Preached Sunday, June 29, 2014 from Esther 8
Theme: In the providence of God, the humble are exalted in due time for His good purposes.
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
Over the past several weeks, we have been making discoveries about the sovereign workings of the almighty God as told to us in the Old Testament book of Esther. And along the way, we have been learning several lessons about His providence as it impacts our daily lives. This morning, we come to yet another lesson about the mighty workings of His providence.
This morning’s lesson is taught to us, mainly, through the experience of Queen Esther’s pious Jewish cousin Mordecai. And it has to do with the way God exalted him from a place of brokenness and humility to a place of great honor and influence—and at just the right time for th accomplishment of God’s good purposes. It’s an important and practical lesson for you and me to learn with regard to God’s providential work in the lives of His people.
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When you think about it, the lesson that is taught to us in Esther 8—that God is able to exalt the humble at the right time for His purposes—is a lesson that is illustrated to us in several other places of the Bible.
Think with me, for example, of the story of Joseph—way back in the Book of Genesis. Joseph had served in a very minor place of prominence over his brothers. And it wasn’t as if his brothers were very happy about that. They sold him, you’ll remember, into slavery. For many years, Joseph suffered in humble obscurity as the household slave of an Egyptian man named Potiphar; and he eventually rose to a place of management over his master’s household. But because of circumstances outside his control, Joseph was cast into a prison where others of the Pharaoh’s prisoners were kept—once again in humble obscurity.
There Joseph sat—serving in faithful humility for many years in a prison; waiting for release. And then, finally, the day of deliverance came. God exalted Joseph quite suddenly; and elevated him from out of prison and into a place of great prominence over the mighty Egyptian empire. He became second in power only to Pharaoh himself—and only within one day’s time! He was thus in a position to deliver his brethren during a time of famine; and he was used by God to preserve the Jewish race. God, it seems, loves to do this kind of thing—that is, to suddenly bring one of His faithful servants from a place of humble trial to a position of great honor and influence in order that they may serve His good purposes.
Or think of Daniel. He and his three friends were young captives in the land of Babylon during the time of the exile of the Jews from their homeland. But God had exalted Daniel to a position of influence as one of the advisers to the king of Babylon. Through trial after trial, it seems that God refined His man Daniel, and used him to stand against the paganism of his day. He was even used by God to pronounce the end of one reigning world empire (that is, Babylon), and the beginning of another (that is, Media-Persia), and to be brought through that trial to a place of honor and influence over the Persian king.
You’ll remember that the other leaders of Persia were jealous of Daniel. They hated him for his faithfulness and for his worship of the one true God. They managed to manipulate things in such a way that the king of Persia was forced to throw Daniel into the lion’s den. It’s hard to think of a more dismal trial than to be thrown alive into a den of hungry lions. But Daniel trusted God; and God preserved his life. He came out of the den of lions to an even greater place of prominence and service. God used him to write a prophetic history of God’s work over the nations—even up to our own day and beyond—that is astonishing for its accuracy. His life story shows us that God is able to exalt His faithful servants from humble places to places of great honor and influence—and to do so suddenly! It seems that our sovereign God loves to work that way.
May I share with you what I believe is the greatest example of God working this way? It is the example of our precious Lord Jesus Himself. In Philippians 2:5-11, the apostle Paul writes;
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:5-11).
Just to show how greatly God can ‘exalt’ those who humble themselves before Him, He called His own beloved and glorious Son to humble Himself down to the furthest possible level of humbling—even to the form of a servant—even to the point of death as a man on the cross; and then exalted Him to the greatest place of honor that there is, so that every knee will bow to Him and every tongue confess Him as Lord. There truly is no limit to the degree that our sovereign God can exalt His humble chosen ones, and lift them up to places of great service to His cause—if they will but trust Him and wait.
Consider what God Himself has said about this. In Isaiah 57:15, it says;
For thus says the High and Lofty One
Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
I dwell in the high and holy place,
With him who has a contrite and humble spirit,
To revive the spirit of the humble,
And to revive the heart of the contrite ones (Isaiah 57:15).
And so, in James 4:10, Pastor James encourages us, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.” Likewise, the apostle Peter writes, “Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for ‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’ Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time” (1 Peter 5:5-6).
And may I call attention to the way that Peter specifies this exaltation as ‘in due time’? We may not see or understand when that ‘due time’ is. We may have to abide in times of humility and difficulty and trial for what seems like a long time; waiting patently and staying true to our humble tasks faithfully; wondering if God notices us at all or if He will ever act on our behalf; wondering at times whether or not He has forgotten us. But He never forgets. He knows when the time is right in the outworking of His good purpose. And when that perfect time comes, He is able to bring His faithful ones up from out of humility to places of great honor and influence in the service of His kingdom’s cause.
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Well; the Bible tells us many stories that prove this to us. And the story we find in Esther 8 is one of them. Please look with me at the first two verses of this chapter; and see, first, how God is able to wonderfully exalt one of His faithful servants . . .
1. TO A POSITION OF GREAT HONOR (vv. 1-2).
You’ll remember that Queen Esther—the humble Jewish woman who, herself, was exalted by God to become the wife of the mighty king of the vast Median-Persian empire—had just revealed something of great significance to her royal husband. His evil viceroy, Haman the Agagite, had plotted the complete destruction of the Jewish people throughout the known world. Haman had deceived the king into writing a decree for their destruction; and now, with that evil plot revealed, Haman himself was executed by the king—hanged on the very same gallows that he had built for Esther’s godly cousin Mordecai. Truly, it was one of the greatest “just deserts” stories in all of written history!
This chapter, then, begins with these words; “On that day King Ahasuerus gave Queen Esther the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews” (v. 1a). It was common practice in those days for the property and estate of an executed criminal to revert to the king. And Haman’s estate must have been a significant one indeed! He had planned personally to finance the destruction of the Jewish people throughout the 127 provinces of the Median-Persian empire with his own resources! All his vast household and property and estate, however, had suddenly reverted to the king; and the king, in turn, gave it to his queen Esther—who’s very people Haman had planned to destroy!
And then, we’re told, “And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told how he was related to her” (v. 1b). The king already had a great love for this man. You’ll recall that Mordecai had faithfully revealed a plot that had been crafted against the king’s life by a couple of his servants. The king—only a day or so earlier—had commanded the wicked man Haman to parade Mordecai through the streets of the capital city in order to honor him for this. The king didn’t know at the time that Mordecai was of Esther’s people, however. And now, this man Mordecai—who had proven himself wonderfully trustworthy and faithful—was brought into the king’s presence.
And look at what the king did! “So the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai; and Esther appointed Mordecai over the house of Haman” (v. 2). That ‘signet ring’ was a symbol of full royal authority. It had been on Haman’s hand; but now it was placed on the hand of the humble Jew Mordecai. In other words, Mordecai—a pious Jewish man who, just a short while before, had been sitting outside the gates of the royal palace covered in sackcloth and ashes, and mourning because of the threatened destruction that had been decreed upon his people; a man who just a day or so before was himself threatened with murder at the hands of Haman—was now, suddenly, amazingly, exalted to the place from which Haman had been removed. Mordecai was—in literally just a few moment’s time—exalted to the position of the king’s prime minister. He was made the viceroy over the mighty world empire of the Persians; the highest position a man could possibly be exalted to in that day, second only to the king himself! Who but God could do such a thing!
Now; stop and think of what would have happened if Mordecai had sought to put himself into a place of honor before the king—just as the wicked man Haman had sought to elevate himself? Mordecai was a better man than Haman, to be sure; but he could never have raised himself to the place of second to the king! But God Himself did this—and in due time!
We can never presumptuously elevate ourselves to the place of honor that God would want to give to those who will serve His purpose. It’s, in fact, impossible for us to do; and we would only succeed in humiliating ourselves were we ever to try. Rather, let’s remember what it says in Psalm 75:6-7; “For exaltation [we could say, true exaltation; exaltation that lasts] comes neither from the east nor from the west nor from the south [that is to say, from no where within the realms and capabilities of man]. But God is the Judge: He puts down one, and exalts another.”
May God teach us to humble ourselves under His mighty hand; and wait for the honor that comes only from Him at His perfect time.
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Now; God does not exalt His people to a place of such honor for their own gratification and glory. When He does something like this, it is so that they may be in an even greater position to serve His good cause. And that was true of Mordecai.
We next see, from Mordecai’s story, how God is able to exalt His humble ones . . .
2. UNTO A PLACE OF USEFULNESS (vv. 3-14).
Look, first, at the need. We’re told, “Now Esther spoke again to the king, fell down at his feet, and implored him with tears to counteract the evil of Haman the Agagite, and the scheme which he had devised against the Jews” (v. 3). Haman was gone; but the decree that he had manipulated the king into approving was still in place. Esther’s people were still under the decree of death.
And notice how passionately and with what importunity she pleaded for her people. She was breaking all the rules of courtly propriety. But the king, nevertheless, was gracious to her. We’re told, “And the king held out the golden scepter toward Esther” (v. 4a). This was as if to assure her that he would receive her request and do whatever he could for her. “So Esther arose and stood before the king” (v. 4b)—we could say, in the complete confidence of his favor.
But it’s then that the difficulty of the situation presented itself. She said, “If it pleases the king, and if I have found favor in his sight and the thing seems right to the king and I am pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to annihilate the Jews who are in all the king’s provinces. For how can I endure to see the evil that will come to my people? Or how can I endure to see the destruction of my countrymen?” (vv. 5-6). But sadly, the king could not do what she requested. She asked that the previous decree be revoked; and yet, as we learn from the Book of Daniel, a decree of the king of Persia could not be changed; “according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which does not alter” (Daniel 6:8).
But the king had a plan; and it was Mordecai who—by the providence of God—was now the only person who could bring it to pass. We’re told , “Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and Mordecai the Jew, “Indeed, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows because he tried to lay his hand on the Jews. You yourselves write a decree concerning the Jews, as you please, in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s signet ring; for whatever is written in the king’s name and sealed with the king’s signet ring no one can revoke” (vv. 7-8).
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May I step away from the story for a moment? Do you realize that the situation that was presented before the king was very much like your and my situation before a holy God?
God, you see, has established a principle—a permanent and inviolable law in His moral universe—that is absolutely consistent with His own holy character; and that is that “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23a). God says in Ezekiel 18:4, “The soul that sins shall die.” That means that, by the decree of a holy God, you and I are under a judicial sentence of death. How then could you or I ever be saved? We might try to come to God and appeal to Him—just as Esther did—to simply revoke that law and ignore it. But He cannot do that. His laws are an expression of His unchanging holy character; and He cannot violate His own holy law and still remain a holy God.
But God has a plan, just like the king of Persia had a plan (except that God’s plan was established, really, from before time). It’s a plan that would not in any way violate God’s holy decree. Death is required for our sin; but God also decreed that His own Son would leave the glory of heaven, take full humanity to Himself, be born under the law as a man among fallen humankind, and Himself pay the just penalty of death for our sins in His own person on the cross. “For the wages of sin is death”, the Scriptures tell us, “but the the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). God has provided that all who would put their trust in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross on their behalf would have eternal life. And in no way did God violate His own law regarding sin in providing this for us; because the price for our sins was fully paid by Another!
I hope you have placed your trust in the provision God has made for our sins and for His own justice! What a wonderful Savior is Jesus our Lord!
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Now; back to our story. Mordecai was authorized to write a decree in the king’s name to meet the evil decree written by Haman. We’re told, “So the king’s scribes were called at that time, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day; and it was written, according to all that Mordecai commanded, to the Jews, the satraps, the governors, and the princes of the provinces from India to Ethiopia, one hundred and twenty-seven provinces in all, to every province in its own script, to every people in their own language, and to the Jews in their own script and language. And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus, sealed it with the king’s signet ring, and sent letters by couriers on horseback, riding on royal horses bred from swift steeds” (vv. 9-10). This was good news; and great effort was extended to deliver it to everyone who needed to hear it.
By the way; may I divert from the story again? You and I have the greatest news of all. We have even better news to deliver than the news from Mordecai. Our God has sent His Son to pay the death penalty on our behalf. We can now be right with God; and can enjoy eternal life! May God help us to be as earnest at getting our good news out as Mordecai was with his!
As we read on, we see what this new decree established. “By these letters the king permitted the Jews who were in every city to gather together and protect their lives—to destroy, kill, and annihilate all the forces of any people or province that would assault them, both little children and women, and to plunder their possessions, on one day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar” (vv. 11-12)—that is, on the very day that Haman’s evil decree was to be executed.
Now; this second decree might seem harsh to our ears. But let’s remember a few things. First, it was worded in such a way as to allow the Jewish people to protect themselves in the exact, word-for-word way that Haman had previously decreed for them to be destroyed—even including the women and children. It was not that Mordecai was ordering the women and children of the Persians to be destroyed; but simply ordering that the counter-decree be in perfect parallel to Haman’s evil decree. That, really, was the only way Haman’s decree could be sufficiently countered. Second, it was a decree for only one day—the very day that Haman had decreed. It wasn’t a decree for an ongoing, endless assault by the Jews on the Persian people. Third, we have no indication that the Jewish people ever took things to the extent that this new decree allowed. They didn’t destroy all the people that they could have; but only the ones that presented the threat of acting on Haman’s evil plans against them—and only as far as was necessary for their protection. And finally, as we’ll see in the next chapter, the Jewish people were very careful not to plunder the people of Ahasaures’ kingdom, or to take any of their possessions. A lesser man would have decreed something far more brutal. But the wisdom and grace and justness of Mordecai’s decree—taken as a whole—was truly remarkable.
We’re told further, “A copy of the document was to be issued as a decree in every province and published for all people, so that the Jews would be ready on that day to avenge themselves on their enemies. The couriers who rode on royal horses went out, hastened and pressed on by the king’s command. And the decree was issued in Shushan the citadel” (vv. 13-14). This means that there would have been around nine month’s time for the news to be spread throughout the 127 provinces of the Median-Persian empire, for the Jewish people to prepare themselves for that day, and for the people of the Persian empire to give careful consideration to it.
Can you imagine the joy that would have reverberated throughout all the land among the Jewish people at the receiving of this good news? In fact, we can imagine that all the people of the land rejoiced in it. And I would say that God—in His wise providence—exalted the right man, at just the right time, for a position of good service in His call. Wouldn’t you? In fact, no other person could have done the job—at that perfect time—than the man that God exalted.
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And finally—speaking of joy—that leads us to our last point. When God exalts the humble for His good cause, it is . . .
3. FOR THE JOY OF ALL (vv. 15-17).
Because God—in His providence—exalts the humble to places of honor for the purpose of serving His good cause, the result is joy. As we read on, we’re told; “So Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, with a great crown of gold and a garment of fine linen and purple . . .” (v. 15a). Formerly, he was clothed in sackcloth and ashes; but what a change it is that had come about! And it was not like when Haman had paraded around in the honor that he had stolen with deceit. Haman had demanded that everyone bow to him; and the city at that time was in confusion and mourning. But here, we read, “and the city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad” (v. 15b).
And the most joy of all was felt among Mordecai’s people. Formerly, the Jewish people throughout the kingdom wept and mourned because of the wicked decree of Haman. But now, we’re told, “The Jews had light and gladness, joy and honor. And in every province and city, wherever the king’s command and decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a holiday” (vv. 16-17a).
And look at what we’re told at the end of verse 17; “Then many of the people of the land became Jews, because fear of the Jews fell upon them.” I believe we can take this to mean that many of the Gentile people throughout the provinces of King Ahasaures’ empire believed on the God of Israel, and became Jewish proselytes. The exaltation of the man Mordecai spread the honor of God to others. What an example of what it says in Proverbs 29:2; “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; but when a wicked man rules, the people groan”!
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Dear brothers and sisters in Christ; let’s learn from this that our great God—in His gracious providence, and in the sovereign authority of His purposes—is wonderfully able, even in the darkest of times, to raise up the man or woman of His divine appointment, for His good purposes, at just the right time, to a place of honor and great usefulness; and all to the praise of His glory and to the joy of His people. Let’s never, ever despair!
And for our part, let’s remember that the men or women or young people that God exalts are the ones who humble themselves under His mighty hand—never seeking to exalt themselves for their own gratification; but trusting in His sovereign purposes, waiting patiently on His perfect timing, serving faithfully in whatever place He calls them, and seeking the glory of His name and the good of His people wherever they are.
It is always true—as the story of Mordecai reminds us—that ‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’