The Book of Esther
You’ll Get Yours
Esther 6:1-14
Take a minute and think about your favorite movie in which the good guys are fighting the bad guys. It’s might be “Star Wars” or one of the Rocky movies. Or maybe a John Wayne western.
Almost every one of them includes a pivotal moment. Just about the time things are at their worst, just when you think all hope is lost, you get to that pivotal scene when the momentum suddenly shifts, and you know that everything is going to turn out right in the end.
We come to a moment like these in the story of Esther today. When we left the story last week, Haman was being lulled to sleep to the sound of hammers and saws as his workmen built a 75-foot tall gallows on which Haman expected to hang his mortal enemy, Mordecai, the next morning.
Mordecai had come to Haman’s attention when he refused to honor Haman by bowing whenever he came through the gate at the edge of the king’s palace. In his desire for revenge, Haman decided that rather than just destroy Mordecai, he was going to destroy Mordecai’s people, the Jews.
This was a major problem. Esther, the queen was a Jew, although no one other than Mordecai knew it. Mordecai had even been responsible for foiling an assassination attempt on the king. The Jews were the good guys, especially since Jesus the Savior would be born through the Jews one day.
The good guys, Mordecai and Esther, were getting ready to be destroyed. The bad guy, Haman, was going to get away with his plan. Justice was going to lose, and evil was going to win. It just wasn’t fair! The story looked like it was going to end badly.
Maybe you can identify with a story like that. You’re the good guy – at least from your perspective – and some bad guy is making life a living hell for you. You try to live right and do things the way that they’re supposed to be done. But instead of being rewarded in a just and fair way, you get forgotten, bypassed, stepped over and sometimes stepped on.
It seems like the person who sleeps with the boss, does things under the table, cheats on his taxes and is willing to do whatever it takes is the one that is always getting ahead. Just like in one of those movies, it looks like you’re never going to win in your battle against evil.
You sure wish you could have one of those stand up and cheer moments where the bad guy finally gets what he deserves. If that’s you, then you’re going to like what happens in today’s chapter of the story. It is in this chapter that the momentum shifts, and we get a sense that everything is going to work out right in the end. Justice will finally be served.
Let’s look at the story
First we see
1. Expectations
Notice verse 1
When the king went to bed that night, he expected to go to sleep, but it didn’t happen. For the king, there was “No Sleep”
Obviously, it was part of God’s plan that Ahasuerus not be able to sleep that night, but I wonder if the thing that kept him from sleeping was his puzzlement over Esther’s activities that day what she was going to ask for at the banquet tomorrow.
The chronicles of the kingdom “record of his reign” would have recorded all the exploits and greatness of Ahasuerus. He wanted to listen to the record of how great he was. He figured that would calm his spirit, put him in a good mood, and enable him to get some sleep.
It’s the equivalent to a child saying, “Mommy, will you read my favorite story?” He had an uneasy sense that something was wrong in the kingdom, and the reading of the chronicles he hoped would convince him that all was well. But suddenly, he heard something that was not right. “That’s it! That’s what has been gnawing at me!”
Mixed in with all the stories about his exploits, Ahasuerus was startled to complete wakefulness when he was reminded of what Mordecai had done for him.
Verses 2-3
For Mordecai, there was “No Reward”. He expected it, but it hadn’t come.
What Mordecai had done for the king seemingly went unnoticed and unrewarded. May have disappointed him, maybe even made him a little upset. It took a while, but he was eventually noticed and rewarded.
Nothing that you have done for the King has gone unnoticed. It has been recorded in the chronicles of the Kingdom. Your reward is coming.
Verses 4-5
Haman wanted revenge, but for Haman there was “No Revenge”
Ahasuerus had been up all night. We don’t know how long he had been tossing and turning before he called for the history books to be read. But they had not had their desired effect. Ahasuerus got all the way to about the 6th or 7th year of his reign in the reading of the books. He was still awake at the normal time for the beginning of the work day.
Everybody else had to have the king summon them in order to gain entrance into his presence. Either Haman had such authority that he was able to bypass this law, or he had a daily appointment with the king in which they would discuss the affairs of the kingdom.
The timing of this whole event was nothing short of the hand of God – the king hearing about Mordecai’s selfless act and choosing to honor him just as Haman is coming into the court to get the king’s permission to hang him.
2. Surprises
verses 6-10
What comes next for Haman is Humiliation
Everything he wanted for himself – the king’s robe, the king’s horse, the king’s prince – these would all make him look like the king and cause the people to identify him as the king. It seems to me that Haman was laying the groundwork for his own rise to the throne.
Haman recommended that such a man should have the
- appearance of royalty
- service of the one of the noble princes
- respect of the people
Remember back in 5:11 we discovered that Haman craved the respect of his peers and the crowds.
In fact, that lust for respect from Mordecai is what got him to this point.
And then, the story takes this unexpected turn. And I wonder, did the king even think about what he was doing? Was he playing some kind of cruel joke on Haman? I suppose he knew that Mordecai was a Jew, and he knew that it was Haman who had suggested the destruction of the Jews, and yet Haman was to be the one who led Mordecai through the streets!
Maybe Ahasuerus figured that Haman was getting to be too big for his britches and needed to be knocked down a step or two. And now the king was honoring someone who refused to honor Haman even though it was the king’s own law that Mordecai was disobeying.
What humiliation!
Then notice Mordecai’s Exaltation
Verse 11
Well, needless to say, the king’s instructions put a real damper on Haman’s plans. Here he is wanting to hang the guy that the king wants to honor.
By putting Mordecai on the gallows, Haman wanted to say, “This is what is done for whoever refuses to honor Haman.” But by putting Mordecai on the horse, he ended up saying, “This is what is done for whoever the king chooses to honor.” He wanted the whole city to see Mordecai hanging, but he was the means by which the whole city saw him honored!
Mordecai had been told to bow before Haman, one who had been elevated above him, and now Haman was being told to bow before Mordecai.
That reminds me of Matthew 23:12: “For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
Do you ever plot your revenge? If I get the chance, here’s what I’m going to say or do! You have probably thought up a lot of different ways of dealing with your enemies and making sure that they get exactly what they deserve. But could you have ever thought up the turn of events that God brought about between Mordecai and Haman?
God really does know how to deal with our enemies better than we do!
I’ve always wondered if Mordecai said anything to him while they were touring the city! He didn’t have to! It was all being said without words!
Finally, notice
3. Destinies
verse 12a
Notice the phrase, “Mordecai went back”
After this parade and the honor bestowed upon Mordecai, he went back to the job and position that he had held for so many years. Nothing had changed. He still held the same job with the same responsibilities and the same pay. And he was still condemned to die. Being honored by an earthly king doesn’t change anything. You might have all kinds of honors behind your name and hold a position of great authority, but without Jesus, you are still condemned to die.
It was an act of humility on Mordecai’s part to go back to the job where he had faithfully served.
He didn’t even take the rest of the day off! He came to work that morning expecting a normal day. It was anything but normal. You have no idea how God is working behind the scenes to change the circumstances of your life.
“Have you recently been promoted? Has God’s providence smiled on you so that your name is now honored in circles where you were once not even known? Have you come to a place of popularity and prosperity? Are you now esteemed in the eyes of others? If so, the real question is: Are you still comfortable at the king’s gate, or must you now live at the palace?”
When all was said and done with Mordecai, he said, “Just drop me off where all this started – at the king’s gate.” Let me get back to work.
verses 12b-13
It doesn’t take long for things to change dramatically in Haman and Mordecai’s lives. When God starts to move, hang on for dear life! As Chuck Swindoll says, “the last time Haman went home, he was crowing, bragging about how great he was.” The day had started off so well!
And I don’t know if he did it or not, but I’ll bet old Haman wanted to get down to those gallows as quickly as possible. What if the king found out what Haman had been intending to do to Mordecai?
One final observation from the story: I don’t think Haman’s wife fully understood what she was saying when she said that Haman would not be able to stand up against Mordecai because he was a Jew.
But God had declared that a long time ago. In Genesis 12:1-3, He said to Abraham, “And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing; and I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse…
She spoke the truth. As she said, “You have begun to fall” and fall he would, even as the knock comes at the door.
So what do we learn from chapter 6?
1. Your reward is coming.
The day will come when we too will be riding on the king’s horses wearing white robes with our enemies humiliated before us.
You may have done many things for God, for your family or for your community. You have never been rewarded, and it seems like no one ever noticed. God noticed.
Rev. 3:7-13
Hebrews 6:10 – “For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and still ministering to the saints.”
2. Your reward is growing.
It was part of God’s plan that Mordecai’s reward and honor be delayed. Had he been rewarded immediately, things would not have been ripe for the sequence of events that followed.
It was about 5 years in between Mordecai’s actions and his reward. He reward was gathering interest all that time and being compounded daily.
Galatians 6:7-8 says, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
There is delay in our reward as well. We are not supposed to do things in order to gain the rewards of men. What is done in secret will be rewarded openly.”
3. Your reward is worth the wait.
I like what we are told in Matthew 19:29: “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.” Don’t lose sight of that! This world is not all there is to it.
4. Your reward is royal.
Just as Mordecai was given a royal reward, so will you and I be rewarded as well. Won’t it be something to hear the King od Kings say, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
And one final thing, unlike Mordecai
5. Your reward is eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:17-18 says, “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
As much as we enjoy seeing Haman get what he finally deserves, we must be careful to remember that what he received is exactly what we deserve.
(Rom 6:23) For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Let’s pray
Home Sermons Illustrations Videos PowerPoints Bible Advertisement
