I think this story should be titled, “The Sleepless King and The Providence of God.” We saw in the last part of this study that Haman strongly dislikes Mordecai and Mordecai despises Haman. Mordecai wants Haman removed from the king’s advisory counsel and Haman wants Mordecai removed from life. As I have mentioned before, Esther is one of the only books of the Bible that does not mention God…yet He’s not far from each scene, is He?
As we know, all is set to come to a head tomorrow so it’s no wonder that the king had a hard time sleeping. He had his servants read to him the story of how Mordecai saved the king from two assailants who had wanted to kill him (Esther 2:21-23). It was also said that Mordecai had not been rewarded yet for his courage in this situation. Can you see the fingerprints of God all over this? He is the One that has the king awake! He is the One that has him read the book of records and He is the One who directed the king’s eunuchs to choose the story about Mordecai’s saving the king’s life. Have you seen the invisible hand of God working in your life?
The self-consumed one enters the picture. Haman has this plan to hang Mordecai. He wakes early and rushes to the king to tell him his plan before anyone else and,because he actually thought the king loved him, he had no doubt he would honor his request. What he didn’t take into account was that God never sleeps and He had been working on Mordecai’s behalf throughout the night and speaking to the king’s heart (praise the Lord!). So Haman comes in and the king wants to know what Haman thinks should be done to the man that the king himself wants to honor. He’s thinking the king MUST want to honor him, so he says this: the one you honor should be displayed wearing a royal kingly robe and crown, and paraded on a horse and should be admired by all the people.
What does pride come before? In Proverbs 18:2, it says, “Before his downfall a mans heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.” Proverbs 25:27 says, “It is not good to eat too much honey, nor is it honorable to seek one’s own honor.” Can you imagine what Haman was feeling when the king told him to do for Mordecai what he expected to be done for himself? I feel sure his heart dropped and after the words sank in, he probably becomes extremely angry. His worst fears have come true as he has to robe Mordecai and crown him and parade him through the streets in which Haman himself hoped to be paraded. So what does he do? He seeks counsel from his wife who confirms his own thinking, he is ruined.
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Let me just say to each of you who follow our Lord faithfully with your whole life, the day will come when you are publicly praised and honored and displayed by our great God Himself. But do not set your heart on it in this life! As I have said before in previous blogs, there is a little Haman in all of us, right? We don’t want our good deeds to go unnoticed. We may want a little recognition from others for the sacrifices we make on others behalf. But now is not the time, unless God chooses to. Otherwise, honor is reserved for Jesus Himself! Jesus says if we love Him then we must love each other and we must put others before ourselves. And we should seek only those things that hold eternal value. All things will pass away, except Jesus Himself.
“He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”~ Jim Elliot
Who is wise? Let them realize these things. Who is discerning? Let them understand. The ways of the LORD are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.
Hosea 14:9
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Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou my inheritance, now and always Thou and Thou only, the first in my heart,
Sovereign of Heaven, my treasure Thou art.
High King of Heaven, Thou Heaven’s bright sun
Grant be its joy after victory is won
Great Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Be Thou my vision, O Ruler of all.”
(from Be Thou My Vision)
Let’s Pray:
Dear Daddy, we thank You for the clear, bright glow of the light of Your truth that shines in the darkness of our own hearts so that we can see ourselves exactly as we are. Frightening as it is, we thank You that we don’t need to continue to look at that but to look to the One who has come into this world for this very purpose, that’s Jesus. He alone destroys the work of the enemy in our lives. Forgive us when pride gets in the way and we seek glory that belongs to You, oh Lord. Gently put us in our place. For all we do on this earth, all words that come out of our mouths, may they only point to You and give You the honor and glory You so deserve. Help us to love each other the way You have commanded and rid us of any anger or bitterness. We love You and we praise You and we can’t wait to meet You face to face one day but until then may we continue to walk in Your path and light. For it’s in Jesus’ name we pray.
Amen.
