God Always Wins In The End
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Where is the Queen?
Where is the Queen?
“There is a picture of a chess game hanging in Paris. On one side of the painting is the Devil, and on the other side is a lad about sixteen years of age. They are playing chess. The Devil has a leering, triumphant expression on his face. He has just licked this boy at chess, and the boy is sitting there with his head bowed and big tears trickling down his cheeks. The Devil has just won in the game of life over this lad. He has no strength, he has no way out, and he has given up. The title of the picture is "Check Mate". He had him.
A famous chess player came through one day. He looked at the painting. He felt sorry for the boy and he hated the looks of the Devil.
He began to study the board where the men were placed, and all of a sudden he shouted: "Son, I have found a move, one move . . . if you will make that move you can lick the Devil." He forgot himself, he forgot it was a painting-he was so engrossed in it.
One of the key lessons always taught about chess is always keep your eye on the queen. The queen is to be protected and guarded as much as the king. The queen is the most powerful offensive piece on the chess board. Never ignore the movement of your opponent’s queen. Most professional players will tell you the key to the game of chess is the queen.
Haman needed a lesson in the game of chess. The cause of his downfall was that: he failed to keep his eye on the queen. He had overlooked her … underestimated her … failed to consider her importance in the match. And that would be his undoing.
Good Luck, Haman!!!
Good Luck, Haman!!!
Haman had built the gallows to hang Mordecai on as a preview for the jews. He felt like he had every move mapped out.
Haman arrives for the second dinner in high spirits feeling he has the game in the bag. Little did he know that he was about to lose both the game and his life.
So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen. And the king said again unto Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition, queen Esther? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy request? and it shall be performed, even to the half of the kingdom.
The king had not forgotten why these dinners were being held… he was not distracted like Haman.
Then Esther the queen answered and said, If I have found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request: For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not countervail the king’s damage.
Esther quotes almost word for word the edict against her people. Certainly the light must have gone on in Haman’s head.
Esther says, “ All I want is to live...” Esther declares twice in her request that she is a part of the people destined to die.
She doesn’t tells the king she is in grave danger… he probably didn’t even know what the issue was or why she was in danger.
Ahasuerus it doesn’t appear was the one who signed the edict… he was simply told that traitors would die and he would be rich… sounded good to him.
Haman had just discovered to his great shock that Esther was a Jewess… it was going to get worse when he found out she was also Mordecai’s niece.
May be he was putting two and two together, but he was probably freaking out that he had signed the queens death warrant without even checking with the king.
Ahasuerus didn’t care why… he just wants to know who… and Haman is sweating bullets.
Now Haman is looking for just one more move to get out of the reach of the queen.
Then the king Ahasuerus answered and said unto Esther the queen, Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in his heart to do so? And Esther said, The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.
She doesn’t say, “Haman made a mistake… I am sure he didn’t know...” Nope, She lays it on thick, “He is the adversary, enemy, and he is wicked.”
Good luck, Haman!
Game Over
Game Over
And Esther said, The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.
The blood drains from his face, the room started closing in around him. Fear gripped him from the depths of his soul. He knew it was over.
And the king arising from the banquet of wine in his wrath went into the palace garden: and Haman stood up to make request for his life to Esther the queen; for he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king.
and then the king stood up.
Ahasuerus had quite a dilemma on his hands
How could he punish Haman for an edict stamped with his own royal seal?
How could he deal with Haman without admitting his own role?
How could he rescind the decree which was now the Law of the Medes and Persians?
How could he possibly soften the law that demanded the total destruction of all Jews when it left no loophole?
How could he somehow protect Esther’s life, while at the same time protect his own reputation?
And if he couldn’t … how was he going to explain her death?
No doubt Ahasuerus was mad at himself for allowing all this to happen.
• Why did I trust Haman so completely?
• Why in the world did I sign that edict?
• And why didn’t I read the fine print?.
Who knows how many edicts Ahasuerus had signed on that day? Who knows how many pressing matters of government had been on his mind? He had countless decisions to make. And Haman, who was a trusted official, had proposed it in such a way that he seemed to be solving a problem that directly affected the good of the kingdom.-Chuck Swindoll
And the king arising from the banquet of wine in his wrath went into the palace garden: and Haman stood up to make request for his life to Esther the queen; for he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king.
Haman starts begging for the same mercy he refused to give Mordecai.
It is always interesting how culture shifts from aggressor to victim so quickly.
Haman obviously realized he had been outwitted on every side. What he couldn’t figure out was why or how? God had put Mordecai in just the right spot to hear a plot against the king… God had put Esther in just the right spot to become the queen, just so Haman could beg for life from someone who his edict had condemned to death.
If you look closely you can see the shadow of the cross… We have to beg fo life from the one whom our sin condemned to death.
No picture is perfect and here we see that Esther can’t give Haman life… and she can’t condemn him to death either… that is up to the king… and ultimately obviously up to God.
In fact they are all three subject to the law… in this case the law of the Medes and Persians… and the king may not be able to save them… one thing is for sure he can’t save them both.
We are subject to the law… and one thing is certain someone has to hang on the gallows… thank God for the willing sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our sins. We can go from Haman to Esther in a moment because of the blood of Jesus Christ.
Then the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the banquet of wine; and Haman was fallen upon the bed whereon Esther was. Then said the king, Will he force the queen also before me in the house? As the word went out of the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face.
Persian law states that no man is permitted within seven feet of the kings harem and especially the queen. Touching the queen was a violation punishable by death. It keeps getting worse for Haman.
No doubt he is grasping at the queen as he begs for his life or he was grasping at the queen in outrage, “Who do you think you are? I’m the prime minister of Persia and you’re just a common Jewess. You’re the one who ought to die. How dare you trap me like this.”
However, this went down the king felt that Haman was threatening his queen.
Will he assault the queen right in front of me?
Persian law required that a condemned man’s face be covered as he was not worthy to be looked at. and the fact they covered Haman’s face immediately indicates that this was over before it began… no trial was necessary.
Obviously the king would stop the plot against the queen, punish Haman for raising his hand to her, and then out of nowhere a third strike comes flying in from the back.
And Harbonah, one of the chamberlains, said before the king, Behold also, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, standeth in the house of Haman. Then the king said, Hang him thereon.
Haman was going to kill the very man that the king had ordered him to honor. Haman is having a bad day… and it would be the last bad day he ever had.
Three strikes leads the king to believe that Haman was plotting against the throne.
Looks like the game is over.
The Great Strategist
The Great Strategist
Once again even when God is invisible… He is invincible. Even when God is silent… He is present. Even when God is removed… He remains Sovreign. Even when God is running late… He is right on time.
Four lessons we learn:
1. God often uses reversals in our lives to move us forward and make us wiser.
Had this edict never been signed and propagated throughout the Empire, Esther would have never revealed her secret.
She and Mordecai may very well have lived their entire lives in the comfort of the palace, refusing to identify themselves with the remnant of God.
It was the threat of impending death and the hopelessness from this decree that brought about their own personal revival. Fear and hopelessness brought them back to faith again and the reversal of their fortune took them back to the roots of who they really were.
God still uses reversals in our lives to bring us back to trust and dependence on Him.
2. God often uses unlikely things to carry out His will.
Esther had no idea that one of the king’s eunuchs would deliver the final piece of information that would seal the king’s verdict.
What an unlikely source of support for the Jewish people. A eunuch who’d spent his life listening and serving suddenly spoke up and drove the final nail into Haman’s coffin.
From the world’s perspective he was just one eunuch among thousands—a pawn on the chessboard that no one paid much attention to. But God uses little people to accomplish great things.
God uses the weak and foolish things of the world to shame the wise.
Isn’t it wonderful to see a pawn move forward to save the day?
3. God often puts us through great difficulty before providing deliverance.
If God wanted to simply deliver us from trials, He could do it quickly and painlessly. But He isn’t as concerned with our deliverance as He is with our development.
If our Lord only wanted to make us comfortable, He wouldn’t allow roadblocks and reversals and trials. His goal, however, is not to make us comfortable; His goal is that we become conformed to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29).
That’s why He isn’t as interested in delivering us from the challenges of life as He is in developing us through the challenges of life.
4. God offers a special partnership with those who submit to His providence.
This is the co-laboring principle that the Apostle Paul introduced to the Corinthian church:
Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.
Paul isn’t saying that some people have more important jobs than others; he’s saying that we should serve wherever we’re placed. We are all pieces in God’s providential work, and each of us has an important part to play … an important move to make.
This was also Paul’s encouragement to the believers in Philippi who supported him financially. He reminded them in
But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not.
Not because I desire a gift: but I desire fruit that may abound to your account.
Ravi Zacharias tells a personal story in his book Jesus Among Other Gods that illustrates this point very well. While vacationing in India, he watched a father and son weave some of the most beautiful wedding saris he had ever seen. Here is his description of that process:
The sari is, of course, the garment worn by Indian women. It is usually six yards long. Wedding saris are a work of art; they are rich in gold and silver threads, resplendent with an array of colors. The place I was visiting was known for making the best wedding saris in the world. I expected to see some elaborate system of machines and designs that would boggle the mind. Not so. Each sari was being made individually by this father and son team. The father sat above on a platform two-to-three feet higher than his son, surrounded by several spools of thread, some dark, some shining. The son did just one thing. At a nod from his father, he would move the shuttle from one side to the other side and back again. The father would gather some threads in his fingers, nod once more, and the boy would move the shuttle again. This would be repeated for days … for hundreds of hours … until you would begin to see a magnificent pattern emerging. The son had the easier task—just to move at his father’s nod. All along, the father had the design in his mind and he brought the threads together. The more I reflect on my own life and study the lives of other believers, I am fascinated to see the design God has for each of us. It is His to design … it is ours to respond in obedience.8
Isn’t that the message Esther’s story teaches us, as well? Whether you are a servant in the queen’s house or the queen herself, you can be and are a co-laborer with God in His mission to both demonstrate and deliver His gracious Gospel.
So submit to His providence today—He’s also the Master of the game of life. He has created not only who you are but the place where you are.
And it just so happens to be … for such a time as this.