Crowns and Gallows

Esther 6

God is faithful to save His people, even in the midst of their wandering and disobedience.

And God shows Himself faithful, even in the long, slow years of His unfolding plan. Even in the quiet days when we don’t see Him working.

You know, sometimes God does things like at the Red Sea where He threw the waters back, like at Jericho, where the walls came crashing down.

But sometimes He works in such quiet, under the radar ways that we barely even notice His hand, if we do at all!!

Eric and Amy going to Springfield.

From the outside in, we might look at that and say, Man, that happened really fast! In fact, that’s what Eric said.

But when you look back you see all of these little details lining up. Some, front and center.

Some, literally hundreds of miles away.

And tonight as we’re looking at the story of God’s faithfulness in Esther, we’ll be in the 6th chapter.

Chance occurrences sort of perfectly line up.

Esther 6: 1-5

The king’s sudden insomnia

The perfect page being found

The precise timing of Haman

God is the silent Architect of sudden change. (6-11)

Esther 6:6-11

We see that things are coming together, really, REALLY quickly!! That this is the first reversal of fortune of SO many that are about to take place. And we, when we look at this, are tempted to say, YES!! Look! God is WORKING!!!

And He was!! But, let me ask you, did God START working at this point in the account? Or was this a continuation of God’s working?

God was working when Queen Vashti wouldn’t come to see the king?

God was working when the king banished her?

God was working when the king brought these women in to his harem?

God was working when Mordecai was overlooked?

God was working when Esther was chosen?

God was WORKING when Haman had the gallows constructed?

Then why would we EVER think that God isn’t WORKING in every area of our lives, even when….LISTEN TO ME…..EVEN WHEN we don’t SEE Him working!!!

See, sometimes I think it’s easy to see God’s hand when everything lines up. But it’s more difficult to see His hand when He’s working in the background.

Because, see, we will look at Esther being crowned queen, and we will say, YES! Our God is ABLE!!!

But then we will see Haman constructing the gallows, and we’ll ask, My God, my God. Why have you forsaken me…….

And what we have to remember is that the same GOD who was at work in Esther receiving the CROWN was the same GOD who was at WORK…..when Haman constructed the gallows.

The same God who is at work in the best days of our lives is the same God who is at work in the darkest days of our lives.

Watch this. This is a timeline that I want to construct for you. Because, sometimes, we read through a book, and we gloss over things, and I want to teach you TWO things here.

First, when a Biblical author records a date, it’s for a reason!!

Second, God’s unfolding plan doesn’t exist on our same time table.

Esther 1:3 - 3rd year

Vashti is deposed

Esther 2:16 - 7th year

Esther becomes Queen

Mordecai uncovers the plot to assassinate the King

Esther 3:7 - 12th year

Haman decides to kill the Jews

The King honors Mordecai

For FIVE STINKIN YEARS!!! Mordecai is working alongside someone who hates him, hates his people, someone who had been promoted above him. Imagine that. 5 years. Day in. Day out. You clock in, there he is. You do your work, he’s yapping, he’s talking. You clock out, he’s there, seemingly being rewarded for UNRIGHTEOUSNESS while you’re being overlooked. What do you do in that? How do you handle that.

Well, we don’t record Mordecai expressing doubts that God would save him and his people. We don’t see any record of Mordecai showing up late, neglecting his duties. We don’t see him losing faith.

Never doubt in darkness what GOD has shown you in the light.

This is the great turnaround. This is the turning point of the whole story. This is where the tide of salvation starts to rise.

Esther 6:12-13

When we trust God’s timing, honor won’t make us arrogant, and hard times won’t make us lose heart.

Mordecai WORE the honor. He put it on like a garment, and when the moment was over, he took it off. And put the honor back in the king’s wardrobe.

See, that was one of the biggest differences between Mordecai and Haman. Mordecai KNEW that honor belonged to the king.

Jesus deserves all the honor.