Preached Sunday, June 15, 2014 from Esther 5-7
Theme: God works-out His sovereign plan through what seem to us like periods of delay.
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
This morning’s study from the Old Testament Book of Esther concerns one of the most frustrating realities of life. It’s about the ‘delays’ in life that we experience—those frustrating times in which it seems as if a hitch has occurred in God’s plan for us.
But I believe that what God’s word has to say to us this morning is practical and wonderful; and that, if we receive it right, we won’t be frustrated by those delays in life any longer. He lets us know through His word that He works wonderfully through those seemingly frustrating times of delay.
And I suppose that the best way for us to begin is by not delaying—and by getting right into the story of Esther.
* * * * * * * * * *
To do so, we need to recap things a bit. Chapters 1 and 2 of the Book of Esther have told us the story of a young Jewish girl—a captive far from her homeland, living in the mighty Median-Persian empire about two-and-a-half millennia ago. It tells us of how the king of that empire—Ahasuerus (otherwise known in history as Xerxes I)—had deposed his wife Vishti from the throne. His servants had encouraged him to seek out a new bride; and so a great beauty pageant was held. And this young captive girl Esther won the pageant. She was elevated from a place of obscurity to a place of great influence and opportunity as the wife of the emperor of the then-reigning world empire.
Chapter 2 also tells us of her pious Jewish elder cousin Mordecai. He had apparently become a servant within the king’s royal court. But he was always watchful for the care of his beautiful young cousin. The Jewish people lived in difficult times in those days; and Mordecai had urged his young cousin not to mention her ethnic identity. As we have often pointed out along the way, this wouldn’t have been the first time that the Jewish people had to hide their identity for safety’s sake. We’re also told, however, that Mordecai was a faithful man in his service to this pagan king. Mordecai heard rumors of a plot that some of the royal servants were hatching to assassinate the king; and so, he got word to the king about it. The plot was foiled—and the two would-be assassins were put to death. The Jewish man Mordecai saved the king’s life; but afterward, the matter was largely forgotten.
And that’s sad; because in Chapter 3, we went on to see how dangerous things became for the Jewish people. About five years or so after his marriage to Esther, King Ahasuerus became close friends with a very evil man named Haman. Haman was of the Amalakite people—who were the malicious enemies of the Jews. It must have been very disturbing to the captive Jewish people to see King Ahasuerus elevate this wicked man Haman—one of the most notorious anti-Semites to ever have lived—to the position of viceroy over the entire empire. Whenever Haman walked by, he demanded that all people bow to him and worship him almost as if he were a god. But the pious Jewish man Mordecai wouldn’t do it. How could he dishonor the God of Israel by bowing to a mere man that way?—and worse, to a man who was of a nation that was a sworn enemy of his people?
Haman hated Mordecai for this. But it wasn’t enough for him to destroy Mordecai. Haman wanted to completely destroy all the Jewish people throughout the Median-Persian empire; and since the empire dominated the known world, it would have effectively wiped them out completely. And so, Haman had the Pur—that is, the lot—cast before him in order to select a date. The lot fell to the 13th day of the month of Adar—which was only ten months away. Haman then obtained authority from King Ahasuerus. He promised to pay all expenses for his evil plan. And he published the decree throughout the empire that, on that day, all the Jewish people were to be destroyed, killed and annihilated, and all their possessions plundered. The king was oblivious, however, to the consequences of the thing that he had agreed to. He didn’t realize that his wife—secretly—was a Jewish woman, and that he had authorized her death along with all her people.
All the Jewish people throughout the empire were in distress and despair. They mourned and wept and covered themselves with sackcloth and ashes. The godly Jewish man Mordecai was among those who mourned. Chapter 4 tells us of how he could not approach the king’s court in a state of mourning; but that he sat outside the gate of the king’s court—as close to the court as he could be—and wept and mourned over the doomed that had been decreed for his people. When news reached Esther of his mourning, she was upset by it and tried to send him encouragement. But he would have none of it. Instead, he communicated to her the terrible slaughter that had been decreed for her people, and urged her to petition the king for mercy.
And that’s when Esther found herself in a dilemma. It was forbidden for anyone—even the queen herself—to approach the king without being summoned by him. If they dared to approach on their own volition, they were to be put to death . . . unless the king graciously held out his royal scepter and welcomed them. But Esther had not been called before the king in almost a month. If she came now without having been summoned, she might be put to death—and would then be unable to help her people at all. But Mordecai told her that if she didn’t help now, help for the Jewish people would come from some other source; but she would be put to death with her close Jewish kinsmen. And that’s when the saintly Jewish man passed on to her those great words that we studied last week; “Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14).
And that’s when I believe Esther showed forth her courage as a woman of faith. She commanded Mordecai to gather the Jewish people to fast—and no doubt, to pray fervently. She would do the same with her maidservants. Then, after three days of fasting, she would make her bold approach to the king. And, as she said, “if I perish, I perish!” (v. 17).
* * * * * * * * * *
And that brings us up to Chapter 5 and to this morning’s portion of the story. She did indeed—after three days of fasting—approach the king. She put on her royal robes and stood at the entry of the king’s court. And when he saw her, he gladly held out his royal scepter to her and welcomed her. God had answered the appeals of His people! And what a great answer it was! Bible tells us that the king said to her, “What do you wish, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given to you—up to half the kingdom!” (5:3). What a blank check it was that he offered her!
Now; she could have—right then and there—asked for the life of her people. But she didn’t. Instead, she said, “If it pleases the king, let the king and Haman come today to the banquet that I have prepared for him” (v. 4). She wanted to break the news at a royal dinner. Perhaps she wanted to get the king and Haman together in the same place, and have the king in the right frame of mind when she revealed to him what it was that Haman was purposing to do.
Now; you’ll remember that I suggested to you that our time in Esther this morning has to do with the frustrating delays we experience in life—and particularly in the outworking of God’s good plan for us. We sometimes become very frustrated by the fact that things don’t seem to happen when we’d like them too—or to move along as fast as we feel they should. And that brings us to what I like to call . . .
1. ESTHER’S HESITATION.
We’re told that later that evening, the king and Haman—and perhaps a few others—were gathered together for the elegant dinner that Esther had prepared for them. We’re told, “At the banquet of wine the king said to Esther, ‘What is your petition? It shall be granted you. What is your request, up to half the kingdom? It shall be done!” (v. 6). Perhaps the king could tell that there was something greatly burdening the heart of his wife; and once again, he made that remarkably generous offer to her.
Then Esther answered and said, “My petition and request is this: If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request, then let the king and Haman come to the banquet which I will prepare for them, and tomorrow I will do as the king has said” (v. 7-8).
Why didn’t she say something then? Why did she hesitate? Could it be that she felt—for some reason—that the situation still was not right? Or could it be that she became fearful and overwhelmed by the circumstances—and by the powerful responsibility that was upon her? We can’t really say for sure. But if you’re like me, you read the story and feel frustrated by it. “No, Esther!” you almost want to cry out. “Don’t wait! Don’t put it off to another banquet! What good would any delay do? Tell the king now!”
The reason that feels so frustrating is because it seems—so often—like the way things go in the outworking of God’s plan for you and me. Have you ever prayed and prayed for something?—and perhaps even fasted and humbled yourself before God for it? You know the promise of God’s word concerning prayer—“that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us” (1 John 5:14). And you know that you’re not asking for something selfish or sinful. You’re asking God to act according to His expressed will. And yet, you hit a delay—a hitch in the progress of God’s answer; and you wonder to yourself, “Why isn’t God acting? Why isn’t He answering? Why isn’t He doing something?” And let’s face it: Sometimes, we’re not merely the frustrated observer of an Esther-like story. Sometimes we’re actually in the place of Esther—and the delay seems to be because we hesitate. The ‘hitch’ in the progress may feel that it was because of us! We are often frustrated by our own failures or hesitations.
* * * * * * * * * *
Well; the wonderful thing about this portion Esther’s story—and in fact, I would say, the whole Book of Esther itself—is that it shows us that the apparent delays do not mean that God is not working. In fact, it shows us that the delays are often a necessary and essential part of God’s answer to our prayers. That can even be true when the delay appears to be our own fault—and because we failed or fumbled along the way. Our failures cannot thwart God’s good plan; and as it turns out, God works-out His sovereign plan through what seem to us like periods of delay.
If I may pause here in the story for a moment, I’d like to speak to you personally about this. It might be that you are here this morning in a state of deep frustration over what seems like a delay in God’s plan in your life. It may be that you have been praying earnestly for God to work in some way to bring about good through what might feel like a very bad situation. Or it may be that you are facing a difficult problem; and though you have prayed for a solution, you don’t see a solution coming forth. You’re having to wait—and to wonder if God has heard you at all.
I believe that you are here this morning, dear brother or sister in Christ, because God has something He wants to tell you about the way He works. He is sovereign in all His doings; and He hears the prayers of His people. But what He asks of us—for our part in the answer to those prayers—is that we wait patiently on Him. It may be that—unknown to us—several very important things must happen first before He can answer our prayers; and unless those things are made by Him to fall into place first, and all in accordance with His perfect timing, our prayers cannot be answered in the way that will be best for us—and in the way that will bring Him the greatest glory.
Let’s read on in the story of Esther; and see what God was doing in the apparent delay. The delay, as it turned out, wasn’t a very long one at all. It was only one day’s worth of time. But it’s amazing to see all that God did in that one day’s delay! We come now to a section of the story that I’ll call . . .
2. HAMAN’S GALLOWS.
The evil man Haman was looking forward to the banquet the next night. He strolled out of the palace feeling pretty good about himself. But the Bible tells us that, as he walked past Mordecai at the king’s gate—and saw that the Jewish man still would not bow or show reverence toward him—it filled him with indignation.
We’re told that he went home and called for his wife and friends; and he spent some time bragging to them about all his riches, and his many children, and his high position before the king, and how he had been advanced above all the royal officials and servants. He even bragged about how the queen had invited him to an exclusive banquet that night; and that he was invited to come to yet another one the next night! “Yet all this avails me nothing,” he said, “so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate” (v. 13). Oh how he wanted to be rid of that man!
And so, his wife and his friends came up with an idea. “Let a gallows be made,” they told him, “fifty cubits high” (which would be, by the way, about seventy-five feet tall; something that everyone would be able to see), “and in the morning suggest to the king that Mordecai be hanged on it; then go merrily with the king to the banquet.” (v. 14). This plan pleased Haman; and apparently put him back into his creepily good mood. And so, all night long, a dreadful gallows was being constructed in by Haman’s servants—to be used, first thing in the morning, to hang Mordecai.
Now; what I’m about to say it may not sound at first as if it’s the right thing to say. But that wicked plan against Mordecai, and the construction of that gruesome gallows, was an essential part of God’s plan. Our sovereign God, after all, is able to use the wicked plans of evil people to fulfill His good purposes. And the construction of that gallows was a necessary part of God’s comprehensive answer to the cry of His people. He was very much at work in the apparent ‘delay’.
* * * * * * * * * *
And another part of the plan is found in the section that I call . . .
3. THE KING’S INSOMNIA.
We’re told at the beginning of Chapter 6, “That night the king could not sleep” (6:1). Why? Perhaps—as some have suggested—the noise of the construction of a large gallows kept him up. But I tend to think that he had been given a bad case of insomnia from God Himself.
Now; I don’t know what you do when you can’t sleep; but in this king’s case, he called for the records of his royal works. Frankly, I think that must have been a bloody record to read; and how the king thought that he could sleep after reading it is a mystery to me. But along the way, we’re told that he read the record of how—some five years earlier—the Jewish man Mordecai informed the king of the plot against his life and resulted in his being saved from murder. We’re told,
Then the king said, “What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?” And the king’s servants who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.” (v. 3).
Do you know what it says in Proverbs 21:1? “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes.” Clearly, the Lord turned the heart of the king in favor toward Mordecai. And it happened at just the right moment; because just then, someone made their approach to the king.
So the king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king’s palace to suggest that the king hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him. The king’s servants said to him, “Haman is there, standing in the court.” (vv. 4-5).
That was no mere coincidence, was it? Just moments before Haman was about to come and ask the king’s permission to kill the man he hated so much, God had turned the king’s heart toward that man in great favor. Neither Mordecai nor Esther knew that God was doing that. But can you see how God worked in the seeming delay?
* * * * * * * * * *
What happened next made it clear to Haman that it would be impossible for him to kill Mordecai or God’s chosen people. In fact, it completely turned the tables on Haman. I call this part of the story . . .
4. MORDECAI’S HONOR.
As soon as Haman came into the presence of the king, we’re told that the king asked him, “What shall be done for the man whom the king delights to honor?” (v. 6). Haman, of course, was feeling pretty good about himself at this point. We’re told,
Now Haman thought in his heart, “Whom would the king delight to honor more than me?” And Haman answered the king, “For the man whom the king delights to honor, let a royal robe be brought which the king has worn, and a horse on which the king has ridden, which has a royal crest placed on its head. Then let this robe and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes, that he may array the man whom the king delights to honor. Then parade him on horseback through the city square, and proclaim before him: ‘Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!’” Then the king said to Haman, “Hurry, take the robe and the horse, as you have suggested, and do so for Mordecai the Jew who sits within the king’s gate! Leave nothing undone of all that you have spoken” (vv. 6-10).
It’s a shame that there weren’t cameras in Bible times. Wouldn’t you have loved to have seen the look on Haman’s face? It would need to have been color film so that we could see his face go from white to red to purple. Can you imagine the indignity he felt in having to pay the highest honor he could come up with to the man that he hated so much? And I would also have wished I could have seen the look on Mordecai’s face too. I’m sure it would have been a look of profound bewilderment as he was paraded through the city.
When it was over, Moredai did not go on to bear the honor that was given him. We’re told that he returned to his place at the gate and resumed his deep mourning for his people. But now, he wasn’t the only one mourning. We’re told that Haman hurried home in shame and frustration. He told his wife and his friends everything that had just happened. His wife and his advisers could see the writing on the wall. They told him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish descent, you will not prevail against him but will surely fall before him” (v. 13).
And it was right then—even as they were speaking those words to him—that the king’s servants came to usher Haman to the second of Esther’s banquets.
* * * * * * * * * *
Now, dear brothers and sisters in Christ; all of these things happened in just one day! But it happened in such a way that no one could see the fantastic pieces of the puzzle that the sovereign God was putting together. It all looked—from the standpoint of Esther and Mordecai—as if it was a delay. But God wonderfully works out His comprehensive plan for His people through the apparent delays of life. He is never inactive. He will prove Himself faithful if we will just trust Him and wait.
And that leads us finally to the section I call . . .
5. GOD’S PERFECT JUSTICE.
We’re told, “So the king and Haman went to dine with Queen Esther. And on the second day, at the banquet of wine, the king again said to Esther, “What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request, up to half the kingdom? It shall be done!” (7:1-2). For the third time, the king made his generous offer to her. And I suspect that Haman was needing some Rolaids at this point; don’t you?
And that’s when Queen Esther told the whole story—after God had allowed Haman to build his evil gallows to hang Mordecai, and after the king’s heart had been turned in favor toward Mordecai, and after Haman himself had become completely humiliated; and all in one amazing day’s time! We’re told;
Then Queen Esther answered and said, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request. For we have been sold, my people and I, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. Had we been sold as male and female slaves, I would have held my tongue, although the enemy could never compensate for the king’s loss.” So King Ahasuerus answered and said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who would dare presume in his heart to do such a thing?” And Esther said, “The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman!” (vv. 3-6).
We’re told that—at this—Haman was terrified. The bottom had just fallen out in his whole evil world. And I believe that something had fallen for the king too. We’re told that he rose up from the dinner in great wrath and went out into the royal garden. I believe that he suddenly realized that he had been taken in by this evil scoundrel; and had been played for a fool.
When the king left, Haman wasted no time. He fell before Esther and pleaded for his life in a most importune manner. In fact, he broke all decorum of the royal court and fell upon the queen’s royal couch in his whimpering pleas to her. And when the king suddenly came back in, he said, “Will he also assault the queen while I am in the house?” (v. 8).
We’re told that, as soon as those words left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face. Most Bible scholars say—and I believe rightly—that this was to signify his death. But I wonder if it was more than just that. I wonder if they they wanted to hide from the king and from the dignity of the royal palace the look of abject horror and mortal confusion that had fallen across Haman’s face—the look of an evil man who had just fallen into the hands of a just God. We’re told,
Now Harbonah, one of the eunuchs, said to the king, “Look! The gallows, fifty cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke good on the king’s behalf, is standing at the house of Haman.” Then the king said, “Hang him on it!” So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s wrath subsided (vv. 9-10).
* * * * * * * * * *
I suppose that we should probably give this morning’s story a PG-13 rating. God’s justice is pretty severe. But I hope that we won’t miss the lesson it has to teach us.
The Bible tells us, “Known to God from eternity are all His works” (Acts 15:8). Sometimes He lets us know what He is doing in the seeming delays. But very often, He doesn’t. He really doesn’t have to let us know, though. It’s not for us to be informed of what it is that God is doing in the seeming ‘delays’ of the outworking of His sovereign plan. It’s just for us to know that He does indeed work-out His sovereign plan through what seem to us like periods of delay; and for us to simply trust Him and obediently wait.