires…

Because being second in command already he could not be the king so he wanted to be the closest thing to the king, but little did he know this wasn’t for him..

So Haman says to the king.. For the man whom the king delights to honor, let royal robes be brought, which the king has worn..

Now for us that might not seem like a good deal right, I want some of the king’s riches, but honor was a big thing during that time, and during that time it meant something. I was reading several scholars and historians who said many believed that the King’s robes had magical powers, but more importantly for someone like Haman he got to be recognized as someone who was worthy like the king something we have seen he likes very much..

He also said this man should have also have royal horse to ride on that the king has ridden. He also wanted a royal crown for this man whom he thought was himself.

Things even today have more value if someone directly is involved with it, Right I saw this past week a Jersey worn by Kobe Bryant for 25 games was auctioned for 5.8 million dollars thats an incredible amount of money, but I was able to find on one website had a nice jersey like he wore but didn’t for 299 dollars. Goes to show you how much we value the fact that someone famous was involved in something.

For Haman he thought these things were at such value and he wanted to be just like the king, so this would be an excellent gift for him indeed.

So after he sets the prize for the man who is to be honored this is where it gets even more funny to me, because he is the one that is going to be doing this gesture for someone else… He says.. Let the robes and the horse be handed over to one of the kings most noble officials, and let them dress the man whom the kings delights to honor, and let them( ha )lead him on the horse through the square of the city, proclaiming before him: Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.

And as we see the king goes along with this plan.. And says to Haman Hurry… take the robes and the horse as you have said and do so to Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the kings gate, and leave out nothing you have mentioned… Catch that part nothing…

Talk about crushing to Haman, who went went early in the morning to get Mordecai hanged, ends up having to honor this man before others, who never honored him. ( talk about a great reversal )

He had to dress Mordecai, and led him around the city to honor him and proclaim before him. Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor. Most likely over and over again he had to say this..

God reverses the plans of the proud..

Couple things really intrigued me in my study this week. One of which was this statement..

Can you imagine laving out so many specific details to express something you desired so passionately, only to then be commanded not just to let the person you dislike the most on the entire planet fully experience what you have longed for, but to lead them through it? For those of us who are striving to love our neighbors as ourselves, maybe it is not totally startling.

What we want for ourselves we should also want for others. But if we are of the tribe that buys name-brand treats for its own pantry but generic brands for the church VBS, then we are probably horrified at what is transpiring, and we need to do a lot of study on the word as. The only person in Susa, however, who could be more surprised than Haman would be Mordecai.

I want you to think about Mordecai for a moment as well, he deserved to be honored according to the standards they lived in. Yet he continued to work for the king even after a death sentence knowing that God would take care of him in the end. IDK about you but that is convicting to me. A-lot of us want to be honored but when we don’t are we willing to do the right thing even if that honor comes in the life to come.

For this moment in the story its a powerful reminder that God can always turn any situation around. And that is what he is doing in the text here.

One scholar gives a powerful reminder by saying.. The author of Esther implies a consistency in God’s rule of human history that is based on his word, not on circumstances. Regardless of how circumstances appear, God is ruling history according to the ancient covenant he made with Israel at Sinai.

The reversal of destiny that began when the king had a sleepless night implies that, despite their sin and despite their location away from Jerusalem, God’s promise to Israel made at the beginning of their nation still stood. God was not like the gods of the pagans. He was not locked in some struggle with other deities that gave him control only on certain days or in certain situations. All that had happened was consistent with the stated provisions of God’s covenant. The Agagites would be destroyed, even though they had great wealth and power.

Previously in Israel’s history, God had used mighty miracles to deliver his people and to fulfill his promises. In the story of Esther God was using the ordinary events of life to realize his covenant promises to his people. He used even seemingly insignificant events, such as the king’s sleepless night, and the decisions of less-than-perfect people to fulfill nevertheless the promises of his ancient covenant.

Folks at the end of the day as we clearly saw last week God plans always prevail. And through his plans he often replaces our plans.

And we see that Haman's plan is quickly falling apart before his very own eyes. And all this leads to haman’s downfall..

Lets keep reading on…

Esther 6:12–13 ESV

12 Then Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman hurried to his house, mourning and with his head covered. 13 And Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and his wife Zeresh said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of the Jewish people, you will not overcome him but will surely fall before him.”

Third point this morning is this…

God humbles the proud.

This man had appeared to be on top of the world when we read about him last week, now he is mourning, his head covered, he is devastated, because he knows his plan is not going to happen. He wanted so badly to be honored, and he ended up having to honor the one who would not honor him.

God can so quickly change our lives in but a moment. So when Haman gets home, and tells his wife, and friends about this, they tell him this isn’t going to get better for you in fact its going to get worse. This is the wisest instruction they have ever given them in this book so far..

And before he even has a moment to process all that has been going we read this…

Esther 6:14 ESV

14 While they were yet talking with him, the king’s eunuchs arrived and hurried to bring Haman to the feast that Esther had prepared.

No matter what is happening at the moment there will always be the next thing. And those who are on top of the world may be at the bottom in just a moment. God can so quickly humble us when we think we have it all under control. ( that is why we must always learn to depend on him, and see ourselves in light of him, and not our self)

In the moment, Haman did not have the time to process all that was going on before he had to go to this feast that he was once excited to go to. But no doubt he was not the same confident man he was the day before, he had been humbled, and so often God humbles us when we become proud ourselves, and there is one thing we can take away for ourselves in our own day, and its this…

God deserves the highest honor.

If you think about this book, Honor is a big part of it, especially looking at today’s text. Right. Remember Queen Vashti did not honor Xerxes leading to her removal. Mordecai did not honor haman leading to what appeared to be the destruction of the jews, and today we see that Haman had to honor someone he did not want to.

But Honor in the Christian life is something God calls us to, something that many in this book and in life fail to do including myself. In Romans 12:10 it says..

Romans 12:10 ESV

10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.

If we saw this in the story of Esther it would look quite differently wouldn’t it, but even more so in the world we live in. See we ultimately honor others, because we are made in the image of God. Which means from the womb to the tomb we love one another, and honor one another with great value. The world lacks a proper view of honor, and we see that every day, and we should not need sleepless nights to remind us that we should honor one another, and honor God. It should be something that should come natural to us.

Now I am convinced we don’t honor others properly like we have seen in this book, because we don’t give God the highest honor. This is ultimately why they are in this situation to begin with because the Jews time after time failed on honor God, just like we do today. Thats why we have the issues we have is that we don’t honor God enough or properly, though he has given us everything. I am convinced that the Christian life is a top down life, if we are so focused on Jesus and what he wants from us, everything else falls into its right place. And we loose sight of that to often.

If you remember I preached a message a few months ago telling you we are use and invest our talents to glorify God, because he is the one who gave them to us.

Now its so much more than that, we can honor God with more than just our talents, and our treasures, we honor him we things like our time, our body, our hearts, and our faith.

I want to give you a few scriptural examples for you on how you to honor God if you want these verses later I can send them to you…

1 Corinthians 6:18–20 ESV

18 Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

God has given you your body to honor him, so don’t use it for dishonorable things… Another verse..

Proverbs 3:5 ESV

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.

He has given you understanding through his word so honor him by trusting his word, and having the faith to trust him.. Another verse

Colossians 4:5 ESV

5 Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time.

Use the time he has given you to honor him, we have so many time wasters that steal our time from God, and others in the world we live in.

Proverbs 3:9 ESV

9 Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce;

Honor him with everything you have and give him your best first because its all his to begin with. …

Last verse for just a moment Romans 14:8

Romans 14:8 ESV

8 For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.

Live for Jesus Honor and honor him in all things in this life, and in your death..

And you honor him ultimately friends, because as we have seen he is Lord… He deserves it more than Xerxes who was the powerful ruler of the day , or haman who was in a noble position, or Mordecai who saved the kings life. .

Why should we ultimately honor God, and Christ? Well because of this… You have heard me reference this, and others as well, but its an amazing text..

Philippians 2:1–11 ESV

1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

There is much we could get into in this text, and we will soon but I want you to see this.. We honor Jesus for many reasons, one of which is because he humbled himself enough to the point where he died on the cross, and he is exalted at the right hand of God, and in his name every knee is going to bow in heaven, earth, and under the earth and the greatest way you can honor God is by believing and confessing that Christ is Lord that he is the son of God, and when you see him as that very thing its going to make that Romans 12:10 which as a reminder says

Romans 12:10 ESV

10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.

something that truly allows you to honor people perfectly. Honestly after studying this text this week, I am convicted most importantly that I do not honor God enough in my own life, nor do I honor others enough, and the reality is to fix that I need to honor the Lord the most, because he deserves my best, and if I do that I know that everything else will fall into place.

Lastly today, I want you to ask yourself have you honored the Lord most by putting your faith and trust in him repenting of your sin, and trusting in Christ alone for salvation, knowing that he died on the cross in order that his children can have eternal life.

If you have done that today, I want you to consider if you properly honor all those around you. People are worthy of honor even if they are not your parents, boss, pastor, ect. I want us to be a church that truly does outdo one another in showing honor, and seeing how that Lord will move through that very thing..

At the end of the day let us not be a people who need a sleepless night or a change of plans, or to be humbled to honor God and those who deserve it.

Lots of ways to respond to the message today, and I will leave that up to you and the Lord let us pray…