The God Who is Already at Work
The Hidden Hand of God - A Study of Esther May 10, 2026 Esther 5-6 Notes
This week, as Esther approaches the king and Haman’s plot continues to unfold, something remarkable happens. There are no miracles, no visions, no dramatic interventions—just a series of ordinary events. A banquet. A delay. A restless night. A remembered deed. And yet, through all of it, God is at work.
Because if we’re honest, this is where many of us live. Not in the dramatic moments, but in the ordinary details of life. And in those moments, we often wonder: Where’s God? When delays come… when plans fail… when evil seems to be advancing… when nothing seems to be improving… it can feel like God is absent.
But Esther shows us that even in the most ordinary and unnoticed details, God is already at work. In Esther 5:1–6:13, as Haman’s deadly plot advanced and Esther sought favor, a series of seemingly ordinary events revealed that God was already at work to deliver His people.
Audio
This is part three of our series through the book of Esther. We're looking through this ten-chapter book that's a very unique book in the Bible. We've entitled it, “The Hidden Hand of God, A Study of Esther.” And the reason we've called it that is because of its uniqueness. It's unique because it's one of only two books of the Bible named for a woman, the other being Ruth.
But it's really unique because of all the books in The Bible, all 66 books, it's the only book of the Bible that never names the name of God. But although it never mentions God by name, he's present on every page. He's not missing. His hidden hand is active behind the scenes. He's already at work, even though he's not named.
And as we've studied this book, the first couple of chapters, we find out that the king of Persia is Ahasuerus, who's also known as Xerxes I. That he has ordered his wife Vashti, the queen, to come before him after a great feast. But she disobeys him. And so he removes her from the throne.
And he holds what might be considered the very first Miss Universe contest. Esther wins this contest and she becomes Queen of Persia. Esther is an exiled Jewish girl, probably a teenager, an orphan, raised by her first cousin Mordecai, who really became a father to her. She's now been elevated to the throne. And then we see that as we turn into the chapters and we get to chapter three, we find that there's an enemy that appears.
His name is Haman. This is this part of the story where I'm giving you what happened last week, okay? He gets upset because Mordecai, Esther's adopted father, will not bow down to him after he's elevated to second place in the kingdom. And so he hates Mordecai for this. And he convinces the king to allow him to send out a decree for the genocide of all the Jewish people in all 127 provinces of Persia.
And so Haman is the bad guy who shows up. And now we see that Mordecai is weeping in sackcloth. He's one of the officials. He sits at the king's gate, but he's been overlooked, and now his people are in jeopardy. And he encourages his adopted daughter to go before the king.
She says that the king hasn't called for me in 30 days. I can't just stroll up into the king's throne room uninvited. There's a death penalty for that unless he lowers his scepter and invites me in. And so Mordecai tells her, look, who's to say that God didn't put you in this position for such a time as this? And so she says, well, you all better fast for three days and then I'll consider going in.
So that brings us up to speed. This is where we are now, these details. God's never named. And maybe that's how you feel in your life sometimes, because in a book like this, you don't see fantastically miraculous things happening. You just see these ordinary movements happening.
But behind the scenes, as you reflect on them, you go, wow, that was miraculous. And maybe that's more the way your life is. And what I would say to you is, as you're going through life right now, perhaps you're going through a time of delay where you've gotten a test at the doctor's office and you're waiting on the results. You are trying to conceive. Here it is Mother's Day, and you're waiting to see if the Lord will answer your prayers.
You're waiting for an adopted child, and you're in that process. You're waiting, and there's some waiting that's going to go on in this study today. You've experienced delays, but you're waiting. That's really hard for me. Is that hard for you to be waiting on the Lord? It’s something to consider, that you're in a time of delay?
Others are maybe here today and your plans aren't working out. You had a good plan. It's not working out. These are details. Is God interested in these kinds of details?
Is he interested in the details of your life? Here's my conviction, he absolutely is. He's the God of great things, but he's also the God of little things. He cares about the details of our life. He's at work even when you don't see him, even if you don't sense him, even if you're not sure where he is.
Trust in the Lord, wait on the Lord, and one day you'll look back and you'll go, oh, I see it now. I see where he was at work all along in the book of Esther. That's what we'll see today. Chapters five and chapter six. As God begins to put everything in place, Haman's deadly plot advances.
Esther goes into the throne room to seek favor. A series of seemingly ordinary events reveal that God was already at work to deliver his people. I believe God's already at work in your life as we look at the text today. Put your seatbelts on. Because we have four ways, four ways that God is already at work accomplishing his purpose.
What I'm going to do is I'm going to break it into four pieces. Four pieces in the story. We'll read a little bit and then make a point and so forth. Let's start at chapter five, verse one. Esther 5:1-8 (ESV) 1 On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king's palace, in front of the king's quarters, while the king was sitting on his royal throne inside the throne room opposite the entrance to the palace. 2 And when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she won favor in his sight,
and he held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter. 3 And the king said to her, “What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given you, even to the half of my kingdom.”
4 And Esther said, “If it please the king, let the king and Haman come today to a feast that I have prepared for the king.” 5 Then the king said, “Bring Haman quickly, so that we may do as Esther has asked.” So the king and Haman came to the feast that Esther had prepared. 6 And as they were drinking wine after the feast, the king said to Esther, “What is your wish?
It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.” 7 Then Esther answered, “My wish and my request is: 8 If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my wish and fulfill my request, let the king and Haman come to the feast that I will prepare for them,
and tomorrow I will do as the king has said.” This is God's word. We're looking for four ways God's already at work accomplishing his purpose. What we're really talking about today is God's providence. God's providence that he's working all the time.
1. By ordering events according to His perfect timetable.
He orders events according to his perfect timetable. We're reminded in the scripture that a thousand years is as a day and a day is as a thousand years to the Lord. His timing is not your timing.
He has perfect timing. He is the Lord. Notice how this passage begins on the third day. That's how it begins. It begins with a timing phrase “on the third day” in chronology.
Now, what does that mean? Well, this is the third day of the fast. Remember what Esther requested of her adopted father, Mordecai? Hey, go and tell all the Jewish people to call for a fast, because the king has not called me into his throne room for 30 days. And if someone goes uninvited, it's a death sentence.
But let's fast for three days, and on the third day I'll go in, and if I perish, I perish. That's what she said. She was obedient. She was obedient to her father; this young woman, Esther, this is one of the marks you'll see of her.
She's humble and she's obedient, and wherever she goes, God gives her favor. And so when she goes in on the third day, after three days of fasting, the king lowers his golden scepter and she touches the tip, and she comes in, and the king, I mean, he lays it out on a platter. Oh, my goodness. What would you have said?
I know what I would have said. He says, Oh, Queen Esther, whatever you ask, whatever you request, up to half of the kingdom, it's yours. I'd have asked to kill Haman and rescue the Jewish people. I'd have just blurted it all out right there. That's not what she does.
She does something very surprising. I'm kind of an impatient person. I'd have been like, let's fix this. No, she invites him to a feast today. She's breaking her fast that day.
It appears on the third day. And by the way, could you invite Haman, your second in command? What a strange strategy this is. How could you predict such a thing for her to come up with?
Is this because Esther is postponing the inevitable? Now that he's telling me, now that he's saying, whatever you want, she says, oh, let's have dinner together. Is that what it is? She's afraid?
I don't think so. She's fasted and prayed for three days, she's had her people fasting. I think God has put something on her heart. Now, insert yourself in the story. That's what I'm trying to do.
I thought, now what would I do? Well, she doesn't do what I would do. She does what she does. And what she does seems just really contrary to human nature. What kind of strategy is this?
Let's have dinner together. Then the king asks the same thing again. Up to half of my kingdom. I'll give it to you. She says to him, let's have dinner again tomorrow night.
Oh, and bring Haman again. And then I'll tell you, at that dinner, what my request is. What a strange, strange strategy. If it is a strategy. Here's what I'm thinking.
I'm thinking it's so strange that God must have put it on her heart to do it because it's so otherworldly.. What in the world? You got your opportunity right here.
Just tell him. Tell him what you want. But she says, let's have dinner again the next day. Here's what I'm thinking happened, that God somehow told her, here's what I want you to do. I'm putting this on your heart.
Just invite him to a meal, because the timing is such. And we'll see that as we continue in this story, that if she would have immediately told him, he might have said no.
And if she'd have told him on the first meal, the timing wasn't right because as we'll see, there were some more pieces that needed to fall into place. And God knew that. See, God is not trapped within time. He stands outside of time. He sees all of history and all the future in a glance.
I think it was CS Lewis who said that if you draw a line on a piece of paper and a timeline, you put an arrow on the end and you put a dot on there, that represents this moment that you're living in. And however long you've been alive, you have some memory of what's happened in the past, but you have no awareness of what's happening in the future. And so you see yourself right now. Here we are, a dot on a timeline in this moment that we're sharing together. And God is the piece of paper.
He created time in the beginning. God created; in the beginning. That's a time word. The heavens, that's a space word.
And the earth, that's a matter word. He created the three dimensions that we live in, so he's not trapped by time, right? So he sees it all and he has perfect timing. Now, that's a good word for those of us who worry about details.
Is there anybody here who is a “type A?” You're a planner. You've got a list with boxes on the side and the most wonderful feeling you get on any day is to put a check in the box. I checked that off.
Some of you are so Type A, you have another list. That's the list of your lists. This is my daily list and this is my master list. Some of you have a diary with a five-year planner and how presumptuous that we have a plan for five years out. But we often do.
God has a perfect timetable. Esther says, tomorrow I'll tell you. See, God is behind the scenes orchestrating all the pieces to fall into place. When the disciples were with Jesus on the mountain before he ascended, they asked him, is now the time when you're going to take the throne and the kingdom's going to begin? Is it now?
Is it getting ready to happen? And he says in Acts 1:7 (ESV) He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.” Here's what I've noticed about the Lord. He often leads us to the next step of obedience. He rarely tells you two steps forward.
He usually tells you one step and the next step is revealed as you obey the first one. If you don't obey the first one, you never find out what the second one is. He's still waiting for your obedience. And boy, that's hard sometimes when you want to know how this is going to end. I want you to walk by faith. I want you to take the next step
and that's hard. It's not for you to know though, the times or the seasons. That is up to the Father. When Paul was talking about God's timing, when he's talking about the coming of Christ, he said that Christ came in the Father, fullness of time. And that word fullness has the idea of perhaps of a cup being so full that it overflows.
But maybe even more particular is the idea of a woman who is in her ninth month and she's full and the baby is coming. The doctor might tell you the due date, but the doctor is only guessing. The due date is whenever the baby comes. That's the due date. And so Galatians 4 says, Galatians 4:4 (ESV) “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law.”
He came at the perfect time in history, when the Roman Empire had taken over much of the known world. At that time, there were Roman roads for the Gospel to travel on, a common Greek language for the Gospel to be spoken, Roman laws to protect the people so they could move freely. And so when Christ was raised and the gospel went forth, it splashed upon human history and washed up on the shores of every nation just so quickly, because Christ came at the perfect time in history. What are you waiting on today? What are you anxious about?
Is it a job offer that you haven't heard back on? Is it medical results that you took tests, but you don't know the results yet? Is it the birth of a child? What are you waiting on today and you're anxious about it?
The principle for us to take home today from Esther is God has perfect timing. He's already at work, so rest in him. Some of you are frustrated. You've prayed, you've waited. Nothing has changed.
But God is never late. He's always right on time. Don't rush ahead of God. Have you ever done that? Have you ever tried to help God?
Tried to rush ahead?
That hasn't worked out well for me. I don't recommend it. Trust his timing. Here's where we'll go next. Let's go to the rest of chapter four, five, and then we'll talk about it.
Chapter five, we're picking up at verse nine. Esther 5:9-14 (ESV) 9 And Haman went out that day joyful and glad of heart. But when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate, that he neither rose nor trembled before him, he was filled with wrath against Mordecai. 10 Nevertheless, Haman restrained himself and went home,
and he sent and brought his friends and his wife Zeresh. 11 And Haman recounted to them the splendor of his riches, the number of his sons, all the promotions with which the king had honored him, and how he had advanced him above the officials and the servants of the king. 12 Then Haman said, “Even Queen Esther let no one but me come with the king to the feast she prepared. And tomorrow also I am invited by her together with the king. 13 Yet all this is worth nothing to me, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate.”
14 Then his wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Let a gallows fifty cubits high be made, and in the morning tell the king to have Mordecai hanged upon it. Then go joyfully with the king to the feast.” This idea pleased Haman, and he had the gallows made.
2. By overruling the sinful schemes of man.
By overruling the sinful schemes of man. It's always challenging to figure out and to think about. Philosophers and theologians have never solved this mystery of the problem of evil. God is sovereign over all. Why does he allow evil?
Well, we'll not solve it today, but we can draw this principle, and that is that God even overrules evil, so that evil people who are subject to the evil one, they have their schemes, they have their plans. But ultimately God protects his purposes and his people. Do I understand the mystery of that interchange? I don't. I can stab at it.
I've studied the theology of it. But I'm not honestly sure of the mystery of how to solve the problem of evil. But I know God is holy, God is good, and God is sovereign, and he overrules evil schemes. And we see it here. Haman is plotting, he's boasting, he's building gallows.
And he's completely unaware that every step he takes is to his own demise. He doesn't know it yet. He leaves the first feast, that was on the third day after the fast of the Jews. Man, can life get any better? And he walks out of the king's palace, and there's Mordecai, who will not bow down to him.
Now some of you are sitting there really feeling like Haman's a bad dude. I'm glad I'm not like Haman. Are you sure? Are you sure you're not like Haman? Have you ever had a day and you're like, everything seems to be going so well?
You know, I've got a great family, I've got a good job. I have my health. And then somebody doesn't pull out of the red light fast enough in front of you. Or, you go to the store and the lady in front of you got the last one. I came all the way to the store to get this, and there it goes.
And then all of a sudden you're filled with wrath because life is not perfectly going your way. Oh, my friend, don't judge Haman too harshly. We are Haman. We're just like him.
We're so blessed, but all it takes is one little thing to knock our joy right off the throne of our heart and to be filled with anxiety and rage. We're just like him. He's leaving there and he is so ticked. Mordecai doesn't do anything about Haman.
He sees him. Haman's over there. Be reminded, Mordecai is wearing sackcloth and ashes on his head. He's weeping, and he won't show homage to Haman. Haman comes out, he's full of joy, and all it takes is one look at Mordecai and
it just took away his joy. And he comes home and he does this thing where he's kind of glorying in himself. I've got it so made. He calls people over to the house with his wife, Zeresh, and in front of them says, look at me, look at how wonderful I am. I've got it all.
Even today, to top it all off, I'm the only one that got an invitation to the King and Queen's feast, and I've got another one for tomorrow night.
But what does he say? This is so good. Verse 13, “Yet all this is worth nothing to me, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate.”
It just steals his joy.
God's overruling even now, we can't see it yet. But he comes up with a scheme. Actually, he doesn't come up with it. What kind of wife is Zeresh anyway?
She says to him, I have a good idea for you, Haman. For Mordecai, build a gallows 50 cubits high and put him on it. Now, if you look this up, the Persian practice of execution is not what you think of when you think of a Western movie and somebody getting hanged by the neck. The Persian practice of hanging was actually the idea of impaling someone on a pole.
You'd hang them on a pole; that day he had the gallows made, and at 50 cubits, if you convert that to feet, that's 75ft high. Now, how could you build a gallows 75ft high in one day? You couldn't. But you could cut down a tall tree and sharpen the end of it and stick it in the ground.
You could do that in one day. And I think that's what this refers to. The NLT actually translates it like this. Esther 5:14 (NLT) “Set up a sharpened pole that stands seventy-five feet tall, and in the morning ask the king to impale Mordecai on it.” He has a scheme.
He said, I can't wait for the rest of the year to kill Mordecai. I'm going to kill him tomorrow. And so that's his scheme. While he's scheming, God's still at work. It reminds me of what Joseph told his brothers after they had sold him into slavery and after he'd been imprisoned and after he'd suffered so much, he said to them, Genesis 50:20 (ESV) “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”
You meant it evil, but God turned it into good.
There are people in our lives, there are situations in our lives that are meant to harm us, but God preserves and protects his people, and he even takes evil schemes that are against you and against God's people, and he overrules.
And so we see Peter preaching at Pentecost, and he talks about how God overruled the evil schemes of Judas and the Jewish leaders and of Pilate. And then when he's preaching in Acts chapter two, he says, Acts 2:23 (NLT) “But God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him.” So God planned to take the schemes of the evil one, the schemes of sinful people, in order to prepare for the great reversal. They thought they were winning the evil one
and all of his minions were celebrating as he was crucified. But, oh, they were so wrong, because on the third day. So we see an echo in Esther. It never names God, but like all the books of the Old Testament and the New, it points to one who was raised up on the third day.
He's Jesus. As Isaiah prophesied, no weapon that is formed against these shall prosper. So take heart. Take heart. No scheme can succeed outside of God's permission to touch you, believer.
Even when others mean it for evil, God is able to turn it for good and for his glory. That doesn't make evil good, but it does mean evil never has the final word.
Let's keep reading. We're drawing principles of providence in God's working behind the scenes from our reading today. Chapter six.
Esther 6:1-5 (ESV) 1 On that night the king could not sleep. And he gave orders to bring the book of memorable deeds, the chronicles, and they were read before the king. 2 And it was found written how Mordecai had told about Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs, who guarded the threshold, and who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. 3 And the king said, “What honor or distinction has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?” The king's young men who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.”
4 And the king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king's palace to speak to the king about having Mordecai hanged on the gallows that he had prepared for him. 5 And the king's young men told him, “Haman is there, standing in the court.” And the king said, “Let him come in.” We'll pause right there.
3. By sovereignly directing the hearts of kings.
By sovereignly directing the hearts of kings. Why on this night, this particular night, was King Xerxes, King Ahasuerus, having a bout of insomnia? Does God sometimes cause insomnia?
Have you ever had a sleepless night and the only way to get through it was to talk to the Lord, because he was behind it? You can ask young Samuel about that in First Samuel. He kept getting his sleep disturbed until finally he said, speak, Lord, your servant is listening. I've had this happen to me in the early days when I would have a sleepless night.
I would pray like this, Lord, knock me out. I can't wallow in this bed anymore. Help me sleep. I have to get up in the morning and go to work. Have you ever prayed like that?
It doesn't seem to work. You just keep on being sleepless. Finally, after a period of time and growth in the Lord, I would ask, okay, Lord, what do you want to talk about? Just get up so you don't wake your spouse up. Get up and go to the other room. Here's what's on my heart.
Lord, this is what I'm thinking about. And pray yourself empty and then pray yourself full. Pray yourself empty of what's rattling around in your head.
Take every thought captive, lift it up to the Lord, leave it at the cross, and then say, Jesus, fill me afresh with your Holy Spirit. And then often you'll be sleepy again, or he'll give you marching orders and you'll need to get on it right then. But I think sometimes he interrupts our sleep because it's the only way to get us quiet long enough to where we would listen. In this loud world, the King has a sleepless night. How coincidental.
To further the coincidence, which I think is really a ‘God-incidence,” he says, and perhaps this was his habit all along. Instead of counting sheep, he would have them bring out the Wikipedia, the chronicles of memorable deeds. And the young man says, would you like me to pick up where I left off last time, O Lord? And he says, just go ahead. I can't sleep.
And he starts reading, and he starts reading about how Mordecai, and remember I told you to hang on to this random detail from chapter two, where Mordecai revealed a conspiracy to kill the king, and all he got was an honorable mention in the chronicles. And then you turn to page chapter three, and guess who gets the promotion? Not Mordecai.
Haman, his enemy. The enemy of the Jews gets the promotion. Mordecai gets overlooked. All he gets is an honorable mention in a book. But God didn't forget.
God doesn't forget what you've done. You might feel overlooked. You might feel like he doesn't see. He sees, and he brings it to the king. How coincidental, that on this particular night, with God's perfect timing, the pieces are starting to click into place.
A sleepless night and he hears this read. Wait. Hey, hold up. What did we do for Mordecai? How did we honor him?
Yeah, we didn't do anything. Well, who's in the court? Coincidentally, Haman couldn't sleep either. He's already built the gallows. He's already got a sharpened pole out there, 75ft high, so all of the capital city of Susa will see him execute Mordecai.
He got up early to go to the king's palace to get permission to do it. So he's the guy in the court. Who's in the court? He goes, checks downstairs. Haman's in the court.
It's all falling into place. All this coincidence, coincidence, coincidence, coincidence. Except it's not. It's God-incidence.”
It's God behind the scenes. A sleepless night, a random reading, a forgotten act remembered, and the exact person walks in at the perfect time. God is directing the King's heart. Proverbs 21 says, the King's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord.
He turns it wherever he will. Some of you have a boss that's giving you a fit right now. You're in some relationship at school or whatever it is, and there's someone over you, and they haven't seen the work you're doing. You're unrecognized, you're not getting credit, other people are. And you feel like you've got to do something.
But know this believer. Talk to the Lord about it. He's sovereign over all rulers and kingdoms. I was reading this past week in the Christian Post that Iranian Believers are refusing to leave their country when several nonprofits have offered to help them escape because many of them are being murdered and persecuted, especially during this season. And I would remind you that Iran is modern day Persia.
And why are they refusing to leave? According to this article, it says even as pressure and persecution have increased, reports show that many Iranians are becoming more spiritually open than ever before. And so they don't want to leave during this opportune time to share the gospel. And the gospel often goes out more quickly and people are more receptive during these times of disruption. And so they're staying.
In fact, some ministries are reporting that the fastest growing underground Christian movement in the world is perhaps today in modern day Persia, Iran. So as you're worried about gas prices and the cost of bread and eggs, why not lift your eyes and think, God, what are you doing in Persia right now? People are dying for their faith. But there's a great receptivity. And for me personally, can I share my personal heart about the Iranians?
My freshman year of college and I mentioned this, I think a couple of Sundays ago, my roommate was from Iran. His name was Merhegan, Merhegan Lopfi and his brother Mehran and his friend Fashad. These guys used to hang out in my room and watch “Gunsmoke” on my black and white tv. They loved “Gunsmoke.”
I think about those guys all the time, about where they're at with the Lord. I tried sharing my faith with them. I think God is doing something in history that's way beyond the price of gas. Christians, let's look to the Lord and think about what he's doing now.
because he is lord over kings and presidents and ayatollahs and bosses and teachers, and whoever is in authority, he is ruler. Let's keep reading. We've seen three principles, timeless principles, where God's already at work. We're picking up at verse 6. The king has just said, let him come in.
Esther 6:6-13 (ESV) 6 So Haman came in, and the king said to him, “What should be done to the man whom the king delights to honor?” And Haman said to himself, “Whom would the king delight to honor more than me?” 7 And Haman said to the king, “For the man whom the king delights to honor, 8 let royal robes be brought, which the king has worn, and the horse that the king has ridden, and on whose head a royal crown is set. 9 And let the robes and the horse be handed over to one of the king's most noble officials.
Let them dress the man whom the king delights to honor, and let them lead him on the horse through the square of the city, proclaiming before him: ‘Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.’” 10 Then the king said to Haman, “Hurry; take the robes and the horse, as you have said, and do so to Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king's gate. Leave out nothing that you have mentioned.”
11 So Haman took the robes and the horse, and he dressed Mordecai and led him through the square of the city, proclaiming before him, “Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.” 12 Then Mordecai returned to the king's gate. But Haman hurried to his house, mourning and with his head covered. 13 And Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and his wife Zeresh said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of the Jewish people, you will not overcome him but will surely fall before him.”
4. By humbling the proud and exalting the lowly.
By humbling the proud and exalting the lowly. You'll see it throughout scripture. You'll see these great reversals where he'll slap down the prideful and lift up the lowly. You'll see it over and over again. Haman walks in thinking he's about to be honored, and he walks out humiliated.
He walks in prideful, and we see that Mordecai has been covering his head and weeping at the gate, but now Haman walks out covering his head, weeping as he goes home. And Mordecai has been clothed in the king's robes, with a crown on his head, riding on the king's horse. What a great reversal that God has accomplished without even being named. The irony of it, the coincidence of, cannot be explained except by saying, “But God” at work. Human pride, you see, makes us enemies of God.
But humility opens us up to where God can move in with grace.
1 Peter 5:5-6 (ESV) … “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you.” Pride puts us on a collision course with God.
Somebody's sitting here today, this morning, and you're thinking, I got this. I can handle this myself.
You came because your mom invited you to church. It’s the first time this year that you came. I got this; I can fix this.
You put yourself in opposition to God with that thought. But the humble comes before the Lord and says, I don't have this. I don't have control. I need help.
I need a counselor. I need a savior. I need someone to look up to, to rescue me. And that's the beginning of allowing grace to flow towards you and forgiveness and a new life,
because pride puts us on a collision course with God. But humility invites the Savior.
And we see here this great reversal. We'll see more next week as we get into chapter seven. But we see this great reversal. But it really points to a greater reversal, and that's the reversal at the cross. We see God already at work in the book of Esther, ordering events, overruling evil, directing rulers, humbling the proud.
It's a great display of a reversal in the works. But the greatest one is at the cross. Men plotted, Judas betrayed, leaders conspired, Rome executed. But God had preordained it all to happen, overruling evil and creating a great reversal so that on the third day, he would get up, he would be raised like Esther. There's a great reversal.
Jesus was humbled that we might be exalted. Jesus took on our clothing, our human flesh, and became one of us so that we might wear his robes of righteousness that he had worn and put his crown on our head and walk, being led by him, saying, thus is one who the king delights to honor so that he became nothing, taking on death on the cross so that we might be exalted and lifted up in him. Every page, every book, ultimately is fulfilled in our scripture in Jesus. In the book of Esther, we see a great reversal forming here. But the greatest of all is at the cross.
Where's God at today? He's already at work in your life. Why not humble yourself and say, come, Lord Jesus, come take control of my life? Let's pray. Lord, thank you for your word.
Thank you that you're already at work. And Lord, when we look back on our lives and we look back on what has transpired, we have to say, I see now what you've done. I see now, as I look back, how you've been at work. I pray today for that person that's here today and you are ready to humble yourself and say, lord, I'm a sinner.
I need help. I need a Savior. And I believe that you died on the cross for my sins and that you were raised from the grave and that you live today. Come and live in me. Forgive me of my sin.
I pray that you would accept me as your child and that you would adopt me into your family. I want to follow you all the days of my life as my Lord and my Savior. If you're praying that prayer of faith, believing, humbling yourself, admitting your sin, repenting and turning to him, he'll save you. Others are here today, and you're a believer, but you've been allowing little things to steal your joy. You've been allowing the long wait for something to cause anxiety and doubt.
I don't know what you're going through, but God does. Would you speak to him right now and say, lord, forgive me for trying to be in control. I recognize that you're already at work. Help me to rest in you and to depend on you for what comes next. Lord, we love you.
We thank you. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Audio
All right. Good morning, church. So good to see you today. Happy Mother's Day. I'm very thankful you're here today.
And this is really a great text to find ourselves today on Mother's Day because we're smack in the middle of Esther, and if you haven't been in this series with us, that's okay. I think every single one of these sermons has a lot of power and fruit that it'll bear in your life. You can certainly go back and check them out on our website, but we're going to pick right up today, and I think you're going to be blessed by it. It's worth wonderful that we're right in the middle of a story where Esther, this beautiful queen, has now become, in a sense, the mother of Persia and is going to step in and be a powerful figure in saving God's people. And God's going to utilize her in spite of the fact that what we're going to see in today's story is very strange and confusing, but also really incredible.
So as we dig into this text, I want to remind you of a few things where worshiping here a God who is already at work. And what we saw in the first two chapters, even though what's unique about Esther is his name, never really appears in the book, we see him at work, but almost incognito, if you will. And this week is no different. As we broke into the text in chapters one and two, we saw that God is behind the scenes, working in these really strange ways. And Esther is positioned in such a place where she could speak to the king who's in authority of the known world in that day.
And Mordecai, her father, her adopted father, is also in a place of power. But then we saw last week, those of you who were with us, that there's an evil character in the story. As all stories have a conflict, we have one here in chapters three and four comes onto the scene, this man named Haman, who not only hates Mordecai because of his hatred for Mordecai, and he hates all the people of God. And so he set out to destroy them all. And it looks like he's going to win.
So this is a great spot where you've picked up with us today, where it looks like evil is advancing, and yet God is about to do a great reversal. There's an amazing thing that's about to happen, and through the courage of some very unusual people, like this young woman named Esther. So this week, what we're going to find Ourselves in chapter five and six of Esther is she has courage. She comes in, she's had a three day fast, she's coming in before the king. Even though there's a possibility she may be executed for doing that.
It was the way of the Persian government that you weren't allowed to go to see the king until he'd asked for you. And so she just goes in with courage, hoping that perhaps he'll extend peace to her and not kill her. And what we're going to find out is that's exactly what happens. But what we don't see is what we might expect. Because the rest of the Bible is filled with divine intervention, with miracle, with vision.
We don't see any of that in this story. What we see is God working behind the scenes, working already through the ordinary. And I actually think this is an incredible reason to dig into Esther. Today is most of us, this is right where we are. We're not seeing necessarily, maybe we have in our life, but we're not seeing divine intervention necessarily in our life.
Instead we're seeing a God who's asking us to worship and serve him and walk with him in the ordinary. And that's what Esther's about to do. There's no dramatic moment. There's just ordinary details. There's a banquet, there's a delay, there's a sleepless night.
All stuff you've dealt with. In spite of that, God is going to work a miracle in the life of his people. So this causes us. Then we have to be honest about something here. This causes us to question what God's up to.
When we, day in and day out, we're facing the ordinary, it makes us start going, where are you? What you up to, Lord? Why is that plan working and that one's failing? What's happening here? When is that promotion?
Why did I just get fired? What is this? What is it causes us to begin to really question God. When will this relationship be reconciled? When will I finally be over this difficulty, this addiction?
When what where evil, at times even evil seems to be advancing and nothing seems to be improving. It may feel like God is absent. That's a perfect spot to find yourself today in the book of Esther. Because what we're going to see here is God is at work, absolutely at work in the ordinary, unnoticed details. In fact, you may argue he's more at work in those places because they're so more frequent.
They're so much more frequent. And that's where he's at work. So, Esther, where we're Going to find ourselves. Chapter five and six. This deadly plot of Haman is beginning to unfold.
It looks like it's going to happen, but God is going to use ordinary events to deliver his people. What we're going to see, I pray, is four ways that God is already at work in your life to accomplish his purpose. So let's dig in. We're going to take this in four bites together. Esther, five and six, verse one.
It says, on the third day, Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king's palace in front of the king's quarters while the king was sitting on his royal throne inside the throne room opposite the entrance to the palace. And when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she won favor in his sight. Okay, good news. And he held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter.
And the king said to her, this. What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given you even to the half of my kingdom. I'll give you half the kingdom.
Excellent. Look what Esther's about to say. Y', all, this is strange. We got to unpack this together. Verse 4.
She said, if it please the king, let the king and Haman come today to a feast that I prepared for the king. You should be reading that, going, say what? What are we doing? Verse 5. Then the king said, bring Haman quickly so that we may do as Esther has asked.
So the king and Haman came to the feast that Esther had prepared. And as they were drinking wine after the feast, the king said again to Esther, listen to this. What is your wish shall be granted you. What is your request? Even to half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.
Then Esther answered my wish, and my request is this. If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my wish and fulfill my request, let the king and Haman come to the feast that I will prepare for them. And tomorrow I will do as the king has said. This is God's word. Amen.
Okay, we should all be together asking, what in the world? Okay, let's just be honest here. God is already at work. And not only is he at work, he's just provided an opportunity for Esther to nip this thing in the bud. And that's not what she does.
She says, hey, come to a feast with that guy who's my enemy, who I can't stand. Bring him. That's wild. And then at the end of that, he asks her again, okay, what do you want? You can have anything up to half the kingdom.
Hey, can y' all come tomorrow? Let's do this again. Let's run this back. What? The reason that seems so strange is because we are very much so, every one of us, me included, very unfamiliar with the Lord's timetable.
It blows our minds every time. Here's the first way in which God is already working, accomplishing his purpose. Here's this. By ordering events according to his perfect timetable. His perfect timetable, not ours.
I can tell you this story blows my mind. And here's why. If I went in to see the king, and the king said, hey, buddy, you can have half the kingdom, I know exactly what I would ask for. And it wouldn't be, hey, let's go eat dinner with my enemy. It would be, hey, first of all, Haman, you might not know this.
I hate that guy. Take him out. That'd be number one, get rid of Haman. Number two, I got this adopted dad named Mordecai. Hey, promote him to his position.
Number two. And then number three, hey, my people are about to go under persecution. Can you bless them instead? Don't you think the king, who's been so flippant and so easily moved, would say, yeah, yeah, yeah, I don't like Haman anyway. I was just kidding, kidding.
Like, let's get rid of that dude. For sure he would. For sure he would. And so, yeah, Mordecai can come on in. Yeah, yeah.
That's not what happens. This leads me to believe, really, truly, that even though we don't see it clearly in the text, that this three day fast, this three days of prayer with the people of God, that something moved in Esther's heart, that God spoke in a powerful way to give her insight, to do this thing that seems very strange. Instead of coming and asking directly, instead she says, hey, come to a meal. And then he asks her again, hey, anything. Half my kingdom, come to another meal.
Why? Or as we see the story unfold, we're going to see the exact why. But God is working and moving in such a way that he will stir and move the hearts of people that are far from him, in spite of the fact that Esther could have just blatantly asked, right here, he has a better plan that's more perfect, that's more ideal for the purposes he has for his people. So sometimes we like to shortcut things. We might even have the right idea.
God has said, hey, do this, go there, say this. And we're like, all right. But we didn't keep listening where he said, hey, do this in a month. Like, I got a plan for this. Do this first.
We're like, no, no, no, no shortcuts. God. Let's get right to it. It's like, we're all like, my kids, every one of my kids. Like, as I'm telling them what to do, they start moving, they start running.
I'm like, wait a minute, and they're gone. I'm like, they're gonna have to come back. They didn't even hear the second half of what I'm telling them to do. I was apparently like this as a kid, too. Like, hey, go make your bed and clean up your laundry.
Like, yeah, I missed that part. That's how we are with God a lot. We're, like, trying to shortcut things. Not so concerned with the timing. But here, Esther, I think as a person who God is using powerfully in her generation, she goes through three days of fasting with her people, and she says, God's got a plan.
No, I don't want to eat with this guy. Can you imagine this meal? She knows everything about this. This man is killing my people, and he doesn't even realize I'm part of this. And she has to act sweet.
She doesn't let it out of the bag. Man, that's tough. God is obviously working through this. Come to a feast and now come to another one tomorrow. This idea of God's timing might be the most powerful thing for you to hear today.
There's a lot to unpack in Esther, but this might be the nugget you need to hear today is this. We are constantly asking when? And it's not a good question. It's not the right question at all. Instead, it should be, God, where, What are you doing?
How are you moving in this? And how do you want me to act and react in this? Rather than win, win, win. From the time we were little kids, that's been the whole nature of our humanity is win. Take a kid on a trip right now.
Take them on a trip today. And buckle up. They're going to ask you when, they're going to ask you when a whole bunch. You'll get 15 minutes down the road and they'll say, hey, when are we going to get there? It's a three hour drive.
You might as well just go to sleep because 15. You ain't asking me win every 15 minutes. You ain't going to do it. But guess what? We're no different.
We are no different. We're just big kids who grew up and our skin's a little less shiny. But we're still asking when. We're still asking when. When's that promotion coming around?
When will you get me out of this? When? And it's not the prayer of Esther, it doesn't seem. Instead, it's God, what would you have me do? How would you have me to act?
The disciples were questioning this like any of us would. In the same moment, Jesus has now, at this point in the Book of Acts, chapter one, he has been crucified, but has raised again. They are now walking with the resurrected Jesus. How powerful this moment must have been been for them. And they're saying, all right, the time has come, Lord Jesus, you're going to make your kingdom come now.
And instead he ascends to heaven and says, all authority I've given to you. Now you all make disciples. What, like you're back? Thought we were doing this thing? No, no, you make disciples.
And I'm coming again. But until then, I'm giving you the promised Holy Spirit, your comforter, your strength. And so the disciples, like you and I would be, they start asking when? And here's what he says. Jesus, in Acts, chapter one, verse seven, he said to them, it is not for you to know the times nor the seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.
I can tell you right now, you keep praying. When you're going to start hearing that resounding in your head, it's not for you to know. Just trust me. Just go where I lead. You do as you've called.
Paul often puts it this way in some of the other apostles as well, that the timing to which God does things is like a cup that's overflowing. And it's hard for you and I to see when that's actually occurring. But as the cup begins to reach its pinnacle and overflow, then God arrives. And the way in which he will return seems to be that type of language. Other places it's the language of, like, childbirth.
That in fact, in other places it says, creation is groaning, as in the pains of childbirth, until Christ comes again, until the sons of men, sons of God, rise again. This is the idea that creation itself is like eager for redemption and restoration. Even very nature itself is ready for the return of the Lord. But it's like the pain of childbirth, and it's an appropriate amount of time. It being Mother's Day, this seemed very fitting to me.
I watched my wife give birth four times, and every one of Those times blew my mind. I'm so amazed at what a woman can do when it comes to childbearing. It's impressive. And what's even more impressive is that they seem to quickly forget and want more. That blows my mind.
I would never want to do that a second time. The first time, it's like, you got me. Second time it's like, this is kind of on me now. But they do it over and over. It's amazing.
I'm so thankful for that. I wanted a lot of kids, but wow. But what's even more fascinating, that talking about the fullness of time and this overflowing of the cup, I noticed something every one of our pregnancies, and I've noticed this in some of our ladies here, too. That last week or two, the end of that trimester, that third one, they start saying some stuff, some new stuff, like, lord, get this baby out of me kind of language. They've forgotten how difficult that day will be.
At that point, they don't even care. It's like, come on. I'm tired of falling over just trying to walk. I mean, they're ready. They're ready.
This is the idea of the timing of God, is that there's a certain agony, sure, but a certain, like, longing and a certain, like, overflowing, if you will. That's like any day now. Come on. That's God's perfect timetable.
I pray that he would build that kind of timing in you that as you pray, you would begin to understand God's overflowing and how he's moving and that sometimes, guess what God says. Because God is a good God. Here's what he says to you and I. He says no. Like a good father.
He says, no. Sometimes you're asking the wrong question, my son, my daughter. I got a different plan. I'm sure, Esther, in those three days, and the people of God are like, God, can you go ahead and wipe out Haman? He's a menace.
That's not what God does in that time. He does it differently. He's going to deal with Haman, get ready next week. It's incredible. But he's going to do it in a way that is going to glorify him and not us.
So God's already at work in your life. I pray today that you would see it's in his time. What do you do with that? Okay, wonderful, Jonathan, that's great news. God's going to do things in his time.
What do I do with that? Trust.
Not trust through inactivity. Notice Esther is not lazy. She comes in and asks. She does what God commands. She's not lazy.
She's acting. But she's trusting that God is working this out, even though these decisions don't make a lot of sense. Do you trust him? God is never late. God has always been in charge.
His timing is always perfect. Do you trust him, believer? Do you trust him? Here's the second. We're going to read this text.
Let's get Into Esther, chapter 5, verse 9 through 14. And then I'll give you the second way in which God is accomplishing his plan. Verse 9. It says, Haman went out that day joyful and glad of heart. Haman's pumped up, y'.
All. And when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate, that he neither rose nor trembled before him, he was filled with wrath against Mordecai. Nevertheless, Haman restrained himself and went home. And he sent and brought his friends and his wife Zeresh. And Haman recounted to them the splendor of his riches, the number of his sons, all the promotions with which the king had honored him, and how he had advanced him above the officials and the servants of the king.
Then Haman said, even Queen Esther, Even Queen Esther, let no one but me come with the king to the feast she prepared. And tomorrow, tomorrow also I'm invited by her, together with the king. Verse 13 is going to help somebody today. Yet all this is worth nothing to me so long as that sorry, Mordecai the Jew is sitting at the gate. Then his wife Zeresh and all of his friends said to him, hey, let a gallows 50 cubits high be made, and in the morning tell the king to have Mordecai hanged upon it, then go joyfully with the king to the feast.
And this idea pleased Haman, and he had the gallows made. Okay, that turned. That transition was tough. It's like we're going to end a chapter like that. Imagine if we stop there today.
That'd be interesting. Praise the Lord. We're not going to stop there today. We're going to keep going here in chapter five, all of a sudden, what is God up to here? This man is pumped.
I want you to know something. God's already at work in this story. And here's the way in which he's working. At the end of chapter five, he is already overruling the sinful schemes of man. Here you've got Haman the schemer.
He's been scheming all the days that we can see of his life here in Esther. He's being manipulative, he's being ambiguous about the people he wants to kill. He tells the king, hey, there's this people who you should disdain. So let me sign an order into effect. And this goofy king says, go for it, I don't care.
And now he's still, like, full of himself and prideful. He comes home and gathers his friends and his family and he's like, look at me. Imagine going to this party, the look at Haman party. Like, I don't even want that invite. It's like, I'm not coming here just to boast about you.
But that's the party. He's making himself out as if he's a king himself. And everybody's in there. Ah, Haman, you're splendorous. Look at all your sons and look at how you.
And the queen loves you. Whoop dee doo. I love what he says in 13 because this is like, here's a side quest for us today. This isn't the main point of our text, not the main point of chapter five, but there's something in verse 13 that each and every one of us need to see and hear. Oh, he's pumped up.
Everything's going well. King loves me, the queen loves me. I've got everything and accept. Man, I can't stand that. Mordecai, some of you, everything's going so perfect in your life.
Everything's going great. But you get a rock in your shoe and you're like, the day's done, I'm spent. Some of you, tomorrow you're going to wake up and everything, you're going to put your clothes on, it's all going to fit right. You're going to do your hair, women, you're going to curl it and straighten it and it's actually going to lay right? And your kids are going to behave and they're going to get to school on time and people are going to be sweet and you're going to drive to work and there's gas in the tank and the radio is on.
Worship music. Oh, we're praising God today. And the boss seems like he needs to be in a good mood. And it's payday and everything's going well, and then that person walks in the door. You're picturing them already, aren't you?
You're picturing them. That client, that co worker, that Debbie Downer, that person that causes you, no matter how sweet the day is going, oh, why such and such here?
This is a sure sign that perhaps the joy that you're experiencing is cheap joy. It's not real joy at all. I grew up hearing my dad say this. I'm sure he got this from someone else. Perhaps he came up with it.
But he would say happiness is what most people are after. And happiness is based on happenings. Happiness is only going to be achieved when things go well for you. What if they go poorly? What if that one jerk walks in, oh, my day is ruined.
And it was going so good until so and so showed up. That's happiness. That's cheap joy. That's not joy at all. The joy of the Lord in fact, allows you to see the peace and the greatness of God in spite of a whole day filled with dark and brokenness instead of, hey, there's a small rock in my shoe.
My whole day is messed up. The only saving grace I have is the Lord. That's joy. That's true joy. Haman can't experience this.
Haman doesn't know the Lord. In fact, all of his joy is wrapped around whether or not he is great. And the one man that won't bow and won't show him, that is ruining his life. That's for somebody. Today, there's your side quest.
Some of you, you're feeling terrible about things and it's because your God is really small and your problems are really huge. Or your pride is really huge and your God is really small. You've decided in your life. My life is about glorifying me. And I got news for you.
You're gonna wind up like Haman. Every single day. It could be going perfect. But not every knee will bow. The Bible doesn't say every knee will bow to Jonathan.
Praise God. It doesn't say that. It says every knee will bow before the Lord Jesus. So will mine and every tongue confess. He is Lord.
He's overruling. The Lord is at work in this story, overruling the sinful schemes of man here. To me, Mordecai is almost emblematic of God to this man. Hey, you think you've got it all made, but you're missing something. You're missing the most important something, that is walking with the Lord.
So what does Haman do? Oh, he's fired up about everything except for this one thing. And so he gets some bad advice. Hey, you should take him out. Go ahead and kill him.
And kill him in this dramatic kind of fashion. When you read verse 14, it might not jump off the page to you, but I pray after today's reading, it will his wife and his friends say, hey, make a gallows for him 50 cubits. High cubits is not a measurement we use much, but in the Hebrew Bible it's this idea of the tip of your finger to the center of your elbow, which is somewhere around 18 inches for most people. So this is a very tall gallows. This thing is somewhere around 75ft tall.
It's like a seven story building. I want to hang him really high so that everybody in the city might see him. Because I can promise you this, there weren't a whole lot of seven story buildings in Persia. So he's going to hang above most. Oh, he wants to make an example of Mordecai.
And you might also be picturing the Wild west and you'd be wrong. Don't picture a Clint Eastwood movie here. This isn't this kind of hanging with a noose. That wasn't the Persian way. The nlt, the New Living actually goes ahead and makes the translation.
And I actually think they do a good job here. In verse 14 it says, Set up a sharpened pole that stands 70ft, 75ft tall and in the morning ask the king to impale Mordecai on it. So we're not talking about like a Wild west gallows with a noose. We're talking about a long tree with a spike on one end. So it would have been easy for him that night to send out of his workers and say, hey, go find me a long straight tree, cut it down and get it ready and on one end make it sharp as sharp can be, because we're going to impale Mordecai with that tomorrow and lift him above the city like a tree, like a man on the tip of a tree.
It wouldn't have been all that hard to imagine that now they're going to hook ropes to oxes and horses and they're going to pull it up in such a way and then it falls in a hole and bam, here's Mordecai stuck up top, impaled by this. That's what they mean by hanging in Persia. And they had perfected this. This is very, very sad and very difficult to understand, but I did some research on this this week and it was graphic and difficult to work through. But they had perfected the way in which to impale a man in such a way that he would survive for a while.
So it was meant to be brutal and humiliating and he would live for a couple of days, perhaps in that state.
And Haman, it says in verse 14, he was pleased with this idea. That's the hatred he felt for Mordecai. That sounds good. Let's do that. Oh, it looks like Haman's going to win.
It looks like the evil one's going to win here. It looks like God's going to lose. Not the case, Joseph. In fact, I said this a few weeks ago. I think he says this as well as almost any other person in the Scriptures.
He says to his brothers who tried to kill him and then tried and then sold him into slavery and then just abandoned him to this life. Here's what he says to his brothers in Genesis 50. As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good to bring it about that many people should be kept alive as they are today. Oh, you tried to do an evil thing to me. But God was up to something more.
He had a good plan in mind. And by this, many people were saved, not just you and I.
This is really at the heart of Peter's sermon when the Holy Spirit comes upon him. In Acts chapter two. We call this Pentecost, this moment where the Holy Spirit falls on the people. And Peter gets up and preaches a sermon that's pretty tough. He comes up and says, you guys crucified the Savior.
The stone which the builders rejected. You guys crucified him. But repent and believe and be baptized. That's really Peter's sermon in a nutshell. But what he's getting at there is what you meant for evil, just like what Joseph said, what you meant for evil.
God had a plan for good. You thought the evil one won when Christ was crucified. You were wrong. You thought the conspirators had won when Jesus was crucified. Incorrect.
The evil one, I think, I guess, was unaware that God was going to break the rules, that God was going to say, okay, you think you've killed him. You think he's in the grave? Guess what I'm going to do. A miracle you didn't expect. He's getting up, I suppose.
I don't know why else the evil one would have thought he was victorious in that moment. He didn't see the whole story. He didn't see the great reversal of what God would do. So Peter gets up and preaches in Acts chapter 2. He says God knew what would happen.
His prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed with the help of lawless Gentiles. You nailed him to a cross and you killed him. But God knew what you meant for evil. God meant for good. And Esther Here God is utilizing a powerful way.
She's understanding something, that God is behind the scenes, that God is already at work. So then we can take heart knowing that no scheme of man. Here's great news today, church. No scheme of man is outside of God's permission. Nothing, nothing slips through.
There's never a moment in your life where God goes, holy cow, I didn't see that coming. That never happens. He never looks at his angels and goes, who allowed that? Never. He's fully in charge and always will be and always has been.
So God is able to turn your good for his glory. He can take what was meant for evil and make it good. Not by literally making evil good, but instead by allowing us to see that evil never gets the last word. The Lord always does. Let's continue reading.
Because this story gets so good, I love chapter six. It's not only good, it's hilarious. Chapter six, verse one. On that night, the king could not sleep, and he gave orders to bring the book of memorable deeds, the Chronicles, and they were read before the king. And it was found written how Mordecai had told about Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs who guarded the threshold, who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus.
And here's what the king said. Hey, hey, wait a minute. Wait a minute. What did you just say? What honor or distinction was ever bestowed on Mordecai for this?
For saving my life, essentially. Here's what the king's young man who attended the king said. They said, nothing has been done for him. Y' all remember this back in chapter two, we were all wondering, when is he ever going to get any accolades for stopping an assassination? Well, I can tell you, not one.
But, like, five years go by. Some of you are like, I don't know if I can wait another moment.
That's a whole nother sermon. Verse 4. The king said, who is in the court now? Haman had just entered the outer court of the king's palace to speak to the king about having Mordecai hanged on the gallows that he had prepared for him. Oh, this is good irony right here.
Verse 5. And the king's young men told him. He said, haman's in there, standing in the court. And the king said, let him come in. Let's pause there for just a moment.
Here's the third way in which God is already at work accomplishing his purposes. Here's the third. By sovereignly directing the hearts of kings, the hearts of rulers, in your life, the heart of your boss, the heart of your leaders, the heart of rulers. God is sovereignly directing them. Do you think God is in charge in this moment, when for some reason, on the very night in between the two feasts, King Ahasuerus cannot sleep?
Some of you have had sleepless nights, and you just think it's something about something you've ate. And I can tell you, not all of those are something you ate. Sometimes you wake up early in the morning and you're thinking about someone or some situation, and then you just try to roll over and go back to sleep. I want you to stop missing those moments, because I will tell you, I promise you, there are moments where God gives sleepless nights so that you would pray, so that you would spend time with him, so that he would move and stir in your heart. I've had more of these lately than I ever used to have as a kid.
Maybe it's because I'm noticing them, but if I wake up thinking of one of you, or wake up thinking about something going on in my family or in my church, I know that's not just random. The Lord's at work here. The king wakes up, he just can't sleep. And so he says, hey, bring me the most boring book we have in the whole library. This is like the Persian way of counting sheep.
Hey, bring me that book of deeds. This is how sad it was that Mordecai saves his life and they write it in this book. That is so boring. People bring it to read when they need to go back to sleep.
Oh, it didn't mean a lot, did it? And yet, how ironic that God would say, tonight, no sleep for you, King, so that you'll bring out the boring book and you'll hear a story that you forgot. There was this Mordecai who prevented an assassination attempt from two dudes with terrible names. Big fan. And Teresh.
I didn't like those guys anyway. And he's like, wait a minute, I forgot about that story. What did we ever do? Did we ever do anything for Mordecai? No, King, we actually didn't.
Nothing was ever done for Mordecai. We need to fix that. We need to fix that. Who's out in the outer court, Haman? You see where this is going?
Oh, we're going to honor Mordecai and who is, ironically, in the court, Haman. Now, most likely, if you do the study here, we don't know exactly the hour, but. But he's lost sleep. He's up probably early in the morning because he can't sleep. And so he's having this book read and he determines I'm going to honor Mordecai.
So here we are, probably three, four in the morning, some early hour. And who's already in the court? Haman. And why is Haman in the court? Because Haman can't sleep either.
With excitement. He's so excited to take Mordecai out that he's at the office early. It's like Christmas morning for him. He's thinking, I'm finally going to rid the world of my problem. And it happens to be the exact thing that God has orchestrated so that who is in the court to receive the news that he's about to get in verse six on oh, it's beautiful.
This is why God's timing is better than yours. You couldn't have planned this. You couldn't have orchestrated this to happen. And some of you know this really well. When something extraordinary happens in your life as you walk with Jesus and you honor him and you go according to his timetable, he does far more than you could ever hope or imagine.
But if you do it your way, it kind of stinks. Or at least it does for me. Maybe I'm just not good at it. Maybe you're better at life. But I know for me, when I don't follow God's way, my ways are just not that great.
So God has orchestrated, directed the hearts of kings. Why is this good news, Church? Because this God has not changed. This God is still causing sleepless nights and directing kings and queens in rulers and leaders. Nothing has left his purview.
He remains sovereign.
This is great news.
God directs the hearts of kings like streams of water. I read this a few weeks ago. It deserves another reading. Proverbs 21. The King's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord.
He turns it wherever he will. The Lord turns it wherever he wills. So if God. Here's great news Church. If God can direct the heart of the king of the known world in ancient Persia, he can absolutely handle your boss.
He can handle your mother in law. You got to be nice to her today, I guess. Or try. You need to try. But he can handle it.
He can handle your situation, your future.
So living in a state of anxiety about all this is actually very unbiblical. And we know this already. Studies have shown that, like we are living in one of the most anxious time periods in human history, which is kind of wild actually. And one of the most anxious countries of all time. And by the same token, what's crazy and fascinating about that is, although anxiety is so high, this is the richest nation in human history.
Which tells me something. Wealth cannot fix your problem. And everything going well. We live in a generation where every single day I can get a hot shower and a hot meal and it's not really all that confusing. These things are almost like.
People treat these like human rights. They weren't human rights for 6,000 years, but they're human rights now. It's kind of wild. I'm not making a statement on that, but rather it's interesting that as well as we have it in so many ways, we are extremely anxious. I think it truly goes back to this principle that when we've made everything else in our lives, like the grand thing, the great thing, it makes God super small.
So we've got this misappropriation of glory, where instead of we say, God is powerful, he is large, he is great. He is everything. When I do that, all of a sudden, my anxieties, the concerns, I start looking at them and going, yeah, but God is bigger than this. We used to sing this in children's school. Some of you, God is bigger than the boogeyman.
Y' all forgotten that song? Some of you, God is bigger than the boogeyman. Bigger than Godzilla and the monsters on tv. Y' all forgotten that? Some of you didn't get to experience that.
I'm telling you, you missed something. Those were good days, the veggietale days. But this is what happens to us. Instead of a big God, we have a big problem and a small God. We have a big addiction and a really small God.
And we can't imagine it. We have a big cancer, and we can't imagine a big God. But look, God is orchestrating these things. He may leave you, he may take you, but God is big. Don't miss this this morning.
Because joy and trust and knowing the sovereignty of God allows you to look anything in the face and say, God, you got this. Your will be done. I'm your son. I'm your daughter. What you want from me?
I'll do it. Tell me where to go. Tell me where to walk. I've gotten this terrible diagnosis. But, God, you're good and you're big.
You've run into people like that in your life. They've made God huge in their life. So that when they face a disastrous piece of news, they just kind of go, I don't know. Perhaps part of that is a big God is in a big eternity. And we forget that we're in this little temporary state and everlasting life is in future.
So then when I face the obstacles of my day, I don't get so tied up and so anxious when this nation wars and this nation wars. I got to admit to y', all, I just don't get that scared. Oh, but Jonathan, they might send you to war. Let them. I'm going to be a witness.
Send me.
I've been waiting my whole life to say to the Lord what the king once said to Isaiah. Here I am. Send me. I love that line. It's like the battle cry, man.
I've said this on smaller occasions. You know what, Lord? You want me to go plant a church? Here I am. Send me.
I've said that in small scales for me. But, hey, you want to send me to war, I'll go. I'll be a witness. I'm just not afraid of these things. Why not?
Because I'm great. I'm not. I'm little. I should be just as panicked. I'm not.
Because there's a big God that we serve. I pray you would know him. The King of Kings is directing the hearts of these little K kings. So fear not. Here's the last.
And this is where the story is so good. You're gonna Love it. Verse 6. So Haman came in and the king said to him, hey, what should be done to the man whom the king delights to honor? Oh, Haman's thinking today's the day he's gonna make me king or something crazy.
This is wild. Haman, in fact, the Bible tells us, thinks to himself, whom would the king delight to honor more than me? You know, you're full of yourself, and you can't even imagine that someone else would get glory. You can't even imagine it. Verse 7.
Haman says to the king, oh, for this man whom the king delights to honor. We know who you're talking about. Let royal robes be brought, the ones the king has worn. I want to wear your clothes, King. And let a horse that the king has been ridden and on whose head the royal crown is set, literally, I want to look like you today.
And let the robes and the horse be handed over to one of the king's most noble officials. And let them dress the man whom the king delights to honor. And let them lead them on the horse through the square of the city, proclaiming, thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor. Haman's thinking, today I'm punching My ticket. This is good stuff.
Verse 10 Then the king said to Haman, oh, I love this, my favorite line so far. The king said, hurry, take the robes and the horse, and as you've said, and do so to Mordecai, the Jewish who sits at the king's gate. In fact, leave nothing out that you've mentioned. Can you imagine Haman's face if he kept a poker face in this moment, I'd be amazed. Verse 11 so Haman took the robes and the horse and dressed Mordecai and led him through the square of the city, proclaiming, thus shall it be done.
And the man, and the king delights to honor. I can't imagine he's saying this with a lot of hope. I can't believe I said all this. I hate this guy.
Verse 12 Then Mordecai returned to the king's gate. We don't have any notion of what Mordecai felt. He probably walked back to the gate going, what in the world was that? What just happened? But Haman hurried to his house, mourning, and with his head covered, Haman told his wife Zeresh and all of his friends everything that had happened to him.
Then his wise men and his wife Zeresh, they said to him, hey, if Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of the Jewish people, you will not overcome him, but will surely fall before him. This is God's word. Amen.
Wow, talk about a great reversal. Talk about God working behind the scenes and being already at work. Here's the fourth and final way in which he's accomplishing his purpose. By humbling the proud and exalting the lowly. There's some sure fire ways to tick off God.
This is a side quest here for you. Something side note to think about. If you want to be prideful and it's all about your glory, just know God's not into it. In fact, he's very much against it. Haman is so full of himself, he can't imagine the possibility that anybody else would receive glory.
And he gets very much surprised here and he goes home like the people of Israel had been for the last few weeks. Now Haman's this way, going home. Oh gosh, I hope nobody sees me. Don't talk to me. This is a terrible day.
My enemy. I had to walk him through the streets. Ah, some of you have had bad days. Haman's had a terrible one. And he goes home and he's expecting comfort.
You know, when you go home and talk to your spouse or Your kids, you're kind of hopeful they'll tell you something sweet. One of the worst things I can ever do on a Sunday afternoon is say to my wife or my kids, hey, how did that sermon preach? Not always a good idea. Sometimes they're nicer. Dad, you totally missed a point.
That's what I got. The feedback I got a couple weeks ago. Dad, you didn't even say that point. Okay, did you hear anything else? No.
He came home wanting grace. He came home wanting his wife to say, it's gonna be okay, babe. Instead, she says, you gonna die.
Wow. I mean, I've been threatened by my wife before, but that was a good one right there. Like, you're gonna die.
Not what he expected. Has to walk Haman through the streets or has to walk Mordecai through the streets. I love this part of the story. It's all like connecting the dots. So.
Well, God is so. I want you to see this. This is why God's timing is better than yours. Because in all of your imagination and creativity, you never could have thought of how God has handled this. I'm going to do these two feasts, and Esther's like, why?
Why? Okay, God, I'll do it. And I'm going to cause this man to have a sleepless night. Okay, this is getting interesting. And then I'm going to do this amazing reversal where Haman is literally going to pick the form of honor that he's going to give to Mordecai, and that not only that, the king is going to be as ambiguous with Haman as Haman was with him in two chapters earlier.
Notice back in a few chapters ago, Haman said, hey, there's this people. He doesn't tell them the Jews. He says, there's this people that you shouldn't like because they don't obey you. Take them out, King Ahsuerus. And then the king says, okay, I mean, I could care less here.
You said something about 10,000 silver. I'm like, I'm down here. Go take my ring and sign it into law. Notice what the king does to him, this same ambiguity. He said, hey, there's this man that I want to honor.
Oh, it's me. No, it ain't.
Some of you this morning. This is another sidebar for you. God is very unable to use the prideful. Very unable to use it.
It's not the whole picture of this story, because here, the evil of this man, and really the evil one underneath it is being humbled. And that's the bigger nugget of this piece. But for you, personally believer and non believer, alight this morning, however you've come. God opposes the proud. The Bible doesn't say this once, but many times it says it in the book of First Peter is where I've got it today.
First Peter, chapter five. God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble. So humble yourselves therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that the proper time he may exalt you. Now, this might not be good news today, but it should be God's into only the glory for himself. You might think, well, that's very selfish of God.
Well, God made you and made everything else. It's up to him. He's in charge and you're not, and you never will be. You can make you know, you can raise fists to that and be upset about that. But he's in charge.
And here's what's great. Here's what's great. He loves you. In spite of your goofiness and in spite of the fact that all of us want glory for ourselves at times, in spite of all that, he loves us. And not only that, he died for us.
He did everything necessary that we can be made right with him. And he deserves. Not only can he, but he does deserve the glory. And for those of you in the room who are seeking to glorify yourself in this season, I'm going to make a name for myself is not of God. The people of God must say, I'm going to make the name of Jesus great.
My life's mission is to make people know that name. Now, that name is great, whether I believe it or not. The book of Revelation says, every knee will bow, every tongue confess that name. The question is, well, I get on board. Haman certainly has it.
Haman gets terrible news from his very wife, who really is. None of these people are believers here. These are not godly people. I was reading and studying this week this ancient Near Eastern thought, and this book was called that by Dr. Walton. And here's what he said, that in ancient near east, these dramatic reversals like what Haman experienced would have been seen as a bad omen from the gods.
So when he came and said, you guys, I've had a terrible day. I came there this morning wanting to ask the king to hang Mordecai. Instead he told me to do all this crazy stuff to honor him and his wife and his friends said, yikes, that's a terrible omen.
Plus, here's what's starting to happen in Persia. We've got quite a bit of biblical history at this point. I can tell you right now that people are starting to get the news that the God of Israel, sometimes he rolls in, and when he does, it's spooky for the people who are opposed. Like they're, they're, trust me, they're hearing these. You've heard them, they've heard them.
You mean he parted a sea and washed away a bunch of Egyptians one time? You mean one time he won a battle just by a guy holding up his arms? What in the world? And now today, this crazy reversal has happened. I don't know about this God of Israel.
I probably wouldn't have done that. They're a little late. They're a little late. You know, Mordecai, you probably shouldn't have messed with him since he's one of those Jews. They're a little late with that advice.
You know, He humbles the proud, he exalts the lowly. The bigger thing here is he defeats evil and restores the righteous. I want to end with this thought, this story, because I think this whole picture, this whole book, in a way, the whole book of the Bible, for instance, is about the Lord and Savior, Jesus. That's a fact. He's on every page.
He's dripping on every page. And he's so obvious in this story, you don't see his name. I get that. But how ironic it is that they had a three day fast and then he wanted to hang this guy on a tree. And instead of all that happening, God does this great reversal.
Oh, this is a great foreshadowing, one of many in the Old Testament meant to point you to your great reversal. This is the story of scripture that now we get to be a part of that what the evil one meant for a disaster to destroy you, God meant for good. Don't miss this. Today, sin and brokenness and guilt and shame are meant to destroy you. And they will.
Apart from Jesus. They will. Because your sin, your brokenness, is judgment and wrath from God, apart from Jesus. But unlike Mordecai, unlike Haman, unlike this story where God reverses it before the hang with Jesus, he takes the cross and three days he's in a tomb. And God reverses the story.
The evil one must have thought, I've won. But he didn't. And not only did he lose the battle to the Son of God, he lost the battle for humanity. So the question then today for you is this, what will I do with this story? The story of Esther, which foreshadows the story of the Savior?
What looked like defeat is actually victory. But it's only victory when I say yes. Because God is some kind of gentleman. I suppose he could make us believe, but he doesn't. Instead, he offers faith.
He offers the gift of salvation. And it's up to us to unwrap the present and say, he is mine. It's amazing. I asked today, would you humble yourself? As Peter wrote, he says, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, because pride puts us on a collision course with God.
And to be fair, it is pride that keeps us from God. It always has. It always will be the primary reason that we don't run to Jesus. It will. It'll be the primary reason you don't pray tomorrow.
Because something in you is like, I don't think I want to. I don't think he wants to hear me. I don't know. You fill in your blank. But underneath that is something of pride.
If I say yes, if I do what? Christ has called me, isn't he going to ask me to do things that get me out of my comfort zone? Yes. Yes, he is. And it's awesome.
It's the best thing you've ever experienced in life. Not that it's without danger, it's full of it. The story of Esther that we're reading is fraught with danger, and we love it.
Here I am, Lord, send me no longer with pride, but humility, under your grace today. I pray, dear friends, that you would hear this story and not be like Haman, who is all about his own glory, all about his own pride. Can't possibly imagine that God might be using another man in his life. Can't do it. And like so many of the other rulers of our day, in spite of all that, God's already at work.
I pray you see it today that your God would be God sized as you follow him. He would be huge. And that it would cause to shrink every other thing in your life, every anxiety, every brokenness. You would look at those through the view of a huge holy God. Let's pray now together.
Church Heavenly Father, thank you so much for this good word today. First to the people in Esther's time, and now to us. We pray this morning that you would guide us and lead us in such a way that we would walk with you like Esther, like Mordecai, that we would walk with you in a way where we believe you're going to do amazing things, even when your time, your timetable, looks so confusing to us, even at times where we can't figure out why did you let that happen and why did you wait on that? We question these things, but Lord, I pray today we would trust that first and foremost, we would trust you with our own life. That person who's come in here today, it's impossible for them to trust yet because they've not first said, all right, Lord Jesus, you're king.
You are the lens which I should see my life, you are my salvation. Someone has come today and they've not even said yes to that yet. And I just want to encourage you, my friend, there's not a reason to wait another moment. The kingdom of heaven is upon us and your best life is in Christ Jesus and not apart from him. To truly understand yourself and your purpose and what the Lord has created you to do.
You can't understand any of that without the Lord Jesus. So don't wait even another moment. If that's you, my friend, today you're ready to give over the throne of your life to the Lord Jesus. Would you say with me this Jesus, I believe today that you are lord of my life. You're king.
I believe you died on the cross for my sin and that you've paid that price that I owed. But now it's gone. And God, I believe you raised Christ Jesus from the dead. And that gives me amazing hope that there's something for me not only in this life, but the next. Lord, I ask now, would you guide me to walk underneath your sovereignty that I would begin to see and understand you as the great number one priority in my life, where I see your glory and your majesty as the greatest, most holy thing in my life.
And that because of that, Lord, you would shrink my anxiety, you would shrink my idols which I so often run to. God, I pray you would be huge in my life. Dear friend, welcome to the family. And we could all continue in prayer with you. That last piece, Lord, be great in our lives, I pray tomorrow we would lay down our pride and humbly come underneath the mighty hand of God.
Help us to do this every single day with our lives, we pray in Jesus name, Amen.