August 31, 2003 Esther 6
“You’ll get yours!”
INTRODUCTION
Take a minute if you would to think about your favorite movie – especially a movie in which the good guys are fighting the bad guys. As I performed this same exercise this week, I thought about movies like “Rocky IV”, “Star Wars” and “Independence Day”. If you have not seen these movies, then you won’t know the characters that I’m going to mention, but see if you recognize the situation that I’m going to describe. In each of these stories, the good guys are pit against some undefeatable foe. And in most of the movie, it looks like things are going to turn out very badly for the hero. But then, 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. In “Rocky IV”, it was when Rocky finally drew blood from his giant Russian boxing opponent and the crowd began to shout out “Rocky, Rocky, Rocky!” In “Star Wars”, it was when Luke Skywalker was making his bombing run on the Death Star with Darth Vader right on his tale. Darth Vader is just about to get a lock on Luke when out of the blue – or maybe it should be out of the black since it all happened in outer space – Han Solo comes in with the Millenium Falcon and blasts Darth Vader into deep space. It’s a stand up and cheer, send goose bumps up your spine, make you feel good for a week kind of moment.
We come to a moment like these in the story of Esther today. When we left the story last week, Haman [say “BOO” every time you hear his name] 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 [say “YEAH” every time you hear his name], 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.
THE STORY
Unmet expectations (vs. 1-5)
For the king – no sleep (vs. 1)
Obviously, it was part of God’s plan that Xerxes 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 Xerxes. He wanted to listen tot he 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 to me?” 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, Xerxes was startled to complete wakefulness when he was reminded of what Mordecai had done for him.
For Mordecai – no reward (vs. 2-3)
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.
For Haman – no revenge (vs. 4-5)
Xerxes 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. Xerxes 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.
Unexpected elevations (vs. 6-11)
For Haman – humiliation (vs. 6-10)
The things that Haman 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. Seems to me that Haman was laying the groundwork for his own rise to the thrown. In Israel, one of the ways to usurp the throne was to sleep with one of the king’s concubines. (1 Kings 2:20-25) Right now, presidential candidates for 2004 are trying to look very presidential.
“Haman recommended that such a man should have the”
- appearance of royalty
- service of the one of the noble princes
- respect of the people
“He [Haman] craved respect from his peers and from the population at large (cf. 5:11)”
“Haman’s lust for respect (from Mordecai) is what got him into trouble in the first place.”
“He who wanted respect from Mordecai had to give respect to Mordecai.” - Esther
Did the king even think about what he was doing? We he playing some kind of cruel joke on Haman? He knew that M. 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 M. through the streets! Maybe Xerxes figured that Haman was getting to be too big for his britches and needed to be knocked down a step or two. Xerxes made it very clear that he recognized M’s nationality.
The king was honoring someone who refused to honor Haman even though it was the king’s own law that M. was disobeying. Perhaps the king still did not know that M. was not bowing down to Haman. Had Haman just dealt with M’s rebellion correctly in the first place, he might not have been in the situation that he was now.’
For Mordecai – exaltation (vs. 11)
Did Mordecai say anything to Haman as they went through the city? I would bet not. It would be more torturous for M. just to ride in silence with Haman seething before him. “[Mordecai] was not a proud man. He was not a vengeful man. He was not whispering, “Say it a little louder. Eat your heart out, Haman.” – Esther
The king’s instructions put a damper on Haman’s plans. “King, I want to hang the guy that you want to honor.” Doesn’t sit real well.
By putting M. on the gallows, Haman wanted to say, “This is what is done for whoever refuses to honor Haman.” But by putting M. 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 M. hanging, but he was the instrument of the whole city seeing M. honored.
M. had been told to bow before Haman, one who had been elevated above him, and now H. was being told to bow before M.
(Mat 23:12) For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
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 M. and H.? God really does know how to deal with our enemies better than we do!
Xerxes knew that Mordecai was a Jew. Xerxes had a warped sense of right and wrong. He was willing to honor the man whose death warrant he had signed only a few days earlier. Mordecai’s desire was not honor; it was rescue. But honor might help him get a little closer to rescue.
Unaltered destinations (vs. 12-14)
For Mordecai – “Mordecai returned”
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.
M. 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.
For Haman – (vs. 12b-13)
It doesn’t take long for things to change dramatically in H. and M’s lives. When God starts to move, hang on for dear life! “the last time Haman went home, he was crowing, bragging about how great he was.” – Esther, by Chuck Swindoll, p. 111-122 “When Haman had left his wife in the morning he had been elated.” – W. & Z.
H. didn’t have time to do it, but I imagine that one of the actions that he wanted to do was to get down those gallows as quickly as possible. What if the king found out what H. had been intending to do to M.?
In saying that Haman would not be able to stand up against Mordecai because he was a Jew, “the pagan wife of an evil man unknowingly stated the central thrust of this book: neither Haman nor any other human can possibly stand against God’s Chosen People…” Some people here may be standing against God’s plans. You say, “How could that be? We are here at church, aren’t we?” You can still be against God’s plan for this church, God’s plan for your life, or God’s people that surround you. – W. & Z.
Genesis 12:1-3 “And I will make you [the Jews] 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…
“his advisors and his wife saw nothing but trouble for him in the future.” “Esther’s second banquet” was something “once he desired but now dreaded.” – W. & Z.
THE LESSONS
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 M’s reward and honor be delayed. Had M. been rewarded immediately, things would not have been ripe for the sequence of events that followed. It was about 5 years in between M’s actions and his reward. He reward was gathering interest all that time and being compounded daily.
(Gal 6:7-8) 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.
(Mat 6:6) But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
3. Your reward is worth the wait.
(Acts 1:6) So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?"
(Mat 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.
4. Your reward is royal.
Given by the King (Mat 25:21) "His master replied, ’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!’
Identifies you with the King (Rev 20:6) …they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.
(1 Cor 3:12) If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, …
5. Your reward is conditional.
Mordecai had to declare his complete loyalty to the king.
6. Your reward is eternal.
(2 Cor 4:17-18) 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.
CONCLUSION
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.
