There are moments in history when it seems that
the world stands still. A single decision is
made, a single conversation takes place, a single
action on a given day, and the course of human
history changes forever. In recent history, we
think about things like the day that the Japanese
bombed Pearl Harbor and nothing was the same
in this country. We think about 9 -11 when New
York was attacked by Islamic terrorists. On a
more personal level, we think about those great
days in our lives, the day we get engaged or
the day of our wedding, the day a child is born.
Or most importantly, the day that we first trust
in Christ. Momentous days in our lives. And there
are many momentous days recorded for us in the
Bible. The day that Noah entered the ark, for
example. Big day. The day that Moses and his
people crossed the Red Sea. The day that David
became king over Israel. And as we look at the
New Testament, we have the big three. The day
that God's son was incarnated, took on flesh
in the fullness of time. The day of his death
on the cross. The glorious morning of his resurrection.
We sometimes underestimate what God can do in
just one day. Or in just one moment when everything
changes. Scripture reminds us that with him,
time is never ordinary. And so when he sovereignly
moves, ordinary days become divine turning points.
In fact, that's part of what we know about as
we wait for Christ to return. We know that someday
his eschatological timeframe is gonna begin to
unfold and we will never be the same. This earth
will never be the same. when that happens. So
we look forward to that day when God will sovereignly
move. Well, in the passage we're gonna look at
this morning, we're gonna see one very important
day in the history of God's people, Israel, a
day of reversal, a day of rescue, a single moment
that took place in the royal court of Persia
when Queen Esther stood before her husband, the
king, the most powerful man on earth at that
time, and she named Haman, the man who was also
there in that room, as the enemy. Esther had
no idea at that time how the king was going to
respond to that accusation. She had no control
over the outcome of it all. In fact, perhaps
it would lead to her death. What she did know
was that remaining silent was no longer an option
if the Jewish people living in Persia were going
to survive. And on that big, momentous day, God's
unseen, sovereign hand guided her path and turned
the tables. on what Satan wanted to do, which
was to destroy the Jewish people. One big decision,
one huge conversation, one very important day.
Grab your Bibles. We are indeed back in the book
of Esther. Okay, just checking. I know it's been
a while. I did the math last night. The last
time we were in Esther was September 28th. That
is not how you draw it up as a pastoral team.
But here we are, right? This was, of course,
that was right before Tanya and I left for Scotland.
And then we came back. We went straight into
our annual Reformation study. And then the holidays
came. And I'm so grateful in between all that,
Pastor Adam brought us a couple incredibly insightful
and important messages from the book of Ecclesiastes.
Thank you, Adam. But if my calculations are right,
that means it's been 14 weeks. since we were
last in Esther. And that means before we just
dive into chapters six and seven this morning,
we have to do some recapping and some summarizing
so that we get your brains and your hearts back
in the flow of the narrative of the text. So
let me first reintroduce you to our main characters.
And of course, you remember that I... I found
these great AI images of them, so I'll put them
on the screen because I think it's helpful to
just have images as we look at the flat page
to just sort of think about what these folks
might have looked like. First, we have the king
of Persia in this day. His name is Ahasuerus.
That's how he's described in the Hebrew text.
He's better known by what his enemies called
him. The Greeks, they called him King Xerxes.
He was the fourth king of the great Achaemenid
dynasty of Persia, following after Cyrus the
Great and his father Darius I. And Xerxes ruled
over the Persian kingdom for 21 years in the
5th century BC, a very historical and important
character. Then there's the second man. We have
Mordecai, the Jew. That's what he is called throughout
the text. In case you didn't realize, his ethnicity
as a Jew is very important to this part of the
story. Mordecai served as a palace official in
the Persian capital of Susa. He worked at the
king's gate, which was sort of that front -facing
gate of security between the city and the palace.
And of course, then we have Esther, right, whose
Hebrew birth name was Hadassah. A young woman
who was Mordecai's orphaned younger cousin, having
been raised by Mordecai after the death of her
parents. And then finally we have... Very good.
You guys, after 14 weeks, you haven't forgotten
that. Good job. We have the great villain of
the story, the wicked vizier of Persia, Haman,
whose lineage, by the way, also matters. He was
a descendant of King Agag, who was a Amalekite.
This bitter enemy from Israel's past during the
time of the Exodus. That matters as well. So
I'm going to give you, we've done five chapters
in Esther. I'm going to give you really quick
summaries of those five chapters so that you
feel like you're in the flow of the story. Chapter
one, we're just going to call the removal of
Queen Vashti. Remember, this takes place at one
of two extravagant banquets thrown by the king
in his capital city of Susa. The first banquet,
do you remember how long it was? It lasted 180
days. That is a party. And it was designed to
display his wealth and power to his nobles in
his kingdom. Then he held a much shorter seven
-day feast for all the citizens of the city.
And on the final day of that second banquet,
the queen, probably a little inebriated, orders
his queen, whose name is Vashti, to appear before
all the guests at the banquet wearing her crown
in order to showcase her beauty, but for his
glory, right? What does Vashti do? She says,
I'm not coming out. She refuses and she publicly
embarrasses the king. And after consulting with
his advisors and hearing them warn him, look,
if Vashti gets away with this, all the Persian
women in the kingdom are gonna begin to be, gonna
be defiant against their husbands. After getting
counsel from his advisors to depose her and replace
her, King Xerxes issues this edict and sends
it out across the entire empire. So that's chapter
one. Chapter two, we'll just call Esther becomes
queen. So Vashti is banished. And the king begins
a new search for a queen. And he sends his servants
far and wide across the kingdom to find every
most beautiful virgin to fill his harem. And
this is where we're introduced to Mordecai. And
we find out that Esther has been chosen as one
of those women who may replace the queen. And
she is brought to the palace. And she wins the
favor of the king's chief eunuch, which was very
important because this guy was in the center
of the politics of Susa. And following the advice
of Mordecai, Esther conceals her Jewish identity.
That is incredibly important to understand. Conceals
her Jewish identity. And after a year of preparing,
of getting ready to meet the king, she goes in
to see him. She captivates the heart of King
Xerxes, and he crowns her queen at a grand banquet.
And you might recall that I spent some time discussing
some of the cultural factors involved in all
this because this concept of a beauty pageant
and a harem, this is all very foreign to us in
modern days. And I talked about what I see as
some of the spiritual compromises on the part
of both Mordecai and Esther as Jews. And I won't
rehash all of that because I know some of you
are still recovering. from having me destroying
your vision of Esther. And you might recall that
Josh C. put this meme up on Church Center. Still
one of the funniest moments in the history of
our church. of me destroying their childhood
memories of Esther. But no, there's spiritual
compromise throughout this story. These are Jews
living in Persia. They have not returned to the
Holy Land and they're participating in this process.
You can go back and listen to those messages.
I won't put them back in your head. Meanwhile,
as Esther's being hailed as the new queen of
Persia, Mordecai, who's working at the king's
gate, overhears two fellow officials plotting
to assassinate the king. So he informs Esther,
Esther alerts the king, and that plot is foiled,
and then the story of that plot being found out,
it gets recorded in the Royal Chronicles. That's
chapter two. Put that, get that down. Chapter
three, we call Haman's plot against the Jews.
The king promotes this man Haman to the position
of chief vizier, which means he's basically the
number two man behind the king, the second most
powerful man in the entire Persian kingdom, Everybody
is told, every official is told, you must bow
down before this man, Haman. But because he's
an Amalekite and because he's an arrogant leader,
Mordecai refuses to honor him, refuses to bow
down. And being enraged by this, Haman finds
out, first of all, that Mordecai is a Jew. That
stirs up all of his ancient hatred. And he goes
into the king and he cleverly convinces Xerxes
that the Jews are a disloyal people. Disloyal.
They're a threat to the Persian kingdom. And
he secures permission from the king and 10 ,000
talents of silver to annihilate the Jewish people.
On the 13th day of the 12th month, which had
been chosen by what? The casting of lots, which
are called purr in Persian. That's going to come
up later when we talk about Purim, right? So
Haman drafts this death warrant to the Jewish
people in a decree that once again is sent across
the entire kingdom to every province. That's
chapter three. Chapter four, we call Mordecai
urges Esther to act. When Mordecai becomes aware
of this wicked decree and the imminent death
of the Jewish people, he goes into a state of
public mourning and sackcloth and ash. Inside
the palace, Esther hears that her older cousin
is doing this in the city streets, and she wants
to fix the problem, so she sends him some clothes.
He refuses to receive them, and then he tells
the messenger, go back to Queen Esther and tell
her what's going on. Tell her to plead with the
king to reverse this decree. And he exhorts her
very firmly. He says, look, if you stay silent,
Esther, yes, Yahweh is faithful. He will find
another way to rescue us. But then he adds that
famous line. He says, but perhaps you have attained
to royalty for such a time as this. That's a
great challenge, right? And so Esther goes into
fasting and prayer for three days. She considers
all that might happen to her. If she goes into
King Xerxes without being invited, she could
be put to death. She considers all that. And
then she courageously says, look, if I perish,
I perish. And she resolves to approach the king
in order to save her people. That's chapter four.
Then last time we looked at chapter five, Esther's
banquet invitations. This is where the whole
story gets very intriguing. This was back in
October. We looked at this chapter. Esther approaches
the inner court of the king with fear and trembling,
but he doesn't reject her. In fact, he extends
to her the golden scepter. to accept her and
to have this conversation with her. And the king
entreats Esther to ask him whatever she wants.
And he promises up to half of his kingdom. He
loves this woman. But to our surprise, in that
moment, we would think at that moment, Esther
would just blurt out, Haman's trying to kill
me. But she doesn't, does she? Instead, she invites
him, the king, and Haman to a banquet that day.
And they arrive at the banquet. And Xerxes repeats
his offer. I'll give you anything that you want.
And for a second time, Esther asks them to another
banquet that will take place the next day. And
the reader is left kind of puzzled by this. Why
is she delaying this? We'll find out later. As
Haman is returning to his home that afternoon,
he once again sees Mordecai who will not bow
down to him. And he's enraged by this. And he
tells his wife, this Mordecai has got to go.
And she says, well, why don't you do something
about it? Why don't you build a gallows where
you can put him to death, go to the king and
ask for permission to execute this man? And that
pleases Haman. And that's where we left off on
this cliffhanger back in October of chapter five.
We're now up to speed. Now, 14 weeks ago, I said
chapters five, six, and seven are basically one
pericope, one unit of thought. But we only had
time for chapter 5 back then, so today we're
going to read through all of chapter 6 and 7
to sort of close the loop on this particular
unit of thought, which means we're biting off
more than usual in terms of reading, so you need
to stick with me. By the way, our plan is to
finish Esther here in January, and then for those
of you who may be visiting this morning, beginning
in February, we're going to start what is going
to have to be a multi -year study in the book
of 1 Corinthians, which will be fun. Okay. Still
got your Bibles open to Esther chapter 6? Let's
take a look at verse 1. During that night, the
king could not sleep. So he gave an order to
bring the book of records, the chronicles, and
they were read before the king. Now, how many
of us have done this before, right? You can't
sleep. You're tossing and turning in bed. You
start punching your pillow. You're like, why
can't I fall asleep? For me, it's usually because
I got too much on the brain and these thoughts
are all running through my head. So what do you
do? It makes no sense to stay in bed. You get
up and you move, right? And if you really want
to get sleepy again, you read a book. That seems
to work every time. Only when you're the king,
you don't read a book. You wake up your servants
and say, hey, read the book to me. And that's
what Xerxes does. Now, here's the thing. I'm
sure there was an unlimited number of books that
Xerxes could have asked to be read to him. He's
got a massive library. But he chooses his own
chronicles, which record the details of the most
recent events of the royal court. In verse 2,
it was found written in those chronicles what
Mordecai had reported concerning Bigthana and
Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs who were doorkeepers
at the king's gate, that they had sought to lay
hands or assassinate King Ahasuerus. So he reads
about the assassination attempt. And you can
sort of picture him. He's sitting in the chair.
You know, he's listening to this. Maybe he's
starting to get a little bit sleepy. But then
he hears the story of this attempt on his life,
which will wake any man up, right? There's people
that want to kill me. And suddenly, he holds
up his hand to the serpent. He says, hold on
a second. Hold on. And his brain begins to spin.
In verse 3, he says, and the king said to them,
what honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai
for this? Okay, good, so this is not an accident,
right, that that's come to his mind. And he says,
wait a second, did we not honor Mordecai for
saving my life? And then verse three goes on.
Then the king's servants who attended him said,
and you picture the king's servants kind of going,
uh -oh, don't get mad at me, but nothing has
been done for him. You can almost see the king's
countenance fall as he hears this news. How could
such an outstanding deed of loyalty have gone
unrewarded. This is going to reflect poorly on
his rule. So Xerxes is going to take action on
this. But then we come to verse 4, and you get
a sense now that some time has passed, maybe
hours since the king had first got up and heard
about this oversight. And apparently he can't
go back to sleep because this is really bothering
him. It's now early in the morning and he hears
somebody arrive at the palace. Clearly somebody
has come bright and early at the crack of dawn
to present something to him. Verse four. So the
king said, who's in the court? Who's making that
racket out there? Who's arrived? Now Haman had
just entered the outer court of the king's palace
in order to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai
on the gallows, which he had prepared for him.
The king's servant said to him, Behold, Haman
is standing in the court and the king said, all
right, let him come in. My guess is, I can't
prove this by the text, but my guess is Haman
had a whole script prepared for this meeting.
He was probably up half the night rehearsing
it. He is fully prepared to convince the king
that Mordecai is this massive threat and he needs
to die. So of course he's anxious, he arrives
at the crack of dawn, he's excited to lay out
his case, but then the unexpected happens. Before
he can say a word, the king brings up what's
on his mind, what he just heard from his own
chronicles that Mordecai hasn't been rewarded.
Verse six, so Haman came in and the king said
to him, what is to be done for the man whom the
king desires to honor? Ooh, doesn't mention a
name. The man that the king desires to honor.
And Haman is thrown off by the king's question,
right? But because of the pride in his heart,
who does he think the king's talking about? Obviously
himself. He's the man to be honored. The verse
tells us, Haman said to himself, whom would the
king desire to honor more than me, right? As
he pounds his chest, more than me. I'm the man.
So he's got visions of applause dancing through
his head, right? Cheers from the crowds, right?
It's all dancing through Haman's mind. It never
occurs to him that the king could be talking
about somebody else. And get this, the king is
now asking him how he wants to be honored. Literally,
Haman's dream is coming true here. This is the
best day of his life. He gets to basically say,
this is how I want to be honored. So he starts
to rattle off this list of ways that the king
should honor him. Verse 7, Haman said to the
king, For the man whom the king desires to honor,
hmm, let me think. Well, let them bring a royal
robe which the king has worn. Oh, interesting.
I want to play king. And the horse on which the
king is ridden and on whose head a royal crown
has been placed. In other words, make me look
like the king. And let the robe and the horse
be handed over to one of the king's most noble
princes. Let this important guy do this. And
let them array the man whom the king desires
to honor and lead him on horseback through the
city square and proclaim, announce before him,
thus it shall be done to the man whom the king
desires to honor. Now, look closely at that list
of things, how ridiculous it is. It's all pomp
and circumstance. It's all superficial. It's
all self -glorifying. He doesn't ask, for example,
to give any recognition to his family or any
recognition to his fellow officials at the court,
to even maybe lift up somebody who got him to
this place. He's thinking of nobody but himself.
This is a tragic tale as old as time itself.
The pride of mankind just oozing out of this
man. Haman. In fact, Solomon says in Proverbs
26 that he who digs a pit will fall into it.
And he who rolls a stone, it will come back on
him. This is what Haman is doing in this moment
because of his pride. And how often in our daily
lives we hear about wicked people like Haman
who they appear to be prospering. But we don't
know the full story. We don't know how God is
working behind the scenes, giving that man over
to his devices, over to his pride, and that really
what that man is doing, even as we see him prospering,
this man is setting a trap and digging a pit
that someday he is gonna fall into. That is just
a reality. We have to remember this when we see
people that we think don't deserve any goodness
because of their wicked hearts when we see them
prospering. Trust what God is doing behind the
scenes. But you can picture the glow on Haman's
face as the king now starts to issue the command
that he thinks is going to be applied to him.
But this is a day of great surprise. Verse 10.
Then the king said to Haman, take quickly the
robes and the horse, as you have said, and do
so for Mordecai the Jew. Dum, dum, dum. Right?
Who is sitting at the king's gate right now.
And do not fall short in anything of all that
you have said. Do all of it for Mordecai. Can
you imagine the shock on Haman's face? The color
draining from his face as he hears the name Mordecai.
His most hated enemy is now going to get all
the glory that he just suggested to the king.
And he, Haman, is the one who has to carry it
out. The pain of this must have been awful in
his prideful heart. It's Mordecai, that Jew,
ooh, that Jew. He's gonna be dressed in a royal
robe. He's gonna be the hero in front of the
city. Mordecai, the same man that Haman thought
he was about to have executed. This is the ultimate
reversal of fortune, isn't it? Verse 11, so Haman
took the robe and the horse. And he arrayed Mordecai
and led him on horseback through the city square.
Picture it. And proclaimed before him, thus it
shall be done to the man whom the king desires
to honor. Like, you can picture him not saying
that with all of his, you know, energy. Imagine
the pain for a prideful man. Verse 12. Then Mordecai
returned to the king's gate. The show's over.
He's like, I'm going back to work. Goes back
to the king's gate. But Haman, it says, he hurried
home, mourning with his head covered. This day
has not gone well. The day before he had come
home, remember, he was swelling with pride. He
was gushing with words of his own greatness and
glory. Now he's coming home with his head covered.
And in ancient Near East culture, basically that
is a sign of mourning and dejection and humiliation.
It's as if someone close to him had died, but
really what's died is his pride -filled heart.
And as he walks in the door, at least he expects
to be consoled by his family and friends, right?
He's not even going to get that. Verse 13, Haman
recounted to Zeresh, his wife, and all his friends
everything that had happened to him. And how
do they react? With sympathy? With encouragement?
No, they prophesy to him. This is wild. It says,
then his wise men, his advisors, and Zeresh's
wife said to him, If Mordecai, before whom you
have begun to fall, is of Jewish origin, you
will not overcome him, but you will surely fall
before him. Now, why would they say, what do
these Persian people know of the Jews? Well,
they know that Yahweh is Israel's protector and
redeemer. They know this from their own history,
right? From the days of Cyrus the Great. They
know how Yahweh protects his people. And so Haman's
counselors, even his wife in this moment, begin
to move away from him. The unseen hand of God
is moving them away from Haman. They know something
bad is coming. And really, guys, this is an amazing
thing to see unbelievers prophesying. Gentiles,
Gentiles are the ones here in this story, ironically,
who proclaim Yahweh's eternal love for the Jewish
people. Now, there's other places in the Bible
where we see this. Balaam, right, in Numbers
22. Right, when unbelievers, when pagans do this.
Think about another famous wife, Pilate's wife,
who has a dream and then prophesies to Pilate,
have nothing to do with this man Jesus who's
on trial. So interesting parallel there. But
Haman is in trouble and he's out of time because
look at verse 14. While they were still talking
with him, the king's eunuchs arrived and hastily,
quickly brought Haman to the banquet which Esther
had prepared. Is God moving? The kingdom of heaven
is moving against the kingdom of earth right
here. This is amazing. Let's go over to Esther
chapter 7. Now here's where we're going to see
Esther begin to shine. I know I've been hard
on her in this series, but this is going to be
her shining moment where she is going to grow
in courage and what we're going to see, grow
in shrewdness, cleverness. This has been a trajectory
she's been on since chapter four. When she first
came to terms with the fact that she has an important
role to play to save her people, it started there.
And then once she successfully navigated that
first appearance before the king and she got
the golden scepter and she wasn't killed, she
began to grow in her trust in Yahweh, in her
resolve to put her life on the line. So by the
time we get to chapter seven, we're going to
see that she becomes a very wise and shrewd negotiator.
Look at verse one. Now the king and Haman came
to drink wine with Esther the queen. By the way,
how worried do you think Haman is at this moment?
His wife and counselors have just prophesied
his downfall. But in that setting, does he think
he's safe? I think he does. And this is what
pride will do. It will blind you to reality at
times. But I don't think he has at this point
any concerns about Esther. In fact, he may very
well see her as an ally. After all, she's invited
him now to two banquets to dine with the king,
and he believes that he has Xerxes in his pocket
as well. This is my close friend. He feels pretty
good about this. I don't think he has any concerns
about Esther. So rather than feel threatened
in this moment, I think he lets his guard down,
and then with a little bit of wine, I think he
is not worried at all. But don't forget this
important fact. He still doesn't know that Esther
is a Jew. Right? Verse two. And the king said
to Esther on the second day also, as they drank
their wine at the banquet, what is your petition,
Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what
is your request? Even to half of the kingdom,
it should be done. So the subject of Esther's
request is once again brought up by the king.
It's he who is now eager to hear what's going
on. Now, he might be just curious or perhaps
he senses in Esther that she's troubled by something,
but he's anxious to get to the mystery behind
these multiple banquet invitations and this long
drawn out petition that she has. And I think
it's obvious from the narrative that Xerxes really
loves this woman. He really does. So whatever
concerns her is a concern of his. And once again,
he assures Esther that, look, I'm going to grant
your petition, just ask it. And look, we know
that the king trusts the people closest to him.
This is a pattern in Xerxes' life. Remember back
in chapter three, when he handed his signet ring
to Haman and gave him all the royal authority
of the Persian kingdom to do whatever he wants.
This is a pattern in his life. He's willing to
give Esther up to half the kingdom. He trusts
both Esther and Haman, but now what's about to
happen? What happens when these two people that
you trust, you've got to make a choice between
the two of them. That's what's coming, right?
Verse three, then Queen Esther replied, if I
have found favor in your sight, O king, and if
it pleases the king, let my life be given me
as my petition and my people as my request. Underline
those two phrases, my life and my people. This
is what Esther has been building up to, my life
and my people. Now, when she says that, can you
picture Xerxes' face? Puzzled, right? What does
that mean, he's thinking? Verse four, she explains,
for we have been sold, I and my people, to be
destroyed, to be killed, to be annihilated. She
puts it in three distinct ways to send the message
of how horrible this is. Destroyed, killed, annihilated.
We are sold into Haman's hatred for Mordecai
and for the Jewish people. And then she shows
great wisdom. Her next statement shows incredible
wisdom. Look what she says. Now, if we had only
been sold as slaves, men and women, I would have
remained silent for the trouble would not be
commensurate with the annoyance to the king.
Isn't that surprising? Here's what she's doing.
This is, she's employing submissive. you know,
court language. You don't come in front of the
most powerful man in the world and drop a request
without flattering him. And this is what she's
doing. So in effect, she's saying, look, king,
your wellness is my number one concern. So if
this were just about slavery, I wouldn't waste
your time. I wouldn't dare do that. But in this
case, someone intends to kill me and my people.
Now, don't forget, Esther's been hiding her Jewish
identity this entire time. Xerxes doesn't know.
This is the pivotal moment, right? She's not
been truthful before her husband. And in this
very tense moment, she has to come clean. Honestly,
you guys, things could have gone south really
quickly here. Had the king decided, you know
what? You've not been truthful to me. Why drop
this bomb on me right now? Why do this? He could
have been offended by her lack of disclosure.
He could have sent her off just like he did with
Vashti or worse. Now stop and think about Haman
in this moment. What is Haman thinking? Esther
drops this bomb about her people. How do you
think he reacted? He is caught off guard. He
never imagined that Esther was a Jew. Apparently
never dawned on him. He's sitting, he's all chummy
with the king. But he's just been accused of
trying to murder the king's wife. The three of
them in this room, oh, to be a fly on the wall,
to feel the tension in the air. But guys, Esther
has played this beautifully, hasn't she? She
successfully aroused the anger of her husband
with her enemy right there in the room. And now
all the king has to do to satisfy his wrath is
to be given a name and where this traitor can
be found. Verse five. Then King Ahasuerus asked
Queen Esther, who is he and where is he? Who
would presume to do this? And here comes the
moment, right? Esther finally blurts it out.
Verse six, a foe and an enemy is this wicked
Haman. Right there in the room, points at this
guy. And then Haman became terrified. That's
probably a great understatement. But the wisdom
here, listen, again, she's clever here. She doesn't
say, he's trying to kill me. She frames the statement
in the idea of the security of the king and the
kingdom. She basically says, that wicked man
is actually not your faithful servant. He is
a foe and an enemy of Persia. Verse seven, how's
the king gonna react? The king arose in his anger
from drinking wine. Puts his glass down. And
he went into the palace garden. Can you picture
it? He's got to clear his head. He's probably
had a couple glasses on. He's got to clear his
head. He's got to process what he's just heard.
He has a very difficult judgment to make in this
moment. And it's not clear what he's going to
do. At that moment, does he realize that Haman
has been deceiving him for a long time? Is he
willing to turn on this guy who is his most trusted
advisor? Or is he going to blame Esther for hiding
her identity from everybody in the court? He's
got a lot to think about before he returns, right?
Meanwhile, the text says this, but Haman stayed
to beg for his life from Queen Esther, for he
saw the harm had been determined against him
by the king. He saw the anger of Xerxes. And
now what does he do? He's terrified, rightfully
so. And maybe at this moment, he's remembering,
oh, the prophecy. Didn't my wise men just tell
me that I'm gonna fall? Maybe he remembered it
right here. So with the king out of the room,
he turns to Esther and he pleads for her mercy.
By the way, the very thing that he didn't want
to show Mordecai. Isn't it amazing, humankind,
when the shoe goes on the other foot, we all
cry out for mercy, don't we? But do we show mercy?
And in his panic, and perhaps because he's had
some wine, Haman falls towards Esther on the
couch where she has been reclining, and that
is a big mistake. Verse 8. Now when the king
returned from the palace garden into the place
where they were drinking wine, Haman was falling
on the couch where Esther was, and of course
he assumes the worst, right? It says, then the
king said, will he even assault the queen with
me in the house? Gulp. Uh -oh. It's possible
that Haman, and there's been lots of things written
by rabbis on this, that it's possible that he
had just fallen on his knees before Esther and
was like grasping at her legs, trying to beg
for mercy. But to touch the queen is a grave
offense. And regardless of how Xerxes had decided
to judge as he walked back in the room, and we
actually don't know what his judgment would have
been. This scene obviously seals Haman's fate.
And Xerxes orders his guards to arrest Haman.
End of verse 8, it says, as the word or the order
went out from the king's mouth. Interesting,
they covered Haman's face. And again, ancient
Near East scholars say basically what that was
was they arrested him, they covered his face.
It was something you did with a traitor who no
longer had the privilege of looking at the king
anymore. They covered his face. Verse nine, the
irony here. Then Harbanah, one of the eunuchs
who were before the king said, behold, indeed
the gallows standing at Haman's house, 50 cubits
high, which Haman made for Mordecai who spoke
good on behalf of the king. This guy understands
the moment, right? The irony of the moment. And
I can't prove this again from the text, but how
likely is it that this Harbinah had no love for
Haman? The guy's arrogant. The guy's a terrible
leader, a terrible boss. And so he jumps on this
opportunity to say, I know what you should do.
And the king said, okay, hang him on it. So they
hanged Haman on the gallows, which he had prepared
for Mordecai. and the king's anger subsided.
What a story. What a story. I can't think of
a better example of what David writes this in
Psalm 7. Behold, the wicked man conceives evil
and is pregnant with mischief and gives birth
to lies. He makes a pit, digging it out, and
falls into the hole that he has made. His trouble
returns upon his own head and on his own skull.
his violence descends. It's a perfect description
of what happens to Haman. Now, let's wrap up
with a few important observations. Guys, there's
so many principles that we can draw out of this
story. I'm gonna save some of them for the coming
weeks because we have a lot more to talk about.
But for this morning, let's focus on really the
primary theme that has run throughout this preaching
series, which is what? God's providence in dark
times. That's long ago when the elder team planned
this series. We called it God's Providence in
Dark Times. And you might recall in the very
first message in the series, we talked about
the difference between sovereignty and providence.
Those words matter. They're very, very important.
Sovereignty is best understood as God's absolute
right and power to do all that he purposes to
do. His supreme authority to do whatever he pleases.
Providence is how he carries that out. Does that
make sense? How he carries it out in a wise and
loving way. So when we talk about God's providence,
we're talking about the Lord actively guiding
all things, all the affairs of men and women
on the earth to his appointed ends. Now, here's
the thing. If you were to hand the book of Esther
to your unbelieving neighbor, say you do that
tomorrow and you say, read this book. It's a
really great story. they would spend some time
reading it and they would come back to you, hand
it back to you and say, boy, there's a lot of
coincidences in this story. Right? But as believers,
we know better. We know that this story is being
relayed to us under the inspiration of God's
spirit and it is designed to show us how God
providentially moves behind the scenes, how he
manages the affairs of men and women to bring
about his purposes. So we know Esther wasn't
lucky to become the queen. Right? Mordecai wasn't
lucky to have been in the right moment to overhear
this assassination plot. We know that the king's
sleepless night was not an accident. Neither
was the choice of which book to be read to him.
God is moving, isn't he? We see Esther doing
something so strange, inviting Haman and Xerxes
to a banquet and then putting them on a hold
and saying, well, no, let's do a second banquet.
And we all go, why? Well, More time so that God
can move the chess pieces around the board to
put things in place to accomplish his purposes.
There's no coincidence that Haman came into the
king's court at just the right moment. Neither
was it a coincidence that the king wanted to
honor Mordecai in that moment. See, in spite
of the limitations of our physical eyes, in this
story, there is no luck. There is no accidents.
There's no coincidences. What's happening is
God's sovereign purposes are unfolding to deliver
his people and not just to deliver the Jews in
that time, but to assure future generations of
believers like us that he is in control. Sometimes
we read these books of the Bible which are so
concentrated in a particular time of history
and we go, this is such a great lesson for the
Jewish people. This is for us as well. He's reassuring
us, hey. Hey, Santa Claridans in 2025, see this
lesson. I'm in control of things. I am managing
the affairs of men and women for your good. Do
we trust what Paul says in Romans 8? That God
is working all things together for those who
love God, who are called according to his purpose?
We should trust in that, right? It was happening
in the days of Esther. It's happening today.
God is providentially at work. And yes, by the
way, that includes hard things and difficult
things. Sometimes we read a story like this and
we're like, oh, it's so good that God was doing
good things for Esther. But what about the hard
things? What about the difficult things? Yes,
even the tragic things, the pain, the sorrow,
the trials of this life, they too are for our
good. We have to accept that from God's hand.
They're shaping us. They're molding our character
as we walk with the Savior. They are for our
good. And this book shows us that principle.
Listen, this story, this was not all rainbows
and unicorns for Mordecai and for Esther. They
struggled, didn't they? They mourned, they suffered.
They were forced into making decisions harder
than anything you and I will probably ever have
to face. But God was working through all of it.
In fact, God is so sovereign, he's using an Amalekite.
To bring about his purposes. A man whose entire
character is rooted in rebellion and wickedness.
He's using a man as powerful as Xerxes to accomplish
his will. Yes, even the most powerful man on
earth, our president, right? Any world leader.
God is using those men and women to further his
purposes. That's the point of this verse. How
often do we quote this verse from Proverbs 21,
right? The king's heart is like channels of water
in the hands of the Lord. God can move it any
direction he desires. And he does this with Xerxes.
Yahweh's in control of every breath, every choice,
every word, every action, and nothing and no
man, no matter how impressive he looks, can hinder
God's purposes. And friends, this is a huge truth
for us today. that we have to see and learn from,
right? How often do we, we have our eyes fixed
on Christ and then things happen in life, circumstances
happen, and we drop our eyes down to the world
and we forget what scripture tells us about God's
providence. And we start to worry and we start
to scheme. We think, well, maybe I can control
the situation. Maybe I can manipulate people
involved in this. It's something we all need
to grow in and learn from. Now, as we grow in
our trust that God's working behind the scenes,
does that mean we can be passive? It doesn't.
God has given each of us commands to obey. He
has given us works, good works to walk in. And
we need to be about our Father's business in
these days that He's given us. But here's the
good news. Here's the good news. It's not our
performance that ultimately produces God's results.
It's not our performance. He goes way beyond
our efforts, moving and intervening in such a
way that every single time his desired result
comes to pass. And aren't you glad for that?
Imagine if it was up to you or me. But God does
way more than we can imagine. Notice, by the
way, not only God's providence in this part of
Esther's story, but how perfect his timing is.
How many of us struggle with timing? Yeah. Why
wasn't Mordecai honored back when he saved the
king's life? God's timing. Why did the king suddenly
get insomnia on that night? God's timing. Why
did Haman appear in the king's court just as
Xerxes realized that Mordecai hasn't been honored?
God's timing. Why did Haman order the building
of that platform for execution the night before
all this went down? God's timing. Why did he
fall onto Esther's couch and grab at her legs
just as the king was coming back into the room?
God's timing. And so we have to learn from this.
Last Sunday, Elijah brought us this great convicting
message about prayer. But how often do we as
Christians, we either don't pray about important
things or we pray about them and then we stop.
We give up. Why? Because we say, well, I asked
God for that and it didn't happen in the timing
that I thought it should happen. Learn from this
story. God's timing is always perfect. Do we
trust that he's sovereign, first of all? Do we
really believe that he's in control? Absolute
supreme authority. Do we trust that he's providentially
at work? In your life, right now, all day today,
this week, next month, he's providentially working
to accomplish his will. Do you believe that?
Do we trust that he's good and loving in those
purposes? That may be the most important question.
Because when we go through hard things, we doubt
that. Is everything that he's doing providential
in your life for your good and his glory? Believe
that. And lastly, do we trust that he will accomplish
his will in his timing, not ours? These are big
questions, you guys. And this is why God gives
us a book like Esther, to see these things. What
a difference a day makes, right? This day, this
momentous day in the course of history in the
life of the Jewish people. Imagine, look how
big this was for our main characters. One day
Haman is rich and powerful and he is sitting
down and drinking and eating with the king and
queen of Persia. He is swelling with pride and
overflowing with talk of his own greatness. And
the next day, they're covering his face and leading
him away to the gallows. The same goes for Esther
and Mordecai. One day they're facing extermination.
And the next day they're spared. The perfect
living out of the passage we read from in Isaiah
41 comes to pass. Remember our call to worship
from earlier this morning? Listen to it again.
God says to Israel, you're my servant. I've chosen
you. I've not cast you off. Fear not for I am
with you. Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you. I will uphold you with
my righteous right hand. Why would they doubt
that God would come to the rescue with that promise?
And then that passage ends. Behold, all who are
incensed against you, like Haman, shall be put
to shame. And those who strive against you shall
become nothing and shall perish. Let the reader
understand, amen? Let's bow our heads. Father,
as your people this morning, gathered in your
name, gathered for your glory, gathered to be
in fellowship with one another and to celebrate
who you are and your love for us and your goodness,
we say this morning with one voice, thank you
for your sovereignty. We praise you for your
providential moving behind the scenes. And we
ask, Lord, that by your spirit, you would continue
to help us grow in our trust. in your perfect
wisdom that we would not drop our eyes. We would
keep our eyes fixed on Christ and not drop our
eyes and start to worry and start to scheme and
start to try to find our own ways out of things.
But we would go to you in prayer. We would obey
your word and we would trust that you are providentially
working. So Lord, help us learn this lesson from
the life of Esther, from the life of Haman. Help
us learn all of it, Lord, so that we might be
more fruitful servants for your kingdom. Thank
you, Lord, for bringing us back into the book
of Esther. We look forward to the next few weeks
as the rest of this book unfolds. Thank you,
Lord Jesus, for the fellowship of this church
and for a chance to be together. We praise you
in Christ's name.