August 21 2016 - Esther 5 - God's Unseen Hand at Work - Pride/Fall/The Best Plot Twist

We are, once again, going to be doing Operation Christmas Child. Last year we did 90 boxes – this year, we’d like to do 150. Take a brochure for your household.

We’ll have more information as we go along.
Also, next Sunday after church will be a baptism – if you are interested in being baptized, see me (Pastor Mike).
I apologize – for getting hacked this week – I appreciate your concern.
Let’s pray. Lord, thank You for Your word and for You and being able to come together before You to worship You. You are the king – we are Your servants. We want to be able to serve You faithfully with our whole hearts. We don’t always do that – but You are quick to forgive – and wherever we are – You begin again – the past is forgotten, and everything is NEW. We can experience Your love and compassion and mercy every morning. Thank You that You are engaged in our lives – present – not distant – and involved in turning things to Your glory and Your good. And our good. You turn the events of history that You might be honored and Your people would be saved. Thank You for giving Yourself for us that we might have life.
We may be closing this up this week or next. Haman – the villain in the story has had this meteoric rise to power – it doesn’t say how or why – and he has been invited to this private banquet with Esther and the king – and he is filled with himself – absorbed in his power – it is a house of cards that is going to fall down. After leaving the castle – heading home in great pride – he goes by Mordecai – and Mordecai won’t bow to him or look at him. He has everything in the world he would want – but he is fixated on Mordecai and missing all the good in his life. We can be like that too – fixated – troubled – by one thing that is going on and missing all the good.
Esther 5: 12 Haman also said, “Even Esther the queen let no one but me come with the king to the banquet which she had prepared; and tomorrow also I am invited by her with the king. 13 Yet all of this does not satisfy me every time I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.” 14 Then Zeresh his wife and all his friends said to him, “Have a gallows fifty cubits high made and in the morning ask the king to have Mordecai hanged on it; then go joyfully with the king to the banquet.” And the advice pleased Haman, so he had the gallows made.
Haman is completely unable to see the unseen hand of God. God is doing this work in the background and he misses it – he is so focused on his bitterness and lust for power. They have blinded him. These kinds of things can blind us too: Bitterness, anger, lust for power, the inability to forgive – can blind us to all that God is trying to do and say.
King Ahasuerus is clueless – He is kind of portrayed as the buffoon in the story – and he is clueless in a different way than Haman.
6 During that night the king could not sleep so he gave an order to bring the book of records, the chronicles, and they were read before the king. 2 It was found written what Mordecai had reported concerning Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs who were doorkeepers, that they had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus.
God is at work. In spite of the king’s ignorance, God is able to keep the king awake – and he needed some media. Every now and then, when I have a hard time sleeping – I think maybe God wants me to get up and read His Word. I don’t do this all the time – but every now and then.
The king has the Chronicles read to him – and we can create a lot of angst in ourselves about how authorities are clueless. It could be a political figure or it could be at work. Even though this authority is a bit of a buffoon – he is not really in control – but there is a greater authority in control. And maybe we need to let some of that angst go when someone makes a bad decision at work or an injustice happens in the world – to believe that God is still in control.
I’m guessing that – at work – they are not making a law to kill all of you or your friends – this king has inadvertently made a law to wipe out the Jewish people.
3 The king said, “What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?” Then the king’s servants who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.”
This is a serious faux pas in their culture – a great oversight – so he is going to correct the situation. And what we see with Mordecai – God often delays reward. He often delays our reward for our service. We tend to – and actually, it is in the nature of God to do so – we tend to think and expect the reward or promise or prayer to be answered immediately – thinking that would give God glory – but He tends to wait to give us the reward – and in doing so, it serves a bigger purpose. Had Mordecai been rewarded before this crucial time, it would not have been available – and God had something bigger in mind.
When I first became a Christian – things happened quickly – I would pray and God would answer – and I began to think that is how it works. But in the Bible you see God making a promise and then it goes DECADES before it is answered – we see that with Abraham. Joan shared last week – many of you caught this – but others don’t know the whole story. Things were at the edge with her sister having cancer – but at the very beginning of her sharing last week – I have had two prayers – last year – one answered one way and one answered another. She told me: When you hear that God did this or that – you think it has to happen the way we pray – but God often answers differently.
Waiting for the answer strengthens faith – Romans 4 – Abraham’s faith grew as he waited for God to provide the answer. We think the person of great faith is the one whose prayer is answered immediately. The Bible says that when we wait – it can increase our faith. And there are those who don’t receive the promise until they’ve died – Hebrews 11 says that some received the promise in a different world. We need to get to that point. It is hard to get to that point – and it doesn’t mean that God doesn’t want to answer prayers in this life – He does. But even as we pray – and people are healed – they will eventually die. But in the next life, we live forever – in the next life, everything is healed – it is all taken away. Every disease, every sorrow – is healed in the next life.
4 So the king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king’s palace in order to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on the gallows which he had prepared for him. 5 The king’s servants said to him, “Behold, Haman is standing in the court.” And the king said, “Let him come in.” 6 So Haman came in and the king said to him, “What is to be done for the man whom the king desires to honor?” And Haman said to himself, “Whom would the king desire to honor more than me?”
Haman’s pride and self-centeredness will eventually bring him down as fast as he rose to power. He fails to see the predicament he is in.
7 Then Haman said to the king, “For the man whom the king desires to honor, 8 let them bring a royal robe which the king has worn, and the horse on which the king has ridden, and on whose head a royal crown has been placed; 9 and let the robe and the horse be handed over to one of the king’s most noble princes and let them array the man whom the king desires to honor and lead him on horseback through the city square, and proclaim before him, ‘Thus it shall be done to the man whom the king desires to honor.’”
10 Then the king said to Haman, “Take quickly the robes and the horse as you have said, and do so for Mordecai the Jew, who is sitting at the king’s gate; do not fall short in anything of all that you have said.”
Just put yourself in Haman’s shoes. It is all crumbling before his very eyes. It is interesting that he uses the word – Hurry! Because until now, it has been delay delay delay – but now God goes into action – and it is HURRY! Be faithful to keep asking. Know that at some point – when God begins to act – He will act fully – and wholly.
11 So Haman took the robe and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and led him on horseback through the city square, and proclaimed before him, “Thus it shall be done to the man whom the king desires to honor.”
12 Then Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman hurried home, mourning, with his head covered. 13 Haman recounted to Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and Zeresh his wife said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish origin, you will not overcome him, but will surely fall before him.”
14 While they were still talking with him, the king’s eunuchs arrived and hastily brought Haman to the banquet which Esther had prepared.
This guy’s life is falling apart – and it is interesting – the words of his wife and friends – if he is Jewish – you are done for! Starting with Rahab – the knowledge of God working in the Jews’ lives had become known to the peoples – and they were scared of them. There is this reputation with the people of God. What reputation does God’s people have today? What are Christians known for? What SHOULD they be known for? Do those things match? If not, what can we do?
7 Now the king and Haman came to drink wine with Esther the queen. 2 And the king said to Esther on the second day also as they drank their wine at the banquet, “What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to half of the kingdom it shall be done.”
What is the request? - and she can speak her mind – after being queen for 5 years – that she is a Jew.
3 Then Queen Esther replied, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me as my petition, and my people as my request; 4 for we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed and to be annihilated.
The king is probably saying – “What is going on here?”
Now if we had only been sold as slaves, men and women, I would have remained silent, for the trouble would not be commensurate with the annoyance to the king.”
Here is the buffoon of the story who doesn’t even know what he is doing – and Esther honors him. How often do we NOT honor those whom we think are making stupid decisions? This is powerful. If we’d only been sold into slavery – I’d have been silent – for the king’s loss is greater?

5 Then King Ahasuerus asked Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who would presume to do thus?”
Haman is probably doing much more than shaking in his boots.
6 Esther said, “A foe and an enemy is this wicked Haman!” Then Haman became terrified before the king and queen.
7 The king arose in his anger from drinking wine and went into the palace garden; but Haman stayed to beg for his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that harm had been determined against him by the king.
Ya think?
8 Now when the king returned from the palace garden into the place where they were drinking wine, Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was. Then the king said, “Will he even assault the queen with me in the house?” As the word went out of the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face. 9 Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs who were before the king said, “Behold indeed, the gallows standing at Haman’s house fifty cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai who spoke good on behalf of the king!” And the king said, “Hang him on it.” 10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows which he had prepared for Mordecai, and the king’s anger subsided.
It is all over for Haman. He has come to an end.

Prov. 16: 18 Pride goes before destruction,
And a haughty spirit before stumbling.
Prov. 29: 23 A man’s pride will bring him low,
But a humble spirit will obtain honor.
1 Peter 5: 5 You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. 6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time,
Vainglory – the unbalanced need for approval and to be noticed – the need to impress other people. People who exaggerate or draw attention to themselves – this deep need to be the show – that is pride.
The second aspect of pride – desire for greatness, position, and power – the attitude that we are better than others – or more worthy than others.
An Olympic athlete who trains to be the best – there is nothing wrong with being the best athlete or the best at your job – there is a good sense of pride – until your excellence in that area causes you to think you are superior to others. I won’t mention any names – but there is a certain swimmer who has been on the news. Pride like that takes from others – and is unable to learn from others’ views and perspectives – it is unable to appreciate differences and to think that our way is the best way. The most dangerous aspect of pride is spiritual pride. There was a tax collector and a Pharisee – the Pharisee prayed to himself – thank You – that I am nothing like that tax collector – and the reality is that whatever happens in that situation – he is judged by God. Any time you say something like “Those people – That person” – we are in extreme danger of becoming a Pharisee.
Esther 8: On that day King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews, to Queen Esther; and Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had disclosed what he was to her. 2 The king took off his signet ring which he had taken away from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.
So there is this complete reversal in the story – and God changes everything. God is at work in the events in our lives – and it may take a long time to see the results – but at some point you will.
3 Then Esther spoke again to the king, fell at his feet, wept and implored him to avert the evil scheme of Haman the Agagite and his plot which he had devised against the Jews. 4 The king extended the golden scepter to Esther. So Esther arose and stood before the king. 5 Then she said, “If it pleases the king and if I have found favor before him and the matter seems proper to the king and I am pleasing in his sight, let it be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the king’s provinces. 6 For how can I endure to see the calamity which will befall my people, and how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?” 7 So King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, I have given the house of Haman to Esther, and him they have hanged on the gallows because he had stretched out his hands against the Jews.