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.
Esther – Chapter 5:9
“Haman was a happy man as he left the banquet” (Esther 5:9a, NLT). His seemingly ever- increasing power starting from his promotion (chapter 3:1 and 2) to King Xerxes giving him his signet ring and carte blanche to do what he wanted with this “certain people” (chapter 3:10 and 11) to this intimate banquet with the king and queen (here in chapter 5:4 and 5), was feeding Haman’s pride big time. Not only that but Queen Esther had invited him to a second banquet! His hat didn’t fit his big head anymore, and his buttons were popping off his cloak from his puffed out chest as he walked out the king’s gate to go home for the night! Can you hear his evil cackle? Oh, I don’t like this guy!
“But when he saw Mordecai sitting at the palace gate, not standing up or trembling nervously before him, Haman became furious” (Esther 5:9b). We already know from Esther chapter 3, that Haman planned to destroy Mordecai and all the Jews. Now, when he saw Mordecai sitting there so peacefully with no regard for him at all, Haman almost exploded on the inside with indescribable hatred.
Mordecai “stood” his ground by sitting when Haman walked by. Mordecai knew Who he had to ultimately answer to, and it wasn’t Haman. Mordecai had full confidence in the Lord’s provision and protection. Confidence in God and the humility of obedience and submission to Him gave Mordecai a calm and peaceful presence that was like acid eating away at Haman. (Compare the similarities when Jesus “stood His ground” in His last hours, Matthew 26-27.)
Haman was so full of himself that he couldn’t see that his pedestal of pride had no foundation. One day it would come crashing down around him. As Matthew Henry’s Commentary would describe him: he is a self-admirer, a self-deceiver. Doesn’t he sound like someone else we know? Isaiah 14:13-14, “For you (Satan) say to yourself, ‘I will ascend to heaven and set my throne about God’s stars…and be like the Most High.’” Satan’s plan is for the destruction of God’s creation. His pride is so great and his rage against God is so consuming that he intends to kill and destroy (John 10:10) everyone he can. But he has no foundation of truth. He has built his plan on pride and hatred. He and his plan will fall. Isaiah 14:15, “Instead, you will be brought down to the place of the dead, down to its lowest depths.”
Matthew Henry’s Commentary also says: “A slight affront, which a humble man would scarcely notice, will torment a proud man , even to madness, and will mar all his comforts.” Haman was tormented by Mordecai’s affront, his intentional defiance. I believe Satan is tormented by our affronts when we stand against him and his evil plan to destroy us and our families.
We have two life examples to look at here. We have Haman who lived a very self-centered and prideful life. He deceived himself and he deceived others, especially the king, for very selfish motives. Then we have Mordecai, who was a humble man of faith and confidence. His motives were selfless as day after day he watched over and wisely advised Esther, even to the extent of sitting at the gate when “trouble” walked by.
Today we have the opportunity to check our motives for what we do and what we say. If our motives are based on feeding our pride and obtaining power over a person or a situation, we are self-deceived and insecure. If a small offense eats away at us, we will want to check our lives for underlying pride. A life controlled by pride will lead us to “destruction,” as we read in Proverbs 16:18.
If our motives are directed by our faith in God, then we will live selfless lives of submission and service. We will not be easily offended, and will forgive quickly. We will stand in humble confidence and peace, even as we “sit by the gate” when trouble tries to destroy us. (Ephesians 6:13.) We will have an inner assurance that God will show Himself mighty to save.
Who does your life look most like…Haman or Mordecai? Is it one of pride, torment, insecurity, fear, and eventual destruction? Or is it one of humility, peace, confidence, faith, and life? Today is your day to choose “life and have it to the full.”
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Let’s Pray:
Dear Lord, we come humbly to Your throne of grace today. Even at this moment we are searching our innermost beings for areas of pride and deception. Help us, Holy Spirit, to find them so we can repent and allow You to cleanse us. We want our motives to be pure and selfless. Please help us to not be easily offended and to quickly forgive. May each of us live a life of humility, peace, confidence, and faith. Thank You for offering us life to the full! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.