The Attitudes and Actions of God's People

Introduction

Last week we saw that Mordecai challenged Esther to speak on behalf of the Jewish people, even though to do so might cost her her life. Esther was understandably hesitant, but soon decides that she will do it, regardless the cost. Then she ends the chapter doing the most spiritually sound action she possibly could do: she commits to prayer and asks others to pray for her as well.

This tells us that Mordecai, in raising Esther, developed a strong spiritual foundation in Esther. This morning we are going to see more evidence of her strong spiritual foundation. Additionally, we are going to see Esther’s polar opposite, Haman, and how he had no spiritual foundation to speak of.

In looking at these two contrasting people, we will see four attitudes and actions that God expects from His people.

Body: Esther 5:1-14

Verse 1

Esther 5:1 ESV

On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace, in front of the king’s quarters, while the king was sitting on his royal throne inside the throne room opposite the entrance to the palace.

After devoting herself to three days of prayer and fasting, Esther gets gussied up and courageously heads into the king’s throne room.

But, she has a cunning plan, no doubt given to her by God as she devoted herself to seeking His face.

Esther shows incredible courage, because she could have been executed for this action.

It’s easy for us, many of whom know how the story ends, to miss the amazing courage shown by Esther here, but we shouldn’t.

Think about a time in your life that you were really scared about something that you thought might happen...

Verses 2-3

Esther 5:2–3 ESV

And when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she won favor in his sight, and he held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter. And the king said to her, “What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given you, even to the half of my kingdom.”

However, upon seeing here, the king shows favor to her and extends his scepter to her.

It could be because of his affection for her, because of her beauty, because of her desirability…the text doesn’t say.

However, we ought to see that it is ultimately God who softens Xerxes’ heart towards Esther.

Xerxes’ statements about giving her half his kingdom is hyperbole.

Verse 4

Esther 5:4 ESV

And Esther said, “If it please the king, let the king and Haman come today to a feast that I have prepared for the king.”

Esther surprises both Xerxes, asking for nothing for herself, but that she can throw a feast for the king and his right-hand-man.

This shows cunning on her part, as she reminds Xerxes about his affection for her, which will be vital to overcome Haman’s manipulation.

Verses 5-6

Esther 5:5–6 ESV

Then the king said, “Bring Haman quickly, so that we may do as Esther has asked.” So the king and Haman came to the feast that Esther had prepared. And as they were drinking wine after the feast, the king said to Esther, “What is your wish? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.”

They attend the feast, eating and drinking heavily, as was typical in Persia at the time.

Then once again, Xerxes offers her whatever she wants, expecting that she is looking for something.

Verses 7-8

Esther 5:7–8 ESV

Then Esther answered, “My wish and my request is: If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my wish and fulfill my request, let the king and Haman come to the feast that I will prepare for them, and tomorrow I will do as the king has said.”

Why doesn’t Esther use this opportunity to save her people now?

People often suggest it’s because she is afraid and cops out, at least for now. This is not correct at all.

Three things are going on here:

Esther has to remind Xerxes of his earlier affection for her, as well as convince him that the most trusted member of his court has manipulated him. To just walk in immediately and accuse Haman of this action would likely result in her death.

And, while Esther has no idea what will happen next, God’s timing is at play here once again. See, before Haman can be exposed, Mordecai must be exalted. This will happen in the next chapter. So, we can assume that God let Esther know that she needed to wait.

Finally, this also puts Haman in a position of his highest arrogance, as he will believe that he is so important to the kingdom that he can do whatever he wants. His pride becomes part of his undoing.

Verses 9-13

Esther 5:9–13 (ESV)

And Haman went out that day joyful and glad of heart. But when Haman saw Mordecai in the king’s gate, that he neither rose nor trembled before him, he was filled with wrath against Mordecai. Nevertheless, Haman restrained himself and went home, and he sent and brought his friends and his wife Zee-resh. And Haman recounted to them the splendor of his riches, the number of his sons, all the promotions with which the king had honored him, and how he had advanced him above the officials and the servants of the king. Then Haman said, “Even Queen Esther let no one but me come with the king to the feast she prepared. And tomorrow also I am invited by her together with the king. Yet all this is worth nothing to me, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.”

After the party, as Haman was pleased with himself, he passes by Mordecai, no longer in his sackcloth and ashes.

Now, Mordecai not only refuses to bow to Haman, but he’s not even afraid of Haman.

This brings about a rage in Haman.

In fact, what we see in Haman is malice.

Malice stems from such a deep hatred for someone else, that we believe we are justified in doing harm to or seeing someone else do harm to that person.

I like Warren Wiersbe’s definition of malice even better: “Malice is that deep-seated hatred that brings delight if our enemy suffers and pain if our enemy succeeds. Malice can never forgive; it must always take revenge. Malice has a good memory for hurts and a bad memory for kindnesses.”

His malice robs the joy from the evening’s feast from Haman.

Calling his wife and friends together, Haman begins to tell them all about how much wealth and privilege he’s acquired for himself.

Money; sons; promotions; and how he is the most powerful man in the country, other than the king himself.

And, if that wasn’t enough, he alone was invited to a meal with the king put on by Queen Esther, and he’d been invited to another the next day.

And yet, none of that matters more to him at the moment, because his malice towards Mordecai is such that as long as Mordecai is alive, he will not find any joy.

Verse 14

Esther 5:14 (ESV)

Then his wife Zee-resh and all his friends said to him, “Let a gallows fifty cubits high be made, and in the morning tell the king to have Mordecai hanged upon it. Then go joyfully with the king to the feast.” This idea pleased Haman, and he had the gallows made.

His wife’s idea: build a big gallows; big enough that everyone in the city could see it. Then publicly hang Mordecai from it.

Not only would Mordecai be killed, but he would make a public spectacle of this man who dared to dishonor the great and powerful Haman.

The measurements here would have made the gallows 75 to 80 feet tall, something that is overkill to be sure.

Additionally, this isn’t like the gallows of the Old West. The Persians were known to set up large pointed poles, then impale victims on them, causing the people to die slowly and painfully. This is likely what Zeresh is suggesting.

Haman loves the idea and immediately orders it to be built, never knowing that it wouldn’t be Mordecai impaled on the pole at all!

So What?

We see two very different people in chapter 5. Within both, we see at least four important attitudes and actions He calls for in His people.

Esther shows a courageous faith.

As we saw here, Esther’s faith is a courageous faith that puts God’s purposes ahead of everything, even her own safety and security.

This reminds us that:

God calls His people to courageous faith in Him.

God doesn’t necessary call His people to comfort and the feeling of safety. That was true for Esther, but it is often true for us as well.

2 Timothy 1:7 ESV

for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

And yet, too often believers are paralyzed from doing great things in service of the Lord Jesus because of fear.

Sharing the Gospel...

Missionary work...

Investing in another person’s life...

Not doing something you know God wants you to do...

God is calling His people to a courageous faith!

Esther shows a willingness to trust the Lord’s timing.

Let’s be transparent, this is not clearly stated in the text. However, I very much believe that Esther is waiting to tell Xerxes about Haman’s plan because, in some form or fashion, God told her it wasn’t the time yet. He still had more work to be completed.

This reminds us that:

God calls His people to trust His timing.

This might be new to some of you: God’s timing isn’t always our timing!

Yet, God’s timing, even when we don’t like it, is always perfect.

Psalm 37:7 ESV

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!

This is not a call to laziness. Esther wasn’t being lazy. She was acting and moving things forward, for her part. But yet, she didn’t force things either.

Ask: Is this more about my timing or God’s timing?

How do we know?

Prayer...

Adequate time with Him in His Word...

Through wise counsel...

Sometimes through circumstances...

Haman shows a need to be honored by others.

Haman is furious that Mordecai won’t give him the respect he feels he rightly deserves. That fury leads him to attempt to murder Mordecai and to call for a genocide of Mordecai’s people. All because he didn’t get the response he wanted from a simple Jewish man.

And, in fact, it is this desire that will ultimately be Haman’s undoing!

This reminds us that:

God calls His people to not seek the praise of people over the praise of God.

In Philippians Paul lays out his resume when it comes to his credentials, particularly within the Jewish world…then he says this:

Philippians 3:7–11 ESV

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

We live in a world full of attention seekers. Many of whom desire the praise of people. But, where does that typically lead to?

There is nothing wrong with someone being appreciated…

Yesterday we went to Karl’s retirement celebration at Winlock Middle School...

But, the question is, in our hearts are we looking to be praised by people more than we are looking to be praised by God. That’s where the trouble starts!

Haman shows outrageous malice.

Haman’s hatred for Mordecai becomes so pronounced that it turns to malice, not just for Mordecai, but for all the Jewish people. So much so that he rejoices at the idea of killing both Mordecai and the Jewish people.

This reminds us that:

God calls His people to completely reject malice towards others.

Why do I mention this? Because I believe we are in a time where malice is widespread in our country. We like to blame politicians, the educational system, social media, the loss of the Judeo-Christian moorings, television, etc…(all play a part, I’m sure).

But, whatever the source, as believers we need to fight against this because it has become so common in our world today.

Test: Without reacting out loud, I want you to think about your first reaction when you see the following people on the screen...

At one time, when it came to people we didn’t care for we had very specific reasons for it, we chose to do all we could to avoid those people, and we tried our best to tolerate them as much as possible.

Today, however, real toleration is a thing of the past. We’ve become a people who find it easy to not simply disagree with someone or even dislike someone, now it becomes hatred. And hatred easily becomes malice.

For example, one of those people that I showed on the screen bothers me so much that when I hear her talk I fight against the temptation to curse and throw things!

What I often forget is:

She’s lost...

She doesn’t care what I think and will at no time in her life be affected by what I think about her...

She has power over me that she has no right to have because she is able to control my emotions...

When I’m like that, I’m dangerously like Haman!

Now, I’m sure none of you saintly people experience anything like that…but, just in case, we need to reject all malice. How?

Jesus told us: pray for them!

It is extremely difficult to have malice towards someone you are genuinely praying for.