Esther 6 - God works in the King's restless night
Notes
Transcript
Don’t you love hearing a behind-the-scenes story? Like from a movie, or a famous historical event, or how a couple you know got together. Actually, a lot of times, the behind-the-scenes story is the real story. That is never truer than in our lives with Christ. Most of the time, God works from behind the curtain. It is one reason we need faith. Hebrews 11:1 says “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” We believe God works behind the scenes.
Case in point: the Book of Esther. God is so behind-the-scenes in this story that he is never even mentioned in the whole book. Neither are God-heavy words like “prayer,” “Scripture,” “miracle,” or “worship.” But you’d have to be blind not to see that he is there.
It is the same with your life and mine. God rarely lets his glory blaze out, but every believer learns to see what doesn’t necessarily meet the eye.
Last week we watched as Haman plots to annihilate, destroy, and kill the Jews because he couldn’t handle Mordecai’s rejection of authority. This led Mordecai and all the Jews within every province to weep, cry, and wail for their salvation. Coincidentally, Mordecai had a friend in high places - Esther. He explained that she was born for such a time as this.
Following her fast, she is filled with courage to go before the king to execute her plan: have dinner with the king and invite Haman.
What Esther cannot see is what Haman does following the banquet. Haman sees Mordecai ignore his authority again, forgoes his plan, and improvises to kill Mordecai the next day by impaling.
Do you know where else we’ve seen Haman? The Book of Proverbs. Haman is the poster boy of the proverbial proud fool.
Proverbs 6:16-19 says this
16 There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him:
17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil,
19 a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.
But no one around him thought Haman was a fool. That’s the thing: few people recognize a fool when they see one. In the Bible, fools are never buffoons and seldom stupid. But they are invariably proud and immoral.
Fools measure life by what they have and see relationships as gauges of power. Bear in mind that Haman’s hatred for Mordecai was not just that Mordecai wouldn’t bow to him. Mordecai represented a threat; he was a Jew, whose God is the Lord. There was a diabolical dimension to Haman’s hatred and revenge. A fool cannot tolerate a God-blessed person.
Again, God is never mentioned in chapter six, but see if you can spot him.
Turn with me to Esther 6:1-13 as we read from God’s word.
1 That night the king could not sleep; so he ordered the book of the chronicles, the record of his reign, to be brought in and read to him.
2 It was found recorded there that Mordecai had exposed Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s officers who guarded the doorway, who had conspired to assassinate King Xerxes.
3 “What honor and recognition has Mordecai received for this?” the king asked. “Nothing has been done for him,” his attendants answered.
4 The king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the palace to speak to the king about impaling Mordecai on the pole he had set up for him.
5 His attendants answered, “Haman is standing in the court.” “Bring him in,” the king ordered.
6 When Haman entered, the king asked him, “What should be done for the man the king delights to honor?” Now Haman thought to himself, “Who is there that the king would rather honor than me?”
7 So he answered the king, “For the man the king delights to honor,
8 have them bring a royal robe the king has worn and a horse the king has ridden, one with a royal crest placed on its head.
9 Then let the robe and horse be entrusted to one of the king’s most noble princes. Let them robe the man the king delights to honor, and lead him on the horse through the city streets, proclaiming before him, ‘This is what is done for the man the king delights to honor!’ ”
10 “Go at once,” the king commanded Haman. “Get the robe and the horse and do just as you have suggested for Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king’s gate. Do not neglect anything you have recommended.”
11 So Haman got the robe and the horse. He robed Mordecai, and led him on horseback through the city streets, proclaiming before him, “This is what is done for the man the king delights to honor!”
12 Afterward Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman rushed home, with his head covered in grief,
13 and told Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him. His advisers and his wife Zeresh said to him, “Since Mordecai, before whom your downfall has started, is of Jewish origin, you cannot stand against him—you will surely come to ruin!”
Did you see him? Few people recognize God’s most subtle miracles. God uses two kinds of miracles more than any other - they are astonishing, yet most people miss them.
Danielle hates detective television shows, but I love them. There’s a very common line in those shows or stories when some hard-bitten cop starts looking at an odd piece of evidence and says, “I don’t believe in coincidences.” Neither do the people of God. I think God’s most common miracle - if there is such a thing - is the coincidence. It’s all in the timing. And God has impeccable timing. If I asked for miracle stories, some of you would tell of healings or some amazing sight, but lots of people would tell stories of miraculous coincidences.
I think God favors miracles of timing because he can stay incognito, visible only to those who believe in him. Everything in this story, and so many others, looks ordinary. No one does anything particularly remarkable - but if you see behind the scenes, you see astonishing things. God clearly manipulates these events, yet he does it without ever coercing anyone. No one does anything out of character. No one acts inconsistently. That is the way our sovereign God works. It’s miraculous.
The second kind of miracle is the great reversal. The Book of Esther is full of reversals of fortune. Vashti goes from queen to outcast. Esther goes from orphan to queen. Mordecai is sentenced to death, then he’s paraded through the streets in honor. Then there is Haman, who is feeling the ominous creak of the trapdoor. There is nothing more sure in all of life than the fact that, ultimately, God humbles the proud and raises up the humble.
Look at Esther 6:11
11 So Haman got the robe and the horse. He robed Mordecai, and led him on horseback through the city streets, proclaiming before him, “This is what is done for the man the king delights to honor!”
And God smiled. Haman was an unwitting prophet - a theologian even. He was begrudgingly speaking of Xerxes, but I’m certain Mordecai rode through the streets thinking of Israel’s great King - the Lord - who had honored him even while a death sentence hung over his head. Go figure! Down one minute, up the next.
By the way, what does Mordecai do after this amazing honor? He went back to the king’s gate. Back to work, you might say: back to waiting on God the King.
Reversal is almost too modest a word for what’s about to happen to Haman. Upheaval might be more apt.
Let’s read Esther 6:13-14 together
13 and told Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him. His advisers and his wife Zeresh said to him, “Since Mordecai, before whom your downfall has started, is of Jewish origin, you cannot stand against him—you will surely come to ruin!”
14 While they were still talking with him, the king’s eunuchs arrived and hurried Haman away to the banquet Esther had prepared.
Proverbs 16:18 says “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” Less than 24 hours before, Haman’s wife and friend were basking in his glory. Now they’re saying, “You are in big trouble!” They all take a giant step back. Do you see why they said that? Because Mordecai is Jewish, and they know it is danger to take on the Jews - or more particularly, to take on their God. Haman’s people, as Amalekites, should have known that better than anyone in the ancient world, because God had said in Exodus 17:14-16 “14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven.” 15 Moses built an altar and called it The Lord is my Banner. 16 He said, “Because hands were lifted up against the throne of the Lord, the Lord will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation.””
It turns out that Esther and Mordecai were never really the ones in danger - even if they had been killed. The people who face life’s greatest threat are those who refuse to bow to God in Christ, and for them, there is no hope of true courage.
Think about that for a moment - those who refuse to bow to God in Christ are those who face life’s greatest threat. We have been told by Jesus that we should expect sufferings, hardships, and persecution (whatever that may look like in our western world of peace and prosperity). But that does not mean we are alone. God is at work, accomplishing his purposes, often in unexpected ways. God is working all circumstances, opportunities, failures, and coincidences for our good so that we are formed into the image of Christ. The same Christ who humbled himself to a lowly status by taking on flesh, enduring the cross and our sin. The same Christ who rose on the third day, the same Christ whose message of resurrection was carried out by women. The same Christ who ascended into heaven to rule over the nations.
Behind the scenes: that’s where God works. God is at work, accomplishing his purposes, often in unexpected ways. Most of the time that is where he works in your life and in mine. Trust him when you are thrust into a terrifying responsibility.
Never be fooled by the fools. Those who are hungry for power, wealth, authority, material possessions, and pleasure. Behind the scenes, they are being set up for a fall by the almighty God. Learn to love and recognize God’s subtle miracles of coincidence and reversal as faithful witnesses of Jesus Christ in our world.
Some of you may have been witnesses to God’s miracles of coincidence recently by the timing of a worship song, a friend reaching out to say “I am praying for you today,” or a needed financial gift coming at just the right moment. If you have experienced God’s work in your life, take moments this week to thank him. Thank him daily for a different miracle he has worked in your life.
Some of you likely have not seen God’s miracles and his hand at work in your life. You think, “if God works in coincidences, then he has coincidentally forgotten me.” Friend, if this is you, take time everyday this week to come before God in prayer saying, “Lord, I believe help my unbelief. Give me eyes to see, ears to hear, and awareness to recognize your work.”
For now, we’ll leave Haman, rushing red-faced and nervous, to the banquet Esther (and God) has prepared for him. Next time: get ready to party! Will you pray with me?